Do the Conservatives really want to “militarize the border?” That’s what the Liberals are saying.
Let’s fact check the claim and talk our latest True North exclusive report on asylum seekers and illegal immigration.
SOLDIERS WITH GUNS. ON OUR BORDERS. WE DID NOT MAKE THIS UP.
Communist China’s lack of respect for Canada and our values
Canada’s relationship with China has reached a boiling point.
Meng Wanzhou, an executive at the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, was arrested by Canadian police in December. She faces extradition to the United States to face charges of violating sanctions against Iran.
She has been released on conditional bail while her case goes through the courts.
Meanwhile, the Chinese have retaliated. They arrested Canadians Michael Korvig and Michael Spavor. Neither have been formally charged nor have they been given basic rights, like the right to a lawyer.
In addition, a Chinese court sentenced Robert Schellenberg to death in a sudden retrial of a drug-smuggling case. Backed by the United States, the federal government is actively pushing for the release of Canadians held by China.
In a January 9th op-ed in the Hill Times, the Chinese Ambassador to Canada accused Canada of “white supremacy,” condemning Canada for its treatment of Chinese businesswoman Meng Wanzhou.
Despite Justin Trudeau once saying he “admires China’s basic dictatorship”, Communist Chinese officials have continuously made foul comments towards Canadians during Trudeau’s time as Prime Minister.
In 2016 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi launched a verbal attack on a journalist who questioned him on human rights in China in regards to the jailing of a Canadian in China.
“Your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance… this is totally unacceptable,” said Yi to an iPolitics reporter.
In 2017 after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to China, Chinese state-owned media attacked his statements and Canada in general.
The Global Times, a Chinese publication owned by the Communist Party, lashed out at Canadian journalists for calling out China’s dictatorial tendencies.
“The superiority and narcissism of the Canadian media… is beyond words,” said the Global Times editorial.
Hu Xijin, the Editor of the Global Times, also made his own video commentary on Canada.
“If you continue to trade with China and benefit from it, you shouldn’t let your foul-mouthed media continue their deeds,” said Xijin.
He also suggested that China should check Canadian grain to see “if it is so rich in capitalism that we might choke to death eating it.”
As long as Canada opposes China’s foreign and domestic policies, verbal attacks from Chinese official are likely to continue.
LAWTON: Christian doctors in Ontario are fighting for religious freedom
If a doctor finds a treatment or procedure morally objectionable, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario says they must refer a patient to someone who will perform it. The Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies and Canadian Physicians for Life are fighting the decision in court this week.
True North’s Andrew Lawton says religious freedom for healthcare practitioners must be upheld.
Saudi Embassy helps alleged criminals escape justice in Canada, United States
A 28-year old Saudi man may have avoided justice on charges of sexual assault, assault, forcible confinement, uttering threats, criminal harassment, dangerous driving and assault with a weapon, while living in Canada between 2016 and 2017.
Rather than facing trial in Canada, Mohammed Zuraibi Al-Zoabi failed to show up to a Nova Scotia court on January 14. He was arrested, but let go after posting bail.
As a condition of his bail, Al-Zoabi’s passport was seized and he was required to post $37,500 — paid in cash — which was forfeited on January 14 when he did not show up to court.
The payment was made by the Saudi Arabian embassy, according to the Crown.
The only way he could have left Canada is if the Saudi embassy had given him new diplomatic paperwork to help facilitate his escape from Canada. His former lawyer confirmed that he fled the country, and the Crown admitted are unsure about his current whereabouts.
Al-Zoabi’s case is very similar to that of another Saudi national who also avoided the Canadian justice system for crimes allegedly committed in Nova Scotia.
In 2007, Saudi national Taher Ali Al-Saba failed to show up to court in Halifax where he faced two counts of sexual assault.
At the time, the Crown attorney confirmed that Al-Saba had returned to Saudi Arabia with the help of the Saudi embassy.
Stories like these are not isolated to Canada.
In 2016, Abdulrahman Sameer Noorah, a student living in Portland, Oregon, is alleged to have mowed down a 15-year-old girl in his gold Lexus before driving away. She died on the spot.
His $100,000 bail was paid in full by the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles. Nine days before his trial, he disappeared.
A year later, Saudi officials admitted that he had escaped back to the Saudi Kingdom.
The Oregonian Newspaper reported that several other Saudi students have similarly fled to Saudi Arabia to avoid facing justice for the crimes they are alleged to have committed in North America.
This includes Abdulaziz Al-Duways, who was accused of raping a classmate in 2014.
Like the others, he disappeared shortly after the Saudi embassy paid his bail.
Among those mentioned by the Oregonian, there were two alleged rapists, two accused of hit-and-runs and one accused of being in possession of child pornography.
All five were university or college students, and four had their bail posted by the Saudi Embassy.
The trend is clear — young Saudi men are accused of committing heinous crimes, the Saudi government pays their bail and then the men disappear before they can be tried by a Canadian or American court.
This behaviour suggests that Saudi Arabia has a policy of helping its citizens escape responsibility for their actions abroad, regardless of how egregious the crime.
LAWTON: New drunk driving laws don’t increase safety. They just reduce rights.
An overhaul of Canada’s drunk driving laws went into force in recent weeks, threatening the presumption of innocence and allowing police to encroach on your own home even.
True North’s Andrew Lawton explains why these changes are so dangerous.
MALCOLM: Canadian went abroad to join ISIS and RCMP let her go free
This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun
Rehab Dughmosh is an unrepentant terrorist and a proud follower of ISIS. And yet, court hearings revealed that Canadian officials treated her with kid gloves.
The 34-year-old woman was found guilty of terrorism charges in a Toronto court this week for her 2017 ISIS-inspired attack at a Canadian Tire in Scarborough, Ontario. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Dughmosh’s pathetic, low-grade attack was immediately thwarted, and she was quickly subdued by a handful of brave Canadian Tire employees.
The court heard that Dughmosh had assembled a stockpile of makeshift weapons, which were taken away by her husband. Instead, she went to Canadian Tire with a butcher’s knife and picked up a golf club from inside the store.
She wrapped a black ISIS bandana around her head, with the ISIS logo proudly displayed on her forehead, then charged employees while shouting the familiar battle cry: “Allah Akbar” and “this is for ISIS.”
She swung the golf club, then pulled out the knife and finally resorted to biting the employees who wrestled her to the ground. Thanks to the courage of the store employees, this deranged terrorist was stopped.
The court heard that a cell phone video captured a conversation between the terrorist and one of the store employees, who asked her why she was trying to stab people.
“When you kill Muslims, you have to pay … this is revenge for Muslims. To stop killing Muslims in Syria and Iraq,” she told him.
Dughmosh was arrested and charged, and she later told officials she thought ISIS would be proud. According to the statement of facts heard by the court, Dughmosh said she was “disappointed that she failed to hurt anyone in her attack” but that she “did not regret doing what she did.”
She told officials she has been an ISIS supporter since 2014 and that at some point, “God willing, she would like to be a martyr.”
Her statement also revealed something alarming about Canadian officials and the way they handled her ISIS run-ins in the past.
In 2016, Dughmosh claimed she left Canada and flew to Istanbul. From there, she travelled across Turkey to the Syrian border — the same route taken by thousands of Western terrorists who joined ISIS.
She was stopped, however, at the Turkish border with Syria. According to the statement of facts, her brother alerted authorities that she was overseas and trying to join ISIS, and Turkish officials were able to intervene.
She was detained and sent back to Canada, where she was questioned by the RCMP. Remarkably, the RCMP decided to “put aside” her case. No charges were ever laid.
But why? Canada has specific laws on the books making this act illegal.
Leaving Canada to participate in the activity of a terrorist group breaks federal law. According to the criminal code, it’s an indictable offence and could come with a prison sentence anywhere from 10 years to life imprisonment.
And yet, the RCMP dropped her case.
Rehab Dughmosh is an ISIS-loving terrorist. But because Canadian officials did not take her seriously, she was let go — without punishment. A year later, she was trying to kill Canadians in the name of the Islamic State.
Dughmosh may have been an amateur terrorist who failed to do any real damage, but the RCMP failed to do its job in keeping Canadians safe.
When it comes to the critical challenge of combating terrorism, Canada is proving itself as amateur as this bush-league terrorist.
Candice Malcolm is the Founder of the True North
Toronto hotels closed to the public, open only to migrants and homeless
Two “Refugee Hotels” in Toronto were supposed to be temporary shelters, but instead, they’re now closed to the public and exclusively used by asylum claimants and homeless
The Toronto Plaza Hotel in North York is still housing upwards of 500 refugee claimants and homeless people, despite reports from September 2018 stating the municipal and federal governments were planning to end the stays of homeless and asylum seekers at hotels last year.
In addition, True North has confirmed North York’s Radisson Hotel Toronto East is now closed to customers due to “renovations,” according to an employee at the front desk. The hotel is still housing refugee claimants. (No reservation times are currently available for the hotel on travel websites Expedia.ca and Booking.com.)
This hotel made headlines last year and was dubbed the “refugee hotel” by regular guests; many leaving negative reviews online because of the hundreds of asylum seekers living there over the past two years, which guests were unaware of when booking.
News reports from November 2018 stated that over 570 refugee claimants were living at that Radisson location, taking up 146 out of the 240 rooms available.
City of Toronto officials did not immediately respond to direct questions about the current situation of the two hotels.
They did, however, provide general information from the City of Toronto website. It’s unclear how many asylum seekers are staying at the Radisson in North York, how long the City plans to house those without shelter in these two hotels, or how much it’s costing the City to pay for all of the rooms.
City officials estimate the added cost over the past two years was $64.5 million, due to the spike in asylum seekers coming to Toronto.
The Toronto Plaza Hotel in North York, a 199-room hotel near the connection of Highways 400 and 401, still had full occupancy of asylum seekers and homeless as of Thursday night. The CBC reported in November that the City of Toronto had submitted an offer to buy the rundown Plaza (35 rooms were closed for mould problems), to help house the city’s homeless and migrant populations.
Hours after the CBC report was released, however, the City backed out of being a prospective buyer. The City is paying a discounted rate of around $50 per room per night, as well as food costs, according to the CBC report.
Occupants of the Plaza Hotel have their rooms cleaned regularly by hotel cleaning staff, individuals staying at the hotel told True North.
Several of people outside the Plaza Hotel said the majority of the occupants are refugee claimants, most coming from Nigeria. There are also noticeable populations of Mexican and Middle Eastern asylum seekers at the hotel.
“Though we have seen recent monthly irregular migration numbers at their lowest since 2017, we acknowledge and appreciate the significant role that officials across Toronto have played in providing temporary shelter to asylum claimants,” says Minister of Border Security Bill Blair’s spokesperson Marie-Emmanuelle Cadieux.
Although Ottawa-based news outlet Blacklock’s Reporter reported the Department of Immigration said this week the total number of migrants that were intercepted by RCMP last year dropped from 20,593 in 2017 to 19,419 last year, the total number of people entering Canada to claim asylum still rose in 2018.
In 2017, 50,390 entered Canada illegally and legally to file refugee claims.That number jumped to 55,695 in 2018, according to the federal government’s website.
“While the federal government is no longer paying for hotel rooms, Minister Blair continues to engage with Mayor Tory and Minister MacLeod to discuss immediate housing pressures, all while ensuring the safety and security of our borders,” continued Cadieux.
Blair’s office declined to say whether the federal government will give additional funding on top of the $50 million initially promised by the Trudeau government to help Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario to offset costs associated with the influx of illegal border-crossers.
The provinces and major cities’ governments are claiming the costs they’ve incurred from the influx are much higher, at several hundred million dollars to date.
Inside the Plaza Hotel, which is mainly occupied by young families, kids are playing soccer in a foyer and other games with friends, while mothers tend to babies in strollers and swaddles. African music plays from one of the conference rooms adjoining the hallway.
“The workers are really good here. They’re really nice and kind,” says one homeless woman who moved from Israel to Canada several years back. She has been living at the Plaza Hotel with her niece and two kids for the past two weeks, and is currently on the Ontario Disability Support Program.
“I have my niece with me here. She’s young, eighteen,” says the the woman, describing an unwanted encounter between her niece and one of the migrant men staying at the hotel.
“So he seen her with me and he jumped on my car [and said], ‘I want to talk to you, what’s the name of your friend? I want to talk to her, can you give me her number?’”
“Another guy, from Nigeria, he followed me from here [in front of the building], up to my [hotel room] door. He want to talk to me and I said, ‘No.’ ‘Give me your phone number,’ [he said.] I said, ‘No. I’m saying no.’ And I just walked away.”
“I was scared of him but I didn’t show him fear. As long as you keep away from people, you have no problems. I’m very careful. Most of the guys are nice.”
She also says the City of Toronto is pushing people to find a place, but that people are having trouble finding affordable, safe housing.
“People cannot live in a place like this,” she said about migrants looking for prospective apartments in Toronto. “Especially when you are new, and you don’t know people, and it’s a very criminal neighbourhood and the building is scary and smelly,” she said.
A man outside of the hotel said he, his wife and four children travelled from Afghanistan to America and then crossed the border into Canada where they were arrested and applied for refugee status.
“I love Canada,” he said in an interview in front of the hotel. “My situation was not good in Afghanistan… I worried about my children.”
A 25-year-old woman from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent, living at the Plaza Hotel since September, described the hardships she has faced so far in Canada.
After coming to Canada because her father already lives here, she is now homeless and unable to find work. Her family kicked her out of the house because she does not get along with her stepmother.
When asked if she illegally crossed into Canada from the American border, she gave an unusual response.
“I wish I did,” she said without skipping a beat. She seemed to think she would have received better treatment had she come into Canada illegally.
An early version of this article placed Radisson hotel in Scarborough. The article has been updated to place the hotel in North York.
Canadian citizen identified as suspect in Kenya hotel attack
A Canadian Citizen is among six people suspected of aiding a terrorist attack in Kenya this week.
At least 21 people were killed when four gunmen opened fire in a hotel complex in Nairobi, a fifth attacker blew himself up during the terrorist attack.
The four gunmen were killed in the attack.
Al-Shabab, a Somali terrorist organization linked to Al-Qaeda, has claimed responsibility.
The brutal attack began when the terrorists threw grenades inside a hotel complex, then began gunning down civilians as they ran away from the explosions.
One of the gunmen was reported to have then blown himself up outside of a restaurant inside the complex.
Among those killed was a police officer in the line of duty.
The Canadian citizen has been identified as Guleid Abdihakim.
The six suspects detained by authorities in Kenya, including Abdihakim, have been accused of “aiding and abetting” the five Al-Shabab terrorists.
As has been reported, the details of Abdihakim’s Canadian background are not known as of yet.
We don’t yet know where he was born, how he obtained a Canadian passport or if he ever lived in Canada.
One witness reported seeing the suicide bomber discussing the plan with some of his accomplices prior to the attack.
He had one arm over his chest as if he was hiding something.
Seconds later, there was an explosion.
Al-Shabab has a long history of launching attacks in neighbouring Kenya, including a 2013 mall attack that killed 67, as well as a 2015 university attack which killed 167.
According to a report by Natasha Fatah on CBC News, the attackers and co-conspirators in the latest hotel attack were in constant cell phone contact with people in Somalia, suggesting that the attack was planned directly by Al-Shabab agents outside of Kenya.
It was originally reported that there were five suspects, but AP later reported a sixth suspect was arrested and prosecutors are still seeking more suspects in Kenya and abroad.
The situation is still developing and more details on the life of Abdihakim are forthcoming.
ISIS terrorist attempted to join ISIS in Syria, RCMP was aware and closed her file
Rehab Dughmosh, 34, said she went to a Canadian Tire in Scarborough, ON to “hurt and kill people” in the name of ISIS.
She was found guilty of terrorism charges in a Toronto court this week
During the court hearings, it was revealed that she had attempted to leave Canada in 2016 to join ISIS in Syria before her attack at home.
She had flown from Toronto to Istanbul and was then stopped by authorities on a tip from the RCMP. Turkish authorities immediately sent her back to Canada.
Despite obviously being a supporter of ISIS, it was reported that “no charges were laid and the RCMP closed their file.”
A year later, she launched her own ISIS-inspired attack on Canadian soil.
In a previous court appearance she had pledged allegiance to ISIS, and on Wednesday she further admitted to the planning and executing an attack on innocent people at a local Canadian Tire store.
A jury heard the twisted story of one woman trying to wreak havoc and spread fear in the name of Islamist jihad.
On January 3, 2017, Dughmosh had left her apartment with dozens of homemade weapons.
The court heard that she ran into her estranged husband, who took the weapons from her when he discovered her intentions.
But Dugmosh had hidden additional weapons, including a butcher knife and a crossbow, on her body.
She went around the store looking for additional weapons, finally settling on a golf club.
he then donned a bandana with the ISIS logo and charged at three employees while screaming “this is for ISIS” and “Allahu Akhbar”.
After the three employees attempted to subdue her she attempted to use her butcher knife to continue her attack. She was quickly restrained after a short struggle with no serious injuries.
When one of the employees started recording the woman and asked her why she had attacked them, she didn’t hesitate to admit her murderous intentions.
“Why did you come in here?” asked the employee. “Because of ISIS?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“When you kill us, we will kill you … When you kill Muslims, you have to pay for it from your blood.”
Dughmosh had later told investigators she was “disappointed” she hadn’t hurt anyone but was proud that she had tried.
In that same video, she can be heard justifying her decision to join ISIS.
The store employee asked Dughmosh about her intentions.
“Revenge … to stop killing Muslims in Syria and Iraq. You’re killing ISIS, I’m from ISIS.”
Dughmosh has shown no remorse for her actions and is even reported to have said that ISIS would be happy with what she had done.
