Last Week Today Episode 198 Show Notes for Tuesday, May 20th, 2025
G7 Finance Experts in Alberta Now, G7 Leaders to Follow in June, Ontario’s New Budget, the Expected Canada Post Strike plus Firefighters, Bilateral Talks, James Comey & More Liberal MPs.
G7 Finance Experts in Alberta Now: G7 Leaders to Follow in June
The G7 Finance Ministers are quietly meeting in Alberta.
As outlined in the May 19th, 2025 Calgary Herald post, “'Consequential:' Stakes are high as G7 financial chiefs meet in Banff,’ the so called “G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors summit,” is meeting on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain from May 20th to 22nd 2025 and expected to “stake out common ground on the trade front to direct their fire against China, particularly on the crucial steel and aluminum front.”
According to the post:
…although the so-called trade deal brandished by US President Donald Trump is largely dubious; it could provide the high-ranking officials with a blueprint they can build on.
All of which suggests to a disinterested observer that US President Donald Trump will have more than a little influence at the meeting, even without showing up.
For more on what’s happening in the US, check out the April 30th,2025 NPR on YouTube post, “Steve Bannon predicts a constitutional crisis by summer | Morning Edition | NPR.”
According to the May 15th, 2025 Canadian government media advisory, “Minister of Finance to Co-Host G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting in Banff,” Canadian finance minister François-Philippe Champagne and Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem will co-host the summit. They’ll be joined by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union (EU).
They’ll also be joined by “the heads of the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank and the Financial Stability Board. The Ukraine Finance Minister and the President of the Financial Action Task Force will join for parts of the meeting.”
It’s a veritable “cornucopia” of “banksters” and their henchmen and there’s little doubt that at least a few will have connections to the “Rockefellers” and the “Rothchild’s.”
They’re expected to discuss G7 economic policies and the ongoing global tariff war initiated by US president Donald Trump in January 2025.
They’re also intent on supporting the Ukrainian government. For more on that, check out the May 20th, 2025 Canadian Press on YouTube post, “Canadian finance minister, Ukrainian finance minister meet in Banff at G7 Finance Ministers’ summit.”
Canada is pushing for a joint communiqué on issues like AI, Ukraine, and money laundering, but consensus is challenging due to US tariff priorities. The May 19th, 2025 Reuters report, “G7 finance leaders seek non-tariff consensus in Canada, may face US pushback,” notes the US may not sign a joint statement unless it aligns with US policy.
It’s unclear if Canada is expecting to wind up with a diplomatic win from hosting the finance ministers, or if the meeting is simply a preliminary to the larger battle over Chinese trade practices and foreign policy expected at the upcoming G7 Leaders summit.
That meeting is scheduled for June 15th–17th in the same resort where the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors’ are currently meeting. At the June 15th meeting, the US expects to complete the process of “reorienting global economies,” to its way of thinking.
At its conclusion, its expected that the “real” New World Order will have truly arrived.
For more on that, check out the March 5th, 2025 Wall Street Journal on YouTube post, “The Strategy and Pitfalls of Trump’s New World Order.”
Also in the News this Week
Ontario’s New Budget
Ontario premier Doug Ford isn’t waiting for the G7 leaders to meet to decide the future of his province.
Ontario’s 2025 provincial budget, tabled in the Ontario legislature on May 15th, projects a $14.6 billion deficit, largely attributed to economic pressures from US tariffs.
As outlined in the May 15th, 2025 CBC News post, “Ontario tables massive deficit in 2025 budget amid Trump tariffs,” the new Ontario budget includes $33 billion in infrastructure investment, but struggles to meet housing goals, with housing starts lagging behind the target of 1.5 million homes by 2031. As outlined in the post:
The $232-billion budget delivers on a promise the premier made during his re-election campaign in February to spend big on tariff relief programs.
It also presents a starkly different picture of Ontario's financial future than the one shared in the 2024 fall economic statement, with a longer path to balance.
According to the May 16th, 2025 KRP Accounting post, “2025 Ontario Budget features tariff relief and a deficit nearly 10x greater than expected, the Ontario budget deficit, will require $16.2 billion of debt servicing, a significant portion of the province’s $223-billion expenditure.
This cost, driven by Ontario’s existing $425-billion net debt, exceeds spending on sectors like transportation ($14.8 billion) and reflects the burden of rising interest rates and accumulated borrowing.
Critics argue the deficit crowds out investments in healthcare and education. For more on that, check out the May 20th, 2025 CITY TV News on YouTube post, “Provincial budget gets failing grade from colleges and universities.”
Curiously enough, Ford’s concerns over tariffs aren’t mirrored by Ontario business leaders.
As outlined in the February 13th, 2025 Ontario Chamber of Commerce post, “Ontario Economic Report 2025: Business confidence rises from 2024, but trade and cost pressures threaten growth,” business remain focused around simplifying the tax code and creating a predictable and competitive business environment:
“Ontario businesses seek solutions that reduce cost pressures, simplify taxes, and create a more predictable and competitive business environment,” said Simranzeet Singh Vig, Senior Manager of Policy at the OCC.
“Behind the numbers, there are businesses, people and communities relying on jobs, investment and Ontario’s long-term economic stability.”
While the Ford government has promised businesses “tariff relief,” tax simplification concerns and “economic predictability” issues haven’t been touched in the current budget. They likely won’t be addressed be until after the G7 leader’s conference in Alberta next month defines the future.
This is a reminder of how global trade disputes trickle down to provincial economies. Since everything is currently on the international table, local budgets, especially at the provincial level, are also in danger.
For more on the Ontario budget, check out the May 15th, 2025 Global News on YouTube post, “Ontario budget 2025 focuses on US tariff protection, boosting alcohol market.”
The Expected Canada Post Strike
Canada Post is about to go on strike again, an action which will obscure questions of its relevance to Canadian’s, the service levels it should be providing and whether or not there are actually “millions of Canadian’s” especially in rural areas, who rely on the government monopoly for anything except government notices and junk mail.
As outlined in the May 19th, 2025 CBC News post, “Canada Post receives strike notice; workers plan Friday walkout,” Canada Post, the Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada, says it has received a strike notice from the union representing some 55,000 postal workers, that a postal strike could begin as early as Friday morning at midnight.
This will be the second time this has happened in six months, according to the May 20th, 2025 CP24 on YouTube post, “Canada Post will do 'everything possible' to avoid a CUPW strike | spokesperson.”
The May 19th, 2025 Summmerland Review post, “Canada Post 'effectively bankrupt', workers issue strike notice,” notes that the strike is a continuation of the Christmas 2024 negotiations which led to an earlier strike in November 2024.
According to the post:
The winter 2024 strike was paused when the Canada Industrial Relations Board ordered the two sides back to work ten days before Christmas, as packages piled up. Now, the Canada Industrial Relations Board order which extended collective agreements, is set to expire on May 22, as an agreement has not been made.
Operations are to continue as usual after the strike resumes on May 23, but customers should expect service delays.
The latest strike announcement comes hot on the heels of the May 16th release of the “Recommendations and findings of the Industrial Inquiry Commission,” a government commission investigating the current labor situation at the crown corporation.
The commission concluded that Canada Post was “essentially bankrupt” and incapable of functioning in its current form and the principal reasons for Canada Post’s decline are easy to identify:
There was the decline of letter mail caused by electronic substitution and the rise of parcel mail, now mostly delivered by competitors.
The existing collective agreement work rules restrict Canada Post from exercising basic management rights such as assigning existing employees additional work when they have finished their assigned tasks (trapped time) and hiring part-time employees for weekend and other high-volume periods.
Government-imposed moratoriums on closing rural post offices and ending community mailbox conversions, which “need to be reversed if Canada Post is to have any kind of financially sustainable future.”
This is a common problem in Canada when it comes to government legislated services.
This week we’re talking about Canada Post, but next week we could be talking about government funded healthcare, or the passport office and the week after that, there will be some other government department falling apart.
For more on government expectations of its capacity to fulfill its future obligations, check out the May 12th, 2025 Spurrell & Associates CPA | Business Consultant on YouTube post, “The 2040 Canadian Government Dystopian Plan Will Make You Question Everything.”
Firefighters, Bilateral Talks, James Comey & More Liberal MPs
In other news this week:
The May 15th, 2025 CBC News post, “Wildfire deaths in Manitoba turn 'an emergency into a tragedy': Premier Wab Kinew,” reports that two deaths in a Lac du Bonnet wildfire have prompted the Manitoban provincial government to lower flags to half mast on the provincial legislature plus prompted calls for the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) to supply an additional 80 firefighters for expected heavy Manitoban firefighting requirements over the summer.
Canada’s 2025 wildfire season is forecast to be severe, particularly in Western Canada, and likely to challenge Canadian firefighting capacity.
As noted in the May 16th, 2025 CNN post, “May 16, 2025 - Trump Middle East trip and presidency news,” US President Trump has returned from a Middle East trip through Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE), where he announced plans to “reimage alliances” and connect with 150 countries about new tariff rates by July.
The May 16th, 2025 Zero Hedge post, “"We're Going To Be Fair": Trump Will Set Tariff Rates For Other Nations In Weeks,“ notes the US president has been avoiding trade deals negotiated though international organizations organizations like the G7 and the World Trade Organization (WTO) since reentering office in 2024, preferring bilateral deals with individual governments.
In March 2025, the Trump administration “paused” financial contributions to the WTO for 2024 and 2025, pending a review of funding and over concerns about China’s trade practices and the perceived constraints on US sovereignty under WTO membership.
The US has also crippled the WTO’s dispute settlement system since 2019 by, as outlined in the March 4th, 2024 Just Security post, “It’s Time for the United States to End its Bipartisan Attack on the WTO,” by blocking WTO appointments, essentially rendering the WTO dysfunctional.
Of course, all changes have consequences. As outlined in the May 17th, 2025 Zero Hedge post, “Moody's Downgrades USA Credit Rating From Aaa,” Moody’s just downgraded the US long-term credit ratings. Perhaps that downgrade won’t matter; the cards are on the table for a financial reset over the next few months and no one is totally sure what will result.
Everyone in Washington expects former FBI director James Comey to be the first person arrested for his participation in the political shenanigans bolstering the prospects of the Democratic Party since 2015 in their almost existential battle against current US president Donald Trump.
Some argue that the battle has already turned violent. The December 10th, 2024 BBC News post, “House task force releases final report on Trump assassination attempts,“ notes two confirmed assassination attempts against Trump when he was running for a second term in 2024.
The May 16th, 2025 The Guardian post, “James Comey investigated over seashell photo branded ‘threat’ against Trump,” notes that Comey’s latest crisis began when he made a social media post widely understood as encouraging further assassination attempts.
Trump supporter, bolstered by accounts of Democratic malfeasance during the Biden administration, have begun to wonder why, if the crimes were so concerning, so few of the Democrats senior leaders have been charged so far. Richard?
The May 16th, 2025 Juno News post, “Another judicial recount flips riding for the Liberals,” notes that another Canadian judicial recount has flipped another seat to the Liberals. That’s 170 with only two more needed for Mark Carney to get his hoped for majority government.
You wouldn’t know it from the story above but, at least according to the May 20th, 2025 CTV News post, “Economy a priority for PM Carney at cabinet retreat to finalize plan for Parliament's return,” Carney’s week has had its ups and downs.
Parliament returns, led off by a “Speech From the Throne” read by the UK’s King Charles, on May 27th, 2025.
The Rock!
And finally tonight, here’s the May 17th, 2025 Mongo Minds on Bitchute post, “Do You Support President Trump’S Plan To Reopen Alcatraz Prison.”
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