In part 2 of Candice Malcolm’s interview with Aaron Gunn, they discuss how hockey is the next target of the woke mob, how the police deserve our respect and the rise of independent media in Canada.
With over 50 million video views and thousands of followers, Aaron Gunn has become a steadfast opponent of cancel culture and identity politics. Gunn is a spokesperson for BC Proud, he has also worked for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and founded and became Executive Director of the Generation Screwed initiative.
Each day exposes more slime oozing in the WE scandal enveloping the Trudeau government.
Yesterday we learned that the $912 million for the WE charity was not actually for the WE charity, but rather for the WE Charity Foundation, an entity set up as a real estate holding company with an annual budget of $150,000.
Later in the day, appearing before the Parliamentary Finance committee, Finance Minister Bill Morneau admitted he and his family took WE funded luxury trips. The trips were in 2017 and he only just discovered he had not reimbursed the charity for the trip. On the same day as his committee appearance, he cut a cheque for $41,366 to WE. Then he apologized. Yet again.
That seems to be the pattern with this government. Deny you did anything wrong, then when faced with evidence to the contrary, admit it, apologize. Rinse, repeat.
They literally have no shame.
But the real question in all of this is where’s the RCMP?
There’s evidence of misuse of taxpayer dollars. There’s evidence of deception. Then there’s the apologies admitting guilt. I ask again, where’s the RCMP?
Remember what Senator Mike Duffy went through over an expense “scandal?” He was hounded for nearly three years by the media and underwent an RCMP investigation which charged him criminally with 31 separate charges. All of which were dismissed I might add.
Duffy was charged because he claimed a cottage he owned in PEI was his principal residence and he claimed under senate rules expenses for his Ottawa residence.
In that case, Mr. Justice Charles Vaillancourt said, “The circumstances of this case are a far cry from the usual fraud/breach of trust playbook.”
What he was referring to was for a fraud to have been deemed to have occurred there had to be a tangible benefit received and that it was received by use of deceit.
If we look at the WE scandal, we certainly see an element of deceit in the way this was announced and then to find out the money wasn’t even going where we were first told.
Further, the stories we were given from WE and from the Liberals changed several times to try and minimize what had occurred. The Prime Minister even told the House on Tuesday that the decision was made by the civil service when clearly that was not the case.
This whole affair stinks to the high heavens and literally screams out for an RCMP investigation.
Remember the case of Senator Mike Duffy. It generated headlines for months and an RCMP investigation.
The WE charity scandal is much, much worse. Where are the RCMP?
The Andrew Lawton Show is shining a spotlight on western alienation and the push for Alberta independence. True North’s Andrew Lawton spent last weekend at Freedom Talk in Calgary, a conference exploring the growing frustrations from people in the west, and possible solutions to the Confederation crisis.
In this first episode of a two-part series on western alienation, Andrew sits down with MLA Drew Barnes, who wrote a dissent against his own government’s Fair Deal Panel report, and Paul Hinman, a former MLA who has come out of political retirement to lead the Wildrose Independence Party.
Conservative finance critic Pierre Poilievre is calling for Bill Morneau’s resignation after the revelation Morneau accepted $41,000 worth of travel from WE in 2017 and didn’t repay it until now.
Poilievre said Morneau “has lost the moral authority to hold his office.”
Finance Minister Bill Morneau revealed he repaid over $41,000 to WE Charity related to two trips his family took with the organization in 2017. Morneau made the revelation while appearing before the House of Commons finance committee Wednesday. He repaid the money the same day he testified.
Morneau said he was unable to locate receipts for the trips he and his family took and reached out to WE to find the total amount of expenses the organization had incurred.
Alberta Conservative MP Michael Cooper also introduced a motion calling on the resignation of Bill Morneau at the end of the committee, to be voted on at a later date.
In response to Poilievre’s comment, Morneau said he made mistakes and will continue to serve Canadians.
Throughout this appearance before the committee, Morneau apologized for not recusing himself from cabinet discussions and the vote on the agreement.
Two of Morneau’s daughters are connected to WE. Grace Acan Morneau is a contract employee for WE and Clare Morneau is a speaker and advocate for the organization.
Morneau’s revelation comes while the Trudeau government is under fire for its close ties to WE Charity, who was chosen by the government to administer a $912 million program for students. Through the agreement, WE could have earned as much as $43 million and pay for hundreds of positions with its organization.
When the deal was announced, it was not publicly known that WE had paid members of the Trudeau family hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking engagements since 2016. Margaret Trudeau, Trudeau’s mother, received $312,000 from WE. Alexandre Trudeau, his brother, received $32,000.
In addition, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau received $1,500 from WE in 2012 and is a “WE ambassador and ally.” Grégoire Trudeau also hosts a WE podcast.
Both Morneau and Trudeau are being investigated by the ethics commissioner.
Records show that WE Charity has received at least $5.5 million in funding from the Trudeau government since 2015.
According to Global News, government funding to WE dramatically increased immediately after the Trudeau government took power.
During the Harper years, WE received a $300,000 grant in 2012-2013, and started accepting $100,000 annually as part of the “Youth Take Charge Program.”
From 2008-2012, WE received no funding from the federal government.
Starting in 2015, WE started receiving substantial funding from the government, primarily from the Departments of Canadian Heritage and Families, Children and Social Development.
In 2017, the Trudeau government paid WE $1.5 million for Canada 150 activities, including $1 million to hold a single “WE Day” rally in Ottawa on July 2. The prime minister and his mother both spoke at the event.
“(Canadian Heritage) asked WE Charity to organize a WE Day on July 2 for thousands of youth, educators and parents as part of the Canada Day weekend festivities in Ottawa,” a Canadian Heritage spokesperson told Global.
“In total, $1,000,000 was allocated to that project, to cover direct event delivery costs and to cover the costs of third-party contractors to maintain key infrastructure on the Hill for an additional day.”
In June, the Trudeau government selected WE to administer a $912 million fund through the Canada Student Service Grant program. Through the agreement, WE could have earned as much as $43 million and pay for hundreds of positions with its organization.
When the deal was announced, it was not publicly known that WE had paid members of the Trudeau family for speaking gigs since 2016. Margaret Trudeau, the prime minister’s mother, received $312,000 from WE. Alexandre Trudeau, his brother, received $32,000.
In addition, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau received $1,500 from WE in 2012 and is a “WE ambassador and ally.” Grégoire Trudeau hosts a WE podcast.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is reconsidering its relationship with WE Charity amid allegations that the charity was handpicked to manage a $912 million fund while having close connections with the Trudeau family.
According to True North fellow Anthony Furey, the TDSB may not continue relations with WE Charity after their current agreement ends.
“There will be a review and evaluation of the partnership before our current partnership agreement ends in February, 2021 and before any decision to continue with the partnership is made,” TDSB Spokesperson Shari Schwartz-Maltz said.
WE Charity claims to be partnered with 7000 schools across Canada with the goal of creating a “revolution in education, working to bring service-learning into every classroom.”
The TDSB has had a longstanding relationship with WE, in which WE would host assemblies, create in-school clubs and even produce curriculum.
The TDSB partnered with WE to develop a program that would train youth and equip educators and students about service-learning.
“WE Charity developed a comprehensive curriculum, a student guide, called Take Action: A Guide to Active Citizenship, offered hands-on leadership workshops in schools, professional development training programs for educators, and celebrated and recognized the service actions of young people at WE Day events,” says WE.
Earlier this year, the Trudeau government selected WE to administer the $912 million Canada Student Service Grant program. After allegations of cronyism, the agreement was cancelled.
Through the deal, WE would have pocketed up to $43 million. WE also created hundreds of positions within its own organization.
Earlier in July, it was revealed that members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s family had been paid for work done for WE for the past several years. Margaret Trudeau was paid $312,000 for speaking gigs.
Hundreds of lawmakers from around the world turned their eyes to Iran last weekend at a summit hosted by an Iranian resistance group.
Their message was clear: The Iranian regime has to go.
The Free Iran Global Summit was hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran and its sister organization, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), at the latter’s headquarters in Albania. Due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions the audience was online, viewing the proceedings from what the organization says were 30,000 locations across the globe.
The three-day summit, hosting over 1,000 current and former lawmakers and dignitaries, focused on the Iranian regime’s record as a state sponsor of terror and human rights violator. While speakers were united in calling out Iran’s barbarity, there was a message of hope as well.
Today is the #FreeIran2020 global summit – held virtually because of pandemic restrictions. I'll be covering it for True North. You can watch the event here. Speakers include Rudy Giuliani, Joe Lieberman, John Baird, and Stephen Harper. https://t.co/9NZ4edbPgJ
“The people of Iran deserve to be free, and we stand with you in your fight,” said United States Congressman Lance Gooden.
“I feel like we’re making great progress … I’m encouraged and I look forward to being with you next year. Not in Albania, but in Iran, together, when we’re there and you’re back in your country and the people of Iran are free.”
Gooden’s optimism was echoed by former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, who said the Iranian regime is “weakened” in his message of support for the resistance cause.
“Deception is no substitute for strength. And the regime is not strong. It is weakened,” Harper said.
“With the economic situation deteriorating at home, corruption rampant, with explosions and fires widely reported, street protests continue to break out in Iran itself. They do so despite the real risk of death for the protesters and despite the disinformation campaigns that the regime wages against its own … The regime has never looked weaker than at the very moments when it has tried to show strength.”
Harper said Iran’s aggressions against United States, Saudia Arabia and Israel have been “brushed away like annoying insects.”
“The regime is ready to fall, and the regime is ready to be replaced,” he said.
Harper is laying out the NCRI's 10-point plan for Iran, including property rights, denuclearization, democracy and freedom. He says "only the Iranian people have the right" to choose the government, but says the people want to see these things.
Harper lauded the efforts of NCRI president-elect Maryam Rajavi, whose 10-point plan for Iran includes free and fair elections, separation of religion and state, freedom of speech and a modern justice system.
Rajavi said “firmness” from the global community is necessary to topple the regime.
“That means firmly dispensing with everything that enables the regime’s terrorist activity, and firmly responding to every single criminal act,” she said.
Ali Safavi, an official with the NCRI’s foreign affairs committee, said bolstering the regime’s downfall is a key priority for the resistance effort, especially since the latest uprising, which began last November.
“Inside Iran, the primary focus of the activities of the Iranian resistance will be to expand the network of resistance units as the most potent and effective factor in directing and inspiring protests and uprisings, as has been evident especially in the past two years,” Safavi said. “Despite many arrests and the regime’s extraordinary security and repressive measures, more and more people, particularly the younger generation, are joining (the resistance’s) ranks.”
Safavi also called on countries around the world to strengthen economic sanctions and shut down Iranian embassies and diplomatic missions, which he characterized as “nests of espionage and terrorism.”
Conservative MP James Bezan and Liberal MP Judy Sgro were part of the Canadian delegation, as well as former foreign affairs minister John Baird.
The American delegation was similarly bipartisan, with former Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and former Democratic senator Robert Torricelli among the speakers.
Giuliani said the Free Iran conference and the NCRI’s broader efforts serve to “expedite” what he described as the regime’s dwindling legitimacy among its people.
“Even if we weren’t involved, it would happen,” he said. “It just would happen over a longer period of time. I see the NCRI and related groups as helping to expedite and organize a ground roots rebellion.”
Giuliani said the Iranian mullahs have a “patina of being religious” but “remind me much more of the mafia than they do of a religious group.”
This is why NCRI and MEK have found such support from politicians of all stripes in countries around the world.
Torricelli told True North there is widespread, bipartisan backing of the Iranian resistance specifically among American lawmakers but this doesn’t get conveyed in the media.
“Support is discounted by the media,” he said. “I have rarely seen an issue that had such broad support, but to read an American newspaper you would never know it.”
A House of Commons committee has narrowly voted to censor documents pertaining to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, on Monday the House of Commons’ health committee voted 6-5 to block the release of PHAC emails and allow the agency to censor any documents they release.
“We’re trying to get to the bottom of some of the discussions. More than 100,000 Canadians have gotten sick during this pandemic and thousands have tragically died,” said Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux.
“All Canadians deserve to know what information the government is using to make decisions.”
Liberal and Bloc Québécois MPs voted to censor the documents while the Conservative and NDP members wanted to see all documents released unredacted.
NDP MP Don Davies said the lack of transparency puts public faith in Canadian institutions at risk.
“The Canadian public may or may not have lost trust in this government, but we risk them losing trust in their chief public health officer and government if we fail them as parliamentarians and don’t seek out information,” he said.
Earlier this year it was revealed that the PHAC disposed of two million masks and other pieces of equipment from Canada’s emergency stockpile in 2019.
The lost equipment was never replaced, leading to a severe storage of personal protective equipment. The cost to replace the lost stockpile was reported to be $1.8 billion in June.
According to Blacklock’s, hundreds of pages of documents sent to the health committee by Health Canada have already been censored. The pages that were not censored contained mainly positive information, including the claim that everything was “working exactly as it should” despite the stockpile shortage.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has admitted not enough medical supplies were stockpiled.
At the height of the pandemic Canada’s frontline medical professionals told the Health Committee that they “feel betrayed” by the government’s failure to prepare for the pandemic.
Doctors and nurses were being forced to ration medical supplies like masks, and many told the Canadian Medical Association in April that they feared their hospital would run out supplies.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has condemned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for taking a personal day rather than answer questions from the opposition.
On Monday the House of Commons opened for the first time in a month – and the first time since the WE Charity scandal broke.
Trudeau’s official itinerary for Monday listed only that it was a “personal” day.
“Justin Trudeau picked today – he could’ve picked any day he liked… He picked today to come back and debate this bill and also to participate in Question Period, and then he decided to take a personal day,” Scheer said in response to a question from True North’s Andrew Lawton.
“Completely unacceptable that he doesn’t show up for work on the day he chose. It’s an insult to Canadians who have very serious questions about the WE scandal.”
Justin Trudeau said he would answer questions about his $900M scandal in the House of Commons.
After Question Period Scheer called for a special emergency debate on the WE scandal.
“This is clearly a matter in the public interest, this is something that we were looking forward to questioning the prime minister on today. He said last week that he would be in the house to answer these questions,” he said to Speaker Anthony Rota.
“I hope that you will grant this request, grant members of parliament to further delve into the sordid affair the prime minister the prime minister finds himself in.”
Rota denied Scheer’s request, saying that the scandal cannot be considered urgent enough to warrant a special debate.
Since the last time the House of Commons sat it was revealed that the prime minister’s mother and brother had been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by WE Charity over the past few years.
Earlier this year WE Charity was given a $912 million contract by cabinet. Trudeau did not recuse himself from the discussions despite his family’s WE connections.
WE’s co-founder has said that the prime minister’s office reached out to personally offer him the contract, though Trudeau has since disputed that claim.
Scheer went on to say that Liberal MPs will be showing Canadians that they approve of corruption if they do not speak out against the prime minister.
“If they allow him to continue, if they don’t demand that he resign, then they are telling Canadians that they are comfortable with his corruption,” he said.
“Each and every one of them has a choice to make. It’s either corruption or incompetence. Which is it?”
