Juno News - Taxpayers to fund former PM Trudeau's lifetime perks

00:00:00.000 As a former Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau is now eligible for a lifetime of perks including

00:00:08.360 an RCMP security detail and a special pension. The BC NDP proposed a new bill to grant themselves

00:00:15.560 emergency powers in response to US tariffs. Some Canadians showed up to boo Prime Minister

00:00:21.340 Justin Trudeau on his way out of the Prime Minister's office. Hello Canada, it's Monday,

00:00:26.460 March 17th and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Cosmin Jirja. And I'm Isaac Lameru.

00:00:33.380 We've got you covered with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day

00:00:38.640 and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:44.940 When new Prime Minister Mark Carney was sworn into office Friday morning, Justin Trudeau lost

00:00:50.340 much of the power and perks he has enjoyed for the past nine years. But don't feel bad for our

00:00:56.180 outgoing Prime Minister. Trudeau joins an exclusive club with just five other living members,

00:01:02.120 former Prime Ministers who enjoy a lifetime of special perks. For the last nine years,

00:01:07.300 Justin Trudeau has been spoiled by the taxpayer, living a life similar to a billionaire with a

00:01:12.640 private jet, multiple estates, private chef, a driver, police protection, nannies for the children,

00:01:19.760 dozens of assistants and political aides, and the power to spend billions of dollars and control

00:01:25.260 the legislative and executive branches of government. That all disappeared for Trudeau

00:01:29.860 as of Friday, March 14th, 2025. Being Canada's former head of government, though, does come with

00:01:36.620 plenty of perks. Sitting Canadian Prime Ministers are protected by the RCMP's Prime Minister

00:01:42.620 protective detail, providing a security team to protect them at all times, at home and abroad.

00:01:49.000 All departing Prime Ministers are offered protection services by the RCMP's VIP protection detail.

00:01:56.400 Some former PMs, though, have turned the security detail down or only take advantage of it in certain

00:02:01.920 circumstances. Pierre Elliott Trudeau was the first Prime Minister to receive a security detail after

00:02:07.840 leaving office on the recommendation of the RCMP, as security officials were worried that Trudeau's

00:02:14.360 controversial tenure would make him a security risk. The younger Trudeau is likely to receive a full

00:02:20.360 security detail immediately after leaving office, as Trudeau presided over a largely unpopular

00:02:26.040 government in his final years that saw him met with angry protesters at his public events.

00:02:31.880 Prime Ministers, who have served at least four years in office, are entitled to a special pension

00:02:37.140 on top of their normal pension as a member of Parliament. In a formula determined by the Prime

00:02:42.000 Minister's salary upon leaving office and the years served as Prime Minister, Trudeau's annual allowance

00:02:47.200 will be $109,674. He will be eligible to begin collecting this allowance when he turns 67 years

00:02:55.920 old. This is above his parliamentary pension, which he can begin collecting in a year and a half when he

00:03:01.460 turns 55. So Isaac, where does Trudeau go now? Will Canadians be hearing more from Trudeau in the future?

00:03:10.160 And what sorts of jobs have former Prime Ministers gone on to do after leaving office in the past?

00:03:15.920 Well, Cosmin, I'm sure this isn't the last we'll be hearing of Trudeau. Firstly, I don't expect the

00:03:21.440 spotlight to immediately disappear from him. For example, if he goes out and does something in public,

00:03:26.240 he'll surely be recognized and likely recorded or at least documented in some way.

00:03:30.320 As for past Prime Ministers and their jobs, the former Prime Minister I hear the most about is Stephen

00:03:37.040 Harper, which of course makes sense because he was the Prime Minister before Trudeau. Harper's made

00:03:42.480 headlines for various things after politics, such as criticizing Trudeau, appearing on shows like Ben

00:03:48.640 Shapiro, and endorsing Pierre Polievre. More recently, in November 2024, Harper was named Chairman of the

00:03:56.560 Board of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation. This wasn't necessarily a job,

00:04:01.360 though, because Harper said he'd do it for free as a meaningful act to his adopted home province for

00:04:06.400 the last 46 years. As for other past Prime Ministers, like Jean Chrétien, he did what many other did,

00:04:13.360 post-politics, as they were lawyers before becoming Prime Minister, which was, of course, returning to

00:04:18.640 practice law. Kim Campbell, the third shortest tenured Prime Minister, had a varied career,

00:04:24.320 post-politics. She taught at Harvard for three years, was the Secretary General for a Spanish

00:04:28.960 non-profit, headed a leadership college at the University of Alberta, and headed the Independent

00:04:34.160 Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada judicial appointments. As for Justin Trudeau, he was, of course,

00:04:39.760 a school teacher and a drama teacher before he was Prime Minister, so maybe he'll return to teaching.

00:04:48.800 Concerns are mounting over the BC NDP government's proposed tariff response bill,

00:04:53.680 which would grant the province sweeping emergency powers to override provincial laws and regulations

00:04:58.800 without due process in the legislature. Opponents argue that the bill is a massive power grab by

00:05:04.560 Premier David Eby that threatens democratic accountability. Leader of the Conservative Party

00:05:09.600 of British Columbia, John Rustad, warned that the bill would give the provincial government, quote,

00:05:14.000 almost unlimited powers with zero oversight. Rustad wrote, quote,

00:05:19.040 If you thought government overreach during COVID-19 was bad, wait until you hear about what BC's

00:05:24.720 radical NDP is trying with Bill 7. He explained that the bill contains a, quote,

00:05:30.160 Henry VIII clause, referring to the tyrannical 16th century British monarch who initiated the English

00:05:36.080 Reformation. Mancini said, quote, Bill 7 contains the broadest Henry VIII clause

00:05:41.280 I've seen in some time. These extraordinary clauses allow cabinet to amend a primary law

00:05:46.560 via regulation. This bill is even broader. It permits cabinet to amend almost any primary law.

00:05:52.880 I see no justification for this. The BC government's news release downplayed the bill,

00:05:58.000 saying it allows the cabinet to remove or amend barriers impeding interprovincial trade,

00:06:02.560 impose tolls on non-Canadian commercial vehicles, instruct public bodies to exclude US suppliers,

00:06:08.320 and more. However, a closer look at the bill's wording reveals British Columbians may be subject

00:06:14.240 to new tolls as well. The provincial government said guardrails are in place, such as the inability

00:06:19.920 to override First Nations consultation. The act has a sunset clause that will automatically

00:06:24.960 be repealed by May 2027. Hidden within the contents of the bill are also powers allowing the government to

00:06:31.120 modify existing laws, overriding previous regulatory requirements to facilitate rapid responses to

00:06:37.360 foreign trade actions. Under the proposed legislation, the cabinet would have the authority

00:06:41.600 to amend or repeal provincial regulations without legislative debate. So, Cosmin, are there other

00:06:47.200 things in this bill that should concern British Columbians? Absolutely, because if you were to listen

00:06:52.960 to the BC NDP and how they're presenting this, they're talking about it as if it's a simple and reasonable

00:06:59.920 response to the tariff, but it's actually a massive government power grab. And I would encourage people

00:07:06.960 to just go to the BC Legislative Assembly website and read Bill 7. And a lot of it is couched in these,

00:07:15.600 like, in legalese and these terms, but what you see in the subtext, what this bill is actually talking

00:07:22.080 about is a huge government power grab. And it puts bureaucrats in charge of trade, procurement,

00:07:30.240 and even tolls without real accountability. So, first of all, the bill allows the government to override

00:07:37.680 existing trade rules and regulations at will without any legislative debate. They can change laws

00:07:44.800 as much as they want without a vote. And unelected officials get to pick winners and losers based on

00:07:53.120 this pretense of the threat that the US tariffs are causing to the British Columbia economy. So, they

00:08:00.320 get to decide which goods and services can be sold in BC regardless of existing laws. And it sounds a lot

00:08:07.360 like central planning, not free market economy. And then for the procurement section, they can hand out

00:08:14.560 contracts with almost no oversight. And this is more to that picking winners and losers. And we know the

00:08:21.120 government has had quite shifty and shady deals when it comes to procurement. And additionally,

00:08:28.960 all these actions undertaken, if this bill gets passed, essentially shields them from lawsuits,

00:08:35.120 even if they act irresponsibly, cause irreversible damage to the British Columbia economy. So, the bottom

00:08:42.320 line is just that Bill seven expands state power, it reduces transparency, competition, and targets

00:08:50.320 individual rights. It's literally the opposite of freedom and they're falling back on the same tactics

00:08:56.560 they used during the pandemic, which we knew now know was overblown, yet they still seize those powers

00:09:03.600 when they could.

00:09:04.160 Justin Trudeau departed the Prime Minister's office with a smile and a casual wave goodbye to a crowd

00:09:13.840 of angry Canadians who showed up to express their displeasure with his government for one last time.

00:09:19.680 Protesters waited for him to exit his downtown Ottawa office Friday, hurling expletives at him,

00:09:25.520 accusing him of, quote, treason and yelling that he had no legacy to be proud of. Trudeau has taken the

00:09:32.080 departing reception in stride. Video of the former Prime Minister leaving Parliament,

00:09:36.960 carrying his chair and sticking his tongue out for the security camera went viral Tuesday,

00:09:42.000 a common tradition for members of Parliament when they leave the Commons. In his farewell address

00:09:47.520 to Canadians, Trudeau stuck to the script, echoing a Team Canada message. Trudeau published a social

00:09:53.760 media post on Friday thanking Canadians for, quote, trusting and challenging him. Much of Trudeau's legacy

00:10:00.240 will be marred by his scandals and broken promises. His government's overreaching response to the

00:10:05.760 COVID-19 pandemic involved harsh vaccine mandates for federal public servants and anyone traveling by

00:10:12.400 air or rail, not to mention border restrictions, including mandatory usage of the costly Arrive Can app.

00:10:19.680 Trudeau's handling of the pandemic ultimately led to protests en masse in Ottawa with the Freedom Convoy in

00:10:26.240 2022, which he controversially invoked the Emergencies Act, the first time the extreme legislation was used to

00:10:34.480 quash the protesters. Federal court later ruled its use unreasonable and unconstitutional. He also had a

00:10:42.000 storied history revolving around various conflicts of interest from the infamous SNC-Lavalin scandal and cash for

00:10:49.120 access fundraising, which linked him to prominent foreign influencers, as well as receiving gifts and vacations from

00:10:55.680 wealthy outsiders. Isaac, what are some other scandals and policies Trudeau will likely be remembered for?

00:11:03.760 Yeah, honestly, Cosmin, there's almost too many scandals to list that Trudeau has been associated

00:11:09.680 with in some way during his tenure as prime minister. Interestingly, I found a video of Senator Donald

00:11:16.160 Neil Platt on X where he lists some of the scandals. These are only those between the years 2015 and 2021,

00:11:23.120 and the video of Platt's monologue is 15 minutes long. You listed some of these, but to list a few that may

00:11:30.000 ring a bell are, of course, Trudeau and Blackface, Aga Khan, the SNC-Lavalin affair, the Arrive Can app,

00:11:36.000 and the WE charity controversy. Then, of course, there are the many scandals of ministers under Trudeau's

00:11:41.440 leadership, some of which are still ongoing. The one that might ring a bell as it's been covered extensively at

00:11:46.800 True North is, of course, former employment minister Randy Boissoneau's past business dealings and fake

00:11:52.400 Indigenous heritage. Despite Trudeau often taking a pro-woman or gender-inclusive approach, he's had

00:11:59.200 many scandals in that avenue as well. Viva Fry listed some of them on X when he interviewed Ruby

00:12:05.680 Dalla, a woman who was questionably disqualified from the Liberal Party of Canada's leadership race.

00:12:11.200 Trudeau also admitted to groping a reporter, but apologized for it. Fry continued saying that

00:12:16.640 Trudeau elbowed an NDP MP in the breast and was twice found guilty of ethics violations. He said that

00:12:23.040 Trudeau fired a woman who would not follow his orders and the list goes on. Time will tell what

00:12:28.800 Trudeau's legacy will really be. I wonder what we can expect from Mark Carney's leadership, especially if

00:12:34.080 he does not win the next federal election and his tenure is short.

00:12:40.400 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by

00:12:45.760 subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify. Also, while you're at it, make sure to hit us with

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Juno News - March 17, 2025

Taxpayers to fund former PM Trudeau's lifetime perks

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