Juno News - May 27, 2025


What Canadians can expect from the throne speech


Episode Stats

Length

11 minutes

Words per Minute

150.85666

Word Count

1,805

Sentence Count

95


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 The Liberals' throne speech today will likely be a repackaging of old Liberal priorities with
00:00:10.960 a few new announcements. The CBC received the largest payout from Google's government-mandated
00:00:16.900 bailout fund. Liberal MP Francis Garpaleggia, a long-serving representative, has been elected
00:00:24.380 as the Speaker of the House of Commons. Hello Canada, it's Tuesday, May 27th, and this
00:00:30.520 is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Cosmin Georgia. And I'm Jeff Knight. We've got you covered
00:00:35.500 with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North
00:00:40.880 exclusives you won't hear anywhere else. Prime Minister Mark Carney's throne speech today
00:00:49.080 will likely offer Canadians a repackaging of tired Liberal priorities from the Trudeau era
00:00:55.140 punctuated by a few largely cosmetic new policy announcements. A key headline will be a promised
00:01:01.400 income tax cut for the middle class set to take effect by Canada Day 2025. The move is likely to
00:01:08.520 serve as the cornerstone of the government's attempt to tackle affordability. However, details on how
00:01:14.540 the government intends to pay for this tax relief amid mounting federal debt and new spending
00:01:19.600 commitments remain unclear. The speech will also likely touch on the ongoing trade war with the
00:01:25.180 U.S. particularly measures to deal with the impact on the manufacturing and auto sector, but recent policy
00:01:31.860 decisions paint a more conciliatory picture from Carney towards President Donald Trump. Despite pledging a
00:01:39.060 hardline approach during the election, Carney quietly introduced six-month exemptions in April for many
00:01:45.120 U.S. products affected by Canada's retaliatory tariffs. Analysts say these carve-outs effectively
00:01:51.140 undo most of the tariffs, raising questions about the government's willingness to stand firm in trade
00:01:57.520 disputes. While the controversial consumer carbon tax has been reduced to zero only following years of
00:02:03.260 backlash from working Canadians, the throne speech is expected to reaffirm the Liberals' broader
00:02:08.520 climate goals. Carney has vowed the continuance of the industrial carbon tax and Canadian Culture
00:02:14.580 Minister Stephen Guilbeault has also spoken out against the viability of pipelines. The Liberals
00:02:20.940 have indicated that they will continue with past policies introduced by Trudeau, including net-zero
00:02:26.000 commitments, and Carney himself has vowed not to repeal Bill C-69, also known as the No More Pipelines Act.
00:02:33.680 Housing is also expected to dominate the throne speech following Carney's release of a cabinet
00:02:38.720 mandate letter prioritizing affordability, but don't expect pledges to make homes cheaper. In fact,
00:02:44.980 Housing Minister Gregor Robertson has explicitly ruled out efforts to lower home prices, citing the
00:02:50.780 need to make sure the market is stable and acknowledging the housing market as a huge part of our economy.
00:02:56.780 Instead, the government will likely lean heavily on promises to double residential construction to
00:03:03.440 500,000 homes annually, particularly by expanding modular and factory-built housing.
00:03:09.860 So, Jeff, are there any specific areas you will be paying attention to today during the throne speech?
00:03:16.520 Well, first I'm interested in the details of the middle-class tax cuts set for Canada Day,
00:03:21.260 specifically how Carney plans to fund the estimated $27 billion cost over five years amidst rising
00:03:27.400 federal debt and new spending. With no clear financial plan yet, I'll be looking at any hints
00:03:32.980 of fiscal trade-off or whether this will just add to the deficit, especially given Fitch Rating's
00:03:37.580 earlier warnings about Canada's credit profile. There's also the trade war rhetoric with the U.S.,
00:03:42.180 particularly on manufacturing and the auto sector. Carney's recent six-month exemptions on
00:03:47.060 retaliatory tariffs in April suggest a softer stance towards Trump than his campaign promised,
00:03:52.580 so I'll be listening for whether the speech doubles down on this conciliatory approach or
00:03:56.400 signals for a tougher line, especially after Honda and Stellantis shifted operations south.
00:04:01.060 Lastly, on housing, I'm curious if Carney will address public frustration over high prices,
00:04:06.140 despite Gregor Robertson's stance against lowering them. The promise to double construction to 500,000
00:04:11.200 homes annually sounds ambitious, but I'll be looking for concrete steps like funding for Build Canada
00:04:16.300 homes or specific on modular housing that show that this isn't just a repackaged Trudeau-era goal.
00:04:21.820 These areas will reveal how Carney balances his minority government's priorities with economic realities.
00:04:30.720 Google's government-mandated media fund distributed its largest payout to the CBC out of all organizations.
00:04:37.100 The Canadian Journalism Collective, responsible for distributing over $100 million of annual funds
00:04:42.320 to eligible media organizations, is in the process of publicly disclosing $15.6 million sent to 22 news
00:04:49.280 organizations. The latest recipient organizations were listed in the collective's second round of
00:04:54.080 disclosures, in addition to the $22.2 million for 108 news organizations already revealed earlier this
00:05:00.680 month. In the latest round of public disclosure, the collective recently paid the CBC over $6.8 million,
00:05:07.280 becoming the biggest beneficiary of Google's media subsidies in the country. Bell Media,
00:05:12.680 encompassing properties like CTV News, BNN Bloomberg, and several radio stations, is the next
00:05:17.720 largest recipient of Google's media subsidies, receiving a $5.2 million payout. The Toronto Star
00:05:23.380 received $1.6 million from the CJC, in addition to the $1.9 million that Metroland Media Group received
00:05:30.460 in the last payment period, also a subsidiary of Torstar. Other legacy media organizations that received
00:05:36.120 money during the last disclosure period include the Globe and Mail, which received $2 million,
00:05:40.920 the Canadian Press, which received $1.4 million, and Post Media's $4.3 million payout. The coalition
00:05:48.340 is a non-profit that was established for the express purpose of divvying up funds for the government
00:05:52.680 brokered payout scheme, with Google in compliance with the Liberal government's Online News Act.
00:05:57.520 Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has instead decided to pull all news content from
00:06:02.100 Meta platforms rather than complying with the legislation.
00:06:04.400 Any outlet that meets the government's distinction as a qualified Canadian journalism organization
00:06:09.000 is eligible for the program upon application. The funds an outlet receives are calculated based
00:06:14.200 on the total number of hours paid to employees for tasks dedicated to the production of online news.
00:06:19.320 So, Cosmin, are Canadian media outlets too reliant on government funds to sustain themselves?
00:06:23.980 What other payouts have they recently received from the Liberals?
00:06:26.640 Yeah, so if you look at the track record of the Liberal government, it's been one of hefty payouts and bailouts
00:06:35.660 for the legacy media. Going all the way back to 2018, which was arguably the largest payout,
00:06:43.920 and that was the $600 million bailout that Trudeau announced over five years.
00:06:49.920 Now, that has presumably dried up since 2023, but that's half a billion dollars just to pay off
00:06:59.160 failing legacy media businesses in Canada. And we're still feeling the repercussions of that.
00:07:05.960 And that's not it. There's also the Local Journalism Initiative, which is an annual program
00:07:10.880 that distributes funds to organizations that apply for it, funding journalists being hired by these
00:07:18.900 organizations. And they're supposed to cover specific topics that the program itself lays out.
00:07:25.860 And there's also digital news tax credits that the Liberals have introduced for media companies.
00:07:32.760 And not to forget all of the emergency media funding that came during the COVID pandemic.
00:07:38.900 They spent over $60 million in extra support for the media industry, including big players like CBC,
00:07:46.980 Post Media, Toronto Starz, and others already mentioned. Additionally, there's the labor tax credit
00:07:53.280 expansion. So media companies can now apply for up to 35% of certain journalists' salaries to be
00:08:01.300 covered by this tax credit. So there's a lot of different programs available for the media.
00:08:05.780 But I think the most egregious one was the 2018 media bailout and this current program,
00:08:12.600 which forces companies like Google to essentially fund media that's sympathetic to the liberal
00:08:20.300 government. I also wanted to add that during Prime Minister Mark Carney's campaign earlier this year,
00:08:27.740 he promised to increase the funding for the CBC. And they're the biggest winners from this bailout by
00:08:35.760 Google that was forced by the liberal government. They got the largest amount of money from this
00:08:42.640 bailout. But in comparison to how much money they get from taxpayers, which is $1.4 billion annually,
00:08:49.700 it's not that much. And Mark Carney pledged to even increase that further while he was on the
00:08:57.260 campaign trail. He promised an additional $150 million for the CBC.
00:09:06.880 Long-time Liberal MP Francis Scarpeleggia was elected Speaker of the House of Commons.
00:09:12.880 Scarpeleggia, the member for Lac-Saint-Louis, will become the 39th Speaker of the House,
00:09:18.240 replacing fellow Liberal MP Greg Fergus. Scarpeleggia is a veteran Liberal in the House of Commons,
00:09:24.900 serving his Quebec riding for nearly 21 years since first being elected in 2004. While Scarpeleggia
00:09:31.520 did not have a role in Cabinet during his extended time in the House, he has stood on several standing
00:09:37.420 committees in Parliament, most recently chairing the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable
00:09:42.900 Development. The Speaker of the House of Commons is entrusted with presiding over the business of the
00:09:48.060 House, ensuring order, guiding parliamentarians through the business before the House, and
00:09:53.220 applying the parliamentary rules in a fair, even-handed manner. Scarpeleggia assumes the
00:09:58.780 Speakership as the two previous men in the role sustained significant scrutiny for their conduct in
00:10:04.820 carrying out the duties of the job. So covering federal politics, the last two elected Liberal
00:10:10.700 speakers had their shortcomings. Jeff, could you refresh our memories on what some of those scandals
00:10:17.620 that plagued Anthony Rota and Greg Fergus were?
00:10:21.420 Yeah, Cosmin. So first, Anthony Rota, who served from 2019 to 2023, resigned in September 2023 after
00:10:29.400 inviting Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian veteran, to a parliamentary session honoring Ukrainian
00:10:35.780 President Volodymyr Zelensky. Hunka was given a standing ovation, but it later emerged he had
00:10:40.540 served in a Nazi-affiliated unit during World War II, which sparked international outrage and
00:10:45.660 accusations of poor vetting. Rota took full responsibility, stating he was unaware of Hunka's
00:10:50.380 past, but the incident embarrassed the Liberal government and led to his exit. Greg Fergus, who
00:10:55.040 succeeded Rota and served until May 26 of this year, also faced controversy that undermined his
00:11:00.380 impartiality as Speaker. In December 2023, Fergus appeared in a video tribute to outgoing Ontario
00:11:05.860 Liberal Party leader John Fraser, dressed in his Speaker's robes, which was played at the party's
00:11:10.900 leadership convention. This breached the Speaker's required neutrality, as it suggested partisan bias,
00:11:16.380 leading to a non-confidence motion from the Conservatives. Although Fergus survived a vote to
00:11:21.020 remove him in May 2024, with Liberals, Greens, and NDP voting to keep him, the incident damaged his
00:11:26.900 credibility. Additionally, in February 2023, Fergus was found to have violated the Conflict of Interest
00:11:32.780 Act by writing a letter supporting a television channel's CRTC application, further fueling perceptions
00:11:38.380 of partisanship.
00:11:42.900 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by
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