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Friday, July 11, 2025

Chinese government forcibly closes Catholic orphanage

By
True North Wire
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The Chinese government is forcing an orphanage for disabled children to close because it is run by the Catholic Church.

According to International Christian Concern, Liming Zhi Jia (Dawn House orphanage) in Hebei province will soon be closed after local government officials refused to give the orphanage the required permits to continue operating.

Government regulations restricting the evangelization of minors appears to be the primary motive.

The children of the orphanage will be moved to state-run institutions. While the nuns were initially promised visiting rights to their former children, authorities have since reneged on the deal.

The orphanage was founded in 1988, before China began its crackdown on independent religious groups. The nuns have never been able to secure support from the government, having instead to rely on donations.

The move comes as other Catholic orphanages in China also face threat of closure. At least two other orphanages have either closed or will soon be closing following action by regulators.

In recent years, the Chinese government has increased attacks on religious groups that do not conform to Communist ideology. China has set up its own state-owned version of the Catholic Church, the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, and has systematically targeted Catholics that stay loyal to the papacy.

Along with providing a crucial social service the Chinese government was not providing, the orphanage was actually appreciated by some local officials.

“Catholic groups showed that what they did was for love, not profit. The staff and the Catholic Sisters serving there deserve respect,” one Communist official said in anonymity.

“The love shared with the abandoned children comes from their faith in God. It is uncommon and rarely seen in other sectors in society.”

Anti-lockdown politicians warn of pandemic measures’ threat to civil liberties

By
True North Wire
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A group of anti-lockdown federal and provincial politicians says Canadians are being victimized more by government’s mismanagement of the pandemic than by COVID-19 itself.

End the Lockdowns Caucus members Derek Sloan, Randy Hillier, Maxime Bernier, and Pastor Michael Thiessen held a press conference on Parliament Hill Thursday morning, in which they called out the “series of failures” from federal and provincial governments for which Canadians are still paying.

“What we have seen from our government is a series of failures,” said Sloan, an independent MP. “The first was a failure to respond to COVID-19 at the beginning. While countries like Taiwan implemented travel measures against COVID-19 on January 1st of 2020, our public health authorities were calling them racist and ineffective for months after this time.”

Sloan pointed that Taiwan has had just 11 total COVID-19 deaths.

He went on to accuse the federal government of failing to protect the elderly, who are disproportionately vulnerable to the virus.

Sloan said the government has also failed when it comes to not bolstering research and information about preventative measures, such as vitamin D, which he said could have mitigated the panic government allowed to permeate.

“They did nothing to quell the fear that’s so rampant in our society,” said Sloan. “Every death is a tragedy but remember if we are creating more deaths than those we are preventing that is a greater tragedy.”

The press conference comes as provinces ramp up their own restrictions and Ontario’s government reportedly considers imposing a curfew.

Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada, said more politicians need to stand up for civil liberties as governments fight the pandemic.

“In the last thirteen months of restrictions the prime minister and provincial premiers have violated our rights and freedoms. We have been living with lockdowns and restrictions that have dictated every aspect of our lives for over a year. It was supposed to be a two-week measure to flatten the curve,” said Bernier. 

“Never in the history of mankind has a country locked up its entire population to stop a virus. It is a failed experiment and Canadians are paying the price. We must reopen our economy knowing that Canadians under the age of 70 have a 99.95% survival rate among those infected with the virus.”

These comments were echoed by Hillier, an independent member of Ontario’s provincial legislature, who characterized the government response to COVID as Canada’s “greatest threat.”

“Our province and our country is facing the greatest threat that it has ever faced in its existence and its history this threat is not external this threat is not COVID – this threat is a struggle and a conflict for the conscience of Canadians,” said Hillier. 

“We have seen all our governments enact measures that are un-Canadian, measures that are unconstitutional, measures that are political under the pretext of a health crisis and I say that with all sincerity.”

The End the Lockdowns Caucus was first announced in February of this year through the organization LIberty Coalition Canada. 

To date, the group counts over 50 current and former officials from municipal, provincial and federal levels of government.

Gerald Butts celebrates after Erin O’Toole reveals carbon tax plan

By
True North Wire
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s former top advisor Gerald Butts took to Twitter on Thursday to celebrate Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole’s newly unveiled carbon tax plan. 

In response to the plan, Butts congratulated the party for taking action by embracing a carbon tax.

“Conventional wisdom used to be you couldn’t get elected in [Canada] on a carbon price. Now even Conservatives think you can’t get elected without one. Congrats to all the Canadians who made that happen,” tweeted Butts.  

Butts resigned from his position as the prime minister’s principal secretary in 2019 after being implicated in the Liberal government’s SNC-Lavalin scandal. 

Earlier today, the Conservative Party published a 15-page climate plan. The document, entitled “Secure the Environment: The Conservative Plan to Combat Climate Change,” lays out a plan to reduce the Liberal $40 a tonne tax to $20 per tonne with an eventual increase to $50 a tonne. 

The tax would apply for Canadians “each time they buy hydrocarbon-based fuel” with an added “Personal Low Carbon Savings Account” which will allow Canadians to withdraw money for so-called green expenditures. 

“Canada must not ignore the reality of climate change,” said O’Toole. 

“It is already impacting our ecosystems, hurting our communities, and damaging our infrastructure. Canada’s Conservatives will meet our Paris climate commitment and reduce emissions by 2030 to fight climate change and protect our environment. But we won’t do it on the backs of working Canadians or by hurting our economy.”

Other measures in the plan include a study on “new taxes on frequent flyers, non-electric luxury vehicles and second homes to deter activities that hurt the environment.” A Conservative government would also spend $1 billion on domestic electric vehicle manufacturing and an additional $1 billion to deploy hydrogen technology. 

During his campaign to lead the party, O’Toole promised voters that his government would end Trudeau’s carbon tax. In March, O’Toole reiterated his commitment to “repeal Justin Turdeau’s carbon tax. 

“We will protect the environment and fight climate change, but we won’t do it by making the poorest pay more,” said O’Toole. 

Ottawa mulls introducing mandatory masking at parks

By
True North Wire
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Ottawa health authorities are considering implementing a masking requirement for the city’s public parks as COVID-19 cases continue to surge and threaten hospital capacities. 

“We are at a major, major point here as a city. The situation in Ottawa is the worst that it has been to date during this pandemic,” said Ottawa’s deputy medical officer of health Dr. Brent Moloughney.

According to reports the mask mandate could be introduced using a Section 22 order under the Health Protection and Promotion Act which allows health officers to “require a person to take or to refrain from taking any action in respect of a communicable disease.”

The exact details of the order are yet to be determined but some speculate it will include a gathering limit for parks and playgrounds as well as mandatory outdoor masking. 

Ontario has already introduced a strict province-wide stay-at-home order to combat the recent uptick in the virus. 

Meanwhile, Ottawa has moved to close parks two hours earlier than usual to prevent people from gathering in groups. 

According to the current public health rules, masking is only required in indoor public spaces. 

Section 22 orders have been implemented in Ottawa before. On February 16, 2021, Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health Vera Etches ordered outdoor recreational sites to limit capacity at skating rinks, tobogganing hills and other activities to 25 people. 

The order also required social distancing and mandatory masking signage to be posted on location.  

“Wear a mask in a manner that covers their mouth, nose, and chin at an outdoor recreational amenity including surrounding publicly accessible areas such as change and rest areas when not actively participating in a recreational activity. Although masks are not mandatory while actively participating in a recreational activity, they are highly recommended when skating on ice rinks and participating in other outdoor recreation activities within a confined space,” the order read. 

Erin O’Toole unveils “daring” carbon pricing plan

By
Andrew Lawton
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Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has announced a carbon pricing model he says will meet Canada’s Paris emissions commitments without the economic consequences of Justin Trudeau’s approach.

The Conservatives published their 15-page climate plan Thursday, entitled “Secure the Environment: The Conservative Plan to Combat Climate Change.” The policy would roll back the carbon price from $40 per tonne to $20 per tonne, then increase it over time to $50 per tonne.

The Conservative plan continues to tax consumers “each time they buy hydrocarbon-based fuel,” but puts the levy into a “Personal Low Carbon Savings Account,” which taxpayers can draw from to make government-approved green expenditures such as buying a transit pass or electric vehicle or making green home renovations.

Small businesses will be eligible for a similar type of account.

The plan doesn’t definitively lay out how these accounts will be managed, but suggests they could be run by a consortium of financial service providers as Interac is.

“Canadian families and businesses have been trailblazers in the use of affinity or rewards programs and have great expertise in both managing and using them,” the document says.

The Conservatives would maintain a steep price on emissions for large industrial emitters, though the document says the price will be tied to that of the European Union and United States to minimize the risk of jobs shifting to more competitive jurisdictions.

O’Toole said Thursday his proposal is “daring,” but necessary.

“Canada must not ignore the reality of climate change,” he said. “It is already impacting our ecosystems, hurting our communities, and damaging our infrastructure. Canada’s Conservatives will meet our Paris climate commitment and reduce emissions by 2030 to fight climate change and protect our environment. But we won’t do it on the backs of working Canadians or by hurting our economy.”

The Conservatives insist this plan does not maintain a carbon tax because the money collected does not go into government coffers.

O’Toole’s plan would also require that by 2030, zero emission vehicles must make up 30% of the light duty vehicle market. A Conservative government would spend $1 billion to expand electric vehicle manufacturing in Canada, plus an additional $1 billion on “deploying hydrogen technology.”

O’Toole’s plan has been derided by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). During last year’s Conservative leadership race, O’Toole signed the CTF’s “no carbon tax” pledge. 

“Last summer, (Erin O’Toole) told us he would repeal carbon taxes. Today, he’s breaking that promise,” the CTF tweeted.

In a fireside chat with the Independent Press Gallery last year, O’Toole said his plan would let the provinces tackle emissions in their own ways.

“There’s no federal carbon tax. I will eliminate the carbon tax completely,” O’Toole said of his approach last July. “We have to respect what the provinces are doing now…. We need to follow the provinces here because, guess what, they have shared jurisdiction on the economy.”

The new Conservative plan makes repeated mentions of working with the provinces, but does not go into detail on how much autonomy provinces will have within the national framework.

The Conservatives say the Low Carbon Savings Account “will be a national program, but provinces will be able to apply to have a program of their own considered equivalent.”

NDP convention featured far-left radicals, virtue signalling and more

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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It’s been nearly a week since the NDP concluded their 2021 federal policy convention and the party is still reeling from a number of embarrassing and controversial policy resolutions, including a plan to abolish the Canadian Armed Forces as well accusations of anti-Semitism. 

The virtual convention, which took place April 9 to 11, concluded with a number of the resolutions being adopted by the NDP including a plan to introduce a wealth tax on Canada’s millionaires and billionaires. 

True North has since parsed through the entire convention to bring you the following six most outrageous highlights.

Organizer discusses plan to “replicate” Joe Biden campaign

During a discussion on campaigning during the COVID-19 pandemic, former Manitoba NDP MLA and party Chief of Staff Jennifer Howard suggested that the NDP would “look to replicate” as much of US Democratic President Joe Biden’s campaign as possible when going into the next federal election. 

“I remember from the American campaign several really good moments with Democratic candidates like President Biden, Vice President Harris, where you just saw them on a phone talking to a constituent or talking to a volunteer, low tech, not a lot of production. It really was able to communicate an inspirational message to people, but also show that candidate’s connection to somebody and having an actual conversation. So, we’ll look to replicate as much of that as we can,” said Howard.  

Far-left treasury candidate complains about party not being radical enough

One candidate running for the NDP’s treasurer position took the opportunity to use the convention as a platform to complain that the party’s current leadership is not doing enough to end capitalism. 

Gary Porter, who is also a former board member of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, was representing the party’s United Front of Allied Socialists. 

“The establishment candidates are pro-capitalist. I think they would agree with me. They want to reform the system piecemeal and leave the capitalists in power. This means any reforms won by working people will be reversed by capital at the first opportunity over the decades,” said Porter.

“The goal of reforming capitalism is unrealistic and forty-five years of neoliberal slash and burn politics have proven that the candidates backed by the United Front of Allied Socialists are anti-capitalist, pro-worker and pro-socialist. We proposed to end capitalism to build a new society with workers and their allies in power.”

Recruiting more women to break down capitalism and patriarchy

Federal NDP candidate for London North-Center and former NDP Women’s Commission Chair Dirka Prout told party members during the second day of the convention that the NDP should be doing more to recruit women to break down capitalism and patriarchy. 

“Let’s win more women to socialism through supporting women’s candidates with our fund, educational outreach and mentorship and altering policies to build international peace and solidarity, improve the lives of women and all Canadians while breaking down systems of capitalism and patriarchy,” said Prout.  

Member complains about “very scary” cyberbullying during convention

One party member Alyssa Blank took the opportunity to raise what she called “very scary” hate speech, doxxing and cyberbullying going on in the context of the online convention. Blank did not name any specific instances of online hate. 

“Online there’s been a tremendous amount of hate speech, tremendous amount of doxxing which is super concerning and just general cyber bullying. It’s making it very difficult and very scary and dangerous for people to participate,” said Blank. 

Bragging about recruiting four times as many LGBT candidates than the Liberals

At one point during the NDP convention’s first day, NDP LGBT Commission Chair Tara Patterson bragged about how the party was able to secure four times as many queer and trans candidates than the Liberals.

“We worked hard to recruit to us 2SLGBTQ+ candidates to run in provincial and federal elections across the country. And I’m proud to say that we had 40 queer and trans candidates in the twenty nineteen election, which was four times more than the Liberals,” said Patterson. 

Delegate says police resolution doesn’t do enough to defund the police

During a debate on a policy resolution on combating racism in police and the correctional system, one delegate argued that the policy did not go far enough and that the NDP should be “defunding” police in Canada. 

“This amendment doesn’t go far enough. We should be defunding the police,” said the delegate.  

Liberal MP spotted totally nude during virtual question period

By
True North Wire
-

A Liberal MP was spotted in the nude during a virtual session of the House of Commons.

Images circulating online appear to show Quebec MP William Amos (Pontiac) stark naked in his office on a Zoom call as his fellow parliamentarians participated in Wednesday’s question period.

The incident was later raised by Bloc Quebecois MP Claude DeBellefeuille during a point of order on proper dress during parliamentary meetings. 

“As you know since the beginning of the pandemic we have tried to emphasize the importance of respecting quorum, the dress code here in the house and I think that this, today, we have beaten— we have set a new record,” said DeBellefeuille. 

“We’ve seen a member during Question Period improperly dressed — that is, unclothed. So perhaps remind the members, especially the male members that suits and ties are appropriate or rather called for and we have seen that the member was in very good shape but I think that this member should be reminded of what is appropriate and to control his camera.”

Following the point of order House Speaker Anthony Rota confirmed with parliamentary clerks that the incident had indeed occurred and issued a dress code reminder. 

True North reached out to Amos for comment but did not receive a response by the time this article was published. 

Amos later addressed the incident on his Twitter account saying that it was an “unfortunate mistake.” 

“It was an unfortunate mistake. My video was accidentally turned on while changing into work clothes after jogging. I sincerely apologize to my colleagues in the House of Commons for this involuntary distraction,” said Amos in a tweet which has since been translated from the original French. 

“Obviously this was an honest mistake and it will not happen again. We don’t need such distractions during this pandemic!”wil

FUREY: The long-term harms of lockdowns

By
True North Wire
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On occasion, politicians have acknowledged the immediate harms of the lockdowns – overdoses, suicides, mental health issues and more.

However, Canadian politicians have failed to recognize the long-term effects that lockdowns will have on our society, such as the increase of students dropping out of post-secondary school.

Anthony Furey discusses in his latest video.

Hajdu announces $7.7 million fund to deal injectable drugs to Toronto addicts

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu announced a $7.7 million fund to deal injectable opioids to Toronto’s addicts on Wednesday, claiming that the project will help increase access to a “safe supply” of drugs. 

Hajdu appearing alongside Toronto Mayor John Tory said that the funds will go to three projects in the city. 

“Through this funding, the Government of Canada is supporting Toronto Public Health to expand the medication options available for people with severe opioid use disorder in Toronto. Toronto Public Health’s project will be the first of its kind in Ontario to offer injectable hydromorphone for people with opioid use disorder who do not respond to currently available services and who remain at high risk of overdose,” a government press release claimed. 

For some time, Tory has been advocating for the federal government to intervene in the city’s opioid epidemic.

The federal government has provided Toronto with funds for similar initiatives in the past, including funding for Toronto Public Health’s safer supply project and a two-year extension of similar programs South Riverdale Community Health Centre and Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre. 

In 2019, under the watch of Hajdu, Health Canada gave the green light for the use of injectable hydromorphone to treat opioid addicts. 

Other cities including Victoria and Vancouver have also asked the federal government for help on dealing with the opioid epidemic.

Most recently, the Government of British Columbia requested an exemption from the federal government which would decriminalize possession of hard drugs province-wide.  

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has spoken out against the idea of decriminalizing hard drugs in the province. 

“Absolutely not. I am not in favour of legalizing small quantities of cocaine or heroin,” Ford said.

“We aren’t talking about weed or marijuana, we’re talking about serious drugs that can kill people, that are highly, highly addictive.”

However, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa expressed support for the idea in a recent report on drug overdose deaths. 

Further, in August, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said she was willing to discuss opioid decriminalization. 

Tucker Carlson slams Trudeau’s vaccine statements

By
True North Wire
-

American media personality Tucker Carlson slammed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for saying that high vaccination rates will not guarantee an end to lockdowns.

Speaking on his show on Fox News Tuesday evening, Carlson took aim at comments Trudeau made earlier that day in Question Period.

“The leader of Canada just explained on television that according to the science, the vaccine doesn’t stop COVID. Either the coronavirus shot works or it doesn’t, but the shot cannot be simultaneously highly effective, but not restore peoples’ lives to normal; that doesn’t make sense,” Carlson said Tuesday.

“They didn’t tell you to avoid water fountains after getting the polio vaccine. They don’t need to tell you that because the polio vaccine works.”

Earlier that day, Trudeau justified continued lockdowns and mask restrictions, saying “vaccinations are not enough to keep us safe.”

Trudeau doubled down when asked to defend Canada’s poor vaccine rollout, saying that a high vaccination rate will not guarantee a return to normal life.

“I think it’s important to remember that vaccination alone, even being well advanced in vaccinations, doesn’t necessarily lead to an ability to ease public restrictions,” Trudeau said. 

The Trudeau government originally based its vaccine procurement strategy around a Chinese-Canadian collaboration that has not yet produced a viable vaccine. With no domestic production of approved vaccines, Canada has been forced to rely on US and EU firms which have been slow to ship to Canada.

Canada ranks 45th in the world for percentage of its population vaccinated, with the United States’ vaccination rate more than twice as high.

Trudeau has also been criticized by CNN host Jake Tapper after he suggested CNN’s coverage of Canada’s slow vaccine rollout  was not based on facts

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