Voyageur 45
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
Please don’t forget to share, subscribe or send feedback.
Smith Wants Alberta to Vote on Limiting Immigration and Rewriting the Constitution
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith went on TV Thursday night to announce a nine-question referendum this October. The proposals range from charging non-permanent residents fees for healthcare and education to requiring proof of citizenship before voting in provincial elections. She also wants Albertans to weigh in on abolishing the Senate, letting provinces opt out of federal programs while keeping the funding, and giving provincial laws priority over federal ones in shared jurisdictions.
Smith blamed the province's coming budget deficit on low oil prices and what she called Ottawa's "disastrous open-border immigration policies." She did not mention her own government's years-long "Alberta is Calling" campaign, which actively recruited workers from other provinces.
Constitutional experts were quick to point out that most of these amendments would need agreement from seven provinces representing half the population, and abolishing the Senate would need every single one. Immigration consultant Daniel Briere said he'd like to see evidence that temporary workers are actually straining services the way Smith described.
Read more: CBC News
Advertisement:
A photo from the old country:
Canada Is Now Poorer Than Alabama (Yes, That Alabama)
The Globe and Mail travelled to the Deep South to understand a stat that stung when it first surfaced in 2023 and hasn't gotten much better since. By GDP per capita, Canada's ten provinces average about US$55,000 - roughly the same as Alabama, a state most Canadians associate with cotton fields and civil rights history rather than economic competition.
The reality on the ground is different. Alabama's unemployment rate sits at 2.7%, compared with 6.5% in Canada. Huntsville has become a biotech and aerospace hub. The state builds nearly as many cars as Ontario. In December, Eli Lilly picked Huntsville for a US$6-billion pharmaceutical plant over 300 other bidders - the kind of investment that could have gone to Montreal.
The comparison has limits. Canada's population surge over the past four years drags down the per-capita number, and GDP doesn't capture quality of life. But the trend line is uncomfortable, and the Globe's reporting suggests Canadians might be coasting on a reputation the numbers no longer support.
Read more: The Globe and Mail
Nearly Half of Canadians Now See the U.S. as the Biggest Threat to Peace
A new Politico poll conducted with U.K. firm Public First has put some startling numbers on what many Canadians have suspected for a while. Forty-eight percent of respondents said the United States is the greatest threat to world peace - 19 points ahead of Russia. Fifty-eight percent said the U.S. is not a reliable ally. And a plurality, 42 percent, went further and said America is no longer an ally of Canada at all.
Americans, meanwhile, still feel great about Canada. The affection is a one-way street. Two out of three Canadians believe Trump is actively looking for conflict with other countries, and that view holds even among Conservative voters - 57 percent of whom said the same thing. The most eye-catching shift might be on China. Canadian favorability toward Beijing has quietly climbed from 15 percent in 2021 to 44 percent today, a change that would have been unthinkable during the Two Michaels crisis.
The poll surveyed respondents in Canada, the U.S., Germany, France and the U.K. Canadians were the most likely of any group to call America unreliable.
Read more: Politico