And he's out
- Thread starter Serryah
- Start date
Does seem most likely. I never understood the concept of trade barriers within a nation. Unless one subscribes to the Animal Farm concept.
I just WISH pigs were in charge. Feed 'em and scratch their ears and they're perfectly content.
Justin Trudeau failed to achieve the legacy he set for himself
Author of the article:Lorrie Goldstein
Published Mar 08, 2025 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 4 minute read
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to leave office, the best way to assess his political legacy is to judge the expectations he set for himself when he won his first election in 2015.
By that standard, he has clearly failed to deliver what he promised.
Here’s what he told Canadians in a campaign video from that time about what his years in office would be like.
With Parliament Hill in the background he said:
“This place belongs to all Canadians. It belongs to you. But after a decade in power, Stephen Harper thinks it belongs to him. So now, this place is broken. Today, I’m presenting a real plan to fix it …
“I know Harper and his government are the problem and the way to fix this place is to change the government … Replace this government with a better one. That’s what real change starts with.
“Our plan creates a truly transparent and open government that will put an end to the secrecy and scandals of the Harper decade …
“Our plan will modernize government and bring it into the 21st century. We’ll open this place up so you can see what’s going on, hold us accountable, and contribute more directly to what happens here.
“We’ll shift power away from the back rooms, to make sure your MP will be your voice here in Ottawa instead of Harper’s voice in your community …
“But most of all, real change means we’ll give our Parliament, our government and our democracy back to you.”
A decade later, what Trudeau criticized Harper for is part of his own legacy – scandals, secrecy and excessive power centralized in the the Prime Minister’s Office.
An emotional Trudeau elaborated on what he hopes Canadians will think of him in the years ahead at an announcement last week that the government is working on an expansion of his $10-a-day child care program with the provinces, during which he appeared near tears.
“On a personal level, I’ve made sure that every single day in this office I put Canadians first, that I have people’s backs,” he said.
“And that’s why I’m here to tell you all that we got you. Even in the last days of this government, we will not let Canadians down, today and long into the future.”
But that’s not the assessment of ordinary Canadians, according to an Angus Reid survey released last week of 1,850 adults taken from March 4-6.
It found while 63% believe Trudeau tried to tackle the country’s biggest problems and 30% said he made progress on them, 70% said he either tried to solve these problems but failed (33%), didn’t address them at all (15%) or made them worse (22%).
“Trudeau’s legacy is … more negative than positive in most regions of the country – aside from Atlantic Canada,” the survey said, “though many in each region also feel he will be viewed as average.”
Not all of the findings were negative.
Canadians generally viewed Trudeau’s legalization of marijuana as a success (52% compared to 24% who said it was a failure), along with his handling of the pandemic (47% approval albeit with a significant minority of 31% describing it as a failure).
The survey also found general approval for his handling of Canada’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his expansion of Canada’s social safety net through the Canada Child Benefit, dental care and other programs.
But most Canadians described as failures Trudeau’s rapid increase of immigration levels (64%), response to inflation (55%) and introduction of the carbon tax (53%).
“After nearly a decade of governance by the Trudeau Liberals … initial optimism has given way to more criticism than applause,” the survey concluded.
“Majorities of Canadians believe the Trudeau era has had a negative impact on Canadians’ trust in the federal government (63%) and housing affordability (61%).”
The survey also found significant numbers of Canadians believe the Trudeau Liberals have harmed more than helped Canada’s energy sector (42% negative), infrastructure (32%), the economy (52%), relations with the U.S. (48%), the federal government relationship with the provinces (43%), health care (37%), the job market (37%) and national unity (43%).
“Asked to describe what they’ll remember most about the near-decade that Trudeau led the country, the most common responses mention either the pandemic response or scandals like the SNC-Lavalin and WE Charity affairs,” the survey said.
Ironically, Trudeau may be going out on a bit of a high note since U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war against Canada now has many polls showing the Liberals are competitive with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, whereas a few weeks ago they appeared to be headed for a resounding defeat in this year’s federal election.
lgoldstein@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Lorrie Goldstein
Published Mar 08, 2025 • Last updated 15 hours ago • 4 minute read
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to leave office, the best way to assess his political legacy is to judge the expectations he set for himself when he won his first election in 2015.
By that standard, he has clearly failed to deliver what he promised.
Here’s what he told Canadians in a campaign video from that time about what his years in office would be like.
With Parliament Hill in the background he said:
“This place belongs to all Canadians. It belongs to you. But after a decade in power, Stephen Harper thinks it belongs to him. So now, this place is broken. Today, I’m presenting a real plan to fix it …
“I know Harper and his government are the problem and the way to fix this place is to change the government … Replace this government with a better one. That’s what real change starts with.
“Our plan creates a truly transparent and open government that will put an end to the secrecy and scandals of the Harper decade …
“Our plan will modernize government and bring it into the 21st century. We’ll open this place up so you can see what’s going on, hold us accountable, and contribute more directly to what happens here.
“We’ll shift power away from the back rooms, to make sure your MP will be your voice here in Ottawa instead of Harper’s voice in your community …
“But most of all, real change means we’ll give our Parliament, our government and our democracy back to you.”
A decade later, what Trudeau criticized Harper for is part of his own legacy – scandals, secrecy and excessive power centralized in the the Prime Minister’s Office.
An emotional Trudeau elaborated on what he hopes Canadians will think of him in the years ahead at an announcement last week that the government is working on an expansion of his $10-a-day child care program with the provinces, during which he appeared near tears.
“On a personal level, I’ve made sure that every single day in this office I put Canadians first, that I have people’s backs,” he said.
“And that’s why I’m here to tell you all that we got you. Even in the last days of this government, we will not let Canadians down, today and long into the future.”
But that’s not the assessment of ordinary Canadians, according to an Angus Reid survey released last week of 1,850 adults taken from March 4-6.
It found while 63% believe Trudeau tried to tackle the country’s biggest problems and 30% said he made progress on them, 70% said he either tried to solve these problems but failed (33%), didn’t address them at all (15%) or made them worse (22%).
“Trudeau’s legacy is … more negative than positive in most regions of the country – aside from Atlantic Canada,” the survey said, “though many in each region also feel he will be viewed as average.”
Not all of the findings were negative.
Canadians generally viewed Trudeau’s legalization of marijuana as a success (52% compared to 24% who said it was a failure), along with his handling of the pandemic (47% approval albeit with a significant minority of 31% describing it as a failure).
The survey also found general approval for his handling of Canada’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and his expansion of Canada’s social safety net through the Canada Child Benefit, dental care and other programs.
But most Canadians described as failures Trudeau’s rapid increase of immigration levels (64%), response to inflation (55%) and introduction of the carbon tax (53%).
“After nearly a decade of governance by the Trudeau Liberals … initial optimism has given way to more criticism than applause,” the survey concluded.
“Majorities of Canadians believe the Trudeau era has had a negative impact on Canadians’ trust in the federal government (63%) and housing affordability (61%).”
The survey also found significant numbers of Canadians believe the Trudeau Liberals have harmed more than helped Canada’s energy sector (42% negative), infrastructure (32%), the economy (52%), relations with the U.S. (48%), the federal government relationship with the provinces (43%), health care (37%), the job market (37%) and national unity (43%).
“Asked to describe what they’ll remember most about the near-decade that Trudeau led the country, the most common responses mention either the pandemic response or scandals like the SNC-Lavalin and WE Charity affairs,” the survey said.
Ironically, Trudeau may be going out on a bit of a high note since U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war against Canada now has many polls showing the Liberals are competitive with Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, whereas a few weeks ago they appeared to be headed for a resounding defeat in this year’s federal election.
lgoldstein@postmedia.com
GOLDSTEIN: Justin Trudeau failed to achieve the legacy he set for himself
As Justin Trudeau prepares to leave office, the best way to assess his legacy is to judge the expectations he set for himself in 2015.
Canadians measured Trudeau and found him wanting
What can we add to the inevitable political obituary that could be considered good?
Author of the article:Warren Kinsella
Published Mar 08, 2025 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 4 minute read
Justin, we hardly knew ye.
Although, towards the end, the reverse was actually true, wasn’t it? We had gotten to know Justin Trudeau all too well. We had measured him, and we had found him wanting.
The indictments of Justin Pierre James Trudeau could be conjured up without a Google search: blackface, SNC-Lavalin, Aga Khan, WE, ArriveCan, election interference – and no balanced budgets, no reconciliation with Indigenous Canadians, no electoral reform.
It’s a long list.
This writer broke the story about one of the scandals: Gropegate.
In 2018, I published that Trudeau had been credibly accused of groping a female reporter at a B.C. beer festival many years earlier, and years before he became Prime Minister. The victim, whom I did not name, had disclosed that Trudeau had “groped” and “blatantly disrespected” her.
I had voted for Trudeau’s party in 2015. I had thought he was the change the country needed. But then the young woman revealed what Trudeau had said to her at the time: “I’m sorry, if I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward.”
That was bad enough. But when my little scoop attracted unhelpful headlines around the world, Trudeau was confronted by the Canadian media.
He shrugged about what he did, and added another disclaimer for the ages: “This lesson that we are learning – and I’ll be blunt about it – often a man experiences an interaction as being benign, or not inappropriate, and a woman, particularly in a professional context can experience it differently.”
“Experience it differently?” When I heard that, from the self-professed feminist, that was it, for me.
When blackface broke the following year, it merely added to the conviction I (and others) already held – Justin Trudeau was ethically deficient. He was simply not who we thought he was.
He was (and is) just a man, of course. He has failings, like us all. But his response to the groping incident, and his acknowledgement that he had used racist blackface more times than he could remember? Those were a bridge too far, for me. I voted for the NDP in the next election, and Conservatives in the two after that. The fact that the people kept returning him to high public office was irrelevant. It did not cleanse him of his sins. It just spread the sins around.
So, now, we are days away from the end of the Justin Trudeau era. He is about to replaced by one of two men who are his polar opposite: a bland, boring banker who is genetically incapable of the melodramatic flourishes of Trudeau – or a morose, dyspeptic ideologue who keeps auditioning for the job he already has.
What can be salvaged, Justin? What can we add to the inevitable political obituary, in the few days that remain, that could be considered good?
Because there is good. There are achievements.
Trudeau halved child poverty in this country. His Canada Child Benefit was a positive thing. It helped to lift up to a million children out of poverty, and the hunger and desolation that always accompany it.
Trudeau kept the separatists at bay. In his decade in power, the Canada-wreckers could not resuscitate their destructive movement. Is that because Trudeau gave too much to the nationalists, or because Quebeckers trusted him more than the rest of us did? Historians will debate all that. The reality is that, under him, separatism became – and remains – a memory.
He had big political achievements, as well. He lifted his party from a distant third place to a historic Parliamentary majority. He effected a friendly acquisition of the New Democratic Party’s base, and still owns it. He beat three Conservatives in a row – including one, Stephen Harper, who was a giant.
And now, at the very end, Justin Trudeau is revealing glimpses of what we all thought we saw a decade ago: a fighter, a patriot, a believer in the undeniable greatness of this country.
On the morning that Donald Trump’s destructive tariffs landed, I tweeted out Trudeau’s own words: “The United States launched a trade war against Canada, its closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin: a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense.”
Those words were seen, and applauded, 2.2 million times. It was one of Justin Trudeau’s finest moments. A moment of courage and conviction.
It was sad, however, that we were only seeing that leader at the very end of his time at the top. It was what we had thought we all saw back at the beginning, wasn’t it?
When we knew him, and then we hardly knew him at all.
torontosun.com
What can we add to the inevitable political obituary that could be considered good?
Author of the article:Warren Kinsella
Published Mar 08, 2025 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 4 minute read
Justin, we hardly knew ye.
Although, towards the end, the reverse was actually true, wasn’t it? We had gotten to know Justin Trudeau all too well. We had measured him, and we had found him wanting.
The indictments of Justin Pierre James Trudeau could be conjured up without a Google search: blackface, SNC-Lavalin, Aga Khan, WE, ArriveCan, election interference – and no balanced budgets, no reconciliation with Indigenous Canadians, no electoral reform.
It’s a long list.
This writer broke the story about one of the scandals: Gropegate.
In 2018, I published that Trudeau had been credibly accused of groping a female reporter at a B.C. beer festival many years earlier, and years before he became Prime Minister. The victim, whom I did not name, had disclosed that Trudeau had “groped” and “blatantly disrespected” her.
I had voted for Trudeau’s party in 2015. I had thought he was the change the country needed. But then the young woman revealed what Trudeau had said to her at the time: “I’m sorry, if I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward.”
That was bad enough. But when my little scoop attracted unhelpful headlines around the world, Trudeau was confronted by the Canadian media.
He shrugged about what he did, and added another disclaimer for the ages: “This lesson that we are learning – and I’ll be blunt about it – often a man experiences an interaction as being benign, or not inappropriate, and a woman, particularly in a professional context can experience it differently.”
“Experience it differently?” When I heard that, from the self-professed feminist, that was it, for me.
When blackface broke the following year, it merely added to the conviction I (and others) already held – Justin Trudeau was ethically deficient. He was simply not who we thought he was.
He was (and is) just a man, of course. He has failings, like us all. But his response to the groping incident, and his acknowledgement that he had used racist blackface more times than he could remember? Those were a bridge too far, for me. I voted for the NDP in the next election, and Conservatives in the two after that. The fact that the people kept returning him to high public office was irrelevant. It did not cleanse him of his sins. It just spread the sins around.
So, now, we are days away from the end of the Justin Trudeau era. He is about to replaced by one of two men who are his polar opposite: a bland, boring banker who is genetically incapable of the melodramatic flourishes of Trudeau – or a morose, dyspeptic ideologue who keeps auditioning for the job he already has.
What can be salvaged, Justin? What can we add to the inevitable political obituary, in the few days that remain, that could be considered good?
Because there is good. There are achievements.
Trudeau halved child poverty in this country. His Canada Child Benefit was a positive thing. It helped to lift up to a million children out of poverty, and the hunger and desolation that always accompany it.
Trudeau kept the separatists at bay. In his decade in power, the Canada-wreckers could not resuscitate their destructive movement. Is that because Trudeau gave too much to the nationalists, or because Quebeckers trusted him more than the rest of us did? Historians will debate all that. The reality is that, under him, separatism became – and remains – a memory.
He had big political achievements, as well. He lifted his party from a distant third place to a historic Parliamentary majority. He effected a friendly acquisition of the New Democratic Party’s base, and still owns it. He beat three Conservatives in a row – including one, Stephen Harper, who was a giant.
And now, at the very end, Justin Trudeau is revealing glimpses of what we all thought we saw a decade ago: a fighter, a patriot, a believer in the undeniable greatness of this country.
On the morning that Donald Trump’s destructive tariffs landed, I tweeted out Trudeau’s own words: “The United States launched a trade war against Canada, its closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin: a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense.”
Those words were seen, and applauded, 2.2 million times. It was one of Justin Trudeau’s finest moments. A moment of courage and conviction.
It was sad, however, that we were only seeing that leader at the very end of his time at the top. It was what we had thought we all saw back at the beginning, wasn’t it?
When we knew him, and then we hardly knew him at all.
KINSELLA: Canadians measured Trudeau and found him wanting
We have gotten to know Justin Trudeau all too well. We measured him, and we had found him wanting.
The scandals, missteps and affairs that defined the Trudeau decade
While this newspaper doesn't have enough space to list every single misstep, the following is a summary of some of the most notable
The scandals, missteps and affairs that defined the Trudeau decade
While this newspaper doesn't have enough space to list every single misstep, the following is a summary of some of the most notable
I’ve wondered if he tried to count his own scandals & ethics violations…how many cabinet ministers hands he’d also need to count them on fingers, etc…& that might save him from taking off his sparkly socks.
The transition from the Trudeau administration to the Carney administration will take place in the coming days. Trudeau STILL remains PM and Carney is simply leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, but by Wednesday, that should change.
Canada is about to get a new prime minister sometime this week, but what we really need is an election. That could come within days, but perhaps not as soon as this Sunday as had previously been discussed.
apple.news
Canada is about to get a new prime minister sometime this week, but what we really need is an election. That could come within days, but perhaps not as soon as this Sunday as had previously been discussed.
LILLEY: Call an election now so Canada has a government with a mandate — Toronto Sun
Canada is about to get a new prime minister sometime this week, but what we really need is an election. That could come within days, but perhaps not as soon as this Sunday as had previously been discussed. The transition from the Trudeau administration to the Carney administration will take...
What y'all really need is an erection. Give y'all something to play with instead of whining like a li'l bitch.
Social media lights up after Trudeau sticks out tongue yet again
Author of the article:Spiro Papuckoski
Published Mar 11, 2025 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 2 minute read
In an image posted to X by freelance photographer Carlos Osorio, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sticks his tongue out while carrying his chair from the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday, March 11, 2025.
In an image posted to X by freelance photographer Carlos Osorio, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sticks his tongue out while carrying his chair from the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday, March 11, 2025.
This was no slip of the tongue.
Social media lit up with harsh criticisms of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he was caught on camera sticking his tongue out while exiting the House of Commons on Monday with his chair, as is tradition for departing MPs.
Photographer Carlos Osorio snapped the image for Reuters and shared it to X.
“What a childish man,” Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant wrote. “That’s a real photo. That’s really what he’s like.”
Former British Columbia Conservative Party spokesperson Dean Skoreyko shared past instances of Trudeau’s tongue out, calling it a “weird tongue fetish thing.”
Another pointed out that the photo would be one of his last images as prime minister.
“Really, you want that to be your parting picture,” wrote Andrea Aldridge. “I’m shocked you didn’t show more disdain. What a gross PM he’s been, and I’m being kind.”
Others alluded to the time Trudeau darkened his skin as part of a racist costume for an ‘Arabian Nights’ party while he taught at a Vancouver private school in 2001. He stuck his tongue out, knowing full well that he was being photographed.
“That is the same face he makes whenever he wears blackface,” one critic wrote.
In October 2023, Trudeau winked and flashed his tongue as Greg Fergus was elected Speaker of the House of Commons.
Many more people called the photo “bizarre,” “classless,” and “embarrassing.”
“Hey Canadians, this … tongue sticking out of Trudeau’s mouth is to mock all of us,” wrote one observer.
Some, however, found humour in the image of the outgoing PM.
“The chair must be practically like new as it didn’t get very much use over the past ten years,” one person wrote.
“That was an incredible shot. It captured the man and politician perfectly — one for the history books,” another commented.
While one user said: “I am Very Happy he still has a sense of humor (sic). I Love it!”
The 53-year-old Trudeau announced his resignation as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party on Jan. 6. On Sunday, the party voted Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, as the next Liberal leader and prime minister.
https://twitter.com/WeAreCanProud/s...-up-after-trudeau-sticks-out-tongue-yet-again
https://twitter.com/bcbluecon/status/1899290088703733847
https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1899269202810118180
https://twitter.com/carlososorio/st...-up-after-trudeau-sticks-out-tongue-yet-again
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Spiro Papuckoski
Published Mar 11, 2025 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 2 minute read
In an image posted to X by freelance photographer Carlos Osorio, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sticks his tongue out while carrying his chair from the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday, March 11, 2025.
In an image posted to X by freelance photographer Carlos Osorio, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sticks his tongue out while carrying his chair from the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday, March 11, 2025.
This was no slip of the tongue.
Social media lit up with harsh criticisms of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he was caught on camera sticking his tongue out while exiting the House of Commons on Monday with his chair, as is tradition for departing MPs.
Photographer Carlos Osorio snapped the image for Reuters and shared it to X.
“What a childish man,” Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant wrote. “That’s a real photo. That’s really what he’s like.”
Former British Columbia Conservative Party spokesperson Dean Skoreyko shared past instances of Trudeau’s tongue out, calling it a “weird tongue fetish thing.”
Another pointed out that the photo would be one of his last images as prime minister.
“Really, you want that to be your parting picture,” wrote Andrea Aldridge. “I’m shocked you didn’t show more disdain. What a gross PM he’s been, and I’m being kind.”
Others alluded to the time Trudeau darkened his skin as part of a racist costume for an ‘Arabian Nights’ party while he taught at a Vancouver private school in 2001. He stuck his tongue out, knowing full well that he was being photographed.
“That is the same face he makes whenever he wears blackface,” one critic wrote.
In October 2023, Trudeau winked and flashed his tongue as Greg Fergus was elected Speaker of the House of Commons.
Many more people called the photo “bizarre,” “classless,” and “embarrassing.”
“Hey Canadians, this … tongue sticking out of Trudeau’s mouth is to mock all of us,” wrote one observer.
Some, however, found humour in the image of the outgoing PM.
“The chair must be practically like new as it didn’t get very much use over the past ten years,” one person wrote.
“That was an incredible shot. It captured the man and politician perfectly — one for the history books,” another commented.
While one user said: “I am Very Happy he still has a sense of humor (sic). I Love it!”
The 53-year-old Trudeau announced his resignation as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party on Jan. 6. On Sunday, the party voted Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England, as the next Liberal leader and prime minister.
https://twitter.com/WeAreCanProud/s...-up-after-trudeau-sticks-out-tongue-yet-again
https://twitter.com/bcbluecon/status/1899290088703733847
https://twitter.com/ezralevant/status/1899269202810118180
https://twitter.com/carlososorio/st...-up-after-trudeau-sticks-out-tongue-yet-again
'FETISH THING': Social media lights up after Trudeau sticks out tongue yet again
This was no slip of the tongue. Social media lit up with harsh criticisms of outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.
Well…I don’t care as long as he’s actually really leaving. Justin Trudeau’s last day as prime minister will be Thursday as Mark Carney and a new cabinet will be sworn in by Governor General Mary Simon on Friday morning.
Rideau Hall confirmed Wednesday evening that Carney will be sworn in as Canada’s 24th prime minister at 11 a.m. on Friday, simultaneously marking the end of Trudeau’s nine year run in the job.
Carney and his cabinet (that he hasn’t announced yet) may not stay in the job for long as he is widely expected to call a federal election before Parliament is set to return from prorogation on March 24, & Carney WILL NOT want to face questions in Parliament even if he actually had a seat, which he doesn’t.
Carney’s swearing in will be followed immediately by the swearing in of his new cabinet, which is expected to be smaller than the current 37 members. There are currently eight ministers — including the prime minister — who have announced they will not be running in the upcoming federal election.
It remains unclear if ex-ministers and Carney leadership rivals Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould will have a role in the new cabinet. Gould was seen with Carney during a steel mill visit on Wednesday while Freeland was in New York City to receive a medal from the Foreign Policy Association.
It is also unclear how Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, who is widely expected to remain in the role, will attend the swearing-in on Friday. The ceremony is scheduled at roughly the same time as the closing press conference of the G7 foreign minister’s meeting she is currently hosting in Charlevoix, Que.
Carney becomes prime minister without a Federal Election as the country is in the throes of an escalating trade war with its largest export market, the United States.
Carney met with the Liberal caucus on Monday and announced that former minister Marco Mendicino was his chief of staff during the transition, a controversial decision for Muslim groups and party supporters due to his fiercely pro-Israel since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas.
Mark Carney to be sworn in as PM Friday, marking end of the Justin Trudeau era — National Post
Carney's swearing in is expected to be followed shortly after by the swearing in of his new cabinet
Isn’t that sorta loosely what also happened to Michael Jackson?
Independent MP Kevin Vuong not seeking re-election: 'Focus on my family'
The new dad has represented Spadina-Fort York since 2021
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Mar 26, 2025 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — The longest-serving independent MP of Canada’s 44th Parliament won’t be seeking re-election.
Spadina-Fort York MP Kevin Vuong, whose 2021 election in the downtown Toronto riding came tinged with controversy and allegations of interference by the Chinese government, tells the Toronto Sun he won’t contest his seat in the coming federal election.
“Unlike some of my colleagues, I actually want to spend more time with my family, ” Vuong said with a smile.
“I don’t think I can be the best MP that I want to be and that Canadians deserve and be a great father and husband, so at this juncture I am choosing to focus on my family and will continue to serve Canada in another capacity.”
Vuong and wife Elizabeth welcomed daughter Victoria in October.
In a statement, he said his four short years in Parliament helped give back to a country that gave him and his family — who fled to Canada from Vietnam as refugees — so much.
Vuong originally ran for the seat in the 2021 federal election as a Liberal, but was removed from the ticket after a Toronto Star story highlighting a dropped sexual assault charge stemming from an April 2019 encounter with a former girlfriend.
The Liberals cut ties with Vuong just days before the election, and after advance polls had closed. He won the vote.
Vuong told Postmedia in 2023 that he’d met the woman through a dating app in 2018, embarking on a two-month-long relationship.
An unexpected April 2019 invitation to her apartment, Vuong said, resulted in the police complaint — charges that were almost immediately withdrawn by the Crown.
Vuong — the child of ethnically-Chinese immigrants from Vietnam — maintains the allegations were part of an effort to discredit him by the Chinese government, stemming from his prominent anti-communist positions.
Vuong’s term in in office — one of three independents sitting in the House at the election call — was marked with a number of initiatives, including the most prominent voice in government standing against Canada’s explosion of antisemitic violence since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks.
In his statement, he says this won’t be his last appearance in public service.
“I am more focused than ever on contributing to building a better city, province and country – not only for us, but for my daughter and the next generation of Canadians,” his statement reads.
“It’s now about them and the Toronto and Canada they will grow up in and inherit.”
Kevin Vuong statement
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
torontosun.com
The new dad has represented Spadina-Fort York since 2021
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Mar 26, 2025 • Last updated 18 hours ago • 2 minute read
OTTAWA — The longest-serving independent MP of Canada’s 44th Parliament won’t be seeking re-election.
Spadina-Fort York MP Kevin Vuong, whose 2021 election in the downtown Toronto riding came tinged with controversy and allegations of interference by the Chinese government, tells the Toronto Sun he won’t contest his seat in the coming federal election.
“Unlike some of my colleagues, I actually want to spend more time with my family, ” Vuong said with a smile.
“I don’t think I can be the best MP that I want to be and that Canadians deserve and be a great father and husband, so at this juncture I am choosing to focus on my family and will continue to serve Canada in another capacity.”
Vuong and wife Elizabeth welcomed daughter Victoria in October.
In a statement, he said his four short years in Parliament helped give back to a country that gave him and his family — who fled to Canada from Vietnam as refugees — so much.
Vuong originally ran for the seat in the 2021 federal election as a Liberal, but was removed from the ticket after a Toronto Star story highlighting a dropped sexual assault charge stemming from an April 2019 encounter with a former girlfriend.
The Liberals cut ties with Vuong just days before the election, and after advance polls had closed. He won the vote.
Vuong told Postmedia in 2023 that he’d met the woman through a dating app in 2018, embarking on a two-month-long relationship.
An unexpected April 2019 invitation to her apartment, Vuong said, resulted in the police complaint — charges that were almost immediately withdrawn by the Crown.
Vuong — the child of ethnically-Chinese immigrants from Vietnam — maintains the allegations were part of an effort to discredit him by the Chinese government, stemming from his prominent anti-communist positions.
Vuong’s term in in office — one of three independents sitting in the House at the election call — was marked with a number of initiatives, including the most prominent voice in government standing against Canada’s explosion of antisemitic violence since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks.
In his statement, he says this won’t be his last appearance in public service.
“I am more focused than ever on contributing to building a better city, province and country – not only for us, but for my daughter and the next generation of Canadians,” his statement reads.
“It’s now about them and the Toronto and Canada they will grow up in and inherit.”
Kevin Vuong statement
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume
Independent MP Kevin Vuong not seeking re-election: 'Focus on my family'
Spadina-Fort York MP claims Chinese meddling is behind dropped assault charge that torpedoed his 2021 bid to win seat as Liberal MP
Contentious Liberal MP Paul Chiang drops out of race
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Apr 01, 2025 • Last updated 21 hours ago • 1 minute read
OTTAWA — Despite his party leader standing by his continued candidacy, a contentious Liberal MP has dropped out of the race.
And Liberal leader Mark Carney had little to say about it when asked by reporters about it on Tuesday, refusing to offer any explanation on why he decided to keep Markham-Unionville Liberal candidate Paul Chiang on the ballot.
Chiang, who served as a Liberal MP since 2021, announced he’s stepping aside as the party’s candidate after comments to Chinese-language media earlier this year suggesting somebody turn over Conservative Don Valley North candidate Joe Tay to the Chinese embassy to collect the HK $1 million bounty placed on his head by Beijing.
“As the prime minister and team Canada work to stand up to President Trump and protect our economy, I do not want there to be distractions in this critical moment,” Chiang wrote on Twitter overnight.
“That’s why I’m standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham-Unionville.”
Chiang made his announcement shortly after media reports of the RCMP looking into the matter.
Chiang, a retired York Regional Police Sergeant, had apologized to Tay for the remarks, which Tay said left him feeling unsafe.
Tay’s anti-Communist activism landed him with a Beijing arrest warrant late last year.
On Monday, Carney defended his candidate and said he was welcome to continue campaigning, despite calling his comments “deeply offensive” and a “terrible lapse or judgement.”
Opposition parties and several organizations have called for Carney to boot Chiang from the ballot.
Carney was tight-lipped about Chiang’s resignation when grilled by reporters on Tuesday, and refused to explain why he opted to keep him on the ballot despite opposition parties and advocacy groups calling for his ouster.
“Mr. Chiang offered his resignation last night, and I accepted it,” Carney said.
“As I said yesterday, his comments were deeply troubling and regrettable. We will move on with looking for a new candidate for Markham, and I’ll leave it at that.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Bryan Passifiume
Published Apr 01, 2025 • Last updated 21 hours ago • 1 minute read
OTTAWA — Despite his party leader standing by his continued candidacy, a contentious Liberal MP has dropped out of the race.
And Liberal leader Mark Carney had little to say about it when asked by reporters about it on Tuesday, refusing to offer any explanation on why he decided to keep Markham-Unionville Liberal candidate Paul Chiang on the ballot.
Chiang, who served as a Liberal MP since 2021, announced he’s stepping aside as the party’s candidate after comments to Chinese-language media earlier this year suggesting somebody turn over Conservative Don Valley North candidate Joe Tay to the Chinese embassy to collect the HK $1 million bounty placed on his head by Beijing.
“As the prime minister and team Canada work to stand up to President Trump and protect our economy, I do not want there to be distractions in this critical moment,” Chiang wrote on Twitter overnight.
“That’s why I’m standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham-Unionville.”
Chiang made his announcement shortly after media reports of the RCMP looking into the matter.
Chiang, a retired York Regional Police Sergeant, had apologized to Tay for the remarks, which Tay said left him feeling unsafe.
Tay’s anti-Communist activism landed him with a Beijing arrest warrant late last year.
On Monday, Carney defended his candidate and said he was welcome to continue campaigning, despite calling his comments “deeply offensive” and a “terrible lapse or judgement.”
Opposition parties and several organizations have called for Carney to boot Chiang from the ballot.
Carney was tight-lipped about Chiang’s resignation when grilled by reporters on Tuesday, and refused to explain why he opted to keep him on the ballot despite opposition parties and advocacy groups calling for his ouster.
“Mr. Chiang offered his resignation last night, and I accepted it,” Carney said.
“As I said yesterday, his comments were deeply troubling and regrettable. We will move on with looking for a new candidate for Markham, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Contentious Liberal MP Paul Chiang drops out of race
Despite his party leader standing by his continued candidacy, a contentious Liberal MP has dropped out of the race
Conservatives drop Mark McKenzie over death penalty comments, including joke about Trudeau
Author of the article:Taylor Campbell
Published Apr 01, 2025 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 3 minute read
Three days later — gone. Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie (centre) is joined by supporters and fellow candidates David Epp (Chatham-Kent-Leamington), second from left, and Chris Lewis (Essex) during the official opening of McKenzie's office on Amy Croft Drive in Tecumseh on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
Three days later — gone. Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie (centre) is joined by supporters and fellow candidates David Epp (Chatham-Kent-Leamington), second from left, and Chris Lewis (Essex) during the official opening of McKenzie's office on Amy Croft Drive in Tecumseh on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
The Conservative Party of Canada dropped Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore candidate and city councillor Mark McKenzie on Tuesday over controversial comments that surfaced on the campaign trail.
In a podcast from February 2022, before he was a politician, McKenzie expressed support for the death penalty and appeared to include then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a list of people who should be executed.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked about McKenzie during a campaign stop in St. John’s, N.L.
“We fired him. He’s gone,” Poilievre said. “Unacceptable.”
McKenzie made the questionable comments on the Mark and Chris Podcast, a segment of which was obtained by the Star.
“I’m also in favour of public hangings. I think they need to bring that back,” McKenzie said on the episode. “I want the public hanging because it’s longer.”
“I think they should bring back the electric chair as well, but again, only if you’re like a million per cent positive.”
In the podcast, McKenzie called for Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo to receive the death penalty.
“Just f****** kill that guy. Why are my tax dollars going to keep that guy alive? Charles Manson, like, people like that. Jeffery Dahmer, you know what I’m saying? If you’re 100 per cent certain. (Jeffery) Epsteins, y’know? This is what I’m saying — Justin Trudeau.”
McKenzie laughed after making the statement.
Workers are shown in Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie’s campaign office in Tecumseh on Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025, at the time that news was spreading that the Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore candidate had been removed from the federal race by his party.
Most episodes of the now defunct podcast have been removed from the web.
McKenzie, the rookie Ward 4 councillor who only just held his official campaign kick-off event on Saturday, is no longer listed as a candidate on the Conservative Party of Canada’s website.
In a phone interview with the Star on Tuesday, McKenzie said he’d received a call from a Conservative Party of Canada representative that morning. The person asked him to send a copy of the controversial podcast episode, he said.
According to McKenzie, before he could transfer the file, the person called back and said the party had decided not to move forward with him as a candidate.
“It’s disappointing,” he said.
McKenzie said he regrets “the way that it came out and the way that it was said” on a “comedy podcast,” but he affirmed that he supports harsher penalties for child predators, rapists, and violent criminals.
“It was all as a joke, and we were laughing the whole time and clearly not serious at all. But looking back, it was tasteless.”
McKenzie said he was “doing what I needed to do to support my family, to support my wife and son” after being laid off from his job as a radio host during the pandemic.
The podcast, he said, had advertisers, “and we were doing what our advertisers wanted us to do.”
McKenzie had “dealt with” the podcast, which he called “pretty public knowledge,” when he ran for city council in the fall of 2022. He said a few residents asked him about it. He “put it into context” for them, explaining that it was a joke.
McKenzie thanked his supporters, including volunteers who’ve answered phones, assembled lawn signs, and knocked on doors for him.
“I’m sorry I let you down, and I’m sorry the party let you down — that’s what I’m hearing from a lot of people. They’re saying, ‘We still support you, Mark,’ and they’re disappointed with the party’s decision.”
Some Conservative members previously expressed disappointment when the party’s national leadership bypassed the traditional nomination process and appointed McKenzie as the candidate in the riding held by Liberal incumbent Irek Kusmierczyk. Liberal Leader Mark Carney on March 23 had called a snap federal election for April 28.
Several people at McKenzie’s campaign office appeared in denial when asked by the Star for comment Tuesday morning, insisting the news was not yet official or verified.
But the Conservative Party of Canada’s official campaign website has removed Mark McKenzie from its list of candidates running in this month’s election.
McKenzie’s removal from the campaign trail comes one day after Markham-Unionville Liberal candidate Paul Chiang stepped aside. In January, Chiang made comments to Chinese-language media that a political opponent should be turned over to Chinese officials in exchange for a bounty.
During a campaign stop in Winnipeg, Man., on Tuesday, Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney said he accepted Chiang’s resignation on Monday night.
“His comments were deeply troubling and regrettable. We will move on with looking for another candidate for Markham.”
tcampbell@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Taylor Campbell
Published Apr 01, 2025 • Last updated 12 hours ago • 3 minute read
Three days later — gone. Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie (centre) is joined by supporters and fellow candidates David Epp (Chatham-Kent-Leamington), second from left, and Chris Lewis (Essex) during the official opening of McKenzie's office on Amy Croft Drive in Tecumseh on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
Three days later — gone. Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie (centre) is joined by supporters and fellow candidates David Epp (Chatham-Kent-Leamington), second from left, and Chris Lewis (Essex) during the official opening of McKenzie's office on Amy Croft Drive in Tecumseh on Saturday, March 29, 2025.
The Conservative Party of Canada dropped Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore candidate and city councillor Mark McKenzie on Tuesday over controversial comments that surfaced on the campaign trail.
In a podcast from February 2022, before he was a politician, McKenzie expressed support for the death penalty and appeared to include then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on a list of people who should be executed.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was asked about McKenzie during a campaign stop in St. John’s, N.L.
“We fired him. He’s gone,” Poilievre said. “Unacceptable.”
McKenzie made the questionable comments on the Mark and Chris Podcast, a segment of which was obtained by the Star.
“I’m also in favour of public hangings. I think they need to bring that back,” McKenzie said on the episode. “I want the public hanging because it’s longer.”
“I think they should bring back the electric chair as well, but again, only if you’re like a million per cent positive.”
In the podcast, McKenzie called for Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo to receive the death penalty.
“Just f****** kill that guy. Why are my tax dollars going to keep that guy alive? Charles Manson, like, people like that. Jeffery Dahmer, you know what I’m saying? If you’re 100 per cent certain. (Jeffery) Epsteins, y’know? This is what I’m saying — Justin Trudeau.”
McKenzie laughed after making the statement.
Workers are shown in Conservative candidate Mark McKenzie’s campaign office in Tecumseh on Tuesday morning, April 1, 2025, at the time that news was spreading that the Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore candidate had been removed from the federal race by his party.
Most episodes of the now defunct podcast have been removed from the web.
McKenzie, the rookie Ward 4 councillor who only just held his official campaign kick-off event on Saturday, is no longer listed as a candidate on the Conservative Party of Canada’s website.
In a phone interview with the Star on Tuesday, McKenzie said he’d received a call from a Conservative Party of Canada representative that morning. The person asked him to send a copy of the controversial podcast episode, he said.
According to McKenzie, before he could transfer the file, the person called back and said the party had decided not to move forward with him as a candidate.
“It’s disappointing,” he said.
McKenzie said he regrets “the way that it came out and the way that it was said” on a “comedy podcast,” but he affirmed that he supports harsher penalties for child predators, rapists, and violent criminals.
“It was all as a joke, and we were laughing the whole time and clearly not serious at all. But looking back, it was tasteless.”
McKenzie said he was “doing what I needed to do to support my family, to support my wife and son” after being laid off from his job as a radio host during the pandemic.
The podcast, he said, had advertisers, “and we were doing what our advertisers wanted us to do.”
McKenzie had “dealt with” the podcast, which he called “pretty public knowledge,” when he ran for city council in the fall of 2022. He said a few residents asked him about it. He “put it into context” for them, explaining that it was a joke.
McKenzie thanked his supporters, including volunteers who’ve answered phones, assembled lawn signs, and knocked on doors for him.
“I’m sorry I let you down, and I’m sorry the party let you down — that’s what I’m hearing from a lot of people. They’re saying, ‘We still support you, Mark,’ and they’re disappointed with the party’s decision.”
Some Conservative members previously expressed disappointment when the party’s national leadership bypassed the traditional nomination process and appointed McKenzie as the candidate in the riding held by Liberal incumbent Irek Kusmierczyk. Liberal Leader Mark Carney on March 23 had called a snap federal election for April 28.
Several people at McKenzie’s campaign office appeared in denial when asked by the Star for comment Tuesday morning, insisting the news was not yet official or verified.
But the Conservative Party of Canada’s official campaign website has removed Mark McKenzie from its list of candidates running in this month’s election.
McKenzie’s removal from the campaign trail comes one day after Markham-Unionville Liberal candidate Paul Chiang stepped aside. In January, Chiang made comments to Chinese-language media that a political opponent should be turned over to Chinese officials in exchange for a bounty.
During a campaign stop in Winnipeg, Man., on Tuesday, Liberal Party Leader Mark Carney said he accepted Chiang’s resignation on Monday night.
“His comments were deeply troubling and regrettable. We will move on with looking for another candidate for Markham.”
tcampbell@postmedia.com
Conservatives drop Windsor's Mark McKenzie over death penalty comments, including joke about Trudeau
The Conservatives need a new candidate for Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakesohore after dropping Mark McKenzie over controversial comments.
Conservatives drop Montreal candidate who said 'Plateau snobs' should be put on 'galleys'
'Plateau snobs, ecocrats and other shameless socialists should be put on galleys,' Stefan Marquis wrote on Jan. 2
Author of the article:Montreal Gazette
Montreal Gazette
Harry North
Published Apr 01, 2025 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 2 minute read
The Conservative Party of Canada has dropped a Montreal candidate who published social media posts attacking Quebec’s political culture, sharing a vaccine conspiracy theory involving Bill Gates, and echoing pro-Kremlin talking points about the war in Ukraine.
Stéfan Marquis, who had announced he was running in the Laurier–Sainte-Marie riding, was dropped from the party’s list of candidates on Tuesday after The Gazette inquired about his posts on X.
In the posts, which date back to late 2024, Marquis criticized Quebec in reference to its federal equalization payments, calling the province a “disgrace.”
“Quebec is a disgrace. Just by itself, it receives more in equalization payments than all the other provinces and territories combined. The Plateau snobs, ecocrats and other shameless socialists should be put on galleys,” he wrote on Jan. 2.
He reposted a video late December last year that claimed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ work in global health involving vaccines was really about helping pharmaceutical companies profit and giving “greater power for Bill Gates to shape the course of the future for billions.”
“This needs to stop. The damage Bill Gates has caused is colossal,” Lacasse said, referencing the post.
In other posts, Marquis reposted that the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was provoked by NATO and a U.S.-backed coup in 2014.
“Media-fed guppies who push for war in Ukraine, listen to THIS, and wake the f*** up. It’s time now,” he said in a post on Feb. 27 referencing the thread blaming the West.
He also alleged that the main reason the former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was tapped to lead the Liberal Party was to implement a Central Bank Digital Currency, referring to them as the “golden fleece of the globalists.”
The party declined to comment on the content of the posts or the decision to remove Marquis. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has previously expressed support for vaccinations and Ukraine.
Marquis said in a statement April 1 that he was informed of his disqualification during a call from a party official.
“I was told without further note that ‘certain’ individuals within the party had consulted my recent posts on X and deemed these sufficient reason to end our political collaboration,” he wrote.
Marquis is the latest candidate dropped by the Conservative Party. A hopeful in Windsor was removed after CTV News obtained an audio recording of him calling for former prime minister Justin Trudeau to face the death penalty.
The Liberal Party has also faced scrutiny over candidate conduct. Former Toronto-area Liberal candidate Paul Chiang withdrew after suggesting that his Conservative opponent, Joe Tay, be handed over to the Chinese consulate in exchange for a bounty.
The deadline for political parties to finalize their candidate lists is April 9.
torontosun.com
'Plateau snobs, ecocrats and other shameless socialists should be put on galleys,' Stefan Marquis wrote on Jan. 2
Author of the article:Montreal Gazette
Montreal Gazette
Harry North
Published Apr 01, 2025 • Last updated 17 hours ago • 2 minute read
The Conservative Party of Canada has dropped a Montreal candidate who published social media posts attacking Quebec’s political culture, sharing a vaccine conspiracy theory involving Bill Gates, and echoing pro-Kremlin talking points about the war in Ukraine.
Stéfan Marquis, who had announced he was running in the Laurier–Sainte-Marie riding, was dropped from the party’s list of candidates on Tuesday after The Gazette inquired about his posts on X.
In the posts, which date back to late 2024, Marquis criticized Quebec in reference to its federal equalization payments, calling the province a “disgrace.”
“Quebec is a disgrace. Just by itself, it receives more in equalization payments than all the other provinces and territories combined. The Plateau snobs, ecocrats and other shameless socialists should be put on galleys,” he wrote on Jan. 2.
He reposted a video late December last year that claimed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ work in global health involving vaccines was really about helping pharmaceutical companies profit and giving “greater power for Bill Gates to shape the course of the future for billions.”
“This needs to stop. The damage Bill Gates has caused is colossal,” Lacasse said, referencing the post.
In other posts, Marquis reposted that the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was provoked by NATO and a U.S.-backed coup in 2014.
“Media-fed guppies who push for war in Ukraine, listen to THIS, and wake the f*** up. It’s time now,” he said in a post on Feb. 27 referencing the thread blaming the West.
He also alleged that the main reason the former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney was tapped to lead the Liberal Party was to implement a Central Bank Digital Currency, referring to them as the “golden fleece of the globalists.”
The party declined to comment on the content of the posts or the decision to remove Marquis. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has previously expressed support for vaccinations and Ukraine.
Marquis said in a statement April 1 that he was informed of his disqualification during a call from a party official.
“I was told without further note that ‘certain’ individuals within the party had consulted my recent posts on X and deemed these sufficient reason to end our political collaboration,” he wrote.
Marquis is the latest candidate dropped by the Conservative Party. A hopeful in Windsor was removed after CTV News obtained an audio recording of him calling for former prime minister Justin Trudeau to face the death penalty.
The Liberal Party has also faced scrutiny over candidate conduct. Former Toronto-area Liberal candidate Paul Chiang withdrew after suggesting that his Conservative opponent, Joe Tay, be handed over to the Chinese consulate in exchange for a bounty.
The deadline for political parties to finalize their candidate lists is April 9.
Conservatives drop Montreal candidate who said 'Plateau snobs' should be put on 'galleys'
Conservatives drop Montreal candidate who said ‘Plateau snobs’ should be put on ‘galleys’