I remember eating at The Main in Montréal in my travels. Excellent smoked meat. The best? I don't want to disagree with the prime minister of Canada. I liked the smoked meat at The Main and Schwartz's, across from each other on St. Laurent Boulevard in Montréal.
The fun in Montréal is the competition. The Main and Schwartz's for smoked meat. St-Viateur and Fairmount for bagels. While I don't have a smoked meat preference, I do have a bagel preference: St-Viateur.
Our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, took a look at the closure of The Main as part of a bigger restaurant when you lose one of your favourite restaurants.
The smoked meat battle was also about style. Schwartz's had more flash and style while The Main quietly went about its business. If the line at Schwartz's was too long, you could go across the street.
I hope to get back to Montréal this summer. A city I adore and have not been there in too long. I have a list of favourites in Montréal and plan to try some places where I have never eaten.
We weren't planning on writing about the grocery rebate found in the new Canadian federal budget. BalanceofFood.com, our sibling blog, found the grocery rebate idea as a fascinating topic worth exploring.
Their research took them to Andrew Chang explaining the grocery rebate for the CBC News Explore audience. Chang left The National to do online journalism for CBC News Explore. His explanation of the grocery rebate on the whiteboard was journalism that was simple and informative. A good sign for Canadian journalism if the new service is doing that kind of work.
The money on the table for low and middle-income Canadians is a decent amount ($233 or $467 with seniors getting $225) but won't go too far given the current rising food prices. As our sibling blog noted, the American government with the GOP-led House won't even consider help for Americans unless the Democratic Party wins back the House in 2024.
Food prices are generally higher in Canada than in the United States due to a number of circumstances. Even higher if you consider the cost of groceries in the North, such as in Iqlauit in Nunavut. The Balanceoffood.com story includes links to podcasts that delve into the high food prices in Canada.
Canadians should have an easier time finding what used to be the old Grade B maple syrup, ideally from Quebec. Americans could find the Grade B maple syrup, especially from Quebec, before the change. Since the classification brought everything to Grade A but with new descriptors, finding the good stuff has been rather difficult.
Our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com explores the difficult search in the United States to score what is now known as Very Dark Strong Taste.
Maple syrup is an identifiable Canadian food that is enjoyed in the United States. Difficult to appreciate how good Canadian maple syrup if consumers have to struggle to find the truly dark stuff.
Back in 2013, Jason Jones (Canadian) had a bit too much fun exploring the maple syrup heist story for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Le Gros Jambon portion at the Montréal diner is worth the watch.
The Junos, celebrating Canadian music, is a lofty goal for most Canadian musicians and singers. To get a Juno nomination is impressive.
Imagine being 4 years old and getting a Juno nomination.
Romeo, offspring of Walk Off the Earth members Sarah Blackwood and Gianni (Luminati) Nicassio, is part of a project called Romeo Eats. There are lots of videos where Romeo tries new foods. The family released the album Walk Off the Earth & Romeo Eats, Vol. 1.
Our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, appreciates the difficulty of trying new foods. They go more into depth on the project and what that could mean for enjoying food variety.
That media talks about baby formula shortage w/o knowing whats going on is amazing. Trump's USMCA restricted imports of formula from Canada, so we imported no formula from Canada in 2021, leaving us vulnerable to domestic shock. The shock hit when Abbott plant was contaminated.
The United States has baby formula shortages. Canada makes baby formula and would want to increase its exports to the United States and please a top trading partner.
Too bad the dreaded, horrible, terrible USMCA (CUSMA) made this impossible.
"As part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), negotiated by President Donald Trump to replace the North America Free Trade Agreement in July 2020, Canada agreed to impose an additional surcharge of $3/kg if the total volume of its global formula exports—not just exports to the U.S.—broke a certain threshold. That threshold is currently set at 40,480 metric tons for the current "dairy year" of August 1 2021 to July 31 2022.
"The new duties seemingly closed off Canada as a source of infant formula. The U.S. imported a grand total of zero tons of baby formula from its nothern (sic) neighbor in 2021, yet has shipped tons of domestic formula into Canada. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S.-manufactured infant formula made up the largest component of U.S. dairy exports to Canada in 2021, accounting for 22% of all northbound dairy trade."
The crybaby toddler who somehow had a lot of power was rather vindictive toward Canada on multiple fronts. We didn't factor in baby formula.
Abbott accounts for nearly half of the domestic production of the U.S. baby formula market. The U.S. makes 98% of its formula domestically.
That is a problem with a February recall of Abbott Nutrition formula contaminated with bacteria from its Sturgis, MI factory. 4 infants became sick with bacterial infections; 2 of them died.
The irony is that United States standards are much more lax than Europe or Canada in terms of the quality of the formula. This isn't a matter of Canada or Europe formula meeting those standards because their formula exceeds the U.S. standards.
The United States lags behind the Western World on maternal elements, such as leave. Improved standards for women might encourage more breastfeeding. As much as we (and our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com) endorse breastfeeding, there is a reality for baby formula that needs to be addressed.
Canadian milk holds a higher standard on milk, not allowing recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), an artificial growth hormone allowed in American milk. The anger by the crybaby toddler is over this difference in milk. If this were a baby formula shortage in Canada, importing formula from the United States would be a concern over bringing rBST into Canada.
The party of the crybaby toddler is the party that is trying to take advantage of the political ramifications of the baby formula shortages. As little as we think of Canadian journalism, U.S. journalism is the grand leader of cluelessness. Kurt Eichenwald being a grand exception as noted in the top of the column.
Trade deals can be tricky when all involved parties are acting in free will. The CUSMA/USMCA trade talks were a shambles and the complete opposite of an ethical trade deal process. Innocent people get hurt when a trade deal goes this poorly.
We noted that Americans might drive to Canada to get an abortion. We can't condone, under any circumstances, the illegal importation of any product from Canada into the United States. We can point out that they sell baby formula in Canada.
American mothers who rely on baby formula should be able to access quality products without a monopoly and heavy-handed political tactics.
Twitter capture: @kurteichenwald photo credit: Dairy Farmers of Canada
Seaweed, cows, and Prince Edward Island: the idea of cows eating local seaweed and having that seaweed reduce the impact of methane that comes from both ends of cows.
When your humble narrator first heard the story, that story seemed too good to be true. Further digging showed there is great potential in such a simple solution that would make a sizable impact on climate crisis.
We explored this topic for our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, in greater detail.
Your humble narrator has walked on some Prince Edward Island beaches. The seaweed involved came from far western parts of the province, a different area from where my bare feet walked on in the province.
The seaweed is Canadian food in a truest sense. I was thinking of dulse from nearby New Brunswick. Dulse is seaweed that is used in different kinds of food. Dulse is truly a New Brunswick food that I have had and enjoyed. A bit of an acquired taste but worth trying if you are in New Brunswick.
Meat the Future is a Canadian documentary about cloned meat. The idea is to create meat from animal cells so you don't have the multiple level of costs associated with the harvest of animals.
Since cloned meat is a poignant topic to our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, we reviewed the film for that audience. Since the film is a Canadian film, we wanted to present the review here to the Canadian Crossing readership. This review is published with complete permission of BalanceofFood.com.
Meat the Future was scheduled to be a part of the 2020 Hot Docs Film Festival in Toronto. The film aired as part of Hot Docs at home on CBC television and the documentary Channel in Canada.
Andrew Scheer self-identified as a former "insurance broker." Saskatchewan doesn't legally allow people to say they are a broker if they aren't licensed. If you need a licence to be a broker, and you leave before you get the licence, you aren't a broker.
Scheer worked in an insurance office for 6-7 months and definitely not as a broker. The Globe and Mail published the original story.
The Toronto Star reported Scheer only completed one of four courses to become a broker, according to the Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan.
We also found out that Scheer is a dual citizen with the United States and Canada. Scheer said he started the process in August to renounce his citizenship.
In 2005, Scheer sent out a questionnaire to his constituents about whether they would be concerned that Michaëlle Jean had Canada-France citizenship. The follow-up question was whether they would feel better if her other citizenship was in the United States. Jean was a candidate for Governor General, which she later became.
His party attacked Stephane Dion (Liberal leader in 2008) and Tom Mulcair (NDP leader in 2015) for having dual citizenship with France. The party also attacked Michael Ignatieff (Liberal leader in 2011) for working in the United States.
Being a dual citizen isn't the issue; hiding that information and waiting too late to rescind the U.S. citizenship are significant concerns.
We don't know if Paul Wells, MacLean's, or Rogers/Citytv were watching Wednesday night. If not, they missed how a debate should run.
TVA did a great job of running a debate with good lively chats, working to get everyone involved, no commercials and lame cutaways.
The debate covered 3 different topics: immigration and social policies; economy and the environment; and gouvernance and Quebec within Canada.
We heard a lot of class moyenne (middle class) in the debate.
There was talk of a "Netflix tax" on web giants. There seemed to be a consensus between all the leaders on the stage. Yves-Francois Blanchet (Bloc Quebecois) talked about a penalty as opposed to a tax, according to the translation.
I learned that Quebec fills in 2 tax returns while other provinces only 1 return. Andrew Scheer and Blanchet were in favour of 1 return; Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh were not, but not sure why either way.
Scheer said the Conservatives, who have been ranting against how Trudeau negotiated NAFTA 2.0, would ratify the deal.
We learned that Scheer was the only one who didn't purchase carbon offsets for his campaign plane.
Marijuana came up as a question. The highlight ended up being Scheer once again accusing the Liberals of wanting to decrminialise harder drugs. “Not right away,” Trudeau responded (translated) focusing on expanded safe injection sites and harm reduction.
As we noted last week, Canada still doesn't have legal edibles.
Blanchet was the best French speaker in the bunch. Could not tell from the translation whether Blanchet was struggling or whether the translator couldn't figure out what he was saying.
Scheer made a lot of faces in reaction shots. Wasn't sure if he didn't know there would be reaction shots or he did know and that is why he made faces. Trudeau, Blanchet, and Singh had good reaction shots.
Trudeau is stronger speaking in French than English. His pauses in English weren't there in the French debate.
Scheer's French was easier to follow. Credit to him for being as good as he is. Forced him to speak more plainly, which works well for his speaking style.
I did see Tom Mulcair on the TVA panel before the debate. Mulcair was the NDP leader in 2015.
I watched the debate live on TVA Nouvelles and later on tape delay on CPAC.
Our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, helped us out with a look at food policy and how that applies to the Canadian election. Food policy almost never comes up in debates.
Canada doesn’t have a national school lunch program. Is that good or bad? What about Nutrition North? What about obesity levels and health care costs to the provinces?
The story talks about opportunities to ask MP candidates about these and other food-related questions.
The Leaders Debates Commission debates are on tap with the English debate on Monday and the French debate on Thursday. The format will be slightly different with 5 different moderators (all female) in the English version and moderator and 4 questioners in the French debate.
You can stream the English language debate over a CBC property. As for the French version, CBC News Network should have an English translation as well as CPAC.
Even if you can't follow along, I do enjoy listening to the party leaders en Francaise. If you know a little French, you might understand some of what they are saying.
CBC tried something different in getting to know the major party leaders. Each of the party leaders talks with 5 undecided voters for 5 minutes. Host Rosemary Barton then asks follow-up questions based on what the voter has brought up.
Debates have their place but you really get a sense of the leader when no one is trying to take a shot or talk over someone.
Maxime Bernier aka People's Party of Canada was invited but declined due to scheduling issues. Seems like a difficult opportunity to pass up for Bernier.
Each segment takes about 45 minutes. CBC ran highlights on The National but ran the the full-length version after the local news. We linked to the YouTube versions.
Scheer and May got undecided voters that were thisclose to voting for the party. Neither was particularly challenged by the voters but Barton made up for that lack of uncertainty.
Trudeau got challenged pretty well but that is the legacy of running on a record.
Scheer got voters who didn't seem all that undecided or challenged the Conservative leader. A softball characterization undersells how easy the questions were for Scheer.
Trudeau has a voter who wondered if governments cared about single voters. We would agree with that question. Trudeau mentioned the Canada Workers Benefit. He also got an intriguing questioner on supply management. That was tougher than any person who addressed Scheer or May.
The pattern kept questioners to areas that weren't in their wheelhouse. Trudeau got no questioner east of Toronto. Scheer didn't get any from the prairie provinces. 3 of the 5 for May came from Ontario. Singh got 3 from Toronto as well as Abbotsford B.C. and Montréal.
As part of our running series, we are posting ads from the major parties. This is a Conservative ad.
Jagmeet Singh was at the Atwater Market in Montréal before the TVA debate. Singh was talking to a older man who told Singh to "cut off his turban." Singh deals well with the disturbed individual in the exchange.
This man should have known he will be caught on camera with such deplorable behaviour. Asking Singh to remove the turban would have been bad enough, but the act of cutting the turban added a violent element.
This sample shows us why we need a larger conversation. The leadership commission debates are also in Quebec in Gatineau, across the river from Ottawa. Bill 21 was a shadow over the TVA debate in Montréal.
We didn't have a foreign policy debate on Tuesday. The USMCA | CUSMA topic deserves some debate. The Liberals are defending an awful agreement for Canada. The Conservatives would have done worse. The NDP and Green Party would want changes made to the document.
Given the U.S. House push toward impeachment, the Dem-led House won't be focused on passing the trade agreement. U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says they are going forward. A number of Dems in the House want changes to the trade deal.
The urgency is lessened because NAFTA still exists.
Andrew Scheer announced on Tuesday that a Conservative government would cut foreign aid by 25%. Scheer promised to redirect $700 million to countries that he said would need it most. Canada currently has a $6.1-billion foreign aid budget.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wants foreign aid set at 0.7% of gross national income. Currently, Canada stands at 0.28% of gross national income.
This analysis refutes Scheer's charge that the Trudeau Government sends $2.2 billion of foreign aid to middle- and upper-income countries.
We talked earlier in the campaign about the numbers of refugees crossing at illegal border crossing points. This article focuses mostly on the Roxham Road crossing (the one highlighted on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah).
There are overall statistics of note.
"Of the more than 50,000 who've come into Canada at irregular crossings since 2017, about one-third have been processed under the national refugee system. About half — 55 per cent — who have had their cases heard have been accepted as refugees. The other 45 per cent have been rejected. But two thirds of the applicants' cases are still pending."
This has resulted in about 8,000-9,000 new refugees in Canada since 2017 and 7,000-8,000 applicants turned away. Whatever you might think of the numbers, we should have the information to make more viable arguments.
"You can join the Canadian military at 16 … you can drive farm equipment, we expect you to follow the laws of the land and to understand them, so 16-year-olds have responsibility."
Mercer was part of Two Shows, One Stage, Your Vote where Q combined with The Current for an election town hall in front of a live studio audience in the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.
"Voting is a learned behaviour and it's addictive," Mercer said.
Justin Trudeau (Liberal) and Andrew Scheer (Conservative) have tax proposals to save money on the bottom portion of what Canadians make.
Trudeau says Liberals would raise the personal income tax deduction from $12,069 to $15,000 for people earning less than $147,000.
Scheer says Conservatives would cut the rate on the lowest income tax bracket from 15% to 13.75%. However, the 13.75% wouldn't kick in until 2023.
CBC business reporter Peter Armstrong pointed out that 66% of Canadians make less than $46,000/year and that 91% are in the lowest 2 tax brackets.
Factoring in that $46,000 goes farther in Red Deer than Edmonton or Calgary, those numbers sound depressing. No wonder Canadians think and feel that they are financially struggling. A 2-income household would be a requirement in most urban settings.
Vote Compass got a couple of CBC promos on last night's Hockey Night in Canada game with the Montréal Canadiens in Toronto. The game was available on CBC, NHL Center Ice free preview, and the NHL Network. Vote Compass is a CBC News service where you could log on to see how your views compared to party leaders at votecompass.cbc.ca.
Twitter capture: @cdnpoli_memes photos credit: Andrew Scheer; TVA, TVA, CBC News video credit: YouTube/Conservative Party of Canada
The revision of the Canada Food Guide took 12 years but brought some significant changes. The new guide focusing on protein options and de-emphasizes meat and dairy. The guide encourages water as a beverage of choice. More importantly, the approach also doesn't suck up to food interests, either from growers or food companies.
Cooking at home is also encouraged.
The Trudeau Government has promised that revisions won't wait another 12 years.
The meat and dairy people aren't thrilled with the new guide. You can consume meat and dairy and lentils and tofu. You can even get protein from vegetables and plant-based foods.
The fruit juice people aren't thrilled with the new guide. Doesn't mean you can't get an occasional glass; just be more conscious about your fruit juice consumption. One of my favorite tricks is to mix 50-50 of water and juice. A great way to get flavor with your water and less juice consumption.
I love farmers markets. I love Canada. What I don't love is people claiming to be farmers when they are resellers in Ontario farmers markets.
CBC Marketplace explored the world of farmers markets in southern Ontario. Based on my anecdotal research, I've seen produce at markets that clearly didn't come from a local farm. The majority of wares are likely legitimate, but this should be a concern if traveling through Canada.
Given my love of farmers markets, as expressed at BalanceofFood.com, I am spoiled with markets that carry food direct from the farmer. I like that when I see that in Canada.
The rationale in the story is more about giving customers the produce they want even when out of season. That is called a grocery store for a reason.
Also, unlike Americans who whine about the cost of food, Canadians have to worry about that a lot more. So being ripped off is bad but worse when the margin for error is smaller.
For more on this story, click here to read the story via our sister Web site, BalanceofFood.com. And kudos to CBC Marketplace for a thorough report.
