2026 Canadian Political Thread

[licks2nite]

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy pushed back on Carney's claim in Beijing that Canada is being pragmatic with China by taking "the world as it is."

Axworthy argued in a blog post that this amounts to "an abandonment of an eighty-year project of activist Canadian engagement on the world stage" on issues like human rights.

Conservative MP Shuv Majumdar chided Carney on the platform X over his outreach to China and Qatar, citing their dire human rights records and past support for Canada's adversaries.

"They traffic in the worst elements of the world, because they turn these assets they’ve built up into the indispensable dependencies" that Carney is consenting to, Majumdar argued.

https://www.biv.com/news/carney-bac...-china-qatar-focused-on-non-us-trade-11768471

Mr.Carney, while we're securing trade on your promise with middle powers let's not forget about internal trade in Canada. Through immigration Canada's population triples in my lifetime but nobody but me ever writes about how Canadians forfeited Canadian economic prosperity filling countless apartment towers with imported plumbing, elevators, large appliances and furnishings. If Canada could rather value-add more often by refining oil on site and shipping finished fuel rather than exporting oil, Canada would have ample feedstock for plastic plumbing products. Traditionally industrial Ontario & Quebec didn't pick up the baton of manufacturing building components over what I guess were inconsistent interprovincial trucking regulations since addressed but not proven. When I walk into big box Lowe's and Canadian Tire I want to find Canadian made fridges, ranges, washers, sofas, tables and chairs. Not just a small corner display of kitchen cabinets from Manitoba.

 

[licks2nite]

Forest Landscape Planning (FLPs) in light green. Pilot projects in dark green.

Forestry companies complain of a persistent inability to access economical trees, wood waste and fibre that is crippling the industry, leading to sawmill closures that compound into pulp mill closures that compound into hundreds of jobs lost in just the last year.

Eby though, had a different view at the Natural Resources Forum. “Certainty matters and reform is overdue. That is why the minister has announced we are moving away from a permit-by-permit system and toward an operational approach to forestry.”

The core of this new approach?

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...orms-moving-too-slowly-to-save-mills-11769387

From AI Overview:
BC's operational approach shifting toward Forest Landscape Planning and, where established, mandatory Forest Operations Plans, which integrate First Nations consultation, biodiversity, and strict harvesting regulations to replace older industry-led plans [such as site-level forestry].

Site-level forestry focuses on operational, stand-specific actions like harvesting methods, planting, and silviculture prescriptions. Conversely, landscape-level planning manages broad, long-term ecological patterns—such as habitat connectivity, old-growth retention, and watershed management—across vast, interconnected regions. The province is shifting toward "Forest Landscape Plans" to bridge these scales.

Mandatory Forest Operations Plans in British Columbia are being implemented specifically in areas with established Forest Landscape Plans (FLPs), designed to modernize forest management. Key areas undergoing this planning include Bulkley-Morice, Mackenzie, Central Vancouver Island, Cariboo-Chilcotin, 100 Mile House, Thompson Watersheds, and Kootenay Lake. Mandatory Forest Operations Plans provide clear, legally binding direction for forest development, replacing or supplementing older, less specific planning methods like Forest Stewardship Plans


And everything takes too long.

 

[licks2nite]

NORAD pact would change if Canada pulls back from F-35 order, warns U.S. ambassador

Diplomat says U.S. fighter jets would enter Canadian airspace more often to address threats

"They're [the F-35s] in for repairs about half the time or even more so the Americans have all the power of actually destroying our air force just by shutting down [parts] supplies."

Rasmus Jarlov, head of the Danish parliament's defence committee, has described "second thoughts" over the [F-35] order, but says the country has little choice now that it is their only operational fighter aircraft.

The Gripen "is a highly proficient aircraft used by some of our NATO allies" and works well in Arctic conditions. Whereas the F-35 "would allow for easier and greater interoperability with the U.S. Air Force — an important consideration both in NORAD and overseas operations."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/norad-canada-us-f35-9.7059800

Arctic coast of prime consideration for Canada. Interoperability in Overseas missions isn't. The F-35 downtime so bad Canadians could see American F-22, F-15 and F-18 SuperHornets in Canadian airspace filling missions while Canadian crews wait for parts from the scattered supply chain of every NATO member.

 

[licks2nite]

Kamloops' New Afton mine will change hands after shareholders approve $7B sale to U.S. firm

The New Afton mine is expected to produce a total of 20 million ounces of silver, 900,000 ounces of gold and 100 million pounds of copper in 2026.

https://www.biv.com/news/resources-...reholders-approve-7b-sale-to-us-firm-11804517

Existing New Afton investors hold 38% of shares. Mine would realize about $1.5 billion silver, $3.15 billon gold, $400 million copper in 2026 before costs mostly labour. A 2% tax on Net Current Proceeds until capital costs are recovered. Shifting to a 13% Net Revenue Tax after capital recovery. Ashton in productive growth phase.

Operating costs typically run $1500/oz. gold, $25/oz. silver. The below ground costs of copper about $2/lb.

Afton the only operating block cave mine in Canada. Potential for further mine life extensions beyond 2031 in the K-Zone and eastern section.

 

[licks2nite]

Bitcoin off 5% today. Harvest MicroStrategy etf ticker: MSTE record date today. Buy today for a 20 cent distribution on February 6th on a $4.05 or lower etf. (Bitcoin currently USD 84000 could test USD 80000.)

 

[dare.devil]

"B.C. Premier David Eby had some stern words for a group of Alberta separatists who, according to the Financial Times, went to the White House seeking the assistance of U.S. officials to "break up" Canada. "There's an old-fashioned word for that, and that word is treason," Eby said."

I am with Eby on this and inafct they should be dealt ike it.
They are as stupid as MAGA if they dont see this admin's treatment of its own people and sovergenity of other countries.

 

[licks2nite]

German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Type 212CD submarine

AI Overview
The KSS-III (South Korean) is a larger, blue-water submarine with Vertical Launch System (VLS) for land-attack missiles, offering greater firepower and range, while the Type 212CD (German-Norwegian) is a compact, stealthier design focused on covert operations, Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP), and NATO interoperability, with both representing different strategic philosophies for Canada's next submarine, balancing power projection (KSS-III) versus specialized Arctic/littoral stealth (Type 212CD).

Compares Korean Hanwha Ocean KSS-III vs. Type 212CD

https://www.biv.com/news/economy-la...ith-seaspan-on-submarine-sustainment-11807233

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/algoma-steel-submarine-hanwha-ocean-deal-9.7063879

The Korean sub choise employs vertically launched missles to attack land targets. Clearly meant for aggressive warfare. Promises Ontario Algoma Steel jobs and emphasises fast delivery as a selling point.

The German sub stealth choise designed for Arctic environment with Norwegian collaboration. Ultra silent hydrogen fuel cell air independent technology and 3-week submerged capability. Surpasses nuclear subs for stealth without the heat signature of nuclear. Service agreement with Seaspan. Emphasises interoperability with NATO partners.

 

[licks2nite]

In an interview with CBC News last fall, Swedish Lt.-Col. Marcus Wandt, a Gripen test pilot, insisted the Saab-manufactured jet was fully capable of plugging into the NORAD defence grid.

In Sweden, "we are under threat the second we take off, and so we really had to build something that we knew would be able to fight in tomorrow's air domain.… That's why we built Gripen-E."

"We would have to ensure that our Canadian Gripen-Es would have the same encrypted, secure communication and data exchange capabilities that any aircraft — the F-35, the F-22, the F-16 — all of those aircraft are going to have to be compatible with the NORAD command and control and data-sharing architecture."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f35-greenland-canada-missile-defence-9.7069059

If the '90s era F-16 can plug into NORAD command and control and data-sharing architecture certainly the Gripen-E can plug into NORAD command and control and data-sharing architecture or Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) sometimes referred to as "Golden Dome".

Ironically for Canadian military choices, stealth in the air becomes a vehicle of aggressively penitrating somebody else's airspace while stealth in the sea protects from aggressors in Canadian coastal waters. With 6th generation (F-47, B-21) in the works employing ceramics to absorb heat and radar signatures, the fragile advanced polymer-based stealth coating and associated down-time of F-35 still looks like a waste of time and money. Externally mounted weapons further defeat the F-35 stealth. The F-35 unloads weapons, turns around and stealthfully runs away provided the fragile polymer coating remains intact.

 

[licks2nite]

South Korea's submarine pitch to Canada offers an huge industrial revitalisation for Canada not just in shipbuilding but in automotive manufacturing as well, offsetting any flux in American involvement in Canada. A win-win situation for Canada & South Korea's industrial base seeking safety from the vagaries of 2 superpowers.

 

[licks2nite]

If you missed the burst up of Bitcoin on Friday, you might try Ontario corporation Shopify Inc. Through the Harvest derivative SHPE from Toronto Stock Exchange. Shopify down to support level Friday and looks to have upside from here. Expensive at 82 times earnings.

 

[licks2nite]

Environmental groups sue Ottawa over decade-long failure to map B.C. caribou habitat

Ottawa’s alleged failure to produce habitat maps—the first step in a caribou recovery plan under the Species at Risk Act (SARA).

The deteriorating situation has led to the local extinction of eight of B.C.’s 18 herds, said Wildsight conservation specialist. “Without the federally defined mapping, we can’t have a real recovery strategy,”

After a previous round of litigation in 2014, Ottawa said it would finish by the end of the year. More than a decade later, that still hasn’t happened.

BC Timber Sales—a government-run corporation responsible for administering a fifth of the province’s annual logging quota—said in May 2025 it was halting “new investments” in unprotected core caribou habitat of the Columbia North herd.
Fully protecting southern mountain caribou could involve curbing logging activity in large swaths of B.C.—something that has worried the province's forest industry.

Mapping caribou habitat shouldn’t be seen as an object of fear for the forestry industry, but rather an “easy step that acts as notice for companies” looking to get logging tenure where caribou live.

A 2025 report from Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development found that of all the living creatures listed under Canada species at risk law, only 32 per cent had their critical habitat fully identified.

https://www.biv.com/news/economy-la...ng-failure-to-map-bc-caribou-habitat-11858015


Environmental groups should be identifying and documenting herds themselves and sending the data at regular intervals to provincial authorities since land use a provincial jurisdiction.

 

[licks2nite]

Victoria regional district overwhelmingly endorsed a water development cost charge bylaw that will see developers of new construction projects pay for future regional water-supply programs, starting in April 2027.

Projects in the master plan, include a $1.1-billion filtration plant meant to keep up with the region’s growth, to add redundancy to critical components.

Woodsmere Holdings, which designs, builds and manages rental buildings, said at best, such costs are passed directly to new home buyers and renters, making housing more expensive, but at worst, they undermine project viability, resulting in less housing being built.

The institute estimated the plan would add $9,044 in development cost charges for each new single-family home or duplex, $7,914 per townhouse and multi-plex and $5,087 per unit in a large multi-family development.

There are also separate rates for industrial, commercial and institutional buildings such as hospitals, schools and places of worship. Depending on building type, the costs would be between $16.96 and $73.48 per square metre.

https://www.biv.com/news/real-estat...-charge-for-new-water-infrastructure-11872447

Fair's fair. Existing rate payers already bought and paid for infrastructure needed by existing rate payers. Don't have to pay twice. Should have been implemented years ago.

 

[licks2nite]

2026 BC budget news

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...d-debt-leave-no-winners-in-bc-budget-11892666

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...-projected-deficit-jump-in-bc-budget-11890430

https://www.biv.com/news/a-bc-budge...taxes-and-increased-debt-and-deficit-11886216

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...al-disaster-continues-in-2026-budget-11891133

Other new expenses include $634 million for K-12 education, $330 million for child care fee reduction and $139 million for community safety.

There is also $5 billion set aside for contingencies, such as wildfires and other emergencies that require the province to help out financially.

The lowest personal income tax rate increasing to 5.6 per cent from 5.06 per cent.

B.C. is also getting rid of the northern and rural homeowner benefit, which provided an average of $200 to residents outside the Lower Mainland and the Capital Regional District on Vancouver Island to help offset the carbon tax

Personal income tax brackets and non-refundable tax credits will also be paused at 2026 income levels, meaning they will no longer be adjusted for inflation and those making the same amount year-over year will pay the same amount, even if inflation increases.

Another way the government is attempting to balance the books is by reducing the size of the B.C. public service, which has nearly doubled since 2017.

https://vancouversun.com/news/bc-budget-2026-how-it-will-affect-you

Meanwhile, taxpayer debt is also expected to jump in 2026, with the debt-to-GDP ratio expected to exceed 30 per cent this year, up from 26.1 per cent for 2025/26, before spiking to 34.4 per cent in 2027 and 37.4 per cent in 2028.

The new investments include $131 million for mental health and addictions treatment, with the ministry noting increasing spaces for involuntary care; $34 million to provide access to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) for “almost 1,800” British Columbians; and, most significantly, $2.3 billion towards increasing the health-care system’s overall capacity.

Announced last week, the budget also includes $457 million toward a restructured system of supporting children and youth with disabilities.

Another $478 million will go toward supporting children and youth in alternative care, $373 million toward income and disability assistance for adults, and $5 million for improved disability assistance for couples.

Baily says the province is “taking decisive action to confront the rise in extortion south of the Fraser [River],” by coordinating police jurisdiction through its BC Extortion Task Force and securing federal support.

B.C.’s Repeat Violent Offending Intervention Initiative, the budget says, will receive $26 million after early evaluations show it has resulted in fewer police interactions and faster charge approvals for high-risk offenders.

The province says the Burnaby Hospital Redevelopment project will be reassessed before it moves to Phase 2 of construction.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/...ces-capital-spending-with-13-billion-deficit/

The B.C. government’s 2026 budget announced a series of tax increases, capital project delays, and a reduction of 15,000 public sector jobs over three years. Despite this, major deficits are still forecasted for the indefinite future.

B.C.'s finance minister argues the province remains among the lowest-taxed jurisdictions for working class families in the country.

It will also increase the provincial portion of property taxes (known as the School Tax) for homes over $3 million in assessed value, and the speculation and vacancy tax from three per cent to four per cent.

In addition, the government is freezing the number of new providers for $10 a day childcare, and slowing down a number of capital projects, including seven long-term care facilities, phase two of the new Burnaby Hospital and student housing at the University of Victoria.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-budget-2026-9.7094451

Suppose if anybody goes on strike government can keep the sector shutdown until government saves up enough money to pay staff. I've seen some heart warming stories in the past where managers in various jurisdictions left on the job keep departments running well while the bulk of employees stand on picket lines. I'd still like to read about all new ferry construction to take place in BC.

 

[masterpoonhunter]

2026 BC budget news

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...d-debt-leave-no-winners-in-bc-budget-11892666

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...-projected-deficit-jump-in-bc-budget-11890430

https://www.biv.com/news/a-bc-budge...taxes-and-increased-debt-and-deficit-11886216

https://www.biv.com/news/commentary...al-disaster-continues-in-2026-budget-11891133

whole bunch of stuff snipped

Suppose if anybody goes on strike government can keep the sector shutdown until government saves up enough money to pay staff. I've seen some heart warming stories in the past where managers in various jurisdictions left on the job keep departments running well while the bulk of employees stand on picket lines. I'd still like to read about all new ferry construction to take place in BC.

Going over your posts I have to ask, do you just harvest anything you can find from the internet then post it in the lounge?

 

[Neelsmith1234]

"I've seen some heart warming stories in the past where managers in various jurisdictions left on the job keep departments running well while the bulk of employees stand on picket lines."
[/QUOTE]

I wonder who is telling these stories. I know a lot of people in government, both in management and union workers. This perception is misleading because the real day to day work is done by the union staff and not managers. For most of the recent strike, the union workers that did the public facing work did not go on strike until the last week or two. It was done this way to minimize disruption to public services. For example, one of the earliest staff to go on strike was ministry of finance. This did not affect public facing services. But it had affects within government. Most managers dont know much about the details of day to day work. Its folly to think that one manager can do the work of a team of several people. All the managers did was keep the lights on, delay deadlines and manage the most vital expectations. One of my friends told me that when they were on strike, his manager didn't even know how to log into the database and use it, because the manager had not done that in 2 years.

I'm not trying to bad mouth managers, but its just not their job to look into details of day to day work. That being said, if you look at the growth in the number of government employees it is heavily tilted towards management. There is too much management staff in government. And management also gets paid the most money. Frontline staff that do the actual work should be prioritized.

Just my thoughts.

 

[licks2nite]

Common theme throughout history - When governments go authoritarian, they often hire foreign soldiers in order to better control their respective populations or wage war on their neighbors. The strategy is being implemented across Europe currently; with many nations taking in millions of third world migrants from Muslim nations and using targeted marketing to recruit them as police and military.

Not all mass immigration is about rigging elections in favor of socialists. It's sometimes about subjugation using people who have no loyalty to the native population. Canada appears to be the latest progressive regime to introduce the integration of foreign military professionals into their ranks. The decision is part of the the country's new "Express Entry" program for migrants with skills that the government has deemed essential to the economy and to Canada's security.

The parameters do not explicitly call for combat troops, but there is a loophole. There is no dedicated NOC for Canadian special operations forces (e.g., JTF2 or CSOR), which are typically drawn from combat arms backgrounds and involve advanced training rather than a distinct occupational code.

In other words, foreign personnel could be brought into Canada through the Express program under the guise of being "support specialists" while acting as combat troops. Only if government decides it wants to hide the importation of combat soldiers. Government could also simply change the open policy without public input.

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is experiencing a severe, long-term recruitment crisis, operating roughly 14,000 personnel short of its goals in 2025–2026.


Posters wrote:

The plan is to recruit what's left of the Ukrainian military once Zelensky is done. Canada's military will be filled with Ukranian terrorists.

There exists no precedent for the collective Executive Treason and invitational invasion inflicted upon the indigenous peoples of Europe and North America under their so-called 'democracies'. This is something totally new in human history.

What self-respecting Heritage Canadian man of military age is going to serve in the military of a globalist quisling regime that hates him & seeks to eradicate his bloodline?

Canada's globalist government is going all-out to disarm the Heritage Canadian population, while letting the ethnic criminal gangs that have flooded into the country stockpile and use firearms with impunity.

Canadians are cucked to the maximum. And the few who are not have no means for effective resistance.

Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab on February 18, 2026. Video starts at 13.30


Not sure where Canadians go yet. If 14,000 can't be found for relatively high paying Canadian military careers I suppose I'm wasting my time looking for anybody to fill manufacturing roles like enough plumbing, elevators, large appliances and furniture to go into and after apartment construction. Really have to take a hard look at where Canada's current deals can go. A South Korean deal over submarines and all the purported transfer of industry into Canada would likely require concomitant imported skilled trade & professional help. So, would the Swedish deal over aircraft touting 12,500 ongoing careers. A US aircraft deal would live with the current predominatly low-tech Canadian population with a German submarine deal. Quite possibly Canada can not handle both the South Korean deal and the Swedish deal because of current prevalence of unqualified available labour. By default a South Korean deal would result in a US deal. And a Swedish deal would result in a German deal. If we're just looking at the culture a Swedish deal and a German deal align best for Canada's current and past culture. A South Korean deal looks to align Canada with American policy in Asia.

 

[licks2nite]

Bitcoin tested the low put in last February 6th today. If bitcoin holds current level tomorrow should see some upside for a few days. Resistance above C$92,0000, support at C$80,000. (See 5-year chart.) For your favourite bitcoin derivative.

 

[Larry's Torch]

Going over your posts I have to ask, do you just harvest anything you can find from the internet then post it in the lounge?

Pretty much sums it up.

 

[licks2nite]

B.C. premier says Senate committee wants to gut bill that could close loopholes for extortion suspects

Eby accused the Senate committee on social affairs of "actually proposing to remove the very provisions that would protect the people South of the Fraser from this wildly frustrating attack on the integrity of our immigration system."

The section of the bill Eby is focusing on is a new provision that, if passed, would bar people who first came to Canada more than a year prior to filing refugee claims.

The bill would also speed up the determinations around inadmissibility and deportation of individuals with established links to organized crime.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/extortion-bill-loophole-senate-b-c-premier-9.710599

AI Overview:
Organized crime south of the Fraser River in British Columbia—primarily affecting Surrey, Delta, and Abbotsford—is currently experiencing a surge in violence driven by a violent extortion crisis, transnational gang activity, and targeted killings.

Blatant incompetent leadership or deliberate motivation to break up Canada. Federal Senate perhaps forgets how Ottawa's unencumbered immigration pushed BC casinos into money laundering for lack of available scrutiny or interest to do anything beyond funneling the cash into real estate, pushing up the price Metro Vancouver housing. Ruining the future of young British Columbians with homelessness and addictions. For such insults Federal Canada forgets about Alberta referendum in the works and where BC goes afterward. Or the unlikelyhood of BC in any way trying to deter the outcome of where Albertans want to go either during or after a referendum.

 

[PuntMeister]

View attachment 153050

If you missed the burst up of Bitcoin on Friday, you might try Ontario corporation Shopify Inc. Through the Harvest derivative SHPE from Toronto Stock Exchange. Shopify down to support level Friday and looks to have upside from here. Expensive at 82 times earnings.

Why invest in the derivative SHPE instead of just buying the stock itself SHOP? Yield higher if plan to hold it? Risk for this?