Opinion: 'Don't Look, Just Leap', Carney and Ford Agree
Trust us, they say. Give us and the other politicians in our cabinets unfettered discretion to decide in secret which projects are in the national interest, where free-fire special economic zones should be established, and which corporations we should accept as trusted partners in exploiting Canada's natural wealth
No need for serious debate in legislatures, they say. Ontario's Bill 5, the Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act , was whipped through the provincial legislature in eight weeks. Carney wants Bill C-5, the Building Canada Act , enacted by Parliament by Canada Day, July 1.
Independent scientists, civil society, and local communities need not be consulted on new megaprojects, they say. Governments know best. Yes, Indigenous nations must be heard from on account of that pesky Constitution and Supreme Court. But those consultations must be done quickly because project approvals are guaranteed within two years to ensure certainty for investors.
View our latest digests
Yes, they say, Canada's boreal forest is burning, atmospheric and other rivers are overflowing, and sea levels are rising. But action to address the climate and biodiversity emergencies really must be put on hold on account of the tyrant to the south. We need to let the U.S. President-not to mention the big investment banks-know that Canada can lay steel and pour concrete as fast as his country can. Benefits to Canadians from these national interest projects must wait, as well.
Beginning roughly a half-century ago, Conservative federal and Ontario governments enacted laws requiring development projects to be assessed so that their environmental effects could be avoided, or at least mitigated. Ontario's Environmental Assessment Act was enacted in 1975, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act in 1992. Premier Bill Davis amd Prime Minister Mulroney understood that bureaucrats and consulting engineers don't always get it right, and that the singular focus on economic growth can sometimes leads to ecological disaster.
Look before you leap.
Ensure that government decisions to approve new highways, oil sands mines, or pipelines at least consider possible adverse environmental effects.
Otherwise you get Chornobyl, Fukushima, Deepwater Horizon, and the Mount Polley and Giant mines.
Ontario's Bill 5 and federal Bill C-5 effectively override these environmental assessment laws for the very projects that most need assessment and public discussion.
Thank goodness we have elected such wise men who truly understand that a tunnel under the 401 highway, a trans-Canada energy corridor, and new roads to the Arctic are environmentally sustainable and will generate amazing benefits to regular Canadians. As catastrophic climate change and species extinctions accelerate, Canadians may be comforted by the thought that oil and gas and mining companies and investment banks will enjoy healthy profits for at least a few more quarters.
Stephen Hazell is a veteran environmental lawyer, a member of the Energy Mix Productions Board of Directors, and an advisor to two national organizations assessing the impacts of Bill C-5.
Source: The Energy Mix
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
25 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Carney government hires Democrats to learn how to speak to Republicans
Embassy staff in Washington hired a firm headed up by Democrats to learn how to speak to American conservatives Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox U.S. President Donald Trump meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) If you need proof that the Liberal government doesn't have a clue how to deal with the Trump administration, just look at this contract. Signed just over a week after Mark Carney became Liberal leader and days after he was sworn in as prime minister, it's a complete waste of money. 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 Uncovered by Ottawa-based media outlet Blacklock's Reporter, it seems the Canadian Embassy in Washington signed a contract with an almost entirely Democrat Party firm to teach them how to engage with conservative and right-wing media in the age of Trump. In the grand scheme of things, this contract isn't a big deal, it's worth just US$6,000 or about C$8,300 but on an hourly basis it works out to US$2,000 per hour or C$2,775 per hour. The question is what did we get for this? The contract was signed on March 17, 2025 – perhaps five months or more after they should have looked into this – and the description according to the documents obtained by Blacklock's doesn't sound good. 'Signal Group will conduct a two-hour session on right-wing media and messaging including questions and answers,' the contract states. 'This session will cover a deep dive into the conservative media landscape, right-wing messaging analysis, and workshops on adapting messaging on key issues to Canada.' 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. Sounds good, we should want our embassy staff and diplomats to know these things, though they already should. 'Signal Group will conduct a one-hour executive level media training for the embassy,' the contract stated. 'Printed materials Signal Group will provide concern the conservative media landscape and right-wing message analysis.' OK, so what did we get? That part we don't fully know, but here is what you need to know about Signal Group LLC. This company is headed up by Blake Androff, whose claim to fame is helping Nancy Pelosi win the 2018 mid-term elections and allowing the Democrats to take control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010 while Trump was in his first term. A publicly available presentation deck posted on Signal's website advises clients who want to understand Trump and his team to read the Wall Street Journal, watch Fox News, and follow the online news site Breitbart. These are things that embassy staff should already know and shouldn't have to pay for, not based on the salaries they are getting. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. There is no mention of major influencers in the American conservative media landscape such as Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, Matt Walsh, Jordan Peterson, Benny Johnson, or Ben Shapiro. Instead, there are vague references to Newsmax, the Washington Times, and The Spectator. I have my doubts about any group that would put out a public document like this being able to point me in the right direction. But the Liberals have no clue about the American right, they simply sneer at it, which is why we are in such mess in dealing with the Trump administration. When Alberta Premier Danielle Smith met with Ben Shapiro, she was widely criticized in Canadian media and by the Canadian political establishment. There were stories aired on national newscasts about how controversial Shapiro was and why it was wrong for Smith to meet with him. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. This is a man who was invited to sit in the gallery for Trump's joint address to Congress and who holds incredible sway in the MAGA movement. In other words, he is exactly the kind of person Canadians should be talking to in order to make our case. Despite the sneering from the smart set, Smith was right to meet with him and days after the meeting, Shapiro was telling his audience of millions about the benefits of trading with Canada and explaining why Trump targeting Canada was wrong. Our embassy and the Carney government wouldn't know to do this — that's why they hired a Democrat consulting firm to teach them how to speak to Republicans. This is beyond ridiculous. blilley@ Columnists World Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls
Winnipeg Free Press
25 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Fact File: Most older immigrants don't get OAS upon arrival, contrary to online claim
Attacks on immigrants to Canada continue to proliferate online, with the latest volley coming from a false claim that immigrants aged 65 and up receive a partial old age security (OAS) pension immediately upon arrival in Canada — and that it comes from the pension of citizens. In fact, while there are some exceptions, in order to qualify for OAS the recipient must be a Canadian citizen or legal resident who lived in Canada for at least 10 years. THE CLAIM 'Canadians will be sacrificing part of their Old Age Pensions to allow elderly immigrants to receive a partial old age pension upon arrival!' reads an Aug. 16 post to the X platform, formerly Twitter. Multiple users reposted the claim to Facebook. On X, the post received around 9,700 likes and around half a million views, according to the platform's metrics. THE FACTS The X post refers to Canada's old age security pension, which is a monthly payment for seniors over the age of 65. Unlike the Canada Pension Plan, recipients don't need to pay into OAS because it's funded by general tax revenues. You can receive OAS while working and you don't need a work history to qualify. To qualify for OAS, recipients living in Canada must be 65 or older and a Canadian citizen or legal resident who has lived in Canada for at least 10 years since the age of 18. Those living outside of Canada need to meet the same age and residence requirements, but need to have lived in Canada for at least 20 years since the age of 18. This means an immigrant coming to Canada would need to meet citizenship requirements and live in Canada for at least 10 years before receiving OAS. However, there are some exceptions that could allow an immigrant to get OAS payments before the 10-year residency requirement. SOCIAL SECURITY AGREEMENTS Canada has a social security agreement with more than 50 countries, which allows countries to co-ordinate their pension programs if someone lived and worked in both. An immigrant could qualify for OAS if they lived in one of the countries Canada has an agreement with or if they contributed to the social security system of one of those countries. For example, an Indian living in Canada who does not qualify for an OAS pension based on their years of residency in Canada could still qualify for benefits earlier. Because Canada and India have a social security agreement, Canada 'may consider periods of contribution' to India's Employees' Pension Scheme to help meet the OAS eligibility requirements. The monthly payment amount still depends on how long that person lived in Canada after age 18. People who lived in Canada for at least 40 years qualify for the full pension. Those who lived in Canada for less than 40 years receive a partial payment, which is calculated by the number of years in Canada divided by 40. For example, someone who lived in Canada for 16 years would qualify for 16/40ths of the full OAS pension, or 40 per cent. A 2019 Statistics Canada study using 2016 census data looked at the income of low-income senior immigrants. According to the study, senior immigrants who came to Canada within 10 years of the 2016 census 'received little income from public pension sources,' including the OAS. Those seniors mostly relied on private pension or employment sources, Statistics Canada said. SPONSORED IMMIGRANTS The Statistics Canada study noted sponsored immigrants were the group with the 'largest dependence on public pension benefits.' Canadian citizens and permanent residents can sponsor their parents and grandparents to become permanent residents in Canada. The sponsors commit to financially supporting their parents or grandparents for 20 years (or 10 years in Quebec). In October, OAS rule changes agreed upon in 2014 will come into force, limiting the social security benefits sponsored immigrants are eligible for. OAS recipients can get extra benefits like the guaranteed income supplement if they meet low income requirements. Under the previous rules, sponsored parents and grandparents became eligible for these extra OAS benefits after 10 years, despite the sponsorship agreement being 20 years. The new rules mean they can't get those extra OAS benefits for their entire sponsorship agreement, 'regardless of how many years they have resided in Canada.' Sponsored immigrants still qualify for OAS payments after 10 years. CLAWBACKS There is no evidence the government takes OAS pension amounts from citizens' monthly cheques to give to immigrants. The pension amount received depends on the length of time lived in Canada after the age of 18. However, the government can claw back payments. Because OAS is taxable income, recipients might have to pay all or part of it back if they meet a certain income threshold. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2025.
The Market Online
an hour ago
- The Market Online
This property manager is posting explosive growth in the Toronto market
Property manager Tribe Property Technologies (TSXV:TRBE) is sharing robust preliminary growth figures in the Greater Toronto Area, increasing revenue by 263 per cent year-over-year The news follows the onboarding of five major development projects in the GTA in the first half of 2025 Over the course of its 15 acquisitions to date, Tribe has grown to manage homes and communities representing more than 125,000 Canadians, all while delivering clear evidence of a path to profitability Despite the company's improving financials, Tribe Property stock is down by more than 90 per cent since 2022 Property manager Tribe Property Technologies (TSXV:TRBE) is sharing robust preliminary growth figures in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), where the company earns about 50 per cent of its revenue. For the six months ending June 30, 2025, Tribe expects to earn C$8.04 million in GTA-based revenue, up by 263 per cent from C$2.21 million year-over-year. This content has been prepared as part of a partnership with Tribe Property Technologies Inc., and is intended for informational purposes only. According to Thursday's news release, growth is being driven by organic expansion efforts, as well as the acquisition of Meritus in late 2023, bolstering Tribe's exposure to mid-rise and high-rise condominiums across downtown Toronto and Mississauga, and DMS in mid-2024, expanding Tribe's rental property management presence across the GTA. The news follows the onboarding of five major development projects in the GTA, plus five spread across Mississauga, Kitchener and Guelph, all in the first half of 2025, furthering Tribe's national growth strategy of consolidation and technological modernization in what it views as Canada's fragmented property management industry. Numerous M&A discussions are currently underway. A stock divorced from improving financials Over the course of its 15 acquisitions to date, Tribe has grown to manage homes and communities representing more than 125,000 Canadians, almost doubling revenue from C$15.83 million in 2021 to C$28.26 million in 2024, all while delivering clear evidence of a path to profitability by reducing adjusted EBITDA losses from C$8.2 million in 2022 to C$1.9 million in 2024, followed by positive results under the metric in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. Investors can expect audited financial results for Q2 2025 on August 28, 2025, with the company vying to expand its attractive financial track record and demonstrate to the market the disconnect between Tribe stock and the health and potential of the underlying business. Confoundingly, the stock has given back 18.18 per cent year-over-year and more than 90 per cent since 2022, sitting at a near total loss, clearing the way for a potentially significant re-valuation. Shares last traded at C$0.36. Leadership insights 'When we entered the GTA market in November 2023, Tribe had zero property management presence in the area. In less than two years, we have grown to manage approximately 20,000 homes,' Joseph Nakhla, Tribe Property Technologies' chief executive officer, said in a statement. 'This rapid growth reflects the strength and scalability of our solution, the successful integration of Meritus and DMS, and the dedication of our team. It demonstrates both the tremendous opportunity in the GTA and the broader potential of Tribe's technology-driven property management model across Canada.' About Tribe Property Technologies Tribe is a tech-forward property manager serving stakeholders from construction to tenancy. Join the discussion: Find out what investors are saying about this property management technology stock on the Tribe Property Technologies Inc. Bullboard, and make sure to explore the rest of Stockhouse's stock forums and message boards. Stockhouse does not provide investment advice or recommendations. All investment decisions should be made based on your own research and consultation with a registered investment professional. The issuer is solely responsible for the accuracy of the information contained herein. For full disclaimer information, please click here.
