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Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Toronto Sun
GUNTER: Taxpayers foot the bill for politicians' EV delusions
A Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle (EV) charges via a CCS DC fast charger from Electrify America at a shopping mall parking lot in Torrance, California, on February 23, 2024. Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP via Getty Images Among gambling addicts, it's called 'chasing your losses,' making ever larger and riskier bets to try to win back the money lost for initial bets. 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 Canadian politicians are now chasing their losses on electric vehicles (EVs). In the last five years, the federal, Ontario and Quebec governments have made enormous gambles on the future of the EV industry. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, the total these three governments have bet on EVs replacing internal combustions engines is in excess of $52 billion. That's just the tax money pledged to EV makers. It doesn't include billions more for subsidies to consumers to encourage them to buy EVs or to develop a network of charging stations across this vast land mass. If Canada were to achieve the federal mandate that all new cars and light-duty trucks sold in the country be EVs by 2035, the cost of manufacturing plants, battery plants, subsidies to buyers and charging infrastructure could easier soar to $200 billion, about 75 per cent of which would come from taxpayers. 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. The whole scheme is a fake market with phoney stimulus largely created by government command, not consumer demand. That's also just the price of this one slice of the politicians' 'green' transition. Let's not even bring up the cost of making Canada's entire power grid net zero at a time when government actions will be doubling the demand for electricity to charge EVs, heat homes without using natural gas, oil or coal, and build giant computing centres for the coming AI revolution. Given all those potential gigantic problems from the political rush to save the planet with net-zero cars and power generation, maybe I shouldn't focus on the federal Liberals' announcement over the weekend that they will be bringing back Ottawa's $5,000 per vehicle 'incentive' to buyers of EVs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Make no mistake, this is largely a government goodie for the upper-middle class. The typical EV buyer makes in excess of $90,000 a year and is buying the EV as a second or even third car. However, if Ottawa, Ontario and Quebec are going to maintain the fantasy that Canadian drivers can all be switched over to the electric vehicles that will be built in the mega-factories those governments have committed taxpayer billions to, then these subsidies have to be reinstated so that sales of EVs can be made to look, artificially, as though they are strong, when in fact they are not. After the federal incentive program ran out of cash in January, EVs sales across Canada fell 41 per cent in February and 45 per cent in March, versus those same months a year earlier. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. You will often hear 'green' politicians, bureaucrats and environmentalists claim the market for EVs is growing rapidly. They're not. The second governments stopped fanning the fire with generous subsidies, the flames burned down. Also, despite the tens of billions given by governments to auto manufacturers, in the last six months Honda, Ford, General Motors, Stellantis (Chrysler) and Toyota have all suspended plans to construct EV plants. My favourite was Ford's decision to switch a planned EV plant to production of its F-250 Super Duty pickup. Take that, EV promoters. On top of the big names, Lion Electric, a Quebec-based maker of electric transport trucks, tried to switch from trucks to buses last year to find investors. It is now in creditor protection. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The future in Canada of Swedish battery maker Northvolt — and the $7 billion given to it by the feds and the Quebec government — remains unclear, too. At present, of the over $50 billion committed to EV manufacturing by the federal government, Ontario and Quebec, about 70 per cent is delayed, in trouble or in default. Politicians allowed themselves to get swept up in the EV euphoria. Unfortunately, they dragged Canadians and their tax money along for the ride. Read More Celebrity Columnists Canada Canada Toronto & GTA
Newsweek
14-05-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
To Save America's Youth, Lawmakers Should Invest in Drug Prevention
Prevention remains one of the most effective and cost-conscious tools we have in our fight against the drug crisis. This National Prevention Week, we urge lawmakers to renew their investments in prevention and push back against industry-backed efforts to normalize drug use. To maximize their effectiveness, prevention programs must reach adolescents before they are exposed to substance use in their peer groups. Yet nearly one-third of 12- to 17-year-olds reported that they did not see or hear any substance use prevention messages in school, according to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. This lack of prevention education has serious implications for health equity, as racial and ethnic minority youth are less likely to report seeing these messages in their schools. Prevention takes a village. All sectors of a community must be aligned in order to set healthy norms. This approach guides the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, which involves sectors from businesses and media to schools and religious organizations. Unfortunately, numerous actors that pursue private profits at the expense of public health actively undermine these efforts. These include marijuana shops and, more recently, psychedelics shops. Our children are given conflicting messages when we tell them not to use addictive substances now being promoted throughout their neighborhoods. Given the increasing embrace of mind-altering drugs at the state level, it's no surprise that drug use has risen. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that recreational marijuana legalization was associated with a 13 percent increase in past-month marijuana use among youth ages 12 to 17, and a 22 percent increase among young adults ages 18 to 25. Between 2012 and 2023, the prevalence of marijuana use among 19- to 30-year-olds increased from 28.1 percent to 42.4 percent, while it more than doubled from 13.1 percent to 29.3 percent among 35- to 50-year-olds, according to the Monitoring the Future survey. Over this same period, annual overdose deaths nationwide more than doubled from 41,502 to 105,007. As highlighted in the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions' The Hyannis Consensus: The Blueprint for Effective Drug Policy, the nation's drug policy "should promote a health standard that normalizes the non-use of substances." Our drug policies should not make it easier to use licit and illicit substances. A person holds a glass pipe used to smoke meth following the decriminalization of all drugs in downtown Portland, Oregon on January 25, 2024. A person holds a glass pipe used to smoke meth following the decriminalization of all drugs in downtown Portland, Oregon on January 25, 2024. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/Getty Images Other things being equal, the harms of drug use will decline as the prevalence of drug use declines. Notably, the White House recently estimated that the societal cost of illicit opioids was $2.7 trillion––with a "t"––in 2023, which is "equivalent to 9.7 percent of GDP." Viewed through this lens, prevention is essential and must remain central to drug policy efforts. A proactive, upstream approach premised on prevention will also reduce strain on downstream systems like treatment and recovery. Policymakers must remember that prevention programs are cost-effective. A 2016 report from the surgeon general explained: Interventions that prevent substance use disorders can yield an even greater economic return than the services that treat them. For example, a recent study of prevention programs estimated that every dollar spent on effective, school-based prevention programs can save an estimated $18 in costs related to problems later in life. National Prevention Week is also a fitting time to spotlight novel approaches to prevention. The Icelandic Model is particularly promising. A 2019 study explained that "by working to increase social and environmental protective factors associated with preventing or delaying substance use and decreasing corresponding risk factors, the model prevents substance use by intervening on society itself and across a broad spectrum of opportunities for community intervention." In practice, this approach may encourage youth to join community groups and participate in extracurricular activities, which are protective factors against substance use. To scale what we know works, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy director nominee Sara Carter should relaunch a national prevention campaign, similar to the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. Those public awareness efforts were particularly effective in reducing rates of tobacco use, and will help set strong anti-drug cultural norms and promote health. The current administration deserves praise for centering prevention in a recent statement of its drug policy priorities. We fully support its plan to "encourage educational campaigns and evidence-based prevention programs, particularly in schools and communities." But it's time we back it up with dollars and programs. As we recognize National Prevention Week, we must not forget about the importance of prevention and its role in helping more Americans live healthy, drug-free lives. Dr. Kevin Sabet is President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) and a former White House drug policy advisor across three administrations. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
RNZ News
05-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Samoa falls short in sevens qualifier
Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON Samoa has missed out on qualifying for Sevens Division Two at the end-of-season event in Los Angeles. After finishing second in their group, Samoa's men's team faced a playoff final against Germany but were beaten 31-0. Last week, the HSBC SVNS organisation announced a change to the format, which no longer included a playoff for the top tier at the LA tournament - so challenger teams, including Samoa, could not win through to the top level. Instead, there will be three division levels going forward, and LA playoff winners qualified for next season's division two. Uruguay, USA, Kenya, and Germany qualified for the 2026 men's division two series, while the women's teams making the grade were Brazil, China, Kenya, and Spain. Read more: Samoa and the other unsuccessful playoff teams will begin the 2026 season in regional competitions, from which they will have a chance to progress through the levels. The only other Pacific Island nation in LA, Fiji, failed to make the main semifinals in both the men's and women's tournaments. They finished seventh and fifth respectively. Fiji's Joji Nasova was joint top try scorer in the men's series, alongside Argentina's Marcos Moneta. Nasova also finished as top points scorer with 158 points over the season. In the main tournament, New Zealand's women's team was crowned world champions after crushing Australia 31-7 in the final. They had already wrapped up the overall league title after winning four of the six previous rounds. South Africa won the men's championship, defeating Spain 19-5 in the final. This now wraps up the current sevens season. Next season (2025-26) the new format will kick in, comprising: Fiji's men's and women's teams will both be in division one next year, while Samoa is relegated back to a regional level aiming to reach division three.
Newsweek
25-04-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
Housing Market Gets Worrying Sign for Spring 2025
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The sale of previously owned homes across the United States fell sharply by 5.9 percent in March from the previous month, according to data released on Friday by the National Association of Realtors. Simultaneously, the industry body reported that the housing sales pace had fallen to its lowest level since the 2009 subprime mortgage crisis, raising concerns for the broader U.S. economy. Newsweek reached out to the Department of the Treasury for comment on Friday via email outside of regular office hours. Why It Matters President Donald Trump announced dramatic new tariffs on foreign imports on April 2, which he dubbed "Liberation Day." Many of these were later postponed for 90 days, but tariffs of 145 percent on most imports from China, along with a 25 percent tariff on imported automobiles, remain in effect. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund slashed its 2025 U.S. growth forecast from 2.7 percent to 1.8 percent, citing tariffs as one of the reasons. Concerningly, for U.S. policymakers, the housing data published on Friday cover the period before most of the new tariffs were announced, meaning that most of their impact has yet to be reflected in the figures. What To Know The National Association of Realtors' data, published on Friday, showed a 5.9 percent decline in existing home sales between February and March 2025, with the total figure dropping to an annualized, adjusted rate of 4.02 million. This annualized rate was the lowest since 2009, during the Great Recession, when the U.S. property market was engulfed in a subprime mortgage crisis. Notably, the fall occurred across all four U.S. Census Bureau regions, with the most dramatic decline of 9.4 percent occurring in the West. A for sale sign is displayed outside of a home for sale on August 16, 2024, in Los Angeles. A for sale sign is displayed outside of a home for sale on August 16, 2024, in Los Angeles. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/GETTY This was followed by a 5.7 percent cut in the South, a 5 percent cut in the Midwest, and a 2 percent cut in the Northeast. Simultaneously, the median price for existing homes sold in March rose by 2.7 percent from the same month in 2024 to $403,700, with increases recorded in all four Census Bureau regions. However, according to data published by real estate brokerage Redfin, house prices only increased by 0.2 percent between February and March 2025, the slowest pace of growth since December 2022. Redfin figures also showed that 52,000 house sales were canceled in March, a total of 13.4 percent, which is the third-highest March figure since 2017. What People Are Saying National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun said: "Home buying and selling remained sluggish in March due to the affordability challenges associated with high mortgage rates. Residential housing mobility, currently at historic lows, signals the troublesome possibility of less economic mobility for society." chief economist Danielle Hale commented: "The past few years have hinged on whether there would be enough sellers, but as the proverbial housing shelves are better stocked, 2025 is more likely to be about where there are buyers." What Happens Next Any impact from Trump's tariff program is likely to feed into the housing market in the coming months. Trump argues that the tariffs are needed to revitalize American industry and prevent the U.S. from being exploited, but critics warn that they will reduce economic growth.
Newsweek
23-04-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
US Home Prices Rising at Slowest Rate Since 2022
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. While home prices are still rising across the country, adding to the struggles faced by aspiring homeowners bogged down by high mortgage rates and growing uncertainty, they are now doing so at the slowest pace in years, according to the latest data. Home prices inched up 0.2 percent in March from February, real estate brokerage Redfin found, the slowest pace since December 2022. Why It Matters The U.S. is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis driven by rising home prices, historically high mortgage rates, and a chronic lack of inventory. With the median sale price of a home in the U.S. ($431,057) now 70 percent higher than it was in March 2020 ($302,462) and mortgage rates still hovering close to the 7 percent mark, many aspiring homebuyers have been squeezed to the sidelines. A slowdown in home price growth, which is being accompanied by rising inventory across the country could finally offer some relief and more negotiating power to buyers. But growing economic uncertainty over the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs could undermine their gains. What To Know While home prices were still up 4.6 percent in March compared to a year earlier, the pace at which they rose slowed down from 5.1 percent the month before, marking the 11th consecutive month of slowing annual growth. The main reason behind this slowdown is that demand is not keeping up with growing inventory across the country. Despite the fact that more supply is desperately needed to fix the current gap existing in the U.S. housing market, many Americans just cannot afford to buy a home at the moment. Zillow Home Loans mortgage signage is displayed in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, on June 5, 2024. Zillow Home Loans mortgage signage is displayed in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, on June 5, 2024. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images While demand is holding up in the Midwest, according to Redfin, in other parts of the country buyers "are backing off." In Florida and Texas, the two states that have built more new homes than any other over the past couple of years, unsold homes are piling up on the market as potential buyers are discouraged by rising homeowners association (HOA) fees and property insurance premiums. In many of these two state's former pandemic boomtowns, prices have now begun to fall. The same is happening across the country, with Redfin reporting that 20 of the 50 most populous U.S. metros recorded a drop in home prices between February and March. Columbus, Ohio, reported the biggest decline (-0.7 percent), followed by Denver, Colorado (-0.6 percent), and San Jose, California (-0.6 percent). Prices increased the most month-over-month in San Francisco (2.7 percent), Nassau County, New York (2.6 percent), and Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1.7 percent). What People Are Saying Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist, said in a statement accompanying the report: "Homes are taking longer to sell and prices are falling in some areas because fear of a broader economic slowdown is pushing many would-be buyers to the sidelines. "New tariffs are adding to the economic uncertainty and prices may slow even further in coming months. With housing costs at near-record highs, that's a silver lining for a buyer who has to move right now, as there will be more room for negotiation." What Happens Next A majority of experts expect price growth to continue this year, but at a slower pace than it had in the past. The Mortgage Bankers Association foresees price growth to slow to 1.3 percent year-over-year by the end of 2025 and hold steady at that rate in 2026. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) expects home prices to grow 3 percent throughout 2025 and 4 percent next year.
