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Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Guilbeault cites government-funded groups to bolster Bill C-10

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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During an exchange in Question Period on Tuesday, Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault cited a number of Canadian cultural organizations as supporters of Bill C-10 without revealing that they received government funds.

Guilbeault cited nearly a dozen French and English organizations that have spoken out in support of the Liberal government’s Bill C-10 in response to a question by Conservative Party MP Alain Reyes. 

“The only reason we’re in this mess is because of his inability to deliver a decent bill. If his latest public statements are any indication, he’s doing nothing to dispel people’s doubts. Why does the minister insist on playing petty politics with free speech advocates as he just did by attacking freedom of expression?” asked Reyes in French.

“I want to thank my honourable colleague for giving me this opportunity to name some of the many organizations that have already supported Bill C-10,” replied Guilbeault before listing a number of friendly organizations.

Included in Guilbeault’s list of supporters were at least four organizations that have received thousands in federal grants since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015. 

One organization referenced by Guilbeault, the Professional Music Publishers Association of Canada (Association des professionnels de l’édition musicale-APEM,) was awarded $10,631 by Canadian Heritage as recently as March 5, 2021. 

“This financial support enables the recipient to undertake new or expanded international business development promotion activities, in a given sector, for the benefit of its entire industry (member and non-member firms),” wrote the funding agreement description. 

Similarly, the Quebec English Language Production Council was also referenced as supporters of the bill. The Council is a member organization of the Quebec Community Groups Network which has received a whopping $5,433,749 from Canadian Heritage between 2017 and 2019. 

Another group cited by Guilbeault was the League of Canadian Poets, to which the government endowed $67,088 between 2016 and 2018. 

Guilbeault also once again cited the Coalition for Diversity of Cultural Expression as supporters for the bill despite past reports revealing that the organization received a federal grant from the Liberal government totalling $375,000 in 2019. 

According to Guilbeault, the purpose of the law is to modernize the Canadian Broadcasting Act and protect Canadian content creators. 

Guilbeault is currently facing backlash for Bill C-10 after a Liberal-led committee voted to slash an amendment from the legislation which was designed to protect the content of ordinary users from being subject to CRTC regulation. 

Ontario medical regulator backtracks on prohibiting doctors from criticizing lockdowns

By
Jonathan Bradley
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The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) will no longer be investigating doctors who speak out against government lockdown measures, according to a statement issued on Monday. 

“The recent college statement was intended to address communications from a small group of physicians spreading blatant misinformation and putting the public at risk by voicing anti-vaccine and anti-masking sentiments and supporting unsupported, unproven treatments,” said the CPSO in its statement. 

“It is not intended to stifle physicians from engaging in a healthy public debate about other measures aimed at addressing public safety during the pandemic.” 

The CPSO said its objective is to prioritize examining unprofessional behaviour and irresponsible communication. It is focused on addressing arguments that reject scientific evidence and rouse emotions over reason when people’s health is at risk. 

In April, the CPSO said in a statement that it planned on investigating physicians who spoke out against lockdown measures. 

“Physicians hold a unique position of trust with the public and have a professional responsibility to not communicate anti-vaccine, anti-masking, anti-distancing, and anti-lockdown statements and/or promoting unsupported, unproven treatments for COVID-19,” said the CPSO. 

Physicians were asked to not advocate for people to defy public health measures, because it could lead to an investigation against them. 

Multiple public health officials across Canada have spoken out against lockdown measures and certain public health orders. 

Ontario pediatrician Dr. Kulvinder Kaur Gill was issued three warnings by the CPSO after her tweets about the COVID-19 pandemic were deemed to be “inappropriate” and “unprofessional.” Gill’s tweets included comments such as “COVID-19 is not a serious health issue” and “There is absolutely no medical or scientific reason for prolonged, harmful, and illogical lockdowns.”

A study completed by Dr. Ari Joffe, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Stollery Children’s Hospital, suggested the harms of lockdowns are ten times greater than the benefits. The study said the harms of lockdowns outweigh the benefits because of interruptions with health care, unemployment, loneliness, declining mental health and more drug overdoses. 

In September, a group of Ontario doctors wrote a letter to Premier Doug Ford asking for there to be a localized approach instead of provincewide lockdown measures.

2021 Meets 1984

By
True North Wire
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Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski was hauled away in handcuffs by police after hosting a church service on the weekend, joining the ranks of ministers in countries like China, Laos and North Korea who have been imprisoned for simply practicing their religion. There’s been no chorus of support from many civil liberties groups, however. In fact, some people have cheered on the arrest, True North’s Andrew Lawton notes.

Also, Steven Guilbeault flip-flops yet again on the power of his internet regulation bill, C-10. Plus, law professor Bruce Pardy joins the show to discuss a possible legal remedy to anti-conservative cancel culture.

Global Affairs prepared for possible move of Canadian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem

By
Andrew Lawton
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Global Affairs Canada prepared for a possible relocation of Canada’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, True North has learned.

In response to an access to information request about such a move, a Global Affairs Canada official said records do exist, but are protected by cabinet confidentiality.

“I have looked through the documents received from our respective program area and although the department did in fact prepare for a possible move of the Canadian Embassy to Jerusalem, the move did not happen,” the Global Affairs official, who works in the department’s access to information division, said.

“Since the relocation of the Embassy did not happen, many of the documents contain information for the preparation of the move and therefore all contain references to Cabinet.”

True North has not reviewed the documents in question, because cabinet documents are exempt from Canada’s access to information laws.

True North’s access to information request, filed in December of 2019, sought records from May to December of 2019 “related to the relocation of the Canadian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.” No documents in connection with the request have been produced thus far.

As embassy relocations require cabinet sign-off, department staff would generally prepare, alongside the Global Affairs Minister, a document called a Memorandum to Cabinet. On background, a Global Affairs source said no Memorandum to Cabinet related to moving the embassy in Israel was ultimately created.

Publicly, the Trudeau government has never deviated from Canada’s official position that its embassy should be in Tel Aviv as long as Jerusalem is contested by Israelis and Palestinians.

“Canada’s longstanding position is that the status of Jerusalem can only be resolved as part of a general settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute,” a Global Affairs Canada spokesperson told True North. “We continue to support the building of conditions necessary for the parties to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. As the Prime Minister has clearly stated, Canada will not be moving its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”

Of the 90 foreign embassies in Israel, just three are located in Jerusalem, those of Guatemala, Kosovo and the United States. The American embassy in Jerusalem opened in May, 2018, after the Trump administration pushed for relocation.

Canada abstained from a United Nations vote condemning the United States embassy move.

In the 2019 Canadian election, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer vowed to relocate Canada’s embassy to Jerusalem. His successor, Erin O’Toole has made the same commitment should he become Canada’s prime minister.

Jerusalem has been wholly under Israeli control since the reunification of East and West Jerusalem at the end of the Six-Day War in 1967, though West Jerusalem had been the State of Israel’s capital since the state was established nearly two decades prior. Palestinians also claim Jerusalem as their capital, though it has never served such a purpose as there has never been a Palestinian state.

Singh’s anti-lockdown extremism accusations “despicable”: Bernier

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Leader Maxime Bernier accused NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi of attempting to silence opposition to lockdowns after the two claimed anti-lockdown protests were tied to far-right extremism. 

“There is nothing new in attempts by the authoritarian far-left to deplatform and cancel people with whom they disagree. What’s new now is that there seems to be a concerted effort to silence opposition to lockdowns using the same old trick of calling people racist and white supremacists,” Bernier told True North. 

“Singh, Nenshi and other politicians and commentators are all of a sudden claiming that tens of thousands of ordinary Canadians who demonstrate against ineffective and disastrous lockdown policies are dangerous extremists. This is despicable.”

Bernier has been a regular staple at anti-lockdown rallies across Canada. Most recently, the PPC leader travelled to Saskatchewan to attend a freedom rally in Regina where he and others were ticketed $2,800 for violating COVID-19 public health orders, according to the Western Standard. 

The ticket is the second the PPC leader has received, having been charged for similar violations in Peterborough, Ontario earlier this year. 

As a former MP and minister, Bernier was also an early member of the Anti-Lockdown Caucus, which has grown to include several dozen former and current elected officials who are opposed to government COVID-19 measures. 

On Monday, Singh told reporters that there was “certainly” a connection between anti-lockdown protests and far-right extremism. 

“To brazenly not follow public health guidelines puts people at risk and that is something that we’ve seen with extreme right-wing ideology,” said Singh.

Similarly, during a weekend interview, Nenshi called the protests “thinly-veiled white nationalist supremacist” demonstrations. 

According to Bernier, Canadians should be more concerned about Singh’s alleged connections to extremism.

“Singh himself has well-documented links to Khalistani terrorist sympathizers. He also tweeted a glowing message of admiration for communist tyrant and mass murderer Fidel Castro when he died. Singh has more connections to dangerous extremists than anyone in the anti-lockdowns movement. He’s a threat to Canadian democracy, not those who want their normal lives back,” Bernier told True North. 

Currently, the PPC leader is facing accusations of racism after court documents allege that Bernier made racial comments towards Singh in 2018. 

The allegations are part of an ongoing defamation lawsuit by Bernier against political strategist Warren Kinsella, who Bernier claims was hired by the Conservative Party of Canada to smear him and his party as racists. Bernier has since denied the allegation.

Imprisoned Pastor Artur Pawlowski released on bail

By
True North Wire
-

Imprisoned Alberta Pastor Artur Pawlowski and his brother Dawid were released on Monday after two days in a remand centre.

The two brothers were arrested on Saturday after they allegedly held a church service that violated Alberta’s public health orders.

Speaking to Rebel News, the legal counsel to the Pawlowskis Sarah Miller said the two men had their bail hearings Monday morning and are being released on condition.

“Pastor Artur Pawlowski and his brother Dawid have been ordered to be released from the remand centre, from their detention they have been under in excess of 48 hours,” she said.

The release was delayed by several hours, with Rebel News founder Ezra Levant being told they were held up by officers who disputed the text of the release order and the spelling of Dawid’s name.

As a condition of their bail, the Pawlowskis must comply with the previous health orders, including a pre-emptive injunction a judge granted Alberta Health Services to stop various gatherings and rallies that violate public health orders. Miller says the order already applied to all Albertans.

In a video posted to Facebook, Calgary police pulled over the brothers’ vehicle immediately after the church service. A large number of officers were seen in the video and police physically carried Pastor Pawlowski and placed him in a vehicle.

Artur Pawlowski is a longtime street preacher and the leader of the Cave of Adullam congregation in Calgary. He has opened his church multiple times in defiance of the province’s limits on in-person worship.

Miller noted that the timeline of the Pawlowskis’ imprisonment and release have been irregular as civil charges like those placed on the brothers rarely involve arrest.

Next Thursday, the Pawlowskis will have a hearing to determine if a contempt trial against the two brothers will proceed.

“At that point we will have a hearing, Alberta Health Services will make an argument and I will make an argument on behalf of both Mr. Pawlowskis on whether or not there should be a finding of contempt,” Miller said.

Jagmeet Singh paints Canadians protesting lockdowns as far-right extremists

By
True North Wire
-

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh claimed that Canadians lawfully protesting lockdowns and COVID-19 public health orders were connected to far-right extremists. 

“To brazenly not follow public health guidelines puts people at risk and that is something that we’ve seen with extreme right-wing ideology,” said Singh on Monday. 

“There is a connection, certainly.”

Singh’s comments echoed a similar statement by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi who said over the weekend that protests against COVID-19 measures were “thinly veiled white nationalist supremacist” demonstrations. 

“Those people at those anti-mask protests, let’s not kid ourselves, they’re not people who need to eat,” said Nenshi during an interview with The West Block. 

“They are people who are marching in thinly veiled white nationalist supremacists  anti-government protests, and they don’t deserve that kind of sympathy.”

Neither Nenshi or Singh followed up their claims by providing examples of protester’s supposed far-right connections. 

Singh has also claimed without evidence that there are 300 active “far-right groups” operating in Canada right now. However, a True North fact check discovered that no research or documentation exists to support the claim. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, people have been showing up in droves to protest government orders and lockdowns at rallies across Canada. Anti-lockdown protests regularly take place in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. 

Elected officials from all levels have also banded together to call for an end to COVID-19 restrictions and a re-opening of the economy. 

Earlier this year, Liberty Coalition Canada set up the End the Lockdown Caucus which has since grown to include dozens of current and former elected representatives from local, provincial and federal politics.

SHEPHERD: Another Canadian professor cancelled, but she’s fighting back

By
Lindsay Shepherd
-

A handful of Mount Allison University students called on the administration to reprimand Professor Rima Azar because Dr. Azar expressed some common sense opinions about race and gender on her personal blog. Instead of reminding these students that heterodoxy is welcome in the academic environment, Mount Allison University investigated and suspended Dr. Azar.

But Dr. Azar isn’t succumbing to the woke mob. She’s fighting back.

True North fellow Lindsay Shepherd has more.

Line 5 shutdown could lead to 45,000 additional trucks or 15,000 extra railcars

By
True North Wire
-

A shutdown of the cross-border Enbridge Line 5 pipeline by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer could potentially lead to increased truck and rail traffic and cost American border states US$20.8 billion and over 33,000 jobs. 

According to IHS Markit, should Line 5 halt operations, 45,000 additional trucks or 15,000 more railcars would be required to deliver resources between the regions. 

“Aside from severe impacts on propane supply to Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, and other Northeast regions, a shutdown of the line would impact the fractionation of the NGL mix currently done in Sarnia, Ontario, and require this mix from western Canada to be fractionated either locally or elsewhere,” wrote IHS Markit. 

“Logistical issues in providing enough propane by rail from western Canada to service these eastern markets could become a real concern and potentially impact consumer prices in these markets.”

IHS Markit’s findings seem to back other recent research on the impacts of a Line 5 shutdown.

According to research by Consumer Energy Alliance, the estimates are conservative in nature and the financial consequences of a shutdown could be much greater for Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania. 

“The battle against Enbridge Line 5 is not just about a pipeline. Should Line 5 actually be shut down, not only will the region see job losses, diminished tax receipts, and higher energy costs but it’s ‘anti-business’ reputation will be reinforced,” wrote Consumer Energy Alliance. 

“The consequence will be a continuation of the exodus of people and jobs to other parts of the country.” 

The resulting impacts for the region will include higher costs for propane and natural gasses for farmers, higher heating bills and production and job losses for downstream industries like plastic manufacturing. 

In Canada, the Government of Ontario has raised the alarm about a potential shutdown claiming that over 5,000 direct jobs and over 23,000 indirect jobs were being put at risk by Governor Whitmer. 

In November 2020, Governor Whitmer issued an executive order to Enbridge to shut down the project by May 12, 2021 citing environmental concerns. At its peak operation the pipeline carries 540,000 barrels of oil from Sarnia, Ontario to Superior, Wisconsin. 

As first reported by True North in March, Governor Gretchen snubbed Canada’s Ambassador to the US Kristen Hillman by refusing to meet to discuss the issue. 

“There’s one thing that I did read from Ambassador Hillman who’s been trying to negotiate and she was in discussion between Michigan and the governor and she said her discussions had broken down, can you shed any light on that?” asked Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu during a Special Committee on the Economic Relationships between Canada and the US meeting.

“I believe Ambassador Hillman had tried to open a channel for dialogue with the governor and I believe my understanding is that the governor was not open to having any dialogue,” said Executive VP and President of Enbridge Inc. Liquid Pipelines Vern Yu replied.

Steven Guilbeault flip-flops on C-10 in disastrous interview

By
True North Wire
-

Liberal Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault has flip-flopped on comments he made during a disastrous Sunday evening CTV News interview. 

During the CTV Question Period interview, Guilbeault said content by Canadians who reach “millions of viewers” would be regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) like other major broadcasters. 

“What we want to do, this law should apply to people who are broadcasters, or act like broadcasters. So if you have a YouTube channel with millions of viewers, and you’re deriving revenues from that, then at some point the CRTC will be asked to put a threshold,” said Guilbeault. 

“But we’re talking about broadcasters here, we’re not talking about everyday citizens posting stuff on their YouTube channel.”

On Monday, Guilbeault’s office issued a followup statement to CTV saying that he had used “unclear” language when talking about Bill C-10. 

“All regulations or financial obligations will only apply to the platforms… Accounts run by individuals still fall under the category of people,” Guilbeault’s office told CTV News.

“The minister could have been more careful using his words in order to reflect what the bill does.”

According to supporters of the legislation, Bill C-10 will help Canadian content creators receive fairer treatment from big tech platforms like Facebook and Google. The bill also has provisions to deal with cracking down on online child sexual exploitation. 

Since the Liberals voted to remove an amendment which sought to protect ordinary Canadians from being included in the bill’s regulatory scope, the federal government has been scrambling to defend the legislation. 

In response to outrage over the decision, Guilbeault sought to introduce a separate motion that would clarify the bill.

Conservative members of the House of Commons heritage committee have since pushed for a revised Charter statement from Liberal Justice Minister David Lametti and for Minister Guilbeault to testify on the matter once again. 

“We can see that the minister of heritage himself is struggling to answer some really basic questions about this bill. And so, if he himself doesn’t have a full understanding of what this legislation does and does not do, and is not able to clearly communicate on that point, then I’m confused as to why this committee would be expected to have a clear understanding of this piece of legislation,” said Conservative MP Rachael Harder.

“I think it’s incumbent upon all of us then, to seek the input from those who would be able to give us better insight, and help us come to a place of clearly understanding the parameters of this bill, and what it does.” 

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