The mainstream media wants you to think the RCMP failed to do their job during the Nova Scotia tragedy. This is far from the truth.
The RCMP performed in exceptional chaotic circumstances that night. Although they aren’t trained to deal with multiple homicides, in a little after 12 hours after the first call, they located, shot and killed a serial killer.
Canadians should be expressing their gratitude for the RCMP.
Former police officer Leo Knight explains exactly what happened that tragic night.
Six executives from the Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin are to receive $2.6 million in bonuses amongst employee salary cuts and layoffs.
The bonuses were revealed in the company’s recent filings, according to the Society of Professional Engineers and Associates (SPEA).
Executives and board members took a 20% pay cut, but the reduction does not affect bonuses, stock options or incentives.
According to SPEA Staff Representative Denise Coombs, the bonuses are “an unconscionable effort to line their pockets at a time when employees are being laid off and asked to forgo some of their salary.”
“If they really cared about their employees they should give up 20% of their full compensation package just as their employees are being asked to do,” said Coombs in a SPEA news release.
In March the company announced that they had also laid off an unspecified number of employees due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, former SNC-Lavalin Vice President Sami Bebawi was found guilty on several corruption charges related to the company’s past dealings in Libya.
Bebawi was sentenced to 8 years and six months in prison as a result of his criminal convictions.
The company’s criminal proceedings became a national scandal at the beginning of 2019. A February report by the Globe and Mail revealed that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Prime Minister’s Office attempted to politically influence former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould into intervening on the company’s behalf.
Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion eventually found Trudeau guilty of breaking ethics laws.
“I found that Mr. Trudeau used his position of authority over Ms. Wilson‑Raybould to seek to influence, both directly and indirectly, her decision on whether she should overrule the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision not to invite SNC-Lavalin to enter into negotiations towards a remediation agreement,” wrote Dion in his report.
According to the 2020 Proof CanTrust Index, SNC-Lavalin is one of the least trusted brands in Canada.
Day in and day out, we hear politicians telling us how grim the situation is and how we need to stay at home in order to defeat this virus.
But something the government never talks about is exactly how the government plans on getting us back to normal or at least the new normal. What are they going to do to get our country back on its feet?
As more victims of Canada’s deadliest mass shooting are identified, family, friends and co-workers are reflecting on the positive impact they made on others during their lives.
On Sunday a gunman rampaged throughout rural Nova Scotia, killing at least 22 people in multiple communities.
A member of the RCMP, a teacher and healthcare workers were among the victims killed in cold blood.
Const. Heidi Stevenson
Const. Heidi Stevenson, the first victim to be identified, was remembered by fellow RCMP Const. Sarah Bass as a “bright, bubbly person.”
Bass says that Const. Stevenson inspired her to join the RCMP.
“She’d tell me ‘You can do it.’ She’s my story of why I’m here,” Bass told the Chronicle Herald.
Const. Stevenson served with the RCMP for 23 years. She leaves behind a husband and two children.
“There are no words to describe their pain. Two children have lost their mother and a husband and his wife. Parents lost their daughter and countless others lost an incredible friend and colleague,” RCMP Nova Scotia Commanding Officer Lee Bergerman said after meeting with the Stevenson family.
Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod
Two other victims, Alanna Jenkins and Sean McLeod, served as correctional officers. Jenkins served at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro and McLeod served at the Springhill Institution.
The two had been partners since 2015.
“They had the house everybody always wanted to be at,” Sean’s daughter Taylor Andrews said.
“They loved having a full house, everybody was always welcome to stay there.”
Lisa McCully
Another victim, Lisa McCully, served as a teacher at Debert Elementary School. In a statement, Debert Elementary called McCully a passionate educator.
“Ms. McCully was a passionate teacher with a smile that lit up the classroom,” they wrote.
“She will be remembered for her fearless spirit, her kind and generous heart, and her love for her family and students.
On Monday VON Canada announced that it has lost two of its employees in the shooting: licensed practical nurse Heather O’Brien and continuing care assistant Kristen Beaton.
O’Brien’s daughter Darcy Dobson took to Facebook on Sunday to remember her as a kind mother and grandmother.
Dobson also asked the public not to let her murder be the defining feature of O’Brien’s life.
The National Hockey League is mulling over how it will complete this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, the NHL is considering whether it should use rinks and facilities in NHL cities or neutral locations such as Manchester, N.H.
“No final decisions have been made,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
“We’ve highlighted what the benefits would be of playing in NHL cities and the primary benefit being an NHL-ready facility. They have our standards, our technology and have all the modern accoutrements that you’d need technologically in terms of broadcasting or creating a broadcast for the game. They have a lot of built in advantages that will be attractive when it comes time to making that decision.”
Another factor to take into account is whether the area has enough hotel capacity to host the travelling teams. This is a requirement some neutral cities simply can’t meet.
“You talk about some of the neutral sites we’ve looked at would be in smaller communities and they don’t have the same hotel capacity. It depends on what formula we come up with, who plays where and how many teams and all that stuff so there’s a lot of variables there,” said Daly.
The NHL’s plans will be contingent on how much the coronavirus outbreak has slowed down in the chosen areas.
According to the deputy commissioner, testing would also have to be available in order to protect the safety of the players and those involved in staging the games.
Other things the league is taking into account is whether there are practice facilities nearby and the distance between the hotels and the arena.
According to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, he has had discussions with the NHL to possibly host games in Edmonton, which is seen as an ideal candidate.
“I can say that I did receive a call from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman who wanted to ask some questions about Alberta’s status in combating COVID-19,” said Kenney.
“I underscored that if there was a proposal forthcoming we would expect the league to prepare a very detailed plan to mitigate risk. I can’t really comment further, I would just say that as we get into the summer we hope to see more activity as part of our relaunch. It’s pretty clear to me if something like that were to happen we wouldn’t have large crowds gathering in arenas.”
Despite what we have been told by Prime Minister Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, our borders are not locked down to illegal border crossers.
For the past couple of years we have been inundated with migrants illegally crossing the border at Roxham Road from upstate New York into the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Due to mounting pressure on the Prime Minister after it became apparent that New York State was becoming the epicentre for the coronavirus, Trudeau announced the closure of the Roxham Road illegal entry point.
For all that time he said it couldn’t be done. Then suddenly it could.
But we are still being inundated with economic migrants wanting to claim refugee status in Canada. While their claim wends its way through the myriad of federal bureaucracy, these migrants avail themselves of all manner of taxpayer funded benefits provided by our oh-so-tolerant Prime Minister. I have been told this cost is upwards of $50,000 per year per migrant in housing, medical and welfare benefits.
We were led to believe that the problem had all but ceased. Trudeau pushed the optics that he was doing the right thing. But as I learned from a source who is close to front-line CBSA officers that this is not the case and not by a long shot.
Since we closed the Roxham Road illegal access point, incipient refugee claimants are now allowed to claim refugee status at any official Point of Entry.
What should happen then is CBSA officers, under the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., turn the person around or ideally, turn them over to the American Customs and Border Patrol officers.
Instead, migrants are making refugee claims at official border Points of Entry, initiating a refugee claim and then quarantined for 14 days. What happens then is not clear. But likely they are then released into the population and their refugee claim process begins and so, too, does the taxpayer funded faucet get opened.
The whole idea of the Safe Third Party Agreement is that refugees with a legitimate claim must make that claim at the first safe country they enter. In the case of all these migrants their first safe haven is the United States. But not for these folks. Canada is much more generous than the U.S. to these folks so they find their way to Canada and initiate a refugee claim to take advantage of that.
Bill Blair tried to convince Canadians that since the border closure we have returned only ten such refugee claimants to the U.S. What he neglected to say was that this government had essentially suspended the Customs Act and allowed them to go to an official points of entry and make their refugee claim anyway.
The government wants us to look like they’re actually looking after our best interests.
They aren’t and not by a long shot.
In essence, the government is creating incentives for people to not follow our laws. This can only possibly make sense to a Liberal.
Michelle Rempel Garner is asking the federal government to assist Calgary residents after coronavirus measures led to the world-famous Calgary Stampede being cancelled.
On Thursday Rempel Garner wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to offer support to the Stampede organization.
A kick in the gut when so many Calgarians are down – the @calgarystampede has been cancelled and faces even bigger challenges. I'm calling on @JustinTrudeau to ensure this Canadian institution survives. We've made it through high water, now we need to make it through hell. pic.twitter.com/IpJSKjp79Y
— Michelle Rempel Garner (@MichelleRempel) April 23, 2020
“Today I am pleading with you and your government to use every mechanism possible to help offset the potential financial crisis situation the Calgary Stampede faces,” she said.
On Thursday the Calgary Stampede announced that public health orders forbidding large gatherings and concern for public safety has led the organization to cancel the legendary event.
This is the first time in 100 years the event has been cancelled.
“This is an extremely difficult announcement to share, but it is the right thing to do,” said Calgary Stampede President Dana Peers.
”As a community celebration, the cancellation of our annual event comes with our community and public health and safety front of mind.”
The move comes a month after the Stampede laid off 80% of its staff.
The province of Alberta has banned all public gatherings of more than 15 people out of concern of spreading the coronavirus. The ten-day show received over 1.3 million attendees annually.
The Stampede brings in around $540 million in economic activity in Alberta every year, and many local businesses depend on the Stampede to bring in customers.
The cancellation is particularly hard for Albertan rodeo athletes who depend on the Stampede for the majority of their income.
The Calgary Stampede says it will focus on holding events at the Stampede facilities in the fall and winter, promising the Stampede will still entertain the public in different ways.
“I promise you this does not mean the end of Stampede Spirit in our community this year,” says Peers.
“We know our community is strong and resilient. We’ll get through this together. Keep your hats on.”
A lawsuit by two former employees could blow the lid on Huawei’s murky ties to the Chinese government while Canada weighs a decision on the company’s 5G technology access.
According to the Financial Times, Zeng Meng and Li Hongyuan have launched complaints with several authorities in China after being allegedly arrested by local police acting on direct orders from Huawei executives.
Both Zeng and Li were arrested in December 2018 and held in police confinement for a considerable period of time.
“All the way through, the police have behaved like gangsters. Apologies and compensation, we want both!” Zeng told the Financial Times.
Li, who was a 13-year employee with the company filed a civil dispute regarding severance pay after being asked to leave by Huawei. He was then accused of extortion by the company and held in jail for 251 days. Eventually, the court awarded him $15,000 in the matter.
Meanwhile, Zeng was arrested by Chinese police while vacationing in Thailand. Before his arrest, Zeng began a chat group for employees to talk about workplace complaints and other issues. After his arrest, he was held in a Shenzhen jail for nearly three months.
“In China, big companies with industry-wide influence like Huawei have a lot of influence with local governments,” Beijing based lawyer David Zhang told the Financial Times.
Zeng has since filed complaints with Huawei, the Guangdong police department and the prosecutor’s office.
Li attempted to file a different criminal complaint with the Baogang police station, but officials are denying that they received his report.
According to estimates by labour rights lawyer, Pang Kun local police forces throw over 10 people into jail a year for disputes involving the Chinese mega-corporation.
“We understand and appreciate the public interest in this matter. This was not a labour dispute, and we reported the suspected illegal conduct to the authorities,” said a Huawei spokesperson on the matter.
Huawei has repeatedly denied any influence by or within the Chinese government despite mounting evidence that suggests otherwise.
Numerous critics who have warned countries like Canada to not grant the company access to sensitive 5G communications infrastructure.
According to a 2019 report on foreign interference by Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, Chinese law can compel citizens and organizations outside of China to comply with state intelligence operations.
Current and former national security and intelligence experts within and outside of Canada have warned the federal government that deploying Huawei technology in Canada’s upcoming 5G network could give Beijing a backdoor to spy on Canadians.
“The underlying 5G mobile networks are the piping of the data-intensive modern economy, and control over this underlying infrastructure represents more than a typical government procurement contract. It is a matter of national security, as the piping can be used as a Trojan Horse to spy on every piece of information that crosses the networks,” wrote Security Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute Matthew Lombardi in the Globe and Mail.
As exclusively reported on by True North, the Canadian government is keeping tabs on whether or not the United Kingdom will reverse course on its decision to give the company limited access in its own 5G network.
A growing number of MPs within Boris Johnson’s government have been lobbying to reverse course on the issue in light of China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to security expert and Queen’s University and Royal Military College Professor Christian Leuprecht, a UK reversal could influence Canada’s eventual choice on Huawei.
“You’re watching the right precedent. It’s probably indicative of how the Canadian government was hoping to approach this issue. Canada was always hoping to balance the economic imperatives and the security imperatives,” Leuprecht told True North.
Saskatchewan has become the first province to announce plans to reopen the economy.
On Thursday Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced that the five-stage plan will protect the public while also ensuring the province returns to normal as soon as possible.
“We have to find the middle ground that continues to keep our case numbers low and keep Saskatchewan people safe while at the same time allowing for businesses to reopen and Saskatchewan people to get back to work,” Moe said.
“It’s a plan that will be conducted in phases and we will carefully monitor transmission and other factors during each of those phases and we will adjust the plan if required.”
The first phase of reopening will begin on May 4 and will include reopening various medical services including dentistry and optometry. Fishing, boat launches and golfing will also be permitted on May 4.
The second phase will begin on May 19 and will include the reopening of select businesses. A list of businesses to be reopened will be released at an unspecified date.
Overnight camping in provincial parks will open June 1, but will only be open to Saskatchewan residents.
Dates have not been set for the final three phases and will depend on how the coronavirus outbreak develops over the coming weeks.
“Is it okay for close friends, family or a neighbour to come over and maybe have a barbecue in your backyard? I think it is if you practice good distancing. Keep yourself safe, but also keep others around you safe. You should always be thinking of who you’ve come in contact with over the last 2 weeks, those are the people you’re making every effort to keep safe” Moe said.
“I have a son that I haven’t seen for six weeks. I’d love to have a barbecue with him and cook a locally-grown and processed steak sooner rather than later, and I think we will.”
In an emotional address on Wednesday, Moe thanked residents of Saskatchewan for doing their part to reduce the spread of coronavirus in the province. Moe said that obeying public health orders is what will allow Saskatchewan to reopen.
“We have flattened the curve,” he said
“We learned how to pull together by staying apart.”
