Canada imported more than 2,100 temporary foreign worker hairstylists since 2015 with requests surging under Carney-era immigration levels

https://www.rebelnews.com/canada_imported_more_than_2_100_temporary_foreign_worker_hairstylists_since_2015_with_requests_surging_under_carney_era_immigration_levels

Conservatives are slamming the Temporary Foreign Worker program as youth unemployment surges across the country.

A fresh Order Paper response shows that Canada has brought in over 2,100 temporary foreign worker (TFW) hairstylists since 2015 with demand accelerating sharply in recent years, despite plenty of unemployed or underemployed workers already in the country.

Nearly 300 hairstylists have been approved so far this year alone, more than triple the number approved a decade ago. In 2015, just 90 foreign hairstylists entered Canada under the TFW program. Now, Ottawa is rubber-stamping them at record levels.

And no province appears more dependent on imported hair-cutters than British Columbia, which accounts for roughly half of all TFW hairstylists brought into Canada. B.C. has quadrupled its intake compared to 2015 rising from 50 to 215.

The other provinces aren’t far behind:

Alberta has quintupled its numbers, jumping from 30 to 150 last year.

Ontario has increased its intake sevenfold, from 10 to 75.

The data raises obvious questions: How did Canada, a country with tens of thousands of trained stylists, widespread underemployment, and stagnant wages in the service sector, become so reliant on importing barbers and hairstylists to keep salons staffed?

And why are governments allowing employers to use the TFW program to fill roles that Canadians have traditionally done, and still can do?

Federal public service pay explodes: Nearly 5,000 bureaucrats now earn over $200K

https://www.rebelnews.com/federal_public_service_pay_explodes_nearly_5_000_bureaucrats_now_earn_over_200k

Even the $150,000-and-up cohort once reserved for top executives has ballooned to 20,200 employees.

According to figures tabled by the Treasury Board Secretariat in response to a question from MP Vincent Neil Ho, six federal public servants took home more than $500,000 in total compensation last year (salary plus bonuses, benefits, and overtime). While that’s down from the 17 who hit the same threshold in the two previous years, the rest of the pay ladder is skyrocketing.

Here’s the year-over-year reality check:

42 federal employees earned over $400,000 last year.

654 earned over $300,000, nearly double the year before (340).

1,399 earned more than $250,000, up from 887.

4,960 earned over $200,000, a jump of more than 1,300 from the previous year’s 3,609.

Even the $150,000-and-up cohort once reserved for top executives has ballooned to 20,200 employees.

These compensation totals include cash payouts such as bonuses, overtime, and retroactive payments from long-standing payroll issues. They exclude pension and benefit contributions, meaning the real taxpayer burden is even higher.

On the salary-rate side (excluding bonuses and extras), the number of federal workers making more than $150,000 has jumped from 4,191 in 2020-21 to 12,971 today. Those earning over $300,000 have more than doubled over the same period.

The data covers the core public service and most separate agencies, excluding the RCMP, Canadian Armed Forces, CSIS, and a handful of non-Phoenix reporting bodies.

ICE Plans to Order 20 Armoured Vehicles From Canadian Manufacturer Roshel

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/ice-plans-to-order-20-armoured-vehicles-from-canadian-manufacturer-roshel-5953352?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=ice-plans-to-order-20-armoured-vehicles-from-canadian-manufacturer-roshel-0

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to place a more than $10 million rush order for 20 armoured vehicles from Canadian defence manufacturer Roshel.

The agency has laid out plans for a rush order worth the equivalent of roughly CA$10 million for 20 Senator STANG emergency response tactical vehicles, according to U.S. government procurement records that indicate the order was published on Nov. 26 and a contract was awarded on Nov. 28.

A partially redacted ICE procurement document indicates Roshel, headquartered in Brampton, Ont., is the only defence manufacturer that has confirmed it can fulfill the department’s order in its required 30-day timeline.

“Roshel is uniquely positioned to fulfill this requirement within the necessary timeframe, having confirmed immediate availability of vehicles that fully meet ICE’s specifications,” the document says. Continue…

New Evidence Suggests Chinese Dissident Allegedly Targeted by Chinese Secret Police at Time of ‘Mysterious’ Kayak Death: Report

https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/new-evidence-suggests-chinese-dissident-allegedly-targeted-by-chinese-secret-police-at-time-of-mysterious-kayak-death-report-5954024?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=new-evidence-suggests-chinese-dissident-allegedly-targeted-by-chinese-secret-police-at-time-of-%E2%80%98mysterious%E2%80%99-kayak-death:-report-0

A Chinese dissident who died in a kayaking accident in British Columbia was allegedly being targeted by Chinese secret police agents at the time of his death, according to evidence from a former Chinese spy.

The former spy, known by the pseudonym “Eric,” who defected to Australia in 2023 and spoke with Australia’s ABC News last year, has now also shared with Canada’s public broadcaster his involvement in hunting Chinese dissidents around the world, according to a Dec. 4 Radio Canada report.

Eric allegedly worked for 15 years as an undercover agent for China’s Ministry of Public Security to monitor dissidents abroad. He told Radio Canada, the French arm of CBC, that he believes the public has the right to know what the Chinese police are doing.

ABC reported that Eric had fled to Australia from China in 2023 and provided Australia’s intelligence agency with hundreds of documents, financial records, photos, and encrypted messages, narrating his history as an undercover agent.

To support the allegations, Eric showed the reporters the contents of his phone, including financial documents, clandestine money transfers, names of individuals involved in espionage, and thousands of text and video messages.

Eric was responsible for monitoring Chinese dissident Hua Yong, who died “mysteriously” while kayaking off the B.C. coast in late 2022 after finding refuge there, he told Radio Canada. Continue…