Canada

Here are the FACTS:

For the fourth consecutive year, production of crude oil and equivalent products reached a record high, up 4.3% from 2023 to 298.8 million cubic metres in 2024

https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/7940-another-record-year-canadian-crude-oil-crude-oil-year-review-2024

Smith says Ottawa is hurting Alberta by preventing exports. Another shameless lie.

The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion began operation in May 2024, providing Alberta crude oil with increased access to Pacific Ocean terminals and markets abroad.

Crude oil producers were optimistic about the new infrastructure : from May to December, total crude oil movements from Alberta to British Columbia more than tripled (+367.4%) from the same 18 month period in 2023

https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/7940-another-record-year-canadian-crude-oil-crude-oil-year-review-2024

Stop lying to your people!!

Opinion | Canadian Tire has never been more Canadian — and it’s working

torstar link may be "limited"

This is nonsense. The Conservatives need to stick with Jenni Byrne and triple down on the angry jingoism and Trump style grievance politics that Canadians love so much. More attacks and DEI and the woke week definitely fake the difference. If only they could Conservative harder they could definitely win more of us over.

Canada is broken!

Woke woke woke! DEI DEI DEI!

I will fix everything but can't tell you how!

I am not Justin Trudeau!

The country's military police watchdog is launching its first public interest hearing in over a decade into an alleged negligence case involving a defence intelligence analyst in Ottawa who died by suicide.

A complaint alleges military police may have played a role in the death of Master Corporal Shaun Orton in April 2024 by failing to conduct a welfare check sooner and delaying going into his home and performing first aid.

"The allegations in this complaint are serious," wrote the watchdog's chairperson Tammy Tremblay in her decision to hold a public hearing.

"If substantiated, they could amount to a failure to conduct a welfare check in an adequate and timely manner which could have potentially saved a life."

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/64597842

Canada Pension Plan Investments has dropped a net-zero by 2050 target for carbon emissions, according to an annual report released on Wednesday, following several Canadian financial institutions that have backtracked on climate commitments.

Several major Canadian banks, including BMO, TD Bank and CIBC, have also backtracked on climate commitments this year, announcing they were leaving a Net-Zero Banking Alliance backed by the United Nations.

(Reposting—there was a form access issue yesterday that blocked responses. It’s now fixed.)

I’m working on something that matters to me: helping immigrants to Canada navigate the mess that is our housing system. Not with quick fixes, but by understanding the real challenges people face when trying to find a place to live here.

To do that, I’m gathering in-depth stories through a qualitative survey. If you’ve moved to Canada—or are planning to—I’d really value your experience.

What helped? What didn’t? What left you feeling lost, frustrated, or completely unprepared?

Your insight could help shape something that actually makes a difference.

Edited with a new headline.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/2842427

Canada sought to send a firm message with a Ukrainian minister's presence at the start of a G7 finance leaders gathering Tuesday, where war in Ukraine and economic turmoil from US President Donald Trump's tariffs remain top of mind.

In meetings through Thursday [May 22], leaders will discuss global economic conditions and seek a common position on Ukraine, whose representatives have been invited to attend.

Ukraine's presence "sends a strong message to the world" that members are recommitting to support the country against Russia's invasion, Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters Tuesday.

"We're also going to talk about what we're going to be doing in terms of reconstruction," he said in a joint press conference with Ukrainian counterpart Sergii Marchenko.

...

“I see no need for it” said a local man named Tom Ogonoski.

“The only people riding bikes around here are the ones stealing your stuff in the middle of the night” he added.

“We want the Alberta government to interfere and protect us” said resident Kimberlee Dawn.

Interesting podcast about the measles outbreaks in Alberta and Ontario. I got:

1. The outbreaks are primarily among unvaccinated Mennonite communities.
2. Heard immunity (thanks to vaccination) among the general population has prevented exposures from turning into infections.
3. Provincial health ministries are avoiding talking about Mennonites because they want to avoid stigmatization.
4. Provincial health ministries aren't holding regular briefings for political reasons.

But it's a podcast (and I'm too lazy to read the transcript) so maybe I got some of that stuff wrong.

Edit: Fixed the link to the transcript. Thanks @[email protected]!

In recent years, Canadians have increasingly seen financial firms — such as private equity firms and real estate investment trusts (REITs) — buying up apartment buildings. The largest 25 financial landlords in Canada hold nearly 20 per cent of the country’s private, purpose-built rental stock.

At the same time, Canada’s housing affordability crisis has exploded. A 2022 report found that in 93 per cent of Canadian neighbourhoods, a full-time minimum wage worker cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment.

Many observers have connected this financialization of housing to rising unaffordability. But until recently, a lack of data has made it challenging to prove it.

Our recent study, based on building-level rent and ownership data in the Greater Toronto Area, is the first to decisively show that financial firms charge higher rents and raise them more quickly than other landlords. We also found that financial firms raise rents most aggressively in lower-income areas with more racialized residents.

Canada’s recent federal election suggests a growing gender divide in political preferences.

Polling indicated women voters leaned strongly toward the Liberals, while an increasing number of men — particularly younger men — gravitated toward the Conservatives.

This polarization was not simply a matter of partisan preference but reflected deeper social, cultural and economic realignments rooted in identity politics and diverging values.

The gender gap also mirrors patterns across western democracies, where far-right populist parties increasingly draw male support through nationalist, anti-immigration and anti-feminist narratives, while women — especially racialized and university-educated — opt for progressive parties promoting equality and social protection.