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Sunday, August 10, 2025

Trudeau gets heckled, kneels before protesters

By
True North Wire
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among the thousands of people gathered for an anti-racism rally in Ottawa on Friday afternoon.

Trudeau waded into the crowd of protesters while surrounded by security. Some of the protesters heckled the prime minister and called on him to “stand up to Trump.” 

In a video of the incident posted to Twitter by Power & Politics, the crowd is heard chanting the slogan while Trudeau remains surrounded by security.

Later on in the rally, Trudeau was filmed taking a knee as protesters shouted “kneel down.” 

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Trudeau has been self-isolating in Ottawa at Rideau Cottage, but on Friday he decided to leave his residence and join the mass gathering. 

Only last month, Trudeau was telling Canadians to stay at home and avoid social gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic. Critics pointed out Trudeau’s double standard on coronavirus measures when he first broke his own rules and visited his family at Harrington Lake over Easter weekend. 

In March, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam was telling Canadians not to visit their cottages or impede on rural communities, but Trudeau went to his cottage anyway.

Despite directives banning large public gatherings such as sporting events, concerts, and family events, Tam tacitly approved of the protests when asked about the health implications. 

Instead of condemning the demonstrations that have already taken place in several Canadian cities all across the country, Tam meekly suggested that the protesters avoid shouting, and wear a mask while in large crowds. 

“Of course, wearing a mask is important, but shouting and making really loud projections can potentially increase the risk,” said Tam.

“One might want to choose other means of showing or messaging, whether it be signage or making noise using other instruments for example. Just to consider that shouting and that type of behaviour can potentially project more droplets.”

Public Health Agency silently deletes unreliable Chinese data from report

By
True North Wire
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Canada’s Public Health Agency silently deleted Chinese data from its coronavirus reporting because of its unreliability. 

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the agency overseeing Canada’s pandemic response erased all mention of China in a report titled Update: Covid-19 In Canada. 

Instead of Chinese data, figures from the US, the UK, Russian, Brazil, France and other countries were used. 

“We are learning from the experience of the global community. Other countries such as South Korea and Japan demonstrated strong epidemic control to keep their curves smaller overall. All countries realize this is an ongoing effort,” claimed the report.

“We can confirm China was removed from the global comparison graph as we were comparing Canada with other selected countries that continue to report new cases,” said a spokesperson for Canada’s health ministry David Wolkowski.

A prior update on the global coronavirus pandemic included Chinese figures. According to China, the country with a population of 1.4 billion has fewer coronavirus deaths and cases than Canada. 

The last mention of Chinese data on April 9 claimed that the country had an unchanged case number of 84,600. 

As of today, China has only reported 4,645 deaths, while Canada has 7,652 confirmed coronavirus deaths. 

The deletion comes after Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu dismissed doubts about China’s reporting as feeding into “conspiracy theories.” 

On April 2, Hajdu claimed that China’s data was not falsified when asked about the reliability of the authoritarian country’s claims. 

“There is no indication the data that came out of China in terms of their infection rate and their death rate was falsified in any way,” said Hajdu. 

“How can we be assured of accurate modelling if the country that was the centre of the outbreak has been lowballing or hiding its data?” a reporter asked.  

“Your question is feeding into the conspiracy theories that many people have been perpetuating on the internet.”

Hajdu has also praised China’s coronavirus response repeatedly calling it a “historic containment effort.” 

“The praise I offered China during the early days was based on their historic containment efforts. Don’t forget that there were millions and millions of Chinese people under, essentially confinement, if you will, for a very long time and in fact in some of those cities people are just getting back to normal and that was a public health measure that was never seen before,” Hajdu told CTV News in April.

In response to Hajdu’s praise, a Chinese state media chief called the health minister a “role model” for her defence of China. 

Senators pass salary raise for committee chairs that met only twice in 2020

By
True North Wire
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In the midst of a global pandemic, the Senate of Canada has voted to increase the salaries of senators who chair a committee that has only met twice in 2020. 

According to the CBC, a motion tabled by Sen. Yuen Pau Woo would give an extra $10,100 a year in pay to the chair of the selection committee. Woo is also the chair of the committee and will be receiving the pay himself. 

The extra bonus would be added to the base annual salary of $157,600 Woo earns for serving in the government. 

The deputy chair of the committee, Conservative Sen. Carolyn Stewart Olsen will also be getting an additional $5,200 a year. 

In the selection committees, senators decide on the members who will table other committees in the senate and usually last a little over an hour. 

The motion was passed unanimously by the Senate on March 10 and signed off by the leaders of the Senate’s various parties. 

According to Senate rules, there is no requirement for chairs to receive additional pay for their participation in the committees considering they are “neither a standing committee nor a special committee.”

NPD MP and critic for democratic reform Daniel Blaikie told CBC News that the decision was “tone-deaf” and “wrong.” 

“Only in a place where there’s no accountability could you get away with that. You can do stuff like this and you don’t have to defend it,” said Blaikie.

“A politician that had to face his or her constituents wouldn’t do it because they’d know that people would be upset with them and there’d be consequences. Senators — they’re there until they’re 75 and it doesn’t matter what they do … there’s no real recourse.”​​​​​​

Unemployment in Canada reached new record in May: StatsCan

By
True North Wire
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According to Statistics Canada, unemployment in Canada has reached its highest level in the agency’s history.

Labour market statistics published on Friday show that the unemployment rate in May reached 13.7%, increasing slightly from April.

“The unemployment rate was 13.7% in May, the highest rate recorded since comparable data became available in 1976. In February, prior to the COVID-19 economic shutdown, the unemployment rate was 5.6%. It increased to 7.8% in March and 13.0% in April,” StatsCan said.

StatsCan reported that despite increasing unemployment, 289,600 new jobs were created as provinces began relaxing public health restrictions.

In May Canada lost a total of 201,000 jobs, being the total number of jobs lost since the coronavirus pandemic to approximately 3.2 million. 

One of the factors driving the increase in unemployment is that more people have started looking for work, particularly students who have just finished their studies for the summer. The unemployment rate for returning students was 40.3% in May.

Stats Canada notes that self-employed people, including business owners, are still being hit harder by public health orders than employees. 

“In May, among incorporated self-employed workers who worked zero hours for COVID-19-related reasons, less than 1 in 10 (7.8%) received pay (not adjusted for seasonality). This compared with less than 1 in 4 (23.1%) employees who worked zero hours (not adjusted for seasonality).”

In March Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy for small and medium businesses. Businesses had to show a decline in revenue of at least 30% from the same period in 2019 in order to qualify. 

Last week bureaucrats admitted that the wage subsidy failed to help most businesses. Of the $76 billion budgeted for the program, just 10.4% had been claimed.

Will violence and looting accomplish anything?

By
Candice Malcolm
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Former police officer and security expert Leo Knight joins The Candice Malcolm Show to discuss the anti-racism protests that have often turned into violent riots which are spreading across the US and in some parts of Canada.

The police officers involved in the George Floyd killing have been arrested and charged, so what are the demands of the protesters?

Do protesters hurt their own cause when they turn violent and start looting? How has Antifa intensified the situation?

Tune into The Candice Malcolm Show now!

Trudeau offers many words but no concrete action on Chinese takeover of Hong Kong

By
True North Wire
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has once again failed to take action on the ongoing Chinese takeover of Hong Kong. 

When asked by journalists whether the Liberal government would retaliate against China for their aggressive crackdown on peaceful democratic protesters, Trudeau avoided answering directly. 

“We have worked with some of our closest allies including the UK, Australia and others to condemn the actions taken by China in Hong Kong,” said Trudeau. 

“We are extremely concerned with their stepping away from the one country, two systems agreement that was signed a few decades ago. We need to ensure that rights are defended around the world including in Hong Kong.”

Meanwhile, Canada’s international allies have taken concrete steps to condemn China’s behaviour. 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the UK would provide refuge and citizenship for nearly three million Hong Kongers.

China snapped back at the UK and threatened to take retaliatory steps if the Johnson government were to follow through with its plans. 

New Chinese legislation will outlaw a number of activities including subversion and secession in the region. Many Hong Kongers fear that the new laws would effectively strip the territory of any independence.

During his press conference, Trudeau was also asked when his government would make a final decision on Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s involvement in Canada’s 5G network. 

“These are considerations that we have been looking very carefully at,” said Trudeau, without providing a timeline. 

Recently, the US Department of State told the CBC that it would reassess its intelligence-sharing operations with Canada should it agree to partner with Huawei.

Security experts fear that Beijing could use the technology as a backdoor into Canada’s network, granting China the ability to spy on Canadian citizens and gain access to sensitive information. 

All firearms used in Nova Scotia killing spree were illegal: RCMP

By
True North Wire
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Six weeks after a mass shooting killed 22 people in Nova Scotia, RCMP have finally confirmed that all five weapons used by the shooter were illegal prior to the Trudeau government’s gun ban.

In the first new briefing about the shooting in a month, RCMP told reporters Thursday that the five guns used by shooter Gabriel Wortman did not belong to him.

According to RCMP, three of the guns had been illegally sourced from the United States, one had been illegally sourced from within Canada and another was taken from victim Const. Heidi Stevenson.

RCMP Supt. Darren Campbell told reporters that law enforcement is still trying to determine the history of the illegal weapons.

“This component of the investigation remains active and [involves] international law enforcement partner agencies,” he said.

In April, RCMP confirmed that Wortman did not have a firearms license. 

Wortman had been temporarily banned from owning firearms as part of the conditional discharge of a 2002 assault charge.

In response to the shooting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on 1,500 types of rifles.

Trudeau said that the shooting justifies the need to implement strict gun control, at the time calling the Nova Scotia shooting “a tragic reminder of the fact that we need to do more to keep Canadians safe.”

RCMP had confirmed that three of Wortman’s weapons came from the United States in early May. How he was able to acquire them is still under investigation.

Supt. Campbell said a psychological autopsy has already revealed some insight into Wortman’s possible motives.

“In those findings, the gunman was described as what is called an injustice collector — one who held onto conflict or differences with others, turning them inward until they boiled over in rage” Campbell said.

“Some recipients of his wrath of violence were targeted for perceived injustices of the past, others were reactive targets of his rage and some were just random targets.”

Vancouver businesses board up storefronts ahead of Friday protest

By
True North Wire
-

Some downtown Vancouver businesses have boarded up their storefronts over fears of violence and looting at a planned anti-racism march on Friday.

Protesters will gather at Jack Poole Plaza on Friday at 4 p.m. for a demonstration inspired by ongoing protests in the US, some of which have broken out into riots. 

The unrest has entered its second week after Minnesota’s George Floyd was killed during an arrest by police.

According to CBC, Nordstrom has boarded up several North American locations including a downtown Vancouver store.

“Out of an abundance of caution, some of our storefronts are being boarded,” a spokesperson told CBC News. 

“We’re paying close attention to potential gatherings that may take place in cities across Canada and the U.S. this week.”

Other stores were spotted with boarded windows, including a Champs Sports as well as a Best Buy on Cambie St.

In BC, gatherings of over 50 people are officially forbidden by the province’s provincial health officer. However, according to Premier John Horgan, the ban doesn’t apply to protests. 

“It’s not a scheduled event as a wedding would be or as a drive-in theatre would be or any other areas where public health orders are in place,” Horgan said. 

“Free association and the ability to speak about issues that matter in the public square is a fundamental right.”

Last weekend, a protest in Montreal broke out into violence and looting after Antifa clashed with local police. According to an exclusive True North report, a Montreal Antifa website has called for further violence against police and justified looting as “legitimate.”

Don’t let China into Canada’s north with gold mine purchase: Northwest Territories MLA

By
True North Wire
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A Yellowknife MLA has called on the federal government to reject the $149 million purchase of Nunavut’s Hope Bay gold mine operation by the Chinese state-owned company Shandong Gold. 

The deal is currently under review by federal authorities due to its relationship with a foreign authoritarian government. 

Shandong Gold acquired the operation from the Canadian-based company TMAC Resources. The mine had yielded 3.45 million ounces of gold by the end of 2019. 

According to Nunavut News, Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson likened the attempted purchase to colonization.

“There is no benefit to the Inuit in having a Canadian colonizer swapped out for a Chinese one,” Johnson wrote. 

“There are so many risks that come with allowing the Chinese government to increase influence in the Arctic, including the fact they are one of our main competitors in mining.”

After the Shandong purchase was announced, former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Richard Fadden raised the alarm about the national security implications of Canadian resources being bought up by foreign state-owned enterprises. 

Fadden called on Canada and the U.S. to include gold in the mutual critical-mineral strategy list, which “[secures] supply chains for the critical minerals needed for important manufacturing sectors, including communication technology, aerospace and defence and clean technology.”

In its 2019 annual report, CSIS also warned that foreign investment in Canada could endanger our national security. 

The report cited “a number of state-owned enterprises and private firms” with close ties to foreign governments as potential culprits. 

An Inuk MLA from Nunavut, Cathy Towtongie, also called the gold mine deal “Very troubling.” 

“There are two Canadians jailed in (China) over an issue of retaliation (for) Canada arresting an executive. Yet here in Nunavut, a mine is being sold,” said Towtongie. 

“We ought to be more vigilant than just selling out.”

Liberal MP claims internet full of coronavirus fake news as government considers registry

By
True North Wire
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The internet is full of coronavirus misinformation which is causing the public to lose faith in the public health system, according to a Liberal MP. 

Originally reported by Blacklock’s, MP Mark Gerretsen told the House of Commons that “malicious actors” are using the internet to weaken trust in the Canadian government. 

“We must be mindful of the importance of sharing reliable, trustworthy information. Not only is it integral to the health of one another, but also the health of our democracy,” he said, while providing no evidence of his claim.

“Malicious actors are right now attempting to erode democratic institutions through the spread of malicious falsehoods that create confusion, sow division and cause harm.” 

The Department of Canadian Heritage is considering implementing a registry for internet publishers, forcing content creators to follow a specific “code of conduct” to be established by the Trudeau government.

A registry is just one of several ways the Trudeau government may regulate the internet. 

Another idea, to require media outlets to get a license, was quickly abandoned after public outrage ensued in January.

Recently the Canadian Internet Registry Authority reported that it had not received a single complaint about any websites sharing false information on coronavirus.

Of the 200,000 new dot-ca websites registered during the pandemic, the Authority only considered 20 to be suspicious.

In May, Authority CEO Byron Holland told MPs that there is no evidence Canadian websites have a coronavirus misinformation problem.

“To date we have tracked just over two thousand dot-ca domain names with Covid-19 related keywords. For context, since January we have registered over 200,000 dot-ca domain names,” he said.

“This is aligned with what we are seeing from our peers in Europe and around the world where Covid-19 related domains make up less than one percent of registrations so far this year. However, it’s also important to note many of these domains are perfectly legitimate, even positive.”

According to Heritage Canada, future internet regulations will be based off of a report done by a federal commission in January. The report recommended that the government be given more power over what media outlets can publish and also increase funding to the CBC.

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