Episode Details

Canada sits on the world's third largest oil reserves, runs a supply-managed dairy system to protect domestic food security, and has enough agricultural land to feed a continent. Grocery prices are up 30% since 2019, food banks are at record levels, and a Crown corporation with 13 vice presidents is spending $1.6 million advertising a train that does not exist. The groceries benefit being deposited into accounts this week cuts off entirely to single Canadians earning above $56,181, meaning millions of working Canadians squeezed by 30% grocery inflation receive nothing. The Competition Bureau is taking Sobeys to court for blocking competitors from 51 markets. Canada has imported 52 million kilograms of foreign chicken while domestic producers have underproduced in 12 of the last 14 periods. And the supply-managed system Canadian consumers subsidize through higher prices is producing baby formula that ships to China. This is not a country without resources. It is a country whose resources are not working for the people paying for them.►TD Bank reports Canadian grocery prices have soared 30% since 2019, as Ottawa distributes the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, a rebranded GST credit paying a maximum of $679 to single adults earning under $56,181, cutting off entirely above that threshold and delivering nothing to millions of working Canadians squeezed by the same price increases►The Competition Bureau is taking Sobeys to Federal Court alleging the grocery giant used secret restrictive lease clauses to block competitors from opening stores in 51 markets across 6 provinces, as Canada's grocery sector has consolidated from 13 chains to 3 dominant players over 3 decades of bureau-approved mergers►Canada has imported 52.2 million kilograms of foreign chicken this year while domestic wholesale prices approach $13 per kilogram, as the supply-managed sector has underproduced in 12 of the last 14 production periods, with importers clearing Canada's 249% tariff wall and still turning a profit►Alto Corporation, the Crown agency behind Canada's proposed $90 billion high speed rail line that does not yet exist, has spent $1.6 million advertising it, employs 13 vice presidents, and has no confirmed cost estimate, with its CEO calling the $90 billion figure a "working assumption"►Abacus Data finds Liberal support has fallen noticeably from its record high to 44%, with pollsters saying momentum has "clearly slowed and maybe reversed," as the recession, food bank crisis and cost of living pressures begin to register with voters►Retired Canadian Armed Forces chief General Wayne Eyre warns the Carney government to be "very wary about pivoting to China at the expense of the U.S.," saying "we share a continent and that's not going away" as Ottawa deepens ties with Beijing while trade talks with Washington remain stalled►Carney heads to Ireland and France this week for trade talks and the G7 summit at Evian-les-Bains, his 3rd European trip in months, as Ireland becomes the latest stop in his trade diversification push away from the U.S.►B.C. has extended its moratorium on new mineral claims in the northwest without disclosing the terms of an ongoing Tahltan Foundation Agreement being negotiated behind closed doors, with legal experts warning the talks include Aboriginal title recognition that could permanently shift resource decision-making authority away from the province►Non-residents receiving health care in B.C. and leaving without paying have cost taxpayers $200.6 million since 2020, enough to fund over 21,000 hip replacement operations, as B.C. health regions have no requirement for visitors to pay upfront or carry travel insurance►The Times of London calls the Kamloops residential school claims a "fantasy" indulged by Canadian politicians who "used graves for a photoshoot with a teddy bear," with 5 years having passed and no human remains confirmed