In one of its very first acts after the election, the Trudeau government decided to take True North to court. They are using taxpayer dollars to appeal our court victory.
True North’s Candice Malcolm explains how the Trudeau government is trying to bankrupt us.
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A recent Ipsos poll conducted for Global News found that an overwhelming majority of Canadians oppose the idea of bringing ISIS fighters back into the country.
The poll found that 71 percent of people said: “we should not do anything to help bring these Canadians back to Canada.” Interestingly both men and women agreed on the issue, at 69 percent and 73 percent respectively.
Only 29 percent of people polled argued that Canada should repatriate those people who have chosen to fight for ISIS abroad.
Popular opinion seems to contradict the advice of so-called experts on the issue who have been advocating that the government makes an effort to reclaim those imprisoned abroad for fighting for the terrorist group.
One article published by the CBC alleged that there would be a “national security risk” if the Canadian government doesn’t make an effort to bring back ISIS terrorists.
United Nations officials have also tried to guilt Canada into accepting foreign fighters back into the country.
“[Canada and others] must assume responsibility for their nationals,” said UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.
Carleton University’s lecturer and international security expert Leah West is also calling for Canada to take a “leadership role” and do the “right thing” by bringing fighters back into the country from Syria.
“I think we would have the ability to take a leadership role or at least to be at the table providing opportunities for solutions if we were to do the right thing. But we can’t,” claims West.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been vague and non-committal on what his plans are for returning ISIS fighters. He has even gone so far as accusing Conservative leader Andrew Scheer of “Islamophobia” for suggesting that Canadians involved in terrorist activities should be in jail.
The government estimates approximately 60 ISIS fighters have returned to Canada.
The mainstream media drums up a controversy about robocalls misinforming voters, but then they drop it once the Liberals win the election. 😓
The Globe and Mail sheds a tear for a poor Justin Trudeau. Leave Justin alone! 😭
Can you keep up with the amount of times CBC showed their liberal bias during the campaign? 🤷
Tune in while True North’s founder Candice Malcolm breaks down this week’s most biased news!
On October 18th, 2019, four days before Canadians headed to the polls for the 2019 federal election, Wilfrid Laurier University professor Jasmin Zine and two of her graduate students published the “Canadian Muslim Voting Guide,” a project funded by a federal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant.
Zine leads the Canadian Islamophobia Industry Research Project (CIIRP), which is how she was able to obtain taxpayer funds to publish a document that “guides” Muslims through their political options.
However, the Canadian Muslim Voting Guide reads more as political advocacy than unbiased social science research.
The guide assigns a grade to each federal political party leader’s response to “identified key issues of importance to the interests of Canadian Muslims and the wider geopolitical concerns that affect Muslims globally.”
The guide begins with a section entitled “Alt-Right Groups & Islamophobia,” a section comprised of paranoid fear-mongering. The authors claim “Canadian white nationalist groups are gaining traction in the political sphere,” citing the Canadian Nationalist Party as an example. However, the extremely fringe Canadian Nationalist Party ended up receiving 0.0% of the overall popular vote, or 284 votes of the 17.9 million votes cast nationwide.
The authors also declared Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party (PPC), “blatantly xenophobic and Islamophobic” with policies that are “reinforcing far-right ideologies and white nationalism,” while only providing spurious evidence. The PPC received 1.6% of the popular vote in Monday’s election.
The guide also writes that Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer “has spoken at white nationalist rallies,” in reference to Scheer’s appearance at the pro-pipeline “United We Roll” rally on Parliament Hill in February. Numerous fact checks proven that this claim is untrue.
Organizers of United We Roll went to great lengths to ensure the event focused on economic issues only, and that no controversial speakers or groups were invited.
Zine has written plenty of op-eds in the past on the topic of free speech, stating her views that “Right-wing ideologues use free speech as an alibi for their transphobic and Islamophobic rhetoric. It has become a tool for related neo-fascist groups to mount campaigns of vandalism, harassment and intimidation.”
However, Zine is inconsistent as to when she derides freedom of expression and when she champions it.
She shows contempt for freedom of expression in the guide’s section on Motion 103 – the motion that calls on the government to “condemn Islamophobia” – when she disparages Scheer and Bernier for being against M-103 in order to protect free speech and the ability to criticize religion. Yet, in the section on “Religious Freedom and Dress in Quebec (Bill 21 & Bill 62)” she emphasizes the importance of freedom of expression when it comes to allowing women to wear Islamic headscarves in Quebec.
In the section called “Immigration/Refugees”, Zine gives passing grades to the parties that advocate for open borders (The Liberals, NDP and Greens), and failing grades to parties that advocate for secure borders (the Conservatives and PPC). This assumes all Canadian Muslims desire open borders, and suggests the 1.1 million Muslims in Canada all have the same opinions on immigration policy.
In the section on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, the guide doesn’t give any party a passing grade, as “no political party in Canada explicitly supports the BDS movement.” The BDS movement is an anti-Semitic movement that unfairly demonizes Israel and seeks to bankrupt Jewish business owners. Zine’s analysis assumes that BDS is good for Canadian Muslims and that all Muslims in Canada should support it.
Jewish organization B’nai Brith Canada stated they are “deeply concerned after learning that a federal grant was used to produce a guide instructing Canadian Muslims on how to vote in last Monday’s national election.”
B’nai Brith Canada takes issue with the Voting Guide’s section on the BDS movement, as they regard the movement to be anti-Semitic.
They pointed out that Zine received $24,923 in SSHRC grants in 2018, and in response argued “It is totally unacceptable that government funds have been used to promote an antisemitic movement in Canada…It is deeply troubling that taxpayer dollars were used to subsidize a document ‘guiding’ Canadians on whom to support in an election.”
BY: ANTHONY FUREY
It’s natural for opposition parties in Canada to despair the results of Monday’s federal election. Really only the Bloc Quebecois can say they triumphed.
The NDP saw themselves relegated to fourth party status. Jagmeet Singh had a surge in personal popularity during the campaign, but it never translated to votes. He came across as a likeable guy, but not necessarily one who could persuade Canadians to go with his quasi-socialist platform.
The Greens gained a seat and should technically be able to celebrate for that reason, but because they were hyped as on the cusp of some sort of breakthrough – and even polled equal to the NDP at times – their final tally is, in fact, a disappointment.
As for Maxime Bernier, his People’s Party of Canada experiment was largely a failure, at least if judged by popular vote. When they were polling at 2-3% support across the country, Bernier guessed that the party was under-polling. This is a logical thing to believe, given how populists typically do under-poll. But that proved not to be the case. In fact, the PPC received less than 2% and Bernier lost his own seat.
That said, Bernier told me a few months ago that he likens this to a long-term project and noted that the Reform Party received zero seats its first time out but then went on to form opposition on their third election. Anything can happen over the next decade and so they may eventually be a force to be reckoned with.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment, if only by a hair, is the showing of the Conservatives. Not a day went by that Conservative activists weren’t chomping at the bit over the last two years for a chance to go after Justin Trudeau and knock him out of the Prime Minister’s Office. Yet when the day finally came, they failed to deliver.
“How many scandals does this guy need to chalk up before Canadians boot the guy out? How easier a target did Andrew Scheer need? Has there ever been an election more winnable?” one influential Conservative told me after the results, going on to argue that Scheer needs to be replaced as leader.
Maybe. But not so fast.
Don’t forget, word on the street back in 2017 was that some prominent Conservative politicians took a pass at running for the leadership because they assumed Trudeau would be more than a one-term PM. They figured it would be difficult to unseat someone who’d just won such a commanding majority. Yes, Trudeau racked up way more scandals than anyone expected. But the original calculation that he wouldn’t be beat was not wrong. It’s a little hard for the same people who claimed Trudeau could not be beat to now turn around and attack Scheer for failing to do what they had said was impossible.
Anyway, the Conservatives did win the popular vote, increased their seat count, brought Trudeau down to a minority and locked him out entirely of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It wasn’t a slam dunk win but it wasn’t a total loss either.
As for the leadership question, Scheer will face a review vote regardless at this year’s annual convention. That is as it should be. There will be camps organizing to vote him down and others working to let him stay. He deserves to make his case to the party that, like Stephen Harper before him, he can win the second time out. And maybe he can. Battles usually only harden a person and better prepare them for the next time out.
It’s hard to imagine this minority term being a good one for Trudeau. If he was exposed as a hypocrite on multiple fronts back when he had a majority, and thus controlled many levers of Parliament, things will likely be even more difficult for him this time around when the notoriously stubborn leader has to learn to play well with others.
Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition isn’t the best job in the House, but it’s still an important and honourable one. The Conservatives, along with the Bloc and NDP, now have a job to do.
Growing western alienation has reached a boiling point since Justin Trudeau’s minority re-election on Monday, with a spike in people looking into and talking about a separation of Alberta and Saskatchewan from Confederation.
These concerns reveal a national unity crisis that rests on Trudeau’s shoulders, True North’s Andrew Lawton says.
The Premiers of Saskatchewan and Alberta warned re-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of the risks of not addressing regional alienation in recent open letters.
The letters, both sent on Tuesday, highlight the fact that the Liberals still need to address their provinces’ concerns despite no Liberals getting elected in either Alberta or Saskatchewan.
Scott Moe noted that the anger in his province is reaching an apex.
“The path our federal government has been on the last four years has divided our nation. Last night’s election results showed the sense of frustration and alienation in Saskatchewan is now greater than it has been at any point in my lifetime,” Moe said.
“In Canada, we now have a Liberal minority government that did not receive the popular vote, has no mandate, will be supported either by a 4th place party that has never governed, or a party that does not want to be party of this nation. This government also has no representation from Saskatchewan or Alberta.”
Moe also listed three things Justin Trudeau can do to resolve the near-crisis, including cancelling the carbon tax, amending the equalization payment formula and building pipelines.
While stern, Moe did not mention what Saskatchewan will do if Trudeau fails to meet his requests.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney started with the same tone, speaking on Trudeau’s opposition to Alberta’s oil and energy sector during the election.
“I am gravely concerned at the potential impact many of the platform commitments both you and your potential coalition partners made during the election campaign,” he said.
“Commitments that would make it even harder for Alberta to produce and export our natural resource products — some in clear violation of our Constitution and rule of law by intruding into areas of provincial jurisdiction — and which would have dire consequences for this country.”
The primary legislation Kenney opposes are bills C-48 and C-69. Bill C-48 banned oil tankers from key coastlines of British Columbia, and C-69 makes changes to the pipeline assessment process that could postpone potential line projects indefinitely.
Both Kenney and Moe notably mentioned equalization, which is important as the current formula means that both provinces have sent billions to other provinces, including those run by governments who refuse to develop their own natural resources and oppose western resource development.
Kenney ended his letter by promising to work with the federal government to ensure Canada remains a strong nation.
“A strong Alberta ensures a stronger Canada. I look forward to working with your government on issues that affect Albertans and all Canadians.”
Three Antifa members have been arrested for intimidation, assault and other crimes during a Maxime Bernier campaign rally in Hamilton. Among them was Alaa Al Soufi, the son of the owner of the Toronto restaurant “Soufi’s”.
At the campaign event, Al Soufi was identified as one of several people who harassed an elderly woman with a walker. Al Soufi has had several charges brought against him, including disguise with intent, causing a disturbance and two counts of intimidation.
As reported by True North’s Candice Malcolm, Soufi is a Syrian refugee who moved to Canada in December 2015. His arrival coincides with Justin Trudeau’s Syrian refugee program which accepted around 25,000 refugees from the war-torn country with little security screening.
Videos show several masked Antifa members screaming and blocking the path of 81-year old Dorothy Marston and her husband who were trying to attend the Bernier event featuring David Rubin.
“A black-masked and rage-filled youth decided to scream as loudly as possible in her ear that she was a Nazi,” said Marston’s son about the incident.
“Once inside, my mother complained of having trouble hearing in that ear which was particularly cruel since we were attending an event that required us to listen to ideas,” said the son.
Two other men have also been arrested for their involvement in the violent protest, including 33-year old Kevin Metcalf and 30-year old Maximiliano Herrera. Police are saying that one man and one woman were assaulted at the event by Antifa and are asking the public for more information.
Shortly after the incident, the Soufi family alleged that they were targeted by threats of violence for their son’s behaviour and were forced to close their restaurant. However, the restaurant reopened just a few days later.
“As a result of numerous hate messages and death threats we’ve received over the past week, we’ve decided to permanently close our shop. Our decision is made with a heavy heart in effort to maintain our family and staff’s safety,” said an original statement by the owners.
The Soufi restaurant has since received support from the CEO of Paramount Fine Foods Mohamad Fakih, who offered to pay for security and send his own staff to work at the restaurant.
Toronto Mayor John Tory also visited the restaurant after its reopening alongside city councillor Joe Cressy.
The restaurant also had its food served on the official Liberal campaign bus prior to the election as a result of the publicity.
One thing is definitively clear after Monday’s election results, our country is more divided than ever. Whether it’s the west or Quebec, separation movements are growing louder and louder.
True North’s Anthony Furey says Justin Trudeau and other party leaders need to step up to unify our country. Instead of lecturing Canadians on issues like climate change, politicians from coast-to-coast need to work with one another to find solutions that benefit all Canadians.
Mount Royal University (MRU) in Calgary, Alberta was set to run an international geography field school called “Sustainable Europe” in the Spring 2020 semester, but the university has quietly cancelled the field school.
Field schools are generally only cancelled due to illness or low student enrolment, but the Sustainable Europe field school was cancelled for a different reason.
According to correspondence between MRU’s Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology, Jonathan Withey, and Brian Sevick, Chair of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the school cancelled the field program because “the full-time faculty in geography… no longer support” it.
“After consulting with full-time faculty in geography…there is no longer support for offering the Sustainable Europe field school,” said Withey, according to a letter shared with True North.
Perhaps the cancelling of the Sustainable Europe school trip had more to do with the fact that the lead instructor was Mark Hecht.
Hecht, an instructor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at MRU, penned an op-ed in the Vancouver Sun on September 6th, 2019 entitled “Ethnic diversity harms a country’s social trust, economic well-being, argues instructor.”
The article was met with immediate criticism on social media, with activists and journalists accusing Hecht, the Vancouver Sun and Postmedia (the Sun’s parent company) of bigotry, hate, and white supremacy.
BC Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender declared Hecht’s article a “call to hatred”, and NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon wrote a response op-ed, saying that Hecht’s piece was “racism and white supremacy wearing a thin disguise of academic bluster.”
Harold Munro, editor-in-chief of the Vancouver Sun, apologized for running Hecht’s article. The article was then pulled from the Vancouver Sun’s website, though it was too late to pull it from the print edition.
Much of the criticism over the article was filled with name-calling and hyperbolic accusations, while few refuted Hecht’s claims, which he himself admitted were controversial.
Critics tended not to engage in discussion about the research cited in Hecht’s op-ed or evaluate his arguments in good faith: they simply denounced Hecht and the newspaper as white supremacist bigots.
The Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship (SAFS) wrote a letter to Mount Royal University to inquire into the reasoning behind this sudden cancellation.
“Can you clarify that Mr. Hecht’s views on social trust and immigration played no role in the decision to cancel the field school?” they asked in a letter, shared with True North.
They add “If Mr. Hecht’s views…played a role in the cancellation of the field school, then Mount Royal has violated Mr. Hecht’s academic freedom and compromised its academic mission and its usefulness to the public.”
