A Conservative government led by Erin O’Toole would slash funding for CBC’s English-language television programming and digital properties, and eventually privatize them.
O’Toole, who is running for the leadership of the Conservative party, announced the policy on Twitter Friday morning.
The CBC is out of control and in need of reform. I’ll slash funding for English TV and CBC News Network, and end funding for digital news. Focus should be on CBC Radio and Radio Canada.
O’Toole said the English arm of the national broadcaster would be privatized by the end of his first mandate as prime minister, though he would maintain funding for French programming.
“We will end funding for CBC digital and cut the CBC English TV budget by 50%. Our plan will phase out TV advertising with a goal to fully privatize CBC English TV by the end of our first mandate,” said O’Toole.
“We will preserve CBC Radio – it is commercial-free and delivers public interest programming from coast to coast. We will also preserve Radio-Canada, which plays an important role connecting Quebecers and Francophones across Canada in their own language.”
The CBC reported a loss in ad revenues for the last fiscal year. In 2019, ad revenues fell by 37%. The CBC only managed to pull in $112.5 million during that year, considerably less than the $178 million it brought in the year prior.
A majority of the public broadcaster’s funding comes from Canadian taxpayers. Each year the CBC receives $1.2 billion in public funds from the federal government.
Along with a decline in profitability, the number of Canadians tuning into the CBC’s television programs has also fallen.
Last year, only 319,000 Canadians – or 0.8% of the population – watched the CBC’s evening newscasts.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the CBC also lost billions in revenue from failing to secure rights to Hockey Night in Canada in 2015. The CBC’s cumulative losses over a 12 year period add up to $2.1 billion.
Devin Drover is a grassroots political activist, and the Atlantic Spokesperson for the Canada Strong and Proud network.
According to a recent report, there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of videos featuring underage sex-trafficking victims on popular online pornography website Pornhub. This is the same website that generates millions in revenue per year, with over 42 billion annual visits and six million annual uploads. And, even worse, this is the same website that requires nothing more than an e-mail address to upload content, without any concern for age verification or any mechanism to identify the uploader.
While this report is certainly disturbing, it is not necessarily unexpected; it echoes many studies that have revealed the serious harm that result from both the production of and prolonged exposure to online pornography.
Despite these very real harms, our politicians – from all parties – remain silent on this issue, allowing online pornography to continue to operate in a mostly unregulated space. It’s time to change that, target this harm and regulate online pornography in Canada.
In addition to concerns related to sex trafficking, easily accessible online pornography presents a public health risk that Canadian governments have a legal duty to address. Exposure to online pornography can have a troubling effect on one’s sexual health. For minors, premature or inadvertent exposure to online pornography can cause emotional disturbance and inappropriate acceptance of non-mainstream sexual practices that also makes them more prone to being sexually groomed or trafficked themselves.
These health risks are not just limited to children, but even men who view pornography can struggle with problems of erectile dysfunction, lower self-satisfaction with their own bodies, and general anxiety problems while engaged in sexual relations.
Prolonged exposure to online pornography can reinforce negative stereotypes about women – particularly for younger boys and men – and, at worst, encourage sexual coercion. For example, a study conducted by Neil Malamuth at the University of California reported that men who are high-frequency users of “hardcore” pornography are more likely than others to report that they would rape or sexually harass a woman if they knew they could get away with it. At a time when the Canadian politicians are focused on pursuing equality for women in society through legal intervention, we must do more to restrict access to material that can directly cause women harm.
The issues of online pornography have not been ignored by our Western allies, who have already begun looking at means to tackle the problem. In Australia, the Broadcasting Services Act has established online pornography as being under the jurisdiction of their Australian Communications and Media Authority, and they have prescribed requirements for internet content providers to restrict access to online pornography unless the user is subject to an age verification system. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the UK Digital Economy Act 2017 sought to introduce an age-verification system for online pornography and requiring users to “opt-in” to accessing content through their internet service provider.
While similar reforms will be unlikely to solve all problems relating to online pornography, the Government of Canada should break their silence on the issue and pursue this approach at a minimum.
By refusing to act on online pornography, politicians are enabling sex-trafficking, causing troubling effects on the sexual development of our young people, and reinforcing negative stereotypes about women. Enough is enough — it’s time for our politicians to get to work and regulate online pornography in Canada.
Telus’ upcoming 5G network will include components from the Chinese company Huawei, Telus announced Thursday.
“Telus will begin rolling out its 5G network shortly, and our initial module will be with Huawei,” said Telus CFO Doug French, noting the network will be completed by the end of this year.
The Canadian government has yet to make a decision on whether or not Huawei technology is banned from Canada’s 5G network. A ban could potentially put Telus’ plan up in the air.
Both US and Canadian security experts have warned that allowing the company onto the network could endanger national security and effectively give communist China backdoor access to Canadian data and infrastructure.
“Huawei claims that it is a private company—similar to Apple or Google—and is being unfairly tThe US, which is seeking to extradite Meng on various fraud charges related to violating Iran sanctions, recently announced a number of new criminal charges.
Meng is also wanted in relation to providing surveillance equipment to Iran and circumventing economic sanctions on North Korea. reated by the United States and its allies. But the reality remains that Huawei is a company beholden to higher laws that could—and most likely would—make it a tool for state-sponsored espionage,” said Richard Fadden, a former national security adviser to prime minister Stephen Harper.
Huawei is at the heart of a diplomatic dispute between Canada and China. After the arrest of the company’s CFO Meng Wanzhou, relations between the two countries have chilled and the Chinese retaliated by illegally detaining two Canadian citizens.
Three of the Five Eyes countries – the US, Australia and New Zealand – have already announced a ban on Huawei.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently decided to allow Huawei to play a limited role in developing the United Kingdom’s 5G network.
While in Germany, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau happily posed with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
The photo-op comes one month after the Iranian regime admitted to shooting down a Ukrainian airliner and killing 57 Canadians on board.
Remember when Harper refused to shake Putin’s hand?
Trudeau bows to an Islamist murderer and despot who just one month ago shot down a commercial airliner, killing 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents.
Many Canadians expressed outrage over the photo-op and Trudeau’s apparent friendliness with the Iranian official.
In response to questions over the incident, Trudeau hoped to stress the importance of the need to “work together” to the minister.
“I made a promise to families in Canada to do everything I could to make sure that they get answers, that we have a full and complete investigation, that we understand exactly what happened,” said Trudeau.
“I went by to impress upon the foreign minister of Iran how important it is that we work together.”
The meeting took place in Munich where Trudeau ended an international tour hoping to secure a seat for Canada at the UN Security Council.
Earlier this week, Trudeau secured the vote of Senegalese President Macky Sall for the spot.
During the trip, Sall defended Senegal’s laws which criminalize homosexual acts as “against nature” and punish LGBT people with up to five years in prison.
“I always defend human rights and bring those issues wherever I go. President Macky Sall is very familiar with my views on this, and we will talk about it briefly,” said Trudeau about the issue in French.
According to Sall, Trudeau has Senegal’s “full support” in his bid to win a seat on the council.
A left-wing website based in Montreal provides anti-pipeline activists with recipes for Molotov cocktails and encourages a number of crimes from vandalism to arson.
The website, called Montreal Counter-Information, published a “callout” on Jan. 14 for activists to disrupt Canada’s rail lines with the intention of sabotaging national infrastructure.
The callout is similar to the one published on North Shore, which, as exclusively reported by True North, instructs readers to use the highly flammable chemical thermite to destroy railroads.
In the how-to section of the website, several guides provide information on how to create Molotov cocktails, sabotage pipelines and commit other crimes.
“We think that it’s important for confrontational tactical knowledge to be widespread for the coming storms of revolt,” writes Montreal Counter-Information.
“Confrontational tactics can make us safer, because the police become afraid. We need to be careful when playing with fire, but with care, Molotovs can greatly increase our power in the streets.”
According to the Canadian Criminal Code, the maximum sentence for using an explosive substance like the Molotov cocktail is 14 years in prison.
Among the methods advocated by the website include drilling holes into active pipelines, blocking access to roads using spike boards and lighting tire fires.
Like North Shore, Montreal Counter-Information has multiple posts advocating on behalf of Wet’suwet’en protests and train blockades that have popped up across Canada.
The website has detailed information on creating traffic and rail bottlenecks, including an interactive map on all of the ongoing rail blockades going on across Canada.
One post titled “Oil Pipelines are easy to shutdown” links to a video by the anarchist company Sub.Media which is curated by Montreal-based Puerto Rican editor and filmmaker Franklin López.
The website also reports on several recent instances of criminal activity. One article from Feb. 7 claims responsibility for the vandalism of Justice Minister David Lametti’s constituency office.
“The Canadian state isn’t invulnerable. As Canada sends an army into Wet’suwet’en territory to try to force through the Coastal GasLink pipeline, it’s time to find the weak points of this country’s economic and political power, and attack,” writes the anonymous author.
“Last night, in response to the start of the RCMP raid, we visited the riding office of David Lametti, federal minister of justice, in Montreal. We emptied a fire extinguisher filled with paint inside after breaking a window.”
APTN reported on the vandalism in relation to the Montreal Counter-Information website the same day.
As illegal blockades cripple rail transportation in British Columbia, the RCMP is still hopeful it can come to a peaceful resolution with the protesters.
In a statement to True North, RCMP said it is currently in discussions with the protesters blockading the railways near New Hazelton, B.C.
“We have chosen to follow a measured approach that has included discussions with the affected parties. Currently, discussions are underway between by our Division Liaison Team and Indigenous Policing Services, to engage with all stakeholders in the hopes that a peaceful resolution can be reached,” Cpl. Chris Manseau said.
The protesters started blocking the railway Feb. 8, acting in solidarity with those protesting the construction of the Coastal GasLink LNG pipeline in nearby Houston, B.C.
On Thursday Via Rail announced a nationwide stop to all train service after a week of blockades made operations nearly impossible.
Despite receiving an injunction from a court, the RCMP has opted to negotiate with the protesters in hopes they will leave peacefully.
Thursday evening the RCMP said it has reached an agreement with the protesters to see the blockade dismantled, but no timeline has been set for when that will happen.
One protester told the media that they will take down the blockade as they enter discussions with the RCMP, but say they will start blockading again if the Coastal GasLink pipeline is not cancelled.
Local MP Todd Doherty said he is shocked that a “small group of activists” have been allowed to cripple Canada’s rail network for almost a week.
“It’s absolutely shocking we’ve allowed it to get this far,” he said.
“We’re a trading nation, these blockades have frozen our economy. This is our national supply chain that is being attacked.”
Manseau indicated to True North that if the RCMP decides to enforce the injunction they will attempt to end the blockade and arrest the protesters without using force.
“Should enforcement of the injunction be necessary, there are peaceful options that will require a minimal use of force,” he said.
“We encourage continued dialogue with the RCMP so all people who are breaching the injunction can be arrested safely with no use of force necessary.”
As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ponders whether or not to allow Huawei onto Canada’s 5G network, more and more national security experts and lawmakers are warning the Liberals about the company.
Both Canadian and American authorities have sounded the alarm on Huawei, saying that its presence on 5G networks would pose a risk to national security and would endanger intelligence-sharing relationships between Western allies.
Here are 12 current and former security experts, lawmakers and officials who have gone on record warning Canada about Huawei technology.
The Canadian Military and Armed Forces Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance
According to the Globe and Mail, senior members of the Canadian military advised Justin Trudeau to ban Huawei technology from Canada’s 5G networks. Among the officials calling on the ban was Canadian Forces Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance.
Security Fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute Matthew Lombardi
“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 Lombardi in a Globe and Mailop-ed.
Former National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister Richard Fadden
“Huawei claims that it is a private company—similar to Apple or Google—and is being unfairly treated by the United States and its allies. But the reality remains that Huawei is a company beholden to higher laws that could—and most likely would—make it a tool for state-sponsored espionage,” warned Fadden.
Former Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Ward Elcock
“The state in China being what it is, even though Huawei is an independent company … [the government] would have the capacity to ask and demand Huawei’s assistance in collecting intelligence,” said Elcock.
National Security Adviser of the United States Robert O’Brien
“You get Huawei into Canada or any other Western country, they’re going to know every health record, every banking record, every social media post. They’re going to know everything about every single Canadian and so put aside the issue of sensitive data, Five Eyes intelligence sharing, obviously that’s something (that) will be impacted if our close allies let the Trojan Horse in the city,” said O’Brien.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
“If a country adopts this and puts it in some of their critical information systems, we won’t be able to share information with them. We won’t be able to work alongside them,” Pompeo proclaimed.
US Senate Select Intelligence Committee Members Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Mark Warner
“We write with grave concerns about the possibility that Canada might include Huawei Technologies or any other Chinese state-directed telecommunications company in its fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications network infrastructure,” wrote Rubio and Warner.
“As you are aware, Huawei is not a normal private-sector company. There is ample evidence to suggest that no major Chinese company is independent of the Chinese government and Communist Party − and Huawei, which China’s government and military tout as a ‘national champion,’ is no exception.”
Former National Security Adviser of the United States Susan Rice
“It gives the Chinese the ability, if they choose to use it, to access all kinds of information. Civilian intelligence, military, that could be very, very compromising. That will throw the Five Eyes collaboration, which serves the security interests of every Canadian and every American, into jeopardy. It just can’t be done,” stated Rice.
US Senator Angus King
“It would make it very difficult to have a full intelligence-sharing [relationship] with a partner who has installed a direct line to Beijing,” said King.
“The risks of Huawei coming into your country far outweigh any benefits.”
US Senator Jim Risch
“I would hope the Canadian government — like any government — as they sort through this get briefed by their intelligence agencies as to the risks involved with signing up with a company that is fully controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Risch.
“When any information goes to Huawei or through Huawei, the Chinese Communist Party will have access to that information. Is it worth it to save a little money by buying a cheaper system? My conclusion is a resounding no. I would hope the Canadian government will reach the same conclusion.”
US Consul General in Toronto Greg Stanford
“We are particularly concerned with any company that operates in the 5G space that is subject to extrajudicial control by a foreign power and could be compelled to undermine network security for nefarious reasons,” said Stanford.
“I know there are those out there who believe you can mitigate not only within the core and the edge [of the network] … I have been briefed by a number of experts in the U.S. and it’s our considered opinion that there absolutely is no way to fully mitigate and ensure the integrity of the system.”
US Senator Rick Scott
Senator Rick Scott told the Globe and Mail that if Canada allows Huawei to supply gear for Canada’s 5G networks, the US may stop sharing valuable intelligence information.
Both the US Senate and House tabled legislation in January 2020 to cut off intelligence sharing with countries that allow Huawei access in its 5G networks.
Sam is long-time Canadian human rights activist with experience serving as a regular media spokesperson, often called upon to discuss a wide range of topics ranging from Antisemitism and Human Rights in Canada to Israel and the Middle East.
Gerald Butts continues to say ridiculous things on Twitter
When Trudeau’s former Principal Secretary turned Liberal Party strategist isn’t calling people Nazis, Butts is busy telling us that if we just do our sums better we could put an end to climate change.
Oh, and that if you’re religious, you’re probably a fool who doesn’t believe in science.
In responding to a graph showing Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions by source, Butts asserted to CBC’s Robson Fletcher that climate change is a “math problem” and that people should “stop taking theology books to math class.”
Climate change is a math problem. People should stop taking theology books to math class. https://t.co/MFdA6u7hf0
Leaving his terrible analogy aside (literally no one has ever used theology books to try to make a point in a math class), the meaning of his tweet is clear. He implies that the only foundation from which anyone would question climate change is an unscientific one, and that ‘unscientific’ always (and seemingly only) equates with ‘religious’.
The problem is, nobody opposes climate action on religious grounds as he suggests.
Does Butts seriously think that Canadians do not believe in climate change because they read the Bible, Torah or Quran?
Climate change is not a religious issue by any stretch; nobody cites the Bible when differing with the prescribed wisdom of climate activists and many religious leaders, such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have in fact come out strongly in support of climate action, declaring that “care for the earth is not just an Earth Day slogan, it is a requirement of our faith.”
Being a religious person in no way means that one is anti-science or that they only use their theological books to find answers to all of life’s questions.
As a religious Jew I have no issue with the ideas and processes of evolution, and I don’t hold the earth to be literally 6,000 years old. I do not have these views in spite of my religious beliefs, but because of them. For someone like me, scientific knowledge does not stand in opposition to my theology, but instead helps bring religious ideas from a metaphysical concept to a physical understanding.
Gerald Butts should know better but instead, he chose to smear millions of religious Canadians in order to score some cheap political points, pinning the tweet to the top of his profile.
Sadly, the view that religious people — especially if they are White and Christian — are ignorant and backwards is nothing new for many politicians and activists who use religion simply as a club with which to bash their political opponents.
For them, if you are against climate action it’s because you are placing your religious views ahead of science and facts, potentially endangering us all.
Ironically, these same politicians will also conveniently quote the Bible’s wisdom when talking about their support for open borders or insisting that Jesus was a refugee to religious Canadians who have questions about the record number of asylum claims in 2019. It seems that they are okay with religion as long as it is used for ideological, rather than spiritual purposes.
To the Christians of the United States: with #Trump and his attacks on #Refugees and the #Caravan you have to roar your defiance of evil. This is a Jesus moment, and the entire world is watching.
That is why statements like Butts’ are so harmful. They falsely equate religious views with a refusal to accept science and portray anyone with a modicum of religiosity as backwards and ignorant. And if they are, then they and their views can be dismissed easily without having any of their points or concerns addressed. In short, their questions are not worth answering.
False equivalencies such as these need to be challenged wherever they’re found, since they serve only to stifle conversation and push people apart. The only solution to ignorance is more conversation, not less. If you refuse to engage with your ideological (or spiritual) critics, you’re ultimately only speaking into an echo chamber.
But perhaps that was Butts’ point all along: marginalize those who disagree with you, they’re just religious and backwards anyways.
A BC Supreme Court judge ruled that a father fighting to stop his transgender child from undergoing a chemically-induced sex change is not permitted to give any more media interviews.
Lawyers representing the teen, the mother and the doctors involved argued that the father, who is referred to as C.D. in court proceedings, broke a publication ban on the case by giving video interviews online.
C.D. has been fighting to have a say in his child’s chemically-induced gender transition from female to male. The process could have irreversible effects such as facial hair growth and an inability to have children.
“She is a girl. Her DNA will not change through all these experiments that they do,” said the father in a prior media interview.
In a past decision, the court ruled that the child was capable of making the life-changing choice without the father’s input. C.D.’s ex-wife supports their child’s decision.
Among those also accused of breaking the publication ban were former People’s Party of Canada candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson and transgender activist Jenn Smith.
Thompson hosted a video interview with C.D. on her Youtube channel and re-uploaded the recording to BitChute after Youtube removed the video. Smith wrote about the case in December 2018 and was set to record a video interview with C.D. on Wednesday evening before the court summoning disrupted those plans.
Doctors in British Columbia get to stay completely anonymous as they give life altering pharmaceutical cocktails to minors. Dangerous drugs are administered after a 2-hour MTG. Judge orders father of transgender B.C. teen not to give further interviews. https://t.co/ddwQzJumpa
The publication ban in question prevents the father and others from speaking out about those involved in the case and its details.
C.D. is also required by law to refer to his child as a male and to use male pronouns or potentially face “family violence” charges and be arrested without a warrant.
Justice Michael Tammen ruled that if the father involved provides any further public interviews, he will be found in contempt of court. Tammen also ordered that Laura Lynn Tyler Thompson’s video interview with C.D. be taken down from BitChute.
