Canadian mainstream media outlets, including CBC, are misrepresenting the facts and the history of events in Israel. From passing off biased positions as facts to just plain getting it wrong, the mainstream media is presenting a version of the news skewed against Israel. HonestReporting Canada’s Mike Fegelman has been calling out every single error. He joined True North’s The Andrew Lawton Show to debunk them.
Erin O’Toole says his government will repeal Bill C-10, should it pass
If Bill C-10 becomes law, Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole says he will repeal the controversial internet regulation bill if he is elected Prime Minister.
According to O’Toole, the Liberals are “radically” altering how Canadians are expected to use the internet and could open the door for “massive abuse of power.”
“Canada’s Conservatives support creating a level playing field between large foreign streaming services and Canadian broadcasters, and championing Canadian arts and culture. A Conservative government would do so without compromising Canadians’ fundamental rights and freedoms,” said O’Toole in a statement released on Thursday.
“We are calling on Justin Trudeau to withdraw Bill C-10 today. If this is not done, a Conservative government will stand up for Canadians and repeal this deeply flawed legislation. While the NDP and the Bloc may look the other way on the freedom of expression, Canada’s Conservatives will not.”
Bill C-10 was drafted with the purpose of upgrading Canada’s Broadcasting Act to meet the realities of the current digital media landscape. However, a decision by Liberal members on the House of Commons heritage committee to strip the bill of an amendment that protects Canadian users from CRTC regulation has sparked national outrage.
Conservatives have since pushed for Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault to testify before the committee once again to answer questions about the bill’s scope. Over the last few weeks, instead of addressing opposition concerns, Guilbeault has resorted to name calling and accusations of extremism to silence criticism of the bill.
On Thursday, the Justice Ministry issued a new charter statement on the updated law claiming that the bill in its current form still upholds the rights of Canadians.
In response, outspoken critic of the bill and University of Ottawa Law Professor Michael Geist said that the statement doesn’t deal with the “central concern” people have about the legislation.
“Under Bill C-10, all user generated content is treated as a program subject to CRTC regulation. Never in Canadian history has the expression of so many people been treated as falling within the jurisdiction of a broadcast regulator,” wrote Geist.
“There are limits to CRTC power, but the fact it can prioritize or de-prioritize content in the name of discoverability has an impact on the expression of millions of Canadians. That necessarily invokes Charter considerations, but the statement doesn’t grapple with the issue.”
UCP caucus votes to kick out MLAs Todd Loewen, Drew Barnes over Kenney criticism
Alberta’s United Conservative MLAs have voted to expel Todd Loewen and Drew Barnes from caucus over public disagreements with Premier Jason Kenney.
The vote took place Thursday evening after an emergency caucus meeting. UCP whip Mike Ellis said in a statement Barnes’ and Loewen’s outspoken criticisms “divide our party and undermine government leadership.”
“Members recognize the need for government caucus to remain strong and united behind our leader, Jason Kenney, as we continue to fight through what looks to be the final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond,” Ellis said.
Loewen published an open letter Thursday morning announcing his resignation as UCP caucus chair and calling for Kenney to step down as premier.
“When the premier chooses not (to) listen to caucus, is it any wonder why the people choose to stop listening to the government?” Loewen wrote.
“Our supporters and those I represent can no longer tolerate this. These folks have not abandoned the principles and values of the UCP, but they have abandoned you specifically.”
Hours later, UCP MLA David Hanson wrote a Facebook post in support of Loewen, saying he has felt similar frustration from supporters. Expelling Hanson was apparently not debated.
While Barnes has never called for Kenney’s resignation, he has contradicted the premier multiple times in recent months.
Both Barnes and Loewen were among the 15 UCP MLAs who signed an open letter criticizing Kenney’s decision to implement another lockdown.
In another instance, Barnes and Kenney got into a very public dispute over whether Alberta should hold an independence referendum.
Speaking in an interview with 630 CHED radio on Thursday, Loewen said he was not trying to fracture the UCP, but added that he believes they could lose the next election if things do not change.
“The people are upset. They are leaving the party. We need to do what it takes to stop the bleeding,” he said.
“The majority of people I’m talking to, they want a strong UCP party. But they don’t see that they have that now. We need to have that so we can move forward and be able to form government in 2023.”
The Zero-Sense, One-Dose Summer
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Justin Trudeau has thrown some crumbs to the peasants with his offer of a “one-dose summer,” allowing for some outdoor gatherings, while other countries around the world strip away all their restrictions and get back to normal, True North’s Andrew Lawton points out.
Also, a look at Jason Kenney’s brewing caucus mutiny in Alberta, plus HonestReporting Canada’s Mike Fegelman joins the show to call out dishonest reporting about the Israel-Hamas conflict by the Canadian mainstream media.
Liberal MPs rush to defend ousted Republican Liz Cheney on Twitter
Two Liberal MPs rushed to the defence of ousted Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney this week as Republicans deliberated whether or not to remove Cheney from her position as the GOP Conference Chair.
Both Liberal MPs Anthony Housefather and Julie Dzerowicz sent Cheney messages of praise and admiration on Twitter during the whole ordeal.
“Respecting the results of a fair and free election is the bedrock of constitutional principles in a democracy. Bravo (Liz Cheney). One of the finest speeches I have heard on the House floor,” tweeted Housefather.
Similarly, Dzerowicz thanked Cheney yesterday for “standing up” against misinformation.
“Thank you for your courage and for standing up again and speaking out against misinformation,” tweeted Dzerowicz in a reply to a tweet by Cheney.
Cheney was booted from the position during a Wednesday morning vote over her rhetoric levelled at former US president Donald Trump.
“For months it’s been clear that Cheney is unfit for any leadership role in the Republican Party,” said Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont.
“Conservatives tried to fix the problem in February, but weren’t listened to. Even so, I’m glad we’ve recognized this reality as a conference. Turning the page on her disastrous tenure will allow House Republicans to focus our messaging on fighting the Pelosi/Biden agenda.”
Upon being removed from the position, Cheney pledged to ensure that the former president “never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office” and accused him of spreading “dangerous lies.”
In the US, senior Democratic Party officials also rushed to Cheney’s defence. Among those speaking out in support of Cheney was Democratic House Speaker and bitter opponent of the former president, Nancy Pelosi.
“Congresswoman Liz Cheney is a leader of great courage, patriotism and integrity,” said Pelosi following Wednesday’s vote.
True North reached out to both Dzerowicz and Housefather to inquire why they felt it was necessary to comment on US political infighting while Canadians continue to deal with a pandemic.
CBC loses lawsuit against Conservative Party over 2019 election ads
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has lost a lawsuit against the Conservative Party over the use of CBC footage in campaign ads in 2019.
In his decision on Thursday, Judge Michael Phelan said the CBC did not prove that the Conservative Party harmed them by using CBC footage during the 2019 federal election.
As a result, the court sided with the Conservative Party and ordered the CBC to pay their legal costs.
“In summary, this is a case about political criticism and whether the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada [CBC] can prevent political parties from using CBC’s copyright protected works for this purpose,” he wrote.
“The CBC has not established that it has suffered some adverse impacts from the Respondents’ use of its Works in the “attack ads”, nor should such adverse impacts be assumed.”
“This court’s judgement is that the application is dismissed with costs at the usual scale.”
Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre took to twitter to blast the CBC following the announcement of the lawsuit results.
“CBC was supposed to cover the Conservative Party fairly during the election. Instead, CBC was launching a failed lawsuit against the party. Today, CBC lost that lawsuit. They should apologize for launching it & reveal the legal bills they charged taxpayers,” tweeted Poilievre.
In 2019, the CBC filed the lawsuit against the Conservatives over attack-style campaign ads which included CBC footage, saying it was an unfair use of their copyrighted material.
The CBC also claimed their footage being used by the political party gave the “false impression” that the broadcaster was pro-Conservative.
The court found that the Conservative Party’s use of CBC footage did not violate the principles of fair dealing found in the Copyright Act. The judge noted that footage and images from other outlets were used in the campaign ads without controversy.
In response to the lawsuit in 2019, the Conservative Party took down five campaign ads. The CBC proceeded with the suit anyway, saying they wanted a “declaration as to CBC’s rights and CPC’s breach of them.”
CBC spokesperson Leon Mar said in a statement that the company was reviewing the decision.
“From the beginning, our objective has been to protect the trust Canadians have in the independence of their public broadcaster,” said Mar.
“We believe that misusing journalistic content and footage out of context in partisan political videos undermines that trust.”
On Thursday afternoon, the Conservative Party released a statement welcoming the decision by the federal court.
“This decision is a clear win for democracy. It will serve to enhance the freedom of political expression – a significant component of a healthy democracy,” the statement reads.
“As the Official Opposition, we’ll continue to highlight the many failures of the Trudeau Liberals, and we’ll continue to bring attention to areas where the government’s words don’t match their actions.”
New Zealand troops “now a priority” for vaccination in Canada: NZ Defence Minister
New Zealand troops currently stationed in Canada are “now a priority” for vaccination by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), according to New Zealand’s Minister of Defence.
Defence Minister Peeni Henare made the claim in response to a written question by New Zealand MP Chris Penk, who asked on April 29 why New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel stationed in Canada were not vaccinated as of March 2021.
According to Henare, NZDF troops in Canada were sent to the country before vaccinations even began in their home country.
“I am informed that personnel were deployed to Canada before vaccinations began in New Zealand. After vaccinating its most vulnerable populations, broader Canadian vaccination programmes are now underway. NZDF personnel are now a priority to receive the vaccination as part of the Canadian Armed Forces vaccination programme,” wrote Henare.
The CAF did not respond to a request from True North by deadline, but this story will be updated if this changes.
According to the CAF’s official vaccination page, high-priority Canadian troops began receiving the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in early January 2021, with the goal being to vaccinate as many priority CAF personnel as possible by August of 2021.
The priority groups do not include foreign troops stationed in Canada. In fact, the page makes no reference to this group at all.
At the top of the CAF’s five “priority groups” are CAF personnel who are frontline healthcare providers or members who have health conditions that put them at risk for severe COVID-19 infection. The second priority group is similar to the first, while also including first responders and those involved in delivering vaccines.
Meanwhile, in the third and fourth group CAF personnel who provide essential functions are to be vaccinated next, followed by members engaged in training and education. Included in the last wave of vaccinations are any remaining CAF members who have yet to be vaccinated.
According to New Zealand outlet 1News, six members of the New Zealand navy stationed at a Vancouver base tested positive for COVID-19 in April of this year. The report notes that 103 New Zealand naval members were living in accomodations near the base at the time.
Canada is faring slightly better at distributing second doses compared to New Zealand, with 3.41% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated while only 2.49% of those in New Zealand.
Despite this, New Zealand has been able to have a considerably milder COVID-19 pandemic and is currently moving towards restarting its economy after it had agreed to re-open its border with Australia.
Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said most Canadians should brace for a “one-dose summer,” given delays in amassing enough of a supply of vaccines to fully inoculate Canadians who wish to be vaccinated.
Ethics report clears Trudeau, finds Morneau gave “unfettered access” to WE Charity
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion cleared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of ethics violations regarding the WE Charity scandal on Thursday afternoon in a newly released report on the matter. However, a separate investigation into former finance minister Bill Morneau found that the Liberals had given WE “unfettered access” to his office.
According to Dion, while there was an “appearance of a conflict of interest,” Trudeau did not violate ethics laws in his decision to select the organization despite his family’s ties to the founders Craig and Marc Kielburger.
“Although the connection between Mr. Trudeau’s relatives and WE created the appearance of a conflict of interest, the appearance of conflict is insufficient to cause a contravention to the Act’s substantive rules. The duty to recuse is only required when the public office holder would be in a potential conflict of interest,” wrote Dion in an official statement.
Last year, it was revealed that the Liberal government had selected WE to oversee a $912 million federal Summer Student Service Grant. The following controversy led to WE walking away from the deal and a series of parliamentary investigations into the prime minister and the Liberal cabinet’s involvement in the decision.
Critics claimed that due to the Trudeau family receiving nearly half a million dollars for combined speaking services by the prime minister’s wife, mother and brother, a conflict of interest existed in selecting the charity.
In his statement, Dion said that the decision to not declare it a conflict of interest hinged on there being “no friendship” between Trudeau and the Kileburgers and that Trudeau was not involved in any discussion involved in their selection.
“The decision taken in the Trudeau III Report considered an appearance of conflict versus a potential or real conflict of interest, as well as the requirement of public office holders to recuse themselves from certain decisions. The appearance of a conflict of interest does not constitute a contravention of the Act; the conflict must be real,” wrote Dion.
Meanwhile, Dion found that Morneau did violate conflict of interest laws for not recusing himself despite close family ties with WE.
“The examination found the relationship between Mr. Morneau and WE included an unusually high degree of involvement between their representatives and afforded WE unfettered access to the Office of the Minister of Finance, which amounted to preferential treatment,” wrote Dion.
“Commissioner Dion also found that the preferential treatment was based on Mr. Morneau’s relationship with Mr. Craig Kielburger, the co-founder of WE. Not only was Mr. Kielburger a constituent, but Commissioner Dion also determined that he and Mr. Morneau were friends within the meaning of the Conflict of Interest Act (Act).”
Morneau resigned from the office last August for his involvement in the WE Charity scandal. At the time it was revealed that Morneau and his family had accepted $41,000 worth of travel from the organization in 2017. He has since repaid the amount to WE.
Two UCP MLAs call for Jason Kenney’s resignation
UCP MLA Todd Loewen is receiving support from at least one of his colleagues after calling for Premier Jason Kenney’s resignation in a scathing letter published early Thursday morning.
In his statement, Loewen announced he was resigning from his position as UCP caucus chair, stating that caucus cannot function properly under Kenney’s leadership.
“Many Albertans, including myself, no longer have confidence in your leadership,” Loewen wrote.
“Albertans perceive our government as out of touch and arrogant, and they expect our caucus to bring their issues of concern to the government. Many of us have tried to do so repeatedly only to be ignored and dismissed.”
Later Thursday morning, UCP MLA David Hanson wrote a Facebook post in support of Loewen, saying he has felt similar frustration from supporters. Both Hanson and Loewen were first elected under the Wildrose banner in 2015.
Kenney has faced criticism for his handling of various files, most notably the pandemic. In April, 15 UCP MLAs, including Loewen and Hanson, wrote an open letter criticizing Kenney’s decision to implement another lockdown.
Loewen wrote that UCP supporters are abandoning the party because of Kenney’s leadership. Rather than addressing the situation, Loewen claims the premier is sidelining and ignoring his MLAs.
“I no longer believe that caucus can function properly; meetings have been cancelled without members’ consent, significant decisions of government have been made without notice to members, and our input as elected members is rarely considered,” he said.
“When the premier chooses not (to) listen to caucus, is it any wonder why the people choose to stop listening to the government?”
“Our supporters and those I represent can no longer tolerate this. These folks have not abandoned the principles and values of the UCP, but they have abandoned you specifically.”
Loewen wrote that many other issues also motivated his decision to call for a change in leadership, including Kenney’s handling of negotiations with the federal government, healthcare, and coal mining.
Conservatives propose bill to create national suicide prevention hotline
A bill to create a national suicide prevention hotline has passed first reading in the House of Commons with unanimous support.
On Friday, Bill C-294 received support from all parties, bringing Canada closer to have a 9-8-8 suicide hotline like that already announced in the United States.
The effort was spearheaded by Conservative MP Todd Doherty, who says the bill will likely pass into law later this year.
“We knew that Canadians wanted it, we knew that industries supported this and the national mental health association supported this and now we need to find a way to get this done,” Doherty told Vista Radio.
“It was incumbent on the government to move the motion and the will of parliament, which included all parliamentarians who supported my motion to bring 988 to Canada. Now, the real work begins, we had met with the CRTC, we had met with the Telecomms and I have worked with our colleagues across the floor and now the only thing that was missing was political will.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Canada has seen a spike in reported mental health issues. As a result of lockdowns across the country, Canadians have reported declining mental health.
Some doctors have reported increases in suicides and suicide attempts, particularly among young people.
Doherty originally sponsored the motion in the House of Commons to gauge support for the hotline on December 11, 2020. The motion passed unanimously. However, Doherty urged the government to act sooner rather than later.
“It’s been 147 days since we passed my 9-8-8 motion in the House,” said Doherty at the time.
“Since then, we’ve lost an estimated 1,600 people to suicide. Another 40,425 have attempted suicide.”
