It doesn’t matter the circumstances, the Black Lives Matter crowd will never be satisfied.
True North’s Leo Knight discusses the case of Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto and the recent violent protests in the US sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Leo says Black Lives Matter is a left-wing group of anarchists that do not stand for black lives.
Taxpayers had to foot over $80,000 worth of travel expenses amassed by Canada’s former finance minister Bill Morneau, shortly before he announced his abrupt resignation.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, records disclosed by Conservative MP Tom Kmiec include a $583-a night hotel stay in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The report includes all expense claims and receipts above $100 from January 1, 2020.
In total, Morneau accrued $81,105 in travel expenses since July 1, 2019. Among the other bills enclosed in the release is a $1,166 expense for two nights at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh during a G20 finance minister meetup.
Jetsetting by Morneau around France also cost taxpayers $4,120 for flight costs during a trip to a G7 finance ministers meeting in Chantilly.
On August 17, Morneau resigned from his position as Canada’s finance minister following revelations about his and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s financial and personal ties with WE Charity.
Morneau has since been replaced by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
It was revealed that Morneau had accepted $41,366 worth of free travel from WE to Ecuador and Kenya before he signed off on a decision to award the organization oversight on a $900 million federal student service grant.
While testifying before the House of Commons finance committee, Morneau apologized for his conduct and said that he had reimbursed WE for the expenses.
During Trudeau’s testimony regarding over half a million in speaking fees collected from WE by members of his family, the prime minister denied any wrongdoing, suggesting that it was the public service who was responsible for the deal.
“There was never any direction by or attempt to influence from me or my staff that the public service recommend WE Charity,” said Trudeau during his testimony.
However, a document disclosure containing thousands of memorandums and emails on the WE Charity decision shows that the prime minister’s office was involved in directing discussions about WE beforehand.
More people died of drug overdoses in BC than of coronavirus, homicide, car accidents or suicide combined.
A lot of activists continue to call for “harm reduction” solutions, meaning more injection sites and even giving addicts free drugs. This strategy is clearly not working.
True North’s Anthony Furey says we need to go in new directions and try new solutions.
So much for sunny ways…
The Liberals and the media didn’t waste any time in attacking new Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole. In less than a week, O’Toole has been accused of having a “secret pro-life agenda,” “muzzling scientists” and Jann Arden called him a tool – good one, Jann!
Plus, the Left in Canada desperately want to label Canada a racist country as the NHL postpones the playoffs and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh incites fear and anger.
These stories and more on the True North Update with Candice Malcolm and Andrew Lawton!
Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Rodney Diverlus has called for Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to be defunded after it ruled that there was no wrongdoing on behalf of police officers in the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet.
“Same script, same story. We’ve been calling for SIU reforms for a decade now because this is repeatedly their interpretation of accountability. 95% of cases result in families & communities that are left with no answers; no justice! The days of reform are sooo [sic] done. Defund SIU!” tweeted Diverlus shortly after the ruling was announced.
29-year-old Korchinski-Paquet tragically fell to her death after police responded to a call by her mother indicating that she was suffering from a mental health crisis.
Soon after the incident, the SIU launched an investigation into the matter to determine whether the officers involved had committed a crime or were somehow involved in her death. The investigation reviewed 911 calls, security camera footage and scene photographs.
“There were allegations in the wake of Ms. Korchinski-Paquet’s death that she was pushed off the balcony by the police. The evidence establishes that this did not occur,” said SIU director, Joseph Martino in a video statement.
“Instead, the evidence indicates that no one other than Ms. Korchinski-Paquet was on the balcony when she scaled over the railing and attempted to sidestep along the outer ledge over to her neighbour’s balcony, lost her balance and fell.”
The SIU is an independent civilian law enforcement agency that conducts criminal investigations involving police officers which have resulted in serious injury, death, or other such incidents.
According to it’s 2019 annual report, out of 363 cases closed last year, investigations by the SIU led to charges in 13 cases involving 15 different officers.
Toronto interim police chief James Ramer commented on the SIU report offering Korchinski-Paquet’s family his support.
“A young woman lost her life. Her family lost their daughter, sister and cousin – and the Service, again, offers its deepest sympathies,” said Ramer.
“This is a profound event for the officers involved and for the Toronto Police Service.”
In the wake of Korchinski-Paquet’s death, hundreds of BLM protestors took to the streets of Toronto to call for the police to be defunded.
Toronto Mayor John Tory has already moved forward with a plan by the city to redistribute and pull resources from the city’s police force.
Earlier this month, Tory announced that he would be implementing 80 different “reforms” to the Toronto police.
Among the reforms included in the plan are “alternative” methods of policing, reducing the Toronto Police Service’s budget and addressing systemic racism. As it stands, the plan states that the financial implications of defunding the police are currently “unknown.”
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) has officially abandoned the rank “seaman” for the more gender-neutral option “sailor.”
Beginning in September, the Navy will replace the ranks of Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, Leading Seaman and Master Seaman, with Sailor Third Class, Sailor Second Class, Sailor First Class and Master Sailor, respectively.
On Thursday, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told Global News that the move is meant to reflect the diverse nature of Canada’s forces.
“By adopting [a] gender-neutral designation for junior members of the Royal Canadian Navy, we demonstrate to all Canadians that the Canadian Armed Forces will welcome anybody who wants to serve their country and uphold the values of inclusion and diversity,” said Sajjan.
True North first reported the Navy’s plans to alter the rank titles back in March.
At the time, Department of National Defence spokesperson Lt. Jamie Bresoling told True North that the decision was made to reflect a more progressive image.
“The RCN, one of Canada’s top-employers in 2019 according to Forbes, prides itself on inculcating an inclusive, diverse, gender-neutral and safe workplace,” Bresolin told True North.
“Therefore, it was recently determined by naval leadership that an organization that has long-since had gender-neutral terms for its personnel – sailor or shipmate – needs reconsider some few rank titles that are rich in history, but perhaps not reflective of the modern, progressive service that is the RCN today.”
Many people reacted negatively to the change, forcing Rear Admiral Chris Sutherland to accuse detractors of “hateful, misogynistic and racist” beliefs.
“To those of you currently serving with these beliefs, I would like to emphatically state you have no place in our navy. If you cannot live by or support the values of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, then you cannot defend them,” said Sutherland in a Facebook post.
Both the RCN and the Canadian Coast Guard have had issues finding new recruits to man their vessels.
The coast guard currently has 15% of vacancies, requiring approximately 1,000 people to fill the spots. Meanwhile, the Royal Canadian Navy has a shortfall of 850 recruits.
Bombardier is laying off 200 people from its plant in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The plant was being used by the company to help produce 18,000 ventilators for a contract with the Ontario government.
According to Unifor local president Dominic Pasqualino, 125 people are going to be laid off starting mid-October and another 75 will lose their jobs by April.
Over the past year, Bombardier has significantly reduced its operations and laid off a significant chunk of its workforce.
In March, Liberal Leader of the Government Pablo Rodriguez lamented the company’s decision to lay off 70% of its Canadian staff, saying his “heart goes out to the employees of Bombardier.”
The earlier layoffs came as Bombardier curbed its jet and rail production operations in the midst of the pandemic.
In 2017, the company benefited from a bailout package from the Liberal government to the tune of $372.5 million in federal loans. The company also received an additional $1 billion from the government of Quebec.
Despite these funds, Bombardier has struggled to meet project requirements and performance on the stock market has continued to be poor.
Most recently, after the company announced it would focus on its private jet business, Bombardier stock fell to 43 cents down from $1.21.
The scenes of political violence in the US are saddening and disheartening. Canadians are fortunate that we don’t experience the same level of violence as the US – but are we heading in that direction?
Yesterday, San Jose Sharks player Logan Couture said he was sucker-punched in a Toronto bar because he said if he was American, he would vote for Trump.
True North’s Anthony Furey says it’s disappointing that people become infuriated and resort to violence when they learn someone doesn’t share the same political views they hold.
Officials with the City of Toronto have flagged several place names that they believe to be “problematic” and racist.
In July, the City of Toronto announced they would be launching a review of Dundas Street and other place names after an online petition called for the street to be renamed citing its alleged racist history.
“In the wake of two weeks of protests against police murder and racial injustice, Toronto City Council can take a constructive and symbolic step toward disavowing its historic associations with persons who have actively worked toward preserving systems of racial inequality and exploitation,” the petition read.
The city identified many street names and place names that they consider contentious.
“We realized other streets such as Jarvis Street, Russell Hill Drive and Baby Point are other places that are problematic so we’ll be working through a very thoughtful process,” Toronto’s Chief Curator of Museums and Heritage Services, Wayne Reeves, told 680 News.
The City Manager is expected to bring a report on the subject before the city’s Executive Committee by September 23.
One of the possible outcomes of the report is retaining the original names but adding additional historical information in the form of plaques. Some other possibilities include retaining the “Dundas” name for streets but changing it for municipal assets, or renaming all streets and civic assets.
The forthcoming report is expected to provide an estimate of the costs associated with renaming the properties and streets in question.
“Considering the renaming of Dundas Street is just the beginning of the work we need to do to build a Toronto where we all belong,” said Toronto mayor John Tory.
“I appreciate the thoughtful and thorough research and analysis that has gone into this briefing note by City staff and look forward to the working group’s future recommendations.”
Meanwhile, Toronto has been gripped by a surge in overdose deaths and gun violence. Over the course of the pandemic, Toronto saw an 85% increase in opioid-related deaths.
In 2019, the city saw an all-time high of 395 shootings, resulting in a total of 582 victims, 33 of which died, while 194 were injured according to official Toronto Police Service statistics.
An Alberta man has launched a $565 million lawsuit against the City of Edmonton over its mandatory mask bylaw.
According to the statement of claim, Glenn Miller claims that the presence of used masks on the streets has led to a “health crisis.”
“By the discarding of face masks and with the city knowing or that it should have known that it is unable to control the actions of the people, the city has created a public health hazard for me and others,” writes Miller.
Edmonton implemented mandatory masks for indoor public places such as restaurants, recreation facilities and retail stores on August 1st.
Miller is requesting that city officials terminate the bylaw within the next 10 days.
“Everywhere I go, when I walk to places like Superstore or Southgate mall, masks are all over the place. It’s unsanitary,” Miller told Postmedia.
City spokesperson Lori Yanish addressed the issue of used masks littering the streets and has said that kits and public notices will be made available to people so that proper mask disposal methods are followed.
“The city is seeing an increase in discarded mask litter as more masks are being worn. We remind citizens to properly dispose of masks, face coverings and other personal protective equipment — these items should be put in a garbage bin,” said Yanish.
“We are concerned about litter and are doing additional communications work to address this issue.”
