Corporate Sponsors Withdraw from Toronto Pride
The Story: “Pride Toronto” has lost multiple corporate sponsors and now faces a $300,000 budget shortfall. Kojo Modeste, executive director of the organization, has tied the loss of these sponsors directly to President Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders, stating that there has been a “shift of direction.” Modeste did not name the corporations that pulled out, but did state that there were 3 “major” sponsors.
Toronto’s “Pride Festival” is set to continue in a reduced form this summer, with some events being canceled and adapted to the smaller budget.
The Significance: Christians should be under no illusions that these corporations have suddenly found courage to reject the public celebration of sin. This is the exact opposite: craven corporate cowardice as a response to the “shift of direction” embodied by the Trump administration. At the first sign of a pro-“Pride” resurgence, these companies would immediately reinstate funding. This retreat does, however, highlight how public morality can be guided by government action: without Trump’s executive order, Toronto Pride would have hundreds of thousands more to spend on the promotion of sin.
For far too long, Christians have allowed many moral questions to stay at the pulpit and not touch the ballot box. From Pierre Trudeau’s “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation” to Stephen Harper’s commitment to “not re-open the abortion debate”, nominally Christian leaders have allowed moral issues to languish in favour of economic issues, leaving the door open for radicals like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to push anti-Christian immorality into the public square instead.
Government legislation may not. in and of itself, be capable of changing someone’s mind or saving souls, but it can create an environment for Christ’s message to thrive. In fact, it is their responsibility to do so.
Read More: Denio Lourenco, City News, “Corporate sponsors pull support from Pride Toronto amid DEI backlash”
AHS Controversy: Premier Smith Faces Toughest Questions Yet About Her Government’s Performance
The Story: The current controversy surrounding Alberta Premier Danile Smith and provincial health spending has its roots in the dismissal of Alberta Health Services (AHS) CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos in early January. In a $1.7 million wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed against AHS and the province, Mentzelopoulos alleges that she had been investigating AHS contracts and procurement processes and was scheduled to meet with the auditor general to discuss her findings two days after her dismissal. Her claims include that she was reassessing deals with private surgical companies linked to government officials that she had concluded were overpriced. In a public response to Mentzelopoulos’ claims, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange stated Mentzelopoulos’ firing was part of the province’s healthcare restructuring plan. Indeed, at the end of January, the entire AHS board was released. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has denied any wrongdoing on her own part and has defended her health minister. She has also paused further contracts with some of the private agencies at the heart of the present controversy and has urged Alberta Auditor General Doug Wylie to expedite his investigation into the alleged complaints. According to the Premier, much of the controversy stems from “a widespread and deep-seated resistance to change that we must overcome” in order to provide “better healthcare for all.”
The Significance: A major problem facing all bureaucracy is a lack of transparency, and for the moment, at least, Premier Smith is struggling simply because she has made it appear that an investigation by the auditor general may be just another way to cover up wrongdoing. Interestingly, the Bible gives excellent examples of how governments can provide complete openness in their procedures and thus prevent suspicion from arising. In the biblical book of Ezra, the titular character is responsible for the safe transport back to Jerusalem of the gold and silver vessels that had previously been part of the sacred worship in Solomon’s temple. The vessels had been stolen from Judah by Nebuchadnezzar nearly 100 years earlier, but now, under the Persian king Cyrus, the temple was being rebuilt, and the stolen items were to be returned. Ezra understood that no matter how honest he and his assistant priests might be, many would suspect that over a journey of hundreds of miles some of the valuable items might have been stolen. To eliminate distrust, Ezra assigned a certain weight of gold to each of 12 priests and publicly weighed out the gold before the journey began. Four days after arrival in Jerusalem, Ezra had each priest present the valuables in their care for a second public weighing ceremony in order to demonstrate that nothing, not even a narrow shaving of precious metal, had been lost in transmission. Of course, modern accounting is very different, but as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has proven in the U. S., it is past time for all governments to find new ways to prove their disbursements are beyond suspicion.
Moreover, the problems facing Alberta’s healthcare system are endemic to all of Canada, including growing wait times for patients desperately needing treatment, doctor and nursing shortages, inadequate equipment and aging facilities, heightened by blathering bureaucrats and medicare apologists such as NDP leader Naheed Nenshi, who will never admit the real problems are systemic and thus can never be solved without radical change. In other words, it is long past time for one or more of Canada’s premiers to stand up and declare the current socialist system of healthcare a proven failure and suggest a completely new approach.
It is not as if more effective ways of managing healthcare do not exist, as David Gratzer makes clear in his epochal work Code Blue: Reviving Canada’s Health Care System, a book, by the way, that was lauded by Prime Minister Stephen Harper before he became premier. Gratzer makes clear that the insoluble problems of the current system can be summed up as lack of personal responsibility, inability to determine the true cost of procedures and materials, the lack of individual liberty, thus the absence of personal initiative in medical research or development of managerial efficiencies, and finally, the elimination of incentives for patients to aid in the reduction of healthcare costs. In other words, Canadians are under a yoke of healthcare bondage that can only be broken when the nation finds its essential freedom in Christ. This is what St. Paul had in mind when he wrote to the Galatian Christians, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).
Read More: Michael Franklin, CTV News, “Alberta MLA Peter Guthrie quits cabinet, citing concerns over procurement”
Quick Hits
Ottawa Could Save $10.7B by Slashing ‘Ineffective’ Programs, Says Fraser Institute: A new Fraser Institute study is sounding the alarm on Ottawa’s ballooning federal spending, pinpointing eight “ineffective” programs that could be axed to save taxpayers a hefty $10.7 billion this fiscal year. The study zeroes in on programs like the $1.5 billion Regional Development Agencies, criticized for vague goals and little measurable economic impact despite employing nearly 2,000 staff, and the Strategic Innovation Fund, which has funneled $9.5 billion into 129 projects since 2017 with questionable results on innovation or growth. The Fraser Institute contends these initiatives either fail to deliver on promises or involve government overreach where private solutions could suffice.
With federal debt projected to hit $2.1 trillion this year, nearly double the 2015/16 level, the proposed cuts could be a lifeline to stabilize Canada’s fiscal ship. Critics might argue the savings come at the cost of needed support, but the Fraser Institute insists taxpayers deserve better bang for their buck—or at least fewer bucks wasted altogether.
Read More: Andrew Chen, Epoch Times, “Ottawa Could Save $10.7B by Cutting ‘Ineffective’ Programs: Fraser Institute”
Liberals Tie with Conservatives as U.S. Tariff Threats Shake Up Canadian Politics: Recent polling has suggested a close tie between the Federal Liberal and Conservative parties. This marks a significant shift in momentum, as the Conservatives held a 26-point lead just six weeks prior. The change in public opinion coincides with the possibility of a new Liberal leader replacing Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, and follows tariff threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
PHOTO CREDIT: GAVIN YOUNG/POSTMEDIA