fbpx
Thursday, August 14, 2025

Dr. Theresa Tam admits Canada waited too long to shut borders

By
True North Wire
-

On Tuesday, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam admitted that Canada waited too long to close its borders, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. 

“I think that in hindsight, yes, I think people could act faster and maybe in the future we will take different decisions,” said Tam with regard to restricting travel into Canada. 

“In retrospect and maybe looking forward, the world might be a very different place in terms of whether this kind of measure is enacted,” said Tam. 

Tam’s admission occurred during the House of Commons health committee. 

The admission comes several months after the Liberal government insisted border closures would be ineffective in containing the coronavirus.

On February 17, Liberal Health Minister Patty Hajdu claimed that shutting Canada’s borders was “not effective at all.” 

“The long-term implication of shutting down borders is, one, they’re not very effective in controlling disease. In fact they’re not effective at all,” said Hajdu at the time. 

Hajdu maintained her position regarding the effectiveness of border closures. In March, she told reporters that borders were “less relevant” as the virus spread. 

“The more countries that have outbreaks, the less relevant borders become. A virus knows no borders,” said Hajdu.

Only a few weeks after the statement, the Canadian government closed its border with the US to non-essential traffic. 

When questioned about whether she stood by her position by the end of April, Hajdu seemingly blamed other countries like Iran and Italy for the reason Canada had to close its borders instead of taking responsibility.

“Those containment efforts ultimately failed and I will point to the fact that I stand by the remarks that I made around borders. We now have stronger measures on our borders, it became very clear that other countries did not have a good handle on what their outbreaks were looking like including countries like Iran and Italy who were struggling,” said Hajdu. 

On Tuesday, the federal government extended restrictions along the US-Canada border up to June 21. 

Court invalidates Jim Karahalios’ disqualification from Conservative leadership race

By
True North Wire
-

An Ontario judge has nullified a Conservative Party of Canada committee’s disqualification of leadership candidate Jim Karahalios.

On Wednesday the Ontario Superior Court ruled Karahalios should be given a chance to rejoin the leadership race, finding the Conservatives broke their leadership rules when the party’s Dispute Resolution Appeals Committee disqualified Karahalios.

“I declare that the DRAC Decision Of March 18, 2020 to disqualify Mr. Karahalios’ as a candidate for the Conservative Party leadership was invalid, and I set aside the DRAC Decision,” Judge J. Perell wrote.

“I declare that if Mr. Karahalios complies with the Ruling of the CRO dated March 17, 2020 within fourteen days of the release of these Reasons for Decision, he is a Verified Leadership Candidate in good standing.”

The leadership race’s chief returning officer (CRO), Derek Vanstone, fined Karahalios after receiving a complaint from leadership candidate Erin O’Toole about an email Karahalios’ campaign sent out criticizing Walied Soliman, the chair of O’Toole’s campaign, for past comments on Sharia financing.

On March 17, Vanstone ruled that Karahalios’ statements violated party policy, levying a fine.

Karahalios appealed the decision to DRAC, which disqualified him one day later.

The judge ruled that DRAC does not have the authority to disqualify candidates, as party policy says that power lies with the Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC).

Even with the court’s decision, LEOC could still disqualify Karahalios, the judge said.

To re-enter the race, Karahalios must meet the party’s $100,000 fundraising requirement in the next 14 days, as well as pay the fine issued by the CRO.

The judge made it clear that the court does not have the power to rule on whether Karahalios’ remarks against Soliman broke party policy, simply whether the Conservative Party of Canada upheld its contractual obligations under the leadership rules.

“I repeat that it is not the court’s role to determine  whether the CRO’s Ruling was substantively correct nor is it this court’s role to decide for the Conservative Party who has the status to be a candidate for its leadership, which ultimately is a matter for LEOC.”

In a statement, Karahalios said he still disagrees with the CRO’s decision but will re-enter the race and abide by the party’s rules as they stand.  

“While I disagree with the CRO’s heavy-handed ruling, I have no further means by which to appeal it because of the Court’s limited jurisdiction,” he wrote.

“I am currently reviewing the Court’s ruling to assess how I can best re-enter the race in a competitive manner that respects the Court’s ruling, the Rules of the race as clarified by the Court, and the will of Conservative Party members.”

In a statement, Conservative spokesperson Cory Hann said the party appreciates Justice Perell’s finding that the party did not operate in bad faith, and vowed to respect the ruling.

“We will be reviewing the full decision carefully and implementing its guidance as quickly as possible,” Hann said. “Nothing is more important to the Leadership Election Organizing Committee than electing a new Conservative Party leader who will be ready to become Canada’s next Prime Minister. We’re looking forward to a competitive race ahead, and giving Canadians the opportunity to hear from our candidates.”

Decision in Karahalios v. C… by Andrew Lawton on Scribd

Trudeau’s about-face on China is “completely disingenuous,” says Scheer

By
True North Wire
-

Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer has accused Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being “completely disingenuous” in his recent about-face stance towards China after pursuing a policy of appeasement. 

“Don’t be fooled by Mr. Trudeau’s phony statements about China right now. We have been raising the alarm about this government’s failure to stand up for Canada and its policy of appeasement to the regime in the People’s Republic of China,” said Scheer.

Recently, the federal government joined in on an international coalition comprised of 110 nations to call for an independent investigation into China’s and the WHO’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 

The inquiry, which is being spearheaded by Australia, has raised the ire of the Chinese Communist Party. 

Prior to tentatively joining the growing consensus that China should be held responsible for the global pandemic, Trudeau has been reluctant to criticize China’s regime. Instead, the prime minister has made several friendly overtures to the CCP since the crisis began. 

More recently, Canada’s federal research council announced that it would partner with Chinese researchers to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

The decision was made in light of warnings from Canadian intelligence agencies that Canada’s coronavirus research is especially vulnerable to foreign espionage. 

“With regards to the specific threats, the (Communications Security Establishment’s) Cyber Centre has assessed that the COVID-19 pandemic presents an elevated level of risk to the cyber security of Canadian health organizations involved in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” CSE’s acting director-general of public affairs Christopher Williams told the Star. 

“(The Canadian Security Intelligence Service) sees an increased risk of foreign interference and espionage due to the extraordinary effort of our businesses and research centres … (CSIS) focus is on protecting Canadian intellectual property from these threats — and jobs and economic interests with it.”

Scheer also blasted Trudeau for flip-flopping on his position regarding Taiwan’s membership in the WHO. Prior to coming out against the country’s exclusion from the UN organization, Trudeau refused to call on Taiwan’s membership. 

“It’s only now after they see some polling data that they’ve started to change their message on that. It’s only in the last couple of weeks that he’s changed his message at all and I believe it’s completely disingenuous,” said Scheer.

Recently, the Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs François-Philippe Champagne failed to name Taiwan directly when thanking the nation for a shipment of medical supplies. Instead of saying “Taiwan”, Champagne thanked “every nation” that has donated to Canada, despite thanking the Chinese regime publicly in the past. 

Alberta creates anti-human trafficking task force

By
True North Wire
-

Alberta has appointed an anti-human trafficking task force to help the province fight human trafficking and assist survivors.

On Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney announced the creation of the Human Trafficking Task Force, which will provide the government with recommendations on supporting survivors and implementing the nine-point action plan.

“Alberta should be a place where people can live safely, free from exploitation and coercion. Sadly, human trafficking exists in our province, and it is our duty to bring these human rights violations to light and do more to protect those at risk,” Kenney said. 

“This provincial Human Trafficking Task Force brings together knowledgeable and dedicated individuals to provide advice on protecting and empowering some of Alberta’s most vulnerable.”

The task force will be headed by country musician and longtime anti-trafficking activist Paul Brandt.

In 2017 Brandt and his wife Liz founded the organization #NotInMyCity, a group which raises awareness about human trafficking.

“The launch of this task force acknowledges and elevates the true value of the life of every human trafficking victim. Traffickers measure the worth of another by dollar and cents without thought or concern for an individual’s dignity, safety or life,” Brandt said.

“Today we’re standing up and saying we will not tolerate human trafficking in Alberta.”

According to the most recent information from Statistics Canada, human trafficking cases have increased significantly since 2009.

Last week the Alberta government passed Bill 8, which empowers police to prevent sex trafficking and increases protections for sex trafficking victims.

The creation of the task force comes weeks after anti-sex trafficking organizations across Canada learned that their federal funding would not be renewed.

Several weeks ago, the Trudeau government ended the Harper-era Measures to Address Prostitution Initiative (MAPI) which provided funding to organizations fighting sex trafficking and supporting victims.

Two organization leaders said they were trying to gain information about the future of their funding for months before the government abruptly told them MAPI would end. 

Trudeau spoke about banning guns 400% more than about China during daily coronavirus briefings

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau began delivering daily coronavirus press briefings, he has spoken about banning guns 400% more often than he made any reference to China. 

True North conducted a word frequency analysis on transcripts of the daily conferences dating from March 11 to May 5. 

Trudeau’s speeches and responses were included in the counts along with a separate search of questions asked by the media.

Research shows that Trudeau said the word “China” only nine times during this period while talking about banning “guns” 47 different times.  

Trudeau also included the country’s name in his responses nearly 300% less than the 34 times the media asked questions which referenced the communist state. 

Trudeau has recently come under fire for his reluctance to stand up to China.

Critics have accused the prime minister of going soft on the communist regime despite being responsible for the global coronavirus pandemic. 

On May 8th, the prime minister was filmed walking away from the microphone after being asked whether his government was “standing up to China” or “backing away.” 

During the encounter, Trudeau dodged the question posed to him by Globe and Mail reporter Marieke Walsh, and then promptly ignoring Walsh’s followup. 

According to the research, questions including the word “gun” was also a favoured topic of the media with 30 different references, outnumbering the topics “pandemic” (29), “economy” (28), and “emergency” (23). 

The media also spent significantly more time talking about US President Donald Trump than the prime minister did. 

Journalists said the president’s name 260% more frequently during questions than the prime minister did in his replies. 

The two neighbouring world leaders have taken a starkly different attitude regarding China’s coverup of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Earlier this month Chinese ambassador to Ottawa Cong Peiwu praised Trudeau for his “cool-headed” approach to China, contrasting it to Trump’s alleged “smears.” 

“I believe that Canada has adopted a cool-headed approach,” said Cong. 

“We appreciate that. The most important task, currently, is to focus our energy on fighting the pandemic.”

Ep. 4 | Spencer Fernando | Press Freedom, China and the future of the CPC

By
Candice Malcolm
-

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

Is Canada heading down an authoritarian path?

It’s no secret Justin Trudeau admires China’s “basic dictatorship.” He’s even gone as far as to defend the Communist regime and its handling of the coronavirus. But perhaps what’s worse is that Trudeau is slowing creeping Canada towards a government-owned, managed and controlled media landscape, just like in communist-autocratic China.

On this episode of the True North Speaker Series, True North’s Candice Malcolm is joined by Spencer Fernando. By providing insightful analysis and reporting on stories the mainstream media refuses to touch, Spencer has built one of the fastest-growing websites in Canada (www.spencerfernando.com). As more of the mainstream media become recipients of government handouts, Spencer believes Canada is in need of truth-telling now more than ever.

Interested in asking a question to our guests? Become a True North Insider today: http://www.tnc.news/donate/ 

Former CSIS director warns about Chinese takeover of Canadian resource company

By
True North Wire
-

The former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is calling on the federal government to scrutinize the recent takeover of a Nunavut goldmine by a Chinese state-owned company. 

Early in May, Shandong Gold Mining acquired TMAC Resources in a $149 million cash deal. The trade involved the Hope Bay gold mining project which produced 3.45 million ounces by the end of 2019. 

TMAC is among a growing number of Canadian companies being bought up by Chinese corporations. This March, Continental Gold was purchased by Zijin Mining for $1.3 billion. 

The head of CSIS from 2009 to 2013 Richard Fadden told the Globe and Mail that the federal government should keep Canada’s national security interests in mind when examining the purchase.

Fadden also thinks that gold should be added to the Canada-U.S. critical-mineral strategy list. The list, which is a joint venture between the two neighbouring nations, is an effort meant to “[secure] supply chains for the critical minerals needed for important manufacturing sectors, including communication technology, aerospace and defence and clean technology.” 

Gold is currently not one of the minerals or metals included in the critical-mineral strategy list.

“I think gold is pretty important for the world economy. China has enough of a grip on the world economy as it is, given its capital assets, so I would include gold. Governments should sit down, convene a bunch of experts and talk to our allies about it,” said Fadden. 

According to Fadden, the intelligence community has been increasingly worried regarding China’s careful investments in Canadian companies which skirt regulation. 

“There was a worry that the Chinese seemed to be very knowledgeable about regulatory thresholds and were coming just underneath them and, as is well known, Chinese corporations abroad are required to comply with Chinese government directives,” said Fadden. 

“If you had enough of these, either beneath regulatory thresholds or small investments, they would eventually be consolidated and there would not be very much anyone could do about it,”

Laws currently in place in China require companies to aid and assist in intelligence gathering or national security operations if asked to do so by the state.

The TMAC deal is currently under review by the federal government. Since 2012 all foreign takeovers are required to be reviewed under section 25.3 of the Investment Canada Act which takes into account national security issues. 

Liberals favoured “shoddy” Chinese medical goods over western supplies: MP

By
True North Wire
-

Consultants hired by the federal government to manage the procurement of medical goods for Canada told western suppliers that contracting was suspended, despite placing rush orders with Chinese factories at the same time. 

Emails disclosed by Conservative MP Kelly McCauley show that Deloitte, who was hired to place the orders, told suppliers based in North America and Europe that there was an ongoing “buying suspension,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter. 

“Why would Deloitte be telling potential suppliers of legitimate masks that there is a buying suspension while the government is procuring contaminated or substandard masks from Chinese suppliers?” asked McCauley during a House of Commons government operations committee meeting. 

When questioned on the discrepancy, Department of Public Works Deputy Minister Bill Matthews gave no comment.

“These are legitimate North American and European-based suppliers, not these shoddy ones, not these ones you have difficulty with from China. Why would the government be telling these people there is a buying suspension?” said McCauley. 

During the committee meeting, Matthews also refused to disclose the identities of the Chinese contractors Canada is currently relying on for vital medical goods. 

“Will you be able to provide a list of all major suppliers who received contracts to supply personal protective equipment?” Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif asked Matthews. 

“We are wanting to protect our sources because product availability is such a competitive field,” said Matthews. 

Canada has frequently run into problems regarding the quality and safety of Chinese goods.

Most recently, Health Canada had to issue an import and distribution bulletin warning that some Chinese-manufactured KN95 masks posed “a health and safety risk to end users.”

“Health Canada cannot reasonably conclude that the benefits associated with having the KN95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator available in Canada, as currently labelled, outweigh the risks,” said Health Canada. 

The masks, which are supposed to filter 95% of particulate matter, were found to filter as little as 1% upon inspection by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. 

KNIGHT: Could the Snowbirds tragedy have been prevented?

By
Leo Knight
-

By all accounts Royal Canadian Air force (RCAF) Capt. Jennifer Casey was a terrific person. She was an accomplished journalist and producer in Halifax, and in 2014 she pursued a higher calling and joined the RCAF. 

Casey was first assigned to 8 Wing at Trenton CFB, the hub of the Air Force’s air mobility operations. She joined the Snowbirds Air Demonstration 431 squadron in November 2018 as its Public Affairs Officer. She travelled with the team and provided action commentary and media interviews during their flights at a variety of air shows and other demonstrations. 

The Snowbirds are the only military demonstration team that doesn’t have a transport plane attached. This means ground maintenance crew and other members of the team accompany pilots as the planes move around to destinations. 

On Sunday morning at 11:47 Casey and flight pilot Capt. Richard MacDougall took off from Kamloops Airport in Snowbird 11. They were headed to Comox Air Force Base on Vancouver Island to continue their Operation Inspiration tour of Canada. 

The plane took off line abreast with another Snowbird when the Tutor CT114 jet trainer suddenly went straight up breaking formation then turned suddenly and spiralled downward into a residential neighbourhood. 

In a video posted to social media a little over half an hour later just prior to the crash, two ejections can be seen from the cockpit but no parachutes can be seen. 

Capt. Casey perished while pilot MacDougall suffered serious, but non-life threatening injuries. 

It was a tragedy for every Canadian. She was the third Canadian woman from Nova Scotia killed in the line of duty in barely a month after the murder of RCMP Cst — Heidi Stevenson and the death of Sub Lieutenant Abbigail Cowbrough in a helicopter crash in the Ionian Sea.  The province is reeling. 

The video is certainly not conclusive. It appears the plane lost power at some point during take-off and the pilot climbed as far as he could before it started to spiral towards the ground. And that’s when Casey and MacDougall ejected. 

Tragic. 

There are multiple investigations ongoing to determine the cause of the crash. Was it a bird strike? A mechanical failure? We don’t yet know.

But we do know the Tutor aircraft was getting old. It was designed in 1960 and put into service by the RCAF in 1963 as a pilot trainer. It started service in the demonstration team known as the Snowbirds in 1971. 

It is a two-seat trainer designed to teach new pilots how to fly a jet with right and left seats each equipped with controls in the event an instructor has to take control of a flight because of trainee error. 

The Tutor has done yeoman’s service for the Canadian Armed Forces. Indeed, after the crash Retired General Tom Lawson, a former fighter pilot who served as the chief of the defence staff called the Tutor a “fantastic” aircraft. 

In its day, perhaps. I know a few former fighter pilots who all trained in the Tutor. They loved flying it. 

But it’s very old. 

In 2012 the Harper government recognized that and set aside $755 million in that year’s budget for a new procurement of replacement jets for the Snowbirds. 

In 2018, the Trudeau government cancelled plans to replace the Tutors and instead commissioned projects to upgrade the avionics in the planes which have yet to start. The government’s plan was to keep the Tutors flying until 2030. They would be 70 years old at that time. 

I cast no aspersions on the RCAF or their maintenance program with the Tutors. They are among the best in the world. But there’s only so much that can be done with scotch tape and baling wire. 

The only saving grace is that Canada has a number of mothballed Tutors that provided spare parts for a plane that is long out of production. 

This is just the latest example of a military procurement project that was totally screwed up by a Liberal government. Just like the Sea King helicopter fleet replacement project killed by the government of Jean Chretien in the mid-90s. 

Liberals don’t like the military and prove it in every annual budget.  Remember when Justin Trudeau said to a veteran that they were asking for more than the government could give? 

Well, Capt. Jenn Casey gave everything. 

Rest in Peace Captain. 

MALCOLM: Canada’s trillion-dollar question

By
Candice Malcolm
-

Will Canada’s federal debt hit the $1-trillion mark this year? It doesn’t seem like anyone in the Trudeau government can answer this question.

During our hollowed-out Question Period this week, Canada’s federal finance minister put on quite the display of obfuscation and spin when asked a series of pointed questions by the opposition finance critic.

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre asked Finance Minister Bill Morneau to provide a dollar figure for the country’s total spending. Morneau ignored the question and provided a banal platitude about the Trudeau government’s commitment to supporting Canadians.

Poilievre asked more pointed questions, about components of the government’s balance sheet, and he was met with more meaningless talking points from the minister.

This charade continued, with Poilievre asking for dollar amounts for the federal debt, the total value of both private and public debt, debt as a share of GDP and for details on just about every other mathematical component associated with the federal budget.

Morneau refused to answer the questions or provide a single dollar amount, preferring instead to ramble on about the supposed generosity of his government. (Is it really generous to borrow money on behalf of Canadians, then hand them the bill, with incurred interest?)

Worst of all, Morneau appeared as though this whole process of Parliamentary accountability was beneath him. He arrogantly skated past Poilievre’s questions and seemed annoyed to be pestered with such mundane matters.

Morneau was either wildly unprepared for the questions — in which case, he should fire his entire staff of advisors — or he has a basic disdain for accountability and Parliamentary procedure. Either way, his performance was beneath that of the finance minister of a G7 nation.

But back to our question about whether Canada’s federal debt will hit $1 trillion in 2020.

Why is the trillion-dollar figure so important? A trillion dollars, after all, is a figure so large that even Bay St. bankers would have a hard time wrapping their heads around it. (It’s a thousand billions, or a million millions, or 10 to the 12th power, or 1,000,000,000,000.)

Regardless of its obscurity, it’s an important benchmark in thinking about the financial burden Canadians will face at the end of the coronavirus lockdowns.

The Trudeau government postponed the 2020 budget due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns, so Canadians have been kept in the dark about just how much the feds are spending and how deep they are borrowing.

Fortunately for Canadians, the non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), Yves Giroux, has picked up the slack and provided frequent updates where the Liberal government has not.

In April 2019, the PBO projected that Canada’s federal debt would be $726 billion for this fiscal year. On April 30, 2020, an update showed the projected debt had soared to $962 billion.

But even the PBO has trouble keeping up with Trudeau’s daily campaign-style announcements of new spending programs. Giroux told the finance committee on Tuesday that the feds are spending money so quickly, they’ve lost track of the deficit.

“It’s very difficult to estimate what is a likely deficit figure given that details are missing for some of these potentially very expensive measures,” said budget officer Yves Giroux. “These days, a week can feel like a month.”

Giroux did, however, provide a helpful hint. While the latest estimate projected the federal deficit to be $252 billion, Giroux told the committee this was “very likely to be a very optimistic scenario.”

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation, meanwhile, peg the growth in federal spending at $690 million per day. You can see the growth of our debt in real time at DebtClock.ca.

You don’t have to be the finance minister to calculate that Canada will hit that dubious trillion-dollar debt projection benchmark within months, if not weeks. No wonder Morneau cowered away from Poilievre’s questions.

1...1,2431,2441,245...1,460Page 1,244 of 1,460

Related stories

© 2025 True North | Privacy Policy