A “laundry list” of companies, including Canada’s home shopping channel, have stopped carrying MyPillow products, which the company’s founder and CEO Mike Lindell says is cancel culture at work. Yet in a wide-ranging interview on The Andrew Lawton Show, Lindell says the company is doing better than ever.
Tune in as Lindell and Lawton talk about faith, business and politics, and Lindell’s memoir, “What Are The Odds: From Crack Addict to CEO.”
Watch the full episode of the Andrew Lawton Show.
The CBC is continuing its push to sue the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) for allegedly infringing on the Crown corporation’s copyright after the party used the broadcaster’s news footage in an election advertisement.
In a submission made to the Federal Court on Thursday, a lawyer representing the CBC claimed that the Conservatives exploited the broadcaster’s reputation for trustworthiness when it used the footage and degraded its reputation.
“The works in issue are the products of CBC’s skill and judgment; they reflect its high journalistic standards, practices, efforts and ethics. The use and the unfairness of the use poses a real risk of eroding CBC’s trustworthiness and reputation in the eyes of the public,” said CBC lawyer Andrea Gonsalves.
“That’s antithetical to the very reason that material was created in the first place. The use of the materials here degrades CBC’s journalistic work by deploying it to partisan ends.”
During the 2019 federal election, the Conservatives published a political advertisement criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s record in office.
Originally, the lawsuit named CBC journalists Rosemary Baton and Jon Paul Tasker as applicants but the broadcaster has since removed the two journalists claiming that the Crown corporation “was the driver of this process, not the journalists.“
The CBC has since argued that the use of the clip was “sensational and one-sided” and that they had concerns that the ad made the public broadcaster look pro-Conservative.
In response to the latest legal argument, the CPC has claimed that the broadcaster’s targeting of the party is selective considering the fact that other parties have also used CBC content in their ads.
“Despite the concern that CBC professes for its journalistic integrity, only the CPC faces legal action for the use of CBC content,” argued the CPC in response to the claims.
“That strongly suggests that this case amounts to little more than CBC’s selectively enforcing its copyrights to distance itself from one — and only one — political party.”
The pro-life Canadian publication LifeSite has been kicked off of YouTube with its entire catalogue vaporized. Yesterday, Facebook made a vague announcement about how it will be undertaking steps to reduce the political content that users see. True North’s Andrew Lawton talks about the latest in Big Tech’s purge of conservative voices, and shares highlights from a True North/Civitas Canada panel on Big Tech censorship.
Also, MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell joins the show to talk about his walk in faith, business and politics – and his own censorship at the hands of Big Tech companies.
The co-chair of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table Adalsteinn Brown said during a Thursday afternoon briefing that there was a “very real risk” of a third lockdown for the province in the coming months.
“Without the ability to respond quickly and effectively, without the ability to control spread in the community, we face the very real risk of a third wave and potentially a third lockdown,” said Brown.
During the press conference Brown was joined by Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr David Williams.
According to Ontario’s projections, a third wave of the virus is possible due to the recent detection of COVID-19 variants in the province. Currently, Ontario has 236 cases of the U.K. variant, making it hold the largest share of the 393 cases detected nationwide.
“The impact of this third wave will be as inequitable as the first two waves with case and death rates highest in our racialized and low socio-economic status neighbourhoods. There will be little time to react quickly because of how fast the variants spread. We are–let me be clear–operating with uncertainty, that is the nature of a new disease with new variants. We need to do much as we can to reduce that uncertainty,“ said Brown.
Health officials stated that a stay-at-home order and an aggressive vaccination campaign is necessary to combat the incoming wave caused by the variants.
The new models come just as Premier Doug Ford announces an easing of the province-wide lockdown.
This week, the Ford government moved to gradually reopen Ontario’s economy and announced an end to the state of emergency declared in January.
Stay-at-home orders were also lifted for a few parts of the province including the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington region, Renfrew County and Hastings and Prince Edward Counties. Stay-at-home orders are also expected to be lifted in other parts of the province next week.
“Our number one priority will always be protecting the health and safety of all individuals, families and workers across the province,” said Premier Ford in a news release.
“But we must also consider the severe impact COVID-19 is having on our businesses. That’s why we have been listening to business owners, and we are strengthening and adjusting the Framework to allow more businesses to safely reopen and get people back to work.”
The Canadian home shopping network Today’s Shopping Choice (TSC) has yanked MyPillow products from its catalogue, according to company CEO Mike Lindell.
In an interview on True North’s The Andrew Lawton Show, Lindell said he has always had a “great relationship” with the network, formally called The Shopping Channel, but accused it of succumbing to “cancel culture” by severing ties with his Minnesota-based pillow company.
TSC has joined what Lindell says is a “laundry list” of retail brands no longer carrying his products, which include pillows, mattress toppers, towels and bedsheets.
“We lost probably fourteen box stores, (Today’s Shopping Choice) in Canada, which I’ve got a really great relationship with,” Lindell said. “They did that. I mean, I couldn’t believe it. I’m going, ‘They’re not even in the United States.’”
A search for “MyPillow” on TSC’s website yields only results for competitor products, and pages for MyPillow products still listed in Google’s search results direct users to empty pages.
In recent weeks, MyPillow has faced growing backlash as a result of Lindell’s support for former US president Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was rife with fraud. Last week, Lindell released a documentary titled “Absolute Proof,” which he claims lays out definitive support for the claims, which have not been proven in court.
Twitter suspended Lindell’s account, and later suspended the MyPillow account as well after Lindell sent a tweet from it.
Despite the controversy, Lindell said he is not backing down, noting the company is still expanding even with the retail challenges.
“Is it affecting my business? I have a laundry list of box stores where they attack them and they succumb to the cancer culture. They’re trying to cancel me out,” said Lindell. “We’re busier now than we’ve ever been. Ever. People are getting behind us, and we’ve hired 150 more people in two weeks. MyPillow is at an all-time high.”
Today’s Shopping Choice is owned by Rogers, which did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Lindell, a recovering drug and alcohol addict, founded MyPillow in 2009 after inventing the company’s flagship pillow design. The company has sold 41 million units to date, thanks in part to a marketing campaign that has heavily targeted talk radio and cable news stations.
NDP MP Charlie Angus tweeted on Wednesday implying that former US President Donald Trump deserved a fate worse than impeachment.
Currently, the former president is facing his second impeachment trial in the Senate for allegedly inciting an insurrection during the January Capitol Hill riots.
“This video is a must watch. It is the prosecution video of the horrific violence that took place in Washington. It is truly shocking. Impeachment is the least of what should befall Donald Trump,” tweeted Angus linking to a heavily edited video of the event.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul has indicated that the Democrat-led impeachment effort has “zero chance” of conviction.
According to Paul, 45 Republicans have pledged to stop the proceeding in its tracks. The US Constitution requires two-thirds of the Senate to vote in favour of impeachment for a conviction to succeed.
“Zero chance of conviction. Forty-five Republicans have said it’s not even a legitimate proceeding so it’s really over before it starts. As far as witnesses, I think unlikely to be witnesses; if they do want witnesses, there’s going to be so much evidence that the president had nothing to do with this,” said Paul.
As exclusively reported on by True North, nearly two weeks after Trump lost the 2020 election, the NDP continued to obsess over the president on social media.
On the eve of election night, NDP MP Peter Julian went so far as comparing the Republicans to Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s. Julian also claimed that “Donald Trump represents fascism,” “white supremacy” and “unbelievable patriarchy.”
YouTube has deleted the account of socially conservative news outlet LifeSiteNews.
On Wednesday, LifeSiteNews reported that YouTube permanently deleted their account, along with every video. LifeSiteNews claims to have had over 300,000 followers on YouTube.
LifeSiteNews was founded by the Campaign Life Coalition in Toronto in 1997. The outlet gives a voice to social conservatives and emphasises “traditional Judeo-Christian principles” in its reporting.
Speaking to Breitbart, LifeSiteNews VP Gualberto Garcia Jones said that the move by YouTube was expected given the increasing censorship across mainstream social media platforms.
“The truth is, we’ve been anticipating this for some time. YouTube, along with other Big Tech corporations, are simply not interested in allowing anyone to dissent from their state-approved, liberal ideology,” he said.
“Fortunately, we’ve already taken preemptive measures to ensure the truth will continue to reach the ears of those most in need of it in these dictatorial times.”
LifeSiteNews has moved its videos to Rumble and promises to grow their presence on alternative social media platforms.
In a statement, YouTube said LifeSiteNews repeatedly published content surrounding coronavirus which it considers misinformation.
“In accordance with our long standing strikes system, we terminated the channel LifeSiteNews Media for repeatedly violating our COVID-19 misinformation policy, which prohibits content that promotes prevention methods that contradict local health authorities or WHO,” said the spokeswoman.
“Any channel that violates our COVID-19 misinformation policy will receive a strike, which temporarily restricts uploading or live-streaming. Channels that receive three strikes in the same 90-day period will be permanently removed from YouTube.”
Among recent videos about coronavirus published by LifeSiteNews include citizens opposing lockdowns in the United States and medical professionals expressing skepticism surrounding coronavirus vaccines.
Foreign affairs critic and Conservative MP Michael Chong said that the federal government needs to consider all options, including a boycott, when it comes to the upcoming 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
In recent months, the opposition has pressured the governing Liberals to act on the issue of China’s ongoing genocide being perpetrated against the country’s Uyghur and Turkic Muslim minority.
“Conservatives are deeply concerned about the genocide of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in China. We strongly urge the Liberal government to work with Canada’s allies to take action,” Chong wrote in a statement made to True North.
“All options should be on the table, including a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 as part of a wider plan to work with our allies to reset relations with China.”
In recent weeks, the call for a boycott has gained popularity across party lines. The latest Canadian politician to join in on the effort to stop Canada from attending the event was Green Party leader Annamie Paul who demanded that the federal government pull out of the occasion.
“If an ongoing genocide is not reason enough to relocate a sporting event, then my question is, what is?” said Paul during a press conference earlier this week.
“China has proven itself to be incredibly resistant to liberalization of human rights and fundamental freedoms. here is no reason to credibly believe that the celebration of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, alongside a genocide, will produce any such results.”
Paul is joined by nearly two dozen MPs and Quebec MNAs who penned an open letter earlier this month comparing the Communist Party of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs to the Nazis in the 1930s.
“Some may argue that sports and politics should not mix. We would respond that when genocide is happening, it is no longer a matter of politics, but of human rights and crimes against humanity. We cannot accept the current status quo,” said the letter.
“We want to ensure that the medals they win in 2022 are not tainted by what will no doubt go down in history, like the 1936 Berlin Games, as The Games of Shame.”
It is estimated that a million Uyghurs including men, women and children are being held in concentration camps where they are subjected to torture, rape and other horrid treatment.
According to the editor-in-chief of the state-backed publication The Global Times, the Chinese regime will respond to any country that boycotts the Olympics with serious sanctions towards them.
Facebook is planning on reducing the amount of political content Canadian users will be subjected to on its platform in response to recent unrest in the US and pressure from international governments to regulate social media.
“During these initial tests we’ll explore a variety of ways to rank political content in people’s feeds using different signals, and then decide on the approaches we’ll use going forward,” wrote Facebook product management director Aastha Gupta in a blog post on the announcement.
“One of the top pieces of feedback we’re hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services.”
Canada is not the only country Facebook has set its sights on as a target for the pilot. Brazil and Indonesia are also on the company’s radar with future plans to also introduce the content filter to the U.S.
According to Facebook, only a “small percentage of people” in the aforementioned countries will be impacted by the new algorithm.
“During these initial tests we’ll explore a variety of ways to rank political content in people’s feeds using different signals, and then decide on the approaches we’ll use going forward.,” wrote Gupta.
“COVID-19 information from authoritative health organizations like the CDC and WHO, as well as national and regional health agencies and services from affected countries, will be exempt from these tests. Content from official government agencies and services will also be exempt.”
The Trudeau government is currently in the process of introducing legislation which would force social media companies like Facebook and Twitter to better moderate “hateful” content.
Critics of Bill C-10 believe the government is attempting to regulate the internet.
Staff at a remote iron mine in Nunavut are allowed to leave after protesters occupied the road and airstrip for nearly a week.
On Wednesday, a judge issued a temporary court order allowing employees to leave the Mary River mine complex. Protesters agreed to clear the air strip and road to allow for exiting staff to go home.
The protesters had effectively trapped the mine’s 700 workers at a remote mining complex on northern Baffin Island.
Since Feb. 4, a small group of protesters have occupied the road and airstrip leading to the Mary River mine. The blockades are preventing staff and supplies from entering the facility.
“Many of the people working at Mary River have been on site for 21 days now and they are not being allowed to leave, nor are food and supply flights being allowed to land,” the mine’s operator Baffinland said in a statement.
“Working in the high Arctic, those on site bring enough additional medicine and supplies for potential weather delays, however continued suspension of air travel and blocking of medicine and supplies will have an impact in the near term.“
Baffinland is seeking an injunction to have the protesters removed. The temporary court order will remain in place until an injunction hearing is held on Saturday.
Emergency services such as search and rescue performed out of the Mary River air strip have also been shuttered.
The protesters are protesters against a proposed expansion to the mine which would see a railway built and increased shipping in the area. Protesters believe the expansion would hurt wildlife and infringe on Inuit hunting rights.
However, Baffinland says its expansion plans will include mitigation measures to protect wildlife and reduced ship speeds to minimize disturbances to marine life. In addition, Baffinland promises more than $2 billion in royalties to Inuit if the expansion is approved.
Nunavut is expected to make a final recommendation on the project to the federal government in March.