By Jen Hodgson

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s two-day cabinet meeting in Toronto cost taxpayers more than $532,000, records reviewed by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation show. Carney’s cabinet meetings cost thousands of dollars more than recent cabinet retreats hosted by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

“If you’re spending thousands of dollars more than Trudeau on meetings, you’re spending too much money,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “It’s going to be hard for politicians to explain to taxpayers why all of the meeting rooms in Ottawa weren’t good enough.”

Carney’s two-day cabinet meeting was held at the Pan Pacific Toronto in September, according to government records submitted in response to an Order Paper Question. Pan Pacific’s website describes itself as a “luxury hotel.”

The Privy Council Office spent $250,400 on the venue and “hospitality,” $78,700 for audiovisual services, $40,000 for security and $8,073 on shipping. The PCO spent another $38,300 on accommodation, meals and transportation.

The total bill to taxpayers may balloon higher. The PCO noted costs only include expenditures processed as of Sept. 23. “Certain associated travel claims and invoices may still be awaiting submission or receipt,” wrote the PCO.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police spent $29,000 on the cabinet meeting. That only includes expenditures processed as of Sept. 17.

The Translation Bureau charged taxpayers $30,600 for travel expenses, travel time and interpretation services.

Other departments also spent $57,400 for the cabinet meeting. Most of that was for transportation, but some ministers charged taxpayers for meals and accommodation for themselves and their staff.

Carney’s Toronto cabinet meeting cost more than recent cabinet meetings hosted by Trudeau.

Trudeau’s cabinet retreat to Charlottetown, P.E.I., in August 2023, cost taxpayers $485,196. Even after adjusting for inflation, Trudeau’s cabinet retreat cost about $26,000 less than Carney’s.

The Trudeau government also held a cabinet meeting in Vancouver in 2022. It cost taxpayers $471,070. Even after adjusting for inflation, Trudeau’s cabinet retreat cost about $25,000 less than Carney’s.

“Carney told Canadians he was going to cut waste and he should start by not dropping half a million bucks on meetings,” Terrazzano said. “We need a culture change in Ottawa and that needs to start with the prime minister and ministers respecting taxpayers’ hard-earned money.”

From LifeSiteNews

By Jonathon Van Maren

It must be said: The media’s relentless glamorization of suicide is repulsive and shameful.

It was once standard press practice to treat suicide as a tragedy. But since assisted suicide and euthanasia are now presented as the final front in the war for total autonomy, “human interest” stories now push the interests of the death lobby and treat suicide as a social good. The message this sends to the suicidal and desperate is clear.

The latest example of this is a December 2 story in Le Journal de Quebec on the assisted suicide of 101-year-old Paulette Fiset-Germain. She died by lethal injection in her room at the Manoir Cap-Santé on December 1. The opening line of the story almost glows with approval:

A centenarian who had lost none of her intellectual capacity is now shining in the sky after choosing medical assistance in dying on Monday.

Fiset-Germain had been living independently and alone only a few weeks ago but suffered two falls and a stroke. Last week, she told the staff and fellow residents that she wanted to die by euthanasia — or what in Canada is called “MAID.”

“I started to have trouble using the walker, I have one hand that I can’t use, the other one that I have trouble with, I can’t see one side anymore,” she said. “I’m at the end. You know when the glass starts to spill, it’s time to do something. In addition, you have trouble 24 hours a day, you don’t sleep. We’re going to close the loop.”

The Journal emphasized that she said this in a “very serene” tone of voice — and made it clear that Fiset-Germain’s family were supportive. “My children accepted my decision because they know me, they know that I am ready for it,” she said. “It started when I broke my hip and couldn’t do anything anymore. My decision doesn’t cause me any stress. I can’t wait. When the doctor agreed, I said, ‘You’re giving me a really nice gift.’”

To be clear: That “gift” is a lethal injection. She chose suicide by doctor — and the media celebrated it. That is nothing short of glamorizing suicide. In fact, the Journal made clear that Fiset-Germain was “grateful for the opportunity (of) medical assistance in dying,” but that she hopes it is expanded. In fact: “The last moments of Mme Fiset-Germain will also be the subject of a documentary.”

So, in addition to the puff pieces about her suicide, we’re going to get death porn propaganda that will be used to push for more suicides, likely (I suspect, although no details are yet available) produced in partnership with the vultures at Dying with Dignity.

“It’s too tight,” the elderly woman explained of Canada’s euthanasia regime, which is so notoriously loose it has been condemned by the United Nations. “We have to expand to relieve many people. There are others who are embarrassed, who are afraid of their children’s reaction. Mine told me, ‘It’s my choice, it’s my body, it’s my life.’” Funny — it seems like whenever someone uses that phrase, somebody is about to get killed.

The Quebec press is not known for its glowing coverage of religious beliefs, but for the suicidal Fiset-Germain, they made an exception. “Since I was little, I believe that when you die you become a star. When you see a shooting star, it’s someone who has left and is looking for a place,” she explained. “I received very good care here and I am very happy to end my days here and die in my bed.”

The article made sure to mention that she will “donate her body to science,” and quoted one of her reminisces of working as a nurse during the war, when she met a badly wounded soldier: “He was 20 years old and had lost both eyes, both arms and both legs. He asked me if he could hear his mother’s voice. I arranged for him to go to his house to hear it. I don’t know what happened to him next, but at that time, you couldn’t ask for medical assistance in dying.”

Her best friend offered her almost-too-enthusiastic support. “It’s a good decision,” her cousin and best friend Louisette Huard said. “After the life she’s had, the physical state she’s in.” I must say that if my best friend thought my suicide was a “good decision,” it would certainly heighten my suicidal ideation, but perhaps that’s just me.

Only the head of Manoir Cap-Santé and another friend were willing to express their grief. “It hurts us, but we respect her decision,” Guylaine Dufresne said. Her friend, Adelyre Goeguen, was blunter: “I didn’t like it right away. It was still a shock, and I don’t accept it at all.”

That, in case you’re wondering, is the correct response to the suicide of a close friend.

Jonathon Van Maren

Jonathon’s writings have been translated into more than six languages and in addition to LifeSiteNews, has been published in the National Post, National Review, First Things, The Federalist, The American Conservative, The Stream, the Jewish Independent, the Hamilton Spectator, Reformed Perspective Magazine, and LifeNews, among others. He is a contributing editor to The European Conservative.