International students at Ace Acumen college, a so-called college affiliated with St. Clair College in Brampton, are protesting outside the college over their failing grades. They allege that the college has intentionally failed the students and are discriminating against them.
When Harrison Faulkner showed up to report on this protest, none of the students would talk with True North and shouted us down as “racist media.” The so-called college, which some accuse of being a diploma mill, is also silent on the matter.
Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner.
A cohort of ministerial staffers in the Liberal Party of Canada have pulled their support from the government over its handling of the Israel-Hamas war, the majority of whom are of Middle Eastern descent.
A letter addressed to “the leader of the Liberal party” was signed by 52 staffers and says that they will not be participating in the upcoming byelection campaign for the Lasalle-Emard-Verdun riding in Montreal, QC.
The seat was recently left vacant following former Liberal justice minister David Lametti’s resignation.
“While many of us started our political careers in elections as volunteers, we can no longer in good conscience campaign for a party that excludes us and our values,” reads the letter obtained by CBC News.
The letter indicates that the staffers will not be participating in activities as party members until the Trudeau government changes its diplomatic approach to the conflict and “join our allies in explicitly condemning Israel for its numerous war crimes and for the genocidal rhetoric from members of the Israeli Cabinet.”
Additionally, the group is demanding that Canada “join our allies, including Norway, Spain, and Ireland in recognizing the state of Palestine,” and “acknowledge anti-Palestinian racism as a unique form of hate and work to address it in Canada.”
Staffers are also calling for the government to revoke its existing arms export permits to Israel and close any other loopholes which may permit Canadian-made arms to arrive in Israel through third-party countries.
Their final demand for an end to “all research collaboration on military and dual-use technologies between Canadian and Israeli researchers.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to True North’s request for comment, however, it did release a statement saying it supports the “comprehensive ceasefire deal, outlined by President Biden and endorsed by the UN Security Council.”
“We call on parties to the conflict to agree to the deal. Any delay will only see more lives lost,” reads the statement, which goes on to call for Hamas to lay down its arms and release all hostages.
A spokesperson for the Liberal party told CBC that it “firmly believes that everyone should feel safe, welcome, and included in our movement — and we’ll continue working very hard to engage volunteers and supporters on their priorities to keep moving forward.”
However, political staffers are not unionized and may be hired, fired or quit at any time.
They often volunteer their time to door knock and make phone calls to gather donations for their party during campaigns.
“Until we are no longer ashamed to tell our communities and families that we are actively campaigning for the Liberal Party, we will be pausing partisan activity,” said the staffers in the statement.
This is the second time the group has appealed to Trudeau in the form of a joint letter, first writing to him to demand a ceasefire in Gaza last fall but it did not threaten any specific action if the party did not acquiesce.
The group’s most recent letter made reference to their first one, saying that they have “often felt unheard” by Trudeau.
“Over the past months we have expressed our growing concerns in relation to the human rights violations experienced by Palestinians and advocated for a change in policy towards a posture that is aligned with our values,” it said. “We have often felt unheard by the leadership of our party.”
Two provincial cabinet ministers say that organized crime is “terrorizing” several local lobster fishing communities in southwestern Nova Scotia, due to poor federal enforcement.
Letters were sent to the Trudeau government last week by Fisheries Minister Kent Smith and Justice Minister Barbara Adams, requesting assitance and further collaboration in dealing with what they say is an increase in serious crime in the municipalities of Clare and Meteghan.
“I am hearing directly from fishers that have been threatened, that have had property damaged and that live in constant fear of repercussions for speaking out,” Smith told federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier in a letter dated Aug. 22.
According to Smith, the inability of Lebouthillier’s department to prevent illegal activity, including out-of-season lobster fishing has “enabled and emboldened the growth of organized crime that is terrorizing the community.”
“Lack of action impacts public safety and the sustainability of our most valuable seafood resource. It also diverts tax revenues from both our governments that can be reinvested in our communities,” reads the letter.
While Smith does not name any specific group, he did order provincial inspections in Clare to be ramped up to ensure that provincial regulations relating to selling and purchasing illegal lobster are being upheld.
Smith also wanted to make a point to distinguish the work of front-line federal officers from that of the Trudeau government’s overall response, saying that they must be “adequately resourced and supported to do this difficult and extremely important job.”
“It’s a very serious issue,” he told Global News. “There’s some serious concerns for public safety in the region and when people are coming to me with really troubling stories then I feel like I have to do my job.”
Adams also sent a letter of growing concern to Lebouthillier the following day, telling her that the Nova Scotia justice department doubled the number of RCMP patrol officers in Clare from seven to 14, an effort that is being paid for by “the province of Nova Scotia.”
These additional general duties and investigative resources are in response to the “acute concerns of citizens,” noted Adams in her letter.
“I would like to add my support to minister Smith’s request to have our provincial and federal agencies work together to meaningfully address this issue in the Clare region,” she said.
The RCMP in Nova Scotia have reported a rise in violent crimes in the Meteghan area in recent months, including two incidents of shots being fired at a home, two arsons and the burning of a police vehicle
However, so far none of the incidents have been directly linked to the fishing industry.
Minister Lebouthillier’s office did not respond to True North’s request for comment.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the federal NDP, to resign or stop supporting the Liberal government and trigger an early fall election.
Poilievre said Singh’s reason for joining the coalition government, to bring down food prices and make life more affordable for Canadians, has failed, by the NDP leader’s own admission.
He noted failings in the immigration system, including bringing in people at a rate higher than the growth of homes and jobs, inflation being the highest it had been in four decades, two million Canadians accessing food banks in Ottawa on Thursday. He also pointed to rising crime rates, the declining sense of safety in Canada, and the decriminalization of hard drugs as failures in the Trudeau-led NDP-Liberal coalition.
“(Trudeau) would rather that continue to be the case than to give up power. He will not quit. He must be fired, and the person to do it is Jagmeet Singh,” Poilievre said.“Singh sold out workers to sign on to this costly coalition. He has voted to hike the carbon tax to 61 cents a litre for policies to double housing costs and to tax food now,”
Poilievre noted that when Singh joined Trudeau’s government in a coalition, he promised to bring down food prices, but this month, he said Canadians are spending more and bringing home less.
“When you go into the grocery store and you’re buying your groceries, you’re spending more than ever before, and you’re leaving with less than ever before,” Singh said in Yellowknife earlier this month.
Earlier in the week, to promote the NDP candidate in an upcoming by-election in Montreal, Singh brought a nine-dollar bag of apples and a $70 container of baby formula to demonstrate the rising grocery prices.
“Again, that is after two years of Jagmeet Singh joining the Liberal government,” Poilievre said. “What’s clear is that Singh did not join to bring down grocery prices or housing costs, both of which have skyrocketed since he joined this coalition. He joined to keep Trudeau in power so that he could get his pension.”
Singh came into office on Feb. 25, 2019, to be eligible for his pension, which MPs are eligible for after six years of service. He will have to stay in office until February 2025, when he will be eligible for a $2.2 million taxpayer-funded pension.
Poilievre nicknamed Singh “Sellout Singh,” stating that he is selling out the Canadian taxpayer to endure more of Trudeau’s government so that he can reap the benefits of a tax-funded pension.
When a reporter asked Poilievre about the ongoing CN rail strike, he retorted that inflation caused by government spending and increasing the money supply is leading to the strikes, a move that Singh could prevent by cutting ties with the federal Liberal party.
“The reason that we have these strikes is because of inflation. We had last year the largest number of days lost to strike since 1986 what do we have in 1986? Inflation,” Poilievre said, referencing data given in a CTV interview with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce senior director of transportation. “Inflation leads to strikes because workers and unions have to fight to get back what they lost in purchasing power.”
He said the strikes are due to the government doubling its debt and hundreds of billions being printed under Trudeau’s government, which increased the money supply by 40% while the economy grew by 4%.
According to YCharts Canada’s money supply was around $2.7 trillion at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns and is currently at $3.7 trillion, representing a 40% increase in less than five years.
“When you add money ten times faster than you add the stuff that money buys, then you get inflation, and that screws over workers because they live off wages,” he said. “It’s all done with Jagmeet Singh’s support. He can huff and puff all he wants, but he supported the inflationary policies that destroyed the wages of working-class people.”
He said if Singh didn’t support the government’s response to the railway strike and the inflationary policies Poilievre says led to them, Singh would respond to Poilievres’ call to pull out of the “costly coalition.”
“I’m calling for him to do that today,” Poilievre said. “Jagmeet Singh, stop selling out the workers. Stop being Sellout Singh, put the people above your pension and vote for a carbon tax election now.”
Singh did not respond to True North’s requests to comment, though at a press conference in Montreal earlier this week, Singh said leaving the supply and confidence deal is always on the table for the federal NDP.
The first black woman superintendent of the Toronto Police Service has been demoted for a minimum of two years over a cheating scandal.
Former Superintendent Stacy Clarke pleaded guilty to seven counts of professional misconduct in May for her involvement in helping six Black constables cheat on their promotional exams. A ruling on her conduct was handed down by the police tribunal on Wednesday.
During the May hearing, Clarke described her experience as “traumatic, painful, and disorienting,” adding that her actions were driven by a sense of frustration and despair over the perceived systemic barriers she faced within the service.
All of the instances of professional misconduct occurred in 2021, the year after Clarke was promoted to Superintendent when she became the first black female officer to hold that rank in the Toronto Police Service.
In May, police prosecutor Scott Hutchison recommended a harsher penalty for Clarke, advocating for a two-year demotion across two ranks, according to CP24. His proposal would have reduced Clarke by two ranks to staff sergeant for one year, followed by a year as an inspector, one rank below superintendent, before she could reapply for her former position.
Clarke’s lawyer, Joseph Markson, argued for a shorter demotion period of 12 to 18 months to the rank of inspector, with automatic reinstatement to superintendent afterwards.
The hearing officer ruled that automatic reinstatement was inappropriate.
A middle ground was found, and Clarke will be demoted to inspector for at least two years. She will be able to reapply for her former rank afterwards.
The Toronto Police Service issued a press release on Wednesday saying that it respects the case’s outcome.
“Leaders at the Service are held to the highest standards of conduct, and we take any allegations of misconduct seriously,” reads the release.
The Toronto Police Service said it has implemented various reforms over recent years, overhauling hiring and promotional processes and diversifying its workforce.
“We are committed, in partnership with the Toronto Police Service Board, to meaningful change and continuous improvement to create a respectful, safe, and inclusive workplace,” said Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw. “As a service, we are listening. We continue to acknowledge that while we are on a path of change, more needs to be done to build trust with our communities and our members.”
Clarke’s actions, which involved providing six black constables with answers to promotional exams in 2021, were described by her defence as a desperate attempt to counteract what she perceived as systemic barriers preventing Black officers from advancing within the service.
After images emerged of her providing officers with answers in the promotional process, she pleaded guilty to all seven charges — three counts of breach of confidence, three counts of discreditable conduct, and one count of insubordination.
The other officers involved in the scandal received between ten and 20 days of unpaid suspension.
“While the underlying reasons for her misconduct help make it seem less nefarious, [Clarke] single-handedly brought down these officers who showed promise as future leaders in the Toronto Police Service,” said hearing officer Robin McElary-Downer. “Her fingerprints are forever etched on their damaged careers.”
In a stunning turn of events, BC United suspended its campaign in this fall’s provincial election with leader Kevin Falcon resigning from his role to support the rival BC Conservatives.
Plus, the Trudeau government says Muslims and Indigenous people are more impacted by wildfires due to racism and colonialism.
And conservative journalist Chris Rufo’s appearance at an Alberta conference triggers some sponsors to pull their support.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Lindsay Shepherd and Isaac Lamoureux!
International students who failed their school programs are protesting for “fair results” after being accused of cheating in an online course.
As study permits are about to expire, international students from Algoma University in Brampton protest over failed grades.
Protesters chanted and held signs that said, “Education is not for sale” and “Fix your system, don’t blame us” outside of Algoma University’s Brampton campus Wednesday morning.
Algoma University students protested unfair semester results. Despite appeals, delays continue with no committee assigned. The Dean requires them to re-register the course without providing proper solutions, leaving them uncertain. pic.twitter.com/YaNHaESVka
Protesters distributed pamphlets outlining the concerns of the protest.
“Hundreds of international students at Algoma University are facing unfair academic penalties that threaten their education, visa status and future opportunities. Despite paying high tuition, students received minimal and contradictory guidelines from their professors,” the note said.
“Unclear and conflicting instructions during exams led to unfair penalties. Contradictory statements from the professor have caused confusion and distress.”
They demanded “immediate and fair” reassessment of their work, “transparent resolution” to all of their appeals to have the grades reexamined and “accountability for the professor’s contradictory instructions and unfair penalties.”
An international student who said hours after the interview that she wanted her name excluded from the story for safety reasons spoke to True North on behalf of the protesters.
She said most of the protesters, around 55, at Algoma University took a graduate certificate in business management and were accused of cheating in an online finance and accounting course exam, resulting in a failing grade. She said the accusation was unfair and given without evidence.
“More than 50 students have failed without any clear and legitimate reason. We have been asking the university questions, but there has been no response,” the protest representative said.
The university told True North in an email that university officials have met with the students protesting their grades in the finance and accounting course and pointed to the 91.9% pass rate in the institutions’ domestic courses and its international student rate of 91.4% to reflect the university’s “commitment to excellence in learning.”
“While we provide all students with a range of resources to support their success, it is up to them to do the work and pass their exams,” it said.
The protester said the professor put a trick question in the non-proctored online exam to catch potential cheaters.
“Upon highlighting the text of the question, we (the students) are getting another question popped up. And we thought it’s a technical glitch causing the question to not show up,” she said. “We answered the hidden question, which the professor hid to accuse us of cheating. We did not know that it was just a trap or it was not to be answered.”
The protester said the test was in an LMS bright space. This software advertises various ways a professor could enable the program to detect cheating. However, True North could not confirm which method was used with a member of Algoma’s business and economics faculty.
She said that none of the protesters thought to ask the professor if the question was supposed to be answered because they did not expect to be tricked on their final exam. The protesters demand that the one question that marked them as cheating be discounted.
“If you want to accuse us that we have cheated, you just leave that one question, but at least give us the marks for the 89 questions,” she said. “We need a passing grade for this particular course.”
According to the protest representative, students were directed to a two-part appeal process, which they were told could take three months. By then, they would have overstayed their allotted time in Canada.
“Algoma University is guiding students who have failed the course through the formal processes available to all students under existing Senate-approved policies and procedures,” the university said. “Additionally, the University is continuing to meet with each student one-on-one to support them with the next steps available to them.”
According to the anonymous protester, the formal process includes meeting with the dean and professor as well. However, she said the professor had declined to meet students, saying his decision was final. She said students are also being told to re-register, though the protester noted that a single course would cost each student $3,500.
Some of the protesters at Algoma were failing other courses, too. According to the representative, around 40 protesters are failing what she thinks is a marketing course. Around 15 people from Algoma’s Sault Ste Marie campus who attended also demanded passing grades.
Despite the federal government walking back the amount of temporary foreign workers it will admit into certain regions, Canada could still potentially break record numbers this year.
After admitting more than one million temporary foreign workers into Canada, the Trudeau government now plans to crack down on the program by accepting fewer people.
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault announced the new restrictions on hiring temporary foreign workers in markets with high unemployment rates during the Liberals’ cabinet retreat this week.
Low-wage temporary foreign worker positions have skyrocketed in recent years, up 291% this year, compared to 2018, with the data currently available indicating that Canada is on track to wildly surpass last year’s record.
According to the latest government data, Canada has already seen 28,730 low-wage temporary foreign worker positions in the first quarter of 2024, or 34% of last year’s total volume.
In the first three months of this year, the country created more low-wage roles than all of 2018.
“In the aftermath of the pandemic and facing severe labour shortages, we adjusted the program for temporary foreign workers. That’s what the business community needed, that’s what the business community was asking for and at that moment in time, those changes helped,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Monday.
Canada has been facing increasing unemployment in recent years as the country experiences an exponential growth in newcomers, with annual volumes up 300% over the past five years.
The first quarter of 2023 alone has seen the government process more temporary foreign workers than the annual total of 2018.
Changes to the TFW program are coming at the end of next month, when Ottawa will freeze the applications for census metropolitan areas that have an unemployment rate of 6% or higher and sponsoring companies will be limited to a staff of 10% or fewer temporary foreign workers.
Additionally, approved applications will be reduced from two years to one.
“The Temporary Foreign Worker program was designed to address labour market shortages when qualified Canadians were not able to fill those roles,” said Boissonault in a statement on Monday.
“Right now, we know that there are more Canadians qualified to fill open positions. The changes we are making today will prioritize Canadians workers and ensures Canadians can trust the program is meeting the needs of our economy.”
The announcement comes on the heels of the Quebec government implementing its own restrictions last week in an effort to lead by example, freezing the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers in Montreal.
Premier Legault said the freeze was in response to the influx of migrants that the province has received over the past two years, increasing from 300,000 to 600,000 since 2022, a figure which he said has “clearly surpassed its capacity of integration.”
In a stunning turn of events, BC United suspended its campaign in this fall’s provincial election with leader Kevin Falcon resigning from his role to support the rival BC Conservatives.
The move comes as BC United has been bleeding support to the BC Conservatives over the past year, dropping from second place to the fourth most popular party in the race.
In a dual statement, the B.C. Conservatives announced that Falcon was “encouraging all BC united supporters to unite behind John Rustad and the Conservative Party of BC to prevent another four years of disastrous NDP government.”
During a joint press conference with Falcon and BC Conservative leader John Rustad, the two announced that after several hours of negotiation on Monday evening, BC United would withdraw from the race.
Falcon says that after talking with thousands of British Columbians on the campaign trail, it has become clear to him that BC United needs to step aside to avoid splitting the vote with the BC Conservatives and to give them a chance at beating the governing NDP.
“There’s nothing more important to me than not giving the NDP another day in power and that’s why I made the decision as leader of BC United to suspend our campaign and withdraw our candidates,” said Falcon.
Rustad thanked Falcon for making the decision to suspend his party’s campaign, reiterating the need to defeat the NDP in October.
It is being reported that some of BC United’s candidates will run for the BC Conservatives in the coming election. According to the Vancouver Sun BC United MLAs Ian Paton, Peter Milobar, Tom Shypitka will run for the BC Conservatives as well as candidate Jaime Stein.
The move comes as BC United has been bleeding support to the BC Conservatives over the past year, dropping from second place to the fourth most popular party in the race.
BC United, the former BC Liberal party, were a competitive party not too long ago, with a past in government from 2001-2017, and formed the official opposition after every subsequent election.
Last year, the BC Liberals changed their name to BC United to distance themselves from Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal party and to reflect the party being a free market oriented coalition between supporters of the federal liberals and conservatives.
However, conservatives have felt alienated from the party as conservative activist Aaron Gunn was disqualified from running for the BC Liberals’ leadership in 2021, and MLA John Rustad was booted from the party over his views on climate change.
“Kevin has shown real leadership. I think he has shown himself to really put the interests of the province first,” said Rustad.
“By doing this we are going to have the best opportunity possible to bring an end to these radical policies.”
During the press conference Falcon said he had the support of BC United’s executive and board of directors.
BC United’s withdrawal comes on the condition that the BC Conservatives accept some BC United’s MLAs and candidates and work together to improve the Conservatives’ candidate selection process.
The BC Conservatives said they will be undergoing a candidate review process in the coming weeks. There have been no confirmed candidate replacements as of yet
“One of the things that I appreciated in our meeting with John is that we talked about the importance of selecting and fielding the best possible group of candidates, and we’re both in agreement on that,” said Falcon.
“John acknowledged that their vetting process isn’t quite as rigorous as ours is, but there’s a commitment to working together to make sure that the BC Conservative party fields the possible candidates.”
Falcon and Rustad did not confirm which candidates will be joining the BC Conservatives, nor did they say how many BC United candidates are expected to switch over.
Falcon also said that BC United’s finances will be dealt with according to election laws and vendors, staff, and any outstanding expenses will be handled appropriately.
BC United, the former BC Liberal party, were a competitive party not too long ago, with a past in government from 2001-2017, and formed the official opposition after every subsequent election.
Last year, the BC Liberals changed their name to BC United to distance themselves from Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberal party and to reflect the party being a free market-oriented coalition between supporters of the federal liberals and conservatives.
However, the party’s troubles began after conservative activist Aaron Gunn was disqualified from running for the BC Liberals’ leadership in 2021, and MLA John Rustad was booted from the party over his views on climate change soon after.
Since Rustad took the helm of the BC Conservatives, BC United has been losing support in their party, sinking to fourth place behind the BC Green party in some polls.
BC United ran on a moderate, centre-right and free enterprise platform, promising to exempt those earning $50,000 or less from paying income taxes, roll back drug decriminalization, improve public safety by hiring more police officers, and rolling back progressive reforms in the education system.
BC United’s departure from the provincial election paves the way for the BC Conservatives to run unopposed, potentially giving them the edge against the NDP.
338Canada’s polling aggregation places the BC NDP at 40%, the BC Conservatives at 38%, and BC United at 10%.
BC United did not respond to True North’s request for comment.
Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal has sponsored a petition for the government to order a “fresh inquiry” into the Air India bombing carried out by Sikh extremists in 1985, despite two previous inquiries concluding with similar findings.
The Air India Flight 182 bombing resulted in the killing of 329 people, the majority of which were Canadian and was carried out by Sikh separatist extremists.
Now some members of Canada’s Sikh community are calling for the government to reinvestigate a discredited theory that the terrorist attack involved agents within India’s government.
A petition was launched and has since been sponsored by long-time Liberal MP Dhaliwal, however, some of those who lost family members in the attack are angry with this decision.
“It’s deeply frustrating,” Bal Gupta, who lost his wife in the attack, told the Globe and Mail. “It opens up old wounds all over again. It’s all garbage. It’s an attempt to gain publicity and support for terrorist activities.”
Dhaliwal sponsored the petition earlier this month on behalf of constituents in his Surrey-Newton riding.
“This is their viewpoint, right,” said Dhaliwal in response. “It’s a public viewpoint. All I’m doing is taking it forward.”
Dhaliwal stayed mum on whether he agreed with the previous inquiries’ conclusions on the matter that the attack was carried out by Sikh extremists alone, and not connected to the Indian government.
Online petitions submitted to Parliament state that sponsorships require “no obligation on the part of the House of Commons or any Member of Parliament,” nor is it meant to be an endorsement.
However, if a petition that an MP has sponsored has garnered over 500 signatures within four months, the government is then obligated to respond within 45 days.
While the theory that the Air India bombing involving members of the Indian government may have picked up momentum again in the wake of Nijjar’s killing, other Sikh activists have since made similar threats.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an outspoken Khalistani leader based in Canada released a video last fall wherein he repeated multiple threats to those who will be travelling on Air India flights on November 19 2023.
“We are asking the Sikh people to not fly via Air India on 19 November. There will be a global blockade. Do not travel by Air India or your life will be in danger,” said Pannun. “It is my warning to the government of India.”
The first inquiry into the Air India bombing lasted 18 months, concluding in 2010 that Canadian citizen Talwinder Singh Parmar, a Sikh extremist, was the architect of the attack and a separate inquiry concluded that a “cascading series of errors” by the Canadian government, the RCMP and CSIS made the attack possible.
Both inquiries noted that the Indian government repeatedly warned Canadian authorities that Sikh extremists were planning to target Air India flights beforehand.
