Juno News - Feds have spent $1 billion on DEI workshops since 2016

00:00:00.000 the Liberal government voted against a conservative motion seeking parliamentary

00:00:09.480 support for a new bitumen pipeline to BC despite recent agreement with Alberta which expressed

00:00:16.620 support for such projects the federal Liberal government has spent over 1 billion dollars

00:00:22.440 on diversity equity and inclusion workshops for public servants since 2016 employing nearly 600

00:00:28.920 bureaucrats to push DEI in the public sector just last year medical associations are applauding a

00:00:35.400 federal initiative to fast-track permanent residency and increase immigration of health

00:00:41.280 care professionals but want to see further reforms to improve Canada's health care system

00:00:46.920 hello Canada it's Wednesday December 10th and this is the true north daily brief I'm Cosmin Georgia

00:00:53.100 I'm Alex Soltan we've got you covered with all the news you need to know

00:00:57.780 let's discuss the top stories of the day and the true north exclusives you won't hear anywhere else

00:01:04.000 the Liberal government voted against a conservative motion on Tuesday that sought formal House of

00:01:13.700 Commons support for a new bitumen pipeline to the British Columbia coast despite signing a memorandum

00:01:20.620 of understanding with Alberta the non-binding motion mirrored key language from the memorandum of

00:01:26.480 understanding Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Daniel Smith signed on November 27th it

00:01:32.780 calls on MPs to quote to take note of the agreement and endorse construction of a pipeline capable of

00:01:38.600 exporting at least 1 million barrels per day of low emissions Alberta bitumen from a deep water port on

00:01:45.420 the BC coast it also references the need for a quote appropriate adjustment to the federal oil tanker

00:01:52.040 moratorium act and affirms the duty to consult indigenous people during a Tuesday morning press

00:01:58.340 conference energy minister Tim Hodgson called the motion a quote cheap political stunt so we will

00:02:04.960 not be supporting the motion Edmonton area Liberal MP Eleanor Olszewski echoed a similar sentiment at an

00:02:12.420 earlier press conference as a party we are united in wanting to make sure that we continue to build Canada

00:02:20.140 that we build it well that we take into account climate change in the work that we do and that

00:02:25.740 we respect indigenous rights holders our party is united on that and so I just I I won't accept that 1.00

00:02:33.160 as a premise for that question I we are you know he was dividing your own caucus you don't think there's

00:02:38.080 divisions over that conservative leader Pierre Polyev who has promoted the MOU as an opportunity to

00:02:45.020 expand access to Asian markets said on X that quote we need a new pipeline to the Pacific he added that

00:02:52.440 Tuesday's vote would allow MPs to decide whether to quote bring home jobs and put Canada first

00:02:58.720 senior government officials speaking to CTV news on background said the conservatives motion

00:03:05.020 quote ignores critical elements of the MOU including Alberta's commitment to negotiate an industrial carbon

00:03:12.140 pricing agreement with a 130 dollar per ton floor indigenous co-ownership opportunities and engagement

00:03:19.680 with British Columbia so Alex the liberals say they support building a pipeline but here they are

00:03:26.980 voting against actually putting that in a motion in the house of commons the conservatives are definitely

00:03:35.300 holding Mark Carney's feet to the fire asking him to follow through on his commitments but I think it

00:03:42.800 needs to be made clear that an MOU is not you know stakes in the ground pipelines being built right away it's a

00:03:49.280 it's a declaration that they're willing to work together with the Alberta government but it doesn't

00:03:56.160 necessarily mean that a pipeline is imminent but as it stands what would this the MOU accomplish

00:04:05.280 if the liberals actually keep their word with Alberta and follow through on what they agreed to

00:04:12.320 well in short Cosman it would basically mean that we would if if they were to follow their word

00:04:18.760 according to the MOU it would mean that Alberta would be tied to 130 dollar per ton industrial carbon tax

00:04:25.700 largely in line with the rest of the country and in return Ottawa would support a pipeline being built

00:04:31.320 through British Columbia regardless of what Premier David Eby thinks and to the west coast so that we

00:04:37.820 can export oil to other markets I think that it's important when zooming out on this pipeline drama

00:04:43.140 to frame it against Canada's heavy reliance on the U.S. as essentially its only buyer for Alberta oil

00:04:49.040 over 95 percent of our crude exports head south via pipelines and that leaves us vulnerable to American

00:04:55.220 whims including those of the president when it comes to issues like cross-border tariffs

00:05:00.920 that's obviously squarely at odds with the liberals elbows up anti-Trump rhetoric that clinched their

00:05:06.460 slim minority win last spring in the federal election and that would be the hockey inspired call

00:05:12.500 to stand up against U.S. bullying popularized by figures like Mike Myers and echoed repeatedly in

00:05:19.320 Carney's campaign so in theory the MOU could break that dependence by paving way for a pipeline to

00:05:25.980 new Asian markets and that would boost our leverage in potential trade negotiations and aligning with

00:05:32.600 that defiant narrative of course the liberals voting down of this motion put forward by Pierre

00:05:38.460 Polyev shows that this MOU is likely just window dressing for the same Trudeau anti-energy policies

00:05:45.660 that got us into this mess in the first place looks like another classic case of liberal flip-flopping

00:05:50.940 the federal government employed nearly 600 bureaucrats last year solely to push the liberal diversity

00:06:00.380 equity and inclusion agenda and the true numbers could be even higher because some departments

00:06:05.020 failed to report on their so-called quote representation goals some of the federal government's largest

00:06:10.620 employers including the RCMP and the departments of health justice immigration natural resources and

00:06:15.900 public works declined to report their figures meanwhile the department of foreign affairs said there were too

00:06:21.580 many to count read the inquiry quote the department manages an extensive network of 182 missions in 112 countries

00:06:30.140 it undertook an extensive preliminary search in order to determine the amount of information

00:06:34.620 that would fall within the scope of the question and the amount of time that would be required to prepare a

00:06:39.420 comprehensive response according to the immigration department providing the data was quote not

00:06:44.860 possible in the time allotted it said quote the department is committed to providing an inclusive

00:06:50.380 equitable and respectful work environment for all a staggering 1.049 billion dollars has been spent by

00:06:58.300 the government on diversity equity and inclusion programs since 2016 according to a previous inquiry of

00:07:04.940 ministry tabled in the house of commons in september so cosmo dei is almost like a state religion

00:07:11.980 under the liberal government other than dei workshops for federal employees are there any other examples of

00:07:17.980 the federal government spending taxpayer dollars to push this ideology yeah alex absolutely there's so many

00:07:24.300 examples it's hard to go through all of them but it's clear that the dei push that's being essentially handed down

00:07:32.540 from the top uh down to the bureaucracy because this is being pushed across all levels even when you

00:07:39.500 look at the military this goes way beyond just mandatory workshops and seminars as well that federal employees

00:07:48.300 are dragged into and i'm sure a lot of them go to these willingly from what we know about the public sector but

00:07:55.580 what we're seeing especially under the liberal government is this full-blown dei ecosystem uh made up of

00:08:04.940 consulting firms uh different businesses that peddle this like race-based identity stuff and it's being funded

00:08:15.500 directly by taxpayers and there's loads of money as you've pointed out being funneled to these companies to these

00:08:23.420 consultants for very little value because i have yet to see a single economic benefit presented why we

00:08:33.740 need all of these training programs and what they're actually producing for the average canadian in terms of

00:08:40.940 making their life better so the scope is honestly staggering and as you mentioned the federal government

00:08:48.940 actually employed nearly 600 people just last year whose entire job was dei not you know accounting

00:08:58.060 not working you know managing technological systems or delivering services to people it was just dei

00:09:06.700 and i think taxpayers are looking at this where there's 600 people employed and wondering why are these

00:09:14.620 jobs necessary i mean there's 600 jobs full-time salaries and benefits that get paid and if the government

00:09:23.340 is serious about doing cuts they should be looking at these first but the number the actual number is

00:09:29.100 probably higher because departments like rcmp immigration etc just refuse to report their numbers but

00:09:37.020 as for actual projects let's go through some of them there is the national defense department that paid nearly

00:09:44.780 23 000 for a single black history month guest speaker fisheries and oceans spent almost 50 000 for

00:09:52.860 staff to attend a workshop on quote ethical space and engagement preparedness whatever that means

00:10:01.020 veterans affairs paid 19 000 for the kairos blanket exercise which was dubbed as an indigenous sensitivity

00:10:10.940 workshop workshop um where participants i guess stood on blankets and then there was industry canada which

00:10:17.180 budgeted about 11 000 for a black history month project focused on quote freeing ourselves of imposter 0.97

00:10:25.660 syndrome so when people say dei has become a kind of state religion or belief under the liberals they're talking about this

00:10:36.300 this senseless adherence to this ideology no matter the economic cost but it hides a billion dollar

00:10:48.300 bureaucratic structure and all of these consulting firms that are leeching off taxpayer dollars

00:10:55.980 uh to sustain their existence and honestly without the liberal government i doubt many of these companies

00:11:04.300 would be able to sustain themselves and operate

00:11:08.140 medical associations are applauding the federal government for introducing permanent pathways and

00:11:17.500 additional immigration nominations for internationally trained doctors but are urging ottawa to implement

00:11:24.380 further health care reforms to secure the recruitment and retention of doctors in canada

00:11:30.540 during a press conference in toronto liberal immigration minister lena metledge diab along with mp maggie chi

00:11:38.780 the parliamentary secretary to the health minister announced the government would be creating a permanent

00:11:43.820 residence pathway for internationally trained doctors who have at least one year of canadian experience in their field

00:11:50.860 gained within the last three years starting in 2026

00:11:54.540 diab said the move is aimed at helping to fill gaps in canada's health care labor market in a system in dire need of doctors

00:12:03.740 it means that as we return to sustainable levels we must simultaneously attract the high-skilled talent that will help relieve those pressures

00:12:15.100 particularly in key sectors like health care

00:12:17.580 we've heard a clear message from patients provinces and the medical community we need more hands on deck

00:12:27.820 a government release of the plan noted that in 2024 around 5.7 million or 17 percent of canadian adults

00:12:39.020 and 11 percent of children and youth reported not having a family doctor a recent poll by angus reed in

00:12:47.340 institute and the canadian cancer society found that canadians without a regular physician

00:12:54.140 were more than twice as likely to struggle to book cancer screenings and non-emergency medical care

00:13:01.900 over the last couple of months conservatives and healthcare professionals have raised concerns

00:13:07.340 at house of commons health committee meetings about internationally trained doctors already in canada

00:13:13.500 not being able to work due to limited training capacity and barriers to physicians obtaining credentials

00:13:20.540 and licenses you've had professionals and the opposition ringing the alarm about this for quite some time

00:13:27.580 but what are some of the reforms they've suggested that they want to see from the government to improve recruitment

00:13:34.300 and even retention of medical professionals in canada yeah so right now there are around and this is a staggering number

00:13:41.740 13 000 internationally trained physicians who are sidelined in canada and unable to practice in their field due to red tape

00:13:50.140 as well as limited spots um in the very few medical schools that canada has there's an old joke in toronto

00:13:57.100 where it says you know if you want to find a doctor quickly order a taxi because there are so many doctors

00:14:03.340 who are working as uber drivers uber eats drivers and other professions or jobs that are far below what

00:14:10.060 they're capable of doing in terms of helping canada's health care system um the canadian medical association

00:14:16.620 president margot brunel welcomes the move to get their skills to work sooner but urges a quote concierge

00:14:23.580 style pathway with a single portal for exams immigration and background checks they're also

00:14:29.020 calling for a pan-canadian licensure program to let doctors roam provinces interprovincial barriers are

00:14:35.900 also exist in the medical profession where doctors have to be re-approved depending on which province

00:14:42.780 they're going to it's just an extra bureaucratic hurdle that slows down the process of doctors being

00:14:47.900 able to provide care even though the issue is only tangentially related to the health care

00:14:52.860 crisis that canada finds itself in tying immigration numbers to housing availability makes perfect sense 0.99

00:14:58.780 from a quote-unquote common-sense conservative standpoint but it would also ensure that canada's

00:15:04.460 population growth does not outpace our doctor supply and strain an already strained system even further

00:15:11.260 especially when you're already losing trained international doctors here due to bureaucracy and

00:15:17.180 interprovincial barriers to providing care so i would say stay tuned for updates on fixing our

00:15:22.860 broken health care system that's it for today folks thanks for tuning in you can stay on top of new

00:15:31.820 episodes every weekday by subscribing to the daily brief on itunes and spotify also while you're at

00:15:38.540 it make sure to hit us with a five star rating and please leave a review

Juno News - December 10, 2025

Feds have spent $1 billion on DEI workshops since 2016

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