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King’s coronation cost taxpayers $534,000 and counting

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From the Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Author: Franco Terrazzano

Trudeau’s troupe spent $305,188 on accommodations at the Edwardian Pastoria Hotels Ltd., a high-end luxury hotel chain in London. They also spent $45,760 at the Great Scotland Yard Hotel and $15,881 at the Southampton Row Hotel.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian delegation to King Charles III’s coronation racked up $534,675 in expenses during the three-day trip.

Final costs are expected to rise even higher as expenses are still being processed, according to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

“The King’s coronation is a big event, but that doesn’t mean taxpayers should be paying half-a-million dollars so more than 100 people can travel to England,” said Franco Terrazzano, CTF Federal Director. “It seems like this government goes out of its way to bring along as many people as possible and to stay in the fanciest hotels.”

Canada’s delegation was 102 people strong – including 87 travelling with Trudeau and 15 travelling with Governor General Mary Simon. That means the cost per traveller was $5,241 for the three-day trip.

Trudeau’s troupe spent $305,188 on accommodations at the Edwardian Pastoria Hotels Ltd., a high-end luxury hotel chain in London. They also spent $45,760 at the Great Scotland Yard Hotel and $15,881 at the Southampton Row Hotel.

Simon and her entourage spent $155,283 on rooms at the London & Regional hotel.

Bureaucrats bought $300 worth of wine and beer for the flights to London, then spent $555 at “Majestic Wine London” upon arrival, according to the records.

“Did taxpayers really need to pay for 102 people to travel to England, and did they each need to rack up an average bill of $5,000?” Terrazzano said. “And if bureaucrats want to delete a couple cold ones, they’re paid more than enough money to pick up the tab themselves.”

King Charles III acceded to the throne Sept. 8, 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. His coronation was held at Westminster Abbey May 6, 2023.

In addition to Trudeau and Simon, the Canadian delegation included various bureaucrats, several Indigenous leaders, a handful of youth leaders and astronauts Jennifer Sidey-Gibbons and Jeremy Hanson, among others.

Canada also sent a sizeable delegation to Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral in September 2022, racking up nearly $400,000 in hotel costs alone.

Included among those costs was a $6,000-per-night luxury suite at the Corinthia Hotel, which came with a marble bathroom and “complimentary butler service.”

After bureaucrats refused to disclose who had stayed in the River Suite, the CTF filed an access-to-information request. In response, the government released the records, but redacted the name.

The CTF then launched a legal challenge to force the government to disclose who stayed in the suite.

Trudeau finally admitted he stayed in the $6,000 per-night luxury suite during President Joe Biden’s visit to Canada in March 2023.

Documents obtained by the Toronto Sun in February revealed that federal bureaucrats were worried about the cost of hotels for the King’s coronation in the aftermath of the earlier scandal over the $6,000-per-night luxury suite.

Writing to a bureaucrat at Global Affairs Canada, Davon Singh, Director of the Executive Office & Head of Visits at Canada’s High Commission in London, wondered if the size of the Canadian delegation should be reduced to save on costs.

“Should we look into reduced numbers or stick with the amount you’ve currently sent us?” Singh wrote.

“I think we should keep our current numbers,” read the response from the Visits Coordinator for Global Affairs Canada.

Business

Molson Coors beer company walks back DEI policy after being exposed on X

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

An internal memo from brewing giant Molson Coors Beverage Co. reveals that the company is abandoning its DEI hiring and promotion processes, meaning it will no longer be making decisions based on race, sexuality or other categories.

Brewing giant Molson Coors Beverage Co., a large Canadian-American multinational company, will be dropping its woke corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies after it received backlash online following an exposé by a popular conservative activist. 

A recently revealed internal memo says that the company’s DEI employee training process has been discontinued, and as such it will no longer have specific “representation goals” in how it hires new people.  

The company, as per a Canadian Press report, will also no longer be participating in the Human Rights Campaign ranking program. The Human Rights Campaign is an LGBT advocacy group that ranks companies based on how “inclusive” their workplaces are.  

According to Molson Coors, it will now follow its own internal metrics to develop a “strong workplace where everyone can thrive.” 

Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist and filmmaker, had earlier called out Molson Coors for its woke DEI policies, noting on X on September 3 that he recently “let them know that I planned to expose their woke policies.” 

“Today they’re preemptively making changes,” he wrote.  

Starbuck said that the coming changes include, “Ending participation in the @HRC’s woke Corporate Equality Index social credit system,” as well as “No more DEI based training programs.” 

Also gone will be donations to “divisive events.” There will also be no more “supplier diversity goals” as well as “executive/employee compensation tied to DEI hiring goals.” 

As reported by LifeSiteNews, over the past decade left-wing activists have used DEI dogma as well as “environmental, social, & governance” (ESG) standards to encourage major Canadian and U.S. corporations to take particular stands when it comes to both political and cultural issues, notably in promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism, race relations, the environment, and abortion.  

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Agriculture

P&H Group building $241-million flour milling facility in Red Deer County.

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P&H Milling Group has qualified for the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program

Alberta’s food processing sector is the second-largest manufacturing industry in the province and the flour milling industry plays an important role within the sector, generating millions in annual economic impact and creating thousands of jobs. As Canada’s population continues to increase, demand for high-quality wheat flour products is expected to rise. With Alberta farmers growing about one-third of Canada’s wheat crops, the province is well-positioned to help meet this demand.

Alberta’s Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program is supporting this growing sector by helping to attract a new wheat flour milling business to Red Deer County. P&H Milling Group, a division of Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited, is constructing a $241-million facility in the hamlet of Springbrook to mill about 750 metric tonnes of wheat from western Canadian farmers into flour, every single day. The new facility will complement the company’s wheat and durum milling operation in Lethbridge.

“P&H Milling Group’s new flour mill project is proof our Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit program is doing its job to attract large-scale investments in value-added agricultural manufacturing. With incentives like the ag tax credit, we’re providing the right conditions for processors to invest in Alberta, expand their business and help stimulate our economy.”

RJ Sigurdson, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation

P&H Milling Group’s project is expected to create about 27 permanent and 200 temporary jobs. Byproducts from the milling process will be sold to the livestock feed industry across Canada to create products for cattle, poultry, swine, bison, goats and fish. The new facility will also have capacity to add two more flour mills as demand for product increases in the future.

“This new facility not only strengthens our position in the Canadian milling industry, but also boostsAlberta’s baking industry by supplying high-quality flour to a diverse range of customers. We are proud to contribute to the local economy and support the agricultural community by sourcing 230,000 metric tonnes of locally grown wheat each year.”

John Heimbecker, CEO, Parrish & Heimbecker, Limited

To be considered for the tax credit program, corporations must invest at least $10 million in a project to build or expand a value-added agri-processing facility in Alberta. The program offers a 12 per cent non-refundable tax credit based on eligible capital expenditures. Through this program, Alberta’s government has granted P&H Milling Group conditional approval for a tax credit estimated at $27.3 million.

“We are grateful P&H Milling Group chose to build here in Red Deer County. This partnership willbolster our local economy and showcase our prime centralized location in Alberta, an advantage that facilitates efficient operations and distribution.”

Jim Wood, mayor, Red Deer County

Quick facts

  • In 2023, Alberta’s food processing sector generated $24.3 billion in sales, making it the province’s second-largest manufacturing industry, behind petroleum and coal.
  • That same year, just over three million metric tonnes of milled wheat and more than 2.3 million metric tonnes of wheat flour was manufactured in Canada.
  • Alberta’s milled wheat and meslin flour exports increased from $8.6 million in 2019 to $19.8 million in 2023, a 130.2 per cent increase.
  • Demand for flour products rose in Alberta from 2019 to 2022, with retail sales increasing by 24 per cent during that period.
  • Alberta’s flour milling industry generated about $840.7 million in economic impact and created more than 2,200 jobs on average between 2018 and 2021.
  • Alberta farmers produced 9.3 million metric tonnes of wheat in 2023, representing 29.2 per cent of total Canadian production.

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