Wherever she goes, Meghan Murphy’s speaking events are met with protest — all because she disagrees with the mantra “trans women are women.” Murphy argues trans women are biological males, and they should not be permitted in women’s spaces, such as women’s sports, shelters, or prisons. In some circumstances, to allow biological males into these spaces puts women and girls at risk.
For expressing her views that trans activism has had a negative impact on women’s rights, Murphy has been permanently banned from Twitter, and detractors are constantly campaigning to deplatform her speaking events.
Meghan Murphy tells her story to True North’s Lindsay Shepherd.
A tip from American authorities led to the arrest of nine people in China charged with manufacturing and trafficking the lethal opioid fentanyl.
The US Department of Homeland Security tipped off Chinese authorities to an online vendor of the drug who went by the pseudonym “Diana.” Officials raided an illicit lab that produced and shipped the drug to the US and other countries.
Around 11.9 kilograms of fentanyl were taken off the market, while another 19.1 kilograms of other narcotics were also seized. Fentanyl is believed to be up to 100 times more potent than morphine and has a lethal dosage of three milligrams.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, over 10,300 Canadians have died between 2016 and 2018 of opioid overdoses. In 2018, 73 per cent of all opioid-related deaths involved fentanyl.
A 2018 Global News investigation revealed that a majority of the fentanyl market in BC revolves around a Chinese crime network called the “Big Circle Boys” which has its roots in the mainland. BC has been hit the hardest by the opioid crisis, in 2018 the province reported a total of 1,500 overdoses as a result of opioid abuse.
“There are so many players we identified in BC. But this is all directed from inside China. At the very top they are insulated. It’s government officials,” an unnamed international policing expert told Global News.
Earlier this year, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer urged the federal government to “hold China accountable” with regard to the opioid crisis. Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promises to cooperate with the Chinese government to curb the import of the deadly drug, the flow is likely not going to end.
The latest bust shows the US government is continuing to put pressure on China. At the urging of President Donald Trump, the Chinese government announced earlier this year it would ban all variants of fentanyl and declare them controlled substances.
The arrests resulted in one death sentence, several life imprisonments and a number of lower sentences. U.S. authorities have also cracked down on buyers in the country and have identified a total of 50 residents who attempted to buy the drug from the Chinese vendor.
At the height of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, Justin Trudeau threatened to sue opposition leader Andrew Scheer for defamation, despite the fact that Trudeau was later found to have broken the law by the ethics commissioner.
By far, the most infamous court case the Trudeau government was involved in was the lawsuit it refused to fight, instead giving convicted murderer Omar Khadr a $10.5 million settlement.
Currently, the Trudeau government and the prime minister himself are involved in several court cases over a variety of issues, including the federal carbon tax and the Trans Mountain expansion.
Here are several ongoing lawsuits Justin Trudeau and the federal government are involved in.
The government is fighting to quash True North’s freedom of the press
During the election, the Liberals blocked True North fellow and journalist, Andrew Lawton, from covering their campaign. Trudeau even sent the police to question Lawton for simply trying to stay on the campaign trail.
Finally, after Lawton was denied his fundamental right as a journalist to report on the federal leaders’ debates, he and True North took the Leaders’ Debates Commission and the Trudeau government to court. A federal judge granted debate access to Lawton and Rebel reporters Keean Bexte and David Menzies. But that wasn’t the end of it.
Days after the election, the Leaders’ Debates Commission served an appeal notice. Candice Malcolm says it looks like a scheme to bankruptTrue North with a hefty legal bill.
Saskatchewan and Ontario’s Supreme Court battle over the “unconstitutional” carbon tax
The provinces of Saskatchewan And Ontario are taking the Liberals to the Supreme Court to fight against the federally imposed carbon tax.
On March 17 and 18 of the upcoming year, Saskatchewan and several intervenors, including Quebec and Alberta will be arguing that the federal tax infringes on provincial jurisdiction and is unconstitutional before the Supreme Court.
Ontario has also recently announced that it will continue with its court challenge of the tax in response to Trudeau’s re-election and has appealed a decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal with the Supreme Court. Saskatchewan will also be intervening on Ontario’s behalf.
Indigenous groups challenging approval of the Trans Mountain Expansion
After buying the Trans Mountain Expansion project for $4.5 billion, the Trudeau government has been plagued with further delays in getting the pipeline built. Since Trudeau announced the expansion’s approval, several groups are taking the federal government to court to appeal the project.
While Trudeau has eagerly used lawyers to intimidate his critics in the past, the Liberal government didn’t bother to oppose the appeal to the Trans Mountain Expansion. According to the judge overseeing the case, the Liberals withheld their evidence and submissions during preliminary procedures prior to the election.
Trudeau is being sued by an elderly woman his bodyguards manhandled
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is currently involved in a lawsuit with a Quebec woman after he accused her of “racism” and had his bodyguards forcefully remove her from an event for questioning his handling of the illegal border crisis. In a video of the incident, the woman can be seen asking Trudeau whether Quebec will be compensated for the cost of housing illegal border crossers.
Eventually, Trudeau tells the woman that her “racism has no place here.” His bodyguards roughly directed the woman away from the crowd.
Earlier this year, Trudeau was interrogated by the woman’s lawyers in the Superior Court of Quebec. Diane Blaine is seeking $95,000 in compensation from Trudeau for defamation, corporal injury, psychological damage, and infringing on her right to freedom of expression. The allegations have not been tested in court.
Egyptian man believed to have al-Qaeda links is suing the government for $37 million
Mahmoud Jaballah is suing the federal government for $34 million for allegedly violating his human rights. Jaballah was arrested through a national security certificate in 1999 after moving to the country with fake Saudi Arabian passports.
While in Egypt, Jaballah was alleged to have participated in assassinating the third president of Egypt and was believed to have been involved with al-Qaeda. Despite knowing about these alleged links, Canada gave Jaballah and his family refugee status. Since being arrested, Jaballah has been under surveillance by CSIS and his son has been deported from the country for being “a danger to the public.”
Jaballah and his family are now suing the government for allegedly violating his charter rights, investigating him, harming his reputation and keeping him imprisoned, among other claims.
Huawei CFO is suing the government for “violating” her constitutional rights
Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, who is at the centre of an extradition battle involving China and the U.S. over allegedly breaking international sanctions on Iran is suing the Canadian government, the RCMP and the Canadian Border Services Agency for “violating” her rights.
The civil suit is seeking damages for “false imprisonment” over her 2018 arrest at the Vancouver International Airport. The legal notice alleges that officials didn’t follow the rule of law and failed to tell her why she was being arrested or allow her to speak to a lawyer.
Meng is currently under house arrest in her Vancouver home and her extradition case will be heard early next year.
Canadian veterans are taking the government to court over Malaria drug’s side-effects
Canadian military members are set to take the government to court in a class action lawsuit over being given anti-Malaria drug with adverse mental health side-effects while serving.
The veterans were administered mefloquine, which they claim has led to symptoms including suicide, depression and night terrors. Around 1,000 people have since joined the lawsuit. According to those who received the drug, they were not informed about the drug’s side effects and now suffer from PTSD-like symptoms.
Kids are suing the government over climate change
Fifteen youths from the age of 10 to 19 are taking the government to court for allegedly violating their rights by contributing to climate change. The kids claim they “suffered specific, individualized injuries” because of the government’s inaction on the climate and that their rights to life, liberty and security are threatened.
The lawsuit is asking that the government creates a plan to lower carbon emissions. The lawsuit is being supported by Our Children’s Trust, an American nonprofit organization which has filed several similar lawsuits against governments around the world.
Civil rights group sues federal government over Toronto smart city project
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is suing the federal, provincial and municipal governments over plans to create a “smart city” community on Toronto’s waterfront. The group has raised privacy and surveillance concerns over the project’s ability to gather data on Canadian citizens .
The project is being headed by Sidewalk Labs, which shares the same corporate owner as Google. In response to the plans, former CEO of BlackBerry, Jim Balsillie referred to the idea as a “colonizing experiment in surveillance capitalism.”
Waterfront Toronto has replied to the lawsuit saying that none of the CCLA’s claims can be assessed yet due to the early stages of the project.
Civil service workers are suing the Canadian government over the Phoenix pay system
Civil service workers have joined together in a class action lawsuit to sue the federal government over their mismanagement of the Phoenix pay system. Somewhere between 40,000 to 70,000 people could be eligible for compensation ranging between $500 to $1,000.
A Quebec court has recently authorized the lawsuit while the price tag of the Phoenix pay system has already surpassed $1 billion.
In the past few years we have been inundated with information telling us we are in an opioid crisis that is causing hundreds of sudden deaths across the country. The bulk of which, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada is caused by fentanyl which amounts to about 82% of all opioid overdoses according to their latest statistics.
Given that even a small amount of fentanyl can be fatal, as little as a grain of sand we are told, one might think that our courts might take very seriously any case where a fentanyl trafficker comes before it.
I was heartened last year when Ottawa pharmacist, Waseem Shaheen, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for dealing fentanyl out of his Rideau Street IDA pharmacy. But alas, that would seem to be a one-off.
This week in Vancouver Supreme Court, Warren Brett Oswald, 37, pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking in fentanyl and possession of a loaded firearm, a Smith & Wesson .40 cal. pistol. He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Okay, that might sound like a lot, but once you take away the multiple of time-served it translates to a little over five years.
If he serves the full two thirds of that sentence before mandatory parole he will be out in a little over three years, but he will be eligible for early release in a little over a year. One year.
Oswald was arrested outside a condo in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside after he beat a woman, punching her three times in the face. He was carrying a backpack which contained 1.4 kilograms of meth, 535 grams of cocaine, 428 g of fentanyl and $28,000 in cash and one round of ammunition.
A subsequent search of the condo turned up more drugs and the .40 cal. The total value of the drugs seized was approximately $114,000. Oswald was no street corner dealer.
In sentencing Mr. Justice Nigel Kent said these offences attacked “very fabric of society” and required a “very strong message” of denunciation, condemnation and deterrence. The judge noted that little needed to be said about the “opioid crisis” in general and the “scourge” of fentanyl in particular.
Kent took judicial notice of the fact that Oswald was involved in a “multi-kilo trafficking operation.” He also said “Mr. Oswald’s conduct was predatory in the extreme,” and that Oswald was very much knew full well the extent of death and misery inflicted by fentanyl.
Now with all that said, the observer might think that Kent was going to throw the book at Oswald.
Then consider that at the time of the arrest, Oswald was subject to a lifetime ban on possessing firearms from a previous weapons conviction. Previous conviction? Yes, he had 69 previous criminal convictions. 69!
Canadians may bristle at the so-called three strikes laws in some states like California, but what about 33 strikes and you’re out? 43? 53? But seriously, 69 previous convictions and breaking a court-ordered lifetime ban on possessing firearms?
What Oswald got was essentially a judicial slap on the wrist for possessing enough fentanyl to kill hundreds of people.
The two biggest threats in our cities are guns and drugs. Oswald pleaded guilty on both aspects and could be out of jail in a little over a year.
When are we going to get serious about gun crime and drug crime? Because frankly, this sentence given to Oswald is a joke on Canadians.
An Ontario family is taking the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to the province’s Human Rights Tribunal after a six-year-old girl was told that girls and boys “are not real” by her grade one teacher, Janine Blouin.
Pamela and Jason Buffone and their daughter are being represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. They are alleging that their daughter was discriminated against based on her gender identity and that her rights to security were infringed. The school board, the girl’s former teacher and the school principal are all named in the complaint.
Several incidents took place in 2018, in which the girl’s teacher implied that being a boy or girl wasn’t real. In one case she presented a video titled “He, She, and They?!? – Gender: Queer Kid Stuff #2” to her classroom in which the host claims that “some people aren’t boys or girls.”
Later, the teacher asked her students to identify their gender in a “gender spectrum.” When the girl pointed to the end of the spectrum indicating that she was a girl, the teacher informed the class that “girls are not real, and boys are not real.”
“[The teacher] further discussed the concepts of the gender spectrum and sex changes with the Grade One class which led [the girl] to believe that she could go to the doctor if she did not want to have a baby,” writes the formal application.
In the tribunal application, the parents are claiming that the teacher’s lesson challenged their daughter’s sense of identity and that it goes against biological reality.
According to JCCF lawyer Lisa Bildy, who is representing the family, the school board has yet to file a formal response to the claim.
“The parents say that the discussions the teacher had with her class on gender issues were “teaching moments” rather than formal lessons following a curriculum. We hope to find out more over the course of the proceedings,” said Bildy.
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board guidelines on teaching “Gender Identity and Gender Expression” define “gender identity” as “each person’s internal and individual experience of gender. It is a person’s sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum. A person’s gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex.”
The Buffones are also seeking that the school board informs parents when gender identity lessons are being taught and desists from teaching gender identity theory that suggests “sex categories of male and female do not exist,” as well as damages for injury to the child’s dignity and feelings as a result of discrimination.
According to Bildy, one of the possible solutions the tribunal could arrive at is a “public interest remedy” which include mandating a change in policy, implementing education programs, or change hiring practices, among other things.
“The apparent conflict between sex and gender categories under the various human rights codes across the country has not yet attracted much attention in legal decisions, and it will be interesting to see how or if they address this issue,” said Bildy.
“This is going to come to a head in the areas of women’s sports and prisons, most dramatically, and we are going to have to find a reasonable solution that is not a zero sum win for one group over another.”
At home, the girl showed signs of distress and asked her parents why being a girl was “not real” and indicated that she needed to “go to the doctor” because she was a girl.
When the family brought their concerns about the teacher’s conduct to school officials, administrators took no steps to alleviate the girl’s concerns.
The girl has since been moved to another school as a result of the incident. However, she allegedly still grapples with identity issues.
At the first meeting of the Conservative caucus since last month’s election, Conservative parliamentarians voted against giving themselves the power to oust Andrew Scheer as leader of the party, meaning CPC members will get the ultimate say at the party’s April convention. Questions about party leadership are important, but the Conservatives need to engage in a much more significant process: figuring out what the party stands for and what it wants to be moving forward.
True North’s Andrew Lawton says this is paramount as the party prepares for the next election.
The U.S. government says Omar Khadr’s attempt to force a military court to hear an appeal on his five war crimes charges is inappropriate.
In an attempt to escape the guilty pleas related to the death of U.S. soldier Christopher Speer while Khadr was an al-Qaeda combatant, he asked a U.S. Court of Appeals to force a military commission into hearing his appeal.
Initially, Khadr had sought to appeal his guilty pleas with the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review in 2013. He did this only after he left the United States and was let back into Canada as part of his plea agreement, which reduced his sentence to eight years instead of the recommended 40-year imprisonment. His case was eventually put on hold.
“Khadr waited for years after the convening authority’s action to challenge his guilty plea and appellate waiver. He took no action until after he had pocketed the agreement’s benefits, received his 32-year sentence reduction and transfer to Canada, and was beyond the jurisdiction of U.S. courts,” claimed the U.S. government.
Since arriving back into Canada, Khadr sued the Canadian government for allegedly violating his rights by handing him over to the Americans. Instead of fighting the lawsuit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau settled with Khadr outside of court with a $10.5 million payout to the convicted terrorist, calling it the “best option” for Canada.
In March, an Alberta judge ruled that Khadr’s war crimes had expired and that Khadr should be freed from all prior conditions, allowing him to get a Canadian passport and travel internationally.
Only a month later, Khadr was a special guest on a French-language CBC program, where he claimed his $10.5 million settlement was “for all Canadians,” and discussed his $3 million purchase of a shopping mall.
The U.S. government is pointing to the fact that Khadr had originally waived his right to appeal in his guilty plea and that he now lives freely in Edmonton in its decision to not grant him an expedited hearing.
While Khadr is attempting to have his crimes wiped clean, the family of Christopher Speer is seeking to have lawyers interrogate Khadr about his prior guilty confessions. The Speers were awarded a $134 million (USD) judgement against Khadr by a Utah civil court in 2015 and are seeking to have the decision enforced in Canada.
Declassified documents reveal that an extremist Islamist group broke into an NGO office and obtained several thousands of dollars worth of Canadian aid intended for Syria.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) obtained a number of electronic devices, including three laptops, four projectors, two cellphones, 13 iPads and a radio from a warehouse in the country’s northwest region.
HTS is a listed terrorist entity suspected to have links with Al-Qaeda by Public Safety Canada. The group’s intended goal is to create an Islamic state in Syria and overthrow the current regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
According to Public Safety Canada, the group is responsible for “nearly 600 attacks – such as ambushes, kidnappings, assassinations, Improvised Explosive Device attacks and suicide bombings.”
Reports indicate that around 10 terrorists broke into a facility operated by the U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services (CRS) which was winding down its operations in the area. Last year CRS received approximately $1.8 million from Canadian taxpayers in foreign aid.
According to the Center for Strategic & International Studies, HTS numbers between 12,000 to 15,000 terrorists and is primarily located in Syria’s Idlib province, where the attack took place.
This is not the first instance where Canadian foreign aid has either disappeared or been stolen. In 2018, the U.S. Special Inspector-General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported that billions in aid for the country from western nations, including Canada, were wasted due to corruption and poor oversight.
Earlier this year, Global Affairs Canada announced that taxpayers will provide an additional $50 million in aid to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
“This funding will be allocated to United Nations agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross and go toward meeting the basic needs of crisis-affected people, including through the provision of food assistance; protection; comprehensive health services; and water, sanitation and hygiene,” stated a government news release.
The equipment stolen by HTS will likely be used to further aid the terror cell’s communication efforts and to help spread propaganda in order to recruit people to its cause.
A Canadian mine in Burkina Faso has been attacked leaving 37 dead and 60 wounded.
Five buses full of workers along with a military escort were fired upon on Wednesday in the region, which has been torn by Islamist-led violence. The military escort was allegedly targeted by an explosive device and the convoy was then fired upon by armed militants.
The Bangou mine was operated by the Quebec-based company SEMAFO which prospects for gold in West Africa.
“We are devastated by this unprecedented attack. Our sincerest sympathies go out to the families and colleagues of the victims. Our priority is their safety, security and well being. Given the scale of the attack, it will take some time to properly deal with it and we will do our utmost to support all those affected,” said SEMAFO President and CEO Benoit Desormeaux.
Canada’s Global Affairs Ministry has said that they have received no report of Canadians being affected by the attack.
Since 2015, terror groups have begun to flood into Burkina Faso, launching regular attacks. Among the armed extremists are Al-Qaeda linked groups and cells inspired by ISIS.
In 2018, Islamists conducted a total of 136 attacks in the country and by next year nearly half a million people were displaced from their homes due to the threat of violence.
Dozens of people are still considered missing since the attack on the miners took place.
Operations at the site have been suspended for safety reasons.
Edmonton police are ignoring questions about why they are refusing to release the name a man charged after an alleged hostage situation.
A three-year old boy was held at knifepoint Friday at a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) detachment in Edmonton. Police have identified the boy as Katjavivi Tujavi, but are not naming the 27-year old male charged in connection with the incident.
The Edmonton Police Service has not responded to numerous inquiries from True North.
Video footage purports to show an agitated man demanding to be let into the staff office, yelling incoherently at CBSA officers.
At one point the man repeats, “You want to see the blood?” before grabbing three-year-old Tutjavi and holding a knife to his throat.
Tujavi and his siblings were waiting in the lobby with a family friend while his mother, Siska Mbaisa, attended an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing for her husband, Nickolas Tutjavi, who is facing deportation to Namibia.
“I didn’t even see the person, I just grabbed my baby. There was panic and crying and my son kept on repeating, ‘What is going on?’ and asking me, ‘Where’s Daddy? Why is the man doing this?’ I couldn’t even answer him I was so shocked,” said Mbaisa.
Witnesses say the child was safely rescued by a Commissionaire and the suspect was eventually apprehended by the police.
According to Mbaisa, she and her child have been traumatized to the extent that her son has been re-enacting the episode at home.
A suspect is in custody. He’s been charged with assault with a weapon, uttering threats and hostage-taking.
