As the coronavirus pandemic and its ensuing lockdowns continue, public health officials and politicians still can’t tell us what the objective is.
Is the government’s goal to flatten the curve? Zero cases? Learn to live with the coronavirus? Nobody seems to know.
True North’s Anthony Furey says more Canadians are starting to not take the government seriously.
A church in Sri Lanka has been forced to close after Buddhist extremists and police threatened the pastor and congregation.
According to the Christian Post, a Christian pastor shut down his church in the town of Bakamuna after years of threats from local Buddhist monks escalated earlier this month.
The pastor says police arrested him at this home and took him to a group of Buddhist monks. The monks threatened him, claimed they received a list of people who attend his church and demanded that he stop preaching immediately.
The CEO of the Barnabas Fund Storm Hendrik says persecutions against Christians in the predominantly Buddhist island are on the rise.
“In recent years, we’ve seen a steady increase in mobs orchestrated by Buddhist extremists, often led by Buddhist monks against Christian communities. These mobs especially target Christian converts from Buddhism,” Hendrik said.
Hendrick says many in the West are surprised to hear that Christians are being persecuted by Buddhists.
“I think the Buddhism we are aware of in the West is very different from the Buddhism of Southeast Asia. The majority of Buddhists are peaceful. However, as I mentioned, there are these Buddhist extremists.”
In recent years, Christians have been increasingly persecuted in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka and Myanmar. In Myanmar, over 100,000 Christians have been dislocated and churches destroyed by the military under the guise of fighting rebels.
Violence against Sri Lankan Christians has also been perpetrated by extremists in the country’s Muslim population. In 2019, a series of attacks by Sri Lankan ISIS affiliates left 359 Christians dead.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right to freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. This right is guaranteed to every Canadian.
On Friday, in response to the terrorist attacks in France, Justin Trudeau said, “We will always defend freedom of expression but freedom of expression is not without limits.” He added, “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.”
True North’s Leo Knight says nobody has the right to not be offended. Trudeau should read the Charter of Rights of Freedoms.
As French citizens get slaughtered by Islamist terrorists because of France’s commitment to free speech, Justin Trudeau said free speech is actually constrained by “respect for others and to seek not to arbitrarily or unnecessarily injure those with whom we are sharing a society and a planet.”
True North’s Andrew Lawton says this negates the very nature of free speech, which includes the right to offend.
Also, Conservative candidate and former leadership contender Leslyn Lewis says that Canadian Conservatives need to stop opposing the United Nations’ Paris climate agreement, prompting Andrew to say Conservatives need to actually stop trying to win Liberal votes on the environment.
The Privy Council Office (PCO) is investigating several extremely anti-Semitic Facebook posts allegedly made by a senior analyst working for them.
The posts were alleged to have been made by an account purporting to belong to PCO analyst Nizam Siddiqui.
The PCO is the public service department of the Prime Minister.
Siddiqui’s posts imply Jewish people collaborated with Hitler and the Nazis. His posts also imply that Jewish people are genetically pedophiles and refer to Israel as a “parasitic, racist, apartheid state.”
True North reached out to the PCO for updates on the state of the investigation into the posts.
“The Privy Council Office takes this matter very seriously. We are shocked and disappointed with this content and we are taking immediate steps to determine the facts surrounding the involvement of this employee to enable us to respond quickly and appropriately,” PCO spokesperson Paul Duchesne told True North.
The PCO confirmed that a review is underway.
“The Government of Canada has zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind, and expects its employees to adhere to the Values and Ethics Code of the Public Service,” a PCO spokesperson told the outlet Isreallycool after it published an article bringing the troubling comments to light.
Both the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and the Canadian Friends of Simon Wisenthal Center (FSWC) condemned the anti-Semitic messaging and called on the PCO to immediately address the situation.
“We were gratified to receive assurances from the PCO that they regard the allegations as seriously as we do, and that an investigation and immediate action will be pursued to address the issue,” said a statement by CIJA.
“Our expectation is that the PCO will be forthcoming in providing full details regarding all aspects of these circumstances and that the individual in question will be dealt with in a manner that reflects the seriousness of his hateful actions and breach of public trust.”
Whatever happened to “we’re all in this together?”
We’re witnessing more people policing their neighbours and harassing strangers if they’re not following the government’s coronavirus rules. These incidents often turn violent.
True North’s Anthony Furey says we need to pause and reassess all these different rules as frequently as possible. Do we really need to do all this? Is it worth it?
Only days before Americans head to the polls, Canadian hockey legend Bobby Orr announced that he would be endorsing US President Donald Trump for re-election.
Orr, who is a Canadian but also resides in Florida, made the announcement in a one-page advertisement in a Friday edition of the New Hampshire Union Leader.
“When I look at America during these turbulent times, I keep trying to separate style from substance, fact from fiction. This much I know. Our current President has had to operate under extremely difficult conditions over these past several years,” said Orr.
“In addition, no leader anywhere signed up with the idea that dealing with a worldwide pandemic would be a part of their mandate. The attacks on our president have been unrelenting since the day he took office. Despite that, President Trump has delivered for all American people, regardless of race, gender, or station in life.”
US citizens will be heading to the polls on November 3, 2020.
During his time playing in the National Hockey League, Orr made it into the Hockey Hall of Fame after winning two Stanley Cups for the Boston Bruins.
Orr is not the only sports superstar that recently announced his support for the incumbent US President.
On the same day as Orr, NFL Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre also gave the president an endorsement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters yesterday that his government will be cautious not to comment on the US election until after it has taken place.
“Like people in countries around the world, Canadians are watching closely the elections in the United States and like people around the world we won’t be commenting on possible outcomes,” said Trudeau.
“We will continue to stand up and defend Canadian interests, look for greater opportunities for cooperation and look to deepen the already close ties between Canada and the United States, regardless of the outcomes.”
Liberal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino unveiled the Trudeau government’s updated immigration targets on Friday afternoon.
According to the new plan, the Liberals hope to bring into Canada 401,000 permanent residents in 2021, 411,000 in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023. When added together, Canada can expect 1,233,000 new immigrants over the next three years.
“Put simply, we need more workers, and immigration is the way to get there,” said Mendicino during a press conference.
The announcement follows a promise by Mendicino that updated immigration plans would be revealed before the end of the month.
The new targets significantly exceed the Liberal’s prior plan to bring in 351,000 permanent residents by the end of 2021.
As a result of the pandemic, Canada is likely to fall short of its prior target of 341,000 new residents for 2020. According to official statistics, from January to August, Canada’s intake was 128,430 new residents.
Recent polls have shown that Canadians are weary about increasing immigration levels in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
A poll commissioned by True North found that an overwhelming 76% of Canadians strongly agreed with the idea of a temporary pause until a coronavirus vaccine is developed and unemployment drops to pre-coronavirus levels.
The poll results show a surprising consensus among political parties as well with 67% of Liberals wanting to impose a temporary pause, 66% of NDP voters and 89% of Conservatives.
“Given today’s global circumstances of a public health pandemic and severe economic crisis, now is the perfect opportunity to revert back to our successful historic immigration model, listen to the majority of Canadians, and take another pause,” True North’s founder Candice Malcolm wrote when the poll was released.
“It’s time for our leaders to listen to the people and do what’s best for our country.”
According to documents obtained by the Post Millennial, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau racked up massive catering bills while jet setting around the world in 2018 – and taxpayers had to pay for it.
176 pages of invoices released through access to information requests revealed large bills for catering on Trudeau’s state trips, including $412 for hot towels and $285 for Belgian waffles.
The largest catering invoice totalled $23,000 for a four-day visit to Latvia and Belgium.
Bills have also included a wide variety of single-use plastic items and bottles despite the government’s crusade against these products.
In another bill, later that year the government spent $17,044 to fly celebrity chef Vikram Vij to India to cook Indian food in 2018. Trudeau’s state visit to India cost taxpayers $1.6 million.
“It does not send a good message to the public if politicians are racking up big travel and food expenses while regular Canadians are struggling,” said Aaron Wudrick of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Since his election in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s personal and travel costs have been subject to scrutiny.
On Trudeau’s first two state trips as prime minister, the government spent $1,300 per person on food and drink, around 30% more per meal than in the Harper government.
“I’m just not sure anybody’s minding the store when it comes to remembering that it’s taxpayers who are on the hook for all these things,” Conservative MP Blaine Calkins said at the time, noting that the average Canadian makes less than $1,300 in two weeks.
Ontario’s law society decided this week that a convicted former member of the Tamil Tiger terrorist group has the “good character” necessary to practice law in the province.
The new lawyer Suresh Sriskandarajah, also known as “Waterloo Suresh,” was first arrested for his connection with terror-related in 2006.
A joint investigation by the FBI and RCMP found that Sriskandarajah, who is of Sri Lankan descent, helped obtain “sophisticated military technology” for the Tamil Tigers terror group, formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Sriskandarajah eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support for a foreign terrorist group and was sentenced to serve 24 months in an American prison. His charges came about in relation to his work as a “facilitator” for the Tigers in 2004.
Authorities found that Sriskandarajah helped research and purchase military equipment and helped conduct smuggling operations for the group. He was one out of six Canadians arrested in relation to the FBI and RCMP investigation.
The Tamil Tigers are currently listed as a terror group by Public Safety Canada.
“Over the years, the LTTE has waged a violent secessionist campaign with the help of ground, air, and naval forces, as well as a dedicated suicide bomber wing,” writes Public Safety Canada.
“LTTE tactics have included full military operations, terror attacks against civilian centres, and political assassinations, such as the successful assassinations of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa.”
Sriskandarajah has disavowed violence.
“I did not appreciate the broader implications my decision to associate with the Tamil Tigers would have. However, at no point did I support any forms of violence,” he said about his involvement with the terror group.
Sriskandarajah studied law during his term, and helped tutor other inmates.
After serving his sentence in the US, Sriskandarajah was deported to Canada in 2014 where he resumed his legal studies at York University’s Osgoode Hall law school, from which he eventually graduated.
Sriskandarajah disclosed his past conviction on the law society’s Good Character Assessment form, triggering what’s been a years-long process. In his bid for a law license, Sriskandarajah was able to gather around 100 letters of support from professors people in the community.
The Law Society of Ontario has yet to publish the full reasoning behind their decision to grant Sriskandarajah a license to practice law.
“Mr. Sriskandarajah appreciated the opportunity to share both his past and his present life with the panel. He is grateful for the panel’s decision finding him to be of good character,” said his lawyer, Nadia Liva.
“Mr. Sriskandrajah looks forward to serving as a member of the Law Society of Ontario with integrity and honour.”
