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Friday, July 11, 2025

Ottawa ditches school police officers, adopts “anti-racism” policy approach

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A majority of Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) trustees voted to remove police liaison officers from public schools in the district on Monday evening. 

The motion, which was prompted by widespread Black Lives Matter protests last year, passed with 13 votes in favour and only one vote against. 

Despite insistence by trustees who supported the notion that students felt unsafe with the presence of police in Ottawa schools, a report by the Office of the Human Rights and Equity Advisor paints a more complicated picture. 

According to the report, a majority of community members reported that they believed that having police in schools makes the environment safer. Only 38% of people surveyed by the OSCD disagreed on whether police presence in schools makes schools a safer place.

“Positive interactions with police at school were reported by some Indigneous survey respondents. When they were asked to describe what made the interaction positive, the descriptions focused on the demeanor of the police officer — smiling, being friendly and polite, being professional and supporting,” the report claimed. 

“Some participants reinforced the idea that exposure to positive interactions with the police will lead to positive relationships between students and the police.”

OCDSB trustee Lyra Evans authored the motion, which also called on the board to issue a formal apology to students and community members who were allegedly harmed by the police presence. 

According to the motion, the board will also adopt “an intersectional and anti-racism analysis lens” for all future policies. 

The OCDSB is not the only school board which has taken steps to do away with police liaison programs. 

In May, the Vancouver School Board also voted 8-1 to cancel its school liaison officer initiative. The school liaison program will be cancelled effective immediately at the end of June 2021. 

Futile Apologies

By
Andrew Lawton
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Several Conservative politicians have apologized for the “divisive” politics of the 2015 campaign, and for voting against the anti-Islamophobia motion M-103 in 2017. True North’s Andrew Lawton says if these apologies are authentic, politicians should have at it, but if they’re just to appease the left and the media, there’s no point – yet Conservatives never seem to realize this.

Also, CBC gives a softball interview to the prime minister of Pakistan, in which he calls for increased censorship in Canada, plus Maxime Bernier joins the show to talk about his arrest in Manitoba for violating lockdown restrictions.

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806 years later and Magna Carta remains a beacon of freedom and justice

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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806 years later and Magna Carta still stands the test of time as one of Western civilization’s greatest achievements. 

The document, which was signed by King John on June 15, 1215, set the foundations for England’s constitutional monarchy and enshrined the right of people to be free from tyranny. It was a sweeping legal treatise which for the first time ever placed strict limits on the powers of the monarchy.  

Included in Magna Carta, also known as the Great Charter of 1215, were 63 clauses that dealt with protections from arbitrary imprisonment, rights to a free trial, limitations on taxation and a declaration on the rights of free men. 

“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice,” the third clause of Magna Carta reads.

At the time, those very rights that we take for granted today in the free world were considered revolutionary – radical, even.

In the early 13th century, England faced a political crisis that threatened to plunge the entire kingdom into a bitter civil war. 

For years, King John of England ruled his subjects arbitrarily and without restraint. The King believed himself to be above the law and naturally his tyrannical style of leadership led to a conflict between the monarchy and the nobility. 

After years of failed negotiations and dealing with a stubborn and unpredictable King John, a number of English barons rebelled against the Crown. 

The baron’s demands were simple yet noble – that the King should respect and be subject to the law.

Despite resistance from King John, the rebels eventually seized on the monarch’s unpopularity and after taking the City of London, the King eventually returned to the negotiating table. 

It was on the banks of the River Thames at Runnymede where King John eventually submitted and signed the historic accord. 

Magna Carta, which is preserved in four surviving copies, eventually became a template for constitutions around the world, including Canada. To this day, Magna Carta stands not only as a rallying cry for justice and freedom but it continues to influence Canadian case law. 

Canada and the rest of the world owes a great deal of its democratic tradition to that ancient and revered beacon of freedom. 

Victoria city councillors call for BC municipalities to align policies with UNDRIP

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Four Victoria city councillors are calling on the British Columbia government to help municipalities align their policies with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and other reconciliation initiatives. 

A council member motion by Councillors Sharmarke Dubow, Ben Isitt, Jeremy Loveday and Sarah Potts was submitted to Victoria’s Committee of the Whole on June 10.

The motion, which is to be presented before the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, calls “on the Province of British Columbia to provide support and equitable access to funding for trauma-informed, Indigenous-led education, training, and policy guidance for local governments and associated law enforcement and emergency services to implement municipal-specific recommendations from the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada), MMIWG2S (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn, Girls, and Two Spirit), and UNDRIP.”

UNDRIP is a non-binding international document adopted by the UN in 2007. It purportedly constitutes “the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.”

Critics of UNDRIP have claimed that aligning Canada’s policies with the declaration would effectively grant First Nations groups veto powers over any future pipeline or energy infrastructure development. 

According to UNDRIP, governments must obtain “free, prior and informed consent” from local Indigneous groups before moving forward with economic development on their historic lands. 

Currently, the Liberal government is moving Bill C-15 through the House of Commons. The legislation, if passed, would allow Ottawa to take “all measures necessary to ensure that the laws of Canada are consistent” with UNDRIP. 

“This legislation will likely move the process of reconciliation backward, rather than forward, and have grave impacts upon First Nations communities to develop and prosper and achieve true self-determination,” said Conservative MP Michael Cooper about Bill C-15 on May 14. 

“This legislation would undermine reconciliation, and nowhere is that clearer than in the complete failure on the part of the government in this bill to define what constitutes ‘free, prior and informed consent.’”

In 2019, the BC government passed Bill 41 which has been described as legislation that has gone the furthest in aligning a Canadian province’s policies with UNDRIP. Despite the bill’s implementation, Indigenous activists have argued that it doesn’t go far enough. 

Trudeau embarrasses Canada on the world stage (again)

By
Candice Malcolm
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Unlike the lowly Canadians he rules over, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jet-set over to Cornwall, England over the weekend to wine and dine with the world’s elites at the G7 meeting. Rules are only for the little people, right?

It wouldn’t be an international summit without Trudeau embarrassing Canada. This time, the King of Virtue-Signalling was the only G7 leader to wear a mask while outside, failed to become the new “dean” and took a weird shot at a journalist for asking him a tough question.

True North’s Candice Malcolm says Trudeau is embarrassing himself and Canada on the world stage but he is too arrogant to even notice. Tune into The Candice Malcolm Show!

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Pakistan’s PM calls for more online censorship in uncritical CBC interview

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan appeared in an uncritical CBC Rosemary Barton live interview on Sunday in which he advocated for online censorship.

During the broadcast, Khan called for the international community to band together and implement further censorship against “online hate.” The discussion was in the context of the recent London, Ontario terror attack perpetrated against a Muslim family from Pakistan.

“What is it that governments should be doing, for instance, to shut down online hate towards Muslims?” asked Barton.

“I think there should be very strict action against it. Because you see, these hate websites, which again as I said, divide humanity by creating hatred,” said Khan. 

“Unfortunately, while there’s so many benefits to social media. It’s changing the whole world. But when there’s these hate websites, which create hatred amongst human beings, there should be international action against them.” 

When pressed on what the proposed international action constituted, Khan implied that some Western nations were not interested in tackling the issue. 

“Whenever they decide upon taking action, this will be dealt with. The problem is at the moment there is not enough motivation. Some international leaders, leaders in the Western countries, actually don’t understand this phenomenon,” said Pakistan’s prime minister.

According to Khan, he said that through prior conversations with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he found that the two “mostly agree” on issues. 

Foreign Policy Director and Munk Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute Shuvaloy Majumdar addressed the interview on Twitter, calling Khan’s comments a “grotesque attempt at propaganda in the midst of a national tragedy.”

During the interview, Barton made no reference to the numerous human rights abuses the Pakistani government has been cited for by groups like Human Rights Watch. It was only until Prime Minister Khan had left the broadcast, that Barton referenced Pakistan’s atrocious record. 

This month, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists called on the Pakistani government to act on a growing series of attacks against journalists. 

“Pakistani journalists have long faced serious obstacles to their work, including harassment, intimidation, assault, arbitrary arrest and detention, abduction, and death. As these threats have escalated, Pakistani authorities have also increasingly pressured editors and media owners to shut down critical voices,” wrote a Human Rights Watch report. 

Additionally, according to the World Report 2020: Pakistan, the Pakistani government has made no effort to repeal blasphemy laws that target Pakistan’s religious minorities. According to Pakistani laws, those found guilty of blasphemy can face the death penalty. Currently, 40 people are awaiting a death sentence for the Blasphemy in Pakistan. 

Were the lockdowns worth it?

By
Jessica Swietoniowski
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Canadians have been victims of some of the strictest lockdowns in the world. Government decisions have forced many out of work, there is a looming mental health crisis and taxpayers are on the hook for trillions of dollars.

At the same time, some may argue that the lockdowns were needed in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and may have actually saved lives.

This leads to the ultimate question – were the lockdowns worth it? Jessica Swietoniowski took to the streets of Toronto to hear from Canadians and get their thoughts on Canada’s lockdowns.

“The best type of person”: Canadians mourn RCMP officer killed at traffic stop

By
True North Wire
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Canadians and family members are mourning Const. Shelby Patton, after he was killed in the line of duty in Saskatchewan over the weekend.

On Saturday, Const. Patton was hit by a stolen truck in Wolseley, Sask. A man and a woman were later arrested and charged with manslaughter.

Speaking to CBC, grandmother Linda Patton said that Const. Patton was a kind-hearted person who always put others first.

“He wouldn’t harm anyone, that’s the type of person he was and he’d do anything for you,” she said.

“To me, he’s the best. The best type of person you can ever deal with.” 

According to the RCMP, Const. Patton served his entire time in the RCMP at the Indian Head detachment east of Regina, where he was well known in the close-knit rural community.

“I just can’t say nice enough things about him. It’s hard too, because he was such a thoughtful person,” Patton said.

The death of the young officer is being felt across the country, with law enforcement agencies across Canada putting out statements in solidarity with his family and Saskatchewan RCMP.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe put out a statement praising Const. Patton and thanking him for his sacrifice.

“It is with tremendous sorrow that Saskatchewan mourns the loss of RCMP Constable Shelby Patton, who was killed in the line of duty this morning,” Moe said.

“Our grief is only matched by our tremendous gratitude to Constable Patton for his service, and to every police officer who serves and protects us every day.”

Moe was joined by federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, both of whom took to social media to share their sympathy with Const. Patton’s family and loved ones.

London attack suspect to face terrorism charges

By
True North Wire
-

A man who ran over a Muslim family in London, Ont. earlier this month will be facing terrorism charges.

On Monday morning, 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman appeared before a court in London. At the appearance, Federal Crown attorney Sarah Shaikh said that prosecutors have been allowed to proceed with terrorism charges.

Provincial Crown attorney Jennifer Moser said that she has also been cleared to proceed on charges already laid.

Veltman is already facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in connection with the attack.

As Veltman did not have legal counsel at the time of his appearance in court Monday, the case was postponed until June 21.

On June 6, the Afzaal family was out for a walk when a pickup truck drove off the curb and hit them. Four family members died, including both parents, while the nine-year-old son was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

According to London police, Veltman deliberately rammed his truck into the family.

London police had previously suggested that the victims were targeted because of their faith.

“There is evidence that this was a planned, premeditated act and that the family was targeted because of their Muslim faith,” London Police Service Chief Steve Williams previously said.

Police have not found any connection between Veltman and known hate groups and believe he acted alone.

Since his arrest, new details have come to light suggesting Veltman may have been mentally unstable.

A previous CTV report, which has since been removed, described how Veltman was “medicated for mental illness,” with court documents from Veltman’s parents’ 2016 divorce suggesting that Veltman was “combative and argumentative” as a minor.

MALCOLM: Celebrate Canada’s history — don’t appease the woke mob

By
Candice Malcolm
-

Canada is a great country, it’s a country worth celebrating.

A statement like that used to be banal and universal. Not too long ago, there was a general consensus not just among the political parties, but prevalent throughout Canadian society, that we lived in a pretty special place.

“The world needs more Canada” was once the slogan of Canadian book giant Indigo/Chapters, and the phrase was repeated by global celebrities like Barack Obama and U2 frontman Bono.

But that was a simpler time. All the way back in 2017, the world hadn’t yet been steamrolled by the woke mob pushing cancel culture and strict intellectual conformity.

The simplistic “woke” narrative goes something like this: western culture is nothing but a hierarchy of power, where everybody falls into one of two categories: oppressor or oppressed.

All individuals are reduced down to a few biological traits: skin colour, gender and sexual orientation.

Straight white males are always the oppressors and everyone else falls into the other category unless they are pitted against someone even more oppressed. Women are oppressed, unless they are white and in the presence of a non-white man. In that instance, the white woman is the oppressor. But if the non-white man is in the presence of a non-white woman, then he is the oppressor. Unless the non-white woman is a police officer. In which case, she is the oppressor.

Ironically, they’ve developed their own hierarchy: people move up or down the chain of oppression depending on the whims of the Twitter mob.

That is how newly-woke Conservative MP Michelle Rempel sought redemption last week after being unfairly blamed for playing a role in putting Canadian Muslims in danger.

“Yes,” she wrote, “I humble myself and ask forgiveness… I have privilege; I am cis/straight/white. But I am also a woman who works in a system dominated by white maleness.”

In other words, yes I’m awful because of my skin colour, but don’t forget, I’m a victim too!

According to the woke, everyone and everything is viewed through the lens of race, and anyone who doesn’t bow down to the woke mantra gets mobbed, bullied and ultimately canceled.

The only people spared from this fate are those who bend a knee, acknowledge their privilege and pledge to be re-educated in the woke ideology. It’s worked for good liberals like Justin Trudeau and Prince Harry. I’m not so sure it will save Conservatives seeking strange new respect, like Rempel Garner.

The ultimate goal of the woke mob is to tear down what they call hierarchies of power, essentially dismantling every institution in our society.

Canada seems to be ground zero for this new uprising.

And our founding Prime Minister, Sir John A. MacDonald, has so far bore the brunt of this moral panic. His statues have been defaced and removed from public squares, his name removed from university buildings, his biography erased from the Government of Canada website.

Sir John A is not alone.

As Alberta Premier Kenney correctly predicted, “the reckoning won’t stop with Sir John A.” If holding historical leaders to today’s evolving woke standards continues, then the entire “founding leadership of our country gets cancelled,” said Kenney.

In the past week alone, the woke mob has set its sights on renaming British Columbia, destroying a statue of Ryerson University’s namesake and cancelling Canada Day.

Rather than trying to appease a deranged woke mob, Canadians should stand their ground, defend our history (while learning from it, of course) and maintain some perspective.

Our country isn’t perfect, no country is. But Canada gets the big things right. That’s why we should celebrate Canada, not tear it apart.

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