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Friday, July 11, 2025

China demands Christian pastors incorporate state doctrine into sermons

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True North Wire
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The Chinese government is demanding that pastors preach state propaganda before they can open their churches.

According to Bitter Winter, pastors in the city of Quanzhou were recently ordered to incorporate President Xi Jinping’s recent statements on reducing food waste into their sermons. Preaching Xi’s remarks are a requirement to reopen churches.

Churches in this area of China have been closed for the past six months as the country attempts to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

“The government threatened to close any church that refused to hold these activities,” said one preacher.

The pastors are all part of the Three-Self Church, a protestant church controlled by the atheist Chinese state. Chinese Christians are only allowed to worship as members of either the Three-Self Church or the state-owned Patriotic Catholic Association.

Directives given to preachers in recent months from the Three-Self Church have included orders to celebrate Communist Party achievements and condemn Western countries to their congregations.

“The Religious Affairs Bureau forced us to preach about this and ordered us to integrate aspects of traditional Chinese culture and the Constitution into our sermons,” a Three-Self church preacher said.

“Churches that disobeyed were threatened to be closed, and congregations suppressed.” 

Rather than a church, the Three-Self Church officially sees itself as part of the Chinese state.

In recent months China has undertaken a campaign to remove religious material and symbols. that has not been approved by Communist Party censors. As part of China’s campaign to “sinicize” Christianty, hundreds of crosses have been removed from churches.

The constant propaganda and harassment is reportedly discouraging some Chinese Christians, leaving many fearful to practice publicly.

“We were looking forward to listening to sermons after the church was reopened following a long break,” one Chinese Christian said.

“But all of them praise Xi Jinping. Isn’t this Communist Party faith? If this goes on, what’s the point of our religion?” 

Public Health Agency predicts worsening of opioid crisis

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True North Wire
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A new annual report by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is raising the alarm about opioid death rates during the coronavirus pandemic. 

“Jurisdictions across the country have reported increases in overdose deaths and non-fatal harms related to opioids and other substances, in part due to increasing toxicity of the illegal drug supply since the start of the pandemic,” said the report. 

Figures show that from March to August, British Columbia saw over 100 overdose deaths each month. 

“While British Columbia continues to be the jurisdiction most severely impacted by the overdose crisis, many other provinces, territories, and municipalities have reported recent increases in substance related harms and/or changes to the drug supply,” the report goes on to say. 

In Ontario, confirmed and probable deaths due to overdose grew by nearly 50% from January to May, 2020. Meanwhile, Alberta also saw a spike in opioid related deaths from April to June with deaths rising from 211 to 301, respectively.

“Some simulations suggest that if the levels of fentanyl and fentanyl-like drugs in the drug supply increase, with reduced access to public health measures to prevent opioid overdose deaths, opioid overdose deaths may increase in 2020 beyond the levels seen at the peak of the opioid crisis in 2018,” the report claims. 

Chief Public Health Officer Dr Theresa Tam has spoken in support of decriminalizing opioids as a means to combat the crisis. 

In August, Tam told a press conference that decriminalization was among the options available to address the drug crisis. 

While the Trudeau government hasn’t made any specific commitments towards decriminalization, the Liberals have made investments in providing a “safe supply” of the drug to addicts. 

Earlier this year, the Trudeau government spent $600,000 to secure a “safe supply” of opiates for Toronto. 

Ontario police make 114 arrests in crackdown on organized crime

By
True North Wire
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Police in Ontario have made 114 arrests and laid 800 criminal charges in a year-long operation against a Toronto-based gang. Police allege the Eglinton West Crips gang are responsible for crimes such as murder, attempted murder, firearms offences, drug trafficking and human trafficking.

On Thursday, Ontario Provincial Police and multiple municipal police put out a joint-statement announcing that Project Sunder had decimated the Eglinton West Crips gang.

“What started as a local investigation into a dangerous street gang known as the Eglinton West Crips turned into a complex, multi-jurisdictional project involving arrests in 15 different cities,” said Toronto Police Deputy Chief Myron Demkiw.

“Thanks to the cooperation of these other police services, we have been successful in dismantling this criminal organization and taking guns and drugs off the streets of many communities.”

Police seized 31 firearms, seven kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of fentanyl and two kilograms of crystal meth through searches across Ontario.

The Eglinton West Crips is considered a highly violent criminal gang with an extensive network across Ontario. According to OPP Chief Supt. Paul Mackey, police cooperation between multiple agencies has effectively dismantled the gang.

“Urban-based organized crime groups are increasing in sophistication and have developed province-wide criminal networks from Ottawa to Thunder Bay and in most places in between,” he said. 

“No community is immune – criminals do not respect jurisdictional boundaries, and as law enforcement, we consistently adapt our investigative techniques to mitigate this.”

In the past year Toronto police have executed multiple operations against gangs in the city. Last summer, Toronto police arrested 73 gang members of the “Chester Le gang” on 599 charges. Drugs with a street value of $400,000 and 23 illegally obtained firearms were also seized.

Gang violence continues to remain a significant issue in the city, with a sharp increase since the city banned street checks and carding.

During the pandemic there has been an increase in gun violence, coinciding with claims that gang members have used CERB cheques to purchase illegal guns. 

Federal judge quashes youth climate change lawsuit

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True North Wire
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Source: Flickr

On Thursday, Federal Court Justice Michael Manson shut down a lawsuit initiated by 15 young climate activists.

The plaintiffs filed the lawsuit while teenage climate alarmist Greta Thunberg was touring Canada. They claimed the federal government had violated their charter rights by not doing enough to combat climate change. 

It turns out the lawsuit was dead in the water because according to Manson’s ruling, the claims were not found to have a reasonable prospect of success or a cause of action. 

“The Plaintiffs’ position fails on the basis that there are some questions that are so political that the Courts are incapable or unsuited to deal with them. These include questions of public policy approaches – or approaches to issues of significant societal concern,” wrote Manson in his ruling. 

“While this is not to say a government policy or network of government programs cannot be subject to Charter review, in my view, the Plaintiffs’ approach of alleging an overly broad and unquantifiable number of actions and inactions on the part of the Defendants does not meet this threshold requirement and effectively attempts to subject a holistic policy response to climate change to Charter review.”

The lawsuit was first filed on October 25, 2019 by 15 kids and teenagers. 

During the submission process, the federal government argued that due to the fact that climate change is a worldwide problem, Canada can’t fix the problem by acting alone. 

According to a recent Department of Public Safety survey, more Canadian kids are terrified by climate change alarmism than by drugs, gangs or guns. 

When asked to rate the threat climate change causes to their safety, 57% of kids from the age 16 to 25 said it was an “extremely serious threat” to the safety of children.

LAWTON: Canadian government only wants to stand up for free speech “with respect”

By
Andrew Lawton
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As France deals with unrest and a spate of Islamist terror attacks, Canadian foreign minister François-Philippe Champagne has come out in support of free speech with a caveat: he only supports “freedom of expression with respect.”

This comes as France’s president Emmanuel Macron vows to “not give in” despite threats from Turkey’s president and the former prime minister of Malaysia.

True North’s Andrew Lawton says if you only stand up for “respectful” free speech, you aren’t actually standing up for free speech at all.

Montreal healthcare centre targeted in malicious cyber attack

By
True North Wire
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A Montreal healthcare centre is reporting that it has been a recent target of a malicious cyber attack. 

The Centre de la santé et de services sociaux du Center-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal (CIUSSS) is reporting that an appointment booking system was affected in the attack but patient information has been found to be safe, according to Le Journal De Montreal. 

“During the daily review of the IT systems at our CIUSSS, we discovered a cyber security intrusion. At this time, we do not believe that information about patients or staff has been viewed,” wrote CEO of CIUSSS Lawrence Rosenberg in a memo. The memo has been translated from the original French into English. 

“An investigation carried out by our experts is underway. We have also notified the MSSS (Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux) of the situation, and are working with the ministry’s cybersecurity team.”

CIUSS has instigated emergency precautions for the next 72 hours and are requesting staff to put patient material on USB drives or to print them physically. 

The CIUSS has thousands of employees who work at 30 different care centers. The Center-Ouest location also has a coronavirus treatment unit located at the Jewish General Hospital. 

In May, Canada’s cybersecurity agency announced that it was investigating a series of attacks on Canadian coronavirus research institutions. 

According to the head of the Communications Security Establishment’s Cyber Centre (CSE) Scott Jones, the centre was aware of “malicious” and “suspicious” cyber activity targeting the institutions. 

“We’ve seen some compromises in research organizations that we’ve been helping to mitigate and we’re still continuing to look through what’s the root cause of those,” Jones told the House of Commons industry, science and technology committee. 

“Yes, we’ve seen activity coming from organizations where they’ve seen malicious activity, or at least suspicious [activity], and we’re working with them to determine whether or not it was malicious, where it came from and who, and was a success or not.”

Dr. Tam’s previous anti-mask advice excluded from coronavirus report

By
True North Wire
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A timeline of Canada’s coronavirus response excluded any mention of Dr. Theresa Tam’s contradictory mask advice.

Yesterday, the Public Health Agency of Canada released the 2020 report on the state of public health in Canada titled “From risk to resilience: An equity approach to COVID-19.” 

Included in the report was a timeline ranging from December 2019 to August 2020 detailing milestones in the coronavirus response. 

The only mention of mask-wearing recommendations listed in the timeline was on April 7th when a Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health issued a statement “supportive of wearing non-medical masks as an additional layer of protection.” 

However, Dr. Tam had repeatedly advised Canadians against wearing masks as far back as March. 

“Right now there is no need to use a mask for well people,” said Tam during a March 28th briefing.  

At one point Tam even warned that masks could lead to spreading the virus and said that “the effectiveness of the use of non-medical masks has not been well demonstrated” on April 1. 

“What we worry about is actually the potentially negative aspects of wearing masks where people are not protecting their eyes or, you know, other aspects of where the virus could enter your body, and that gives you a false sense of confidence,” said Tam on March 30th. 

Even by January, Canada’s Public Health Agency was telling Canadians abroad to not wear masks even while in Chinese quarantine zones. 

“Do you recommend travelers wear masks while visiting China or quarantine-blocked cities within the country such as Wuhan? No,” said a January 29 briefing note. 

“It is not recommended that healthy travelers wear masks while visiting China or quarantine-blocked cities within the country.”

Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for sending “blasphemous” text messages

By
True North Wire
-

A Pakistani Christian has been sentenced to death for allegedly sending “blasphemous” text messages seven years ago.

According to Release International, Asif Pervaiz was sentened to death earlier in mid-October by a Pakistanti court after a former coworker claimed he sent him text messages that offended Islam in 2013.

“The evidence on record was clearly not enough to sentence Asif Pervaiz to death. As usual, trial judges have so far never acquitted anyone accused of blasphemy,” Pervaiz’s attorney said.

“I hope he will be freed by the High Court where we have filed an appeal. Sadly, Asif will continue to be incarcerated until his appeal is heard.”

Pervaiz has been in prison since he was originally accused of sending blasphemous texts. His accuser Saeed Ahmeed Khokar worked with him in a garment factory and regularly tried to pressure Pervaiz into converting to Islam.

Pervaiz claims that the phone which sent the text went missing before the alleged incident, and believes that Khokar fabricated the whole story to punish Pervaiz for being a Christian.

Pervaiz’s lawyer Saif ul Malook also defended Asia Bibi in her famous blasphemy case. Ul Malook says that blasphemy cases in Pakistan take so long because judges are afraid of retribution from Islamists.

“From my experience in the Asia Bibi case, judges in appeal courts hesitate to hear and decide blasphemy cases. Cases involving murder are usually decided within three years, but blasphemy charges can take up to over seven years.”

Even if a higher court eventually clears Pervaiz, he will never be able to live freely in Pakistan again.

In 2009, Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi was charged with blasphemy in 2009 and sentenced to death but in 2018, the Pakistan Supreme Court acquitted Bibi. However, her acquittal led to intense riots and violence which killed several public figures who supported her. 

Faced with many death threats and a bounty put on her head by Islamists, Bibi lived in hiding until she left Pakistan last year.

Through the efforts of multiple groups, including True North, the Canadian government granted Asia Bibi asylum status in 2019.

FUREY: It’s time to start questioning the agenda of Canada’s public health officials

By
True North
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Dr. Theresa Tam has a lot of ideas about how the latest social justice buzzwords apply to the pandemic and very few ideas on how to get us out of this mess we’re all in.

One would think that the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada would use the latest instalment of her annual report, released on Wednesday, to offer national guidance on the big questions Canadians are asking both each other and the experts about where we’re headed with COVID-19.

Read Anthony Furey’s latest in the Toronto Sun.

Freeland calls for more deficit spending

By
True North Wire
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Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland called for additional deficit spending during her address to the Toronto Global Forum on Wednesday. 

“Our citizens and our companies are suffering through no fault of their own. For a government to abandon them at a time like this would be monstrous,” Freeland said referring to the pandemic.  

“Doing too little is more dangerous and potentially more costly than doing too much.”

Her speech, which did not unveil any additional spending announcements or budgetary updates, underlined the Liberal government’s intention to continue spending their way through the pandemic. 

Freeland also stressed the need to shift towards a green economy as Canada moves towards recovery.  

The Liberals are due for another fiscal update this fall. Earlier this month, the Parliamentary Budget Officer issued a call for increased transparency from the federal government in coronavirus spending reporting by crown corporations. 

“The federal government is the sole shareholder of these Crown corporations and is directly affected by gains or losses in these programs. Except for the Bank of Canada, we have seen limited disclosure to parliamentarians and Canadians on the billions in potential financial exposure from these programs,” said Yves Giroux. 

“Parliamentarians and Canadians need better information to facilitate the financial scrutiny of all major entities of the Government of Canada.”

In August, shortly after Freeland was appointed finance minister following the departure of former Liberal MP Bill Morneau, Freeland revealed that Canada’s deficit has nearly reached a whopping $400 billion.

A recent committee motion introduced by the Conservatives hopes to pore over the Liberal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The motion, which passed earlier this week in the health committee, proposes to dig into how the government bungled Canada’s response to the virus. 

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