From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Liberals have refused to change their membership rule which allow non-citizens to vote in leadership races despite concerns that this could lead to foreign interference in selecting a prime minister to replace Trudeau

The Liberal Party has refused to change their membership rules for the upcoming leadership race, meaning Canada’s next prime minister could effectively be chosen by non-Canadians.  

On January 7 the Liberals confirmed that their membership rules allowing non-citizens to vote in leadership races will remain intact despite concerns that this could lead to foreign interference in selecting a prime minister to replace Justin Trudeau, who has announced he is stepping down. 

According to information shared with CBC News, the Liberal Party “doesn’t intend to change or reinterpret rules in its 2016 constitution that Elections Canada has suggested could make the vote be at least as vulnerable to such efforts as previous leadership races.”  

Following Trudeau’s resignation, the Liberal Party is preparing for a leadership race. In addition to being the new Liberal leader, the winning candidate will automatically serve as prime minister at least until an election is held, which could be as late as October.

Currently, the Liberal Party rules do not require proof of Canadian citizenship to join the party, but only that the person “ordinarily live[s] in Canada or, for Canadians living abroad, be qualified as an elector who may vote in accordance with part 11 of the Canada Elections Act.”  

Additionally, while voters must by 18 years-old to participate in the Federal Election, voters as young as 14-years-old can participate in the Liberal’s leadership race provided they “support the purposes of the Party.” 

Many have pointed out that the loose rules will allow any number of non-citizens, from China, India, Russia or any part of the world, to effectively help select the interim prime minister.   

According to Statistics Canada, there are now more than three million non-permanent residents living in Canada who are eligible to vote for the new Liberal leader and consequently, the prime minister.  

Even some Liberal MPs have called for more strict rules to safeguard the upcoming leadership race, noting the potential dangers of their open policy.   

The concerns regarding the integrity of the upcoming leadership race come after more than a year of evidence has been submitted to indicate foreign interference took place in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. In fact, reports show that China bragged it meddled in 41 candidates’ campaigns in Canada’s 2019 election, which saw Trudeau’s Liberal government re-elected to a second term.

In response to foreign interference claims, the Foreign Interference Commission was convened in late 2023 to “examine and assess the interference by China, Russia, and other foreign states or non-state actors, including any potential impacts, to confirm the integrity of, and any impacts on, the 43rd and 44th general elections (2019 and 2021 elections) at the national and electoral district levels.”   

The commission is headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, who had earlier said she and her lawyers will remain “impartial” and will not be influenced by politics. In January 2024, Hogue said that she would “uncover the truth whatever it may be.”   

As reported by LifeSiteNews, documents from a federal inquiry looking at meddling in Canada’s past two elections by foreign state actors show that agents of the CCP allegedly worked at Elections Canada polling centers during the 2021 campaign.   

To date, Trudeau has been coy and has never explicitly stated whether he was ever told by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that CCP agents’ actions were in breach of the nation’s Elections Act.   

A few months ago, the head of Canada’s intelligence agency testified under oath that he gave Trudeau multiple warnings that agents of the CCP were going after Conservative MPs, yet the prime minister has denied receiving these warnings.   

From Resource Works

By Stewart Muir

There is no “energy transition” – It’s all “energy addition”

Politicians and climate campaigners like to talk of an “energy transition” in which the world is going to burn less and less fossil fuel, switch to clean (or cleaner) energy, and thus resolve climate issues.

But so far the “transition” is not so much about moving away from traditional fuels as about adding renewable energy sources on top of them.

Our latest episode of Power Struggle looks at the impact of world use of coal, which is still a prime source of energy — and growing. That’s bad, we agree, but some uses of coal are going to be hard to change.

Experts have been predicting “peak coal” for years but they’ve always been wrong. This year, global coal consumption is expected to reach an all-time high.

Some key points from our podcast with our Stewart Muir:

• The world burns over one million tons of coal every hour. That’s the weight of nearly 5,000 Statues of Liberty or 10 aircraft carriers, or about 247,000 adult African elephants. So make that 37,000 adult African elephants every hour. 
• Coal energy has enabled millions of people in developing countries to better their  lives, and their nations’ economies.
• India’s coal consumption went up 10% in 2024. And Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan are increasingly reliant on coal.
• China may have installed more renewable-energy sources, and may lead in electric vehicles, but China’s green-energy business is built on coal.

So, while we hail the energy transition, and applaud solar energy, carbon capture and more, we still need to talk about the 247,000 elephants in the world’s room — coal.

Clearly, without addressing coal’s persistent use, the energy transition will fail.

Catch this latest (13th) episode of Power Struggle on YouTube here: https://ow.ly/WiSw50UzX9F

And watch our previous episodes here: https://ow.ly/XK9350UzX9R