The Saskatchewan RCMP arrested and charged a firefighter in relation to a hay bale and grass fire that occurred on July 31.
On Monday, police announced that they apprehended 25-year-old Logan Sieben and charged him with one count of arson causing mischief, one count of arson with intent to defraud and one count of theft under $5,000.
Sieben is expected to appear at a provincial court in November.
“Within the last month we responded to over 15 reports of deliberately set hay bale and grass fires,” said Unity RCMP Cpl. Christopher Neufeld.
“These fires resulted in property loss and greatly impacted our local farmers.”
Locals banded together to offer a reward after a string of grass and bale fires impacted the community.
Macklin Fire Department Chief Justin Bast confirmed on social media that the suspect was a working firefighter.
“It is with profound sadness that we report this individual was a member of the fire department,” wrote Bast.
“We deeply apologize to the public and hope that you understand that this rash of incidents, due to one individual’s actions, in no way represents the Macklin fire department, its members or what we stand for.”
According to the police, the reward remained unclaimed and has been returned back to the community.
Police made the arrest following an investigation and relied on internal leads to identify the suspect.
B.C. Premier David Eby has ordered a review of drug vending machines dispensing free drug paraphernalia outside several hospitals in the province.
Speaking at an unrelated news conference on Tuesday, Eby said he had ordered Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Jennifer Whiteside, to review any drug distribution methods that don’t involve direct contact between the provider and recipient.
“I think that where there are concerns that have been raised, it’s about access to different types of paraphernalia that is disconnected from contacting a medical health professional or a trained person working in a facility that can provide that support,” said Eby. “And that’s what I’ve asked the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction to have a look at, to make sure that we’re meeting that expectation that I have and that I think every British Columbian has.”
The premier added that the review would also include the Fraser Health Authority, which had been delivering drug supplies such as pipes, smoking kits, and syringes to British Columbians’ doors free of charge. The online portal has since been changed and only offers naloxone kits and fentanyl screening strip kits.
Free crack pipes & cocaine snorting kits Vending Machine located directly outside the Nanaimo Hospital ER The sound of children playing in background as I shoot this video Yet another example of enabling addiction instead of offering treatment#bcpolipic.twitter.com/hLvx17jay6
Former MLA and current B.C. Conservative candidate for the Nanaimo—Lantzville riding Gwen O’Mahony posted a video of herself accessing one of the machines on Monday. Within seconds, she received a “snorting kit,” which included three paper straws and six alcohol swabs.
The kiosk from which she ordered also provided an informational video on how to snort cocaine.
O’Mahony also received a crack inhalation kit.
“Unfortunately, the crack pipes were out, which is no surpris\ere outside of the Nanaimo Hospital Emergency Room,” said O’Mahony. “The sound of children playing in background as I shoot this video… Yet another example of enabling addiction instead of offering treatment.”
The day following O’Mahony’s video release, she and B.C. Conservative Party leader John Rustad issued a joint statement condemning the machines.
“It is appalling and irresponsible to have a vending machine handing out drug paraphernalia right outside a hospital, where people are supposed to be seeking help for their health, not engaging in self-destructive behaviour,” said Rustad.
Island Health issued a press release announcing their vending machines on Oct. 18, 2023. The release said that kiosks would be located outside the emergency departments at North Island Hospital – Campbell River, Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, and Victoria General Hospital.
The machines were said to electronically dispense condoms, wound care supplies, naloxone kits, take-home drug testing strips, syringes, and safe disposal containers.
“The kiosks are an alternative for people who currently visit emergency departments seeking harm reduction supplies and services, and the supplies offered through the kiosks are those most commonly requested from the emergency department,” reads the release.
True North reached out to Eby, Whiteside, and Island Health for comment but received no reply.
The majority of Canadians are not confident that refugees being admitted to the country from the Middle East are being adequately screened by the Liberals, according to a Leger poll released Thursday.
While a quarter of Canadians said that they were confident in the Liberals screening Gazan refugees for security risks, 64% said they were not.
Additionally, more Canadians said that they disagree with the Liberals increasing the number of Gazan refugees five times this year to a total of 5,000. 43% said they oppose the policy decision, while 41% support it.
The survey was conducted online between Aug. 23 and Aug. 25, about three weeks after an ISIS terrorist was arrested for allegedly planning an attack on Toronto’s citizens.
“Canadians are learning a man who allegedly dismembered someone on video on behalf of ISIS immigrated to Canada on Trudeau’s watch,” said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Leger’s poll also revealed that 65% of Canadians feel the “current” immigration plan will admit too many immigrants. The question was prefaced by saying Canada would welcome 485,000 immigrants to Canada this year and admitted 470,000 in 2023. This is a misrepresentation of total immigration to the country, as it only considers permanent residents.
True North previously reported that Canada welcomes about 2.2 million immigrants annually after accounting for permanent residents, temporary foreign workers, international students, and illegal immigrants.
Despite often hearing flawed statistics, Canadians have become so opposed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mass immigration policies that he recently reversed his position, saying he would cut the number of permanent residents and drastically cut the temporary foreign worker program — both of which skyrocketed during his tenure.
Over half of respondents to Leger’s poll, 53%, said that Canadian companies should not be allowed to use the temporary foreign worker program to bring in low-wage and low-skilled employees.
Despite the new restrictions, Canada is still likely to surpass the number of temporary foreign workers in 2023.
Canadian citizenship and immigration lawyer Sergio Karas previously warned that Canada taking in Gazan refugees presents “serious security risks.”
“We don’t want to end up with somebody slipping through the cracks and then finding out that they have connections to Hamas or to any other terrorist organizations that are operating in Gaza,” he said.
A Mar. 2024 survey highlighted that 71% of Gazan and West Bank residents supported Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in over 1,200 Israelis being murdered — the biggest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Only 5% of Palestinians viewed the massacre as a war crime.
Various United States senators previously wrote a letter to the United States Department of Homeland Security requesting increased security across the Canada-United States border over concerns of unvetted Hamas terrorists making their way to Canada thanks to the Liberals’ resettlement efforts.
“Irrespective of Canada’s immigration policies, the U.S. should not waive common-sense terrorist screening and vetting for any individual entering the U.S. through other countries,” reads the letter.
The Chinese Communist Party is systematically targeting Chinese-Canadians and their families who are opposed to the Chinese government.
The finding comes from a study conducted by the think tank Second Street, interviewing 26 Chinese-Canadians who say that they have been targeted by the CCP through a variety of means.
Respondents reported that Chinese-Canadians are liable to face harassment if they hold religious convictions not accepted by the CCP like being a Christian, adherents to the Falun Gong, or for holding pro-democracy and pro-Hong Kong views.
The CCP has been persecuting religious minorities for holding views that may subvert the CCP’s authority, especially the Falun Gong – a new religious group that is ardently anti-communist and supportive of conservative causes in the West.
One respondent claims that because they are a practitioner of Falun Gong, they received anonymous calls in which automated message machines played hate propaganda or songs praising the CCP.
The same respondent claims that during a 2002 trip to Geneva to raise awareness of the persecution of the Falun Gong to the United Nations, they received a call from a man speaking Mandarin saying he knew about the trip to Geneva and threatened to sexually harass them.
Several of the people interviewed complained that they had their vehicles scratched and their tires slashed due to their practice of Falun Gong.
One Falun Gong practitioner said that around the year 2002, they had come home to find a large branch severed from a house plant placed on their kitchen counter with a knife laid right beside it.
Chinese-Canadians also face harassment on the Chinese social media app WeChat when attempting to promote pro-democracy, pro-Hong Kong causes, as well as candidates in Canadian elections that hold anti-CCP views.
Family members of Chinese-Canadians still living in China also faced risk of having their property expropriated, having their pensions taken away, along with threats of violence. Eight of the 26 respondents indicated that their families back in China had been threatened.
Dom Lucyk, the report’s author, recommends the federal government introduce a foreign agent registry similar to the registries in the United States and in Australia.
Before Parliament’s summer recess, the House of Commons and Senate passed the Countering Foreign Interference Act that would introduce a voluntary foreign agent registry.
Lucyk argues that foreign agents with ties to the CCP seeking to harass Canadians may not be enthusiastic about placing themselves on such a registry, possibly making the measure ineffective. Law enforcement would require additional resources and tools in order to enforce non-compliance with the registry.
Lucyk also calls on CSIS and other law enforcement agencies to be more transparent when foreign interference and transnational repression do not rise to the level of criminal prosecution to serve as a deterrent for agents of the CCP and help those being targeted know who are responsible for their harassment.
Such a proposal would more than likely garner support from a majority of Canadians, as public opinion polls find that a majority of Canadians would like the names of federal MPs suspected of collaborating with foreign governments to be released.
The Liberal government hosted a series of meetings with various sectors on what Canada’s input should be in drafting the World Health Organization’s global pandemic treaty. Canada’s contribution to the global discussion called for social media censorship of “misinformation” and a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion when fighting the next pandemic.
The WHO failed to draft the pandemic treaty before the May 2024 deadline, as its world assembly member states could not agree unanimously on the articles of the agreement. The treaty was supposed to give the WHO authority to direct the public health responses of its 194 member nations. The WHO has stated that its failure to draft the treaty was a setback and it will attempt to pass the treaty in the future.
Before the draft failed to reach a consensus, Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis advocated against the treaty saying it would infringe on Canada’s sovereignty by giving undue powers over Canada’s health response to the WHO.
Canada’s Office of International Affairs for the Health Portfolio held the Pandemic Agreement Engagement Series from Jan. 29 to Feb. 12, 2024. The series was held in several Canadian capital cities where 116 individuals from various sectors provided input on the various articles within the pandemic treaty draft.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, groups and individuals representing provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous organizations, academia, public and private sectors, civil society and associations were asked for their thoughts on Canada’s input when negotiating the international treaty.
Representatives broke off into groups to ascribe their suggestions for articles in the Pandemic treaty draft that they felt were relevant to the communities they represented. In its summary report, PHAC summarized the inputs it received for each article in the treaty.
Regarding how the WHO should collect public health surveillance data during a future pandemic, Canadian stakeholders wanted to ensure that the international health organization was surveilling Canadians “inclusively.”
”Comprehensive prevention strategies, inclusive surveillance practices, and addressing challenges for marginalized communities are essential for effective pandemic prevention,” it said.
When asked what inclusive surveillance practices are and how they could help prevent infection during a global pandemic, Global Affairs Canada and PHAC did not respond to True North’s request, though the report continues.
“Data ownership, privacy, inclusivity, race-based data and cultural sensitivity are important issues which could be given greater consideration,” the report said. “Data collection can be a challenge, compounded by strained relationships between Indigenous people and the health system, marked by trust deficits and ingrained power differentials.”
Canadian stakeholders were also concerned about what they deemed to be misinformation during a pandemic.
“Countering misinformation and disinformation is critical to pandemic response efforts, as seen by its impact on vaccination and immunization rates around the world,” the report said. “Efforts should be made to hold social media platforms accountable for the content they host. However, it is imperative to address misinformation in a manner that respects freedom of speech and expression.” True North reached out to both groups, asking how the WHO could hold social media platforms accountable for content that it deemed misinformation while simultaneously respecting freedom of speech and expression, but did not receive a response.
The Canadian stakeholders also wanted the WHO’s approach to One Health, a healthcare approach that takes into account the relationship between animals and humans in the spread of disease, to consider that minority groups are particularly vulnerable in pandemics.
“Resilience is particularly an issue for minority groups, who disproportionately staffed many essential jobs and were put at high risk during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report said.
According to a Statistics Canada report in 2020, “Immigrants are disproportionately represented in jobs with greater exposure to COVID-19 – 34% of front-line/essential service workers identify as visible minorities, compared with 21% in other sectors,” and visible minorities are also “more likely to work in industries worst affected by the pandemic.”
When asked how noting that individuals who are visible minorities are more likely to work in health are jobs could mitigate the dangers of a global health crisis, the government was similarly unresponsive.
The community representatives also wanted the treaty’s verbiage to reflect a consideration for the value of “lived experience” when addressing the next global health crisis.
“Article sic (on One Health) could be improved by more clearly articulating the value of lived experience, including the experience and knowledge of communities with less capacity,” the report said. “Examples like Ebola management and One Health approaches demonstrate that Low and Middle-Income Countries and Indigenous groups have valuable lived experience that can inform effective strategies.”
A majority of Canadians want to see the federal portion of sales tax removed from the carbon tax, according to a new poll.
The Leger poll was commissioned by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation as part of its Gas Tax Honesty press conference, which takes place in Ottawa every year.
The poll found that 62% of Canadians want the Trudeau government to remove its sales tax from its divisive carbon pricing scheme, while 22% are opposed to ending it.
A small cohort of 16% said they didn’t know but of those who were decided on the issue, 74% supported ending the carbon tax-on-tax.
“The poll results are crystal clear: the vast majority of Canadians want the federal government to end its carbon tax-on-tax,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano.
“If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau really wanted to make life more affordable, he would end his gas tax-on-tax.”
The Gas Tax Honesty report noted that when you’re at the pump, “taxes include the sales taxes you see on your receipt, but also the federal excise tax, provincial excise tax and carbon taxes you don’t see.”
Additionally, there are some cities where you also pay a hidden transit tax.
“Canadians know the carbon tax is costing them more than the rebates they get back because they also pay this tax-on-tax,” said Terrazzano. “Ending the tax-on-tax at the gas pumps and making life more affordable should be a no-brainer.”
The Trudeau government has been increasing its carbon tax annually since 2019, reaching $80 per tonne on April 1, 2024, with plans to raise it to $170 per tonne over the next six years.
According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, removing the GST paid on the carbon tax would save Canadians $595 million this year and over $1 billion annually by 2030, money that is not currently being rebated to Canadians.
The Gas Tax Honesty report found that taxes account for 60 cents per litre of gas on average, with the federal taxes making up around 35 cents of that.
“Every time you buy gasoline, you are charged a tax-on-tax. That’s because some governments calculate sales taxes after all the per-litre taxes are added,” reads the report.
“That means you pay taxes on all the per-litre taxes governments added to the price. The tax-on-tax costs the average Canadian driver an extra 4.5 cents per litre of gasoline, on average.
Federal gas taxes are on track to cost about 74 cents per litre by 2030.
“The big tax bill at the pumps is about to get bigger because of Trudeau’s carbon tax hikes,” said Terrazzano.
“Trudeau should make life more affordable by cutting gas taxes, scrapping the carbon tax and ending his tax-on-tax.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre vowed to eliminate both parts of the consumer carbon tax if elected, including another component the Clean Fuel Regulations, which still affects provinces that have an independent carbon pricing system.
“The Bloc and the Liberals want higher gas and diesel prices. The Conservatives want to cut taxes,” Poilievre told CBC Radio-Canada in an interview.
“Only the Conservative Party voted against it, and we intend to make a major reform of the tax system to simplify, reduce, and make taxes fairer — to bring back production and bigger paycheques to Canada,” he added.
Nearly $1 million worth of drugs and cell phones were confiscated at a maximum-security federal institution, on Aug. 19, according to the Correctional Service of Canada.
The federal agency issued a press release on Monday confirming the estimated value of the seized contraband and unauthorized items at Edmonton Institution was $917,400. The items included THC, crystal methamphetamine, and cell phones.
The Correctional Services of Canada said the confiscation was “a result of the vigilance of staff members.”
The agency responsible for jailing and rehabilitating criminal offenders sentenced to two years or more said that the police have been informed and that the institution is investigating.
“The Correctional Service of Canada uses a number of tools to prevent drugs from entering its institutions. These tools include ion scanners and drug detector-dogs to search buildings, personal property, inmates, and visitors,” reads the release.
Despite already having measures in place, the federal agency said they aim to improve measures to prevent contraband from entering institutions. The Correctional Service of Canada works closely with law enforcement to crack down on attempts to smuggle contraband into its facilities.
To strengthen security further, CSC has also implemented a toll-free tip line, 1-866-780-3784, where callers can remain anonymous. This line allows individuals to report information related to activities that could compromise the safety and security of the facilities, such as drug trafficking.
Situated near Fort Saskatchewan, Edmonton Institution is a maximum-security federal prison that has experienced several notable incidents in recent years.
A previous report uncovered by the Edmonton Journal revealed that tensions between correctional officers and inmates had escalated due to severe staffing shortages, contributing to violent brawls in early 2022. The report highlighted a “strained” relationship between COs and inmates, exacerbated by operational adjustments that kept inmates confined to their cells for extended periods, fueling resentment and frustration.
Additionally, Edmonton Institution has witnessed other violent incidents, including the 2022 stabbing of inmate Nicholas Job at the penitentiary. He recovered and was later released, but was later shot and assaulted in his home. He subsequently died in the hospital. Two men were charged with second-degree murder in February 2024 after the Edmonton Police Service linked the stabbing at the institution to Job’s eventual demise.
The Edmonton Institution also had an inmate die under their custody in Nov. 2023.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith revealed the next phase of her government’s plan to overhaul Alberta’s healthcare system, including plans to remove Alberta Healthcare Services as the operator of some hospitals.
Plus, the hockey world was shocked to learn of the death of hockey star and former Calgary Flames player Johnny Gaudreau, who was killed by an alleged drunk driver.
And Rachel has some exciting news about the future of The Alberta Roundup!
Tune into The Alberta Roundup with Rachel Parker now!
Nearly seven in ten Canadians oppose the recent bonuses dolled out to CBC executives and nonunion staff this year, according to a new poll by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
The taxpayer watchdog group commissioned polling firm Leger to survey what Canadians thought of the recently approved $18.4 million in CBC bonuses for 2024 and found that the majority of respondents were opposed to the decision.
“The results of the poll are crystal clear: the vast majority of Canadians don’t support the CBC paying out bonuses with our tax dollars,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano in a press release.
“This poll should be a wake-up call for CBC President Catherine Tait and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that these taxpayer-funded bonuses must end.”
The survey asked Canadians whether they supported or opposed the CBC paying out the $18.4 million in bonuses for this year and 69% of respondents said they were opposed.
A small cohort of 16% said that they supported the bonuses, while the remaining 15% said they didn’t know.
Among those who said that they were decided on the issue, 81% said they were opposed to it.
The Crown corporation will cost taxpayers $1.4 billion this year and the state broadcaster has doled out $132 million in bonuses since 2015.
The Liberal government refuses to address whether it approved a bonus for Tait, which would have had to first be approved by the federal government, following a review of her annual performance and on recommendation from the CBC/Radio-Canada’s board of directors.
True North asked the CBC earlier this month who approved the bonus but the question was deferred to the federal government.
Media outlets asked Canadian Heritage, the department responsible for overseeing the Crown corporation, who then kicked the question over to the Privy Council Office.
However, the Privy Council Office wouldn’t answer either, citing privacy laws as the reason, despite disclosing such information to the public in the past.
Tait herself was summoned before the House of Commons heritage committee in May to discuss her bonus pay, however, the meeting was shut down by Liberal MPs after she refused to do so.
“Canadians don’t support the government wasting our money paying out big bonuses to CBC executives,” said Terrazzano.
“If Tait isn’t willing to do the right thing and cancel the bonuses, then the heritage minister, finance minister or Trudeau must step in and end the CBC’s taxpayer-funded bonuses.”
The bonuses have also been criticized by the independent advocacy group Friends of Canadian Media, which has stated that “Canadians deserve a strong and vital CBC” but viewed the recent bonuses as being “deeply out of touch.”
“I’m sure you’ve heard about CBC/Radio-Canada’s decision to award $18 million in bonuses, just months after the announcement of significant job cuts,” said the group’s executive director Marla Boltman in a recent newsletter.
“This decision is deeply out of touch and unbefitting of our national public broadcaster.”
CBC’s director of media relations told True North in July that “decisions about performance pay are taken every year in June” and are based on the state broadcaster “exceeding its digital engagement targets in its annual review.”
According to the performance review, “on average, each unique visitor to our sites spends 37.6 minutes every month with CBC/Radio-Canada digital services.”
That averages to about less than 90 seconds per day by those who visit the CBC’s website, appearing to be a modest threshold to exceed past.
However, it’s not just the bonuses which have been met with criticism in recent years, but also the number of CBC staff who take home six-figure salaries, which has more than doubled since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took office.
The CTF obtained records through an access-to-information request which revealed that 1,450 CBC staff took home more than $100,000 in base salary last year.
Those with six-figure salaries cost taxpayers more than $181 million last year, with an average of $125,000 for each six-figure employee.
After a thwarted ISIS terrorist attack at the end of last month in the Greater Toronto Area, a Jewish advocacy group is calling on the Canadian government to strengthen border security before welcoming thousands of Gazan refugees into the country.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs questioned the efficacy of Canada’s border security screening process, as the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security grilled about the terrorist incident on Thursday. The committee questioned how a man who was allegedly in an ISIS terrorist video dismembering prisoners with a sword was granted Canadian citizenship.
In a post on X, CIJA shared a letter it sent to Immigration Minister Marc Miller, asking for assurance about the security procedures at the border before the government welcomes the planned 5,000 refugees from Gaza.
“The safety and security of its population represents the paramount responsibility of any government,” the group said. “This is especially the case with respect to threatened or targeted segments of society like the Jewish community, which has experienced unprecedented threats over the last period.”
A report by the Canadian Press using data given by B’nai Brith Canada found that antisemitic hate crime reports more than doubled last year from the previous year. Meanwhile, reports on antisemitic incidences have become a near-weekly occurrence since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
With antisemitism on the rise coupled with potentially lax border security procedures, which led to an alleged ISIS-linked father-son terrorist attack that RCMP thwarted at the end of last month, CIJA is concerned for the safety of Canadian Jews.
“In light of these concerns, we are deeply troubled by the Canadian government’s recent decision to grant visas to 5,000 residents of Gaza who are related to Canadian citizens or permanent residents, reportedly without a full security assessment conducted by Canadian authorities,” CIJA said. “While we recognize the humanitarian motivations behind this decision, it is imperative that the significant security risks that have emerged in recent events be effectively addressed.”
CIJA isn’t the first to raise safety concerns about welcoming in refugees from Hamas-controlled Gaza.
In May, Immigration lawyer Sergio Karas warned about the potentially disastrous consequences of the federal government’s plan to welcome refugees from the region.
He noted the near impossibility of vetting people from the terrorist-controlled region as it lacks the infrastructure to provide background checks and an education system which has repeatedly been implicated in endorsing violence against Jews.
Further, he noted that a survey from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 71% of people in Gaza and the West Bank endorsed Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. 59% said they would prefer Hamas to govern Gaza, while only 5% of Palestinians thought Hamas’ actions on the seventh constituted a war crime.
Other nations, such as Australia, have cancelled visas from the region due to the logistical difficulties related to Palestinians illegally immigrating to Egypt, muddying the immigration screening process.
U.S. senators raised security concerns about Canada bringing in Gazan refugees last month, citing the possibility of unvetted terrorists coming to Canada rather than crossing the southern border into the States.
CIJA restated its belief in the importance of immigration to Canada’s national identity, emphasizing that their concern is rooted in concern for the safety of Jewish Canadians and Canada as a whole.
“Canada has a long-standing tradition of offering refuge to those in need, but it is crucial that we do so while ensuring the security of our citizens,” CIJA said. “We urge the government to reassess and significantly strengthen its immigration screening processes to prevent individuals who may pose a risk to national security from entering Canada.”
