A Liberal MP and Indigenous Affairs committee member who was accused of mocking minorities in past Twitter comments condemned growing racism in Canada.
“One of the most disheartening things that we’ve been seeing across Canada over the past few months is more heightened acts of racism and discrimination,” said MP Jaime Battiste during Tuesday’s committee meeting.
“One of the things that Nelson Mandela once said was education was the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
In the midst of the 2019 election, comments unearthed by the Toronto Sun showed the then-Liberal candidate making racialized and crude comments about Indigenous women and people of Asian descent.
“Why do I assume every skinny aboriginal girl is on crystal meth or pills?” wrote Battiste in a since-deleted tweet from 2012.
“Deck the haaas with bell of jorry, fa ra ra ra ra, ra ra ra raaa,” said the MP in a separate post.
Battiste’s comments also extended into misogynistic territory when he wrote that he “would accidentally sexually assault a cougar – twice,” and said that he would like a woman who is good at “cleaning, folding, cooking.”
Other comments include a tweet that said “men’s tennis… sounds exactly like gay porn.”
During the committee meeting, Battiste went on to introduce a motion to “educate and create awareness of Indigenous history and rights in Canada.” Battiste made no mention of his past conduct.
After apologizing for the Twitter posts last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood by Battiste as a candidate for the Nova Scotia riding of Sydney—Victoria.
“We recognize that Jaime Battiste took responsibility for his actions and has apologized,” Trudeau said.
While on the campaign trail, Trudeau was also accused of racism after several photographs were unearthed showing a younger Trudeau wearing blackface on multiple occasions.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is blaming Stephen Harper for the current issues in the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trudeau blamed the Agency’s poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Harper-era decisions made over five years ago.
“We all knew that under the previous Conservative government there were massive cuts to science, there was marginalization of scientific voices, there was a putting-aside of experts in an attempt to cut the budget, cut the deficit at all costs, on the backs of Canadians,” he said.
The Public Health Agency has been accused of mismanagement after it was discovered that Canada’s emergency stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) like masks and gloves was dangerously low.
In May 2019, the Public Health Agency threw out millions of N95 masks and other PPE that were purchased by the Harper government. While the agency says the PPE was expired, the stockpile was never replaced.
In September of 2019, the Public Health Agency claimed that it would have been prepared for a pandemic in an internal memo.
The failure to adequately stockpile PPE has cost the federal government at least $1.8 billion in emergency purchases this year.
This isn’t the first time the Trudeau government has blamed the previous government for their handling of the pandemic.
In May, Health Minister Patty Hajdu also blamed Harper for her government’s failure to manage Canada’s national emergency stockpile.
Speaking to the Health committee, Hajdu said the stockpile issues were caused by Harper cuts despite having years to address any shortages.
“Well, I can’t speak to the five years prior to our government, where in fact under the Harper Conservatives the agency experienced significant cuts but I can tell you that during the five years that we were in government in fact we increased funding to the Public Health Agency of Canada,” she said.
Hadju also claimed that provinces and territories should have been more prepared for the pandemic.
The parliamentary Special Committee on Canada-China Relations has readopted a motion to have former Canadian ambassador to China John McCallum testify in the House of Commons.
The readopted motion was first announced on Tuesday by committee Vice-Chair and Conservative MP Garnett Genuis.
I am honoured to have been elected as Vice-Chair of the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations. As a first step, the newly reconstituted committee has readopted a motion to subpoena @HonJohnMcCallum. #cdnpoli#china
This is not the first time that McCallum has been called to testify before the committee. In August, the committee unanimously voted in favour of requiring McCallum to show up for questioning after he snubbed a prior invitation.
However, that subpoena was shelved after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered the prorogation of parliament which effectively closed all committee business until parliament’s return this Fall.
McCallum was fired as ambassador in 2019 after making inappropriate remarks on the extradition of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou. Meng is wanted by US authorities for allegedly breaking sanctions on Iran and various wire fraud charges.
“I think she has quite good arguments on her side,” McCallum said in a closed-door meeting with Chinese media outlets.
Prior to the 2019 federal election, McCallum was also blasted for telling the Chinese government to not hurt the Liberals’ chances of reelection as a Conservative government would be tougher on the China file.
“Anything that is more negative against Canada will help the Conservatives, (who) are much less friendly to China than the Liberals,” McCallum said.
“I hope and I don’t see any reason why things will get worse, it would be nice if things will get better between now and (Canada’s federal) election (in October).”
In response to McCallum’s comments, the Conservatives called on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to investigate whether McCallum encouraged China to interfere in Canada’s election.
A new poll found that a majority of Canadians are stressing over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s handling of Canada’s ballooning deficit.
According to the Maru/Blue survey, 67% of respondents want the government to reduce the oversized deficit. The poll interviewed over 1,500 Canadians from across the country in both French and English from October 2 to October 4.
“This view is most likely to be found in Québec (78%), followed by those from Manitoba/Saskatchewan (72%), British Columbia (68%), Atlantic Canada (66%), Alberta (63%), and Ontario (61%),” claimed the Maru/Blue findings.
The same poll found that 51% of people polled think the Liberals are only looking out for their own voters and don’t have the interest of all Canadians in mind.
59% of those polled also believe that the federal government is making the right decisions, while only 49% believe that it is being prudent in making choices that affect all Canadians.
According to Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux, the Liberal deficit is projected to hit $328.5 billion this year.
When questioned in September on whether he has a plan to reduce the deficit, Trudeau refused to give a direct answer.
“The values and principles that underpin it should be obvious to everyone because they are the things this government has remained focused on from the beginning,” replied Trudeau to reporters.
“Our principle from the very, very beginning has been we will be there for Canadians. Every step of the way we will continue to be there for Canadians.”
The World Health Organization has flip-flopped again, now telling governments they shouldn’t rely on lockdowns to curb the coronavirus. This comes as numerous studies suggest lockdowns simply don’t work, though that isn’t stopping politicians from imposing them, even those like Justin Trudeau who promise “evidence-based” policy, True North’s Andrew Lawton says.
Also, Canadian television stations are showing trigger warnings before reruns of Seinfeld and The Brady Bunch, contributing to more weaponized wokeness.
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed Canadian politicians and the Trudeau government for a recent poll that revealed a majority of Canadians held an unfavourable view of China.
Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the comments during a daily press conference on Tuesday, which is coincidentally the same day that China and Canada celebrated their 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
“I have noted this opinion poll you mentioned. You said that it showed more Canadians now hold negative opinions towards China. I want to tell you that it is because of the Meng Wanzhou incident I just mentioned,” Zhao told the Globe and Mail in response to a question on a recent Pew Research poll.
“These politicians in Canada should think it over: why are more people in Canada now viewing China unfavorably? It is several Canadian politicians and the Canadian government that are at the bottom of this.”
The poll in question found that 73% of Canadians held a very unfavourable or somewhat unfavourable view of China. According to Pew Research, 37% of Canadians had a “very unfavourable” opinion, while only 36% had a “somewhat unfavourable” opinion.
“In Spain, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the U.S., the UK, South Korea, Sweden and Australia, negative views have reached their highest level in the 12 or more years that Pew Research Center has been polling in these countries,” wrote poll authors Laura Silver, Kat Devlin and Christine Haung.
Condemnation of China’s arbitrary arrest of two Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor overshadowed an anniversary statement released by Global Affairs Canada. The pair were arrested in retaliation to the extradition proceedings against Chinese heiress and Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.
“It is unacceptable that any citizen be arbitrarily detained. Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor must be brought home. This is something for which all Canadians stand united. The use of coercive diplomacy causes Canada to re-examine its approach, with a focus on multilateral cooperation,” wrote Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s own remarks took a noticeably more subdued tone when addressing the occasion.
“We are going to continue to work with our fellow, like-minded nations around the world to impress upon China that its approach to internal affairs and global affairs is not on a particularly productive path for itself or for all of us,” Trudeau told reporters.
An investigation by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) resulted in the arrest of five suspects alleged to have been involved in a firearm trafficking and stolen property crime ring targeting rural communities.
“ALERT was successful in disrupting a group of individuals who were impacting rural communities with thefts and property crime offences,” said ALERT CEO Supt. Dwayne Lakusta in an October 7 news release on the incident.
“We will continue to work with our policing partners and Crown prosecutors to ensure these individuals are held accountable.”
All five suspects were found and detained in Taber on September 10, 2020 after several search warrants were conducted by ALERT’s Southeast Alberta Property Crime UNit in partnership with local police.
“ALERT worked hand-in-hand with our policing partners to disrupt a group of individuals who were terrorizing small communities with thefts and property crime offences,” ALERT Communications Director Michael Tucker told True North.
“Widespread theft like this, has a huge impact on community safety. Especially in rural communities – it shakes the sense of security amongst the victims. ALERT will continue to work alongside our partners to deliver a swift, robust response.”
Among the property seized in the bust includes 63 stolen firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, seven vehicles, license plates and other stolen property.
Authorities allege that the ring was involved in a firearm trafficking operation.
The five suspects are currently facing 76 charges including trafficking stolen property, possession of proceeds of crime, fraud and various other offences:
Jason Pizzati, a 46-year-old man from Taber;
Cornelius Wolf, a 38-year-old man from Taber;
Dustyn McCracken, a 20-year-old man from Taber;
Greg Kosowan, a 72-year-old man from Taber; and
Heinrich Wolf, a 35-year-old man from Taber.
The crimes were alleged to have taken place in nearly a dozen rural or small-town locations including Taber, Vauxhall, Lethbridge, Stirling, Vulcan, Bow Island, Seven Persons, Coaldale and Barnwell.
Members of the public are being asked to report all drug or gang related activity to local police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
The World Health Organization is urging governments to not plunge their citizens into another lockdown to combat a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to WHO official Dr. David Nabarro, countries should avoid “using lockdowns as your primary control method” when dealing with the virus.
“We in the World Health Organisation do not advocate lockdowns as the primary means of control of this virus,” said Dr. Nabarro in an interview with The Spectator.
“The only time we believe a lockdown is justified is to buy you time to reorganise, regroup, rebalance your resources, protect your health workers who are exhausted, but by and large, we’d rather not do it.”
Nabarro warned that the unintended consequences of lockdowns cause great harm to those who struggle with poverty or come from poorer socioeconomic statuses.
“Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer,” said Nabarro.
“It seems that we may well have a doubling of world poverty by next year. We may well have at least a doubling of child malnutrition.”
A recent study coming out of the UK seems to verify Nabarro’s advice. Researchers in the British Medical Journal found that lockdowns could lead to even more deaths and further prolong the pandemic.
In recent weeks, Canadian provinces have entertained lockdown-like measures as cases of the virus have surged.
Both Ontario and Quebec have already scaled up their public health advisories. In Ontario, new restrictions have targeted gyms and indoor dining.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also instituted new rules around gathering limits.
“It’s not the bars … or the restaurants, it’s social gatherings,” said Ford.
“So folks, I’m begging you. Please just cut out the social gatherings. It’s just not worth it because this COVID is ramping up again.”
The Conservative Party wants to see the House of Commons create a new anti-corruption committee to combine multiple investigations into the WE scandal.
In a statement on Monday, Conservative MPs Pierre Poilievre and Michael Barrett said the lack of progress on ongoing investigations requires a new body specifically for the task.
“We need an anti-corruption committee to get the truth in the WE scandal,” Poilievre.
“Trudeau shutdown Parliament and is now trying to paralyze committees, preventing Canadians from getting to the truth on his half-billion-dollar payment to a group that paid over half-a-million dollars to this family”
In July, it was revealed the members of the Trudeau family had been paid by WE for speaking events. These payments were not publicly known when cabinet gave WE a $912 million contract.
The Conservatives allege that Liberal MPs have been intentionally disrupting committees to prevent opposition MPs from probing into the WE deal.
Last week, the Liberal chair of the Finance Committee allegedly muted and ended a Zoom meeting just as Poilievre motioned to remove redactions from a document disclosure on WE Charity documents.
.@PierrePoilievre moved a point of privilege to remove the blackout of documents in the WE scandal.
The chair of the committee Wayne Easter abruptly ended the meeting.
Poilievre later said that the recording of the committee meeting disappeared from the Parliamentary telescreen.
Earlier in October the Liberals and NDP joined forces to shut down a motion to open another WE scandal investigation in the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC).
Poilievre and Barrett say they will hold marathon sessions of their respective committees to overcome Liberal stalling.
“We will not stop,” Barrett said.
“The complete disregard the Liberals have demonstrated towards the essential work of Parliament and the Prime Minister’s habitual ethic violations is deeply alarming. Conservatives will not stop until the entire truth is exposed.”
We need a reality check when it comes to the so-called “second wave” of COVID-19.
Our public health experts are giving confusing, constantly changing and often contradictory advice, whether it’s about the effectiveness of masks, the risks of travel, or, more recently, on airborne transmission and the usefulness of rapid testing.
Our media, meanwhile, are busy sensationalizing the data and misleading Canadians about which numbers matter. News headlines emphasize the growth in new case numbers, while ignoring the fact that we’re testing eight times as many people per day as we were during the height of the pandemic in April and May.
Back in March, tests were heavily restricted and reserved for people who had recently travelled to China. I know because I tried to get one, and was told repeatedly by health officials that despite having symptoms, I did not qualify to be tested.
It wasn’t until mid-April that the government of Ontario began tracking how many tests were taken per day. Throughout April and May, Ontario was testing fewer than 10,000 people per day and as few as 5,800.
Fast forward to Friday, when the province announced that it had set a new record for the number of tests performed in a single day: 48,500.
This context matters. Without providing corresponding information about the growth in testing, the number of cases is more or less irrelevant.
The media blare out the fact that new cases are up 25% from the height of the pandemic, but ignore the fact that testing is up 800%. This is a lie by omission. It’s alarmism. And it should be ignored.
Instead of the hysteria focusing on new case numbers, we should aim our focus on what really matters: number of new cases in vulnerable populations (especially those over the age of 70), number of hospitalizations, number of people in intensive care units (ICUs) and number of deaths.
When we look at these numbers, the situation looks a lot less scary.
In early May, Ontario was seeing more than 1,000 new patients admitted to the hospital each and every day. On Oct. 9, there were 225.
At its height in early April, there were 264 patients in ICUs across Ontario; on Oct. 9, there were 47.
In other words, we accomplished what we set out to do. We successfully flattened the curve.
We should be proud of that fact, and moving towards rebuilding our economy while also taking precautions like social distancing, mass testing and protecting vulnerable populations.
Instead, leaders in politics, the media and public health are promoting panic over a “second wave” of COVID-19 and advocating for more economic lockdown measures, like those announced Friday afternoon by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Ford announced that all gyms and fitness centres, bars and indoor restaurants, casinos and cinemas must close in major Ontario cities. He also banned social gatherings and events, including weddings.
These measures take aim at working-aged Canadians and ignore the truth about COVID-19 fatalities — namely that the average age of COVID-19 deaths in Canada is 84.8 years old. Compare that to the life expectancy in Canada: 82 years.
COVID-19 is incredibly deadly for those in their 80s and 90s; 81% of all deaths in Canada occurred in long-term care (LTC) facilities. Meanwhile, for people under the age of 60, it isn’t clear that COVID-19 is deadlier than the seasonal flu.
And yet, Ford’s new economic lockdown measures aren’t designed to protect elderly Canadians or improve conditions at senior centres or long-term care homes. Ford said himself on Friday that there were no “early signs of further spread in LTC homes.”
They take aim at working Canadians trying to move on with their lives. These measures will destroy businesses, kill jobs and plunge countless people into misery and despair, all while claiming to “save lives.”
