Business
Australian senator compares Trudeau’s treatment of Freedom Convoy protesters to Communist China

From LifeSiteNews
‘This push towards a digital ID future is another step toward a Chinese Communist Party-style social credit system, which will force you to support the current thing at the risk of total cancellation,’ Senator Alex Antic said
An Australian senator compared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of the Freedom Convoy with Communist China.
During a November 13 meeting in the Australian Senate, Senator Alex Antic used the freezing of Canadians’ bank accounts during the 2022 Freedom Convoy as an example of the dangers of digital currency, comparing Trudeau’s actions with China’s social credit system.
“I’ve been warning about digital ID for some time, and it wasn’t so long ago that, like many of these issues which turn out to be correct, it was considered to be nothing but a conspiracy theory,” he said.
“We saw how that worked a couple of years ago with the financial cancellation of the Canadian truckers when they were protesting COVID lockdowns and restrictions,” Antic appealed. “The advancement of technology is inevitable, but this push towards a digital ID future is another step towards a Chinese Communist Party-style social credit system, which will force you to support the current thing at the risk of total cancellation.”
The Trudeau government’s similarities to China’s Communist government have become increasingly evident to both Canadians and other countries. Indeed, Trudeau himself admitted that he has a “level of admiration” for China’s “basic dictatorship.”
His imitation of China’s credit score system was revealed during the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa with thousands of Canadians calling for an end to COVID mandates by camping outside Parliament.
In response, Trudeau’s government enacted the EA on February 14, 2022, to shut down the popular movement. Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23 after the protesters had been cleared out. At the time, seven of Canada’s 10 provinces opposed the use of the EA by Trudeau.
Under the EA, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland froze the bank accounts of Canadians who donated to the 2022 Freedom Convoy, which protested vaccine mandates and COVID regulations.
As articulated by LifeSiteNews correspondent David James, this type of financial crackdown is precisely why many fear the move toward an entirely digital, cashless society.
“What Freeland has outlined is an unprecedented incursion into financial activity that is designed to lock the people whom the government deems to be undesirable out of the system entirely,” James wrote in an op-ed.
“It confirms what many have been warning about for some time: that one of the core elements of the so-called Great Reset is to enslave populations by surveilling and controlling their transactions,” he continued. “China has already implemented its version of digital tyranny with its Social Credit System, which it will combine with its Central Bank Digital Currency [CBDC]. Now Trudeau and Freeland have drawn back the curtain in Canada to reveal their version of digital despotism.”
Antic’s use of Canada as an example comes as governments around the world are pushing digital currency despite warnings that it will lead to a social credit system.
“Last week, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a final agreement on a law to create the European Digital Identity, or eID, the EU’s first fully digital identification system,” Antic announced.
“This law will provide Europeans with a digital wallet containing digital versions of their ID cards — their drivers licences, their academic certificates, their medical records, their bank account information and so on,” he explained. “The next major step in the EU will be to create a digital euro and a central bank digital currency, which is currently being developed by the European Central Bank.”
“I’ve been warning about digital ID for some time, and it wasn’t so long ago that, like many of these issues which turn out to be correct, it was considered to be nothing but a conspiracy theory,” he added.
Currently, Australia is moving toward introducing digital currency with consultation on the bill having recently closed.
“You can see how it’s going to happen: We’ll get a digital currency and, once those steps are in place, a digital snare trap will have been created,” Antic warned. “We must reject a digital ID future, and time is running out for people in this place to understand that they are playing with fire.”
Business
Pension and Severance Estimate for 110 MP’s Who Resigned or Were Defeated in 2025 Federal Election

By Franco Terrazzano
Taxpayers Federation releases pension and severance figures for 2025 federal election
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released its calculations of estimated pension and severance payments paid to the 110 members of Parliament who were either defeated in the federal election or did not seek re-election.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t feel too bad for the politicians who lost the election because they’ll be cashing big severance or pension cheques,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “Thanks to past pension reforms, taxpayers will not have to shoulder as much of the burden as they used to. But there’s more work to do to make politician pay affordable for taxpayers.”
Defeated or retiring MPs will collect about $5 million in annual pension payments, reaching a cumulative total of about $187 million by age 90. In addition, about $6.6 million in severance cheques will be issued to some former MPs.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau will collect two taxpayer-funded pensions in retirement. Combined, those pensions total $8.4 million, according to CTF estimates. Trudeau is also taking a $104,900 severance payout because he did not run again as an MP.
The payouts for Trudeau’s MP pension will begin at $141,000 per year when he turns 55 years old. It will total an estimated $6.5 million should he live to the age of 90. The payouts for Trudeau’s prime minister pension will begin at $73,000 per year when he turns 67 years old. It will total an estimated $1.9 million should he live to the age of 90.
“Taxpayers need to see leadership at the top and that means reforming pensions and ending the pay raises MPs take every year,” Terrazzano said. “A prime minister already takes millions through their first pension, they shouldn’t be billing taxpayers more for their second pension.
“The government must end the second pension for all future prime ministers.”
There are 13 former MPs that will collect more than $100,000-plus a year in pension income. The pension and severance calculations for each defeated or retired MP can be found here.
Some notable severance / pensions
Name Party Years as MP Severance Annual Starting Pension Pension to Age 90
Bergeron, Stéphane BQ 17.6 $ 99,000.00 $ 4,440,000.00
Boissonnault, Randy LPC 7.6 $ 44,200.00 $ 53,000.00 $ 2,775,000.00
Dreeshen, Earl CPC 16.6 $ $ 95,000.00 $ 1,938,000.00
Mendicino, Marco * LPC 9.4 $ 66,000.00 $ 3,586,000.00
O’Regan, Seamus LPC 9.5 $ 104,900.00 $ 75,000.00 $ 3,927,000.00
Poilievre, Pierre ** CPC 20.8 $ 136,000.00 $ 7,087,000.00
Singh, Jagmeet NDP 6.2 $ 140,300.00 $ 45,000.00 $ 2,694,000.00
Trudeau, Justin *** LPC 16.6 $ 104,900.00 $ 141,000.00 $ 8,400,000.00
* Marco Mendicino resigned as an MP on March 14th, 2025
** Pierre Poilievre announced that he would not take a severance
*** The Pension to Age 90 includes Trudeau’s MP pension and his secondary Prime Minister’s pension
Business
New fiscal approach necessary to reduce Ottawa’s mountain of debt

From the Fraser Institute
By Jake Fuss and Grady Munro
Apparently, despite a few days of conflicting statements from the government, the Carney government now plans to table a budget in the fall. If the new prime minister wants to reduce Ottawa’s massive debt burden, which Canadians ultimately bear, he must begin to work now to reduce spending.
According to the federal government’s latest projections, from 2014/15 to 2024/25 total federal debt is expected to double from $1.1 trillion to a projected $2.2 trillion. That means $13,699 in new federal debt for every Canadian (after adjusting for inflation). In addition, from 2020 to 2023, the Trudeau government recorded the four highest years of total federal debt per person (inflation-adjusted) in Canadian history.
How did this happen?
From 2018 to 2023, the government recorded the six highest levels of program spending (inflation-adjusted, on a per-person basis) in Canadian history—even after excluding emergency spending during COVID. Consequently, in 2024/25 Ottawa will run its tenth consecutive budget deficit since 2014/15.
Of course, Canadians bear the burden of this free-spending approach. For example, over the last several years federal debt interest payments have more than doubled to an expected $53.7 billion this year. That’s more than the government plans to spend on health-care transfers to the provinces. And it’s money unavailable for programs including social services.
In the longer term, government debt accumulation can limit economic growth by pushing up interest rates. Why? Because governments compete with individuals, families and businesses for the savings available for borrowing, and this competition puts upward pressure on interest rates. Higher interest rates deter private investment in the Canadian economy—a necessary ingredient for economic growth—and hurt Canadian living standards.
Given these costs, the Carney government should take a new approach to fiscal policy and begin reducing Ottawa’s mountain of debt.
According to both history and research, the most effective and least economically harmful way to achieve this is to reduce government spending and balance the budget, as opposed to raising taxes. While this approach requires tough decisions, which may be politically unpopular in some quarters, worthwhile goals are rarely easy and the long-term gain will exceed the short-term pain. Indeed, a recent study by Canadian economist Bev Dahlby found the long-term economic benefits of a 12-percentage point reduction in debt (as a share of GDP) substantially outweighs the short-term costs.
Unfortunately, while Canadians must wait until the fall for a federal budget, the Carney government’s election platform promises to add—not subtract—from Ottawa’s mountain of debt and from 2025/26 to 2028/29 run annual deficits every year of at least $47.8 billion. In total, these planned deficits represent $224.8 billion in new government debt over the next four years, and there’s currently no plan to balance the budget. This represents a continuation of the Trudeau government’s approach to rack up debt and behave irresponsibly with federal finances.
With a new government on Parliament Hill, now is the time for federal policymakers to pursue the long-ignored imperative of reducing government debt. Clearly, if the Carney government wants to prioritize debt reduction, it must rethink its fiscal plan and avoid repeating the same mistakes of its predecessor.
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