True North

Kenney calls union-led boycott of businesses “unAlbertan” and a “bully campaign”

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philtrinh

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October 6, 2020

Kenney calls union-led boycott of businesses “unAlbertan” and a “bully campaign”

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney slammed the union-led boycott of struggling businesses that have donated to the United Conservative Party.

On Tuesday during a press conference following an announcement on the province’s natural gas strategy, Kenney blamed the NDP for politicizing businesses who already have to deal with the financial hardships of the coronavirus pandemic.

“To Rachel Notley, stop the bully tactics because right now businesses in this province need an expression of confidence, they don’t need to be attacked,” Kenney told reporters.

The “Boycott UCP Donors” campaign was initiated by 25 different NDP interest groups including the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL). The campaign calls on supporters to send the local businesses “a message with your wallet by boycotting their services.”

Dozens of Albertan businesses are listed on the campaign’s database with publicly identifiable information.

AFL President and former federal NDP candidate Gil McGowan supported the call for the boycott by accusing the businesses of not supporting Albertans.

“These are the businesses that have been bankrolling the UCP agenda — an agenda that is kicking Albertans when they’re down,” said McGowan.

“By bankrolling the UCP’s destruction agenda, these businesses have made it clear that they don’t support ordinary Albertans, so why should ordinary Albertans support them?”

Meanwhile, Kenney lashed back at McGowan for the campaign’s unfair targeting of Albertans.

“You don’t hear anybody on the free enterprise side of our democracy seeking to boycott groups or individuals they disagree with. Where does this end?” said Kenney.

“To say that supporting that position should put you in the crosshairs of a smear campaign, a bully campaign using intimidation tactics to try to hurt those businesses is I think unAlbertan.”

FUREY: Does Doug Ford love lockdowns?

philtrinh

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October 6, 2020

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Public Health officials are urging Ontario Premier Ford to impose more restrictions in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. Toronto’s chief health advisor even went as far as to recommend another lockdown.

For a while there, it seemed like Ford loved lockdowns and willingly listened to any advice provided by public health officials.

As True North’s Anthony Furey explains – it looks like Premier Ford has finally put his foot down and is pushing back, demanding to see evidence and data before he imposes additional restrictions.

NDP save the Liberals from another WE Charity investigation

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philtrinh

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October 6, 2020

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NDP save the Liberals from another WE Charity investigation

Liberal and NDP committee members voted to shut down further investigation into the WE Charity scandal on Tuesday.

A Conservative motion in the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs (PROC) put forward by Conservative House leader Karen Vecchio was called “premature” by Liberal committee chair Ruby Sahota.

“In this instance, because the government has not yet tabled in the House a report outlining the reason for prorogation, the committee is not in a position to have a base of reference from which to begin the study nor would it be appropriate to pre-suppose the outcome of the report,” said Sahota.

According to parliamentary procedure, the Liberals are expected to release a report on their reasoning for this summer’s prorogation within 20 days of returning to parliament. When completed, the report will be reviewed by PROC.

Conservatives have accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of using prorogation to avoid further scrutiny over his involvement in the scandal. At the height of the scandal, Trudeau denied involvement in the decision to award oversight of a $900 million federal student service grant to WE Charity despite financial and personal ties with his family.

However, thousands of pages worth of redacted disclosures later hinted that the Prime Minister’s Office may have guided the public service to choose the charity as the sole contractor for the bid.

“This is a cover-up. The prime minister personally intervened to give half a billion-dollar grant to a group that had paid his family half a million dollars. He is covering it up by blacking it out, and shutting down our investigations,” said Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre shortly after Trudeau announced he was proroguing parliament.

Liberal PROC member Mark Gerretsen had some biting words on Tuesday for the Conservatives’ attempt to revive an investigation into the affair.

“It is nothing more than a fishing expedition from a desperate group of people who cannot see past their own narrow partisan self interest,” said Garretsen.

“What we are seeing here is overtly divisive partisanship that simply looks to score political points.”

This is not the first instance where the NDP have aided the Liberals in shutting down further investigations into their conduct.

In July, Liberal and NDP MPs in the House of Commons Ethics Committee voted to shut down a motion calling for federal cabinet members to disclose whether they were aware of ties between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and WE before signing off on the deal.

Disgraced Canadian ambassador to China retweets Trump death joke

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philtrinh

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October 6, 2020

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Disgraced Canadian ambassador to China retweets Trump death joke

Disgraced Canadian ambassador to China John McCalllum retweeted a comment poking fun at the possibility of US President Donald Trump’s death after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus.

“If you’re in the Trump Administration, may I recommend viewing The Death Of Stalin?” wrote the tweet by author Rick Wilson.

The Death of Stalin is a 2017 comedy film which satirizes the ensuing power struggle following Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953.

President Trump has since recovered and returned to the White House.

This is not the first time that McCallum has sparked controversy.

In 2019, McCallum was sacked from his job as Canada’s ambassador to China after in favour of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.

Leading up to his dismissal, McCallum said it would be “great” if Canada drops charges against Meng.

“I think she has quite good arguments on her side,” McCallum told Chinese media at the time.

Since his departure from the diplomatic post, McCallum worked as a paid immigration consultant for a Chinese firm.

While employed by the Wailian Group, McCallum engaged in several speaking engagements with clients of the company. When asked to disclose how much he was paid for the work, McCallum refused.

The Conservatives have urged the Ethics Commissioner to investigate McCallum’s activities for a possible breach of Section 33 of the Conflict of Interest Act. The Act holds that “No former public office holder shall act in such a manner as to take improper advantage of his or her previous public office.”

“Canadians expect that the upcoming election will be conducted in a free and fair manner and that any and all incidents of foreign interference will be fully investigated, with action taken to prevent said interference,” wrote a letter to Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion co-signed by former Conservative MP Lisa Raitt and Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus.

“We believe Mr McCallum’s actions, as confirmed by his own public statements, deserve the utmost scrutiny of your agency.”

Prior to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to prorogue parliament at the tail end of summer, McCallum was invited to testify before the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations. McCallum had refused several prior invitations to appear without offering an explanation.

The Vancouver Overpopulation Billboard Controversy

lindsayshep

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October 6, 2020

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The Vancouver Overpopulation Billboard Controversy

On September 21st 2020, a US nonprofit organization called World Population Balance launched a billboard campaign in Vancouver that urged people to stop overpopulation and limit their family size in order to reduce their carbon footprint.

The campaign has received a heated response – the organization has pulled some of its ads and removed staff information from its website after receiving threats.

True North’s Lindsay Shepherd interviews Dave Gardner, Executive Director of World Population Balance, about the controversial campaign.

Political ‘designers’ are trying to tell you how to live

andrewlawton

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October 6, 2020

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Political ‘designers’ are trying to tell you how to live

Author and scholar Brian Lee Crowley’s new book reframes the Canadian political debate around what Crowley calls “Gardeners vs. Designers” – the battle between those who recognize Canada’s greatness and those who want to “fix” the country by revising history to justify progressive courses of action. Crowley joined True North’s The Andrew Lawton Show for a wide-ranging chat about these themes in his the book, Gardeners vs. Designers: Understanding the Great Fault Line in Canadian Politics.

Watch the full episode of the show here.

Suncor Energy to lay off 2,000 employees in the face of pandemic and failing oil prices

philtrinh

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October 5, 2020

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Suncor Energy to lay off 2,000 employees in the face of pandemic and failing oil prices

One of Calgary’s biggest oil and gas companies will be laying off up to 15% of its workforce over the next year and a half.

According to Suncor Energy, approximately 2,000 positions could be lost due to the decision.

“The unprecedented drop in oil prices, the continued impact of the global pandemic and economic slowdown, as well as continued market volatility, have accelerated those plans,” said Suncor spokeswoman Sneh Seetal.

“These would be permanent structural workforce reductions. We’re looking at how we can operate more efficiently.”

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney called the announcement an “economic emergency” for the province.

“The government of Canada would be moving heaven and earth if we saw layoffs of this scale in the central Canadian manufacturing industry,” said Kenney.

“This truly is a jobs crisis and an economic emergency and it deserves to be responded to here in Alberta the same way it would be in Ontario or Quebec.”

Even before the pandemic began, Calgary’s oil and energy industry has struggled to weather the storm.

For an in-depth treatment of the struggles of Calgarians, watch True North’s own documentary Calgary in Crisis.

Meanwhile, federal politicians like former Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet celebrated the crushing decline of the sector.

Earlier this year, May optimistically stated that “oil is dead” and that the sector should not be assisted out of the current downturn. Around the same time, Blanchet said that Alberta’s economy was “condemned” and that there was no path to recovery for the sector.

In response to the comments, Kenney accused the federal leaders of not showing leadership.

“I just think it’s deeply regrettable that we would see national political leaders piling on Albertans and energy workers at a time of great trial for us,” said Kenney.

According to a report by the Conference Board of Canada, Alberta’s GDP is estimated to fall by 11.3% this year.

Inconsistency and Incoherence

andrewlawton

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October 5, 2020

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Canadians are receiving more inconsistent and contradictory advice courtesy of the country’s rule by “experts.” Toronto’s chief health advisor wants another lockdown, the Ontario government says we shouldn’t travel even within the province, and Dr. Theresa Tam says Thanksgiving dinners should be virtual, all the while the federal government is funding an ad campaign telling people to bring grandma on a Niagara Falls vacation. True North’s Andrew Lawton tries to make sense of it all.

Also, author Brian Lee Crowley joins the show to talk about his newest book, Gardeners vs. Designers: Understanding the Great Fault Line in Canadian Politics.

Far-left BC party pulls candidates after interim leader canned for pro-JK Rowling post

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cosmindzs

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October 5, 2020

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Far-left BC party pulls candidates after interim leader canned for pro-JK Rowling post

A fringe far-left British Columbia party hoping to field candidates in the upcoming provincial election has pulled all of its candidates after its interim leader was accused of “transphobia.”

As revealed by True North in March, the BC Ecosocialists describe themselves as “further left than the NDP, greener than the Greens.” The party’s policy promotes radical socialist reforms like wealth seizures, removing mention of “pro-capitalist” teachings from schools and a major land redistribution program.

The BC Ecosocialists announced on Sunday that they would no longer be running any candidates in the 2020 provincial election.

“Since interim leader Stuart Parker stepped down after a screenshot of an alleged transphobic comment went viral on social media, we have faced demands to denounce him and apologize for his personal views,” wrote executive director Ashwini Manohar in a statement on the matter.

“This week a former director called for the entire provincial council to step down as the failure of the party to condemn Parker is being read as endorsement of his position. On advice of counsel, we have chosen not to issue personal denouncements and expose ourselves to liability for ascribing beliefs to Parker he vehemently denies having.”

Parker, who denies the accusation, is under fire for a comment on controversial Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has spoken out in support of women’s sex-based rights.

In a week old Facebook post, Parker is allegedly seen saying that “Rowling has never opposed trans people exercising their civil rights or advocated that any adult be prohibited from transitioning.

“Labelling everyone who questions any detail of the orthodoxy as a transphobe and a hate-monger is a major tactical error trans rights advocates are commiting right now. People like Rowling were your supporters a decade ago and remain advocates for trans equality despite the blizzard of rape threats and efforts to remove them from their jobs,” Parker continued.

His comment was part of a larger conversation with BC Greens council member Nicola Spurling, who explained her unfriending of a former homelessness advocate Judy Graves. Graves supported a “I [heart] JK Rowling” billboard in Vancouver.

“The idea is that this proves that I’m transphobic, because I don’t think a long-term feminist leader [Graves] in my city should be fired for saying it’s wrong to rape J.K. Rowling,” Parker said.

“Rowling disagrees with a detail of the current agenda of the trans-rights movement. And I pointed that out as well. I was trying to give Nicola and her friends a sense of context as to why this struck me as an overreaction.”

Prior to his role as the fledgling party’s interim leader, Parker was the BC Green Party leader from 1992 until his departure in 2000.

Federal government funding tourism ads while telling people to stay home

andrewlawton

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October 5, 2020

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Federal government funding tourism ads while telling people to stay home

Despite health officials’ calls for Canadians to stay home to save lives, a federal government department is funding an ad campaign encouraging people to book a Niagara Falls getaway with grandma.

In a 50-second Niagara Falls Tourism spot, a man and his grandmother are shown exploring Niagara Falls by playing skee ball in an arcade, dancing under a gazebo and taking a boat tour, noting that quarantine had kept them apart.

“Hey grandma, these last few months, I’ve been thinking. You know, quarantine has kept us apart, but I can’t just blame COVID. Because last time we were really together – just the two of us – was, I don’t even know,” the male narrator says. “But I’m gonna change that. And we don’t need to wait for some moment. Let’s go to Niagara Falls this weekend. What we do is up to you. I just want to be together. And this time, no, it’s not your birthday or a holiday or some special occasion. Because grandma, you are my occasion.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEAE9dvdRLg

The commercial is running online and in primetime on television.

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario’s logo appears at the end of the ad, which directs people to the website for Niagara Falls’ tourism bureau.

The economic development agency’s mandate is to “advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation and growth.”

The ad has been running since at least Sept. 28, five days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians that COVID-19’s “second wave is underway.”

“Together we have the power to get the second wave under control,” Trudeau said in an address to the nation last month. “I know we can do it because we’ve already done it once before. In the spring, we all did our part by staying home. And this fall, we have even more tools in the toolbox.”

A spokesperson for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada did not say whether the federal government discourages domestic tourism, noting only that travel within Canada “should follow provincial and territorial measure (sic) and rules.”

Health Minister Patty Hajdu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The federal government is still urging Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad. There is no publicly available guidance on domestic travel, though several provinces, notably in Atlantic Canada, have restrictions in place to limit incoming travelers.

The Ontario government is still advising people to “stay home as much as possible – go grocery shopping once a week or less, only visit pharmacies and banks when necessary and place orders over the phone or online.”

This point was stressed Monday by Ontario’s chief medical officer, Dr. David Williams, who said that while there is no official ban on travel within Ontario, people should nonetheless avoid it.

“Not an official (rule), but unofficially, you have to be very judicious about your choice of when to travel and where to travel,” Dr. Williams said. “We have asked people…to decrease travel. Don’t go out of your house if you don’t need to go out. Don’t go moving around, even if in other parts of the province.”

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said last week that Thanksgiving gatherings this year should ideally be “virtual,” while Toronto’s top doctor is calling for another shutdown of a number of indoor activities, including restaurant dining.