runsmooth

Vacation travel to U.S. down as Canadian tourists make strategic decisions on where to spend time, money

As Mexico sees steady growth in Canadian tourists, the U.S. is experiencing a decline.

Data from Tourism Economics and the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office reveals a 24% drop in Canadian tourism to the United States during the first six months of 2025.

Major cities such as Las Vegas (down 50%), New York (down 46%) and Honolulu (down 41%) are being hit hardest, said Amra Durakovic, communications director with Flight Centre Travel Group in Toronto.

Florida remains the most resilient, but is down 22%, she said.

The UCP are deliberately attacking systems of government to keep Albertans fractured and occupied so they can rob it.

Michael Higgins: How do you feel about the recall petition targeting the premier, and her response?

Naheed Nenshi: It’s Christmas time and I want to be generous, but the hypocrisy there is off the charts. This is her legislation. Her government put forward this legislation. When it was used against Mayor Gondek in Calgary, (the premier) was an enthusiastic cheerleader for it.

Now it’s being used against all these UCP MLAs, so people are misusing it. She has compared grandmas going door to door in Bowness in Calgary with militants overthrowing her government. If in fact she believed recall should only be used in these extreme circumstances, she ought to have written the legislation that way. The legislation is very clear that anybody can launch a recall against any MLA.

The boundary for the number of signatures you need is very high. It’s incredibly flawed legislation, but it is the UCP’s legislation. For them to lash out against citizens using their legislation, I think is a bit rich.

The UCP used the Notwithstanding Clause to take away teachers rights to negotiate for better working conditions, and to enable them to negotiate in bad faith.

I think this bad faith is similar to the UCP's use of legislation to punch a hole in Canadian retirement funds when AIMCo gambled away around $1.3 Bln. Links below.

Jason Schilling, the president of the ATA, said at a news conference on Friday that he believes the government is attempting to “rewrite its own commitments,” and that the ATA wants clarification on what was agreed to at the bargaining table regarding the plan to bring in additional teachers.

“What was told at the bargaining table and then was commented afterwards, it seemed to be two different things and we need clarity on them,” he said.

“What will come out of the complaint is hopefully that we hold the government [accountable] for what they said.”

...

In the ATA’s recent email to its members, it said the “ATA understood — and TEBA’s bargaining conduct implied — that these 3,000 teachers were additional to the staffing already funded and announced in Budget 2025.”

Schilling said the government "insists" that the phrase “net new” meant any increase in teachers over the prior year, even if those positions were already funded by Budget 2025.

“If that was their interpretation, then nothing was new at all,” he said.

“The 3,000 teachers they pointed to during the bargaining were already announced, already budgeted and already counted in the 2025 budget.”

...

https://kopitalk.net/c/alberta/p/93282/alberta-tries-to-legislate-ban-on-lawsuits-about-aimco-losses

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-aimco-bill-12-9.6992283

Speaking to the bill earlier in the evening, NDP critic Kathleen Ganley called it “offensive to the rule of law and to our entire democracy” to use the overarching power of the notwithstanding clause on transgender youth who are “already at a higher risk of suicide.”

“It was put in the Constitution to be used judiciously, to be used rarely, to be used only in exceptional circumstances,” Ganley told the house.

“I don’t think anyone ever envisioned the possibility it might be used four times in a month by a government.”

...

The Canadian Medical Association has challenged the law in court, saying it violates a doctor’s right to freedom of conscience.

The Alberta Medical Association has repeatedly said puberty blockers do not render a person infertile or sterile and protect transgender children from more permanent changes that come with puberty.

Some families of transgender kids involved in a separate lawsuit that challenged the health-care restrictions have said their kids will be devastated once the law comes into effect, and some have said they will need to leave the province for the safety of their child.

Did the premier of Alberta attack the constitutional role of the courts in Canada’s democracy? Yes, she did, and in no uncertain terms.

“The will of Albertans is not expressed by a single judge appointed by Justin Trudeau and never faces any kind of recall campaign, never faces any kind of election,” stated Danielle Smith on Dec. 6.

She continued by saying, “The people have told us through our consultation, through our elections, the kinds of things they want us to do, and then we go and do them, and then the court can override it. And again, most of the judges are appointed by Ottawa and not by us. An unelected judge is not synonymous with democracy. Democracy is when elected officials who have to face the electorate every four years get to make decisions. That’s what democracy is.”

If you listened only to Smith, you’d think Canada is ruled by a shadowy cabal of “unelected judges” bent on bending “the people” to their progressive whims.

https://archive.is/i5cR3

The Globe and Mail's Tom Cardoso, Carrie Tait, Mark Mackinnon, and Stephanie Chambers have the deep dive on Sam Mraiche. I'll include some highlights, but this deserves a good read because it provides an overview with additional information about some of the relationships between Sam Mraiche, Danielle Smith, Jitendra Prasad, and Mickey Amery.

Her former chief of staff, Marshall Smith, hired multiple relatives of Mr. Mraiche at the same time as he was living in a home owned by one of Mr. Mraiche’s sisters.

...

“All of my family is in Canada now,” said Jamil Omairi, a pharmacist in the nearby town of Lala, another springboard for people destined for Alberta. Mr. Omairi is related to Mickey Amery, Alberta’s justice minister, himself a long-time friend and relative of Mr. Mraiche.

“All the young people here, people between 16 and 20, they have two ways to go,” he said. “If they find work, they stay. If there’s no work, they travel, and Brazil and Canada are the first destinations.”

...

Mraiche may be a capable import/exporter, but his world view could be mercenary. An exchange between Mraiche and BTNX, a supplier of COVID rapid tests, highlights this view.

The following week, Mr. Mraiche proposed a solution: He did “a lot of business” in Turkey, he explained, and suggested the BTNX executive use those contacts to obtain additional tests.

Mr. Mraiche also returned to the idea of diverting tests, this time from the federal government. “They’re really going to notice that a million is missing?” he asked.

“They will, yes,” responded Mr. Sunderani.

As deliveries fell further and further behind, Mr. Mraiche, who told Mr. Sunderani he was under intense pressure from Mr. Prasad, became increasingly frustrated.

“Do you know what you’re doing to me, Iqbal?” Mr. Mraiche said in an early February call. “I don’t only sell rapid test kits. I’m one of the biggest constructors here, too. Do you know what you’ve done to me? I’ve had so much mud thrown on my face, it’s not even funny.”

“You better hope there’s another wave that needs rapid tests,” he continued later in the call.

“Sam, that’s – that’s a bad thing to hope for,” Mr. Sunderani said.

“Is it? Me and you are in the business.”

“Sam, you know what? At the end of the day I don’t know about you, but I’ve made enough money. I don’t want to wish –”

“Has Jeff Bezos made enough money yet?”

“I don’t care who Jeff Bezos is,” Mr. Sunderani replied. “He has – I mean, I don’t want to wish –”

“No one’s wishing anything. It’s just going with the flow,” Mr. Mraiche said.

A month after that call, BTNX sued MHCare for $7.5-million, alleging Mr. Mraiche’s business failed to pay for more than 200,000 test kits and refused to pay for a truckload it received in error. MHCare countersued for $62.5-million, alleging BTNX overcharged, caused the company to lose money and tarnished its reputation. The two companies remain locked in litigation, and neither party’s allegations have been proven in court.

...

By the spring of 2022, the government’s response to the pandemic left Premier Jason Kenney battered. A scant majority of United Conservative Party members supported him in a leadership review in May, 2022, and he agreed to step down after the party selected a replacement.

Danielle Smith, then a party leadership hopeful, campaigned on COVID-19 grievances, railing against mask mandates and vaccine passports. Within a few months, she’d established herself as a front-runner.

A copy of Ms. Smith’s private calendar obtained by The Globe shows she took meetings during the campaign with everyone from physicians to executives – including Sam Mraiche.

In August, 2022, she was scheduled to dine at his north Edmonton home, the calendar shows.

Five days later, she was booked for a 30-minute Zoom call with Mr. Mraiche and Mr. Prasad, who retired from Alberta Health Services in the spring but stayed on as a consultant.

Ms. Smith, Mr. Prasad and Mr. Mraiche did not respond to questions about the meetings.

https://archive.is/w03hg#selection-2755.80-2755.96

The elections regulator’s director of compliance and enforcement said in an affidavit that Mr. Mraiche was being investigated in connection with an alleged straw donor scheme – an illegal practice in which an individual circumvents donation limits by providing money through others.

“Mr. Mraiche is alleged to have given funds to other people for the purpose of having those people make contributions to a registered party,” Diane Brauer, the official, said. The alleged donations were made in the two months prior to the May, 2023, provincial election, according to her affidavit, which was filed in support of the contempt request.

Besides Mraiche joining the UCP's Smith in a hotel suite to watch provincial election results in May 2023, and the Edmonton Oilers hockey games with the notorious skybox photo, keep in mind that Mraiche has also allegedly been tied to McFee, Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis, and Dr. Jayan Nagendran.

https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/02/14/AHS-Scandal-How-Tight-Dale-McFee-Sam-Mraiche/

https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/02/26/UCP-Mraiche-Business-Partner-Edmonton-Police-Commission/

The UCP continues its open siege of Alberta's government system. I'm not the first to say so, and I've said it before, Canada faces an unprecedented threat to its democracy due to the lack of regulation on the Politicians. Canadians, don't look away at what's happening in Alberta. Our system of checks and balances between the three branches of government is under attack. Once one branch fails, the others fail together.

The UCP has been captured. Canada has no formal check on the unbridled power of a renegade political party. Operation Total Recall is not just a union movement for fair wages and working conditions, but one to protect the democracy we have left. This is not business as usual. We are facing exactly the egregious, unethical conduct that even Kenney claims the Recall mechanism was intended for.

The UCP has attempted to silence the Justice system, disarmed Elections Alberta and the Ethics Commissioner, and has essentially removed any check on its own power.

We have to understand that the UCP has literally taken the mask off to reveal the dictator within.

The UCP was called out by the Court for trying to silence the Justice System on the issue of the proposed referendum on Alberta separating from Canada.

An Alberta judge says a proposed referendum question on Alberta separating from Canada is unconstitutional, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.

Once Bill 14 came into force, the court action would have been discontinued, preventing Court of King's Bench Justice Colin Feasby from issuing a decision, even though several days of arguments had already been presented.

...

He added what he called an "epilogue," which specifically addressed the impact of the proposed legislation.

"The legal consequence of discontinuing this proceeding prior to a decision would be to silence the Court," he said.

The judge called the move to change the legislation antithetical to the rule of law and democracy.

"The public is entitled to the fruits of this process that has been conducted largely at their expense so that if they are asked to vote on Alberta independence, they have a tool that may help them make sense of the legal dimensions of the secession of Alberta from Canada."

Feasby noted that the court case had been prioritized at the expense of other justice system participants waiting for their cases to be heard.

"Alberta’s cavalier disregard for court resources and lack of consideration for the parties and First Nations intervenors who participated in this proceeding in good faith is disappointing to say the least."

https://archive.is/YP3IY

The Globe and Mail's Carrie Tait, Tom Cardoso, and Matthew Scace, reveal that Sam Mraiche, an alleged central figure in the CorruptCare scandals, had deeper ties to Premier Smith than previously acknowledged. I'll include the highlights from the article, but it's worth a read.

The Globe’s investigation, published Saturday, revealed that Mr. Mraiche’s connections to the governing United Conservative Party are more extensive than previously reported.

...

Ms. Smith, speaking to reporters at the United Conservative Party’s annual meeting in Edmonton on Saturday, maintained that she treated Mr. Mraiche just as she would any other executive.

“I have always said that I have seen him socially a handful of times, as I have with many, many individuals who want to do business with our government.”

...

In a letter MHCare sent to the government in April, it said: “The unspectacular truth is that Mr. Mraiche’s interactions with government, those in elected office and senior staff fit entirely within the established parameters of typical government relations for the CEO of a commercial entity.”

...

The investigation, for example, found that Mr. Mraiche joined Ms. Smith’s inner circle in a hotel suite to watch the provincial election results in May, 2023.

“When you are waiting for the results to come in, especially in a close race like it was in 2023, you are surrounded only by [your] absolute closest advisers,” Mr. Nenshi said in an interview Sunday. Calgarians elected Mr. Nenshi as their mayor three times before he became leader of the NDP last year.

...

The Globe’s story on Saturday revealed that Ms. Smith’s schedule included a dinner at Mr. Mraiche’s home and a Zoom call with him and a former Alberta Health Services procurement official before she became Premier.

Further, newly obtained photos show Ms. Smith, five cabinet ministers, and senior political staff with Mr. Mraiche in a box suite during the Edmonton Oilers playoff run in 2024.

Your Public Service Announcement that Operation Total Recall continues.

Fourteen Alberta legislature members with Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservative Party caucus are facing recall petitions from constituents.

The province's Recall Act was brought in under former UCP premier Jason Kenney as a way to empower citizens and hold politicians accountable between general elections.

Under the legislation, a petitioner must submit a reason in 100 words or less about why they feel an MLA should be recalled. The person must live in the constituency and pay a $500 processing fee. There are no set criteria on what the reasons can be.

If the petition is approved by Elections Alberta, the applicant has 90 days to collect enough names from people in the constituency to trigger a vote. The number of signatures must be equal to 60 per cent of votes cast in the constituency in the 2023 election.

If enough signatures are collected and verified, a constituency-wide vote is held within four months to determine whether the MLA should be recalled. If more than half vote yes, the member is removed from the job and a byelection is held.

https://operationtotalrecall.ca/

The Alberta Forever Canada petition, also known as the "Forever Canadian" petition, needed 293,976 signatures to be successful. Elections Alberta said the petition had 438,568 valid signatures counted and 404,293 verified signatures after a random statistical sampling method was applied with a 95 per cent confidence level.

The Forever Canadian petition was launched to counter Alberta separatists who want a referendum on the province's independence.

The petition, launched by former deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk asks: "Do you agree that Alberta should remain within Canada?"

Elections Alberta said it's estimated about 13.6 per cent of electors in the province signed the petition.

While the petition could trigger a referendum, Lukaszuk has previously said that his goal is to have Premier Danielle Smith call the petition's question in the legislature and have MLAs vote on it.

Congratulations to everyone who volunteered, and to Canadians who made a stand against the UCP's siege of Alberta.