Dan Knight- Canada’s Labour Market Starts to Crack
The most important number isn’t jobs created. It’s people who couldn’t find work. In December, the number of unemployed Canadians jumped by 73,000 in a single month. The unemployment rate rose from 6.5 per cent in November to 6.8 per cent. That move alone wipes out much of the progress made in the fall and tells you the labour market isn’t tightening. It’s loosening.
Odd man rush?
BBC- UK viewers warm up for steamy ice hockey hit Heated Rivalry
Based on Rachel Reid’s books, the series centres on the illicit relationship between two ice hockey players – one Canadian and the other Russian – who are rivals on the ice but lovers off it.
The show has grabbed attention for its sex scenes, but has won praise for its heartfelt depiction of LGBT relationships, and sparked discussions about representation on TV and in sport.
It was made by Canadian streaming service Crave and was swiftly picked up by HBO Max in the US, where it was released in late November.
CTV- ‘Heated Rivalry’ highlights LGBTQ2S+ representation in hockey with scenes filmed in Guelph, Ont.
Francisco- Gay sex and hockey. This shows got something for everyone. Fun for the whole family.
Telegraph- Migrants can ‘cheat’ Labour’s online English language tests
Documents seen by The Telegraph show that the Government plans to scrap the current system, where foreign applicants sit tests in overseas centres overseen by trained exam invigilators and replace it with a fully remote “digital-by-default” approach.
BBC- Two rapists among Met officers not properly vetted
David Carrick, one of the UK’s worst sex offenders, and Cliff Mitchell were among the police officers who were not properly checked. Mitchell was allowed to join the force in 2020 after a vetting panel, partly aimed at improving diversity, overturned a decision to reject him despite a previous rape allegation.
Brendan O’Neill- The farce of the Maccabi ban
A long but interesting read. Grab yourself a mid-strength beverage.
National Post- Older, 70% white, plunging fertility and lost faith: Who Canada is now
A deep dive into the population data paints a surprising picture of Canadian society and households
Dan Knight- New StatsCan Survey Shows Canadians Losing Faith in Parliament and Media
…just 28.3% of Canadians say they have high confidence (ratings of 4 or 5 out of 5) in Federal Parliament. That’s not a typo. Fewer than three in ten Canadians trust the institution that claims to represent them. Even worse, 40% report low confidence—the highest level of distrust recorded for any major institution measured.
Only 36.2% of Canadians say they have high confidence in the media, while nearly 30% express outright low confidence. Among men, distrust is even sharper, reflecting a growing perception that legacy outlets function less as watchdogs and more as enforcement arms for a narrow ideological consensus. Canadians see the bias. They see the omissions. And they are no longer buying what’s being sold.
The Food Professor- Canada Is Poised to Lose 4,000 Restaurants in 2026. Does Anyone Care?
Ottawa Citizen- How productive is the public service? We’ll never know
National Post- Federal government confirms 25 guns collected in ‘buyback’ pilot,
Public Safety Canada, the department overseeing the program, had, up until Wednesday, only signed two agreements with local jurisdictions whose police agreed to collect firearms to be turned over by gun owners under the controversial program. Those services were in Winnipeg and Cape Breton, the latter of which helped the federal government pilot a test-run of the program, set to be rolled out nationally sometime this month.
Sun- Six years later, pandemic divide lingers
The vast majority of Canadians don’t know that vaccine manufacturers disclaimed any efficacy or safety statements about their mRNA products. Our governments insisted they were “safe and effective” without any evidence. But they wielded the claim to invoke totalitarian controls in our country and in Manitoba.
Blacklock’s- More Research On Mistrust
The Public Health Agency yesterday budgeted $80,000 to have pollsters design future surveys regarding Canadians’ willingness to take medical advice from the government. It followed a 2023 report acknowledging “increased distrust of government and science.”
National Post- Carney to visit China to talk trade with Xi
It will be the first trip to China by a Canadian prime minister in nearly a decade, after a diplomatic row was sparked by Canada’s 2018 arrest of Huawei Technologies Co. executive Meng Wanzhou on a US extradition warrant. Shortly after, China detained two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and held them until a deal to release Meng was reached with US prosecutors in 2021.
National Post- Estimated 2,500 undeclared foreign agents operate in Canada
The federal government estimates there are nearly 2,500 businesses or people in Canada working surreptitiously on behalf of foreign states to influence local politics and governments who will need to register publicly.
Telegraph- Ireland proves you don’t need Jews for anti-Semitism to take hold
The existence of fewer than 2,000 Jewish people in the country has not deterred hatred
Reason TV- California’s fast-food disaster
Read the whole thing.
Telegraph- Dozens of mentally ill offenders go on to kill after secret release
At least 30 dangerous mental health patients secretly freed from high security hospitals have gone on to kill in recent years, The Telegraph can disclose.
It’s actually worse than that.
…figures obtained by the Telegraph reveal that an astonishing 55 percent of those sent to secure hospitals are quietly freed within five years, almost 90 per cent within ten years and 99 percent within 20-years