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Sunday, June 22, 2025

MALCOLM: It’s time to rethink Canada’s family reunification system

By
Candice Malcolm
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This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun

Why do we allow elderly immigrants to come to Canada as permanent residents?

Why do we have a special immigration program — the “parents and grandparents” category — geared entirely towards relocating retirees to Canada, putting them on citizenship track and, eventually, giving them full access to our government-funded universal health care system?

Are we insane? No other advanced economy has a program that is anything like this.

The parents and grandparents program made the news this week — not because of the sheer ridiculousness of admitting elderly immigrants as permanent residents, but because many immigration lawyers complained to the media that the 2019 program filled up too quickly and many foreigners didn’t have a chance to apply.

It’s programs like this that show the extent to which Canada’s immigration system is broken.
Canada already has a visitor visa program dedicated to family reunification and welcoming parents and grandparents — as visitors.

The “super visa” has no annual cap, no backlog and no waitlist.

It allows relatives to stay in Canada for up to two years at a time, and the visa is good for ten years. Frankly, it’s more generous than comparable programs in other Western countries.

The super visa offers the best of both worlds. It shows Canada’s openness by allowing extended family units to stay together and for the older generation to offer a helping hand in immigrant households.

But it also provides a protection for Canadians and our taxpayer-funded social welfare programs. The super visa requires visiting seniors to purchase health insurance — a basic requirement for any world travel and something most immigrants are more than happy to do.

Nonetheless, Canada maintains a bizarre parallel program that admits a lucky 20,000 elderly immigrants each year as permanent residents.

Canada has a broad immigration program for two specific reasons: one, to help boost the economy, and two, to offset declining birth rates.

But bringing in elderly immigrants directly contradicts the stated purpose behind our immigration system.

It creates an added burden on our social welfare programs from people who never meaningfully contributed to the tax base, yet will eventually displace Canadians — folks who worked their entire adult lives to fund universal health care through their taxes — in doctors offices and emergency waiting rooms across the country.

Both major parties maintain this reckless program because most Canadians don’t notice it and the ones who do — immigrants from select communities who practice vote-bank politics — vocally demand it.

Unlike Canada, most Western democracies have built safeguards into their immigration system. They have strict rules when it comes to granting citizenship, designed to protect the country’s finances and prevent free-riders from manipulating the system.

Canada has no such qualms. When it comes to welcoming elderly immigrants as citizens, we don’t even ask that they learn a little bit of English or French — enough to communicate in an emergency or spark a friendship with a neighbour.

Instead, it’s all about entitlements and handouts.

Canada has long enjoyed something of a national consensus on immigration. Canadians, by and large, recognize the economic benefits of growing our population and welcoming like-minded people from around the world who will work hard, play by the rules, join the Canadian family and contribute to our country.

But when both major parties condone a program that so blatantly contradicts basic principles of both fairness and economics, it leaves many Canadians feeling resentful towards the immigration system as a whole.

LAWTON: Liberals don’t want “misinformation” to influence election. But who defines it?

By
Andrew Lawton
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Justin Trudeau’s government laid out its plan to stop foreign actors from influencing Canada’s upcoming election. Some of the tools are long overdue, but one of them involves pressuring social media companies to curb fake news.

Considering Trudeau’s ministers have a history of accusing their critics of “fake news,” who gets to define what misinformation is?

Protests erupt outside of courtroom where Ibrahim Ali stands trial for the death of 13-year old Marrisa Shen

By
True North Wire
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Protestors lined the street outside of the Provincial Court of British Columbia on Wednesday, where Syrian refugee Ibrahim Ali is on trial for the murder of 13-year old Marrisa Shen.

Ali has been charged with first-degree murder in the brutal killing of the local teenager from Burnaby, BC.

Shen disappeared on July 18th, 2017 and her body was later discovered sprawled in the wooded depths of Burnaby’s Central Park. She was missing from home for only a few hours before being discovered.

On September 10, 2018, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Unit announced that Ibrahim Ali had been charged in the death of the 13-year-old girl.

It was revealed that Ali had arrived in Canada in March 2017 — just four months before Shen’s murder — as a Syrian refugee.

The protesters outside the Provincial Court were mainly composed of members from the Chinese community who were there voicing their discontent with Justin Trudeau’s immigration and refugee policies.

Many of the signs and chants named Prime Minister Trudeau himself. One man led the group in a chant with the slogan, “Trudeau out, safety back!”

Later he shouted, “Make Trudeau a drama teacher again!”

This wasn’t the first of Ibrahim Ali’s hearings to have sparked protests outside of the Vancouver courthouse.

During Ali’s first hearing on September 14th, protestors carrying many of the same signs made their presence known outside the courthouse.

There was an altercation between protesters and a woman clad in a hijab who threw hot coffee at a group of people. The attack was caught on camera, but no charges were ever laid.


This was the fourth time Ali has appeared before a judge since being charged with murder. His trial has faced several delays, while his defense attorney is waiting for over 10,000 pages of documented evidence related to the murder.

Ali’s next scheduled court appearance is on March 5th, 2019.

Kingston youth charged with planning terrorist attack

By
True North Wire
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A minor in Kingston, Ontario has been charged with terrorism-related activities after two raids by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police last Thursday.

The individual, who cannot be named due to his age, has been charged with “facilitating terrorism” and planning to “deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal devices against a place of public use with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury.”

A second person, identified by his family as 20-year old Hussam Eddin Alzahabi, was arrested but later released without charges.

Police say Alzahabi was a friend of the accused minor.

Alzahabi, originally from Syria, came to Canada as refugees in 2016 and was sponsored by four local Kingston churches.

Alzahabi’s father has denied that his son had any involvement in terrorism.

“It’s fake news about my son,” his father told CBC.

“I trust my son. I know he cannot do anything against any human, humanity.”

Ward Elcock, a former CSIS director, told Global News that the FBI tip that led to the arrest points to an international conspiracy to commit terrorism.

“It suggests that somebody from Kingston had contacted somebody in the United States or potentially somebody in the United States had contacted somebody in Kingston,” Elcock said.

The RCMP would not comment on potential motives of the accused — including whether he was radicalized or if he was in communication with any foreign elements.

While the RCMP says no one was in immediate danger, officers amassed enough evidence to raid two Kingston homes and make arrests. In the course of these raids, police recovered trace materials from explosives.

Police did a controlled demolition of a device Friday morning. Investigators say there was not yet a target location for an attack.

The RCMP says it has “extinguished” any threat.

The investigation started with a “credible” tip from the FBI, RCMP Superintendent Peter Lambertucci said at a Friday press conference. Multiple agencies were involved, ranging from local and provincial police to CSIS and department of finance officials who monitor possible financial crimes.

Iran’s ‘year of shame’ and Trudeau’s silence

By
True North Wire
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Amnesty International has called 2018 Iran’s “year of shame” for widespread crackdowns on dissidents standing up to the fundamentalist regime.

The Trudeau government has not commented on Amnesty International’s report, nor has it outright condemned the Islamic Republic of Iran for its grave human rights abuses.

Over 7,000 individuals were arrested by Iranian authorities last year. Among them were political dissidents, religious minorities, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, students, teenagers, women’s rights activists and others.

In the early months of 2018, people across the country took to the streets to protest against Iran’s tyrannical dictatorship and its incompetent theocratic rulers.

Protests flared over rising inflation and government mismanagement, as well as Iran’s policy to bankroll foreign wars and terrorist entities like Hezbollah and Hamas while neglecting its own citizens and further isolating Iran from the U.S. and the West.

The Iranian regime responded by firing on crowds of civilians with live ammunition and orchestrating thousands of mass arrests.

“The staggering scale of arrests, imprisonments and flogging sentences reveal the extreme lengths the authorities have gone to in order to suppress peaceful dissent,” said Philipx Luther of Amnesty International.

Human rights advocates are frequently subjected to torture after being detained and facing kangaroo courts. One activist, Shaparak Shajarizadeh, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for protesting Iran’s archaic forced hijab laws.

She has since escaped Iran and has been advocating for Iranian women’s rights since being in exile. Last year, 112 women who protested the law forcing women to wear a hijab were arrested or remain in detention.

Journalists have also been targeted by the Iranian regime.

One reporter who is also a part of Iran’s Dervish minority, Mohammad Hossein Sodagar, was flogged 74 times after a conviction for “spreading lies.”

Likewise Mostafa Abdi, an administrator of a minority rights website, was sentenced to 148 lashes and over 26 years in prison for propaganda and national security charges.

No matter the cause, Iranians who protest their government risk torture, arbitrary imprisonment and even death. Several suspicious deaths have raised international alarms. According to Amnesty International, nine people have died in custody in 2018.

Despite the gross human rights abuses committed by the Iranian regime against its own people, Canada’s government has done very little to condemn or punish Iran for its actions.

While the U.S. government imposed stricter sanctions against Iran, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lifted many of Canada’s sanctions against the authoritarian regime.

When the U.S. pulled out of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, Trudeau opposed the decision.

During the widespread protests in Iran, Liberal MP Majid Jowhari asked that dissidents and protestors work alongside their “elected government” to have their concerns heard, despite the fact that the Iranian regime is a theocratic dictatorship and Iran has not had free or fair elections in decades.

While the Iranian regime has stepped up its campaign of terror, the Trudeau government has continuously sought to further Canada’s relations with the tyrannical regime Iran — even arranging official talks to attempt to re-open diplomatic relations.

Plight of Afghan Translator who helped Canadian Armed Forces ignored by Government

By
True North Wire
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While thousands of illegal border crossers pour into Canada with no ramifications, a Canadian Veteran who has been trying for six years to help an Afghan ally escape to a safer country has run out of options.

Abdul, who goes by the name James,  spent many years working side-by-side with Canadian soldiers as a translator. James’ commitment to assist the Canadian Armed Forces saved countless lives, according to Canadian soldiers who served in Afghanistan.

James now fears for his own life and the safety of his family.

Robin Rickards, who served three tours in Afghanistan during his 11 years with the Canadian Armed Forces, spoke in detail about James and the work he did to aide Canadian soldiers.

“It’s been a case of James having to be exceedingly cautious in the way he goes about his day-to-day life,” Rickards explained.

Rickards, a Thunder Bay native, told his local radio station that he believes Canada has a moral responsibility to help him.

“There are mothers in Canada who are not grieving because of the work James did.”

Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s open invitation to the world’s migrants and allowing thousands illegally walk into Canada, the Canadian government has so far done nothing to help James.

In Afghanistan, people who worked for the coalition that liberated the country from the Taliban in 2001 are often perceived as traitors by extremists in Afghanistan.

Since the Trudeau government was elected in 2015, Rickards says he is no closer to getting James to Canada.

“Unfortunately, although there has been more communication, the outcome has been exactly the same.”

Canada has taken in thousands who crossed into Canada illegally from the US, a safe country, but meanwhile has done little to help Afghan interpreters who are now suffering specifically because they helped our Canadian soldiers.

While James hides in Afghanistan, illegal border crossers receive the red carpet treatment by the Canadian government – including free healthcare, free accommodation various government handouts.

LAWTON: NDP doesn’t like that Doug Ford met with “far-right” Jordan Peterson

By
Andrew Lawton
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford had a meeting last fall with Jordan Peterson. So what, right? Well, CBC thinks it’s newsworthy and the NDP thinks it’s evidence of a “far-right” conspiracy.

True North’s Andrew Lawton was accused by one legislator of being a part of it! He goes live with the details.

Doug Ford seeks advice of free speech expert Jordan Peterson

By
True North Wire
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford had a private meeting with Prof. Jordan Peterson in October 2018, according to documents obtained by CBC under a freedom of information request.

The meeting with Peterson was to discuss free speech on campus, an issue Ford raised during the campaign and has tackled as premier with a policy requiring publicly funded post-secondary institutions adopt free speech policies.

Since his January 2019 deadline, universities and colleges throughout the province of Ontario have implemented policies affirming their commitment to free speech and open inquiry.

Peterson has been a vocal advocate for free speech around the country and worldwide.

He gained notoriety in 2016 after publicly criticizing Canada’s Bill C-16 and objecting to being forced to use gender pronouns.

Peterson has since become a best-selling author and global critic of left-wing ideology and censorship.

Despite CBC’s belief that this meeting is a bombshell revelation, it isn’t surprising given Ford’s priorities and Peterson’s expertise and profile.

When free speech is a provincial priority and Peterson is among the most vocal and prominent figures advocating for it, it only makes sense that Ford would seek Peterson’s advice on matters pertaining to campus policies.

Shortly before the meeting, Peterson took to social media to criticize the Ontario Human Rights Commission, saying there isn’t a “more dangerous organization in Canada, with the possible exception of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.”

Peterson previously called the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario a “kangaroo court” that “should be abolished as soon as possible.”

The tribunal was established in 1961 after the implementation of the Ontario Human Rights Code.  

According to employment lawyer, Howard Levitt, the human rights tribunal has several glaring flaws, including the potential for extortion.

When a complainant files a claim with the tribunal, they initially face no screening process, according to Levitt, and give the complainant the benefit of the doubt.

People defending themselves against complaints at the tribunal are faced with a situation where they might have to pay their own legal fees, with no chance of compensation whether they are guilty or not. Complainants get to walk away free, even if their claims are proven fraudulent.

Because the nature of the meeting was private, it is uncertain how much discussion, if any, there was between Peterson and Ford about the human rights tribunal. However, it is clear that Ford is intent on engaging experts who have dealt with free speech on campus first hand, to inform his own policy decisions for the province.

LAWTON: Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax goes on trial this year

By
Andrew Lawton
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Saskatchewan and Ontario are both taking Justin Trudeau’s government to court over its job-killing carbon tax. The cases are likely to wind their way up to the Supreme Court. Though outside of the courtroom, the tax’s support is rapidly shrinking.

True North’s Andrew Lawton has the latest.

Federal government spends $26 million on migrant housing in Toronto

By
True North Wire
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Justin Trudeau’s tweet welcoming the world’s migrants to Canada is going to cost taxpayers $26 million, and that’s just for the City of Toronto.

The federal government has pledged $15 million to provide emergency housing for migrants in Toronto. This is in addition to the $11 million it’s already coughed up to help Toronto house migrants.

“The Government of Canada will provide the City of Toronto with $15 million to address acute temporary housing shortages that are affecting many people, including asylum claimants, particularly during the winter months,” the government said in a statement on Friday.

Municipalities across Canada have begged the government for federal assistance to help deal with housing migrants caused by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The City of Toronto has estimated that the spike in asylum seekers will cost $64.5 million over two years.

Housing the ever-increasing number of illegal border crossers has become a major problem for the cities most migrants end up in.

The Toronto has had to deal with a severe homeless shelter crisis — with shelters near capacity — exacerbated by dangerously low temperatures outside.

On Thursday, the City of Toronto’s daily overnight shelter census found that 100 per cent of family shelter spaces, 99 per cent of women’s shelter spaces and 98 per cent of men’s shelter spaces were occupied.

The main reason for such high occupancy rates has been the large number of migrants arriving in Toronto from the US border.

One city official said that as many as 20 migrants enter the homeless shelter system every day.

But homeless shelters aren’t the only place the City of Toronto is housing migrants.

A True North Centre exclusive found that two hotels in Toronto are completely occupied by migrants and the homeless.

The $26 million provided to Toronto is intended to be used for temporary housing to “ease shelter pressures for asylum claimants,” though the government’s statement acknowledges the need to develop a cost-sharing agreement with Ontario to address financial concerns down the road.

It is still unclear exactly what the government’s plan is.

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