Connect with us

National

Trudeau government to roll out another digital border crossing app by 2026

Published

4 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

By 2026, Canadians driving to the United States will be asked to pre-submit photos, license plate numbers and other information to the Canada Border Services Agency through a mobile application as part of its ‘traveller modernization’ plan.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeauā€™s government has introduced their plan to implement a new ArriveCAN style border crossing application by 2026.Ā 

According to a federal reportĀ obtainedĀ November 14 byĀ Blacklockā€™s Reporter, by 2026 Canadians driving to the United States will be asked to pre-submit photos and license plate numbers to the Canada Border Services Agency through a mobile application as part of its ā€œtraveller modernizationā€ plan.Ā 

ā€œTravellers will use a redesigned advance declaration mobile application to submit their digital photo, advance declaration and license plate information in advance of arrival,ā€ wrote the Agency.Ā Ā Ā 

The report noted that the new plan is separate from the notorious ArriveCAN app which monitored and collected information from Canadians leaving or entering the country during the COVID ā€œpandemic,ā€ however there are some notable similarities. Ā Ā Ā Ā 

Under the forthcoming regime, Canadians will ā€œprovide their biographic, biometric declaration and other border-related information prior to arriving at the port of entry,ā€ and officers ā€œwill be given smartphones to access the digital referrals and process them,ā€ which the government says is ā€œexpected to save time.ā€Ā Ā 

It remains unknown if the program will be mandatory like the ArriveCAN app once was, or what will happen to Canadians who refuse to register. During the ArriveCAN system, which wasĀ describedĀ as ā€œtyrannyā€ by a Canadian Border Agent, those who failed to comply with the mandate were subjected to hefty fines.Ā 

When the app was mandated, all travelers entering Canada had to use it to submit their travel and contact information as well as any COVID vaccination details before crossing the border or boarding a flight.ā€Æā€ÆĀ 

At the time, top constitutional lawyers argued that ArriveCANā€Æviolatedā€Æan individualā€™s constitutional rights.

In addition to tracking the 60 million people crossing land borders each year, the new program outlined similar electronic tracking for marine passengers and air passengers to be introduced in 2027 and 2028 respectively.Ā Ā 

The proposed system comes after the ArriveCAN app was ultimately scrapped following a number of scandals. Among the scandals was the appā€™sĀ $54 million price tag,Ā $8.9 million of which was given to an obscure company called GC Strategies which was operated by a two-man team out of an Ontario home.

The app and its creation has beenĀ under investigationĀ sinceā€ÆNovember 2022 after the House of Commons voted 173-149 for a full audit.ā€ÆĀ 

Of particular interest to the auditors is getting to the bottom of how and why various companies such as Dalian, Coaradix, and GC Strategies received millions in taxpayer dollar contracts to develop the program.

LifeSiteNews last year reported about two tech entrepreneurs whoā€Ætestified beforeā€Æthe House of Commonsā€™ investigative committee that during the development of the app they saw federal managers firsthand engage in ā€œextortion,ā€ ā€œcorruption,ā€ and ā€œghost contracting,ā€ all at the expense of taxpayers.ā€ÆĀ 

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

2025 Federal Election

Poilievre promises to drop ā€˜radical political ideologiesā€™ in universities

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has pledged to prioritize funding scientific research over ‘radical political ideologies’ at Canadian universities.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to scrap government funding of ā€œradical political ideologiesā€ in higher education if elected prime minister.

During an April 2 speech in Toronto, Poilievre told a French reporter that his Conservative government will focus on promoting scientific research rather than furthering radical ideologies in Canadian universities.

ā€œThe money we spend on research will go to research, not to promoting political ideologies,ā€ PoilievreĀ said. ā€œWe want, for example, our science and technology research to go into technological breakthroughs, inventions, innovations, discoveries, cures for terrible diseases that can improve Canadian lives.ā€

ā€œThat is what Canadians expect their tax dollars to go to, not to spend it on radical political ideologies that are first of all completely out of touch with the values of Canadians, and second of all, have no scientific value to our people,ā€ Poilievre added.

This was the second time Poilievre denounced woke spending at universities, the first time being at a Quebec rally last week.

The policy proposal has seemed to draw the ire of some in academia, with Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) executive director David RobinsonĀ stating, ā€œItā€™s worrying that a leader of a political party in Canada would try to dictate how research funds will be granted.ā€

ā€œWeā€™ve seen the impact of this political meddling south of the border where the Trump administration has launched a full-scale assault on universities and the scientific community,ā€ he continued. ā€œThis kind of American-style culture war has no place in Canada.ā€

Under U.S. President Donald Trump, public schools and universities were given until the end of February to eliminate their DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs or risk losing federal funding.

More than 30 states haveĀ introducedĀ legislation that would eliminate DEI programs from education as part of a broader push against woke ideologyĀ spearheaded by Republicans such as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Continue Reading

2025 Federal Election

Will Four More Years Of Liberals Prove The West’s Tipping Point?

Published on

The 1997 political comedy Wag The Dog featured a ruling president far behind in the polls engaging Hollywood to rescue his failing ratings. By inventing a fake war against Albania and a left-behind ā€œheroā€ā€” nicknamed Shoeā€” the Hollywood producer creates a narrative that sweeps the nation.

The meme of hanging old shoes from the branches of trees and power lines catches on and re-elects the president. In a plot kicker, the vain producer is killed by the presidentā€™s handlers when he refuses to stay quiet about his handiwork. The movieā€™s cynicism over political spin made it a big hit in the Bill Clinton/ Monica Lewinsky days.

In the recent 2024 election the Democrats thought theyā€™d resurrect the WTD formula to spin off senile Joe Biden at the last minute in favour of Kamala Harris. Americans saw through the obvious charade and installed Donald Trump instead.

Youā€™d think that would be enough to dissuade Canadians who pride themselves on their hip, postmodern humour. But youā€™d be wrong, they donā€™t get the joke. Wag The Carney is the current political theatre as Liberals bury the reviled Justin Trudeau and pivot to Mark Carney. If you believe the polling it might just be working on a public besotted by ex-pat Mike Myers and ā€œCanadaā€™s Not For Saleā€.

As opposed to Wag The Dog, few are laughing about this performative theatre, however. There are still two debates (English/ French)Ā  and over three more weeks of campaign where anythingā€” hello Paul Chiangā€”can happen. But with Laurentian media bribed by the Libsā€” Carney is threatening those who strayā€” people are already projecting what another four years of Liberals in office will mean.

As the most prominent outlier to Team Canadaā€™s ā€œwe will fight them on the beachesā€¦ā€ Albertaā€™s premier Danielle Smith is already steering a course for her province that doesnā€™t include going to war with America on energy. She asked Trump to delay his tariffs until Canadians had a chance to speak on the subject in an election April 28. Naturally the howler monkeys of the Left accused her of treason. She got her wish Wednesday when Canada was spared any new tariffs for the time being.

Clearly, she (and Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe) have no illusions about Carney not using their energy industry as a whipping post for his EU climate schemes. Theyā€™ve seen the cynical flip in polls as former Trudeau loyalists hurry back to the same Liberal party they abandoned in 2024. They know Carney can manipulate the Boomer demographic just as he did when he called for draconian financial methods against the peaceful Truckers Convoy in 2022.

Former Reform leader Preston Manning is unequivocal: ā€œ’Large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it.’ā€œ So how does the West respond within Confederation to protect itself from a predatory Ottawa elite?

Clearly, the emissions capā€” part of Carneyā€™s radical environmental plansā€” will keep Albertaā€™s treasure in the ground. With Carney repeating no cancellation of Bill C-69 that precludes building pipelines in the future, the momentum for a referendum in Alberta will only grow. The NDP will howl, but there will be enough push among from the rest of Albertans for a new approach within Canada.

In this vein Smith even wants to approach Quebec. While it seems like odd bedfellows the two provinces most at odds with the status quo have much in common .Ā  ā€œThis is an area where our two provinces may be able to coordinate an approach,ā€ Smith wrote this week. That could include referendums by the middle of 2026.

Perhaps the best recipe for keeping the increasingly fractious union together is a devolution of power, not unlike that governing the United Kingdom. While Westminster remains the central power since 1997, there are now separate parliaments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that put power closer to the citizen, so that local factors are better recognized in decision making.

With so little uniting the regions of the country any longer, devolution might provide aĀ solution. What form could decentralization take within Canada? A Western Canada Parliament could blunt predatory federal energy policies while countering the imbalances of Canadaā€™s equalization process. Similar parliaments representing Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, Ontario and B.C. would protect their own special interests within Canada. Ottawa could handle Canadaā€™s international obligations to defence, trade and international cooperation.

While the idea is fraught with pitfalls it nonetheless remains preferable to a breakup of the nation, which four more years of Liberals rule under Mark Carney and the same Trudeau characters will likely precipitate. Smithā€™s outreach case would be the beginning of such a process.

None of this would be necessary were the populations of Eastern Canada and B.C.ā€™s lower mainland remotely serious after snoozing through the Trudeau decade. The OECD shows Canadaā€™s 1.4% GDP barely ahead of Luxembourg and behind the rest of the industrialized world from 2015-2025. As weā€™ve said before the Boomers sitting on their $1 million-plus homes are re-staging Woodstock on the Canada Pension and OAS. As with Wag The Dog, theyā€™re not getting the joke.

When the Boomers award themselves another four years of taxapalooza and Mike Myers and the other ā€œCanada Not For For Saleā€ celebs head south to their tax-avoidance schemes how will the Boomers say theyā€™ve left CanadaĀ  better off for anyone under 60? Weā€™ll hang up and listen to your answer on the TV.

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public BroadcasterĀ  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada’s top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.

Continue Reading

Trending

X