Juno News - August 14, 2025


Conservative MP targets ＂two-tiered justice system＂ for non-citizens

Topics
lighter sentences for non-citizens
Hosted by
Isaac Lamoureux
Mentioned
Jonathan Hodgson Andrew Scheer Jeff Michelle Rempel-Garner Donald Trump Gabriel Jaguer Justin Trudeau Tim Hodgson Mark Carney Brookfield
B.C.'s Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Indigenous title over 800 acres in Richmond Veteran fined over $28,000 for daring to step into the woods

Episode Stats


Length

9 minutes

Words per minute

148.86

Word count

1,438

Sentence count

62

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner announced a bill to block lighter sentences for non-citizens, ending the two-tier justice system that favours immigrants. A new government housing report warns housing starts are set to sink below pandemic levels this year. The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Tim Hodgson, confirms that he holds U.S. dual citizenship, but says he won t renounce it.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner announced a bill to block lighter sentences for non-citizens,
00:00:10.080 ending the two-tier justice system that favours immigrants.
00:00:13.420 A new government housing report warns housing starts are set to sink below pandemic levels this year.
00:00:19.900 The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Tim Hodgson,
00:00:23.520 confirms that he holds U.S. dual citizenship, but says he won't renounce.
00:00:28.060 Hello Canada, it's Thursday, August 14th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.
00:00:33.040 I'm Isaac Lamoureux.
00:00:34.260 And I'm Geoff Knight.
00:00:35.260 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.
00:00:37.780 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
00:00:46.100 A Conservative MP is seeking to change the criminal code to prevent judges from giving lighter sentences to non-citizens because of immigration concerns.
00:00:54.300 At a Wednesday morning news conference in Ottawa, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner said her upcoming private member's bill
00:01:01.160 would reverse a 2013 Supreme Court ruling that requires judges to consider immigration status during sentencing.
00:01:08.000 Rempel said, quote,
00:01:09.440 Anyone seeking citizenship in Canada has responsibilities as well as rights.
00:01:14.080 She argued the current system has led to what she calls a two-tiered justice system 1.00
00:01:18.440 where non-citizens sometimes receive reduced sentences to avoid deportation.
00:01:24.420 Rempel pointed to several high-profile cases, including one where an Indian foreign national received a conditional discharge
00:01:30.540 after pleading guilty to attempting to buy sex from a minor so he and his wife could stay in Canada.
00:01:36.180 She also referenced another case involving a visitor's permit holder convicted of groping twice,
00:01:41.620 yet avoiding a permanent criminal record to keep appealing a deportation order.
00:01:45.340 Rempel said, quote,
00:01:46.880 This offends all principles of fairness when it comes to our justice system.
00:01:51.100 So, Jeff, does the 2013 Supreme Court ruling still reflect Canadian values,
00:01:55.640 or is it time to revisit the balance between immigration consequences and criminal sentencing?
00:02:00.720 Yeah, Isaac, some might say the ruling does not fully reflect Canadian values,
00:02:04.860 as it has sparked debates about fairness in the justice system,
00:02:08.500 particularly with cases where non-citizens receive lighter sentences to avoid deportation.
00:02:13.260 Critics argue this creates a two-tiered justice system where individuals like the Indian foreign national
00:02:19.060 who avoided a record for attempting to buy sex from a minor,
00:02:22.300 or the visitor's permit holder convicted of groping who evaded a permanent criminal record,
00:02:27.200 are benefiting from their immigration status in a way citizens cannot,
00:02:31.320 challenging the principle of equal accountability.
00:02:34.680 Supporters might contend that the ruling aligns with Canada's humanitarian values,
00:02:39.420 recognizing the collateral impact of deportation on families and communities,
00:02:44.420 which is a consideration some are arguing in favor of.
00:02:48.260 However, the growing public and political push,
00:02:50.840 exemplified by calls to prioritize responsibilities over rights for citizenship seekers,
00:02:56.520 suggests a shift towards valuing uniform sentencing over immigration leniency,
00:03:01.440 especially as high-profile cases fuel perceptions of inequity.
00:03:06.140 Revisiting the balance could ensure sentences reflect the crime's severity rather than immigration outcomes,
00:03:12.060 potentially restoring trust in a system where fairness is increasingly being questioned,
00:03:16.560 though any change must weigh the human cost of deportation against judicial consistency.
00:03:21.340 A new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says Canada's housing supply is set to worsen,
00:03:31.340 falling below even pandemic lows.
00:03:34.440 The Crown Corporation projects just 237,800 housing starts this year,
00:03:40.020 down from 245,367 in 2024,
00:03:44.680 and well short of the 271,198 homes built in 2021.
00:03:49.980 The forecast sees no more than 227,000 starts in 2026 and 220,000 starts in 2027.
00:03:57.280 This stands in stark contrast to the Carney government's campaign promise to build 500,000 homes a year over the next decade.
00:04:04.320 Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged $25 billion for a new Crown Corporation called Build Canada Homes,
00:04:10.920 plus another $10 billion in low-rate capital for housing construction.
00:04:14.900 But CMHC says, quote,
00:04:17.940 housing activity has weakened since January,
00:04:21.000 as buyers and developers take a wait-and-see approach amid slowing growth and trade tensions.
00:04:26.520 Montreal Economic Institute analyst Gabriel Jaguer said in April that the federal plan fails to address the real problem,
00:04:34.560 adding, quote,
00:04:35.280 Yeah, Jeff, so as you said, the CMHC's latest projections indicate that the Carney government's housing plan
00:04:55.220 is already drifting from its stated goal of 500,000 new homes per year,
00:05:00.100 and that housing starts are on track to decline annually, at least through 2027.
00:05:05.940 Carney, in that sense, is following his predecessor, Justin Trudeau,
00:05:09.260 who, despite making bigger and bigger promises, of course, also saw housing starts decrease year over year.
00:05:14.560 And we've seen Carney similarly making big statements and big promises,
00:05:18.400 but already falling behind when it comes to housing starts.
00:05:21.080 On top of housing starts, we've seen the problem compound with immigration.
00:05:25.040 For example, in 2025's first quarter alone, over 817,000 newcomers arrived,
00:05:31.040 which is, of course, an annualized rate of more than 3.2 million.
00:05:34.920 And if all new homes built went exclusively to newcomers,
00:05:38.960 more than a dozen people would be vying for each unit, with, of course, none left for Canadians.
00:05:43.140 We've also reported on recent data similarly showing that municipalities have built fewer than one home
00:05:49.160 for every 10 new residents, so the numbers just don't add up.
00:05:53.480 And Carney's signature solution, which is a $35 billion push into prefabricated and modular housing
00:05:59.200 via the new Build Canada Homes Agency, has also drawn skepticism.
00:06:03.900 Realtors and mortgage brokers have warned that these units often have high carrying costs,
00:06:08.400 depreciate over time, are seen in the eyes of the bank and of lenders very, very poorly
00:06:14.280 because what they value is the land, not this unit that falls apart.
00:06:18.600 And, in fact, some critics have called Carney's plan altogether as smoke and mirrors,
00:06:24.340 one that might just benefit firms like his former employer, Brookfield,
00:06:28.560 who own modular housing companies instead of actually helping buyers.
00:06:32.500 With the CMHC estimating that Canada needs 430,000 to 480,000 starts annually just to restore affordability,
00:06:40.880 and with the federal housing minister signaling he doesn't want prices to fall,
00:06:45.400 the projections suggest Ottawa's current strategy is ill-suited to the scale of the crisis.
00:06:50.800 And without substantial policy changes, like cutting municipal red tape or aligning immigration levels
00:06:56.100 to realistic home-building capacity, the government's housing targets are unlikely to be met.
00:07:02.500 Canada's Energy and Natural Resources Minister has confirmed he holds dual Canada-U.S. citizenship
00:07:10.920 and says he has no intention of giving up his American passport.
00:07:14.800 Jonathan Hodgson made the remarks on Tuesday when speaking on the Vassie Capelow Show,
00:07:19.100 explaining he became a dual citizen in the early 1990s while living and working in the United States.
00:07:24.360 He said, quote,
00:07:26.040 I have no concerns about being a dual citizen, adding that 700,000 Canadians share the same status.
00:07:31.620 Hodgson noted he disclosed his citizenship to the federal ethics commissioner and national security officials
00:07:37.680 and that his top-secret security clearance has been renewed.
00:07:41.500 The muted media reaction stands in contrast to the sustained coverage that former conservative leader
00:07:46.600 Andrew Scheer underwent in 2019, when his U.S. dual citizenship became a major election story.
00:07:53.660 Hodgson also said he has not considered giving up his U.S. citizenship,
00:07:57.000 even amid heightened tensions with Washington under President Donald Trump,
00:08:02.060 citing family ties across the border and the convenience of travel.
00:08:05.840 So, Jeff, is there a double standard in how the media treats dual citizenship issues for liberals versus conservatives?
00:08:12.040 Yeah, Isaac, the contrast with the scrutiny that Andrew Scheer faced about his U.S. citizenship
00:08:17.480 definitely appears to suggest a potential double standard here in the media.
00:08:21.560 Scheer's case dominated headlines and fueled loyalty debates nationwide,
00:08:25.680 while Hodgson's disclosure had drawn little attention,
00:08:28.720 possibly reflecting partisan bias or a shift in public tolerance.
00:08:32.260 This disparity could indicate that media outlets, often perceived as leaning left in general,
00:08:37.100 are more lenient towards liberals like Hodgson, who frames his dual status as a practical benefit
00:08:42.700 and notes 700,000 Canadians share it, compared to the harsher lens on conservatives,
00:08:48.060 where Scheer's delay in renouncing citizenship was highly politicized.
00:08:51.820 On conflict of interest, dual citizenship for ministers like Hodgson,
00:08:55.460 especially with a top-secret clearance and oversight by the ethics commissioner,
00:08:59.520 doesn't inherently create a conflict, as long as decisions align with Canadian interests.
00:09:03.660 However, heightened U.S.-Canada tensions under Trump could definitely raise concerns
00:09:08.500 if Hodgson's personal ties influence energy policy negotiations.
00:09:13.020 Critics might argue that retaining a U.S. passport risks divided loyalties,
00:09:17.420 particularly in sensitive roles,
00:09:19.260 though Hodgson's clearance renewal would suggest that there's no serious security breach.
00:09:26.320 That's it for today, folks.
00:09:28.000 Thanks for tuning in.
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