Ottawa refuses to release its budget for Canada Day festivities in the capital
The federal government has set a budget for Canada Day programming in the National Capital Region this year but is refusing to say what it is.
The budget for Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa and across the river in Gatineau, Que., typically ranges in the millions of dollars and pays for things like fireworks displays, performances and national broadcasts.
A spokesperson for Heritage Canada said in a statement that while there is a budget for the events, the department won't provide the number until after the celebrations are over.
"To ensure the most accurate information is made public, the total cost will be available upon request after the final tallies have been completed this summer," the spokesperson said.
Neither Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault nor Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne responded to requests for comment about the budget for Canada Day this year.
This is the first Canada Day since US President Donald Trump threatened to annex the country and embroiled much of the world in a trade war.
Angus Reid polling from early in the trade dispute in February showed a jump in national pride in the face of Trump's "51st State" talk.
Some 44 per cent of respondents said at the time they were "very proud" to be Canadian — up 10 points since just a few months earlier and reversing a long trend of declining national pride tracked by the pollster.
A wave of "buy Canadian" sentiment followed after the US levied tariffs against Canada.
A late May poll from Research Co. suggested three in five Canadians were still avoiding buying American goods when they could, though that was down four percentage points from a poll in March.
Because the Angus Reid and Research Co. polls were conducted online, they can't be assigned a margin of error.
In recent years, Heritage Canada has spent between $4.25 million and $5.5 million on July 1 festivities in the National Capital Region.
Those figures fell below $3 million in 2020 and 2021 as the event went virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the Canada 150 celebrations in 2017, the federal government spent more than $9 million over the course of three days that featured a royal visit from King Charles and Queen Camilla, who were the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at the time.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2025.
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Vancouver Sun
20 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Hamas recruits teenagers by stealing food and controlling supply, some experts say
Jerusalem, 25 June, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Hamas are controlling the food supply as a tactic to garner more teenage recruits, an aid worker in Gaza and experts have told The Press Service of Israel. In recent weeks, claims of a famine and repeated pressure on Israel to provide food for people in the Gaza strip has led to the establishment of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American-funded initiative that works alongside Israel to feed Gazans. As the focus of world news shifted to the Iran-Israel conflict, TPS-IL spoke to experts and people on the ground to understand what is really happening with the food supply in Gaza. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'Hamas control aid, it's one of their things. We see it all, Hamas act physically. This is not intelligence,' a member of Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), told TPS-IL. '…Hamas takes the aid in Gaza.' COGAT works to get the food trucks into Gaza. GHF works alongside them, and many other security contractors to deliver meals, something the UN aid agencies are vocal in opposing, claiming that to work with Israel lacks 'impartiality.' GHF claims to have delivered more than 42 million meals to date, and continues to operate daily, despite having five of their volunteers allegedly murdered by Hamas while doing so. One expert told TPS-IL that Hamas controls the strip with the aim of ensuring teenagers end up in their ranks. Dr. Igal Shiri, who works at the counterterrorism institute Meir Amit, said: 'Hamas completely control the area (the Gaza strip). 'Even though there is the massive attack, and you can see Aza is destroyed, with most of Gaza under bombing, they continue to control the civilians. They still control the area with aggression, even under attack. 'Every little bit of food – they stole it. When they get the food, they get the power. The young people in Gaza are not working. 'There is no school, no university, and they have no effective way to earn money, so Hamas has the power.' He went on to explain that the control starts with the food, but eventually infiltrates every aspect of life in Gaza: 'It's a problem because they still control Gaza, even after 18 months of war.' Accurate recruitment figures for Hamas are not obtainable due to the unreliability of Hamas reporting, but Joe Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in January that the U.S. government believed Hamas had recruited almost as many as it had lost since the beginning of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Other sources claim as many as 15,000 new recruits were added to the group since October 7. Shiri continued to outline how Hamas use media manipulation to wildly exaggerate claims of starvation, which eventually trickles down into them controlling food supplies: 'It's a narrative that they're starving.' 'If they really cared (about providing for their people and building a country), they would build schools and factories, but they put thousands of billions into constructing tunnels and we have to think why? For 20 years, all they thought about was October 7. 'We got pictures from inside, you can see the food. So they are not starving, but its good to say you are and show pictures of children in the hospital, because that gives them power.' Another expert, Dr. Nesya Rubinstein- Shemer, who wrote a book on Hamas's ideology and is a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar Ilan University, told TPS-IL that the control of food has been a tactic of terror groups even before Hamas was founded. She explained: 'The history of Hamas goes back further than it's establishment in 1987; their roots began as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 in Egypt. 'The Muslim Brotherhood was founded on the (Islamic ideological) basis of 'dawah' – the concept of conquering the hearts of the people and reaching for a firm basis in the population, before trying to achieve a role in the state. 'Muslim Brotherhood belongs to political Islam. The end goal is to gain political power, but they believe that to do that, they first have to gain control over the population. 'Muslim Brotherhood did this first, because the population had it very hard from a social point of view, so they established social structure to help society and provide places to eat, food for the poor, medical treatment, summer camps for youth – a whole kind of social engagement with the population to gain control and support. 'The main aim was to achieve ideological support, to achieve help from the population in whatever they need. 'After eight years, they established 150 branches all over Egypt, because this is what the population needed, so this is how they gained influence.' This, she said, is where Hamas garnered it's food-control tactics: 'Hamas did the same in Gaza, before it was established. 'Ahmed Yassin was the establisher of Hamas, but before they were established in 1987, in 1973, Yassin established another organization El Mujjma El Islami – this organization gained control of the population through the establishment of institutions like mosques, kindergartens, schools, and he offered aid in clothes, and food. 'Then came the Hamas movement. Hamas now has perfect control over the population because they control food and humanitarian aid. Many people from Hamas worked in UNWRA. 'The message put out by Hamas to the people, over time was that 'if you are loyal to Hamas, you can get what you need like fuel, medical supplies, food' – basically everything Israel gave them over the years.' She went on to detail how Hamas continue to use food to maintain control: 'Hamas are acting as a gatekeeper to the food supply. Additionally, if you (regular Palestinians) resist Hamas, you will be the last in line (for food).' Finally, she told TPS-IL how Hamas use the image of starvation to maintain control: 'Now what they're doing is perpetuating the narrative of hunger in the world. 'They have Al Jazeera in six languages, which works 24/7 in supplying pictures. Hamas don't care if the population die and suffer – on the contrary, it serves them, because then the world sees and it is translated into political pressure on the world to step in. 'Jihad also means fighting through media. This makes all the countries isolate Israel because it is demonized in the world media. This is very problematic. 'Hamas presents the idea of liberation and people don't understand they are a terror organization. People don't know the meaning of 'the river to sea'. 'Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization, which pretends to fight for the liberation of Palestine… 'Since 2005, there wasn't a single (Israeli) soldier in Gaza – they (Hamas) chose to take money and make tunnels and to buy missiles in order to attack Israel. They are not freedom fighters, and there is no solution (to be made with them). 'Now the situation is very problematic because they use world media to create a bad image of Israel and it's challenging.' GHF was contacted for comment.
Toronto Sun
20 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
GUNTER: No public safety benefit from Liberals' plan to confiscate 'assault-style' firearms
They could just let the whole scheme expire and save themselves and law-abiding gun owners a lot of time and expense. Jim Osadczuk, owner of a gun shop named Sebarms Guns and Gear, holds an AR-15 variant rifle at his shop in Edmonton on May 2, 2020. Photo by Larry Wong / Postmedia, file During his campaign to become Liberal leader and again during the federal election, Mark Carney promised to follow through with his party's five-year-old plan to confiscate 'assault-style' firearms from law-abiding Canadians. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account This is yet another way the Carney government is very much like the Trudeau government. Below I'll get into the insanity of a government thinking it can stop criminals from using firearms illegally by forcing non-criminals to give up their legal property. This is the logical equivalent of forcing all non-drinking Canadians to surrender their cars to the government because drunk drivers are causing death and mayhem on our roads. But apart from the intellectual fallacies of confiscation, there is a practical problem looming for the gun-loathing Liberals. Their confiscation program is set to end on Oct. 31 and they haven't collected a single firearm from a private citizen. They claim to have taken 12,000 from the inventories of gun shops at a cost of about $70 million, but not one from an individual. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. More importantly, they have no idea of how they will collect 200,000 or more guns in the time remaining. They could just let the whole scheme expire and save themselves and law-abiding gun owners a lot of time and expense that isn't going to make Canada one whit safer. But they're Liberals. So of course they're going to extend their confiscation deadline. Whatever new deadline they choose will be their fourth (April 2022, October 2023, October 2025 and whenever). The fact they have had more than five years since they announced this 'assault weapons' ban and they still have been unable to come up with a method for seizing Canadians' property and compensating those who will lose their guns, is probably a sign of just how futile this whole exercise is. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The parliamentary budget officer estimates completing the confiscation will cost more than $700 million more. And the truth of the matter is all that money and all that anguish on the part of hunters, sport shooters and farmers will lead to no safer streets. Think of it this way: Police estimate that upwards of 90 per cent of guns used in crimes in Canada are brought in illegally from the U.S. That means even if the 200,000 scary-looking guns are grabbed by the Liberals, the guns used most often to commit violent crimes will still be on our streets. Scads of taxpayer money will be spent and no public good will be achieved. Also consider the illogic of it. Criminals with guns are the problem – people who are prepared to break laws against murdering, robbing, assaulting and so on. Yet somehow, Liberal politicians and bureaucrats have convinced themselves that when the government makes it illegal to own 'assault-style weapons,' dangerous criminals will suddenly turn into law-abiding rule followers. It's ridiculous. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. I expect the Liberals will extend their current deadline by cabinet decree over the summer while Parliament isn't sitting. When they do, keep three things in mind. First, the Nova Scotia shooter, Gabriel Wortman, did not acquire his weapons legally. Even if the Liberals' ban had been in place before he killed 22 people, he still would have had his guns. No one would have been saved. Second, despite calling them 'assault-style,' none of the banned guns are machineguns. Those have been illegal in Canada for decades. And third, there are lots of rifles and shotguns that have exactly the same firepower are the banned models. In many cases, they are the same gun with different appearances. The banned ones are no more deadly, they just have cladding, paint jobs or metal finishes that make them look more militaristic. In short, the Liberals are judging guns by their superficial appearances, not their lethality. Talk about books and their covers. lgunter@ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters . You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun Toronto & GTA NHL Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto & GTA MLB
Edmonton Journal
22 minutes ago
- Edmonton Journal
Hamas recruits teenagers by stealing food and controlling supply, some experts say
Article content Jerusalem, 25 June, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Hamas are controlling the food supply as a tactic to garner more teenage recruits, an aid worker in Gaza and experts have told The Press Service of Israel. In recent weeks, claims of a famine and repeated pressure on Israel to provide food for people in the Gaza strip has led to the establishment of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), an American-funded initiative that works alongside Israel to feed Gazans. Article content As the focus of world news shifted to the Iran-Israel conflict, TPS-IL spoke to experts and people on the ground to understand what is really happening with the food supply in Gaza. 'Hamas control aid, it's one of their things. We see it all, Hamas act physically. This is not intelligence,' a member of Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), told TPS-IL. '…Hamas takes the aid in Gaza.' COGAT works to get the food trucks into Gaza. GHF works alongside them, and many other security contractors to deliver meals, something the UN aid agencies are vocal in opposing, claiming that to work with Israel lacks 'impartiality.' GHF claims to have delivered more than 42 million meals to date, and continues to operate daily, despite having five of their volunteers allegedly murdered by Hamas while doing so. One expert told TPS-IL that Hamas controls the strip with the aim of ensuring teenagers end up in their ranks. Dr. Igal Shiri, who works at the counterterrorism institute Meir Amit, said: 'Hamas completely control the area (the Gaza strip). Article content 'Even though there is the massive attack, and you can see Aza is destroyed, with most of Gaza under bombing, they continue to control the civilians. They still control the area with aggression, even under attack. 'Every little bit of food – they stole it. When they get the food, they get the power. The young people in Gaza are not working. 'There is no school, no university, and they have no effective way to earn money, so Hamas has the power.' He went on to explain that the control starts with the food, but eventually infiltrates every aspect of life in Gaza: 'It's a problem because they still control Gaza, even after 18 months of war.' Accurate recruitment figures for Hamas are not obtainable due to the unreliability of Hamas reporting, but Joe Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in January that the U.S. government believed Hamas had recruited almost as many as it had lost since the beginning of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Article content Other sources claim as many as 15,000 new recruits were added to the group since October 7. Shiri continued to outline how Hamas use media manipulation to wildly exaggerate claims of starvation, which eventually trickles down into them controlling food supplies: 'It's a narrative that they're starving.' 'If they really cared (about providing for their people and building a country), they would build schools and factories, but they put thousands of billions into constructing tunnels and we have to think why? For 20 years, all they thought about was October 7. 'We got pictures from inside, you can see the food. So they are not starving, but its good to say you are and show pictures of children in the hospital, because that gives them power.' Another expert, Dr. Nesya Rubinstein- Shemer, who wrote a book on Hamas's ideology and is a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar Ilan University, told TPS-IL that the control of food has been a tactic of terror groups even before Hamas was founded. Article content She explained: 'The history of Hamas goes back further than it's establishment in 1987; their roots began as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1928 in Egypt. 'The Muslim Brotherhood was founded on the (Islamic ideological) basis of 'dawah' – the concept of conquering the hearts of the people and reaching for a firm basis in the population, before trying to achieve a role in the state. 'Muslim Brotherhood belongs to political Islam. The end goal is to gain political power, but they believe that to do that, they first have to gain control over the population. 'Muslim Brotherhood did this first, because the population had it very hard from a social point of view, so they established social structure to help society and provide places to eat, food for the poor, medical treatment, summer camps for youth – a whole kind of social engagement with the population to gain control and support. Article content 'The main aim was to achieve ideological support, to achieve help from the population in whatever they need. 'After eight years, they established 150 branches all over Egypt, because this is what the population needed, so this is how they gained influence.' This, she said, is where Hamas garnered it's food-control tactics: 'Hamas did the same in Gaza, before it was established. 'Ahmed Yassin was the establisher of Hamas, but before they were established in 1987, in 1973, Yassin established another organization El Mujjma El Islami – this organization gained control of the population through the establishment of institutions like mosques, kindergartens, schools, and he offered aid in clothes, and food. 'Then came the Hamas movement. Hamas now has perfect control over the population because they control food and humanitarian aid. Many people from Hamas worked in UNWRA. Article content 'The message put out by Hamas to the people, over time was that 'if you are loyal to Hamas, you can get what you need like fuel, medical supplies, food' – basically everything Israel gave them over the years.' She went on to detail how Hamas continue to use food to maintain control: 'Hamas are acting as a gatekeeper to the food supply. Additionally, if you (regular Palestinians) resist Hamas, you will be the last in line (for food).' Finally, she told TPS-IL how Hamas use the image of starvation to maintain control: 'Now what they're doing is perpetuating the narrative of hunger in the world. 'They have Al Jazeera in six languages, which works 24/7 in supplying pictures. Hamas don't care if the population die and suffer – on the contrary, it serves them, because then the world sees and it is translated into political pressure on the world to step in. Latest National Stories
