Unpublished Cafe

The price of everything is at a 30 year high in Canada. Record setting prices at the pump and on grocery store shelves have us clinging to our cash and eliminating all but the necessities. The Bank of Canada has moved with interest rate hikes to cool down the economy.  But this is far from a “Just in Canada” type of thing. So many other dominoes had to fall into place to get us here. Recently, a s...

You’d be hard pressed to recognize them as on the same team, but that is the picture before us of the federal Conservative leadership race. Six in all have lined up to present their case as best choice to lead the party into the next election. Will they tack even further to the right?  Hello and welcome to Unpublished TV. It’s been a bare-knuckle brawl in two debates so far. The party reports a re...

With the nasty barbs, the explosive rhetoric and sucker punches to personality, Conservatives are lining up behind six potential candidates to lead them out of Opposition and into the government. Which way will they go?  Animosity is driving the bus in the Conservatives largest leadership race ever. More than 400,000 memberships have been sold according to the Party leadership committee, with the...

The finish line is in sight for Ontario’s political parties as we round into the last few days of the Ontario election campaign. Which way will the province go?  Boring, bland and blah have been the descriptors of this campaign. Not a lot of fireworks on the campaign trail.  But around it? Severe thunderstorms raked the southern and eastern part of the province, leaving hundreds of thousands in th...

Advanced polls are now open in Ontario for the provincial election. And with less than two weeks to go in the campaign two party leaders have been diagnosed with Covid and are isolating. Andrea Horwath and Mike Schreiner are off the trail for precautions. Which way will Ontario go on June 2nd? The final debate was Monday, the last chance for leaders to make an impression and perhaps a knockout pun...

In the “fog of war” the number of casualties of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is difficult to account. It is safe to say though the destruction of cities and infrastructure in Ukraine has been extensive. Targeting of hospitals and schools by Russian troops have come with the cry of war crimes and the town of Bucha, is ground zero for mass graves of Ukrainian civilians. Is Russia committing genocide...

Six weeks of bombing and shelling by Russian forces in Ukraine continue unabated. Ukrainian cities lie in ruins while mass graves have been discovered. The town of Bucha is ground zero for the call of “genocide”m which now echoes around the world. Is it genocide?  Canada’s MP’s unanimously approved a motion to call Russia’s attack, genocide. US President Biden and other world leaders have made the...

Canada’s most populous province is one month away from going to the polls. The PC’s are looking to continue in power, while the official Opposition the NDP is looking to build on it’s previous success while the Liberals, are trying to find their way out of the woods. Which way will voters go this time?    Four years after Doug Ford landed at Queen’s Park, he is looking for another mandate. The par...

We’re about five weeks out from heading to the ballot box in Ontario. Between now and June 2nd, the candidates will be trudging the sidewalks, knocking on doors, or at least as much as they can in the sixth wave. Will the Province have new leadership on June 3rd?  The last time Ontario went to the polls, the governing Liberals were reduced to a rump party of just seven seats. The N.D.P made gains...

Affordability. It is the number one concern of Canadians. Inflation is running at 5.7 percent this month following a five percent jump in March. Gas prices have never been this high, fuelled in part by the war in Ukraine. Supply chain disruptions are also having an impact on the cost of everything. The 2022 Federal budget was expected to give us a path out of the pandemic and on to the road to rec...

This is the first budget after the Liberals and NDP announced their supply and confidence agreement, which would see them prop up the government until 2025. In terms of new spending, this budget comes with much less than previous as Covid support programs come to an end. Just over 31 billion over the next five years. This budget will also see the deficit drop to $52 billion, down half from last ye...

Will The Liberal -NDP Supply and Confidence Agreement run it’s full course or will the honeymoon end before 2025? Hello and welcome to Unpublished TV.  About two weeks ago, the parties unwrapped their agreement which would see the NDP support the minority government for progress on some NDP priorities, namely dental care and a pharma program. This is different than a coalition government which it...

The whispers circling around Parliament Hill became louder this week as the federal Liberals and NDP announced a “supply and confidence agreement”, which could keep the Liberals in power until 2025. Will it last that long?  The talks were off and on since January and really ramped up during the Ottawa occupation by the so called trucker convoy. The deal means the NDP will support the Liberals on a...

More than 10 million Ukrainians or 1/4 of the population, have fled their homeland nearly a month after Russia began shelling its neighbor. It has created a humanitarian crisis. While not referred to as a war in Russia but rather a “special military operation”, the aim is to remove the current Ukrainian government.  While most of the West has levelled punishing economic sanctions on Russia, others...

In the early morning of February 24th the world woke up to an invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Almost 200,000 Russian forces had been congregated along the Russian—Ukrainian border under the claim of “military training”. For some, it was a signal that an invasion was imminent.  Where will it lead the world?  All apologies to those who thought the Cold War was over, but here we are. While Russia has...

Canadians like to think we’re more tolerant, nicer, more welcoming than our American neighbours. The images of racial conflict in the US are prevalent, but when something like that occurs north of the 49th parallel, we’re shocked. Should we be?  The freedom convoy is out of downtown Ottawa but the 3-week occupation is something the residents won’t soon forget. As the collection of truckers made th...

The 3-week occupation of downtown Ottawa has dissipated. What began as a ‘trucker convoy’ against vaccine mandates was co-opted by some extremists, such as the ones waving the Nazi and Confederate flags. They were dubbed “a few bad apples” among a peaceful protest, which was anything but peaceful. It also shone a light on a troubling aspect of Canada—that extremism is alive and well here. What wil...

The world has watched the occupation of downtown Ottawa for three weeks. This past weekend saw the authorities take back the streets for residents who have been living with the occupation of their city. One thing the so-called Freedom Convoy did was expose huge cracks in the Conservatives’ Big Blue Tent.  While some Tory MP’s stood back, others wilfully egged on the truckers. It cost Erin O‘Toole...

Call it what you will...’The Karen Convoy’, ‘The Freedom Convoy’ or ‘FluTruxClan’, the two week occupation of downtown Ottawa has claimed one political life, that of Conservative Leader, Erin O’Toole, who was ousted as leader of the party when two thirds of his caucus voted to go in another direction.  It will spawn a leadership race for the Tories. Can a new leader stop the party from shooting it...

Diplomatic efforts are doubling up to avoid war between Ukraine and Russia. Will it be enough?  Since November, 100,000+ Russian troops have been stationed along the Ukraine-Russia border for what Russia calls military exercises. Ukrainians are growing more nervous about the prospect of war. Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, Ukrainians have been dealing with violent insurgencies that have left...

Canada is home to the largest Ukrainian population outside of the Ukraine and Russia. Over 1.3 million make Canada their home here and they are looking for more from the federal government when it comes to their homeland. Modern day Ukraine came into existence with the collapse of the U.S.S.R, after which it became an independent nation. But, it also has an old nemesis leering across the border. R...

We’re about two weeks away from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in China. Relations between Canada and China are the worst they’ve ever been. China was not happy when the House of Commons declared “Genocide” over the treatment of the Uyghur minority in China.  There is also the “hostage diplomacy” of holding the two Michaels in prison on trumped up charges for three years in retaliation for the h...

It is the pinnacle of amateur sports. In less than one month, those athletes will be competing for their country in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Considering Canada’s sour relationship with China, should this country be sending athletes?  The Winter Olympics come every 4 years, and with it comes Nations cheering on their athletes, who put everything on the line for the opportunity. Canada has...

Here we are, less than a week before Christmas. So many plans and gatherings. So much to do, so much to see. 2021 was going to make us forget about 2020. Afterall,  the majority are double-vaccinated against Covid-19 and the numbers of infected were dropping. Then just weeks ago, a new variant was uncovered in South Africa and it’s spreading like wildfire around the globe and with it, more restric...

Well here we go again. Just as double vaccination rates are rising in Canada, so are the number of new cases of the latest variant of Covid-19: Omicron. Will it mean a fifth wave for Canada?    It was discovered in a neighbourhood in South Africa. It was hitting younger people in the largely unvaccinated area. What concerned the epidemiologists was the ability of the virus to spread quickly and to...