By: George Koch and Jim Mason

Jim Mason holds a BSc in engineering physics and a PhD in experimental nuclear physics; he lived and worked in Alberta for 17 years and is currently retired and living near Lakefield, Ontario.

George Koch is Editor-in-Chief of C2C Journal.

The federal Clarity Act is widely assumed to be Canada’s safeguard against provincial secession. As we discussed in our previous column, many Albertans who favour independence believe it provides a roadmap to leaving Confederation, while many federalists regard it as a constitutional firewall that makes separation all but impossible.

Both sides are ultimately mistaken. The Clarity Act was never designed to provide a workable path to provincial independence, it was designed to prevent one. And therein lies the danger.

Passed in 2000 by Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government, the Act emerged from Quebec’s 1995 referendum, when the country came within roughly 50,000 votes of breaking apart. Ottawa’s objective was understandable. Federalists wanted to ensure that any future vote on secession would be based on a clear question, a clear mandate and a deliberate process rather than ambiguity, confusion or political gamesmanship.

That goal was reasonable. The legislation that followed was not.

The Supreme Court of Canada’s 1998 Secession Reference established a basic constitutional principle: although a unilateral declaration of independence was unconstitutional as well as illegal under international law, if a province’s voters expressed a clear desire to leave Canada through a clear majority voting “Yes” on a clear question, all parties would have a reciprocal obligation to negotiate that province’s possible exit from Canada.

The Court deliberately assigned all of the implementation details to the political process. It did not proclaim a unilateral right to secession, but neither did it affirm an unambiguous authority by Ottawa to refuse negotiations or to operate in bad faith.

The Clarity Act purported to implement that ruling. Instead, it created a system in which almost every important decision rests with the federal government – enabling endless mischief and sabotage. The Act, for example, does not define what constitutes a “clear majority.” It does not specify what level of voter turnout would be sufficient. It does not establish a detailed process for negotiations. It does not explain how negotiations would conclude. It does not identify a final threshold for constitutional approval. Instead, it grants broad discretion to the House of Commons to determine whether a referendum question is acceptable and whether a referendum majority is sufficiently large to move forward.

In practice, this means Ottawa decides. And for Ottawa, unsuccessful negotiations are the objective; the status quo is victory. Paradoxically, that reality should concern federalists as much as separatists.

A constitutional process gains legitimacy when participants believe it is fair. People are more likely to accept outcomes they dislike when they believe the rules are transparent and consistently applied. The Clarity Act achieves the opposite. Its ambiguity creates the impression that the rules can be changed as circumstances require.

Consider how the process would likely unfold following a future provincial referendum on independence. First, the referendum question would face scrutiny. Then the result would be examined to determine whether the majority was sufficiently “clear.” If negotiations began, every stage would involve multiple governments, competing interests, constitutional disputes and political pressure campaigns. Any breakdown along the way would preserve the status quo.

From Ottawa’s perspective, this may seem like a feature rather than a flaw.

But politics does not operate solely through legal mechanisms. It also operates through public legitimacy. Suppose a province produced a strong majority in favour of independence and Ottawa nevertheless found reasons to delay, obstruct or reject the result. Suppose voters concluded that no realistic democratic mandate would ever satisfy the federal government.

What lesson would they draw? Many would conclude that the Constitutional process is not a genuine process at all. That is the Clarity Act’s Achilles’ Heel.

The legislation was intended to reduce support for secession by demonstrating the seriousness and complexity of leaving Canada. Yet if citizens come to believe the outcome has been predetermined, the Act may produce the opposite effect. Rather than strengthening federalism, it could fuel resentment. Rather than reinforcing Constitutional legitimacy, it could undermine confidence in Constitutional institutions.

The irony is striking. A law designed to discourage separatism may ultimately strengthen it.

This is not an argument for Alberta independence. Nor is it an argument that secession should be easy. The breakup of a country is among the most consequential political acts imaginable. Any such process should be deliberate, transparent and subject to rigorous democratic safeguards.

But a credible process must also be achievable. Canadians should be able to answer basic questions. What constitutes a clear majority? What obligations arise after such a vote? When do negotiations begin? How are disputes resolved? What conditions bring the process to an end?

The Clarity Act answers none of this. For a quarter-century, that ambiguity was politically convenient because no province came close to triggering the Act. Alberta’s growing separatist movement, however, has revived questions that many Canadians assumed had been settled long ago.

If Ottawa’s answer to those questions is simply that separation will never be permitted regardless of the circumstances, then the Clarity Act ceases to be a framework for democratic conflict resolution. It becomes an instrument of permanent Constitutional denial.

That may satisfy some federalists. But it risks achieving the very outcome the Act was intended to prevent – which is the subject of our next column.

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A Senate committee is calling for outside experts to regularly review CBC/Radio-Canada news content to assess whether it’s “fair and balanced.”

When Sen. David Wells was asked by reporters whether the recommendation was because CBC’s editorial direction needed less bias, or if it was meant as a preventative measure, Wells responded that “it could be considered both.”

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New federal data shows recent immigrants are buying homes at rising rates while homeownership among Canadian-born residents continues to slip, adding fresh pressure to an already strained housing market.

Statistics Canada’s June 16 study on homeownership trajectories found that between 2018 and 2021, the share of recent immigrants who owned homes in their fifth year after arrival climbed in key provinces.

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The Halton Catholic District School Board paid the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) $30,342 to provide staff training and professional development, according to freedom of information records obtained by Juno News.

The Islamic lobby group originally sought to exempt the records from disclosure. Juno News successfully appealed to the Information and Privacy Commissioner, revealing the funds were spread over 24 invoices. No further information was provided.

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Ottawa’s luxury tax on cars, planes and boats brought federal coffers more than $900 million before it was scaled back, according to figures obtained through an access-to-information request by The Canadian Press.

First implemented in September 2022 by former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, the levy imposed a 10 per cent tax on the full value of yachts over $250,000 and cars and planes valued at over $100,000.

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An urgent warning from Calgary’s top tourism official to Mayor Jeromy Farkas and City Council has been obtained by Juno News.

The letter urges politicians to immediately back away from controversial new Stampede concert music restrictions that critics say amount to a direct attack on Calgary’s festival culture.

Tourism Calgary President and CEO Alisha Reynolds warns that the City’s sudden changes to outdoor concert noise exemptions pose “immediate and serious risks” to the 2026 Calgary Stampede season and Calgary’s broader visitor economy.

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By: Joseph Fournier

Dr. Joseph Fournier is a rancher, a Ph.D. scientist, and a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. With over 15 years of experience as an energy executive and a background in chemical physics, he provides an analytical perspective on agricultural regulation, industrial productivity, and the practical challenges facing Canada’s primary producers.

In medieval England, the Sheriff of Nottingham jailed poor peasants for daring to hunt deer in the King’s Sherwood Forest to feed their starving families. Today, 89 per cent of Canada belongs to the Crown, meaning federal or provincial governments control most of the land, and small family farms and ranches are increasingly treated like those peasants: punished by regulations that only the largest operations can survive.

Policy Horizons Canada’s January 2025 brief, Future Lives: Social Mobility in Question, lays out a scenario for Canada in 2040 in which downward social mobility becomes the norm, with more people relying on bartering, small-scale food production, hunting, fishing and foraging. The authors stress it is not a forecast but a stress-test for current policy assumptions.

Even as a stress test, the picture is sobering because many of the policies driving that future already exist.

The clearest example is supply management, Canada’s system of quotas and import barriers that controls dairy, egg and poultry production by restricting supply and limiting competition.

Marketed as protection for producers from low prices, it functions as a government-backed cartel.

New or expanding producers must first purchase quota at enormous cost. That quota can be bought and sold like an asset, and for many new entrants it has become one of the biggest financial barriers to even getting started.

In Quebec and Ontario, the dairy quota is capped at $24,000 per kilogram of butterfat per day. In Alberta, where there is no cap, the exchange averaged roughly $56,500 per kilogram of butterfat per day in early 2025, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

For layer hens, quota in Alberta has recently traded between $755 and $800 per bird. A modest 1,000-hen operation, therefore, requires up to $800,000 upfront just for the right to produce eggs.

The result is predictable: fewer independent producers, less competition and a food system increasingly dominated by large operations with access to major capital.

Defenders of the system note, fairly, that current quota holders bought their quota at market value and that any reform must address how to compensate them for the value tied up in those quota holdings.

But this is a transition design problem, not a reason to leave the system as it is.

In April 2025, five RCMP cruisers arrived at Sundial Poultry near Lethbridge, Alta., to arrest 61-year-old Henk Van Essen during a four-year dispute with Egg Farmers of Alberta over alleged violations of the 300-hen small-flock limit. Alberta allows small non-quota flocks below that threshold, but larger commercial production requires quota.

Van Essen viewed the quota rules as overly restrictive and costly for small producers and had tried at least once to enter the Egg Farmers of Alberta’s new entrant program without success. He also held a Canadian Food Inspection Agency licence to grade and sell eggs under the Sundial Poultry label.

The case highlighted how aggressively the broader regulatory system now polices even modest-scale farming.

Supply management does not just restrict entry. It also contributes to waste in order to preserve price stability, according to a 2025 peer-reviewed study in Ecological Economics.

The study estimated that seven to 10 billion litres of raw milk were disposed of on Canadian dairy farms between 2012 and 2021: enough to supply 4.2 million people for an entire year.

This deliberate destruction keeps retail prices elevated while food bank demand grows and more Canadians struggle to afford groceries.

The pressure on small producers does not stop with quotas.

Since 2018, retailers like UFA in Alberta have dramatically reduced or eliminated over-the-counter sales of many vaccines, nutritional products and medically important antibiotics in line with Health Canada’s Dec. 1, 2018, prescription rule.

Producers must now establish a Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship before obtaining prescriptions, typically requiring recurring farm visits and additional fees.

The pressure continues with the CFIA’s proposed amendments to Part XV of the Health of Animals Regulations, which would have expanded traceability rules for cattle movements.

The ranching industry pushed back hard, citing tens of millions of dollars in annual costs, impracticality for extensive grazing operations on Crown land and insufficient consultation. In January 2026, the CFIA paused the changes indefinitely.

Taken together, the message to small producers is clear: smaller-scale farming and ranching are becoming increasingly unviable.

When guardrails become roadblocks and one-size-fits-all regulations ignore the realities of family operations, only the largest producers, with the capital, lawyers and lobbyists to navigate the system, gain an advantage.

It is time to amend legislation to make it easier for small producers to sell into the food supply.

With food bank usage rising and the cost of beef, pork and chicken climbing faster than in most OECD countries, Canada cannot afford policies that restrict supply, reduce competition and drive out independent producers.

Otherwise, the Sheriff of Nottingham continues to win, and more families may soon be induced to forage on Crown land just to put food on the table.

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By: Dotan Rousso

Dotan Rousso is an academic and legal scholar specializing in criminal law, privacy, and the intersection of technology and legal ethics.

If the reported text of the new U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding is accurate, it will be remembered as one of the most humiliating diplomatic documents ever signed by a Western power.

The agreement requires the United States to end military operations, remove its naval blockade, withdraw forces from the region, release frozen Iranian assets, restore Iranian oil exports, terminate sanctions, support a reconstruction package worth at least $300 billion, and legitimize the final arrangement through the United Nations. In return, Iran promises that it does not intend to develop nuclear weapons, agrees to discussions regarding its enrichment program, and commits to a future negotiation process.

One does not need to be a military expert to recognize what this means. If this document had been presented without identifying the parties involved, most readers would assume that Iran had won the war and dictated the terms.

This outcome cannot be explained by a lack of American power. The United States remains the strongest military force on Earth. No empire in human history has possessed such military, technological, financial, and strategic advantages. America did not lose because it lacked power. America lost because it lacked the will to use it.

The modern West increasingly resembles a civilization that values comfort more than victory. Its political leaders fear economic disruption more than strategic defeat. Its citizens worry more about the price at the pump than about the long-term survival of the international order that made their prosperity possible. Its universities have spent decades teaching generations of students that the greatest threat to humanity comes not from dictatorships, terrorists, or theocrats, but from Western civilization itself.

The result is a profound moral confusion. Many who endlessly condemn democratic societies suddenly lose their moral outrage when confronted with regimes that imprison dissidents, torture political opponents, suppress women, persecute homosexuals, and execute critics. Iran’s rulers represent one of the most oppressive regimes in the world, yet much of the Western intellectual class has reserved its greatest hostility not for Tehran, but for the democratic societies attempting to contain it.

The consequences of this agreement will be felt far beyond Iran.

Israel, which stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States throughout the conflict, has effectively been abandoned. Gulf states that endured years of Iranian aggression and missile attacks will learn that American promises are conditional and temporary. Most tragically, tens of millions of Iranians who hoped outside pressure would weaken the regime may instead watch it emerge stronger, richer, and more secure than ever.

But the greatest damage is to the United States itself.

Allies around the world will see that American commitments can disappear overnight. Adversaries will conclude that Washington possesses enormous power but lacks the political and moral confidence to use it. The lesson for every hostile regime will be simple: endure long enough, absorb enough pressure, and eventually America will negotiate its own retreat.

The memorandum reveals something deeper than a failed strategy toward Iran. It reveals a civilization increasingly uncertain of itself, unwilling to bear costs, and incapable of translating power into victory.

Empires do not collapse when they run out of weapons. They collapse when they run out of conviction.

If this agreement becomes reality, historians may remember it as more than a diplomatic failure. They may remember it as the moment the American Empire publicly acknowledged that it no longer possessed the confidence required to act like one.

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To counter food unaffordability, the Liberal government announced a $3.2 billion National Food Security Strategy aimed at lowering grocery costs, increasing consumer choice and enhancing supply chain resilience. Noticeably absent is relief from the industrial levy.

“Do you feel this was a missed opportunity, not addressing the industrial carbon tax?” Conservative MP John Barlow asked on the Commons Agriculture and Agri-Foods committee this week.

“Absolutely,” said Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. “That points to our first recommendation to make food affordability a formal lens for federal policymaking.”

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Brantford residents could be banned from setting off fireworks in their backyards if city council approves new rules on June 23, including a ban on consumer fireworks sales effective January 2027.

Community, religious and other organizations could still hold permitted fireworks displays in designated parks. Events would require a permit from the Brantford Fire Department, insurance coverage and a licensed operator, at a cost of just over $340.

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Bank of America says the Bank of Canada is likely to stay on the sidelines even as the loonie weakens, arguing that currency swings alone won’t be enough to force a policy shift.

Carlos Capistran, head of Latin America and Canada economics at Bank of America, said a soft Canadian dollar has not historically translated into sustained inflation pressure, noting weak domestic demand and a negative output gap leave little room for rate hikes.

On Thursday, the loonie fell as low as $1.417 per U.S. dollar, its lowest intraday level since April 2025. The U.S. dollar also continued to strengthen as oil prices declined.

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The first quarter of this year marked the third consecutive quarter in which Canada’s population declined, according to the latest Statistics Canada data. The most notable factor is that deaths have been outpacing births.

On April 1, Canada’s population stood at 41.4 million, a decrease of 55,025 from the start of the year. While the decline is largely attributable to net emigration, a declining birth rate is also a contributing factor.

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Edmonton Public Schools has renewed an Arabic Language and Culture course that has been operating in the school board since 2011, while maintaining a longstanding partnership with a Qatari charity—Qatar Foundation International.

The organization recently announced it was winding down its U.S. operations after American researchers alleged it had used language programs, teacher training, and educational partnerships as a vehicle for advancing Qatari soft power in schools and universities. Keep Reading

Poilievre: “UNDRIP threatens Canada’s sovereignty”

Pierre Poilievre is drawing a line in the sand against what he calls the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples‘ threat to property rights.

While in British Columbia, where UNDRIP has been enacted into law by the B.C. NDP through DRIPA, Poilievre said, “enough is enough.”

He made the comments in response to the Carney government’s plan to ratify a treaty approved in B.C. with the K’ómoks First Nation that recognizes self-government, resource and land rights. Keep Reading

WATCH: Crime is up — and no one’s being held accountable

This episode of Sonduren Uncensored tackles one of the biggest questions Canadians are asking: Has accountability disappeared from Canada?

Sonduren revisits the brutal murders of Arnold and Joanne De Jong in Abbotsford, B.C., and the debate over parole eligibility for violent offenders. He also breaks down a repeat offender case in Richmond that is raising fresh concerns about public safety and the prioritization of criminals over victims. Watch now

Learn more

Mining company sues B.C. gov for millions in DRIPA conflict

Another warning sign for investors in British Columbia: a mining company that says it spent years and millions of dollars reviving a shuttered gold project is now suing the province, alleging the government quietly revoked its mining rights to advance its DRIPA-driven reconciliation agenda. Keep Reading

Premier Smith says potential “Coal Not Water” referendum not until 2027

On Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith said Corb Lund’s Water Not Coal petition won’t appear on the Oct. 19 ballot because Elections Alberta required all referendum questions by June 1. Keep Reading

Judge gives 10 year parole eligibility to wife, child killer due to Indigenous ancestry

A B.C. judge cited a man’s Indigenous heritage when sentencing Orlan Marcel Dennis to life in prison for murdering his wife and teenage son. He will be eligible for parole in just 10 years. Keep Reading

Learn more

Carney announces $3.2B to buy B.C. condos developers can’t sell

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to commit $3.2 billion in combined federal-provincial funding to effectively absorb unsold condo units in British Columbia, as governments step in to buy up housing that developers have been unable to sell in a cooling real estate market. Keep Reading

Starmer moves towards Digital ID controls with youth social media ban

The U.K. is moving to ban social media for children under 16, in what would be one of the strictest online restrictions in the Western world. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it a “big moment,” while critics say it reflects a growing trend of governments introducing digital identity protocols. Keep Reading

Ottawa police release sex assault suspect’s photos, seek more victims

Ottawa police are asking for the public’s help after releasing a photo of a 50-year-old man charged in connection with a sexual assault investigation, saying there may be additional victims. Keep Reading

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Ottawa is targeting Juno News. We need your help to fight back!

The Liberals are betting they can wear us down, bankrupt us, and send a warning to every journalist in the country. They’re dead wrong.

The best way to protect Juno News and make us untouchable is to fortify our newsroom by becoming a Juno News premium subscriber right now. When we are stronger, bigger, and better funded, they can’t shut us down.

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Learn more at DefendJuno.com

Pierre Poilievre is drawing a line in the sand against what he calls the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' threat to property rights.

While in British Columbia, where UNDRIP has been enacted into law by the B.C. NDP through DRIPA, Poilievre said, “enough is enough.”

He made the comments in response to the Carney government’s plan to ratify a treaty approved in B.C. with the K’ómoks First Nation that recognizes self-government, resource and land rights.

Read more

A B.C. judge cited a man’s Indigenous heritage when sentencing Orlan Marcel Dennis to life in prison for murdering his wife and teenage son. He will be eligible for parole in just 10 years.

In April 2024, Dennis shot his wife after accusing her of infidelity, then killed his 18-year-old son when he responded to the gunshot. Police later arrested him after a standoff at his mother’s home. The killings followed years of addiction and prior violence against his family, reported the National Post.

Justice Simon Coval noted Dennis’s parents were residential school survivors and that he grew up in poverty amid violence and substance abuse. Dennis is a member of the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation.

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Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to commit $3.2 billion in combined federal-provincial funding to effectively absorb unsold condo units in British Columbia, as governments step in to buy up housing that developers have been unable to sell in a cooling real estate market.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced $1.6 billion in funding for B.C. over the decade to lower development cost charges for multi-unit housing by up to 50 per cent, or as much as $40,000 per unit in “priority communities.”

He made the announcement alongside B.C. Premier David Eby in Vancouver on Thursday as a means to “unfreeze” the province’s real estate market.

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The U.K. is moving to ban social media for children under 16, in what would be one of the strictest online restrictions in the Western world. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it a “big moment,” while critics say it reflects a growing trend of governments introducing digital identity protocols.

The U.K. is set to ban kids under 16 from social media, Starmer said, making it the latest country to restrict youth access to these platforms. The move comes just days after Canada introduced its own Social Media Safety Act, legislation that would impose age-verification requirements and create a new Digital Safety Commission.

Britain’s proposed ban would apply to platforms including TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X. Messaging services such as WhatsApp and Signal would still be permitted, while kid-focused services like YouTube Kids would be excluded.

Starmer said it was a “big moment for our country.”

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Another warning sign for investors in British Columbia: a mining company that says it spent years and millions of dollars reviving a shuttered gold project is now suing the province, alleging the government quietly revoked its mining rights to advance its DRIPA-driven reconciliation agenda.

MCC Canadian Gold Ventures Inc. has filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the B.C. government, alleging it was encouraged to revive a bankrupt Banks Island mine before its mining rights were suddenly squashed via Orders-in-Council.

“We are deeply disappointed with the actions of the provincial government,” said Director Danish Mir. “If this [is] what the government considers Indigenous reconciliation then every investor in B.C. faces grave risk.”

The company claims the move was made without warning or compensation and to settle a separate dispute with the Gitxaala Nation.

Premier David Eby says the province has faced over 20 legal claims since the Gitxaala Nation’s 2025 Court of Appeal victory over B.C. mineral claims.

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Ottawa police are asking for the public’s help after releasing a photo of a 50-year-old man charged in connection with a sexual assault investigation, saying there may be additional victims.

The Ottawa Police Service Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit says David Cheddesingh, 50, has been charged in relation to an incident reported to have occurred late on the evening of March 28, 2026, in the area of Colonel By Drive near the Mackenzie King Bridge.

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Edmonton Public Schools has renewed an Arabic Language and Culture course that has been operating in the school board since 2011, while maintaining a longstanding partnership with a Qatari charity—Qatar Foundation International.

The organization recently announced it was winding down its U.S. operations after American researchers alleged it had used language programs, teacher training, and educational partnerships as a vehicle for advancing Qatari soft power in schools and universities.

Edmonton schools told Juno News that the course has operated since 2011 and currently serves 168 students, but did not answer questions about whether QFI has played any role in Arabic programming delivered by the board.

An Edmonton Journal article reported that the board signed off on a “locally developed” course. Chair Saadiq Sumar told the paper it would give students the chance to learn Arabic as a new language or maintain it as a mother tongue, while also studying Arabic culture.

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