00:00:00.000Facing pressure before the June NATO summit, Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government hasn't met the previous 2% GDP defense spending target, while the alliance is set to adopt a new 5% goal.
00:00:17.520YouTube has shut down a popular conservative channel focusing on Canadian political content following a CBC investigation.
00:00:25.500B.C. NDP Premier David Eby held a meeting with Punjabi rap artists, some of whom are involved in the contentious Kalistan separatist movement.
00:00:35.880Hello Canada, it's Thursday, May 29th, and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Isaac Lamoureux.
00:00:42.640We've got you covered with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
00:00:50.640Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government faces increased pressure ahead of the June NATO summit as the alliance prepares to adopt a new defense spending target of 5% of member nations' GDP.
00:01:05.980Meanwhile, Canada hasn't even met the previous goal of 2%.
00:01:10.280NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutt confirmed this week that member nations are expected to agree to the new benchmark when leaders gather in The Hague on June 24th.
00:01:18.880The plan would dramatically escalate current defense commitments, combining 3.5% of GDP for hard military spending with an additional 1.5% for broader security infrastructure.
00:01:30.400For Canada, the proposal highlights a growing reputation among allies as a chronic underperformer in defense spending.
00:01:37.060This legacy was exacerbated under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and thus far has shown no serious improvement under Carney's leadership.
00:01:44.780Despite Liberal promises during the spring election campaign to finally reach NATO's existing 2% target by 2030, Canada spent just 1.37% of GDP on defense last year.
00:01:57.140Hitting the current target alone would require at least $20 billion in additional spending.
00:02:02.220Meanwhile, the proposed 3.5% to 5% threshold would likely demand tens of billions more annually, while the Liberals don't plan to table a budget in the foreseeable future.
00:02:12.300The Liberal election platform under Carney mentioned that the Liberals would meet their NATO target, but avoided indicating exactly when and by how much.
00:02:20.360So, Clayton, have we heard anything from Canada's new defense minister on what Carney's initial plans are for the military?
00:02:27.040Yes. Carney's defense minister, David McGinty, told Canadians to prepare for accelerated military spending in a speech at a CANSEC defense show on Wednesday.
00:02:38.440So, McGinty announced that Canada is going to take decisive and immediate action to rebuild Canada's defense capacity to a room of arms makers and international defense contractors.
00:02:51.000So, he also signaled to the room that Canada was looking to exceed the 2% NATO target, which would have been something remarkable had we not just heard that NATO is planning on raising the standard to 5% of Canada's GDP anyway.
00:03:05.680It's also worth noting that the U.S. President Donald Trump said Canada is in talks and could be on the hook for up to $61 billion for his Golden Dome missile defense system.
00:03:19.820So, if accepted by Carney, it's unclear how much of that spending would go towards Canada's NATO target, and it could only end up covering the 1.5% for infrastructure.
00:03:32.080Following a CBC investigation, YouTube shut down a popular channel focused on conservative content after achieving tens of millions of views during the 2025 federal election.
00:03:46.220Now, the public broadcaster is bragging about having the channel taken down.
00:03:51.120The account Real Talk Politics said it had amassed nearly 70 million views between April 3rd and April 30th, outperforming mainstream outlets, including CBC, in the run-up to Election Day.
00:04:04.760The channel published concise political commentary that critiqued progressive politics and government-funded media such as the CBC itself.
00:04:13.340Its removal came days after CBC's visual investigations team and Radio Canada's Decryptures contacted YouTube with questions about its content.
00:04:23.720CBC reporters wrote, a YouTube account that was the most popular Canada-based channel during much of the 2025 federal election has been taken down by YouTube following inquiries from CBC News' Visual Investigations team and Radio Canada's Decryptures.
00:04:43.480YouTube said the termination was due to violations of policies on spam, scams, and deceptive practices, but did not specify what violations the channel committed.
00:04:54.820The channel's creator disputes that claim, calling the takedown politically motivated.
00:04:59.160CBC's investigation focused on the channel's use of AI voiceovers in the videos.
00:05:04.580The broadcaster described the format as a form of, quote, content farming, a term used to describe low-quality material produced in mass quantities to provoke engagement.
00:05:16.800One example flagged involved an AI-generated version of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivering a joke he never said himself in a comedic script.
00:05:27.380The creator told CBC the clip was sourced from elsewhere on YouTube and believed it to be authentic.
00:05:34.700The video has circulated across YouTube, but the company did not mention if that video factored into the takedown.
00:05:40.780Timing has raised questions about whether the CBC crossed a line by pushing a private platform to act against a competitor in the political media field.
00:05:49.900So, Isaac, is this another case of CBC showing its political bias?
00:05:54.700Why hasn't the public broadcaster targeted left-leaning channels that do the same?
00:06:00.640Yeah, Clayton, so there's a lot to unpack here.
00:06:03.460I suppose the CBC and the Liberals got one step closer to their likely goal when this channel was taken down,
00:06:10.420that Canadians are forced to watch legacy media, and that CBC is the last and only news station standing.
00:06:16.820Already, due to Bill C-11, it has become increasingly challenging for Canadians to access news that is not funded by the Canadian government.
00:06:26.700The importance of a free press, one that can criticize the sitting government, cannot be overstated.
00:06:32.000Conversely, the CBC received around $1.4 billion in funding from taxpayers this year,
00:06:38.660but barely made any money after accounting for their $1.9 billion in expenses and less than $500 million in revenue.
00:06:48.220Despite this shocking, shocking expense value, the CBC's REACH results still fell beneath its targets in 2023-24.
00:06:57.340However, Radio Canada did beat its targets.
00:07:01.940But yes, obviously the CBC has an immense political bias.
00:07:06.060What else would you expect when the government is handing it $1.4 billion a year and it would cease to exist without government funding?
00:07:13.620It's certainly not in the method it currently does with $1.9 billion a year in expenses.
00:07:19.260So this is an unavoidable consequence, and it's a real shame that the country's biggest news organization
00:07:26.100cannot pursue the number one value of journalism, which is holding governments to account.
00:07:32.620And conversely, they actually have to prop the government up, even if that means lying or getting rid of your competitors.
00:07:39.560Additionally, I can't believe YouTube did this.
00:07:43.320I don't see what the company had to gain from involving itself in the controversy, and the given reasoning is not clear.
00:07:59.980Tomorrow, it could be any independent journalist who steps out of line.
00:08:03.840B.C. NDP Premier David Eby met with a group of Punjabi rap musicians, some of whom are active in the controversial Kalistan separatist movement.
00:08:15.360In a recent social media post on May 27th, B.C. NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert shared a photo of himself and B.C. Premier David Eby
00:08:24.760standing proudly alongside several Punjabi rap artists, saying it was a, quote,
00:08:30.240honor to meet with several artists who have made such a deep impact on Punjabi music in B.C. and around the world.
00:08:36.180Among those pictured were Canadian-based artists Jazzy B., Inder Paul Moga, and Chani Natan,
00:08:42.940each of whom has, at times, publicly advocated for Kalistani separatism or figures associated with it.
00:08:49.360Jazzy B., the Bhangra singer originally from Punjab, India, who moved to Surrey, B.C. when he was five years old,
00:08:55.520has previously celebrated and posted images of Jarnel Singh Bindranwale, a key figure in the 1980s Sikh separatist insurgency,
00:09:05.880The self-professed crown prince of Bhangra, Jazzy B., has been rather transparent about his support for carving a separatist and independent Sikh state from India.
00:09:14.700Inder Paul Moga, a Vancouver-based singer and performer, gained attention with his 2020 track,
00:09:19.820Daku, Punjabi for Bandit or Outlaw, a song featuring imagery and lyrics widely interpreted as referencing Sikh militants involved in the Kalistan movement.
00:09:28.560The accompanying music video, which features recurring images of Moga and Natan sitting in Ferraris and walking alongside semi-trailers,
00:09:35.880was being loaded with conspicuous packages, additionally includes a symbolic tribute to an individual deemed a terrorist by the Indian government,
00:09:43.880but regarded as a martyr by some separatist supporters.
00:09:47.440Other still images shared on social media from rappers Natan and Moga appear to glorify Bindranwale and include footage of armed Kalistani insurgents.
00:09:55.920Well, Clayton, has the EB government done anything to address Kalistan separatism presented in B.C.?
00:10:04.340He's not come out with so much as a statement against the Kalistan movement in general.
00:10:09.020When Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Kalistan supporter who the Indian government labeled as a terrorist, was killed in Surrey, B.C. at a Sikh temple,
00:10:18.780and after Justin Trudeau announced and alleged that the Indian government assassinated Nijjar on Canadian soil,
00:10:26.400EB advocated for the federal and provincial governments and security agencies to share more information with each other,
00:10:33.100as he only had access to public information, removing the blame from himself and showing concern for the Sikh community in B.C.
00:10:42.360Our listeners might recall when Sikh versus Hindu clashes broke out, even causing a riot in Brampton, Ontario.
00:10:50.820That was the closest EB ever got to calling out Kalistani extremism in Canada,
00:10:56.240and he said he was deeply concerned about the clashes, but neglected to name the parties involved,
00:11:03.640and he pledged to work with all levels of government to maintain peace and harmony.
00:11:08.500But to be fair, there hasn't been many politicians in Canada at all willing to name exactly who's involved
00:11:15.080when they talk about these Hindu and Sikh clashes.
00:11:20.040They don't want to name the Kalistani movement.
00:11:22.960We've even seen conservative MPs at events that have, you know, pictures of Kalistani martyrs
00:11:30.800and individuals who are even involved in the Air India bombings,
00:11:36.920which was the only terrorist attack that happened on Canadian soil, as far as I'm aware.