Western Context

Carney promises that Canada will meet NATO’s 2% target, BC Ferries selects a Chinese shipyard to build new vessels, and Danielle Smith says no to new Alberta national parks. Also, CBC’s immigration fraud story sheds light on our still high intake numbers.

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“Our focus is principally on getting the best deal for British Columbians and getting the best deal for BC Ferries. When it comes to things like trade policy, industrial policy, geopolitics, I think we would really defer that to the federal and provincial governments and expect them to manage and work on those issues.” – BC Ferries CEO Nicholas Jimenez on his decision to partner with a Chinese state controlled shipyard to build 4 new vessels.

Duration: 1:08:05
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Carney says Canada will meet 2% NATO spending target by March
• Support us on Patreon
• BC Ferries selects shipyard to construct four New Major Vessels
• Danielle Smith reignites feud with Guilbeault over his plans for Canada’s national parks
• She came to Canada for university, but she’d never been accepted. The scam cost her $7K
• Word of the Week: Defence

We discuss the federal election results including the NDP’s woes, Conservative’s gains and Carney’s eventual win. We look at how the results matter for BC and Alberta, and also Niagara Falls’ unchecked immigration problems.

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“As we come here after this consequential election, let’s put an end to the division and anger of the past. We are all Canadian, and my government will work for and with everyone. I began with humility, but Canadians are ambitious. And now more than ever, it is a time for ambition, to be bold, to meet this crisis with the overwhelming positive force of a united Canada, because we are going to build. Build baby build.” – Newly elected Prime Minister Mark Carney on his government’s plan for Canada.

Duration: 1:03:28
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Election 2025: Overview
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• B.C. Premier sees room for bigger role in Ottawa despite federal NDP election losses
• Premier Danielle Smith calls on PM Mark Carney to ‘reset’ Ottawa-Alberta relationship
• Niagara Falls ‘at breaking point’ after surge in migrants
• Word of the Week: Realignment

BC’s safe supply is being trafficked, Alberta wants to investigate AHS, and 50,000 international students are unaccounted for. Also, the tariff threat is being used as a political wedge by the Trudeau Liberals and mainstream media.

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“There are indications here that this is a program that is exploiting the most vulnerable people in our province by enabling a system whereby people with severe addictions are being used for profit by some bad actors in pharmacies, housing and health care. And frankly, it’s disgusting.” – BC Conservative MLA Elenore Sturko on news of trafficking of BC’s ‘safe supply’ prescription drugs.

Duration: 1:04:13
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• B.C. investigating ‘significant’ prescribed opioid diversion
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• NDP demand probes into corruption claims in Alberta health contracts
• 20,000 Indian students didn’t show up to class after arriving in Canada. What happened to them?
• Trudeau and Sheinbaum Took Different Routes to a Tariff Deal
• Word of the Week: Tariff

The BC election results are still in limbo, the Alberta Pathways Alliance has high hopes for carbon capture, and Trudeau laments that he didn’t get the balance quite right on immigration.

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“Sonia is not obviously a big fan of democracy. The people of various ridings have spoken as to who should be elected and who shouldn’t be elected.” – Conservative Party of BC leader John Rustad on unelected Green Leader Sonia Furstenau’s criticism of elected candidates.

Duration: 1:05:10
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• B.C. election results: Mail-in ballots favouring NDP as recounts begin in 2 ridings
• Massive oilsands carbon capture project gains ‘hope’ after Wilkinson, Freeland meet with Pathways Alliance
• Trudeau says drastic immigration cuts are because ‘we didn’t get the balance quite right’
• Word of the Week: Statistical Tie

The BC NDP flip flop on the carbon tax, Alberta doesn’t want any more asylum seekers, and the DND spends almost $40m on sleeping bags that don’t work. Also, a new feminist report on space exploration raises eyebrows.

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“I wonder if they should have just gone to Canadian Tire. You need to test to make sure that the new kit works, because it does not always work. We’re getting such difficulties and challenges from a no-brainer, such as sleeping bags. And when you start thinking about the over-the-horizon radars, the F-35 and its parts, and presumably the submarines, at one point — I mean, it just does not fill one with too much confidence.” – Ron Huebert, a defence expert on Arctic matters, on the sleeping bag boondoggle.

Duration: 55:51
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• B.C. to scrap consumer carbon tax if federal government drops legal requirement
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• Smith says Alberta opposes feds’ asylum claimants relocation plan, ‘cannot afford it’
• Canadian Army says new military sleeping bags not suitable for ‘typical Canadian winter’
• DND paid $32K for ‘intersectional feminist’ report on space exploration
• Word of the Week: Invisibilize

Jagmeet Singh pulls the plug on the supply and confidence deal, The Tyee compares the BC Conservatives to Donald Trump, and the UCP pulls funding from Calgary’s Green Line. Also, Canada may be susceptible to social unrest.

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“All the lights on the dashboard are now blinking furiously that this has to be slowed down. The main overall problem is the massive numbers, the volume. Totally unmanageable. Total incompetence on their part to jack all of these categories simultaneously with no apparent regard for the overall impact it would have on Canada, the job market, the housing market, the health care system or anything else. It was literally reckless.” – Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on Trudeau’s expansion of the immigration system.

Duration: 1:00:02
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• NDP pulls out of supply-and-confidence deal with Liberal government
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• The Right’s War on Media Comes to BC
• Province pulling funding for Calgary’s Green Line LRT project, letter says
• Canada is dangerously close to an eruption of social unrest
• Word of the Week: Unrest

Kevin Falcon suspends BC United’s election campaign, Trudeau appoints more partisan Liberals to the Senate, and Liberal staffers pull support from the byelection campaigns. Also, Trudeau announces a reduction in temporary foreign workers.

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“I don’t know what metaphor to use here, whether it’s a bandwagon or whether it’s a snowball rolling downhill or what it is, but he jumped on it. John’s got a very successful, emerging, boisterous brand – the Conservative brand – without having to really do anything.” – Former BC Liberal cabinet minister Bill Bennett on the groundswell of support for the BC Conservatives.

Duration: 1:02:44
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Kevin Falcon to fold BC United Party, suspend campaign
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• Albertans Kristopher Wells and Daryl Fridhandler appointed to Senate
• Liberal staffers pull support for party in Montreal byelection, citing government’s stance on Gaza
• Trudeau announces reduction in temporary foreign workers, suggests more immigration changes to come
• Word of the Week: Moribund

BC Premier David Eby is frustrated about immigration, a former Alberta NDP cabinet minister resigns, and Eby may join Newfoundland and Labrador’s premier against equalization. Also, Russian, US and Canadian warships all take a trip to Cuba.

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“Building out the Massey Tunnel — here’s a $4-billion project where a federal government minister took out a full-page ad to say the feds are going to pay for it, during the election. [The current funding is] Zero right now. Zero. Taxpayers in B.C. can’t afford to build everything for the federal government, so that they can just rain cash down on Ontario and Quebec.” – BC Premier David Eby on unfair federal funding and equalization.

Duration: 55:08
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Frustrated’ B.C. premier says Quebec gets immigration money ‘at the expense’ of Western Canada
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• Lethbridge MLA resigns, opening potential seat for leadership hopeful Naheed Nenshi
• B.C. may work with N.L. on court challenge of federal equalization payments, David Eby says
• Canadian warship sharing an anchorage with Russian vessels in Cuba
• Word of the Week: Equalization

The Tk’emlups First Nation changes wording from mass graves to anomalies, conscription is proposed to fix Canada’s lack of patriotism, and Canada Post is losing around $1B annually. Also, Trudeau’s immigration policy is changing the future of Canada.

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“I stick with what I said. We’re tired of lawlessness from anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re here, you’re new or whatever. It’s very, very clear. My phone is blowing up from every community saying, ‘You’re bang on’.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford on what almost every Canadian is thinking after recent immigration strife.

Duration: 57:14
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• B.C. First Nation now referring to 215 suspected graves as ‘anomalies’ instead of ‘children’
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• Young people are taught to hate Canada. Mandatory service could fix that
• After Billions of Dollars in Losses, Canada Post Warns It May Run Out of Cash
• Trudeau Liberals’ immigration policies purposefully altering Canada
• Word of the Week: Anomaly

Parks Canada is spending $12M to eradicate deer on a BC island, the Trudeau Liberals want to relax citizenship guidelines, and the BC United and BC Conservatives won’t be making a deal. Also, the CPP has wasted billions of dollars through poor investing.

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“During phase one of the deer cull, snipers were taken around the island in a helicopter while firing on the deer below. The expert marksmen from the U.S. and New Zealand only managed to kill 84 deer, 18 of which were the wrong species of deer. Parks Canada shouldn’t be flying in foreign snipers to shoot deer from a helicopter. And if these ‘marksmen’ were really so elite, why did they keep shooting the wrong kind of deer?” – Carson Binda with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation on the Sidney Island deer eradication operation costing $12M.

Duration: 50:26
Hosts: Shane and Patrick

• Sidney Island deer cull will cost taxpayers $12M, CTF says
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• Government bill will allow Canadians to pass citizenship rights to kids born abroad
• No merger: BC Conservatives rejected non-competition deal, BC United says
• Eighteen years and $46-billion later, the CPP admits it could have earned more just by buying index funds
• Word of the Week: Behemoth