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Blackfalds is spending $1,210 per resident on their MultiPlex, Red Deer can’t afford $1,000

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Red Deer is afraid and covers it up by saying they cannot afford to spend $1,000 per resident on a new multi-use aquatic centre 20 years after the last time. Blackfalds will be spending $1,210 per resident on twinning their multi-plex only 4 years after building their last one.
Perhaps we need to study why Blackfalds is investing in itself and growing in population and Red Deer is hoarding and declining in population.
If Red Deer does just renovate the downtown swimming pool after 25 years, since Collicutt, then Red Deer will not have a 5th pool till 2050. Projected population of 150,000 people.
The town of Blackfalds is moving forward on twinning their Multi-Plex to the tune of $12 million. This is 4 years after opening their $15 million Abbey Centre.
The city of Red Deer is delaying discussing building an Aquatic Centre, to 25 years after opening the Collicutt Centre.
Blackfalds, population of 9,916 will spend $1,210 per person twinning their multi-plex just 4 years after spending $2,000 per person on the Abbey Centre. 2013 population of Blackfalds was around 7,500.
In just a few years Blackfalds is committing about $3,000 per resident on recreational facilities.
Red Deer, population 99,832 is looking at spending less than $1,000 per resident on recreational facilities in nearly 3 decades.
Blackfalds has the fastest growing population in Canada.
Red Deer is declining in population.
Red Deer needs to build an Aquatic Centre with a 50m pool. Red Deer is in need of a new multi-plex. Red Deer has a shortage of recreational facilities north of the river. Red Deer is in need of an identity.
Red Deer is afraid of investing on itself. The price of $100 million is high and can be lowered, but if the price was lowered to $99,832,000 it would be only $1,000 per resident. Blackfalds had a population of 6,500 when it started building the Abbey Centre, or $2300 per resident. Now 4 years after opening they are investing another $1200 per resident in twinning their multi-plex.
Red Deer is abdicating it’s leadership role in Central Alberta. Penhold, Sylvan Lake and Blackfalds have all invested in their recreational facilities in recent years and have maintained population growth while Red Deer has ceased investing in new facilities, and seen a decline in population.
I would suggest that we bite the bullet, proceed with an Aquatic Centre that can hold provincial and national competitions and attract tourist and investment dollars. Build it north of the river by Hazlett Lake and offset the costs with sponsorships, like we did with the Collicutt Centre.
Or we can just welcome mediocrity and obscurity.
Just saying.

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Opinion

Two Press Conferences, Two Futures: Reality vs. Liberal Delusion

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The Opposition with Dan Knight

Poilievre lays out a real plan to fight fentanyl and secure Canada’s economy. Carney delivers empty slogans and Trudeau 2.0 talking points.

So let’s talk about two very different press conferences that happened today. One was from Pierre Poilievre, who laid out a serious, detailed plan to crack down on fentanyl traffickers, secure Canada’s borders, and put drug kingpins in prison for life. The other? Mark Carney, the Liberal Party’s unelected golden boy, who stood at a podium, threw out a bunch of vague, focus-grouped slogans, and then told Canadians—with a straight face—that he’s not a politician.

Hold on—HAHAHAHAHA. Let’s just take a second to appreciate how absurd that is.

Mark Carney—the man standing at a podium, announcing his candidacy to lead the Liberal Party, delivering pre-rehearsed political talking points, and desperately trying to sound relatable—is telling you he’s not a politician.

That’s like Justin Trudeau saying he’s not a virtue-signaler. It’s like Joe Biden saying he’s a great public speaker. It’s like CNN saying they just report the news. It’s so obviously untrue that you almost have to admire the sheer arrogance of saying it out loud.

But Carney’s dishonesty didn’t stop there. No, he went on to deliver a speech so full of contradictions, hypocrisy, and Liberal gaslighting that it deserves its own category at the Academy Awards.


Carney’s Fantasy vs. Poilievre’s Reality on the Fentanyl Crisis

Poilievre’s press conference today was dead serious—because the fentanyl crisis is dead serious. He laid out the numbers:

  • 50,000 Canadians dead since 2016. More than all the soldiers we lost in World War II.
  • A super lab in British Columbia capable of producing enough fentanyl to kill 95 million people.
  • 99% of shipping containers coming into Canada go uninspected.

His response? Mandatory life sentences for fentanyl traffickers. 15-year minimums for those caught with smaller amounts. Military-backed border security. 2,000 new CBSA officers to stop fentanyl from coming in at the source.

Now let’s compare that to Carney’s response.

Oh wait—he didn’t have one.

Carney spent his entire press conference talking about “trade diversification” and “economic growth.” Not a single detailed plan for stopping the flow of fentanyl into this country, putting drug traffickers in prison, or protecting Canadian families.

Why? Because the Liberal Party doesn’t actually care about fentanyl. They only started pretending to care because Trump forced them to.

Poilievre called it out perfectly:

“If Donald Trump hadn’t threatened tariffs, Trudeau wouldn’t even be talking about fentanyl.”

And he’s right. Because if Trudeau, Carney, and the Liberals actually cared about fentanyl, they wouldn’t have eliminated mandatory minimums for traffickers with Bill C-5.


Carney’s Laughable “Trade Strategy” vs. Poilievre’s Economic Reality

Carney—who spent most of his career **as an unelected globalist banker—**wants you to believe he has a plan to fix Canada’s economy. His big idea?

“We need to diversify trade away from the U.S.”

Oh, brilliant! Canada should just pivot away from its largest trading partner—the country that buys 75% of our exports—and do business with… who exactly?

China? The same China that’s flooding our country with fentanyl and stealing our intellectual property?

That’s like saying, “I don’t like getting my paycheck from my current job, so I’ll just get paid by a different company!” That’s not how reality works, Mark.

But now Mark Carney wants to diversify trade away from the U.S.? Fascinating. And how exactly does he plan to do that?

Energy East? Oh yeah, you guys killed that. A pipeline that would have let us sell our own oil to our own refineries instead of importing from Saudi Arabia—but nope, too “dirty” for the Liberal climate cult.

Northern Gateway? Oh yeah, canceled that too. That would have gotten Alberta oil to the Pacific, letting us sell to Asia instead of relying on the Americans. But the Liberals shut it down before the first barrel could even roll.

How about LNG exports to Japan? Oh wait—Trudeau’s government said there was “no business case.” Meanwhile, Japan is signing massive deals with Qatar while Canada, sitting on one of the world’s largest gas reserves, does absolutely nothing. Brilliant strategy, Mark.

So what’s the plan here? Sell more maple syrup to Belgium? Hope the French suddenly develop a taste for Tim Hortons coffee? Maybe trade luxury tax credits for electric BMWs? Be serious.

This is the problem with guys like Carney—they live in a world of theoretical trade deals and imaginary supply chains, while the rest of us have to live with reality. And the reality is, Canada depends on the U.S. because Liberal policies have systematically destroyed every alternative.

But sure, Mark. Tell us more about your vision for trade while Canada’s biggest industries are locked out of the global market—because of people like you.

Meanwhile, Poilievre actually acknowledged reality.

“Trump sees weakness, and what does a real estate mogul from New York do when he spots weakness? He pounces.”

This isn’t just about trade. This is about Canada being so economically weak after eight years of Liberal mismanagement that we’re now at the mercy of Trump’s tariffs.

And what did Carney have to say about that? Nothing.


Carney’s Carbon Tax Flip-Flop

And here it is—Carbon Tax 2.0 from Trudeau 2.0.

Mark Carney, the guy who spent years preaching that carbon taxes were the single most powerful tool to fight climate change, is now standing at a podium, pretending he never said that.

“We should eliminate the consumer carbon tax and instead make large polluters pay.”

Oh really? Excuse me? Carney spent his entire career defending carbon taxes, telling struggling Canadians that their skyrocketing gas and heating bills were just part of the “climate transition.” And now, magically, he’s against them?

This isn’t leadership. This is pure, shameless political opportunism.

Let’s get something straight: Mark Carney doesn’t actually care about the carbon tax. What he does care about is winning an election. And right now, even Liberal voters hate the carbon tax. So suddenly, he’s got a new idea—carbon tax for thee, but not for me.

Because, of course, Carney himself never had to pay these taxes. The man made millions as a banker, then made even more at Brookfield Asset Management—a firm that just happens to be heavily invested in fossil fuels. Oh yeah, Carney loved talking about green energy, but when it came to his own paycheck? Fossil fuels were just fine.

This is the classic Liberal formula: They jack up your energy costs, kill your job, and call it a “transition” while making sure their wealthy buddies get exemptions.

Now contrast that with Pierre Poilievre’s response.

Axe the tax.

Yeah, no shit.

While Carney is rebranding the exact same Liberal scam, Poilievre is saying what every Canadian already knows: The carbon tax isn’t saving the planet. It’s just making life unaffordable.

Because here’s the truth: It was never about fighting climate change. It was always about taking your money. And Carney’s latest spin? It’s just the next version of the same scam.


Mark Carney: Trudeau 2.0, Just With a Better Suit

Here’s the bottom line: Poilievre laid out a real plan today—one that actually addresses the fentanyl crisis, border security, and Canada’s economic vulnerabilities.

Carney? He gave a meaningless, bureaucratic speech that could have been written by ChatGPT.

Poilievre talked about real consequences for fentanyl traffickers. Carney didn’t.
Poilievre called out the Liberals’ disastrous economic policies. Carney helped design them.
Poilievre acknowledged Canada’s dependence on the U.S. Carney pretended we could just trade with Europe instead.

And yet, the Liberal Party wants you to believe that Mark Carney is Canada’s next great leader.

Here’s the truth: Carney isn’t new. He isn’t different. He isn’t a “pragmatist.” He’s just Justin Trudeau in a better suit, with a fancier resume, and the exact same failed policies.

And if Canadians fall for this scam, we’ll get four more years of Trudeau-style incompetence—just with a British accent.

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Business

Musk vs. The Swamp: Will He and Trump Make Real Cuts?

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From StosselTV

Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are here – but will they be able to fix our budget crisis?

Our government is $36 trillion in debt, yet it keeps wasting money on absurd projects like $118,000 to study if metal fingers can snap (spoiler alert: they can’t) and $700,000 to research parrot mating habits. It also spends more than a TRILLION in subsidies to state and local governments. Meanwhile, Washington sits on 300,000 buildings, many of which are unused, and land worth TRILLIONS of dollars. Yet instead of selling, it keeps buying more.

Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute says the first thing DOGE should cut are the subsidies to state and local governments. Then, they should slash the $180 billion a year spent in subsidies for corporations. But even if Musk’s new DOGE eliminates these expenses, the real culprits (Medicare and Social Security) are off limits.

So will DOGE be enough? Our new video above takes a look.

After 40+ years of reporting, I now understand the importance of limited government and personal freedom.

——————————————

Libertarian journalist John Stossel created Stossel TV to explain liberty and free markets to young people.

Prior to Stossel TV he hosted a show on Fox Business and co-anchored ABC’s primetime newsmagazine show, 20/20. Stossel’s economic programs have been adapted into teaching kits by a non-profit organization, “Stossel in the Classroom.” High school teachers in American public schools now use the videos to help educate their students on economics and economic freedom. They are seen by more than 12 million students every year.

Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards and has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club. Other honors include the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award.

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To get our new weekly video from Stossel TV, sign up here: https://www.johnstossel.com/#subscribe —————————

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