‘I have no claims, no tickets, no accidents,’ says lobbyist for warlords and political leaders. ‘I’m not doing anything illegal…. When they have nothing else to say, they call it moral risk’
Ari Ben-Menashe, a Montreal-based war zone lobbyist who is embroiled in a battle with Ottawa over losing his banking and credit card access, says he has now had his car insurance cancelled — for a cited reason of “moral risk.”
Four additional insurance companies have also refused to take his business, he said, as he scrambled Monday to find coverage for his two Maseratis and a BMW. He says the designation is unwarranted and deeply political.
Ben-Menashe sees the problem as another attack over political dissent in the federal government’s campaign against him because of his controversial business with clients in hotspots and conflict zones around the world.
“Nobody is willing to renew it. Why is Mr. Trudeau and his government the arbiters of Canadian morality?” he said.
Why is Mr. Trudeau and his government the arbiters of Canadian morality?
Ben-Menashe is a lobbyist of last resort for many military and political leaders around the world. His list of clients has included militia leaders, despots, renegade generals, presidents, revolutionaries, and warlords.
He hasn’t been able to open a bank account in Canada for the past 10 years because bank after bank refused him as a client. He also lost his elite American Express Centurion card, a black titanium credit card with no limit. He sued the banks and credit card company, and most recently the federal government agencies overseeing the banking industry, without success.
He is also fighting the Canada Revenue Agency over a tax dispute after simultaneous audits of tax returns going back to 2012 for himself, his company Dickens & Madson, and those of his wife. This summer he won a court case overturning Ottawa’s secret order to help tax officials collect $7.6 million in claimed back taxes.
Freeland has previously denied being behind retribution against Ben-Menashe.
Ben-Menashe said he learned Friday his automobile policies with Intact Insurance were expiring and would not be renewed. On Monday, he said he asked why and was told it was for “moral risk.”
“They can’t say I’m a bad driver, they can’t say that they took my licence away, that I crashed the car, I was drunk — they can’t say anything like that, because it didn’t happen,” he said. “Nobody gave me a ticket. I just got a new driver’s licence for another eight years, on my birthday.
“I’m not doing anything illegal. If I did anything illegal, I would have made their life very easy, they would come and take me away, but we do not do anything illegal.
He has complained to Intact, he said.
“We’re in the middle of fighting with them, or arguing with them, or talking with them, whatever.”
David Barrett, media director for Intact, one of Canada’s largest personal insurance companies, said the company could not discuss customer files for privacy reasons.
Ben-Menashe said his Montreal insurance broker, Malouin Assurance, has been trying to find him a new insurer without success. At least four additional firms turned him away, he said. Shelley Smith, a broker with Malouin Assurance, said she could not discuss Ben-Menashe’s case for privacy reasons.
Ben-Menashe said he also complained to the Insurance Bureau of Canada
Pierre Babinsky, the Quebec director of communications and public affairs with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said he also couldn’t discuss specifics of Ben-Menashe’s file but said there are regulations in Quebec to ensure everyone has access to a minimal level of automobile insurance.
“No one is left without access to the basic automobile insurance necessary to drive a car,” he said. There are mechanisms through the Groupement des Assureurs Automobiles to force insurers to provide a minimal liability policy to customers.
Ben-Menashe said he is looking for other avenues of appeal.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec wants to curb excessive tipping.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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