Monday March 5/18 - Doug Ford Nation 

Edition (10,A) 
 
Briefing 
 
With a budget, a leadership debate, and an imploding federal party, this week did not 
lack any excitement. We begin in Ontario where the Progressive Conservatives held 
their second leadership debate before voting. Granic Allen, Ford, Elliott, and Mulroney 
duking it out on stage was quite the entertainment, but who will benefit the most 
from this comedy of errors? Voting ends on the tenth, and by then a new leader will 
be chosen. Ontario was the heart of politics this week as the Liberals tabled their third 
budget. Named ​Equality and Growth ​the budget had a specific emphasis on gender 
equality. The budget may also have some implications for Canada’s newspaper 
industry, as it opens the debate of granting newspapers charitable status.  
 
Trudeau’s numerous political gafs seem to finally be catching up to him this week, as 
polls suggest now that he sits a mere 5 points above the relatively unknown Andrew 
Scheer. In the Prairies this week, Alberta’s NDP promise a billion dollar upgrade to 
existing Bitumen infrastructure, likely in response to BC’s recent flirt with a bitumen 
ban. Returning to Ontario, Patrick Brown gives up the fight for his old job just 11 days 
after he joined the race. Brown cited financial concerns with regards to his libel suit 
against CTV, and running a leadership campaign at the same time. Returning to the 
Colten Boushie story this week, Charles Lugosi’s op-ed in the Times Colonist angrily 
calls out Trudeau and The Canadian Press for subpar coverage of a complicated legal 
process.  
 
In the National Post this week, Bruce Pardy dissects Canada’s law schools response 
Gerald Stanley’s acquittal, unveiling how far down the social justice rabbit hole 
Canada’s legal colleges are. In the House of Commons, the Bloc Quebecois has 
completely disintegrated, as 7 of their 10 MP’s quit the party caucus. And finally, the 
Liberals say repairing the phoenix pay system will cost almost a billion dollars, and 
they plan to ditch the payment system by 2025. 
 
Story One: ​Doug Ford Primed to win PC Leadership  
 
I have officially tabled my predictions for Ontario’s 2018 political future. Doug Ford is 
going to win the Ontario PC leadership race, probably. On wednesday’s debate Ford 
did exactly what he needed to do, and shoved a knife into Christine Elliott’s back. I’ve 
been quite critical of Doug’s “anti-elite” posture, 
Elliott (his close friend) is the exemplar of PC brass, 
Doug needed to openly challenge her to seriously 
appear anti-elite; during the Wednesday debate he 
did just that. While I admire Elliott, and think she 
would be an effective moderate leader for the PC’s 
(and would crush Wynne in a general election), 
Wednesday made her appear weak, and made Doug 
look strong. Ford also dog-whistled to Tanya Granic 
Allen’s supporters that they would be welcome in his new coalition; stating that they 
would play a key role in a Ford administrating.  
 
The reconstruction of the social conservative - fiscal conservative coalition (which 
Hudak and Brown entirely ignored) will likely outcompete Elliott’s mildness during 
this change election period, and will also be an excellent poll for Conservative leader 
Andrew Scheer. As for Mulroney, she's practically a write off. While she miraculously 
received an absurd level of political fundraising, ($700 000), it’s unlikely her 
performance during the debate is going to garner her any new support. 
 
If Ford wins the nomination, I am also convinced he will win the premiership, strong 
political will and stanch conservativism, (alongside his Etobicoke base) will take Ford 
to the top job. mind you, any of the PC candidates would be capable of this; Wynne 
would have quite the battle even defeating Tanya, but I don’t see anyone else winning 
the PC leadership at this point. What would Ford do in office? well I expect that his 
administration would be rather moderate as it slowly begins reforming 15 years of 
Liberal policy. The future of Ontario will be determined on March 10th when the new 
PC leader is decided, and that future is beginning to look more and more like a Ford 
Nation. 
 
Like a skilled magician, Ford pulled off the remarkable feat of sounding like he meant 
it 
 
Story Two:​ (John Ivision called it) An Exploration of Morneau’s third Budget 
 
Bill Morneau tabled his third and possibly final budget this tuesday, as Trudeau may 
be looking at a cabinet shuffle sometime in 2018. The budget titled ​Equality and 
Growth ​is primarily focused on it's equality side, which follows the Liberal belief that 
equality will also lead to growth. The budget has not been well received by the 
opposition, who questioned the responsibility of continued deficit spending well into 
the the growth phase of a business cycle. Some more recent polls however suggest 
that many Canadians have moved away from the idea that the books must be 
balanced, which could possibly leave the oppositions criticism on deaf ears.  
 
The budget promises $18 billion in deficit spending, and no path to balance any time 
soon. The Liberals have made a lot of promises to justify these deficits; gendered 
earnings symmetry, native infrastructure spending, research and development, and 
better rural internet access are all key planks of the 2018 budget. The budget has also 
laid the groundworks for some reform to Canada’s pharmacare system, bringing in a 
commission to study this issue and report back to the government next year. (John 
Iverson called this two weeks ago) The government is also following Wynne’s Liberals 
(never a good sign) in promoting a smoke free Canada by increasing the cost of 
cigarettes.  
 
Not everyone’s happy however, this budget was a bit of a let down for affordable 
housing advocates in Canada’s metro areas. Runaway prices spurred by asian foreign 
investors has led to an explosion in cost of living these past few years, many were 
hoping for new rules and housing subsidies (or household debt relief). instead this 
budget will subsidise the construction of new rental units in an attempt to grow 
supply. Business owners were also upset with the budget as many were hoping for 
Canada to regain a competitive angle after Donald Trump's tax reforms last year. 
Trudeau instead has soundly ignored the issue, which may exacerbate Canada’s weak 
foreign investment (sitting at an 8 year low).  
 
Taken altogether this budget wasn’t much to scoff at. Mild changes and not so subtle 
winks to Liberal constituents has this document looking more like a pre, pre-election 
campaign ad than a serious policy proposal. It has succeeded however in giving the 
Liberals an effective shield to protect themselves with. With no obvious angles of 
attack, the opposition has been focusing instead on Trudeau’s trip to India, rather 
than attacking his budget. In the end, Trudeau’s base will likely support this 
document, and Trudeau’s opponents will likely not, support will be contingent on 
partisan lines. If one thing is universally true about ​Equality and Growth ​however, is 
that this is a budget unlike anything before, and not for the better. Budgets should be 
tools of accounting and economics, not advertisements for party virtue.  
 
The Liberals deliver a federal budget that has nothing to do with budgeting, or the 
economy 
 
Winners, losers of 2018 federal budget 
 
 Federal Budget 2018: Trudeau Liberals' Spending Plan Projects $18.1B Deficit 
 
Five ways the federal budget may affect average Canadians 
 
Story Three: ​Charitable status for Newspapers won't solve their problems 
 
In a move I have mixed feelings about, the federal government is exploring the idea of 
granting Canada’s beleaguered newspaper industry charity status. Among many 
things, the move would allow Canada’s newspapers to pursue a donation oriented 
model for funding, tax free. This move comes in the wake of the shattered mirror 
report, which detailed policy moves the federal government could take in order to 
assist media agencies in the transition into the digital era. Let's start with the 
elephant in the room, newspapers are businesses not charities, they exist to provide 
the product of information and expertise, they are not saint-like truth seekers and 
never will be. Mislabeling newspapers in itself causes me concern, charitable status 
should only be available to charitable organizations.  
 
The media does need to adapt however, and moving into donation orientated models 
is a good move. It does have some drawbacks through, people normally only prefer 
donating to media companies that they most align with, meaning that this model 
would encourage a more partisan media. I think about alternate funding approaches 
quite often, and there are many potential solutions. Unfortunately all of this ignores 
the other elephant in the room, the business model. While ideal for the age of print 
journalism, the newspaper business model is unwieldy and far too centralized for the 
modern digital age. Editors and columnists can work at home today, TV broadcasting 
is dead, massive sets and expensive personalities are luxuries not staples, and print 
newspaper should be entirely abandoned as a mass production model. Until 
significant changes to the newspaper industry are made, any new funding measures 
will fall flat. The media needs to adapt to these new realities, Ottawa can’t hold their 
hands any longer, it's time to throw them in the deep end.  
 
Federal budget 2018: Ottawa opens door to charitable status for news organizations 
 
Story Four: ​Trudeau five points away from Andrew Scheer  
 
I’ve been a bit miffed by Trudeau, someone with his connection to politics should not 
be so incredibly amateur in action. From his early cash-for-access fundraising, his Aga 
Khan vacation, 3 different botched international trade missions, failed electoral 
reform, his people-kind ‘joke’, and a 2018 budget that's not a budget; his list of flops 
seemingly goes on and on and on. Trudeau’s administration has been plagued by 
amateurish politics, mismanagement, and tone def virtue filled media 
 correspondence, and now it's finally catching up with him. Federal polls now peg 
Justin Trudeau; known across the entire country, just 5 points ahead of Andrew 
Scheer; whose reputation is far less widespread. 
 
I contend to this day that Justin Trudeau was not voted 
into office, Stephen Harper was voted out of it. While the 
prime minister received the good graces of the domestic 
and international press after his election, his honeymoon 
is over. Despite all this, backing for the Liberal party 
remains steady, if the elections were held today, polling 
suggests Trudeau could expect the same majority he won 
in 2015, in spite of his approval rating. Trudeau’s 
government has two years to win or lose the support of 
the people, serious changes are going to have to be made 
if Trudeau wants to ebb his waning popularity. 
 
Trudeau’s personal approval rating drops, but voters still back his federal Liberal 
Party: poll 
 
Story Five: ​Alberta flips BC a Billion dollar bird 
 
Alberta is spending a billion dollars to upgrade its bitumen (oil-sands produced oil) 
infrastructure. While there are a variety of reasons for this investment, one that 
stands out most is British Columbia’s recent flirt over banning Bitumen shipments. 
Spending such an enormous amount for oil infrastructure signals to BC Premier John 
Horgan that Alberta oil is coming through the rockies, whether Horgan likes it or not. 
Alberta isn’t just peacocking to BC however, Rachel Notley is waving her banner of 
strength to the people of Alberta as well. This investment is a sign to Albertans that 
this government will not be timid in the face of BC intimidation. Notley understands 
the game of politics and shes playing it well, and while I’ll have to wait till the next 
election to find proof, I believe she is in the process of changing Albertan politics 
forever. 
 
Alberta to invest $1 billion in bitumen upgrading 
 
Story Six: ​Brown throws in the towel after an 11 day Campaign 
 
I made it one week folks, one week without a Patrick Brown story. Of course now 
we’re back with quite possibly the last chapter of our intrepid hero’s saga. On Monday 
Brown officially tabled his resignation from the PC party leadership race. The long and 
short of his statement seems to be that Sueing CTV, and running a leadership 
 campaign simultaneously is very expensive, so he’s chosen to focus his efforts on 
revenge rather than politics. Brown practically imploded last week however which 
may more accurately explain his premature departure. In quick succession Brown’s 
multimillion dollar estate was brought into question, as it became unclear how he 
could afford it, a few days later internal polling suggested that Brown was rapidly 
gaining support among party brass. Than on monday, the Toronto Star reported 
Brown was engaged in some shady politics 
with regard to his leadership of the PC party, 
and was under investigation by police. This 
rollercoaster finally culminated in Brown 
abandoning his leadership bid Monday 
evening. Seem’s Tanya was right when she 
said that Brown never deserved to be leader, 
now we get to wait and see who wins the 
honour of cleaning Brown’s stain off the PC 
party.  
 
'LOOKS LIKE HE'S STEPPING DOWN': Patrick Brown withdrawing from leadership 
race? 
 
Patrick Brown directed top Tories to ‘get me the result I want’ in nomination now 
being probed by police 
 
The Patrick Brown saga: A timeline of the most bizarre month in the history of Ontario 
politics 
 
Story Seven: ​‘criminally’ bad journalism in coverage of Colten Boushie Trial  
 
Polling by the Angus Reid institute suggests that half the country (of the half that 
responded) does not consider the verdict in the Colten Boushie Case to be unjust. 
That was hardly a surprise to me, what did surprise me was the complete lack of 
representation of this position within The Canadian Press. I wish I did my due diligence 
and saved all the major news coverage of the case while it was happening, so I could 
give you a fact based breakdown of the media’s coverage. What I can say with relative 
confidence is that about zero stories I read held a contrarian opinion to the 
predominant view; that being the acquittal of Gerald Stanley was an act of racism and 
an affront to justice. British Columbia’s Times Colonist hosted Charles Lugosi’s op-ed 
defending the jury, this is the first and only article of it's kind I am aware of. If this 
verdict is such an injustice, the Crown can appeal the decision to a higher court, and 
then we can once again see the Canadian justice system work as intended in a fair and 
 just way. Canada’s major publications has a bad habit of headline chasing, while it 
might be worth a few cheap clicks, it's simply bad journalism and they can do better.  
 
Gerald Stanley verdict continues to divide Canadians: poll 
 
Defending the jury in the Gerald Stanley case 
 
Human rights lawyers group calls for appeal of verdict in Colten Boushie shooting 
case 
 
Story Eight: ​Canada’s law schools are not safe from Social Justice 
 
I only started noticing this when listening to Michael Spratt’s podcast ​The Docket​. It’s 
very progressive, far to a fault, and is absurdly partisan for a “legal” podcast. That's 
fine, Spratt is entitled to his opinions, but I did find it strange that a lawyer would 
avocate abandoning presumption of innocence so eagerly. You would think that law 
schools would go into the history, philosophy, and importance of such a presumption; 
we would expect that most lawyers would not be so keen to drop presuming 
innocence at the first societal whim, yet here we are. Seems like the rest of the 
academy, Canada’s law schools are wholeheartedly devoted to the cult of 
intersectionality, throwing out common law principles without a second glance.  
 
This does explain quite a lot, it explains why there are so many odd legal provisions in 
Canada, special exemptions, group rights, etc. and it also explains our the Canadian 
Supreme Court. The Court has a bad habit of ‘unique’ interpretations of Charter of 
Rights and Freedoms. They seem to have fairly liberally interpreted section 1, as to 
allow far more ‘reasonable limits’ than one might initially assume giving the purpose 
of the document. While I find it rather frightening currently, I worry what the Supreme 
Court will look like in 25 years, when generation activist begins the stage of their legal 
life, that could involve serving on Canada’s top bench.  
 
The social justice revolution has taken the law schools. This won't end well 
 
Story Nine: ​Bloc implodes, is Parti Quebecois next? 
 
In edition (4,A) of the True North Review, I 
discussed the potential of a Parti Quebecois rout 
in 2018. On February 28, Bloc Quebecois (parent 
to the PQ) has done just that. Of the ten seats 
held by the Bloc, seven are now officially 
independent. Many of these MP’s cited massive 
 contradictions with the Bloc’s leader Martine Ouellet, who is a sitting member of 
Quebec’s National Assembly. The apparent implosion of the Bloc may be worrying 
foreshadowing for the independence minded PQ. Parti Quebecois has been hovering 
around 20% approval rating in Quebec since last July, and is well behind both 
Quebec’s Liberals, and the Coalition Avenir Quebec. Quebec’s next election is 
scheduled for October of 2018, there the Parti Quebecois will have its feet held to the 
fire, we’ll see if they flinch.  
 
Majority Of Bloc Quebecois MPs Quit Over Differences With Leader
 
Story Ten: ​Money is no Object to the Federal Government  
 
Nearly a billion dollars, that's the price tag to fix the phoenix payment system 
Stephen Harper introduced, now the Liberals plan to ditch anyway. Let's give that 
some context, the Liberals new ‘supercluster’ program was costed at $950 million 
dollars. The goal of that program was to “spur innovation” and “encourage 
collaboration” within Canada’s five major regional ‘superclusters’ in order to create 
unprecedented growth. The cost to do ALL that is equal to cost of fixing a glorified 
salary department Trudeau plans to replace in 7 years anyway. I don’t know what's 
more frustrating, the absurd levels of cash that are just being thrown around by the 
feds, or the fact that we seem to consistently get NOTHING for all this spending. I 
have an idea what Trudeau can spend our money on for the next budget, how about 
household debt relief, or tax credits for hard working Canadians, or less debt and 
responsible government. Whoops there’s me thinking logically again, silly me.  
 
Phoenix replacement ready by 2025 at the earliest, repairs for current system top 
$900M