https://thedeepdive.ca/champagne-budget-speech-contract/

Cost cutting for thee, but not for me!

"The political problem is that this contract surfaced inside a budget narrative about sacrifice. Budget 2025 included major new spending and projected $78.3 billion deficit, nearly double the prior forecast, paired with $60 billion in savings and revenues."

Note - The link will land on a French article. Both Firefox/Chrome have built in methods to translate the page from French to English.

"But the reality remains simple: to frequent restaurants, you still have to have a job and a disposable income. The restoration thus becomes a very revealing barometer of the economic state of households.

A few months ago, our agri-food analytical sciences laboratory anticipated a net loss of about 4000 restaurants in Canada in 2026. At the time, many considered this projection excessively pessimistic. Unfortunately, it seems rather realistic today."

Beyond one-third of establishments operate at a loss or barely reach the break-even point. In the fast food industry, the situation is even more worrying, as 57% of homeowners say they are losing money or just surviving.

The real problem emerges from the global sales data that mask a structural deterioration of the sector. Revenue growth means little when restaurateurs have to absorb higher labour costs, rising food prices, rising energy costs, and rapidly growing consumer demand. Many establishments artificially maintain their income by raising their prices, while serving fewer customers.

This distinction becomes essential. Canada is now evolving in what economists call an “K-shaped economy.” High-income households continue to travel, frequent restaurants and seek high-end gastronomic experiences. Luxury or specialized establishments still benefit from this relatively protected clientele.

Meanwhile, the middle class significantly reduces its discretionary spending, particularly in the fast food segment, once considered a refuge in difficult economic times.

When the restaurant sector slows down, it usually reflects amplified financial stress within households. And this pressure seems far from temporary.

Thus, many restaurateurs no longer really talk about growth or even profitability. Now they talk about survival. Across the country, restaurateurs are reducing staff hours, pushing back investment, delaying equipment replacement and putting their expansion plans on pause.

https://www.lesaffaires.com/dossiers/tourisme-et-evenementiel-daffaires-place-a-linnovation/la-restauration-canadienne-saignee-a-blanc/

I am certain that Canada's SpacePort NovaScotia will become a huge success worthy of the $20 million a year to fund a concrete pad in a field.

“2025 was a year of:”

•Cutting your taxes → $11 for the average Canadian
•Building more affordable homes → Zero homes delivered
•Diversifying trade → Zero trade deals
•Fast-tracking major projects → 1 office opened
•Making streets safer → Crime at record levels
•Supporting Canadian workers → Thousands of jobs lost
•Investing in the Armed Forces → Tampons still required in make washrooms
•Attracting massive investment → $85 BILLION left Canada
•Building one Canadian economy → Still 13 separate economies after 8 months
•Empowering Canadians → Canada Fallen

The company isn't bankrupt yet, but it is having problems. Note EV Minerals Corporation (CSE: EVM) (formerly, Royal Coal Corp.) company problems are followomg the same trend affecting the entire EV market as consumers reject EVs due to multiple factors: high cost, refueling (times/availability/convience), limited range etc.

2025 - EV Bankruptcies and Delays: Another One Bites the Dust.
https://investornews.com/critical-minerals-rare-earths/ev-bankruptcies-and-delays-another-one-bites-the-dust/

Strategic Focus: In June 2024, the company announced a strategic shift towards high-demand copper, aiming for near-term production in Chile.

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/earthworks-industries-inc-provides-management-200400815.html

Not a good trend for all!

- Edit -
2025 - Modern living: Average age of first-time homebuyer keeps going up

The average age of first-time homebuyers in Ontario last year was 40 (2024), up from 38 six years ago (2018), and 34 a decade earlier (2015), according to Teranet, the province’s land registry office. It’s instructive to note that 40 is the average age of first-time homebuyers in Ontario, says Ron Butler, owner of Butler Mortgage, meaning that some of them could be as old as 45 or 50.

Butler says buying a home at a later age makes sense if the buyer has received a large inheritance, otherwise it’s a toss-up. “The really interesting thing is the elimination of first-time buyers under the age of 30 — they’re unable to event attempt to buy a home,” Butler said. “They’re absent. They don’t exist, at least not in Ontario.

“When I started in the business 30 years ago, they were extremely common.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/life/modern-living-average-age-of-first-time-homebuyer-keeps-going-up

Ron Butler did an update for 2026. Which should be 2025 numbers.
https://x.com/ronmortgageguy/status/2037900524805099929

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help"

https://www.cambridgetoday.ca/local-news/canada-loses-18000-jobs-in-april-unemployment-rate-rises-to-69-12256309

Canada's economy took an unexpected hit on the job market in April, while unemployment also crept up, raising concerns about the strength of the economy ahead of the Bank of Canada's rate decision next month.

Statistics Canada's labour force survey released on Friday said the economy shed 18,000 jobs in April, following an increase of 14,000 jobs in March.

The loss came as the unemployment rate rose to 6.9 per cent compared with 6.7 per cent in March, returning to where it was in October last year, largely because more people were looking for work.

I want to thank the news media. My subsidizes have ensured you would never really question me or the Liberal Party. I would also like to thank my subsized media for convincing the Elbows UP! voters I'm fighting for them.

After I leave office I might move to the US, or back to Europe enjoy all the profits from by blind trust.

Justin left his astronaught girl-friend at home so he could have all the selfies.

Journalism 2026, baby!