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Saturday, July 12, 2025

Restaurant group says lockdown reopenings cost businesses over $100 million

By
True North Wire
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In an open letter addressed to Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Restaurants Canada estimated that Ontario food service businesses had to dish out over $100 million in reopening and closing costs as a result of the province’s third lockdown.

Restaurants Canada President and CEO Todd Barclay and Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association President and CEO Tony Elenis both signed the document calling on the provincial  government to intervene and help save the industry. 

“Last week’s abrupt move to shut down all dining so soon after easing restrictions has cost Ontario’s restaurants more than $100 million in reopening and closing costs alone. They are counting on your government to act quickly to save our industry, which typically employs more than 450,000 people,” the letter claims.

“This is not an ‘emergency brake’ as evidenced by the crowded retail stores and plentiful private gatherings over the weekend, scapegoating the restaurant sector is clearly not going to get the province’s third wave under control.” 

Both Barclay and Elenis go on to call for “fair and effective” measures to be implemented to all industries equally. The letter also recommends that the provincial government keep patio dining open as an “alternative to private gatherings” and to support ailing restaurants through additional funding. 

A number of restaurant owners have not taken Ford’s order lightly, including Antler Kitchen and Bar who sent the Ontario government a $431.55 invoice for beer that will be spoiled because of Ford’s lockdown announcement.

Prior to the Easter long weekend, Ford announced a new spat of province-wide restrictions which included a ban on indoor gatherings of all sizes and a limit of five people for outdoor gatherings. Under Ontario’s current rules restaurants were also ordered to close their doors for indoor and outdoor dining. 

Further restrictions are expected this week as the Ford government is set to announce a provincewide stay-at-home order. Under the government’s latest lockdown, nonessential retail will be restricted to curbside pickup only and big box stores will be restricted to essential items only. 

FUREY: Community leaders can play a role in lifting lockdowns

By
True North Wire
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Public officials are not the only leaders in our society. There’s an entire civil society of community leaders that play an important role in our lives.

Faith leaders, organizers of community sports and other leaders can help lift lockdown restrictions and bring society back online. 

Anthony Furey discusses in his latest video. 

London, ON councillors dismiss motion to research consequences of lockdowns

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A motion to begin a study into the unintended consequences of lockdowns, mask wearing and other public health measures in London, Ontario was dead on arrival on Tuesday afternoon after councillors refused to support the initiative. 

London, Ontario Ward 1 City Councillor Michael van Holst proposed the study during a meeting of the city’s Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee. 

The motion presented notes that “public health restrictions may continue to be considered in the face of new pathogens with varying degrees of transmissibility and severity.” 

“This should be done with a thorough awareness of the broader effects that lockdowns, business closures, masks, social distancing, have had in London. This will help us accurately balance the threat to health against the unintended social and economic consequences of the restrictions on a case-by-case basis,” writes van Holst. 

“Research will be required to determine these l consequences, and the optimal time to begin the investigation may be while some restrictions are still in place. I see it as municipal responsibility to ensure this research takes place and therefore request your support of the following motion.” 

The motion specifically calls on the committee to direct staff to report on a plan to commission research into the effects that the city’s public health restrictions have had on citizens and the local economy. 

“I’m a person who lost a friend to suicide during the first lockdowns and that’s coloured my perception of these throughout and I’m really concerned that the isolation and the dismantling of support systems and coping mechanisms for people is looked at but also the many other effects as well,” said van Holt during the committee meeting. 

“I think there’s an opportunity for us to understand better and to take some action based on that understanding.” 

After being presented to the committee, the motion did not receive the necessary support required to put the matter up to a vote.

True North reached out to van Holst for comment on why he chose to introduce the motion at this time and what he hoped it could achieve.

“It is likely more effective to study the impacts while they are taking place than to put off the investigation to whenever the restrictions might come to end,” van Holst told True North.

“If we understand the effects upon our own community we may be able to take local action to mitigate the negative impacts that we discover.”

Prior to the Easter holidays, the Ontario government announced a province-wide shutdown order citing an alarming increase in cases and the appearance of COVID-19 variants. 

The strict new lockdown regime extended restrictions to all indoor gatherings and reduced outdoor gathering limits to only five people. Meanwhile, restaurants were ordered to close their doors to indoor and outdoor dining, alongside other changes. 

Despite Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s clampdown, public health officials are urging the provincial government to consider implementing another stay-at-home order which would effectively require residents impacted to only leave their houses for essential reasons like grocery trips or medical appointments. 

On March 8, Toronto, Peel and North Bay Parry sound were the last regions to leave the province’s former stay-at-home order which was implemented in January to curb the spread of the virus. 

TDSB report accuses WE Charity of reinforcing white supremacy, not being anti-colonial enough

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A report to be presented before the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) slams WE Charity and its sister organization ME to WE as not being “anti-colonial” enough for the public school board and for allegedly contributing to the reinforcement of white supremacy. 

On August 6, 2020 the TDSB voted to cut ties with the organization and to suspend all ongoing agreements following the charity’s ongoing federal student service grant scandal. The board also directed staff to undergo a review of its relations with the organization. 

At the time, media reports indicated that WE was selected by the Liberal government to oversee a $900 million fund despite the company having extensive financial ties with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his family and members of the Liberal cabinet. Following disclosures and committee investigations into the charity, it was revealed that the Trudeau family had received at least half a million in compensation from the organization. 

While citing a 2021 research paper published in The Globalisation, Societies, and Education Journal, the report notes that “WE’s practices are also problematic because it ‘draws upon humanitarian discourse to posit post-racial compassion while nonetheless reinforcing white supremacy.’” 

“Unlike WE’s stance on social justice, it is imperative to work with an approach that recognizes a need to counter capitalist, neoliberal, neocolonial and other hegemonic structures that perpetuate violence through things like the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous land, violation of UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’), exploitation of the Global South by powers in the Global North, etc,” the report continues.  

The report also accuses WE and other similar groups of framing charity work and social justice as “salvationist” and positioning white people as saviors of minorities.

“The messaging produced by WE schools can also be harmful to students and staff in some settings,” claims the report. 

“Consequently, it is necessary to help build capacity among students and staff to move away from saviourist, individualistic, and service-learning type pedagogic approaches to more critical understandings of global citizenship.” 

In conclusion, the report recommends for the TDSB to not partner with similar organizations and to put in place safeguards to prevent such a collaboration in the future.

According to TDSB disclosures for the 2019-2020 period, a total of $32,688 was paid to ME to WE, while the organization’s Free the Children affiliation received $5,971 that same year. No further payments were made for the 2020-2021 period. 

Conservatives call for public inquiry into Liberal pandemic response

By
True North Wire
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Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has promised to create a public inquiry into how the Trudeau government handled the coronavirus pandemic.

If elected, O’Toole says Canadians will learn exactly what the Trudeau government was doing during the pandemic and how effective they were at saving lives and the economy.

“A Conservative government will call a public inquiry to examine every aspect of the government’s pandemic response. We also call on the government to appoint a special monitor from the Office of the Auditor General to track the pandemic response in real time to ensure that valuable ‘lessons learned’ are captured for future emergency readiness,” he said in a statement.

“The inquiry will ensure that all lessons learned from the crisis are publicly aired and learnings can immediately be adopted. Canada must be better prepared for future threats. We cannot afford to once again fail to keep Canadians safe.” 

O’Toole slammed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling for the pandemic, particularly on vaccines, as the government’s failures resulted in Canada receiving fewer doses than many countries.

While multiple countries were developing vaccines, the government chose to only pre-order doses from CanSino Biologics, a Chinese company under scrutiny by intelligence agencies.

 “Last spring, when it was clear that vaccines would be the key tool to turn the page in the crisis, Justin Trudeau dropped the ball completely,” O’Toole said.

“He turned to China, of all countries, to partner with on the making of a vaccine. It was the worst in a series of bad decisions and it is why we are lagging the developed world today.”

During the opening weeks of the pandemic, the Trudeau government stubbornly refused to close the borders to international travel. 

While Liberal politicians claimed shutting the border would not stop the spread of coronavirus, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has openly admitted Canada waited too long.

“We’re still scrambling to catch up. It’s a national disgrace, especially in a country as strong and prosperous as Canada.”

Tucker Carlson isn’t the only one speaking out about Trudeau’s internment camps

By
Candice Malcolm
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“What if your next door neighbour suddenly went dangerously insane and starting holding people hostage in his house?” Asked Tucker Carlson during his evening show on Wednesday — the most-watched political show on television. 

He was talking about boring old us, Canada, and how under the leadership of Justin Trudeau, “Canada took a dramatic move toward legitimately dangerous authoritarianism.”

He was referring to an order released by Trudeau on Monday, outlining the latest bit of Martial Law being imposed on Canadians. 

“Now is not the time to travel. If you have plans to head somewhere for the long weekend, cancel them,” Trudeau instructed. 

“For those who need to travel, take note of the measures that are in place when you return to Canada: If you’re flying back into the country, you’ll need to show a negative PCR test result before you board the plane. When you land, you’ll need to take another PCR test. You’ll then have to wait at an approved hotel, and at your own expense, for your results to come back.”

“Approved hotel” it seems, is the latest Trudeau-euphemism for what Carlson more accurately describes as “internment camps.”

Internment camps where YOU pay the bill. 

Trudeau continues: “If your results come back negative for COVID-19, you’ll be able to head home and finish your mandatory quarantine there. If your test results come back positive, you’ll need to immediately quarantine in designated government facilities. This is not optional.”

A non-optional stay at a government facility… that sounds a lot like an internment camp. Reaction on Twitter went even darker, where high profile comedians and athletes compared the “hotels” to gulags and concentration camps.

Fortunately for Trudeau, he has his own propaganda machine to cover for his attacks on our rights and freedoms. 

Back in October, the CBC assured Canadians that any talk of “internment camps” was false. 

“Disinformation campaign falsely suggests Canadians will be forcibly sent to quarantine sites,” read a CBC headline.  

According to the fact-checkers over at the state broadcaster, who quote an unnamed Liberal spin doctor to substantiate their report, the feds were merely providing “voluntary quarantine sites” — only to be used by homeless people and international travellers with nowhere else to go. 

Voluntary, eh? 

The CBC story was not updated or corrected on Monday when Trudeau contradicted their report by informing Canadians that forced stays at these quarantine sites was “not optional.”

“Suddenly Canada is a flagrant violator of the most basic human rights. Fail a covid test and they will lock up without trial,” said Tucker Carlson.

Why does it take the host of an American cable news show to say what Canadian journalists and activists should be filling newspapers and airways condemning? 

Canada’s pundit class is too busy ho-humming about a possible spring election to notice or care about the usurping of Habeas corpus. 

Fortunately for Canadians, not everyone is burying their head in the sand. I spoke to the lawyers at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), who outlined the many ways that Trudeau’s orders are in fact unconstitutional, and how they are fighting back. 

JCCF President John Carpay explained that this order could violate Section 7 of the Charter — the right to life, liberty and security of person. 

Carpay explained that a government locking people up against their will, with no due process, no presumption of innocence and an absence of a timely trial before an independent and impartial court, were all red flags. 

He told me that his organization was fighting back, and initiating “court action against these hotel-prisons.”

Jay Cameron, one of the JCCF lawyers on that case, called this “the essence of authoritarianism” and expressed concern that “Parliament has not considered or voted on the forced internment of Canadians.”

Likewise, Sayed Hassan, the other JCCF lawyer on the case, pointed out that the location of these forced quarantine hotels is unknown. 

“There should be no room in a free and democratic society for secret federal facilities,” he said.

This is Justin Trudeau’s Canada.

CBC spends $900,000 on five person “strategic intelligence” department

By
True North Wire
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The CBC uses its $1.2 billion federal grant to fund a bloated bureaucracy, including a $900,000 “strategic intelligence department.”

According to records obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter, the CBC was found to have a large number of senior staff, including seven vice-presidents, ten director generals and five directors of finance.

“Each of these departments brought together a certain number of employees, more than a hundred in total for the finance and strategic planning department” wrote federal arbitrator Pierre-Georges Roy. 

The CBC’s “strategic intelligence department” consisted of one manager and four employees, with almost all of the department’s $900,000 budget going towards salaries.

“It developed its strategic intelligence sector in order to be better informed of the various trends and realities of the telecommunications sector, thus enabling it to be more informed,” wrote Roy.

The president of CBC receives a salary between $390,300-$459,100, with vice-presidents earning between $250,000-$417,500.

The CBC, which receives most of its funding from the taxpayer, engages with very few Canadians. In 2019, only 0.8% of Canadians tuned in to watch CBC news’ evening broadcasts. 

In recent years, the CBC’s ad revenue has also declined significantly, dropping 19% in the first six months of 2020 alone.

Last year, CBC president Catherine Tait received a raise of approximately $20,000, bringing her salary to a maximum of $459,100.

In a previous statement to the House of Commons heritage committee, Tait believed the CBC needed additional funding, as the decline in revenue seen under her tenure caused the organization significant stress.

“We had ongoing financial pressures at CBC because we are not indexed to inflation on goods and services. We’re constantly working under that kind of pressure, just to give you the context,” she said.

“We are covering the planet with very few resources.”

Plans announced for Humboldt Broncos tribute centre and crash site memorial

By
True North Wire
-

The City of Humboldt and the Humboldt Broncos Memorials Committee announced their plans for a Broncos tribute centre and a roadside memorial on Monday.

The tribute centre will be built in Humboldt and a permanent roadside memorial will be constructed at the site of the tragedy.

On April 6, 2018, sixteen lives were lost and 13 others were injured after a semi ran a stop sign in eastern Saskatchewan. Most of the deceased and injured were players from the Humboldt Broncos, a junior ice hockey team from Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

“Today we begin to turn the page. The memorial committee’s vision is to do something extraordinary and make a positive impact, local and nationally,” said Humboldt Mayor Michael Biehl.

“We have a vision, however, there is a long way to go, a lot of details to iron out and significant funds to raise, but we’re confident we can pull people together to make this a reality.”

The tribute centre will include a dedicated exhibit gallery, which will feature images, videos and other items drawn from the thousands sent to the community after the April 6, 2018 tragedy.

The centre will also include an ice arena to support local hockey within the community, the Humboldt Broncos and other skating sports.

“It will probably be a good two years out before we have developed a final concept plan,” said Humboldt City Manager Joe Day.

Day said the roadside memorial would likely be built before the tribute centre.

The costs of the projects could be close to $25 million. The committee announced plans for a fundraising campaign to help cover the projects’ costs.

Top doctors in Toronto, Peel and Ottawa call for additional lockdown measures

By
True North Wire
-

Top doctors in Toronto, Peel Region and Ottawa are calling on the Ford government to issue a provincewide stay-at-home order.

A stay-at-home order requires Ontario residents to stay at home except for essential travel.

In a letter to Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, the doctors say stronger measures are required to control the COVID-19 variants.

The letter was signed by Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa, Peel Region’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lawrence Loh and Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches.

“A stay-at-home order issued by the province through an emergency order is necessary to prevent and mitigate large scale morbidity and mortality and irreparable strain on the health-care system” the letter says.

“Stricter lockdowns have been shown to be effective in other countries to control transmission while vaccine campaigns progressed to achieve sufficient population coverage to suppress transmission.”

The doctors also strongly recommend a review of essential businesses, travel restrictions between regions in Ontario, legislation providing paid sick days and a move to online or hybrid learning.

Last week, Premier Doug Ford plunged Ontario into a four-week “shutdown,” which went into effect on Saturday and shuttered gyms and personal care services and prohibited in-person dining.

At the time, the government said it did not want to issue a stay-at-home order because it produced “tremendous ill effect on both children and adults.”

As the pandemic drags on, thousands of doctors and specialists have taken a stand against the use of lockdowns – including the World Health Organization. 

As Canadians’ mental health declines and drug overdoses and unemployment numbers skyrocket, many health experts are asserting that lockdowns are deadlier than the COVID-19 virus.

Wildrose Independence Party says Albertans need a new deal with Canada

By
Andrew Lawton
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Despite Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s pledge to hold a referendum on equalization, a number of Albertans say he is not taking a firm enough position on the issues that matter to alienated westerners. Wildrose Independence Party interim leader Paul Hinman says Albertans need a government who will stand up for them, not for Ottawa.

This interview was part of a special edition of The Andrew Lawton Show about western alienation. Watch the full episode here.

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