The News Rundown

B.C. premier not amused when asked about comedian speech-writing contract

The news in September has not been great for BC and by extension, the BC NDP and Premier David Eby. With the ongoing BCGEU strike escalating instead of resolving, the government has its work cut out for it if it wants to maintain service levels for British Columbians.
A new report also showed that the BC economy has cooled over the summer, especially because of a worsening resource market that the NDP, while being more accepting of LNG lately, has not done much to support the remainder of BC's breadbasket industries.
Not only that, the provincial deficit has ballooned, and even creative accounting by Finance Minister Brenda Bailey can't hide that fact, including an 18 year settlement payout by big Tobacco companies as a lump payment sum in this year alone.
The province began receiving the $936-million-dollar payment in August, part of B.C.’s share of more than $3.6 billion over 18 years. It’s part of a $32.5-billion Canadian settlement between JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges and Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. and their creditors after more than five years of negotiations.
Bailey’s quarterly update on provincial finance used the recently finalized settlement with Big Tobacco, and rather than spread the payments over the 18-year span, the New Democrats are taking the entire amount (discounted to present day dollars) as a one-time payment of $2.7 billion in the current year, even though we're getting less than $1B this year.
Next year, the deficit is projected to soar to $12.6 billion, another record. It is expected to still be in the fiscal stratosphere at $12.3 billion in 2027-28, before the provincial election scheduled for October 2028.
The total provincial debt for the year is expected to top out at $155 billion, up from $89 billion in John Horgan’s last year in office. In just three years, Premier David Eby will have increased the debt by $66 billion.
With all this in mind, things are no laughing matter in BC, and people might think that Premier Eby's speeches would reflect that. Instead, he's been cracking jokes a lot in his press conferences, a marked change from the past, seemingly in an attempt to humanize the NDP's mangled mismanaging of the provincial economy.
Eby included a back-to-school laugh line during a recent news conference, riffing on his own young children being gradually introduced into the fall term: “So what we’re going to introduce at the legislature this fall is gradual entry for politicians. I just think it would be better for all parties if we know that their parents will be there to pick them up at lunchtime.”
Last week, Eby launched the expansion project for the Highland Valley Copper Mine near Kamloops and joked that for once it would be “good news” if it were reported that “they had to get the shovels out” after the politician finished speaking.
And then there was an exchange with Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth last week over the opening of the much-delayed, much over-budget replacement for the Pattullo Bridge, Farnworth saying, “It’ll be open for Christmas.” Eby, blurting into an open mike, said he was, “Glad you didn’t say which year.”
Now we know why Eby has been trying to elicit chuckles despite the grim mood in BC lately: he's hired a personal friend, far left comedian Charlie Demers, to write his speeches for him.
While the Conservatives, who broke the news, highballed the value of the Demers contract at $450,000, Eby played it the other way: “To date, his entire contract has been worth $14,000.” The premier’s office later admitted that in the three years prior to this one the total payout to Demers was $95,262, with his contract paying him $165/hour. His current contract also allows him potentially to make a maximum of $300,000 over four years.
B.C. Conservative finance critic, Peter Milobar said: “At a time that we’re supposed to be having a hiring freeze, at a time that we're supposed to be seeing potential cutbacks to the workforce, the premier’s office, as long as it suits the premier’s needs, seems to spend money. There’s nothing funny about it – it’s the ultimate David Eby friends and insiders move.”
Demers himself responded to the controversy with a post on his Instagram account Tuesday, noting he doesn’t just write jokes for Eby, but rather entire speeches: “David Eby’s not the first premier of British Columbia that I’ve written for. I wrote for John Horgan, although for John Horgan I did only write jokes.” Demers also wrote for former leader Adrian Dix, so his ties to the BC NDP go back a long time.
Yes, at a time when the public service is striking because of abysmal pay, Eby is giving his friends in the Premier's office cushy part time jobs to make him seem more funny. Yet when pushed, Eby was very serious in defending the contract work to Demers as a "cost saving measure" which is unintentionally another funny joke, considering the government's problems with debt and deficits.
So while the premier may joke about his government's inability to get projects done on time, or that politicians should be treated like children, the province's worsening economy is no laughing matter.
Supplementals:

Immigration has become the central focus in Alberta politics this week with Premier Danielle Smith making announcements to assert more provincial control and ensure Canadian citizens come first.
The order came in a new mandate letter for Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Minister Joseph Schow. The letter says that Alberta needs more control over immigration to ensure the level of newcomers remains sustainable.
The objective is to ensure that Canadian citizens have first access to jobs and that young workers don’t lose out on job opportunities to temporary foreign workers.
We have recently detailed all the uses and mis-uses of the temporary foreign worker program. There is likely movement on it coming this fall from the federal government but Alberta is moving first.
In an emailed statement to media Schow’s office said, "My ministry will be looking for opportunities to use our provincial authority for immigration to bring benefit to our economy, rather than following the federal model that has not met Alberta's economic and labour needs, and brought unsustainable growth in schools, hospitals, and other critical services overseen by the province.”
In tandem with this the province has announced $8m to combat youth unemployment. The money will help businesses hire people aged 15 to 24.
Employers can receive $4,000 if they hire one or two young workers for a total combined 400 hours. Employers who hire 3-5 youth employees for a total of at least 750 hours will be eligible to receive $7,500.
Youth unemployment has risen more than 3% in the last year and the unemployment rate for those aged 15-24 sits at 17%.
Through the definition of unemployment this means that there are definitely young people looking for jobs since official unemployment metrics require someone to be actively looking for work to be considered unemployed.
There has been suggestions in the media that Alberta is out of line in this move but Quebec has managed immigration like this since 1991.
The Canada-Quebec Accord allows Quebec to select at the provincial level to select the economic immigrants who settle in the province, chooses a criteria, and uses a points based system.
After this the federal government passes final admission of the immigrant and includes all standard immigration checks.
Alberta does not have a system like this in place but based on discussions at Alberta Next panels it is likely something that the Smith government will ask for.
One of the ways to move discussion on a topic is to already be where the target is, this is something that Danielle Smith has done repeatedly with a variety of her policies put forward by the UCP since she became leader.
The Sovereignty Act, school policies, and now immigration were areas deemed controversial but Smith has been targeting where the UCP base is at and most times, Albertans.
Media coverage on this story consulted the usual experts and questioned what Constitutional and legal means the government might use to control immigration.
The expert, Anna Kuranicheva, an immigration lawyer at the Edmonton Community Legal Centre, said that Alberta can select which immigrants but not necessarily can exert control over how many.
Media coverage also focused on Canada’s “dependence” on immigrants for labour and in one particular case Daniele Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship said, "Canada needs immigrants far more than they need us.”
This has also led to a discussion that perhaps the province and people are being too harsh on immigrants.
While the CBC’s article devolves into opinion, the edit also highlights advocacy groups' data to back up their angles.
This comes with the province also announcing that drivers’ licenses and ID cards renewed from October 2026 onwards will have a marker on them to display whether or not somebody is a citizen.
The idea behind this is that it can easily be used as a form of voter ID and clarifies the process.
Licences are already used as ID but temporary foreign workers, students, and permanent residents can get a drivers license without being a citizen.
This makes voter ID simpler and should not be controversial.
What is lacking, however, is the media’s discussion on why these policies are likely a good thing for Alberta.
Supplementals:

Ottawa hate crime bill would outlaw ‘hateful’ displays of certain symbols

Justice Minister Sean Fraser, one of the worst Trudeau cabinet holdovers that Prime Minister Mark Carney reappointed, resurfaced in the news this week, with his signature 2025 legislation ready to go, and it's not exactly what people might have been expecting.
With the Justice Ministry, there are so many different pieces of news that could help alleviate some of Canada's problems, including bail reform, a policy intended to keep the worst repeat criminals behind bars, or something to help crackdown on rampant auto theft throughout Ontario, or organized crime shipping stolen goods out of the Port of Montreal to Africa and the Middle East, or a recent spate of home invasions done mostly by younger male immigrants.
Fraser's news had nothing to do with any of that however, instead, the federal government is introducing new legislation that would create “a new crime of hate” in the Criminal Code, outlaw the promotion of hateful symbols like the Nazi swastika that cause harm, and protect religious institutions from “obstruction and intimidation,” according to Fraser.
The long-promised hate crime bill is the first major legislative move by Canada’s attorney general for the fall sitting of Parliament, which is already being dominated by the issue of combating crime.
Fraser said: “One of the great promises of Canada is the ability of our citizens to live freely in their communities, regardless of the colour of their skin, the god they pray to, or the person that they love. Sadly, too many Canadians are robbed of these freedoms that so many of us take for granted. Frankly, the prevalence of hate crimes in this country that steal those freedoms are something that should shock the conscience of every Canadian.”
The minister was quick to tell reporters in a press conference that the bill upholds free speech values and won’t target symbols that certain groups have called hateful, such as the Palestinian flag.
Yet he could not give assurances that law enforcement and prosecutors will always be able to clearly make that distinction in real time, only that additional training may be needed, particularly surrounding what counts as using a listed symbol to promote hatred.
Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on social media: “Those who spread hate and violence in our communities will have no safe harbour in Canada.”
Fraser said the bill takes a “different approach” from the concept of establishing “bubble zones” around institutions like schools, community centres, cemeteries and other places used by “identifiable groups”. While these are also covered by the new provisions, the minister said it would be up to municipalities to regulate for specific buildings.
The bill would also make illegal the willful promotion of hatred by displaying certain “hateful” symbols in a public place, with a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
It specifically identifies the Nazi swastika as a symbol subject to that offence, as well as symbols that are associated with listed terrorist organizations, and any symbols that closely resemble or are “likely to be confused” with those hateful symbols.
While Fraser had expressed hope the proposed law would have broad appeal, Bill C-9 was met with mixed reaction, with some praising the changes while lawyers, pro-Palestinian groups and Canada’s biggest Muslim advocacy organization said it could be difficult to enforce while overreaching on limiting Canadians’ right to protest and failing to address the root causes of rising hate.
Canadian Jewish groups welcomed the legislation, saying it will help make those communities safer. But the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said it could have gone further by outright banning even the peaceful display of terrorist symbols. B’nai Brith Canada said: “Now Parliament must finish the job and pass this legislation without delay. Fighting hate must not be a partisan issue.”
The National Council of Canadian Muslims, however, did not express the same enthusiasm. Spokesperson Steven Zhou said he was glad to see an attempt by the government to tackle the problem, including by defining hate and streamlining the process to charge for hate crimes, but felt the measures regarding terror symbols and places of worship went too far in restricting freedom of expression.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) on the other hand, raised concerns that the bill could be used to stigmatize and criminalize peaceful protesters, and could indeed target the flying of flags at demonstrations.
Adding to those fears was Fraser’s inability Friday to cite examples of when displaying terror symbols would be a criminal activity — the legislation only says journalism, religion, education or art are excluded — and at what point a protest might cross the line into “intimidation or obstruction.”
Fraser said: “It’s difficult for me to engage on a hypothetical basis, because the facts of a given scenario may be very different. It’s not lost on me that we are in new territory, and sometimes there may be a learning curve with the adoption of these new laws, so we’re going to work alongside our provincial counterparts and with law enforcement to ensure that they have the tools that they need.”
While this legislation may yet see bi-partisan support from the Conservatives, who have also been pushing for hate-crime legislation, the fact that as of recording we have no response from them on the matter. If they do help pass the legislation this fall, it will further the idea that Prime Minister Carney is extending an olive branch to the opposition to get things passed in the House of Commons, to make it seem like the government is getting work done after a long absence.
Regardless we'll have to see how this new hate speech law works in practice, and how it will be wielded against Canadians.
Supplementals:

Firing Line

Ottawa's request for limits on notwithstanding clause a 'direct attack' on Bill 21, Quebec says

The issue of provincial power and judicial overreach in Canada is one as old as our Constitution. So much so the Constitution includes a mechanism that acts as a lever on judicial overreach.
That mechanism is the notwithstanding clause otherwise known as section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The notwithstanding clause has come under the lens of the media this week with the federal government seeking limitations of the clause.
First comes Bill 21 in Quebec which is Quebec’s secularism law.
The Quebec government has invoked the notwithstanding clause to otherwise exempt the law from oversight of the Supreme Court and higher courts in Canada.
The Bill itself is something that no federal politician outside of the Bloc Quebécois dares touch at the risk of upsetting Quebec voters.
The Bill prohibits the display of any religious symbols for government placed employees such as teachers, police officers, lawyers, and more.
Federal Justice Minister and Attorney General Sean Fraser has issued a statement regarding the government’s push urging the Supreme Court to place limits on how the notwithstanding clause could be invoked.
In particular the federal government says they’re worried about the use “indirectly amending the Constitution” and that there could be “irreparable impairment” of Canadians’ rights.
Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette simply said, "We will not apologize for defending Quebec values. [The federal government is] attack on the parliamentary sovereignty of the legislative assemblies of all of Canada.”
The media and Liberal government were seeing support for the Quebec government as there has been a silent agreement among political types that the provincial government in Quebec would go ahead with Bill 21 and use the notwithstanding clause.
But the situation became more complicated this week as The Canadian Press wire service brought Alberta into the mix.
Specifically a leaked memo as of September 10th that shows that Alberta is looking at invoking the notwithstanding clause over the pieces of legislation that set rules for changing of names and pronouns in schools, ban transgender women from participating in amateur female sports without approval, and limit gender-affirming healthcare to non-minors.
Saskatchewan also invoked the notwithstanding clause over similar legislation in 2023.
In 1998 Alberta used the legislation and abandoned a Bill before it received royal assent that would have limited lawsuits against the Alberta government pertaining to forced sterilization as a result of the Alberta Eugenics Program.
Alberta also planned to but did not use the notwithstanding clause in 2000 to enshrine opposite-sex-only marriage in the province.
Aside from these uses the notwithstanding clause has been mainly used by Quebec without issue since the 1980s.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said, “The Notwithstanding Clause is integral to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and an unassailable provincial constitutional right. While the Alberta government does not support the content of Quebec’s Bill 21, we stand shoulder to shoulder with Quebec’s constitutional right to invoke the Notwithstanding Clause as its government deems fit.”
The notwithstanding clause is Canada’s solution to a Supreme Court and justice system that has the ability to strike down laws of a provincial legislature or the federal government.
The notwithstanding clause was added in large part due to insistence of Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed.
The clause was included to push towards a deal on partition of the Constitution in what became known as the Kitchen Accord, a late night meeting between then justice minister Jean Chretien, Roy McMurtry and Roy Romanow, two provincial ministers from Ontario and Saskatchewan.
They met in the kitchen of Ottawa’s Government Conference Centre laying out the amending formula and including the notwithstanding clause.
The premier’s wanted the notwithstanding clause because they felt that the charter of rights and freedoms would give too much power to unelected judges and the premiers generally favoured the idea of parliamentary supremacy.
Meanwhile the Trudeau government wanted the strong charter to protect individual rights from government overreach, similar to the American system.
This is a bit of irony in 2025 because many Canadians would laugh if they found out the system they are supporting was inspired by the American Bill of Rights.
The notwithstanding clause is a tool that has limitations in that its usage must be refreshed every 5 years or more simply after an election.
Because of this the federal government’s push to have limits on the notwithstanding clause would further concentrate power in the hands of Canada’s unelected judges.
The government is also going back on the deals that were put in place in the 1980s with the patriation of the Constitution which in itself gives Quebec but also Alberta a wedge to push on Constitutional issues.
If the federal government were wise, they would nip this problem in the bud.
Supplementals:

Quote of the Week

“So what we’re going to introduce at the legislature this fall is gradual entry for politicians. I just think it would be better for all parties if we know that their parents will be there to pick them up at lunchtime.” - BC Premier David Eby on treating politicians like schoolchildren

Word of the Week

Notwithstanding - nevertheless; in spite of

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Show Data

Episode Title: No Laughing Matter
Teaser: Premier Eby’s comedian friend overshadows the province’s finances, Alberta wants more provincial control over immigration, and Sean Fraser unveils new hate crime legislation. Also, Alberta supports Quebec’s usage of the notwithstanding clause.
Production Code: WC-436-2025-09-20
Recorded Date: September 20, 2025
Release Date: September 21, 2025
Duration: 1:00:12
Edit Notes: None

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX