By Nicolas Gagnon

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling Prime Minister Mark Carney to cut the governor general’s budget in the wake of new polling from Leger polling.

“Nearly half of Canadians believe the governor general’s budget is too big and should be reduced,” said Nicolas Gagnon, Quebec Director for the CTF. “When families are struggling with rising prices, it’s wrong to rubberstamp budget increases for a completely ceremonial office.”

According to its latest annual report, the governor general’s office spent $36 million in 2023-24.

The governor general receives a $378,000 salary, a taxpayer-funded clothing allowance, a lifetime pension of about $150,000 annually and a $200,000 annual expense account even after leaving office.

The Leger poll asked Canadians what should happen to the governor general’s budget and found that:

• 49 per cent want to reduce the Governor General’s budget
• 19 per cent would keep it the same
• 13 per cent want to increase it
• 19 per cent are unsure

Among those with an opinion, nearly 60 per cent of Canadians favour a reduction.

“The governor general already receives a massive salary, lives in a taxpayer-funded mansion, flies on private jets and still gets a six-figure annual expense account after retirement,” Gagnon said. “Canadians are sending the prime minister a clear message: enough is enough.”

To view the poll results, click here.

From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Hailey Gomez

Actress Gina Carano reached a settlement with Disney and Lucasfilm Thursday after filing a lawsuit against the company in 2024 following her firing from the show “The Mandalorian.”

In February 2024, Carano filed the lawsuit, alleging she had been wrongfully terminated and discriminated against. Posting a statement Thursday on X, Carano announced that the more-than-year-long legal battle had officially ended, calling the settlement the “best outcome for all parties involved” and thanking billionaire Elon Musk and her lawyers.

“I hope this brings some healing to the force,” Carano wrote. “I am humbled and grateful to God for His love and grace in this outcome. I’d like to thank you all for your unrelenting support throughout my life and career, you’ve been the heartbeat that has kept my story alive. I hope to make you proud.”

“I am excited to flip the page and move onto the next chapter. My desires remain in the arts, which is where I hope you will join me,” Carano added.

Carano posted her initial announcement of the lawsuit last year on X, stating that Musk would provide lawyers for her after he said he would offer legal representation to those who “had been fired from using the platform (X) for exercising your right to free speech.”

The lawsuit stemmed from Carano’s February 2021 firing from Lucasfilm’s Star Wars series “The Mandalorian.” The actress had been promptly let go from the show after “sharing a post on social media implying that being a Republican today is like being Jewish during the Holocaust,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

At the time of her termination, Lucasfilm released a statement saying there were “no plans for her to be” employed by the company in the future.

“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future. Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable,” the statement read.

In addition to being let go from the show, Carano’s representation, United Talent Management, also dropped her. In response to the company’s statement at the time, Carano called out the “smear campaign ” against her, alleging she had been “hunted down from everything” she posted and liked on social media.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is I was being hunted down from everything I posted to every post I liked because I was not in line with the acceptable narrative of the time,” Carano wrote in 2024. “My words were consistently twisted to demonize & dehumanize me as an alt right wing extremist. It was a bullying smear campaign aimed at silencing, destroying & making an example out of me.”

While details of the settlement have not been released, a Lucasfilm spokesperson told Variety that they “look forward to identifying opportunities to work together” with Carano.

“The Walt Disney Company and Lucasfilm are pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with Gina Carano to resolve the issues in her pending lawsuit against the companies. Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect. With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future,” a Lucasfilm spokesperson said.