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Thursday, July 10, 2025

Whole Foods bans employees from wearing poppies

By
True North Wire
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Update: Whole Foods has updated its policy to allow the poppy to be displayed on staff uniforms. In a statement, the grocery chain also noted they would be observing a moment of silence on November 11 and making a monetary donation to the Legion Poppy Fund.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford sent out a follow-up tweet stating, “It should not take legislation to do the right thing.” assuring that this would not happen in Ontario again.

The Whole Foods supermarket chain has told its employees that they are not allowed to wear poppies in the lead-up to Remembrance Day.

For 99 years, Canadians of all walks of life have worn poppies to honour those who fought and died fighting wars on our behalf. 

The company policy became public when an anonymous Whole Foods employee in Ottawa told CBC that the symbol had been banned so employees would not be seen “supporting a cause.” 

“I was basically told … if they allowed this one particular cause, then it would open up the door so that they would have to allow or consider allowing other causes,” the anonymous employee said.

“I can’t believe that anybody is telling me that I’m not allowed to do that, that I’m not allowed to do this one simple, little token of my appreciation, of my thanks.”

Whole Foods Market Inc. is a U.S.-based supermarket chain with 14 stores in Canada. Whole Foods has been owned by Amazon since 2017.

In a public statement, Whole Foods claims that by not allowing employees wear a poppy, they were somehow going to be more focused on the job.

“The updated company dress code provides our Team Members with one simplified and unified policy to follow when working in our stores. Like many of our policies, our dress code is in place to ensure that we are prioritizing operational safety and serving our customers by keeping the focus in our stores on selling the highest quality food and fulfilling Whole Foods Market’s purpose of Nourishing People and the Planet,”

Whole Foods added that they will be making a donation to the Royal Canadian Legion.

The Legion, who organizes the poppy campaign, has struggled financially since the pandemic began.

Last year, hockey legend Don Cherry was fired by Sportsnet after he bemoaned the fact no one in Toronto was wearing a poppy. Cherry was accused of being “racist” by activists on social media.

“I live in Mississauga, nobody wears them… very few people wear poppies. Downtown Toronto, forget it! Downtown Toronto nobody wears a poppy, and I’m not going to waste [my time],” Cherry said during a November 2019 episode of Coach’s Corner.

“You people love — they come here, whatever it is, they love our way of life. You love our milk and honey, at least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that.”

Liberal MP says taxpayers are able to bear the cost of public sector raises

By
True North Wire
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Liberal MP and President of the Treasury Board Jean-Yves Duclos said Canadians are capable of footing the cost of salary increases for public sector employees. 

Duclos made the comments during the House of Commons Committee on Government Operations and Estimates meeting Wednesday night. At the time, the committee was discussing the federal government settlement with Canada’s largest federal public service union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC).

Earlier this year, the Liberals gave public sector employees a retroactive 2.8% raise for 2018, an additional 2.2% increase for 2019 and a 1.35% raise for this year.

In July, the government projected a $343.2 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year. The added debt will bring the net federal debt to $1.2 trillion by next March.

“Why would you give such a generous increase when the country is in such a raging economic downfall and running such massive deficits?” asked Conservative MP Kelly McCauley during the committee meeting.

“First, respect for the work of public servants. Second, respect for the capacity of taxpayers to pay for the important work of the public service,” said Duclos. 

“A trillion-dollar debt and you say they’ve got the capacity for more spending? Wow, that’s very generous of you on the taxpayers’ behalf,” replied McCauley. 

In October 2019, it was revealed that the allegedly non-partisan PSAC campaigned for a Liberal re-election with the hopes of a “fair collective agreement” for federal public service workers. 

“We liked the fact that they did promise us that they would get back to us after the election regarding a fair collective agreement for our 140,000 federal public sector members,”  said national president of the union Chris Aylward.

The president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) Debi Daviau had also indicated that the union expects the government to “reciprocate” their support.

FUREY: The media’s anti-Trump narrative backfired

By
True North
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A few weeks ago, Anthony Furey predicted voters were getting sick of the media lecturing them about how terrible and “racist” Donald Trump was.

It turns out Anthony was right. While we still don’t know the final results of the US election, exit polls show Trump made gains among a number of groups – including blacks, Latin, Muslim and LGTBQ voters.

Anthony says the anti-Trump narrative backfired.

Calgary city council approves motion to defund Calgary Police Services

By
True North Wire
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Months after activists in Calgary called for the defunding of the police, Calgary’s City Council has approved a motion to reallocate the Calgary Police Services’ (CPS) funds.

Joined by fellow councillors George Chahal and Gian-Carlo Carra and with the support of Mayor Naheed Nenshi, Coun. Evan Woolley tabled a motion that proposed reallocating $20 million from the Calgary Police Service’s budget into social services over two years. City council approved the motion with a 9-5 vote.

Although the motion received the support of Calgary City Council, many Albertan politicians have publicly opposed the idea of defunding the police.

In a September10 tweet, newly appointed Minister of Justice Kaycee Madu said that the calls to defund the police are misguided, referencing a letter he wrote to Mayor Nenshi on September 9. 

“Our elected leaders should ensure that our law enforcement have the resources they need to protect communities that are disproportionately affected by crime,” Madu said.

On November 1, Mayoral Candidate and Councillor of Ward 11 Jeromy Farkas announced he would not be continuing to serve on the Calgary Police Commission after his year long mandate was not renewed by council. 

In an interview with True North, Farkas said he opposed the motion for a number of reasons. 

“There wasn’t any due diligence done in terms of the money being asked, for both sides of the equation. First, to understand what impact that would have on the police, and second, where that money would’ve been spent otherwise,” Farkas said.

Farkas says he would be supportive of a motion to see a reduction in the need for police services in Calgary and does not oppose funding of the extension to social services via Calgary’s rainy-day fund. His objection and proposed amendment came from removing resources from CPS.

“Policing accounts for only 13.2% of city expenses and it was significantly cut from 2018,” said Farkas. 

“Police spending has held flat and even declined despite the population growth of our city, the opening of the downtown drug injection site, the resurgence of organized crime and the spike in social disorder and violence brought on by very deep economic hardship.”

During the council meeting that saw the motion pass, Farkas had his microphone cut while pushing for the amendment: believing that the outcry from some members of their community to cut police funding by large percentages or complete abolishment is an extremist view. 

When he refused to withdraw the comment that this motion was a “dangerous attempt to appease extremists,” Mayor Nenshi then cut his mic.

“Just by virtue of cutting off my microphone, I think demonstrates the danger in such polarized conversations like this, we should be encouraging more public debate,” said Farkas. 

“I do support the community investment framework. I just believe it should be in place first, rather than leave the police force in a precarious situation facing massive budget cuts.”

The council is slated to deliberate the allocation of the first $10 million this month.

Calgary has seen a sharp rise in violent and non-violent crime since 2017 and a steady population growth hovering around 2% since the same year.

“Ridiculous” for Aylmer, Ont. to demand proof of mask exemptions, constitutional rights group says

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A constitutional rights group is sounding the alarm about the town of Aylmer, Ont.’s request to demand proof of medical exemptions to the government’s order requiring face masks.

Aylmer appears to be digging its heels into its mandatory mask orders days ahead of an anti-mask rally planned in the southwestern Ontario community Nov. 7.

The letter to Ontario’s solicitor general, first reported on by True North, is “ridiculous” and designed to intimidate those seeking to exercise their rights, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) says.

“The letter…to mandate that people provide proof of their medical exemption, is intrusive and frankly ridiculous,” said JCCF staff lawyer Lisa Bildy. “For one thing, the demonstration is expected to be entirely outdoors, where masks aren’t even required in the first place. Secondly, there is very little evidence that masks do anything at all, beyond providing psychological comfort or discomfort, depending on the wearer.”

Everyone is required to wear a mask indoors at most locations. However, individuals with certain medical conditions are exempt from this mandate and do not presently need to provide proof, as doing so would require unnecessary disclosure of personal information.

Bildy said that granting Aylmer’s request would actually weaken the mask mandate, making it more susceptible to a court challenge.

“To now require proof of an exemption would likely make the masking order overly broad, and not a minimal impairment. It would be more likely to be successfully challenged for discrimination on the grounds of disability, or for interference with peoples’ reasonable expectation of privacy,” she said.

Aylmer’s October 27 letter asks that Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones “reconsider the orders in the context of requiring proof of medical condition for exemption from the donning of face coverings.”

Jones’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

The town’s letter comes on the heels of Aylmer Mayor Mary French preemptively declaring a state of emergency ahead of the anti-mask demonstration, citing “the potential for civil unrest and service disruptions relating to protests and demonstrations regarding COVID-19 directions…”

Organizers with the Nov. 7 Freedom March have said they fully intend to exercise their right to assemble, despite the declaration. A counter-protest is also expected to take place. 

Despite the pushback from the police and the city council, rally organizers expect a larger turnout than the last rally held in October, which attracted hundreds of participants. 

“There is a huge ground-swell of support, and publicity, for this Saturday’s lawful Public Freedom March, and we’re pleased about that.  We’re calling on anyone who comes out to be peaceful, civil, and polite,” said Terry Neudorf, who is the husband of rally organizer, Kimberly Charlton Neudorf.

“Kimberly has worked with the Aylmer Police and the OPP from the very beginning stages of planning.  And while I don’t know if I would particularly use the word cooperative, they have kept the lines of communication open.  We have to realize that for them, an event like this is also quite unprecedented, and they are probably scrambling to do their job as best they can, and we assume that they’ll do it well.”

Disclosure: Lisa Bildy and the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms are representing True North and its fellow Andrew Lawton at no cost in their litigation against the federal government and the Leaders’ Debates Commission.

PBO releases damning reports calling out Liberal spending secrecy

By
True North Wire
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Canada’s federal budget watchdog slammed the Trudeau government for a lack of transparency over federal spending. 

On Wednesday, the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux released two damning reports outlining its secrecy over federal spending habits. 

“While the sum of these measures is significant, the amount of information that is publicly available to track this spending is lacking, thus making it more challenging for parliamentarians to perform their critical role in overseeing government spending and holding it to account,” writes the report. 

“This lack of data is not a result of it not being available. The Department of Finance had been providing biweekly updates to the standing committee on finance, but stopped when Parliament was prorogued in August.”

The second report by the PBO on its $600 million per year gender pay gap equity legislation also revealed an attempt by the Liberals to hide the true costs from taxpayers.

“[The Trudeau government] refused to disclose information or data regarding employee compensation. Therefore, PBO relied on publicly available sources in its analysis of employee compensation for the federal public service.”

This is not the first time that Giroux has called on more openness and transparency in disclosing the data around the government’s recent massive spending spree. 

In May, Giroux told the House of Commons finance committee that “details are missing” from some of the government’s coronavirus spending measures and that an accurate estimate of the deficit could not be arrived at due to a lack of information. 

According to the latest estimate by the PBO, the Liberal government has spent an estimated $176 billion on coronavirus relief measures so far this year. 

In May, Giroux also estimated that the federal government’s debt could reach one trillion dollars by this year. 

Calgary councillor claims he was ousted from position after refusing to call police systemically racist

By
True North Wire
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Calgary mayoral candidate and city councillor Jeromy Farkas believes he was ousted from another stint with the Calgary Police Commission after refusing to call policing systemically racist. 

“This removal follows Farkas’ refusal to endorse statements that the ‘foundation of policing is racist’ and his opposition to Council’s plan to drastically and further reduce the Calgary Police Service budget,” read an official statement from Farkas’ office. 

Farkas’ request to continue to serve in his position, which was set to expire by the end of October, was turned down by council last Thursday. 

Farkas’ departure comes prior to Ward 8 Councillor Evan Wooley’s plan to raise a motion demanding a 5% or $10 million decrease to Calgary Police’s budget. A majority of the council have stated that they support Wooley’s plan. 

“By courting the ‘abolish and defund police’ movement, City Council is playing with fire and it’s Calgarians who are getting burned,” said Farkas. 

“There is no position or title in the world that is worth putting my family, neighbours, and constituents in dangers. I would rather be fired than be made to do or say something that would put Calgarians at risk.”

Calgary has seen an unsettling increase in crime in recent memory. According to Statistics Canada data, the city’s ranking on the Crime Severity Index (CSI) rose for the fourth year in a row in 2019. 

Last year, the city reported a CSI of 92.9 which was the 10th highest across the country and several degrees higher than Canada’s 79.5 average. 

Calgary is not the only city floating plans to defund its local police force. 

Toronto Mayor John Tory has endorsed a plan to implement 80 changes towards defunding the city’s police force. 

The plan suggests the introduction of “alternative” methods to policing, it calls on the Toronto Police Service’s budget to be reduced and for the force to address systemic racism within its own ranks. 

CRA tight lipped on audits targeting small businesses during the pandemic

By
True North Wire
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The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is not elaborating on a spike in audits of small businesses who benefited from the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. 

On Wednesday, opposition parties in the House of Commons voted on a Conservative motion to suspend audits on Canadians for the next seven months. 

“The first thing the government can do is stop treating small business owners like tax cheaters. Stop auditing them and coming in asking for onerous documentation while they are in survival mode and trying to cope with the pandemic,” said Conservative MP Pat Kelly who brought forward the motion. 

The motion calls on the “government to immediately pause the audits of small businesses that received the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy until at least June 2021, and provide additional flexibility in the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and other support programs.”

However, according to Blacklock’s Reporter the CRA would not provide further information on where auditors have been allocated since relocating 3,000 of them to focus on coronavirus programs on April 21. 

“Just as these businesses were busy battling COVID, what did the government demand of them? A nine-page audit request template that asks for corporate minute books, two years of bank statements, employment contracts and organizational charts,” said Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole. 

In 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was criticized for implying that small business owners evade taxes. 

“I think small businesses should be paying less taxes, we just have to make sure that it’s done right … We have to know that a large percentage of small businesses are actually just ways for wealthier Canadians to save on their taxes and we want to reward the people who are actually creating jobs,” said Trudeau during a CBC interview aired September 8, 2015. 

China says US is “persecuting and suppressing” Chinese reporters

By
True North Wire
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During a Monday press conference, a spokesperson with the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of persecuting and suppressing its journalists. 

“Upholding the principle of answering words with words and actions with actions, China will take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese journalists,” said Wang Wenbin. 

“We once again urge the US to immediately give up its illusions and stop the political persecution and suppression of Chinese reporters. Do not say that you were not forewarned by China.” 

According to the 2020 World Press Freedom Index, China ranked nearly last on the list. At 177th place, China was only three steps ahead of North Korea. In comparison, the US ranked 45th. 

“By relying on the extensive use of new technology, President Xi Jinping has succeeded in imposing a social model in China based on control of news and information and online surveillance of its citizens,” claims the Index. 

Xi has been trying to export China’s oppressive model by promoting a “new world media order” under China’s influence. China’s state and privately-owned media are now under the Communist Party’s close control while foreign reporters in China are encountering more obstacles in the field.

Under the direction of President Donald Trump, the US restricted the number of Chinese state journalists allowed to operate in the country. 

According to the order, only 100 Chinese nationals working with state media organizations will be allowed to be based in the US. 

ESKENASI: Should Canadians be skeptical of the polls?

By
Sam Eskenasi
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While we still don’t know who the winner of the US election is yet, one thing is clear – the polls were wrong again.

For months, pollsters in the US were predicting a Biden landslide. The results so far show they were way off – it’s a lot closer and Trump still has a chance at re-election.

In his latest video, Sam Eskenasi takes a look at Canadian pollsters and asks should Canadians be skeptical of the polls as well?

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