Check It Out: Canadians are asking questions

By Joan Janzen

Teachers love asking questions, so here are a few clever responses from their students. Teacher: "If you got $20 from five people, what do you get?" Student: "A new bike."

Teacher: "If I had seven apples in one hand and six oranges in the other, what would I have?" Student: "Big hands."

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister's recent announcement had Canadians asking why there will be no spring budget this year. After the government announced it would release a fall economic statement and a budget in 2026, numerous comments were made about failing to deliver on a campaign promise to "deliver a plan." The Prime Minister quickly backtracked and announced that there would be a budget in the fall after all.

A Canadian Minute newsletter reminded Canadians of stalled negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which led to a postal strike. A report from the government-appointed Industrial Inquiry Commission suggested that part-time employees should be allowed to work weekends and during the week and that door-to-door delivery to homes should be ended to improve finances. The report also warned that Canada Post is effectively bankrupt.

Speaking of bankruptcy, a headline from a May 13th CBC article reads: "London, Ontario cricket plant ordered into receivership amid $41 million debt bill to creditor." Ryan from Northern Perspective noted the cricket plant was funded through Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to the tune of $35 million in federal funding. A Farm Credit Canada application reported the plant was unable to replicate the harvest methodology developed in Austin, Texas.

I read a Healthline article from 2021 that promoted cricket consumption as an environmentally friendly, easily digestible source of protein and "an easy to produce source of nutrients." Apparently, crickets are not as easy to produce as they thought.

Ryan said there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that millions of our tax dollars went down the drain; the good news is that we don't have to eat bugs. Meanwhile, every summer, there are plenty of crickets on the prairies.

A Government of Alberta report noted crickets eat mosquito eggs, larvae and pupae, and are an important predator of grasshoppers, destroying up to fifty percent of them in some areas. So, if you don't love mosquitoes and grasshoppers, you may be thankful for crickets.

Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Minute news report noted the Saskatchewan Government's newly launched Low Productivity and Reactivation Oil Well Program (LPRP). LPRP offers a royalty structure to companies that reactivate inactive or low-producing wells. The province's goal is to reach 600,000 barrels per day, generate $21 million in royalty revenue, reduce inactive wells, and extend the life of existing assets.

The Canadian Minute newsletter also reported Canada imposed new 25% tariffs on $60 billion worth of US goods, but the Canadian government also quietly introduced exemptions. According to Oxford Economics, exemptions for products in Canadian manufacturing, processing and food and beverage packaging brought the real rate of retaliation down to nearly zero.

Northern Perspective reported that the United States Surtax Remission Order was issued on April 16, 2025, and publicly announced in the Canada Gazette on May 7, 2025. The Liberals claim they did inform Canadians, but it was posted behind a pay wall, which is why the majority of Canadians were not aware of the exemptions prior to the election.

Ryan from Northern Perspective said, "The Prime Minister publicly told everybody that he has all these tariffs in place and he was adding more tariffs, despite the fact most of those were going to be exempt. On this occasion, he decided not to have a publicly filmed session of him signing this order in council because it completely contradicts every single thing he said about the United States and the tariffs and what we were doing in response. There were no tariffs as of April 16, 2025. Any company that wanted to apply for an exemption could receive it."

Nevertheless from April 17 right up until the election the Prime Minister was claiming "We'll fight back with counter tariffs that are causing maximum damage, and my government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect." So was 'elbows up' just a new political dance? That's a good question, and Ryan had a few more questions.

He asked if the friendly visit between the President and Prime Minister was because none of the American goods were having tariffs charged on them. "The Prime Minister said in his campaign there is going to be $20 billion in extra revenue that he would incorporate into his platform. This was projected from tariff revenue. Maybe that's why the federal budget is delayed?" Ryan asked.

A continual onslaught of news clips and announcements has caused Canadians to ask questions. They are seeking informative and honest answers.