Business
Charlottetown cabinet retreat cost taxpayers almost half-a-million

From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Author: Ryan Thorpe
“Spending more than four hundred grand on a three-day retreat to tackle affordability is tone-deaf and unacceptable”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s three-day cabinet retreat to Prince Edward Island last summer cost taxpayers at least $412,000, according to government records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Figures contained within online proactive disclosures, discovered by the National Post, increased the total cost of the cabinet retreat to $485,196.
Trudeau and his cabinet ministers gathered at a waterfront hotel in Charlottetown, P.E.I., from Aug. 21-23, 2023. The retreat was aimed at tackling the affordability and housing crises facing Canadians.
Expenses from the retreat include $100,000 worth of hotel rooms, $22,000 spent on food and drink, and a $52,000 “banquet.”
“Spending more than four hundred grand on a three-day retreat to tackle affordability is tone-deaf and unacceptable,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Canadians don’t need politicians wasting this type of money, we need them to stop raising taxes that make life more expensive.”
At the cabinet retreat, Trudeau claimed they were “rolling up our sleeves to talk about affordability, to talk about economic growth for everyone, to talk about how we’re going to solve some of the housing challenges.”
Ministers also heard a presentation from the head of the B.C. thinktank Generation Squeeze, a leading proponent of the federal government implementing a home-equity tax. A home-equity tax would tax the money Canadians receive when selling their home.
“It seems like the Trudeau government’s only solution on affordability is to waste other people’s money flying around the country talking to each other,” Terrazzano said. “It’s a shame they don’t have offices in Ottawa, or Zoom accounts, so they could do some of this work without spending thousands of dollars.”
The records obtained by the CTF were released in response to an order paper question from member of Parliament Tracy Gray (Kelowna-Lake Country).
“Expenditures related to the cabinet retreat are as Nov. 27, 2023,” according to the records. “Some travel claims may still be outstanding. As a result, expenditures related to the cabinet retreat may increase slightly.”
The Charlottetown retreat was held nearly a year after the Trudeau government organized an earlier cabinet retreat in Vancouver, which was billed as an anti-inflation summit.
The three-day Vancouver retreat cost taxpayers more than $275,000, and saw Trudeau and his ministers drop tens of thousands of dollars at a café serving up an $88 “millionaire’s cut” steak and lobster plate.
During a press conference on the final day of the Charlottetown retreat, Trudeau acknowledged Canadians are “really worried” about the state of the country and “looking to blame anyone they can for it.”
“So yeah, it’s not an easy time to be a politician,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau announced no new plans to address the affordability or housing crises during the retreat.
“So yeah, it’s not an easy time to be a taxpayer,” Terrazzano said.
Banks
Canada Pension Plan becomes latest institution to drop carbon ‘net zero’ target

From LifeSiteNews
Changes to the law require companies to more rigorously prove their environmental claims.
The investment group in charge of Canada’s governmental pension plan has ditched its “net zero” mandate, joining a growing list of major institutions doing the same.
According to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investments’ latest annual report, the entity is no longer committed to carbon “net-zero” by 2050. The CPP’s ditching of the target comes after a number of major institutions, including the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Bank of Montreal (BMO), National Bank of Canada, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), all made similar moves in recent months.
While ditching the net-zero effort, chief executive of CPP Investments John Graham maintained that it is still “really important to incorporate climate and incorporate sustainability” in its long-term investment portfolio.
The dropping of the “climate” target comes as recent changes to Canada’s Competition Act now mandate that companies prove any environmental claims they make, with Graham insinuating these changes were a factor in the decision.
“Recent legal developments in Canada have introduced, kind of, new considerations around how net-zero commitments are interpreted, so that’s caused us to change a little bit how we talk about it, but nothing’s changed on what we’re actually doing.”
Over the past decade, left-wing activists have used “net zero” and “environmental, social & governance” (ESG) standards to encourage major Canadian and U.S. corporations to take particular stands on political and cultural issues, notably in promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism, race relations, the environment, and abortion.
Outside of Canada, many major corporations have announced they are walking back DEI and other related policies. Some of the most notable include Lowe’s, Jack Daniel’s, and Harley Davidson. Other companies such as Disney, Target, and Bud Light have faced negative sales due to consumers fighting back and refusing to patronize the businesses.
Since taking power in 2015, the Liberal government, first under Justin Trudeau and now under Mark Carney, has continued to push a radical environmental agenda in line with those promoted by the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” and the United Nations’ “Sustainable Development Goals.” Part of this push includes the promotion of so called net-zero energy by as early as 2035.
Business
The Liberals Finally Show Up to Work in 2025

From the National Citizens Coalition
Canadians Demand Action, Not More Empty Promises
The National Citizens Coalition (NCC) today calls out the Liberal government for their belated return to the House of Commons in 2025, after months of dodging accountability while Canadians grapple with skyrocketing costs, unaffordable housing, crime and chaos, and the fallout of a decade of failed Liberal policies.
While the Liberals dust off their seats, millions of Canadians have been struggling to pay for groceries, keep a roof over their heads, or envision a future where hard work still pays off. The NCC demands the government stop hiding behind empty rhetoric and deliver meaningful, common-sense actions to address the crises they’ve exacerbated.
“After years of empty gestures, empty rhetoric, and empty promises, showing up to Parliament in 2025 isn’t an achievement – it’s the bare minimum. Canadians are drowning in high taxes, inflation, and a housing crisis, and they deserve real solutions, not more speeches,” says NCC Director Alexander Brown.
The NCC calls on the Liberal government to immediately prioritize:
Immediate tax relief to put money back in the pockets of hardworking Canadians, including axing the HIDDEN CARBON TAX on our Great Canadian businesses.
Concrete steps to slash immigration back to responsible, sustainable norms; including a crackdown on fraudulent ‘diploma mills,’ and the abolishment of the ‘Temporary Foreign Worker’ program, to protect Canadian jobs, and the jobs of our youth.
Meaningful, immediate efforts to increase housing supply, by slashing red tape and bureaucratic roadblocks that drive up development costs.
An end to wasteful spending on pet projects and corporate handouts that do nothing for struggling families.
Steps toward meaningful criminal justice reform; including an end to Liberal catch-and-release bail for repeat violent offenders.
A plan to restore economic opportunity, so young Canadians can afford homes and build a future without fleeing the country.
And it’s time to Kill Bill C-69 — and Build Pipelines.
Working Canadians have heard enough platitudes – it’s time for results. The government must act decisively to fix the mess they’ve created or step aside for those who will. With just a few short weeks before the Liberals abscond for another vacation, IMMEDIATE ACTION is required to match the urgency of the moment, and to atone for the insult of the Liberals’ cynical, dishonest, “elbows up” campaign that left millions of young, working-age Canadians without hope for the future.
About the National Citizens Coalition:
Founded in 1967, the National Citizens Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for lower taxes, less government waste, and greater individual freedom. We stand for common-sense policies that once again put Canadians first.
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