Most Canadians can agree that some of the coronavirus rules enforced by the government make sense. For example, getting tested for the virus prior to entering a long-term care home makes sense and should be properly enforced and followed.
However, there are some rules that the government is enforcing that are leaving many Canadians scratching their heads. For example, arresting a restaurant owner for operating his business.
Anthony Furey discusses in his latest video.
Chinese authorities have fined and sentenced a pastor to jail time for holding a religious service that wasn’t approved by the government.
According to ChinaAid, Li Chunzhe was arrested earlier in November in China’s Yunnan province after he held a service for local seniors in a rented office space.
A local resident told ChinaAid that “personnel from the district religion bureau said that it is illegal for believers to engage in religious events at a venue the government has not approved. Numerous police officers transported all the attendees to the police station for interrogation. That evening, officials released all those they had arrested but one—Li Chunzhe, who remains detained.”
Li was fined and spent five days in jail because he “disturbed the order of public places.”
Authorities have routinely pressured Li and his group to join the state-run Three Self Church, the only protestant church legally allowed to operate in China.
As the Three Self Church is an organ of the state, pastors are required to censor themselves and make their teachings fit state ideology.
The desire to “sinicize” Christianity and ensure every church complies with Communist doctrine has led to renewed persecutions of independent churches this year.
Earlier this month, the Christian Post reported that a pastor and six congregants were arrested at the Early Rain Covenant Church in Shanxi.
The Early Rain church-movement has been heavily persecuted over recent months, with authorities trying to force members to renounce their faith in interrogations.
Adam Skelly’s defiance of the government’s non-sensical lockdown measures has resonated with many Canadians.
After dozens of police officers barricaded Adamson Barbeque and charged and arrested Skelly, Canadians came to his rescue. Skelly’s legal defense fund has raised over $200,000 in just a few days.
True North’s Leo Knight says it’s clear Canadians support Skelly and not the draconian measures enforced by the government.
The Ontario government has proposed to put a cap on food delivery fees. While the government thinks they’re helping small businesses and consumers, it’s actually more problematic than they think.
Not only is this policy ineffective but it also limits the options for consumers and goes against the key conservative principle of free markets.
Sam Eskenasi discusses in his latest video.
Mainstream media journalists were in for an unpleasant surprise this week when they descended upon Adamson Barbecue in Etobicoke, Ont.
Instead of being welcomed with free poutine (courtesy of the prime minister) and the collegiality they’re accustomed to in the Ottawa Bubble, reporters were corralled onto the street by BBQ-joint owner Adam Skelly.
A video from the scene shows Skelly personally escorting members of the mainstream media off of his property, while supporters chant anti-media slogans nearby. In his own words, Skelly claims that mainstream media bias and unfair coverage were the reason behind his actions.
You can criticize Skelly for many things, but being unhappy with mainstream reporting isn’t one of them. From the very first day of Skelly’s protest, the narrative to paint the small business owner as a lawbreaker and even a racist had already begun to emerge in the press.
On Twitter, CTV News correspondent Scott Reid was calling on authorities to “chain the joint” and for Skelly to “get bent.” Meanwhile, Toronto Star contributors were commenting about how many Trump hats were present at the restaurant and writing that Skelly had “misinformation brain.” As for Huffington Post, it published a lengthy analysis about how the entire affair was “white privilege in action.”
This back and forth between Skelly, his supporters and the media continued for several days and even reached the doorstep of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s own home at one point, where one reporter claimed protesters attempted to “swarm” her.
To be clear, journalists are professionals who should be allowed to carry out their jobs unmolested and without fear of reprisal. However, it’s important to realize that the distrust of media doesn’t happen in a vacuum and the mainstream media themselves are largely to blame for the growing lack of trust people have towards them as an institution.
For years now, Canadians have been subjected to a newsreel that denigrates their public institutions and their very nationhood as a product of racism.
Meanwhile, Canadians have witnessed media companies lined up to accept thousands of dollars from a Liberal government that has repeatedly acted unethically and in the service of Laurentian elites.
And throughout this pandemic, they’ve looked on as the media lauded and even praised mass demonstrations in the name of progressive values, while hypocritically shaming others seeking to exercise those same rights.
With this in mind, should we really be surprised to see that trust in the media has flatlined in this country and alternative media outlets have risen to fill that gap?
According to the Digital Democracy Project, as of August 2019, 57% of Canadians viewed media organizations as biased. Additionally, at least one-third of people (including 25% of those that identify as non-partisan and 22% of left-wingers) believe that bias is exclusively targeting conservatives.
Even now, during a public health crisis, when trust in information is essential for survival, trust in the news media sits around 50%.
Instead of accepting responsibility for this shift and admitting their mistakes, the media decides to react with indignation and finger-pointing. For them, the fault always lies with Donald Trump, populism, QAnon or whatever bogeyman is hiding under their collective beds that week.
The number of Christians facing persecution has grown substantially since 2019 according to advocacy group Open Doors USA.
In their annual ranking of the 50 most dangerous countries for Christians, Open Doors estimates that there are 260 million Christians facing high levels of persecution, an increase of 6% from 2019.
The report indicates 2,983 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons in the last year – an average of 8 Christians killed per day. Further, 3,711 Christians were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced and imprisoned.
In addition, the report claims 9,488 churches or Christian buildings were attacked in 2019.
The biggest cause for concern is the immense increase in persecution and surveillance of Christians in China.
“China is also rolling out a country-wide Social Credit System (SCS) by which authorities plan to reward “good” citizenship and punish ‘bad.’ Already, one community has reportedly decided to add penalties for those who ‘illegally spread Christianity,’” said the report.
“The reality that the government keeps tabs on them, making sure they don’t get out of line. Making sure that Jesus doesn’t ever conflict with the wishes of the state.”
Persecution of Christians has increased in China as Premier Xi Jinping seeks to reclaim Communism’s “militant atheist” character. In China, the bible has been rewritten and Christian literature has been suppressed.
In terms of extreme persecution – those where many Christians risk death on a daily basis — North Korea, Afghanistan, and Somalia were ranked at the top.
Open Doors also raised alarms at the rapid increase in persecutions in Africa.
Countries such as Nigeria have seen hundreds of Christian die as a result of Islamist violence in recent years. Burkina Faso in West Africa rose 33 spots to 28th in 2020 as Islamism has led to increased attacks and dozens of clergymen murdered.
Another country of concern is Sri Lanka, which rose 16 spots to 30th. In 2019, a series of attacks on Christians on Easter Sunday claimed 359 lives. The attacks were committed by an ISIS-affiliated group.
How did facts and statistics about the coronavirus become a partisan issue? These bizarre partisan scraps between Conservatives and Liberals should not be happening.
Anthony says it should be worrisome to all Canadians that there are so few people who want to discuss the science behind the coronavirus but instead resort to partisan attacks.
A call readout prematurely released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) hints that Justin Trudeau was planning on raising concerns with Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole over alleged “misinformation” being spread by members of the Conservative Party.
“The Prime Minister also raised concerns around COVID-19 misinformation being promoted by Conservative Members of Parliament, given Conservative MPs recently downplayed the deaths of Canadians in Alberta due to COVID-19 and compared COVID-19 to the flu,” the readout purportedly claims.
According to O’Tooles Director of Communications Melanie Paradis, that call was to be scheduled for 5:15 p.m. today, nearly half an hour after the PMO readout was released.
The readout follows Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu’s accusations during Thursday’s question period where she alleged that Conservative MPs were spreading “dangerous fake news.”
“Mr. Speaker, do you know what will help Canadians’ lives? If the member opposite and the leader of the opposition stop their members from sharing fake and dangerous news like the member from Lethridge and the member of Carleton stay focused on saving lives of Canadians instead of spreading conspiracy theories,” said Hajdu.
Hajdu’s accusations partly targeted a column on recently released Alberta coronavirus data written by Toronto Sun writer and True North contributor Anthony Furey.
In the column, Furey discusses official government statistics and cites medical professionals on coronavirus comorbidities in the province. The statistics indicated that only ten people in otherwise good health have died from the pandemic.
“What does this tell us? For one, that there are a number of persons out there who are facing multiple serious health challenges and that they are particularly vulnerable to dying from COVID-19. Their lives matter and we need to think of ways to better serve them,” writes Furey.
“The flip-side of this is that it also tells us how very few people who are not suffering from a previous medical condition have actually died of COVID-19.”
The PMO sent out a revised release after the meeting between the two leaders concluded and omitted any mention of “misinformation”.
After much public outcry, Calgary city council has reversed its decision to defund the police.
Calgary city council has decided to fund additional social services using the city’s rainy-day fund instead of taking funds away from the Calgary Police Service (CPS) budget.
On November 3rd, Calgary city council, with the support of Mayor Naheed Nenshi, voted in favour of a motion to take $20 million from the police over two years to bolster social services concerning mental health and addiction.
However, not all Albertan politicians were in favour of the motion.
After the council voted in favor of defunding the police, Councillor Jeromy Farkas started a petition to “defend the police.” The petition received thousands of signatures and residents of Calgary reached out to their councillors to show support for police.
In addition, police Chief Mark Neufeld said earlier in the week he does not support arbitrary reduction in police services without first reducing the need for police response. A CPS report also shed light on how the CPS would be affected if they were defunded — the loss of $20 million would result in an inability to provide video evidence in a timely manner as well as reduced hiring and training.
After four days of deliberation, the CPS budget was left intact. The budget debate ended with a decision to fund expanded community investment by $8 million with the city’s rainy-day fund.
CPS will retain the $10 million in the 2021 budget. City council does not decide how the police budget is spent but the option remains for CPS to provide additional funds to social services if they choose to.
While the CPS will not be defunded in 2021, council did not approve a proposal of an additional $10 million for 60 new officers.
“It’s great that the council ultimately made the decision not to defund the police, but by flirting with this concept for so long the damage has been done. The morale on the front lines is a serious issue. I think the council, just like so many Calgarians, need to send a strong message that we support our front line.” said Farkas.
There is strong support for the idea of scaling up existing partnerships between CPS and organizations like Alberta Health Services and existing social agencies rather than funding an “unproven social experiment.”
“There were people calling for defunding or abolishing the police but that was never the mainstream view. Calgarians stepped up in a big way.” said Farkas.
The GoFundMe page set up as a legal defence fund for Adamson Barbeque owner Adam Skelly has surpassed $200,000 in donations.
Donations from over 3,300 people helped the fund surpass its original target of $10,000 overnight.
“Ontario’s Adamson BBQ has been opening every day to serve people lunch. And owner Adam Skelly is paying a high price for carrying that cudgel of liberty. Over the past 24 hours he’s been hit with numerous fines totalling tens of thousands of dollars for violating unconstitutional and draconian COVID “public health orders,” writes the fund organizer Barry McNamar.
“I don’t know him but I do know that guys like Adam are in short supply during this overblown COVID nonsense. And he deserves our support.”
Yesterday, Skelly was handcuffed and thrown in jail for defying provincial health orders and opening his business to dine-in services for the third day in a row.
On Thursday morning, a large contingent of police which included mounted units surrounded the premises of Adamson Barbeque and changed the establishment’s locks in the early hours of the morning.
Upon arriving at his business, Skelly proceeded to enter the building from a different door and force his way into his shop so that he could open for the day.
Police then took Skelly away for handcuffs to be held in custody until he has a bail hearing.
Skelly received a handful of charges for simply opening his business including attempting to obstruct police, mischief and failing to comply with the Reopening Ontario Act, among several other charges.
