Edmonton pastor James Coates remains behind bars until his trial in May because he refused to stop holding church services the way he always had. Lawyer John Carpay of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms joins True North’s Andrew Lawton to explain why this is not only a blow against religious liberty, but a fundamental rejection of the transparency and evidence the government claims drives its decision-making.
Also, a look at woke television. Plus, Andrew announces a brand new True North documentary series about Justin Trudeau’s assault on Canadian gun owners. Find out more at https://assaulted.ca.
Liberal Minister of Infrastructure Catherine McKenna condemned Islamophobia on Twitter Wednesday despite abstaining from a vote to classify China’s treatments of the Uyghur Muslim minority as a genocide a few days prior.
In response to an alleged attack targeting a Muslim woman in a hijab, McKenna wrote that she was appalled by the incident and her government stands against all forms of Islamophobia.
“This is appalling. It is unacceptable that we continue to hear about attacks targeting Muslim women. We will stand against Islamophobia, discrimination and hatred of all kinds,” wrote McKenna in a Wednesday evening tweet.
The alleged attack in question was believed to have taken place on February 17 where the woman was allegedly approached by a man who threatened to physically assault and kill her.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet were a no-show as the House of Commons voted on a Conservative motion to condemn the Chinese government’s actions.
Despite the prime minister’s abstention, several Liberal Party members broke ranks and supported the initiative.
When questioned about classifying China’s mass interment of minorities as a genocide last week, Trudeau said the word was “extremely loaded” and applying it would be complicated.
“First of all, on determinations of genocide… The principles of international law and the international community in general I think rightly takes very very seriously the label of genocide and needs to ensure that when it is used it is clearly and properly justified and demonstrated so as not to weaken the application of genocide in situations in the past,” said Trudeau.
“That’s why it’s a word that’s extremely loaded and is certainly something that we should be looking at in the case of the Uyghurs.”
Despite Trudeau’s reluctance, the prime minister agreed with findings by a 2019 commission directed to look into Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women which concluded that Canada was perpetrating an ongoing genocide.
The campaign of a Calgary mayoral candidate is threatening to sue the Alberta-based publication The Western Standard over an article alleging improper use of funds.
On February 23, the publication published a story titled, “Former councillor alleges Gondek mayoral campaign violated election finance laws.”
The article goes on to discuss a formal complaint filed with the Alberta Chief Electoral Officer by a former alderman alleging that Jyoti Gondek used third-party funds to pay for a campaign mail-drop.
Gondek’s campaign manager Stephen Carter has since denied the allegation and threatened the publication with a lawsuit on Twitter since the article was published. Carter also worked as a consultant and ran the campaign for incumbent Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
True North spoke to The Western Standard publisher Derek Fildebrandt who called the lawsuit threat “frivolous” in a statement on the matter.
“Stephen Carter has promised legal action against us both privately and publicly, but no legal notice has been received. We have instructed him to send any legal notice directly to our lawyer, former Alberta Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Jonathan Denis,” said Fildebrandt.
According to Fildebrandt, his publication followed every journalistic procedure before publishing the story, including giving Gondek’s campaign ample space to respond to the allegations.
“It is common and routine for media to report on official allegations made to election authorities. There have been hundreds of stories over the last 3 years about complaints made about the UCP and Jason Kenney that Stephen Carter made no objection to. Similarly, we are reporting on this complaint,” Fildebrandt told True North.
“Dave Naylor used the term ‘alleged’ (or its variations) nine times during the story, and we clearly state in black-and-white that the allegations have not been proven. We have extensive room for comment from the campaign and published Carter’s comments extensively (personal insults and all). They have no case. They know it. They are simply trying to bully independent media from publishing stories that they find inconvenient. Stephen Carter is notoriously litigious, and we are prepared to fight.”
True North also reached out to Carter for comment but had not received a reply by the time this article was published.
The average time Canadians are on hold when they call the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is now at a record 25 minutes, with some waiting hours just to speak to an agent.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the CRA recently told the House of Commons human resources committee that the abysmal wait times are partially due to Canadians calling about their pandemic benefits.
“It is absolutely true there are some people waiting a very long time,” said Assistant Revenue Commissioner Frank Vermaeten.
“The average wait time tends to be around 25 minutes, but of course it’s the outliers. It’s often when people need to speak to what we call a tier two or tier three agent, a specialist, that they have to wait this long. So, it’s very unfortunate.”
Vermaeten claimed the CRA is receiving around 1 million calls per week recently, up from 350,000 this time last year.
Records published by the CRA in 2020 stated that callers put on hold waited nine minutes and 41 seconds on average. Of the around 32 million calls made in an average year, just 12.7 million resulted in the caller speaking with an agent.
“Just to give you context, the call demand is just unprecedented. Call handle time went up 40%,” said Vermaeten.
“A lot had to do with identity theft, with the increased sophistication of cyberattacks. That’s what really has led to unexpected demands.”
Many of the calls were regarding the federal government’s various pandemic benefits. Canadians have been receiving their tax slips for CERB and other benefits since early January.
Some pandemic benefits, such as CERB, were not taxed before Canadians received them, while others were. Many Canadians are now concerned they will be forced to repay the money because of unclear requirements of some programs.
A security officer hired by the federal government to conduct quarantine checks has been charged with sexual assault.
According to Halton Regional Police, a 27 year-old security officer attempted to exhort cash from a woman during a quarantine compliance check in Oakville, Ont. before sexually assaulting her.
“Police investigation revealed that on February 18, 2021, the accused attended a residence in Oakville to conduct a quarantine compliance check,” the statement reads.
“The accused informed the victim that they were in violation of the quarantine order and demanded that a fine be paid in cash. When the victim declined to pay, she was sexually assaulted by the accused.”
According to police, the accused is employed with a private security firm the Public Health Agency of Canada hired to contact and track individuals who are quarantining. Police want to remind the public that contracted quarantine officers are not members of law enforcement and cannot issue tickets or make arrests.
“On February 23, 2021, HRPS officers with the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit located and arrested 27 year-old Hemant (full name) of Hamilton. Police will not be disclosing the name of the security company that employs Hemant, but can confirm that he has been suspended.”
The accused is set to appear in court on March 23 in Milton, Ont.
In January, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam announced that “security contractors” were being hired to ensure compliance with quarantine rules in 35 Canadian cities.
A sexual assault case also occurred in Montreal this week. A man has been charged with sexual assault after an incident at a Montreal COVID-19 quarantine hotel.
According to CTV News, the man is alleged to have entered a woman’s room, refused to leave, partially undressed and touched the woman against her will. He left when she threatened to scream.
Robert Shakory faces one count of sexual assault, one count of breaking and entering and one count of criminal harassment. He is set to appear in court on May 3.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said it’s very concerned by the allegation and is working with the hotel and law enforcement.
NBC will be pulling an episode from the Canadian series “Nurses” after audience members and Jewish organizations accused the series of an anti-Semitic depiction of Orthodox Jews.
In the episode titled “Achilles Heel,” a Jewish man who requires a bone graft on his leg refuses the procedure over concerns that it could come from somebody non-Jewish.
“A dead goyim leg. From anyone – an Arab, a woman,” says the man’s father.
“Or God forbid an Arab woman,” the nurse character sarcastically interjects.
Several Jewish organizations including the Simon Wiesenthal Center expressed outrage over the Canadian-produced series. The show was originally created by ICF Films and eOne in association with Corus Entertainment.
“The writers of this scene check all the boxes of ignorance and pernicious negative stereotypes, right down to the name of the patient, Israel — paiyous and all. In one scene, NBC has insulted and demonized religious Jews and Judaism,” a statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center stated.
“Orthodox Jews are targeted for violent hate crimes – in the city of New York, Jews are number one target of hate crimes in US; this is no slip of the tongue. It was a vile, cheap attack masquerading as TV drama. What’s NBC going to do about it?”
The show, which is set in Toronto, Ontario follows several nurses as they navigate their careers at a hospital.
According to a source with NBC, the broadcaster has no plans to re-air the episode following the backlash.
The province of Alberta and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) are heading to court, looking to defeat a federal bill which they claim would end resource development in Canada.
Alberta, supported by Saskatchewan and Ontario, filed a challenge against Bill C-69 in the Alberta Court of Appeal. The province is looking to see the bill ruled unconstitutional.
“This overreach of federal jurisdiction threatens to eviscerate provincial authority over resource development and must be rejected by this court.”
Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, gives the federal government a wide range of new criteria to consider when reviewing proposed resource projects.
The bill allows the government to cancel projects on the grounds of identity politics, gender parity and social impacts, leading critics to call it the “no more pipelines bill.”
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which spoke as an intervener in the challenge, argued the bill blurs the lines between federal and provincial accountability on resource development. If C-69 kills future resource development, future government revenue will also be stunted.
“We need to be able to develop our resources to create jobs and get our neighbours back to work, and we also need these projects to help us pay for hospitals, teachers and lower taxes,” said CTF Alberta Director Franco Terrazzano.
“Resource projects help pay the bills and when they aren’t able to generate that revenue politicians start looking to families to fill the budget gap.”
The CTF calculates that a lack of pipeline capacity could cost taxpayers $12.8 billion between 2013 and 2023.
In a statement to True North, a spokesperson from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) said that Bill C-69 was properly consulted on before being passed and does not infringe on provincial rights when reviewing future projects.
“The Government of Canada maintains that the Impact Assessment Act (the IAA) does not infringe on provincial jurisdiction. We delivered on our promise to Canadians and put in place better rules for major projects that restore public trust, protect the environment, advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and ensure good projects can go ahead in a timely way,” IAAC wrote.
“Canadians expect us to work together on issues that matter to them – from tackling climate change, to growing the economy, to creating good jobs and recovering from the pandemic. That is what we are, and will continue to be focused on.”
US Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert cited Canada as an example of the dangers gender ideology poses when written into law.
Boebert’s comments come as the House of Representatives debates the Equality Act which was proposed by the Democrats as a part of a campaign promise by newly elected US President Joe Biden.
The bill seeks to codify and create penalties for discrimnation based on gender identity. Republican critics of the bill have stated that the bill would harm biological women and that it conflicts with religious freedoms.
US Congresswoman @laurenboebert just cited Canada as an example of gender laws gone wrong during #EqualityAct debate
"Once the left codifies their ideology, they will come for your speech. It is already happening in Canada, where you can be fined and imprisoned for misgendering" pic.twitter.com/6eWYcaedLC
“The power-hungry left will not slow down until every school, every church, every workplace, every State, and every community adheres to the left’s definition of gender,” said Boebert.
“Once the left codifies their ideology, they will come for your speech. It is already happening in Canada, where you can be fined and imprisoned for misgendering someone.”
In 2016, Canada amended the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code after passing the controversial Bill C-16 which added self-declared gender identity as a protected category under the law.
Critics of the legislation like University of Toronto Professor and international best-seller Dr. Jordan B. Peterson argued that the law constitutes a form of compelled speech where Canadians will be compelled under threat of imprisonment to refer to transgender individuals by their preferred gender pronouns.
“These laws are the first laws that I’ve seen that require people under the threat of legal punishment to employ certain words, to speak a certain way, instead of merely limiting what they’re allowed to say,” Peterson told the Toronto Sun.
Dr. Peterson along with several other witnesses testified before a Senate hearing to argue against the legislation in 2017.
Since the legislation passed there have been several cases throughout Canada where courts have required people to refer to transgender individuals by their professed gendered pronoun.
In British Columbia, a court ruling forced a father who was fighting to prevent his female-born teenager from taking life-altering testosterone injections to use his child’s professed pronouns in public and in private or be found guilty of perpetrating “family violence.”
A group of Toronto-area construction and development companies have banded together to fight “systemic racism and discrimination” in the construction industry.
The companies, along with other unions and associations, adopted an anti-racism declaration Wednesday, called the Toronto Declaration of Inclusive Workplaces & Communities.
A press release on the declaration says it “supports the construction industry’s zero tolerance policy for discrimination or acts of hate of any kind.”
“Systemic racism and discrimination harm our construction industry. Bigotry has no place in our communities, and we commit to standing up for the rights and dignity of all to promote inclusive, equitable, safe, and respectful workplaces,” reads a statement by the Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario.
No industry can escape the clutch of the anti-racism Gestapo.
An accompanying photo of a Daniels Corporation construction site in Toronto’s Regent Park area, shows a placard with “Black Lives Matter” written in bold at the top.
“The Daniels Corporation denounces any and all acts of hate. We stand firmly against all forms of racism and prejudice. We stand in solidarity with the Black community,” the placard says.
According to Toronto Mayor John Tory, the initiative was prompted after several nooses were reportedly discovered last year on Toronto construction sites by black employees.
“As mayor, I have made it clear that racism and discrimination have no place in Toronto. We have met with workers, developers, contractors, unions, and associations to create this declaration and take a stand together against any form of hatred in our city. This past year, when nooses were found on construction sites in Toronto, we recognized the tragic reality that anti-Black racism continues to exist in our society and that we need to keep doing all we can to bring an end to it,” Tory said.
“We worked together with the industry to find ways to bring an end to racism within the sector. This declaration was a result of those meetings and an important step in the industry’s plan to move forward, support their employees, and to build a more inclusive workplace for everyone.”
