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Sunday, May 18, 2025

Alberta government tables voter recall bill for MLAs, councillors, school trustees

By
Andrew Lawton
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Jason Kenney’s government has tabled a bill that will allow voters to turf underperforming politicians between elections.

Solicitor General Kaycee Madu introduced the bill in the legislature Monday afternoon.

Styled the Recall Act, Bill C-52 sets out the process for voters to petition for the removal of MLAs, municipal councillors and mayors, as well as school board officials.

Any Alberta voter can initiate a petition to recall their MLA for any reason by applying to the Chief Electoral Officer. Once the petition is issued, the applicant has 60 days to collect signatures from 40% of eligible voters in the MLA’s constituency. Petitioners and those volunteering to collect signatures must be residents of the riding in question.

If the threshold is met, a riding-wide recall election will be held. If a simple majority votes to recall, the MLA is removed from office.

For MLAs, there is a two-year window between elections in which someone can initiate a petition, starting 18 months after an election and ending six months before the next election.

Municipal and school board officials can be removed by petition alone, though the petition must have signatures from 40% of the district’s population, rather than 40% of eligible voters.

Premier Jason Kenney initially promised recall legislation in the lead-up to Alberta’s 2019 election.

At a press conference Monday, Kenney said the law “allows the voters, effectively, to fire their representatives if they break public confidence.”

“We committed to the most dramatic democratic reforms in Alberta history, to put Alberta voters in the driver’s seat, to make it clear that at the end of the day, ordinary Alberta voters are the boss in our democracy,” Kenney said. “And if they lose faith in their elected representatives, they can hold them to account in between elections.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation welcomed the announcement and lauded Kenney for following through.

“Recall legislation is a big win for government accountability in Alberta,” said Franco Terrazzano, the CTF’s Alberta director. “We always deserve the ability to hold our politicians, including councillors and mayors, accountable, and Kenney’s recall bill gives us that ability.”

If passed, Alberta would be the second province in Canada, after British Columbia, to have a recall mechanism.

The province will have to develop regulations on spending and advertising in recall campaigns, limiting how much political parties, citizens and third-party groups can spend supporting or opposing recall petitions and votes.

In February, United Conservative Party house leader Jason Nixon indicated the Alberta government would also introduce a bill on citizen initiatives, which would allow for citizen-led petitions and referenda on policy and legislation, rather than politicians.

Harper says foreign policy experts miscalculated China’s aggressive ambitions

By
True North Wire
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Former prime minister Stephen Harper told the Annual Conference of Defence Associations Institute on Friday that foreign policy experts had miscalculated China’s aggressive ambitions when sizing up the world power in the past.

Harper made the comments during a discussion moderated by his former national security adviser Richard Fadden, the National Post reports. 

”A huge change that’s occurred, particularly since I left office, has been the United States really stepping away from a lot of its traditional leadership role. China is now a competitive rival of the United States across a range of spheres,” said Harper. 

“The reading of China was completely wrong by so-called China experts for many years. China is not an insular and passive country. It is a large country with hegemonic ambition.”

According to Harper, under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s leadership, China has taken steps to be more combative and upfront in its foreign policy approach. 

“All of the pillars of Chinese aggressiveness were already in place and clear to anyone who wanted to open their eyes. The difference with President Xi is he became more visibly outspoken on China’s ambitions.”

“We in the West agreed to a series of economic rules that have essentially allowed the Chinese wide ranging, in some ways almost unlimited, access to our markets for both trade and investment purposes. China can be a lot smaller than us in terms of standard of living and still be an economy twice the size of the United States so I think this is a real challenge.” 

Recently, the House of Commons voted to classify China’s mass-encampment and forced sterizilization of the country’s Uyghur minority a genocide. 

While the motion received bipartisan support, the Liberal cabinet and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau collectively abstained from the vote. 

Critics have accused the Liberal government of being too soft on China. Members of the Conservative Party have called on Ottawa to implement Magnitsky-style sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials directly involved in the genocide as a form of punishment. 

Newfoundland refuses to release pre-election coronavirus modelling

By
True North Wire
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The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has refused to release the coronavirus modelling that was used to justify the date of their provincial election – which has been postponed as a result of an outbreak of the virus. 

When Liberal Premier Andrew Furey called the election in January, he said the decision was based on “probabilistic modelling” which suggested holding an election was safe despite a global pandemic and low vaccination rates.

When CBC requested the modelling from the Department of Health and Community Services, they were denied based on cabinet confidentiality.

 “As I have said repeatedly, the election was called January 15 after consistently low prevalence of COVID-19 in Newfoundland and Labrador, outbreaks in three communities quickly contained, and getting through the holiday season without an outbreak,” Furey said in a statement.

“No one could have predicted the outbreak that occurred.”

Furey, who was appointed premier after former Liberal leader Dwight Ball resigned in August, was not obligated to hold an election until August 2021 according to N.L. election laws.

Furey cited the economy, public spending and the province’s enormous debt as reasons to seek a new mandate.

Just days before the Feb. 13 election date, the province faced an outbreak of the virus, leading the election to be postponed in half of the provincial districts before the whole election was eventually rescheduled until Mar. 25.

N.L. Progressive Conservative leader Ches Crosbie says he doubts Furey had real data to back up his decision, but called it irresponsible to hide whatever documents he has.

“I don’t think the documents exist but if they did exist, [Furey] should waive any claim of cabinet confidentiality,” Crosbie said. 

“If he wants to convince the public that he had sound grounds and reasons based in public safety to call the election when he did, then he should show to the public that he had that.”

Newfoundland and Labrador currently face the poorest economy in Canada, dealing with both the highest rates of unemployment and per-person debt.

Manitoba government seeks to pass bill targeting rural crime and trespassing

By
True North Wire
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The Government of Manitoba hopes that new legislation currently before the legislature will help clamp down on rural crime. 

One of the two bills seeks to protect farmers by requiring consent for anyone hoping to enter a “biosecurity zone” like a farm or a container transporting animals. 

According to Agriculture Minister Blaine Pedersen, the law is aimed at preventing unauthorized entrances of animal rights activists. 

“That’s part of it. Obviously, if people are entering a facility unauthorized and posing a danger to … the safety and biosecurity, this is what’s really looking to address that,” said Pedersen. 

“It is not specifically for (activists), but it does cover that element.”

The bill hopes to amend the government’s Petty Trespasses Act , the Occupiers Liability Act and the Animal Diseases Act. 

“These amendments address concerns we have heard regarding rural crime, including trespassing,” said Pedersen. 

“Farms are not only places of business; they are homes where children and families also reside. Trespassing can expose farms and food production facilities to biosecurity risks that could spread disease, and may cause injury and stress to farm animals.”

Rural communities in Manitoba have been advocating for more action on rural crime for some time now. In November 2020, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) passed a resolution at their 22nd annual convention to “lobby the Province of Manitoba and Government of Canada to implement more robust and effective strategies to reduce rural crime and to enact timely, meaningful and stiffer penalties against those who commit crimes or profit from them.”

According to Statistics Canada, the prairies and Western provinces are disproportionately impacted by high rural crime rates.

“Rural crime rates were especially higher than urban crime rates in the Prairies. The rural crime rate was 42% higher in Manitoba, 38% higher in Alberta and 36% higher in Saskatchewan than the urban crime rate in each of these provinces,” writes Statistics Canada.

Only 4% of Canadian university arts professors are conservative

By
Lindsay Shepherd
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According to a new report on cancel culture and political discrimination in academia, 73% of Canadian university arts professors are leftists, and only 4% are conservative. What is it like for professors and graduate students to work in this greatly unbalanced environment?

True North fellow Lindsay Shepherd discusses the top 5 findings from this new report on campus free speech.

CPC MP Phil McColeman honours Walter Gretzky in House of Commons

By
True North Wire
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The late Walter Gretzky, the most famous father in hockey history, was honoured in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Phil McColeman.

Speaking to the House, the MP for Brantford-Brant remembered his legendary constituent and friend. Gretzky passed away on Mar. 4 at the age of 82.

“Walter Gretzky, a national treasure left us last Thursday to be with his beloved wife Phyllis in heaven,” McColeman said.

“His life was pure authenticity. Gratefulness and humility were his strengths. He touched the lives of millions, cheering on everyone equally.”

“The world’s greatest hockey dad and one of the greatest patriots of our time.”

Gretzky was born in Canning, Ontario in 1938 to parents who immigrated from Eastern Europe. As a young man, Walter and his wife moved to Brantford where they would raise five children including Wayne.

Walter followed Wayne’s extraordinary hockey career closely and became a household name along with his son as Canada’s most visible hockey parent.

Walter Gretzky contributed greatly to the sport of hockey across Canada and also supported many charities. He served as a national spokesman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and worked for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind among many other charitable ventures.

McColeman remembered Gretzky for his kind and friendly personality. Along with being extremely proud of Brantford and Canada, Gretzky always encouraged those around him to do their best.

“The nation mourns with you and it celebrates his life with you. He would often say ‘Brantford is the centre of the universe’ and when you’re in his company he would lean over and quietly say in your ear ‘you’re the best,’” McColeman said.

“Now we can debate the centre of the universe, but there is no debate about who was the best. Walter Gretzky, you were and will remain the best of the best of the best.“

“Rest in peace, my friend.”

FUREY: Leave the kids alone

By
True North Wire
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When the pandemic first began, Canada took cautious measures to protect children as public officials didn’t know much about COVID-19 and how it spread.

However, as we pass the one-year mark of the pandemic, some people are disregarding everything we’ve learned about the virus and the positive developments since the first wave, and are actually calling for strict restrictions on children again.

Anthony Furey discusses in his latest video.

Foreign Affairs Committee recommends recognizing genocide of Uyghurs and sanctions

By
True North Wire
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The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has recommended the Trudeau government take decisive action against China for its genocide against Uyghurs.

In its report, the committee recommended the government recognize the ongoing genocide and work to ensure Canada is not supporting China’s oppression of minorities through trade or technology.

“The Subcommittee recommends the House of Commons adopt a motion recognizing the Government of the People’s Republic of China’s persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang as constitutive of genocide,” the report reads.

“The Subcommittee is convinced that the treatment of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang meets the definition of genocide under the Genocide Convention. It also considers Canada’s international obligations under the convention and addresses the issue of crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.”

The committee includes members from all four major political parties.

The comittee also recommends the government use the Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, also known as the Magnitsky Law, to issue sanctions against Chinese government officials who are deemed responsible for the Uyghur genocide.

Since 2017, China has interned over 1 million Uyghurs, or nearly 10% of the entire Uyghur population. Survivors have reported widespread physical and sexual abuse as well as forced labour.

The committee report comes as the House of Commons recently voted to recognize the treatment of Uyghurs as a genocide. The prime minister and cabinet never showed up for the vote with the exception of Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau who abstained “on behalf of the Government of Canada.”

Harjit Sajjan maintains he is innocent regarding his handling of General Vance allegations

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Liberal Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan squared off against the defence committee on Thursday regarding his handling of ongoing sexual misconduct accusations against retired general Jonathan Vance and other senior military officials.

Throughout the hearing, Sajjan maintained that as an elected official he had the duty to not get involved in the investigative process despite being on the highest rank of military command.

“When it comes to investigations, I haven’t conducted investigations. I made that call at that time and it was the right call, not to intervene with an investigation but making sure that it was followed up by the appropriate authorities,” said Sajjan. 

“With respect minister, the Defence Act does give you the responsibility and you said that you couldn’t use a board of inquiry because it would have involved potential criminal charges or potential code of service violations but when you hadn’t looked at the information you couldn’t possibly have known that,” said NDP MP and committee member Randall Garrison. 

A prior testimony by the former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne revealed that he had met with Sajjan in 2018 to discuss the allegations against Gen. Vance but the minister swept the evidence away, refusing to see it. 

“I did tell the minister what the allegation was. I reached into my pocket to show him the evidence I was holding. He pushed back from the table and said, ‘No,’” Walbourne claimed during a March 3rd committee meeting. 

In response to Walbourne’s allegations, Sajjan disagreed with how the former ombudsman characterized their 2018 meeting. During a prior testimony, the minister also refused to disclose whether the pair had met and what the content of their meeting was about. 

“Last week, the former ombudsman presented his version of the facts. In my previous testimony, I wanted to respect the confidential nature of my meetings with the former ombudsman, but in light of his testimony, there are issues I need to set straight,” said Sajjan.

“I did meet with Mr. Walbourne on March 1st. At the end of a regular meeting with staff, Mr. Walbourne asked me to meet alone. A majority of this private meeting did not concern Gen. Vance […]. At the very end of this private conversation, Mr. Walbourne brought up concerns of misconduct involving the former chief of defence staff. He did not give me any details, I did not allow him to give me any details. I very purposefully respected the investigative process to ensure that it remained independent.” 

Despite Sajjan’s claims, critics have accused the minister of not doing enough to address the serious nature of the charges against the former military official. 

The Conservatives have since pushed to have Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Gen. Vance himself testify before the committee in the coming weeks. 

With regard to the allegations, the prime minister indicated on Wednesday that he had been aware of the interaction between Sajjan and Walbourne in 2018 but did not know about the details until it was reported in the media earlier this month.  

ESKENASI: Furor erupts over accusations of anti-Semitism surrounding NDP MP’s event

By
Sam Eskenasi
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Last week, Jewish organizations in Canada and the UK criticized MP Niki Ashton and the NDP for organizing an event with former Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn. The Board of Deputies of British Jews had previously accused Corbyn of turning the Labour Party into a “cesspit of anti-Semitism” and joined Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in criticizing the planned online event.

This week, a number of bloggers and writers have come to the defence of Corbyn and Ashton, condemning the Jewish groups for “demonizing” them.

Sam Eskenasi discusses the original complaints surrounding Jeremy Corybn and why the definition of anti-Semitism lays at the heart of this issue.

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