Trudeau’s remarks began with the boilerplate condemnation of violence but then moved into eerie terrain. “We will always defend freedom of expression, but freedom of expression is not without limits,” he added, in remarks that have generated attention around the world. “We owe it to ourselves to act with respect for others and to seek not to arbitrarily or unnecessarily injure those with whom we are sharing a society and a planet.”
There’s more than a whiff of victim-blaming in this. But, more problematically, the notion of some version of free speech that excludes those things deemed by the likes of Trudeau to be arbitrary or unnecessary isn’t free speech at all.
A simple question indeed. And Trudeau has failed in his answer.
A controversial Canadian imam told his congregation that the French teacher beheaded by an Islamist extremist last month in France was a “filthy excuse of a human-being.”
“Not too long ago, a teacher in France chose to show those insulting cartoons to his class, at his school,” said Younus Kathrada in a video published by MEMRI.
“Then about a week ago, it is said – I repeat, it is said – that a young Muslim man confronted this cursed individual, he confronted this evil-spirited man, he confronted this filthy excuse of a human-being on the street, and he beheaded him.”
On October 16, 2020, middle-school teacher Samuel Paty was brutally murdered and decapitated him on his way home from school by an 18-year-old Islamist extremist.
The perpetrator, who is believed to have shouted “Allahu akbar” during the attack targeted Paty for showing kids cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a civics class on freedom of speech.
Seven individuals have so far been charged in relation to the killing.
Canadian Imam Younus Kathrada: Samuel Paty was a Cursed, Evil-Spirited, Filthy Excuse for a Human-Being pic.twitter.com/i9DiZ5ZOs7
In the sermon, Kathrada also calls for his followers to boycott French goods and asks Allah to “destroy the enemies of Islam, and annihilate the heretics and the atheists.”
Kathrada is no stranger to courting controversy for his beliefs in Canada. Last year, Kathrada told his congregation to not vote for “filthy” candidates who support “homosexuality, zionism” in the 2019 federal election.
Earlier that year, he also told a youth audience that saying Merry Christmas to somebody was a sin worse than murder.
French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the brutal murder and other terrorist attacks in France in recent days.
“We believe in the Enlightenment, and women have the same rights as men. People who think otherwise, let them do it somewhere else, not on French soil,” said Macron.
France’s security alert has been raised to its highest level in recent weeks and Macron has deployed 4,000 troops across the country to handle the flare up of extremism.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that free speech is “not without limits” in response to the terrorist attacks.
“We will always defend freedom of expression. But freedom of expression is not without limits,” said Trudeau.
“In a pluralist, diverse and respectful society like ours, we owe it to ourselves to be aware of the impact of our words, of our actions on others, particularly these communities and populations who still experience a great deal of discrimination.”
Almost four years to the day since the 2016 presidential election, and the mainstream media still doesn’t understand why Trump won. True North’s Andrew Lawton talks about what’s changed and what hasn’t since then.
Also, Justin Trudeau is teaming up with Botswana, a country that prosecutes journalists, to teach the world about press freedom, and the never-ending lockdown continues.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has strongly condemned the outsourcing of Canadian jobs to China.
In a speech to the Canadian Club Toronto on Friday, O’Toole said that well-paying unionized jobs have disappeared from Canada because “corporate and financial elites” chose greed over the national interest.
“It may surprise you to hear a Conservative bemoan the decline of private sector union membership but this was an essential part of the balance between what was good for business and what was good for employees. Today, that balance is dangerously disappearing,” he said.
“Too much power is in the hands of corporate and financial elites who have been only too happy to outsource jobs abroad. It’s now expected of a shareholder to ask a CEO: ‘Why are we paying a worker in Oshawa 30 dollars an hour when we could be paying one in China 50 cents an hour?’”
Since being elected leader of the Conservatives, O’Toole has focused on fighting for manufacturing and blue-collar workers. O’Toole has created a “Canada first” economic plan which would focus on working families and manufacturing jobs.
Research has shown that decline in manufacturing jobs had a major impact on blue-collar families. From 2000 to 2015, the number of men aged 21 to 55 employed full-time declined by 5% nationwide, coinciding with declines in manufacturing.
O’Toole says that an economy without manufacturing or natural resources results in low-wage jobs without security, pensions or benefits.
“Do we really want a nation of Uber drivers? A future without the possibility of home ownership? A sense of inevitability? While some benefit, millions are losing hope and resentment is growing.”
Part of retaking manufacturing is taking a strong stance on China, according to O’Toole. China has increasingly taken an aggressive stance against Canada since the arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
“Thirty years ago, the Western world’s political, financial and business elite made a bet: we would allow China to have unfair access to our market while they protected their own… Once it became a rich and prosperous country, we hoped it would turn into a good actor.”
“We all know that this has not happened.”
In September, China’s ambassador mocked the idea that Canada will be able to bring manufacturing jobs back from China, comparing it to reversing the tide of the ocean.
More than a year after Justin Trudeau pledged to plant two billion trees by 2030, the natural resources department says there’s no plan or budget to implement the program.
During a meeting last week of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Natural Resources, assistant deputy minister of natural resources Beth MacNeil told MPs that no plan to plant the trees exists yet.
“I do not have a detailed plan at this time. We are awaiting a budget,” MacNeil said.
“It’s shameful there is no plan,” replied Conservative MP Rachael Harder. “This was supposed to start in 2020. It obviously has not.”
This follows a report from September suggesting the Liberal government had yet to plant a single tree.
This stands in stark contrast to the clear pledge Trudeau made during the 2019 election on the heels of his meeting with Swedish truant and activist Greta Thunberg.
“We’ll plant 2 billion trees over the next ten years. That’s it. That’s the tweet,” tweeted Trudeau on September 27, 2019.
The government would now have to plant more than 222 million trees a year to meet its target.
Despite the slow uptake, the government still insists it is on track to fulfull the promise.
“Officials are currently preparing a comprehensive plan to fulfill this commitment,” Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan’s press secretary told La Presse at the time.
“Once programs are in place, planting can begin in various locations across Canada, including public forests, private lands, crown lands and urban spaces.”
Canada is teaming up with Botswana to co-host this year’s Global Conference for Media Freedom, despite Botswana’s record of prosecuting journalists for reporting on government conduct and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Botswana’s constitution guarantees freedom of the press, but a section of the country’s pandemic emergency powers broadly allows the state to imprison or fine journalists who publish information about COVID-19 or the government’s response to it “with the intention to deceive.”
This provision has been criticized for being broad and vague.
A spokesperson for the governing Botswana Democratic Party said it “has become necessary to curtail some rights to prevent the spread of the virus,” according to an article in South Africa’s the Daily Maverick.
In June, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Botswana government to drop charges against journalists David Baaitse and Kenneth Mosekiemang, who were arrested and interrogated for seven hours as a result of their investigative journalism about Botswana’s intelligence service.
A Global Affairs Canada spokesperson said on background that Botswana was included as a co-host of this year’s conference to ensure representation from the Global South.
While the United Kingdom government is not co-hosting, the country remains the co-chair of the Media Freedom Coalition.
“Media freedom is a priority for the UK and we are committed to working with our partners around the world to promote free media and the safety of journalists,” said a spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
“As co-chair of the Media Freedom Coalition we continue to support its vital work, including the Global Conference on Media Freedom hosted by Canada and Botswana this year.”
At last year’s conference in London, then-foreign minister Chrystia Freeland honoured a Malaysian politician Gobind Singh Deo for his commitment to freedom of the press despite his record of calling for extraterritorial prosecution of journalists who criticize members of his government.
“There’s work for all of us to do,” Freeland said in defense of the accolades.
“This is not meant to be a group of angels and a group of countries that are perfect. What it is meant to be is a group of countries that…sincerely appreciate the importance of media freedom.”
Freeland’s press secretary attempted to deny True North and Rebel News access to a scrum about press freedom at the same conference. Both media outlets were eventually allowed to participate when other reporters from mainstream media outlets threatened to boycott the event.
At the conclusion of the 2019 conference, Canada indicated it would be hosting 2020’s in Canada. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the format has been switched to a virtual one, to be hosted November 16.
“We very much look forward to continuing our important work with the Media Freedom Coalition,” said Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne. “Join us online to show your support for media freedom, and let’s stand together in our united efforts to overcome threats to the vital work and safety of journalists around the world.”
A 24-year-old man has been charged after a stabbing attack on Halloween left two people dead and five wounded.
Carl Girouard is facing two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder following a rampage in Quebec City’s historic district Halloween night.
Police say they received multiple calls on October 31 reporting victims that were being stabbed around the four locations in Quebec City, including the Château Frontenac. Girouard was reportedly seen in a medieval Halloween costume and wielding a katana-style Japanese sword.
At a press conference on Sunday, Quebec City police Chief Robert Pigeon said that Girouard’s motive is not known, though the attack was clearly premeditated.
“Last night we were thrust into a night of horror when a 24-year-old man who does not live in Quebec City came here with the clear intention of taking as many victims as possible,”
“Dressed in medieval costume and armed with a Japanese sword, everything leads us to believe he chose his victims at random.”
Girouard’s home address is in Ste-Therese in the Montreal-area, police believe he travelled to Quebec City specifically to make “the most damage possible.”
Girouard does not have a criminal record and is not believed to be associated with any terrorist group. Police say he once uttered threats five years ago while in a “medical context” but did not elaborate.
The deceased have been identified as Francois Duchesne, 56, and Suzanne Clermont, 61. The other victims are all expected to recover.
Donald Trump is the most polarizing figure in American politics. His critics don’t just oppose him, they despise him, and they interpret his every move as an existential threat to America and the world.
But those who can get past his rough exterior see a different man: a champion of the working class, a successful businessman who takes a pragmatic approach to policy, an outsider who is unafraid to do things differently, and a patriot who loves the American people and strives to get his country back on the right track.
I recently sat down and interviewed historian and intellectual giant Lord Conrad Black for my podcast, the True North Speakers Series.
Black and I discussed his recent book, Donald J. Trump: A President Like No Other, which is part biographical and part recap of Trump’s monumental political feats: winning the Republican primary despite every effort of the party, being elected to the highest office in the world with no prior political experience and a rag-tag team of novice yet loyal staff, withstanding 360 degree attacks from the Washington establishment and still managing to implement sweeping reforms.
Unlike almost every other political observer, Black took Trump seriously from Day One.
He recognized Trump’s unique ability to connect with disaffected voters from both parties and use his celebrity appeal to pull off the politically impossible — all without kowtowing to political correctness or bowing to the woke mob.
I have to admit, when Trump first burst onto the political scene in 2015, I was skeptical. I thought he was uninformed and that his campaign was a publicity stunt.
But the more I observed Trump, and the more he accomplished, I came to realize a few factors that made me adjust my view.
Trump is an agent of change who stands up for the forgotten people of our society, while teasing and triggering the most powerful — including the dishonest media, which he exposed as unserious and hyper-partisan.
Black made strong arguments in our interview, including his assessment that Trump’s first term in office was one of the most successful in American history.
Black isn’t wrong. Prior to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Trump presided over a booming economy — his tax and regulatory cuts unleashed opportunity and upward mobility across the board. The median income rose 9.2%, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest in 50 years, half a million manufacturing jobs returned to America and the poverty rate fell to an all-time low.
His economic accomplishments are matched by other domestic achievements, including his commitment to appointing conservative justices, a criminal justice reform bill that gave non-violent offenders a second chance and a new regime of school choice that gives kids living in poor neighbourhoods the opportunity to attend a good school and get on a better path in life.
Trump’s foreign policy record is equally impressive. He decimated ISIS and killed its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He pulled out of the disastrous Iran Deal, isolating the terrorist state and curbing its ability to destabilize the region. He moved the Israeli embassy to its capital in Jerusalem, proving the prevailing wisdom of the foreign policy establishment wrong, and used that momentum to facilitate historic diplomatic peace deals between Israel and top Arab states.
Likewise, and despite all the warnings that Trump is a tyrant and a war-monger, he is the first president in my lifetime not to start a war.
Trump’s biggest faults are his lack of message discipline and his violation of rhetorical norms. If you can get past these flaws — which I agree cannot be defended — you will see a champion of the working class, a change agent negotiating a better deal for his people and a powerful force for good in the world. He deserves to be re-elected.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that free speech is “not without limits” in response to a question about the Charlie Hebdo Muhammad caricatures and the terrorist attacks in France.
“We will always defend freedom of expression. But freedom of expression is not without limits,” said Trudeau.
“In a pluralist, diverse and respectful society like ours, we owe it to ourselves to be aware of the impact of our words, of our actions on others, particularly these communities and populations who still experience a great deal of discrimination.”
The prime minister’s comments come only weeks after a school teacher in Paris was beheaded days after he showed a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils during a lesson.
In another incident, an Islamist extremist from Tunisia killed three people in a vicious stabbing attack in Nice, France that left one elderly victim “virtually beheaded.”
Only a few days after the Nice attack, a Greek Orthodox priest was gunned down as he was closing his church.
In a video response to the terrorist attacks in France, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole referred to the attacks as “another attack on democratic values, on liberties.”
“The terrorists won’t make us back away from our principles. Here in Canada, we’re going to fight to create a country that’s proud of its principles, proud of its openness and our freedom of expression,” O’Toole said.
France is in mourning.
An attack on France is an attack on all democracies.
French President Emmanuel Macron has taken a hardline stance against the Islamist terror attacks in his own country.
“We believe in the Enlightenment, and women have the same rights as men. People who think otherwise, let them do it somewhere else, not on French soil,” said Macron.
Macron has since raised France’s security alert to its highest level and deployed 4,000 troops across the country to handle the crisis.
