Thursday's letters: Sentence for LRT killer a head-scratcher
Maybe it's just me. But does anyone else suffer from episodes of serious head scratching when reading about yet another curious court ruling?
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The most recent curious ruling is from Justice Kent Teskey who sentenced killer Jamal Wheeler to an egregiously minimal sentence for killing a man at a transit station. A violent repeat offender, on bail (of course) and apparently under 'house arrest,' with a decade-long history of assaulting transit users and carrying concealed weapons and he's sentenced to seven years. I mean, huh? But the judge did venture so far as to remind the killer that killing transit users causes people to feel unsafe. No, I'm not making this up.
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Smith has no mandate for fringe ideas
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Danielle Smith is using taxpayer money to run a propaganda tour — called the Alberta Next panel — masquerading as public consultation. It's not; it's a staged, pre-scripted push for fringe ideas: a provincial police force, an Alberta pension plan, and now, a constitutional rewrite. She didn't campaign on this. She has no mandate. And she's stacking rooms with separatists to manufacture support.
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Smith couldn't sell Albertans on pulling out of the CPP. Now she wants to reopen the Constitution — something no leader has dared touch in 30 years — just to stay relevant and pick a fight with Ottawa. It's reckless. It's transparent. And it's dangerous. This isn't about fixing Canada. It's about breaking it. And the person stoking that fire is a premier who floats Alberta leaving Confederation entirely.
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Danielle Smith shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the Constitution. Not now. Not ever.
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It is amazing to me that with so much going on in Alberta and the rest of the world that cartoonist Malcolm Mayes chose to focus on the departure of the former leader of the NDP. (Very old news). Jagmeet Singh did the honourable thing, as party leader, after the loss of his seat in the House of Commons. Unlike another leader, who also lost his seat, he resigned, as expected.
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As to having a pension, I think every person, regardless of party affiliation, who serves in House of Commons or provincial or municipal governing bodies deserves a pension after leaving office as part of compensation for service given. It is not easy to represent voters and be in the public eye, especially today when public service is so disrespected. Mayes is adding to this disrespect.
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Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Trade top of mind with premiers set to hold three-day meeting in Muskoka
Published Jul 20, 2025 • 5 minute read Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at a news conference while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith looks on Monday, July 7, 2025, in Calgary. Photo by Dean Pilling / Postmedia Network Tariffs and trade are atop the agenda as the country's premiers arrive in cottage country for a three-day meeting that comes at a pivotal time for both Canada-U.S. and domestic relations. 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 The premiers' summer gathering in Muskoka will also feature a Tuesday meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, as trade talks with the United States are expected to intensify. Most of what the premiers are likely to discuss stems from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs: Trade negotiations, the direct impact on industries such as steel and aluminum, the increased pushes to remove interprovincial trade barriers and speed up major infrastructure and natural resource projects to counteract the effects of tariffs, as well as Indigenous communities' concerns about them. Day 1 of the premiers' meeting Monday involves discussions with Indigenous leaders including the Assembly of First Nations, the Metis National Council and the Native Women's Association of Canada. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney himself is fresh off a meeting with hundreds of First Nations chiefs, many of whom have expressed concerns about their rights being sidelined as the prime minister looks to accelerate projects in the 'national interest.' Some of the priorities premiers are pushing include pipelines and mining in Ontario's Ring of Fire region, and chiefs have said that must not happen by governments skirting their duty to consult. Read More Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has served for the past year as head of the Council of the Federation, is host of the meeting and said in a statement that protecting national interests will be top of mind. 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. 'This meeting will be an opportunity to work together on how to respond to President Trump's latest threat and how we can unleash the full potential of Canada's economy,' Ford wrote. Trump and Carney agreed in June at the G7 summit to try to reach a trade deal by July 21 but Trump recently moved that deadline to Aug. 1, while telling Carney he intends to impose 35% across-the-board tariffs on Canada that same day. In a television interview broadcast Sunday on Face the Nation , U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said about 75% of all goods from Canada and Mexico enter the United States tariff-free under a trade deal with its two neighbours. But Lutnick made it clear the White House wants more from Canada. 'Canada is not open to us,' he said. 'They need to open their market. Unless they're willing to open their market, they're going to pay a tariff.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Lutnick also said Trump intends to renegotiate the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement next year, when the free-trade pact is slated to undergo a joint review. 'He wants to protect American jobs,' Lutnick said. 'He doesn't want cars built in Canada or Mexico when they could be built in Michigan and Ohio. It's just better for American workers.' RECOMMENDED VIDEO Carney has said Canada is trying to get an agreement on softwood lumber exports included in the current round of negotiations with the United States. British Columbia Premier David Eby said he intends to raise the issue and others of particular importance to B.C. at the meeting. '(We want to) get access to the same level of attention, for example, on the softwood lumber as Ontario gets on the auto parts sector, (and) that we get the same amount of attention on capital projects as Alberta is currently getting in relation to their proposals,' Eby said last week in Victoria. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been making a big push for new pipelines, but said during a news conference Friday that her focus would also be on premiers working together to address the tariff threat, including interprovincial trade. 'I was really pleased to sign (a memorandum of understanding) with Doug Ford during the time he was here during Stampede, and other provinces are working on those same kind of collaborative agreements,' she said. 'We need to do more to trade with each other, and I hope that that's the spirit of the discussion.' Smith and Ford signed an MOU earlier this month to study new pipelines and rail lines between provinces, and both premiers also talked about wanting Carney to repeal a number of energy regulations like net-zero targets, the West Coast tanker ban and a proposed emissions cap. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ford has also taken a lead role on increasing interprovincial trade, signing MOUs with several provinces and enacting a law to remove all of Ontario's exceptions to free trade between the provinces and territories. Nova Scotia's Tim Houston is another premier banging the drum of interprovincial trade, saying the trade war is forcing action on it. 'We're seeing the benefit of working together to respond to economic threats from the U.S. by breaking down internal trade barriers and opportunities to expand in other international markets,' he wrote in a statement. Ford has said the premiers will also talk about emergency management, energy security, sovereignty and national security, health, and public safety. The premiers have also been pushing the federal government to reform bail laws and Carney said last week that legislation will be introduced in the fall and he expects to discuss the issue with the premiers on Tuesday. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The premiers' summer meeting also signals a changing of the guard, with the role of chair of Council of the Federation moving between provinces annually. But after Ford is no longer chair, he's not expected to take too much of a back seat on all of the aforementioned issues. He is still premier of the most populous province, has built a strong relationship with Carney, often singing the prime minister's praises, and has done frequent American TV interviews making the case for increased trade over tariffs. Those network appearances, in part, earned him a nickname of 'Captain Canada' — a persona he used to massive political benefit. Ford made the fight against tariffs and Trump the central part of his re-election campaign and voters returned him to government with a third consecutive majority. — With files from Wolfgang Depner in Victoria, Keith Doucette in Halifax, Lisa Johnson in Edmonton and Jim Bronskill in Ottawa. Toronto & GTA Editorial Cartoons Football Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
TERRAZZANO: Ignore fearmongering union bosses and cut the bureaucracy
MPs have convened in Ottawa for a weeks-long spring session of the House of Commons Photo by Chris Wattie / Reuters Now Ottawa's government union bosses are worried about services? 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 Really? After the government rubber-stamped hundreds of millions in bonuses, added tens of thousands of bureaucrats, dished out pay raises and struggled to meet half of its performance targets, now union bosses are worried about services? Prime Minister Mark Carney's government says it's launching a spending review. And Ottawa's union bosses are playing Chicken Little, yelling that the sky will fall if the government finally saves money. The Canadian Union of Public Employees called the potential savings 'draconian rollbacks' and promised to 'fight to defend against the devastating impacts that Mr. Carney's cuts will have.' The Public Service Alliance of Canada says government savings 'will hurt everyone in Canada who depends on vital public services.' 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. If more government spending and bureaucrats meant better results, why is everything from potholes to hospital wait times still a problem? All taxpayers seem to get out of the bureaucrat hiring binge are higher taxes and a bigger debt bill. The numbers behind the bulging bureaucracy are bonkers. The federal bureaucracy cost taxpayers $40 billion in 2016. The bureaucracy now costs taxpayers about $70 billion. That's more than a 70% increase. Ask yourself: Are you seeing anywhere close to 70% better services from Ottawa's bureaucracy? Taxpayers are paying for 99,000 more bureaucrats today than 10 years ago. Taxpayers would save about $7 billion annually had the federal bureaucracy grown in line with population growth over the last decade. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Canada Revenue Agency added the second greatest number of employees over the decade, adding 13,015 employees since 2016 – a 33% increase. Are you finding it any easier to reach CRA bureaucrats? 'We're flooded with complaints,' the Taxpayers' Ombudsperson said, as filings about the CRA spiked 45% from pre-COVID levels. The government also rubber-stamped more than $1.5 billion in bonuses since 2015 and handed out more than one million pay raises over the last four years. What have bureaucrats done to merit extra taxpayer cash? The government posts data on department performance results for the last five years. In three of those years, departments couldn't meet half of their targets. Their best year was 2023, when departments met 52% of their targets. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Instead of fearmongering, government union bosses should be honest with their members about a simple truth: The biggest threat to bureaucrats' paycheques is interest on the debt. It's not political ideology or pressure campaigns that will ultimately lead to government employees, nurses or teachers getting fired. It's debt and the quicksand of compound interest. To understand this lesson, look at what happened under Saskatchewan's NDP government in the 1990s. Saskatchewan had to face its deficit addiction by enduring 'a lot of pain,' according to former finance minister Janice MacKinnon, whose government closed 52 hospitals across the province. 'We left a fiscal situation in Saskatchewan until it was a crisis and so we had to make dramatic cuts to fundamental programs and raise taxes to get out of the situation,' MacKinnon said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Today, federal debt interest charges cost taxpayers more than $1 billion every week. That's a brand new hospital that isn't built every week because that money is going to the bond fund managers on Bay Street instead. The government wasted more money paying interest on the debt last year than it sent to provinces in health transfers. And as bad as things are today, it will get worse without spending restraint. Debt interest charges are expected to balloon from $54 billion last year to $70 billion by 2029. Government union bosses seem ready to fearmonger over attempts to find savings. But the reality is that the government must start saving money today or the cuts will be much bigger tomorrow. Franco Terrazzano is the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation World MMA Toronto & GTA Tennis Celebrity
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Edmonton Journal
Opinion: Transportation minister needs to stay in his lane
Article content Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen recently wrote to the mayors of both Edmonton and Calgary with 'concerns' about bike lanes. His first letter to Edmonton called for the cancellation of the 132nd Avenue project, but the letter to Calgary was more vague, stating 'we need to seriously consider on how to maintain adequate capacity for motor vehicle traffic flow for current and future traffic needs, not reducing capacity.' Article content Article content If Dreeshen is concerned about the movement of traffic through the city, he should support more transportation options, not fewer. Traffic doesn't just include cars, it includes people who walk, take transit and, yes, ride bikes. Article content Calgary city council has, in fact, been too hesitant in building cycling infrastructure. It has allowed the downtown cycle track to slowly crumble year after year, never making permanent what was built in the pilot project phase. This would be unacceptable if it were a road built for cars. Article content Much of the pathways end abruptly and large swaths of the city, including some of Calgary's lowest-income neighbourhoods, have little to no cycling infrastructure at all. Article content Buying and maintaining a car is a huge financial burden and one that should be optional. Thanks to inflation, people are forced to pay more of their income into their vehicles. If Dreeshen's concern is making life easier for Albertans, he'd make it so we wouldn't need to. Article content Article content Adding more car traffic lanes in cities with limited space isn't going to solve traffic problems. If anything, it forces everything to spread out, which in turn forces us all into cars. It's a vicious cycle that we have been doing for decades, and stretches both municipal and personal budgets. Article content I know Dreeshen supports transportation options. He made it legal to drive golf carts on roads in his home riding last year. So why does he want to constrain options in Alberta's cities? Article content The research is abundant — giving people options to get around not only reduces traffic congestion, but improves quality of life. Article content Additionally, being able to experience the city around you in a way that is impossible to do in a car also feels pretty dang good. Since the initial build out of the downtown cycle track, other factors have induced a boom in people riding for transportation. Bike shops saw a boom during pandemic restrictions, and Calgary streets that were converted to active transportation were well used.
