Justin Trudeau’s government will be making a list, checking it twice and deciding which media outlets are naughty or nice. It’s the next step in a plan to spend millions of dollars to bolster the Canadian news industry.
Except little is known about how the feds will decide which news companies “qualify” as legitimate, and which ones won’t be government “approved.”
During the Christchurch Call to Action summit in Paris, Justin Trudeau pledged to introduce a “digital charter” to combat hate speech on the internet.
Trudeau, who didn’t specify the extent of the charter, claimed that its intent was to battle hate, misinformation and election interference online.
A number of different countries were signatories at the summit including Canada, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. However, the United States chose to opt out of the agreement citing freedom of speech concerns.
“We encourage technology companies to enforce their terms of service and community standards that forbid the use of their platforms for terrorist purposes. We continue to be proactive in our efforts to counter terrorist content online while also continuing to respect freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” claimed a press release by the US government.
In his statement, Trudeau warned the social media sector that there would be “financial consequences” for companies that don’t tow the government’s line.
“They have to step up in a major way to counter disinformation and if they don’t, we will hold them to account and there will be meaningful financial consequences,” said Trudeau.
Recently Liberal MPs have claimed that social media companies like Google are not taking Canadian law seriously. Parliamentarians have accused social media giants like Facebook and Google of circumventing Canadian copyright laws among other things.
According to a report by True North, the Canadian government has been recently looking into censoring “toxic communications” on social media platforms.
According to the text of the Christchurch Call to Action the measures include “closing accounts where appropriate”, and developing “information-sharing processes” with social media companies to adapt with government definitions and protocols around online hate activity.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer maintains that a Conservative government would ban Huawei from entering Canada’s 5G wireless network.
“As Mr. Scheer has said in the past, he believes Huawei poses a threat to Canada’s national security,” said a Conservative Party official.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand have all banned domestic telecommunications firms from using Huawei technology, citing the company’s close relationship with the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party as security concerns.
On Wednesday President Donald Trump issued an executive order which paved the way for the United States to ban Huawei completely.
The White House called the move an important step to “protect America from foreign adversaries who are actively and increasingly creating and exploiting vulnerabilities in information and communications technology infrastructure and services in the United States.”
While other countries have been swift to stop the state-owned company, Canada’s current government has made it clear that they will be taking time to decide how much influence the firm will have over Canadian telecommunications.
“Other countries have obviously made their views known and their views are important to us. We will weigh all of that very carefully in the decision,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said.
Security expert and True North fellow, Leo Knight, has been vocal about his opposition to Huawei entering Canada’s 5G network.
“The chief concern about the provision of 5G network technology is the potential for so-called backdoors that could allow Chinese cyber geeks to spy on the west or in the extreme situation to attack networks and, for example, take down the hydro grid or all air traffic communications,” Leo says.
“The risks of allowing Huawei to control our 5G networks are too great. This should be a no-brainer.”
When the U.S. government investigated Huawei for security risks in 2012, the report produced found, among other things, that Huawei was “unwilling to explain its relationship with the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party” and that Huawei “admits that the Chinese Communist Party maintains a Party Committee within the company.”
For nearly a decade security concerns with Huawei have been known and watched closely. Exactly why Canada does not recognize these concerns is not clear.
Tensions between Canada and China continue to escalate in recent weeks.
China arrested Canadians Michael Korvig and Michael Spavor as retaliation for the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on an American warrant. Neither were formally charged and received no rights to a lawyer.
In that same month, the Chinese Ambassador to Canada accused Canada of “white supremacy” for arresting Meng Wanzhou in the first place.
Given the disrespect and abuse hurled upon Canada by the Chinese government, many Canadians are wondering why it’s taking so long for Prime Minister Trudeau to ban Huawei.
Investigators looking into the father and son arrested for possessing explosive materials in Ontario claim that the 18-year old suspect was “on the cusp of radicalization”.
Shortly after their arrest on May 13th, the Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale told reporters that the case posed no known threat to national security and that it was a local matter.
The two suspects, 18-year-old Mahyar Mohammadiasl and 47-year-old Reza Mohammadiasl have since been released on a $50,000 bail. They were spotted leaving the courtroom Friday afternoon.
When authorities searched the residence of the two suspects they discovered several chemicals and items used for the construction of explosive devices. Among the evidence discovered at the Richmond Hill home were the chemicals red phosphorus, mercury and ammonium-nitrate, along with a copy of the notorious terrorism guide “The Anarchist Cookbook”.
The book which is readily available online includes detailed instructions on creating bombs, weapons and manufacturing drugs.
York Regional Police were tipped off about the pair when the Canada Border Services Agency and the U.S. Customs and Border Control contacted them with concerns about the two.
Several days later the father and son were apprehended while the rest of the neighbourhood was evacuated as a safety precaution.
Currently, the FBI is searching Mahyar Mohammadiasl’s phone, while investigators are looking through all of his other electronic devices.
Both suspects are expected to appear again in court on June 6th for their next hearing.
As a former member of the RCMP I am absolutely embarrassed by the Force’s handling of the investigation into Vice Admiral Mark Norman.
They investigated for more than a year into the allegations emanating from the PMO that Norman inappropriately leaked information to Davie Shipyard relative to a federal procurement contract for a desperately needed supply ship for the Canadian Navy.
Norman was relieved of duty on January 2017 and charges of breach of trust were filed in March of 2018. That solitary charge was stayed this month with the Crown saying there was not a reasonable expectation of a conviction.
Really? What changed in the interim?
Well, three former federal cabinet ministers came forward with information about their involvement in the procurement process essentially saying Vice Admiral Norman was instructed to make a deal in the interests of efficiency.
So why didn’t the RCMP interview these men? A good question and one I cannot answer. It seems so obvious to any investigator worth his salt. You start at the beginning and work your way through it. But the whiz kids in Ottawa apparently couldn’t figure this out.
And just yesterday the Superintendent in charge of this debacle, Mike MacLean, the boss of these whiz kids said in an interview with the Canadian Press the former cabinet ministers could have come forward to them if they had germane information. Um, what?
Perhaps MacLean has spent too much time as a carpet cop in Ottawa but in the real world, investigators go to the subjects who may assist an investigation.
Let’s be honest here. The RCMP booted this one around the block out of the gate. The Prime Minister’s Office wanted a political result and the leadership of the RCMP tried to deliver but ultimately failed because there was nothing there yet the PMO was quite happy to destroy an honourable man’s life.
And the RCMP, as an institution, was complicit in that. And for that, as a former member, I am disgusted.
The national police should be totally free from political interference. But it’s hard in these circumstances to believe they are anything but the enforcement arm of the Liberal Party of Canada.
And that’s a very sad thing.
The RCMP that I joined back in the ’70s was apolitical. Or at least that was the way they portrayed themselves. We were told in training we were the best of the best. It was drilled into us. Politics was just not an issue. Justice and protecting our communities was the task we were trained for.
The remarks by MacLean betray those ideals and yet he still seems to think he occupies the higher ground despite his squad conducting a sub-par investigation.
Canada is struggling to cope with the consequences of the Trudeau government’s decision to lift the visa restrictions on Mexican visitors, as asylum claims jump ten-fold in just two years.
Over 3,300 asylum claims were made in 2018, compared to just 260 in 2016, before the Trudeau Liberals lifted the visa requirement.
As asylum claims increased to historic levels, the government says they are “closely monitoring” the situation.
Canada is “closely monitoring migration trends from Mexico, including asylum claims,” said Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen’s press secretary.
In January, they reported on the massive increase in Mexican asylum claims in the first 10 months on 2018 — over 1000 more claims were filed in the last two months.
One expert suggests this decision was done solely for political reasons.
“I would bet that any report by the CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) or CIC (the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, now know as Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada or IRCC) that was requested by the government at that time would have warned of a significant increase in refugees claims,” immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann told True North.
Despite the government’s claims that they prepared for and monitored the asylum claims, critics aren’t buying it.
“There was no formal plan put in place with the Mexican government,” said Conservative MP and Immigration critic Michelle Rempel, suggesting the government did not prepare for the spike in Mexican asylum claims.
True North reported in April that now half of the migrants crossing into the US from Canada illegally were Mexican citizens
Asylum claims in 2019 are only expected to increase as the government has yet to lay out any concrete plans to prevent individuals from taking advantage of Canada’s immigration system.
A Nigerian migrant has been sentenced to over four years in a Canadian prison for sexually assaulting a vulnerable woman in a psychiatric ward.
Owolabi Adejojo, 40, raped the 57-year old patient only one month after he had entered Canada illegally from the United States.
“The court is left completely in the dark about who he is and what his personal circumstances are,” said Dennis Galiatsatos, the Quebec judge presiding over his case.
According to the court, the victim, who was brought to the hospital against her will out of fear that she would harm herself, was violated on three different occasions by Adejojo. The assaults were said to have taken place in February 2018 within two days, while Adejojo was a patient at Notre-Dame hospital alongside the alleged victim.
Adejojo, who was discharged from the ward, was allegedly allowed to remain due to the cold weather before he kissed and penetrated the patient under her hospital gown. Because of her mental situation, she was not able to fight back, but it was noted that she asked him to stop multiple times.
The staff were not even aware of the assaults until a doctor witnessed Adejojo’s third attack, which was happening in a corner of the hospital cafeteria.
In the ruling, the judge claimed that the victim was not able to consent due to her mental condition.
“The accused’s crime ranks sky-high on the repugnance scale. His predatory behaviour was as despicable as possible,” claimed Galiatsatos in his ruling.
While in the United States, Adejojo was charged with assault for attacking two men in Baltimore.
According to the judge, Canadian authorities were not aware of the accused’s crimes.
“I must confess that the lack of detail and information given to the court by the defence about the accused’s personal situation was highly unusual and somewhat unsettling,” said Galiatsatos.
A recent report by True North has shown that migrants crossing the border are subjected to initial security checks which last only two hours before being allowed freely into Canada.
The information, which was shared by migrants staying at the Toronto Plaza Hotel, potentially reveals a security flaw in the vetting system at the unofficial border crossings along the Canada-US border.
In two months, Canada will co-host a press freedom summit. Yet this week, news broke that the federal government is preparing a list of media outlets the government deems “reliable.” What will the impact of this be on free speech?
True North’s Andrew Lawton was live to discuss, one day after returning from the United Kingdom, where he covered Tommy Robinson’s latest court appearance.
The Syrian refugee charged with the brutal murder of 13-year-old Marrisa Shen appeared at the Provincial Court of British Columbia for another hearing on May 13.
The case, which first began when Ibrahim Ali was arrested for first-degree murder in September 2018, will be moving towards a pre-trial conference.
Ali was brought to Canada after being privately sponsored by the collective effort of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver and a number of families on Bowen Island.
According to reports, Ali was only in Canada for four months before allegedly committing the murder.
According to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, pre-trial conferences are used in criminal and extradition trials to determine the scope and duration of a trial.
The supreme court website lists the following topics attended to at a pre-trial conference:
Any problems with the evidence (warrants, witness statements, etc)
Trial length
Technology used during a trial
Pre-trial rulings and applications
During the conference, the crown is expected to produce a synopsis of their case against the accused, which includes the evidence and witnesses they intend to invoke, among other things.
According to early court disclosures, the crown has possession of over 10,000 pages of evidence against Ibrahim Ali.
Early on in the case, it was revealed that Ali was identified as the suspect using DNA evidence found at the crime scene.
Protestors from the Chinese community, who have been appearing at the Provincial Court of British Columbia since the trial began, blamed the Trudeau government’s refugee policies for the crime.
A mural dedicated to Marrisa Shen alongside a large number of posters and a make-shift display was erected in front of the criminal court.
Protestors lined up in front of cameras holding signs that read “Comprehensive security screening now” and “Justin Trudeau, where is your heart?”
According to organizers, the core of their group is about a dozen activists while up to one hundred people support their cause.
“He [Justin Trudeau] needs to take responsibility and accountability for this murderous case,” claimed one protestor on the condition of anonymity.
“People out here, they represent all sectors of society, not just one particular party,” he continued.
Crown prosecutors and the defence will be meeting for the pre-trial conference on June 4.
How is it that the government can’t prosecute returning ISIS fighters but they can prosecute a respected Vice Admiral? Where are their priorities?
The government attempted to lock up the former head of the Canadian Navy on a charge of breach of trust and then suddenly dropped the case and walked away from it all.
True North’s Anthony Furey says the public has a right to know what happened.
