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Thursday, May 22, 2025

“Not our role” to tell China it’s doing wrong: NS premier

By
True North Wire
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Outgoing Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil believes it isn’t the place of Canadians to question or criticize China.

Speaking to the China Business Council (CCBC), McNeil praised the ongoing economic cooperation between Nova Scotia and China.

“It’s not our role to go in and tell someone else they’re wrong. Our role is to go in and work with them and learn,” he said.

“I’m grateful and proud of where I live. I’m proud to be a Canadian but Chinese people are proud to be Chinese. And they have a way of doing things. Let’s go learn. Let’s teach each other. And let us grow economic ties.”

As premier, McNeil put a focus on strengthening ties between Nova Scotia and China, having personally met with the Chinese ambassador in the past. 

McNeil’s statements have been condemned as naive and dangerous as it has become known that China is committing genocide against Uyghurs and increasing persecution of Hongkongers, Christians and other minorities.

Further, two Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor remain in a Chinese prison after they were arbitrarily detained by China.

Former Canadian Ambassador to China David Mulroney called McNeil’s remarks shameful and foolish given China’s “genocidal behaviour” and mistreatment of the two Michaels.

“The remarks actually sound like something that China’s premier might say to a room full of gullible foreigners,” he told Postmedia.

“We don’t expect our politicians to insult other countries, but we do expect them to have the courage to speak honestly about major human rights abuses.”

McNeil will be stepping down as premier in the near-future, with transition already started with NS Liberal leader-elect Iain Rankin.

Committee advises London to remove “racism” from policies, partner with BLM

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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An official anti-racism task force in London, Ontario is recommending that the city remove unspecified anti-black and anti-Indigenous “racism materials” from its policies and public documents. 

The recommendation is one of 12 filed ahead of a Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Oppression Advisory Committee meeting to be held this Thursday. 

Other suggestions by the group formally known as the Community Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Table (CDIS) include fostering a “strong relationship” with Black Lives Matter London, changing the face of City Hall to reflect the city’s ethnic makeup and creating several anti-racism positions. 

“(The City of London shall provide) an update on the implementation and application of the Equity and Inclusion lens and the de-colonization lenses, with specific reference to what steps have been taken to identify and remove anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism materials and systemic barriers present in existing City of London policies, procedures, and operating manuals,” reads one recommendation. 

Another recommendation suggests London “implement a detailed plan to change the face of City Hall to reflect the composition of the city of London. Addressing issues relating to, greater diversity amongst Senior Leadership Team, and the members of the Police Force, Fire Services, and other Union Executive members. Ensure the plan includes specific targets and deadlines.” 

CDIS was launched in 2019 and includes five independent working groups made up of local volunteers and organizational representatives. 

Part of the effort’s mandate inclues “zero tolerance for oppression, discrimination and ignorance.” Among the strategies listed on the group’s official website include addressing one’s own privilege and to “encourage everyone to undertake de-colonization, anti-racism, anti-oppression” and other forms of social justice training. 

Over the summer, anti-racism protestors took to the streets of London in droves to call for the defunding of police following the controversial US death of George Floyd while in police custody.

At the time, Black Lives Matter London put out a list of demands including a call for the city to “defund the London police”, cease ticketing racialized people and for all prisoners being held or awaiting trial to be immediately release among several other demands. 

Trudeau’s War on Guns is a War on Facts

By
Andrew Lawton
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Justin Trudeau’s government has tabled its long-promised firearms legislation, which will, in Trudeau’s words, make banned firearms “completely useless” for anything other than surrendering them to the state. True North’s Andrew Lawton explains how the proposed bill does nothing about gun crime, and simply penalizes law-abiding gun owners.

Also, despite promises that “diversity is our strength,” a new report says parents need more choice when it comes to schooling for their children. André Schutten from ARPA Canada joins The Andrew Lawton Show to explain why.

Over 5,000 Canadians sent to secret COVID-19 facilities since pandemic began

By
True North Wire
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Over 5,000 Canadians have been forced into secretive holding facilities to isolate them since the pandemic began.

According to records obtained by the National Post as of Jan. 24, 3,111 have been detained in government approved hotels in Ontario, 790 in Quebec and 719 in British Columbia, with hundreds more between the other provinces.

The federal government has designated 11 places as isolation centres across the country for international travelers that enter Canada without acceptable negative tests. Some have claimed conditions as these facilities are not appropriate.

Travellers arriving from outside of Canada can expect to pay up to $2,000 out of pocket to stay at a government designated isolation centre while awaiting test results. 

Starting on Feb. 22, all international travelers will have to quarantine for 72-hours at select hotels. It is unclear at this time if the hotels currently being used to detain people will be part of this program.

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed concerns about forced quarantines, claiming that people are not being detained.

“I think it’s extremely important to make a clear distinction that these aren’t detentions; these are medically based isolations,” Trudeau said during his COVID-19 update press conference. 

“We are not detaining people. These are public health measures that are necessary to ensure that we are keeping Canadians safe, particularly given the arrival … of new variants in Canada, and extensively around the world.”

Angelo Vanegas told the National Post he was sent to a secret location returning home to Calgary from a trip to Mexico. Vanegas said the negative COVID-19 test he took in Mexico was not accepted.

“Once you arrive at the facility they start telling you the rules … you’re not allowed to order UberEats or Skip The Dishes, you’re not allowed to tell the location to even your own family,” Vanegas said.

Former detainees have complained about the food and the lack of time outside. No courtesy from staff and security has also been reported.

Trudeau says genocide designation “extremely loaded” when it comes to Uyghurs

By
True North Wire
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused to label China’s mass-internment of the Uyghurs a genocide on Tuesday. 

Trudeau called the designation “extremely loaded” and that it should be properly justified before being applied to the situation but maintained that it’s a course of action that Canada should be pursuing. 

“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.”

The prime minister has been facing increased pressure from the official opposition and Uyghur rights groups to take a harder stance on China’s ongoing human rights abuses. 

Over the weekend, newly-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau said the Liberal government has yet to determine whether China’s actions constituted a genocide. 

“I don’t know what the situation is with respect to that,” said Garneau during an appearance on CBC’s Power & Politics.

“That will be a government position. I don’t have a position on that at this point.”

The prime minister himself also stopped short of applying the term earlier this month but did “acknowledge” the US government’s decision to classify China as complicit in an ongoing genocide. 

In 2019, following the tabling of a report into the disappearances of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, Trudeau accepted the finding that the incidents amounted to an act of “genocide.” 

“We accept their findings, including that what happened amounts to genocide,” said Trudeau at the time. 

“There are many debates ongoing around words and use of words. Our focus as a country, as leaders, as citizens must be on the steps we take to put an end to this situation.”

O’Toole calls for 2022 Olympics to be relocated over China’s genocide of Uyghurs

By
True North Wire
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Conservative leader Erin O’Toole says the 2022 Beijing Olympics should be moved out of China as the world begins to learn about regime’s genocide against its Uyghur minority.

“It is time for Canada to ask the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Olympic games out of China. Canada has the right and duty to act,” O’Toole said Tuesday. 

“The Olympic games and the athletes who compete in them inspire each generation, and they must continue to inspire to provide such inspiration, but not in China in the shadow of a genocide.”

Evidence is mounting that China is committing acts of genocide against its Muslim Uyghur community. Around 10% of the Uyghurs community are in internment camps and survivors recall stories of systemic abuse and violence.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the word genocide is “extremely loaded” and that the government will need to further examine the evidence before making a determination on Canada’s position.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau recently refused to call China’s treatment of Uyghurs a genocide, adding that he does not have a position on Canada’s participation in the 2022 Olympics.

O’Toole says Canada should coordinate with its allies to pressure China and encourage the International Olympic Committee to move the games.

“Genocide is taking place in China right now. Approximately one million Ughurs have been forcibly relocated in detention centres for ‘reeducation’ in Xinjiang,” he said.

“People who have managed to escape have reported horiffic, coordinated violence using physical, mental and sexual torture. Woman have spoken of mass-rape and sexual abuse. Women have been subjected to forced sterilization.”

Canadian politicians from all major parties have said the 2022 Beijing Olympics should be moved or boycotted. On Monday, U.S. Congressman Mike Waltz (R-Florida) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing if it is not moved.

Earlier in February, Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker announced that Canada will not boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Banned guns “are now completely useless” Trudeau says after tabling gun bill

By
True North Wire
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The federal Liberal government tabled its long-awaited firearms bill today, including red flag confiscation powers, the possibility for municipal handgun bans and new rules for possession of the 1,500 firearm variants the government banned last May.

The government was expected to roll out details of its buyback plan for newly prohibited guns, but had no cost estimate or timeline for the program. Because not all of the 1,500 banned models required registration previously, the government does not know how many are in circulation in Canada, but estimated anywhere from 150,000 to 200,000.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair estimated, when pressed by reporters, a cost of between $300 million and $400 million with a proposed cost of $1,300 per firearm.

Trudeau acknowledged that “assault-style” firearm models were purchased legally before May’s order-in-council, enacted in the wake of the Nova Scotia massacre, but emphasized owners of these models will not be able to use or transport them without repercussions. The prime minister called the optional buyback  “fair compensation” for surrendering prohibited firearms.

“These weapons can no longer be bought, sold, bequeathed or discharged, and must be stored safely,” said Trudeau.

“These firearms that people bought legally over the years are now completely useless. If there are collectors that want to keep them, they will have to register them and show the measures they are taking to ensure they are safely stored.”

Blair issued a stark warning for those who choose to hold onto these guns.

“For the very few that people may choose to retain, there is a strong legislative framework that prohibits their use and creates real criminal consequences for their use,” said Blair.

“If anyone takes that firearm and discharges it at a range, that would be illegal use of a prohibited weapon that could result, and would result in criminal charges.”

In addition to the buyback, the announcement included new “red and yellow flag” laws. These laws would allow concerned friends or relatives of gun owners to apply to the courts for immediate removal of an individual’s firearms, or have their gun license suspended or reviewed.

Justice Minister David Lametti said he will review the current firearms classification framework and “close any gaps” in the existing laws. This would include modernizing the language used in the criminal code to include prohibited weapons, devices and ammunition. 

A criminal code amnesty is in place until April 30, 2022 to protect lawful owners from liability and enable them to comply with the law.

Trudeau government refuses to call treatment of Uyghurs genocide, undecided on boycott of Beijing Olympics

By
True North Wire
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Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says the government has not decided on if they will be sending government representatives to the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Speaking to CBC Power & Politics on Sunday, Garneau said he does not have a personal stance despite mounting evidence that China is committing genocide against ethnic minorities.

“I don’t know what the situation is with respect to that,” he said.

“That will be a government position. I don’t have a position on that at this point.”

Calls for the 2022 Olympics to be moved or boycotted due to the mass-interment of China’s Uyghur minority has increased in recent months. Evidence of forced labour and mass-sexual violence recently lead the United States to declare the situation to be a genocide.

Garneau said the Canadian government has not decided if they will declare the treatment of Uyghurs to be genocide but said the Trudeau government is “very preoccupied” with the Uyghur issue.

Canadian Olympic Committee chief executive officer David Shoemaker said that Canada will not boycott the games, claiming that taking part in sporting events will somehow allow for more discussions on human rights in China. 

Multiple politicians in Canada have recently argued for the Beijing Olympics to be moved or boycotted, including MPs from every major party.

In a recent letter signed by nearly 20 MPs and Quebec MNAs compared participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympics to participating in the 1936 Berlin Olympics under Nazi Germany.

On Monday, U.S. Congressman Mike Waltz (R-Florida) introduced a resolution urging the U.S. to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing if it is not moved.

“However, hosting the 2022 Winter Olympics Games in the PRC, where organized atrocities in [China] are ongoing; where the freedoms of Hong Kong‘s citizens are being trampled; where the fundamental right to worship is brutally persecuted; and in the wake of the ongoing global devastation from COVID-19; would be immoral, unethical and wrong,” the resolution states. 

Huawei Canada VP defends Meng Wanzhou, won’t condemn arbitrary detention of two Michaels

By
True North Wire
-

Huawei Canada’s vice-president of government relations Morgan Elliott insisted Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou have done nothing wrong and refused to call for the release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. 

On Saturday, Elliott appeared on Global News’ “The West Block” and defended the Chinese tech giant. 

“I think we’re all frustrated with the lack of communication between governments on a number of issues. The company has never done anything wrong; we’ve been transparent in all our interactions and Meng Wanzhou has done nothing wrong,” said Elliott.

During the interview, Elliott said Huawei Canada views the two years Kovrig and Spavor have spent languishing in a Chinese prison as morally equivalent to the house arrest of Meng.

“We’re seeing the situation of the previous president using companies, and unfortunately people, as political pawns. We’ve gotten into the situation today where Canada has been put in a hard place in terms of trying to deal with its friendship with Americans and its business interests in China,” said Elliott.

Recently it was revealed that while on bail, Meng has lived an increasingly luxurious life in Vancouver which includes private boutique shopping sprees, being allowed to have family visits from abroad and restaurant parties.

Kovrig and Spavor were both illegally detained shortly after the arrest of Meng by Canadian authorities. Meng is currently wanted by the US government for several fraud charges, including for allegedly breaking American sanctions on Iran. 

During his appearance, Elliott insisted that Huawei is separate from the Chinese government. However, critics argue that Huawei is an instrument of the Chinese state because the tech giant is legally obligated to hand over data to the Chinese government if it was asked. 

“We’re not a political entity. Unfortunately, Huawei has become surrogate for all things Chinese. We are not the Chinese government or an agent of the Chinese government. We are a company headquartered in China,” said Elliott.

To date, Canada has been the only Five Eyes member to not outright ban Huawei from having a role in its 5G network.

FUREY: More Canadians should question public health decisions

By
True North Wire
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When the pandemic began, many Canadians put their faith in public health officials for the proper course of action.

But as the months dragged on and as government decisions began affecting more of our daily lives, many Canadians started to ask questions.

Anthony Furey says more Canadians should “get in the game” and question public health decisions.

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