Last Week Today Episode 176 Show Notes for Monday, November 25th, 2024
The Proposed GST Rebate, the Silent Sabotage of Bill C-368, the War in Ukraine, Trump Administration Appointments, the UK is Scared Silly & Killing Kids with Over-vaccination.
The Proposed GST Rebate
The big story this week is the November 21st, 2021 Government of Canada press release, “More money in your pocket: A tax break for all Canadians and the Working Canadians Rebate.”
Its proposed “tax holiday,” scheduled to occur from December 14th, 2024 until February 2025 temporarily removes GST/HST taxes from a variety of purchased items normally subject to GST/ HST, but also includes a lump-sum $250 one-time payment.
As outlined in the November 21st, 2024 Bloomburg post, “Trudeau Unveils $4.5B in Tax Breaks, Rebates Supported by NDP“ the Federal NDP has promised to support this program if it ever comes to a vote in the House of Commons.
But a Commons vote currently seems unlikely because House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled in September 2024 that the Justin Trudeau Liberal government “clearly did not fully comply” with the speaker’s order to provide documents related to Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), a shuttered Canadian government agency currently under investigation over a nearly $400Mln CDN series of grants to organizations officially ineligible for funding and/or with ties to Liberal politicians.
Freedom Forum initially covered this story in the October 14th, 2024 Last Week Today story, “House of Commons Remains “Paralyzed” over SDTC Fraud,” and not much has changed since that story was published.
Without a parliamentary vote, it’s likely that this budgetary measure will never be implemented and will instead become simply another example for the Liberals to use to browbeat the “uncaring” conservative opposition.
Conversely, if the measure is ever implemented, perhaps via edicts or the re-imposition of something like the Emergencies Act, the resultant budget deficit for the 2024 – 2025 fiscal year is expected to be $46Bln Canadian or more, well above the $40Bln promised in the latest Federal budget as presented to Parliament by Deputy PM/Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on April 16th, 2024.
As outlined in the November 22nd, 2024 BlackLocks Reporter post, “Tax Perks Widen Budget Hole,” the federal finance department has “declined comment on the impact on this year’s deficit that is already 17 percent over estimate.”
But the ‘tax holiday” might at least distract some “low information” voters from the recent controversy over the Liberal Carbon Tax and yet another brewing government scandal.
Also in the News this Week!
The Silent Sabotage of Bill C-368
Bill C-368 is a proposed private members bill aimed at bringing “stability” to natural health products (NHPs).
As outlined in the March 28th, 2024 My Cowichan Valley Now post, “Proposed bill aims to bring stability to natural health products,” Bill C-368 was created to reverse changes made to the Food and Drugs Act in 2023, which moved NHPs into the “therapeutic product” category.
These changes subjected NHPs to the same punitive regulations as pharmaceuticals, including multi-million-dollar a day fines which, while perfectly appropriate as sanctions against billion dollar big-pharma companies like Pfizer, don’t seem particularly fair for an industry based around naturally available ingredients, vitamins and methodologies championed by mostly small, family owned businesses.
Bill C-368 was an attempt by informed Canadians to reverse the changes made in 2023 to the Food and Drug Act and remove NHPs from the “therapeutic products” category.
But on November 21, Federal NDP Health Critic Peter Julian introduced an amendment to Bill C-368 seemingly intended to render it meaningless.
As outlined in the November 22nd, 2024 Natural Health Product Protection Association (NHPPA) press release, “Urgent Call to Action | NDP Health Critic Peter Julian, Attempting To Ruin Bill C-368,” the amendment to Bill C-368:
…will make the Bill meaningless.
If the amendment is passed, NHPs will still be subject to the powers and penalties that will be used to destroy natural health companies and practitioners. This is part of Health Canada’s Self-Care-Framework which is designed to take away our natural health products.
According to the November 21st, 2024 NHPPA, “Amendment Alert: The NDP’s Silent Sabotage of Bill C-368,” the NDP critic’s amendment “seeks to change the definition of therapeutic product back to its wording prior to June 2023.”
Canadian health care is important for Canadians.
However the issue hasn’t been receiving as much legacy media coverage as Justin Trudeau watching Taylor Swift while violent riots erupt in Montreal or Pat King being convicted of organizing the 2022 Ottawa Trucker Convoy protests.
Perhaps it should be.
Healthy living is more than just doctors prescribing pills and using government regulations to get insurance company compensation.
For more on this topic, its worth checking out the November 26th, 2024 The Guys Garage on YouTube post, “SOMETHING TO HIDE : Canada's Liberal Government and the Natural Health Products Industry,” a recording of the November 21st, 2024 House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.
It includes commentary from NDP Health Critic Peter Julian and multiple reports of unsupported accusations against natural health products from supporters of current medical practice.
It’s scary, scary stuff.
The War in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine continues to escalate.
The latest escalation began on November 18th, when the lame-duck Biden administration authorized Ukraine to use long-range US weapons in Russia, which led almost immediately to their use and a Russian response.
As outlined in the November 21st, 2024 Reuters post, “Russia fired new ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says,” the Russian response involved the detonation of an intermediate range ballistic missile packed with conventional explosives over the Ukrainian city of Dnipro to demonstrate the Russian capacity to deliver payloads regardless of local defense capabilities.
It’s not clear why the Biden Administration authorized such a major escalation after loosing the 2024 election but before the inauguration of its successor.
Incoming US president Donald Trump is reportedly holding a series of secret global Peace summits even as the Biden Administration escalates its attacks.
As outlined in the November 25th, 2024 Wall Street Journal post, “Trump’s Push for Ukraine Peace Finds Growing Acceptance in Europe,” he seems to be having some success.
But the outgoing Biden administration is not the only American authority seemingly opposed to a negotiated peace.
Recent statements a by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham have spotlighted Ukraine's vast mineral resources, particularly rare earth minerals, as a significant factor in U.S. foreign policy decisions regarding the country.
As outlined in the November 24th, 2024 “X” overview of the situation, “Graham Highlights Ukraine's Mineral Wealth in U.S. Strategy,” these resources, “potentially worth trillions, could be a basis for economic deals between Ukraine and the U.S., influencing the ongoing conflict with Russia.”
It’s also noteworthy that the US Navy's Indo-Pacific Commander is Warning that military aid packages sent to the Ukraine are draining US missile stocks.
As outlined in the November 24th, 2024 Zero Hedge post, “Navy's Indo-Pacific Commander Warns Ukraine Aid Is Draining US Missile Stocks,” quotes US Admiral Sam Paparo, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, who told a Brookings Institution audience earlier this week the US was originally shipping less valuable weaponry to Ukraine, which didn't deeply impact readiness for big global threats like China.
However:
More advanced defense tech is currently being shipped, and this presents a serious problem for the United States' long-term defense needs.
The consensus is slowly growing that elements of the US, UK and EU governments are already in a shooting war with Russia.
For a full background on the situation, here’s the November 11th, 2024 Liberty Vault on YouTube post, “Jeffrey Sachs - How the US Provoked the Invasion of Ukraine.”
Trump Administration Appointments
In other news, the most important cabinet positions in the incoming Trump administration are quickly being finalized.
This weeks important appointments include:
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, nominated for the post of Attorney General after Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination.
Dr. Marty Makary, nominated for the post of FDA Commissioner. Makary once called the United States government, “the greatest perpetrator of misinformation during the COVID pandemic,” which seems like an accurate assessment of the situation.
Billionaire Scott Bessent, nominated for the post of Treasury Secretary. Curiously enough and as outlined in the November 23rd, 2024 Zero Hedge post, “Trump Names Billionaire Scott Bessent As Treasury Secretary,“ Bessent once worked as a partner at Soros Fund Management.
The most important role might be the New Efficiency Department, charged with simplifying government regulations and the Tax Code.
The November 26th, 2024 Epoch Times post, “New Efficiency Department Suggests Simpler Tax Code; H&R Block, Intuit Stock Fall,” covers some of the expected results expected from this new department, more formally known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
For a full overview of the current list of Trump administration cabinet, check out the November 26th, 2024 PBS News post, “Who are Trump’s Cabinet picks? Here’s every name so far.”
As noted in the November 24th, 2024 USA Today post, “Trump takes aim at government as public faith in US institutions continues to erode,” the second Trump administration “is taking aim at dismantling the government they have been elected to manage – the very objective many of his most ardent supporters so desperately sought.”
But not all the secrets are coming out, at least not yet.
The UK is Scared Silly
The UK appears to respect free speech but mostly doesn't.
It’s actually frightened of free speech. It thinks that a surplus of free speech will drive the British into panic, offend large segments of the easily triggered and make it impossible to understand what’s actually going on.
A recent example of this is the UK’s latest “Westminster Bridge Incident,” which lit up social media and attracted local crowds after police mistakenly reported a stabbing on a crowded bridge, then locked the bridge down and arrested four men for the alleged crime.
For an overview of the story, here’s the November 24th, 2024 Evening Standard on YouTube post, “Man ‘stabbed’ on Westminster Bridge actually suffered cardiac arrest – police.”
For a better overview, check out the November 25th, 2024 History Debunked on YouTube post, “Are the Metropolitan Police gaslighting us on Sunday, or were they doing so yesterday?”
Killing Kids with Over-vaccination.
Finally tonight, while its different in the UK and Canada, censorship no longer seems quite so all pervasive in the US, where we’re beginning to see more and more pieces like the November 23rd, 2024 Mongo Minds on Bitchute post, “Killing Kids With CPS Help.”
Note RFK Jr in the background. Expect more from him on this topic in the coming months.
“Last Week Today” provides context and connections for the most important news stories of the week.
We’re a part of the fast growing alternative, “new media” ecosystem, which grew up around distributed, low cost technologies developed to enhance two-way communications between authors and audiences.
Please support our sponsors by clicking on the images below.
