Opinion
INTEREST RATE SHOCK
Open Letter to The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
January 4, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Red Deer – Mountain View, AB
The economic collapse as a result of COVID-19 lockdown measures has pushed the real interest rate to record lows. This rate however, is very misleading given our current economic environment.
- Baby boomers are retiring and are reducing the pool of available investable funds.
- Reduced number of people in the workforce will result in higher wage demands.
- Inevitable higher taxes required to repay significant debt brought on by lockdowns.
- High likelihood of reduced outsourcing in order to protect domestic supply chains.
- An economic plan that focuses on “green” incentives and destroys Canada’s oil and gas industry.
- Inflated housing prices across Canada despite a poor economic outlook.
- High consumer debt levels pre-COVID-19.
- Long running Bank of Canada policy which encourages consumption over investment.
Your government has indicated that it is considering adding an additional $100 billion in stimulus spending once the “virus is under control”. As the Canadian economy is already flooded with record government spending, the potential for inflation is very real.
Considering the above, the return of high interest rates, as seen in the 1980’s, is entirely possible. While we may not see record high mortgage rates of 21.46% as posted in August 1981, even small increases in rates could result in significant interest rate shock for many Canadians.
Increases in inflation and interest rates would impact low-income families most adversely. Most notably, these individuals may struggle to pay for food, shelter and healthcare, all of which are basic necessities.
COVID-19 has already resulted in the biggest transfer of wealth in human history. I am strongly urging you to end the pursuit of a “green economy” and commit to a drastic reduction in red tape to allow the private sector to begin generating wealth, something the government is only able to redistribute.
Sincerely,
Jared Pilon
Candidate for Red Deer – Mountain View, AB
https://www.jaredpilon.com/
Business
Bill Gates walks away from the climate cult
Billionaire Bill Gates — long one of the loudest voices warning of climate catastrophe — now says the world has bigger problems to worry about. In a 17-page memo released Tuesday, the Microsoft co-founder called for a “strategic pivot” away from the obsessive focus on reducing global temperatures, urging leaders instead to prioritize fighting poverty and eradicating disease in the developing world. “Climate change is a serious problem, but it’s not the end of humanity,” Gates wrote.
Gates, 70, argued that global leaders have lost perspective by treating climate change as an existential crisis while millions continue to suffer from preventable diseases like malaria. “If I had to choose between eradicating malaria and preventing a tenth of a degree of warming, I’d let the temperature go up 0.1 degree,” he told reporters ahead of next month’s U.N. climate conference in Brazil. “People don’t understand the suffering that exists today.”
For decades, Gates has positioned himself as a leading advocate for global climate initiatives, investing billions in green energy projects and warning of the dangers of rising emissions. Yet his latest comments mark a striking reversal — and a rare admission that the world’s climate panic may have gone too far. “If you think climate is not important, you won’t agree with the memo,” Gates told journalists. “If you think climate is the only cause and apocalyptic, you won’t agree with the memo. It’s a pragmatic view from someone trying to maximize the money and innovation that helps poor countries.”
The billionaire’s change in tone is sure to raise eyebrows ahead of the U.N. conference, where climate activists plan to push for new emissions targets and wealth transfers from developed nations. Critics have long accused Gates and other elites of hypocrisy for lecturing the public about fossil fuels while traveling the globe on private jets. Now, Gates himself appears to be distancing from the doomsday rhetoric he once helped spread, effectively admitting that humanity faces more immediate moral imperatives than the weather.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Stunning Climate Change pivot from Bill Gates. Poverty and disease should be top concern.
Internet
Musk launches Grokipedia to break Wikipedia’s information monopoly
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture xAI launched “Grokipedia” on Monday — a new online encyclopedia built to challenge what he says is Wikipedia’s entrenched political bias. The site, powered by xAI’s technology and integrated with Grok, the same AI system behind Musk’s X platform, aims to provide a politically balanced alternative to the long-dominant Wikipedia, which critics have accused for years of leftist censorship and selective editing.
Grokipedia, now live in its beta “v0.1” stage, opens with roughly 885,000 entries — a fraction of Wikipedia’s seven million English-language pages but a notable start for a platform that launched just hours ago. Some users experienced temporary errors upon the rollout, but by Monday evening the site was running smoothly. Musk framed the project as part of his broader effort to restore transparency and ideological diversity to the digital space, echoing his moves to overhaul Twitter into X.
The billionaire’s feud with Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has grown increasingly bitter in recent months. Musk has accused Wales of allowing Wikipedia to devolve into a propaganda outlet that protects liberal narratives while suppressing dissenting voices. “Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored,” Musk wrote in a January post on X. Wales, for his part, has dismissed Grokipedia as an unserious experiment, telling the Washington Post last week that AI-generated content is prone to “massive factual errors” and lacks editorial oversight.
Breitbart News has documented numerous examples of Wikipedia’s bias, from its editors smearing Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk following his assassination to attempts to delete articles about his widow Erika Kirk and Ukrainian activist Iryna Zarutska. One editor even proposed deleting Bible verses, while another added Nazi references to politically conservative entries. The site’s governing “neutrality working group,” announced amid backlash, has ignored allegations of left-wing bias and instead congratulated itself on maintaining “neutrality on contentious subjects.”
Grokipedia vs. Wikipedia on Charlie Kirk.
We all knew Wikipedia sucked, but this hit a nerve.
Grokipedia is the obvious choice. pic.twitter.com/BEWLCNPtp7
— Defiant L’s (@DefiantLs) October 28, 2025
For Musk, Grokipedia represents more than a product launch — it’s another front in his campaign to dismantle what he sees as the internet’s entrenched progressive gatekeepers. While Wikipedia’s defenders dismiss his challenge as quixotic, the early traffic surge to Grokipedia suggests that many users are ready to see if Musk’s alternative can deliver what the old encyclopedia no longer does: balance, transparency, and a willingness to question the narrative.
(Photo/Alex Brandon)
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