Juno News - April 17, 2025


Immigration axed as topic from English federal leaders' debate


Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

149.82657

Word count

1,771

Sentence count

76


Summary

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

A new poll shows most Canadians believe that consumers are paying the price when it comes to the industrial carbon tax. The Green Party has been excluded from participating in the federal leaders' debates after strategically pulling candidates from ridings where Conservatives are leading.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
00:00:00.000 The Leaders Debates Commission has released its program for Thursday night's English debate
00:00:10.180 and immigration will not be on the agenda.
00:00:13.240 The Green Party has been excluded from participating in the federal leaders' debates
00:00:17.460 after strategically deciding to pull candidates from ridings where Conservatives are leading.
00:00:22.460 A new poll shows most Canadians believe that consumers are paying the price
00:00:26.300 when it comes to the industrial carbon tax.
00:00:28.760 Hello Canada, it's Thursday, April 17th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.
00:00:33.420 I'm Cosman Georgia.
00:00:34.720 And I'm Jeff Knight.
00:00:35.760 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.
00:00:38.520 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
00:00:46.620 The Federal Leaders Debates Commission has axed the topic of immigration from the English language debate on Thursday.
00:00:53.140 Despite immigration being an election issue for voters across Canada,
00:00:57.320 organizers of the English language debate quietly dropped immigration from the list of approved topics.
00:01:03.860 No explanation has been given meaning English-speaking Canadians will not hear federal leaders directly debate immigration policy
00:01:11.460 ahead of the April 28th vote in their native language,
00:01:14.780 but instead had to rely on live translations of the francophone debate last night.
00:01:19.900 Immigration remains a top concern not only for Quebecers,
00:01:23.580 but according to a Leger poll conducted for the Association for Canadian Studies,
00:01:28.640 65% of Canadians say immigration levels are too high.
00:01:32.500 That number has risen steadily from just 35% in 2019,
00:01:36.920 marking one of the most dramatic shifts in public opinion in recent Canadian history.
00:01:41.620 Even among Canadians who identify as part of a visible minority,
00:01:45.080 38% said they hold a negative view of immigration in Canada.
00:01:48.900 Among rural residents, nearly 70% agreed immigration levels are too high compared to 63% of urban respondents.
00:01:57.320 The themes for the English debate selected by a media consortium that includes CBC, CTV, Global News, APTN,
00:02:05.820 CPAC, and TVO Steve Pakin exclude immigration.
00:02:09.920 Instead, the topics will be affordability, energy, crisis leadership, public safety, and tariffs.
00:02:16.120 So we heard last night party leaders debate immigration quite extensively
00:02:21.580 and provide their own views on the topic, but it was in French.
00:02:25.980 And if you weren't listening to the live English translations,
00:02:30.100 which at times are not perfect translations of what's being said,
00:02:34.040 you wouldn't have any idea of what each party leader specifically believes
00:02:38.800 and wants to do if they're elected prime minister.
00:02:41.600 But when we look at the polls, we cited a nationwide poll here in the article, Jeff.
00:02:47.600 But what does support for immigration look like when we break this down by province?
00:02:53.260 The support for the statement,
00:02:54.680 overall there is too much immigration to Canada,
00:02:57.120 shows a clear provincial breakdown that underscores growing concerns across the country,
00:03:01.320 especially relevant given the Leaders Debates Commission's decision
00:03:04.200 to sideline immigration from the English language debate.
00:03:07.040 Manitoba and Saskatchewan lead the pack,
00:03:09.520 with 63% of residents agreeing there's too much immigration,
00:03:13.040 while only 34% disagree.
00:03:15.040 Alberta mirrors this exactly, also hitting 63% in agreement and 34% in disagreement,
00:03:20.080 reflecting a strong prairie sentiment.
00:03:21.980 The Atlantic provinces follow with 56% agreeing and 39% disagreeing,
00:03:26.640 closely trailed by Quebec at the same,
00:03:28.580 56% agreement and a slightly narrower 42% disagreement.
00:03:32.900 British Columbia rounds it out with 53% agreeing and 43% disagreeing,
00:03:38.500 showing the least intensity among those regions.
00:03:40.900 Interestingly, the survey notes that Quebec ranks third,
00:03:44.180 suggesting the issue resonates even more in English Canada,
00:03:47.300 where rural areas like the prairies and Atlantic provinces show particularly high concern,
00:03:52.020 nearly 70% in rural spots versus 63% in urban ones.
00:03:56.000 This provincial spread highlights a broad unease,
00:03:58.460 with the prairies standing out as the most vocal,
00:04:00.440 which makes the debate omission feel like a missed opportunity to address a pressing voter issue.
00:04:08.160 The Green Party will no longer participate in the federal leaders' debates
00:04:11.740 after failing to meet the participation requirements,
00:04:14.800 largely due to their strategic decision to pull candidates from ridings
00:04:18.160 where conservatives are projected to win.
00:04:20.180 The Leaders' Debates Commission wrote in a statement,
00:04:22.600 quote,
00:04:22.780 Criterion 3 requires that,
00:04:43.460 While the Commission had invited the Green Party to participate in the French and English debates
00:04:54.920 because it met all requirements in March,
00:04:57.360 the invitation was revoked after reducing the number of candidates the party would field in this election.
00:05:01.920 The party had initially submitted a list of 343 names,
00:05:05.880 but now only has 232 candidates listed, according to Elections Canada.
00:05:10.340 In addition to the latest removal of those 15 candidates expected to lose out to conservatives,
00:05:14.920 the Green Party would still be left without representation in 96 ridings across Canada.
00:05:19.560 Despite this, the Green Party claimed that they still met the necessary debate criteria,
00:05:23.660 calling the decision an attempt to, quote,
00:05:25.740 silence them, according to party co-leader Jonathan Pedneau.
00:05:29.660 However, the Commission concluded that the party's decision to remove candidates for strategic reasons
00:05:34.660 was the reason for their removal from the debate.
00:05:37.100 So, Cosmin, what reasons have the Green Party cited for their decision to remove candidates from certain ridings?
00:05:42.240 Yeah, so it was a really abrupt change.
00:05:44.680 The Green Party came out this week saying that,
00:05:48.300 essentially, they wouldn't run candidates in over 100 ridings.
00:05:52.440 And specifically pointed to the 15 you mentioned, where conservatives were leading.
00:05:59.480 But what they said was that, in the field, they essentially heard from local progressives,
00:06:06.420 meaning NDP and liberal voters, most likely those who are changing their vote to vote for Mark Carney,
00:06:14.120 that they didn't want a Green candidate to run there.
00:06:17.440 And there is a vote-splitting issue happening this election on the left,
00:06:24.480 because a lot of NDP voters are switching their votes to the liberals,
00:06:31.140 but the holdouts, those who remain loyal to the NDP and the Greens,
00:06:36.220 are being accused of splitting the vote and potentially giving the conservatives an advantage.
00:06:43.620 Now, we've seen this play out here in British Columbia.
00:06:47.260 We just put out an article with Vancouver Island candidate Aaron Gunn.
00:06:51.740 There was a protest that happened outside of his office in Campbell River,
00:06:55.340 where left-wing progressive activists were bused out there,
00:07:00.300 and they were essentially organized by a group that was protesting against vote-splitting.
00:07:05.380 There, the vote is split equally between the liberals and the NDP,
00:07:11.060 giving the conservatives a big leading advantage.
00:07:14.560 So we definitely see this play out.
00:07:16.800 Another issue the Greens raised was that they faced bullying, so to speak,
00:07:23.540 or mean language from locals, the fact that they were running candidates in their ridings.
00:07:29.740 Now, I don't know how much credence to give to this.
00:07:32.460 It does seem to some degree that these are excuses,
00:07:35.700 and they're essentially strategically trying to find ways to help the liberals
00:07:40.800 gain an advantage in certain ridings.
00:07:45.900 A majority of Canadians say that the industrial carbon tax increases the cost of living
00:07:51.020 by driving up prices of everyday goods.
00:07:54.140 A poll conducted by Leger found that 70% of Canadians agree that industry passes on the costs
00:07:59.840 of the industrial carbon tax to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods,
00:08:05.060 with 44% saying it passes on a majority of the costs,
00:08:09.500 and 26% saying the business only absorbs some of the costs.
00:08:14.220 This is in contrast to only 9% of Canadians who say industry passes little or no cost
00:08:19.700 onto consumers while absorbing the majority of the costs.
00:08:23.340 Liberal leader Mark Carney, while having reduced the consumer carbon tax to $0,
00:08:28.180 is a staunch defender of the industrial carbon tax.
00:08:31.580 Despite concerns from Canadians, Carney has maintained that producers,
00:08:36.020 not consumers, would bear the cost of emissions.
00:08:38.920 Federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Franco Teresano,
00:08:43.000 said that the poll's findings contradict Carney's message on the matter.
00:08:47.460 Teresano said, quote,
00:08:48.660 The poll shows Canadians understand that a carbon tax on business
00:08:53.040 is a carbon tax on Canadians that makes life more expensive.
00:08:57.540 Only 9% of Canadians believe Liberal leader Mark Carney's claim
00:09:00.980 that businesses will pay most of the cost of his carbon tax.
00:09:04.920 Teresano said that an industrial carbon tax increases the cost of the vital economic inputs
00:09:10.100 that industry requires to provide goods for the Canadian market.
00:09:13.620 So the Liberals, essentially, at the beginning of their campaign,
00:09:18.120 really ran on this issue that Mark Carney cancelled the carbon tax.
00:09:21.800 But in reality, we know that the law still remains in place.
00:09:26.580 The federal pricing legislation, federal carbon pricing legislation, is still there.
00:09:32.000 It's still on the books.
00:09:33.020 It will require a vote in Parliament to overturn.
00:09:35.860 But what he's done is just removed, or rather reduced,
00:09:39.260 the consumer portion to zero dollars while maintaining the industrial scale,
00:09:44.740 which increases every year, in place.
00:09:48.320 What reasons, Jeff, did the Liberal leader provide to Canadians
00:09:53.120 when he vowed to maintain the industrial carbon tax?
00:09:57.040 And what are some of the prominent criticisms
00:09:58.980 the Conservatives have alleged against the carbon tax?
00:10:03.540 Yeah, Cosman, like you said,
00:10:04.740 Mark Carney has stood firm on maintaining the industrial carbon tax,
00:10:07.900 and he's offered several reasons to justify his stance,
00:10:10.660 despite growing public concern.
00:10:12.640 In a speech on February 17th, as detailed on his campaign site,
00:10:16.960 Carney argued that the tax is essential for driving Canada
00:10:19.740 towards a competitive, low-carbon economy,
00:10:22.560 incentivizing big polluters, large industrial emitters,
00:10:25.560 to adopt cleaner technologies,
00:10:27.200 and positioning Canada to leapfrog the U.S. in global markets.
00:10:30.540 He's also pitched it as a fairness measure,
00:10:32.860 claiming it ensures these companies pair their fair share for emissions,
00:10:36.120 while funding rebates for Canadians who make green choices,
00:10:39.540 like energy-efficient upgrades.
00:10:41.320 During a March press conference in Halifax,
00:10:43.560 Carney doubled down, saying the tax keeps Canada aligned
00:10:46.460 with international climate commitments,
00:10:48.700 avoiding trade penalties from countries pushing green standards.
00:10:51.860 However, according to a Conservative Party release on April 12th,
00:10:55.780 Carney has hinted at escalating the policy,
00:10:58.120 promising a bigger carbon tax to punish industries and consumers alike,
00:11:02.400 if they don't meet his climate goals.
00:11:04.440 This is a move that critics say could hit households even harder.
00:11:07.660 He's maintained that the burden stays with producers, not consumers,
00:11:10.940 but the Leger poll, showing 70% of Canadians believe costs are passed on,
00:11:15.600 with 44% saying a majority, and 26%, only some,
00:11:19.400 directly contradicts this.
00:11:21.220 Carney's framing leans on economic competitiveness
00:11:23.520 and environmental leadership,
00:11:25.160 yet his reluctance to specify the cost to Canadians,
00:11:27.900 especially with threats of a larger tax,
00:11:30.020 leaves that gap wide open for skepticism.
00:11:36.120 That's it for today, folks.
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