Last week, Prime Minister Trudeau made international headlines for issuing a statement romanticizing Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Trudeau said he was mourning “a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century”. He even went as far as calling Fidel Castro a “remarkable leader”. This is simply unacceptable. Here are the facts about Fidel Castro – under Castro’s reign of terror, the Cuban people were oppressed by a violent dictatorship. Millions of Cubans were exiled, thousands were held in captivity, and hundreds were executed. Fidel Castro was a notorious human rights violator. It is shocking that Justin Trudeau would issue a statement “on behalf of all Canadians” to mourn the monster that was Fidel Castro. With Fidel Castro’s death, we celebrate with the Cuban people and hope for a freer and a democratic Cuba – Viva Cuba Libre!

It was not a good week for Prime Minister Trudeau. It was revealed last week that Prime Minister Trudeau was the top draw at a $1,500 Liberal Party cash-for-access fundraiser at the mansion of a wealthy Chinese-Canadian business executive. Furthermore, in attendance were members of the People’s Republic of China. Trudeau tried to defend himself when he was grilled about this non-ethical fundraiser by claiming this was “his way of attracting Chinese investment”. As it turns out, the only “Chinese investment” that resulted in the fundraiser was a $1 million donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. It’s clear that this Liberal government is cozying up to the People’s Republic of China. Does this really come as a surprise to you? This is the same Justin Trudeau that once said he “admired China’s basic dictatorship”.

The Maryam Monsef case is far from over. Last week, Monsef was asked about her true country of birth. Monsef twice made the effort to point out that she is just an “ordinary Canadian” with an identity document issue. She reiterated that immigration official haven’t told her she’s being investigated. Unfortunately, the media failed to point out that someone who is being investigated for citizenship fraud is not notified. Furthermore, there are a number of cases similar to Monsef’s that have led to very harsh consequences – this is not a simple passport issue as Monsef claims it is. Both the mainstream media and Maryam Monsef continue to mislead Canadians about the truth.

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the “budget will balance itself” and that our economy grows “from the heart out.” So it isn’t exactly surprising to find out that one of Trudeau’s campaign promises has gone massively over budget.

On the campaign trail, Trudeau told Canadians that his pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in 2015 would cost taxpayers $100 million. The Liberal Party’s campaign platform document stated that the refugee intake would cost $100 million in 2015/2016 fiscal year.

At the time, I wrote a column saying that Trudeau’s numbers didn’t add up.

By simply looking at the previous year’s spending on refugee resettlement, it was clear that the $100 million estimate was unrealistic. In 2014, the government spent $64.3 million through the resettlement assistance program to resettle 7,100 refugees.

That works out to $9,055 per refugee. Trudeau’s plan, by contrast, only allocated $4,000 per refugee.

It was plain to see back then that the Liberal platform price tags were out of touch with the real costs of refugee resettlement.

Lo and behold, on Tuesday, the Trudeau government released the final annual expenditures on the Syrian resettlement program.

The initiative did not cost taxpayers $100 million, as Trudeau had once promised. Instead, the Trudeau government spent $384.7 million on the program. They spent nearly four times as much as they said they would.

But, in a truly Orwellian twist of logic, the Trudeau Liberals claimed the initiative came in under budget. Immigration Minister John McCallum’s office shamelessly claimed the government managed to save $70.3 million from the cost of the Syrian resettlement program.

How can the Trudeau government claim they spent $70.3 million less than planned when they actually spent $284.7 million more than planned?

By using an old sleight of hand trick.

In June 2016, the government quietly released “preliminary costs” for the program, and pegged the costs 350% higher than Trudeau’s campaign pledge. That way, six months later when the updated financial figures became available – and Trudeau only went 285% over budget – the Liberals could pat themselves on the back and celebrate.

Perhaps equally egregious to the government twisting facts and logic, this misleading information was repeated verbatim by the Liberal media.

A report in French CBC didn’t bother fact checking Trudeau’s campaign promise, and printed the government’s spin without question.

Radio Canada wrote that the government spent $70.3 million less than planned.

Readers who get their news from the public broadcaster were left with…(READ MORE)

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems to prefer spending his time – and your money – overseas.  

While Trudeau was glad-handing with the communist dictator of Cuba, his government announced funding to a UN organization with open ties to Islamist terrorists. 

On Wednesday, the Trudeau government announced it would send $25 million taxpayer dollars to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an organization that is supposed to provide relief and social services to Palestinian people.  

This may not seem out of the ordinary, since Canada funds all sorts of UN projects and schemes. But UNRWA is not just another UN agency. 

UNRWA has, according to various experts, been infiltrated by Hamas members and sympathizers. Hamas is an Islamist terrorist group, as designated by the Government of Canada.  

Unlike most other UN agencies, UNRWA employs highly partisan and radical ideologues. UNRWA employees openly support terrorism and routinely elect a slate of pro-Hamas, pro-terrorism candidates to run its official union. 

UNRWA has a long and sordid history of supporting terrorism.

In 2002, an UNRWA ambulance driver was arrested by Israeli security services. The man, Nidal Nazzal, admitted to transporting weapons and explosives to Hamas terrorists using his UN-branded ambulance.

The agency promised to crack down on employees who openly work with terrorists.  

And yet a decade later, during the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel, terrorists were caught on video storing weapons and launching rockets from UNRWA buildings. 

When UNRWA schools and hospitals aren’t being used to hide rockets and launch attacks against Israel, they are being used to…(READ MORE)

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a homecoming, of sorts, travelling to Cuba this week to visit the regressive island dictatorship.

Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, famously visited the authoritarian regime in the midst of Cold War tensions in 1976.

Despite Fidel Castro’s adversarial aggression towards the West, despite his cruel policies and grave human rights abuses, and despite his stockpile of Russian weaponry pointed directly at targets in the United States, Pierre Trudeau was willing to look the other way and forge a lasting friendship.

Trudeau the Elder shamelessly took part in the communist pageantry of the day. Dictators love to force large displays of public affection; in Havana, 250,000 repressed souls showed up, likely through threat of force, to cheer on the Canadian leader.

It was a low moment in Canadian history. In the battle between liberal democracy and forced communism, Trudeau was openly flirting with – if not outright celebrating – the wrong side of history.

Pierre Trudeau gave legitimacy to a regime that deserved no such honour.

And four decades later, many are praising Justin Trudeau for rekindling the “special relationship” between the Trudeaus and the Castros.

Fidel Castro has long been incapacitated but – in true dictator form – he handed power to his brother Raul Castro in 2008. Unlike other military dictatorships, Cuba doesn’t even bother holding fake elections. The Castros rule Cuba, and that’s non-negotiable.

Raul, like Fidel before him, governs with an iron fist. Political activists are routinely jailed, independent journalists are intimidated and arrested, and the average person lives in abject poverty.

Some Canadians might be surprised to learn about the misery and despotism in Cuba. Despite its problems, Cuba is an incredibly popular destination for Canadian snowbirds and vacationers.

Cuba welcomes about 1.3 million Canadians each year – about 40% of all tourists to Cuba.

Canadian visitors should be aware, however, that the Cuban military owns and controls large swaths of the tourism industry.

One military-run corporation, Gaviota, owns one-third of all hotels in Cuba. That hotel chain hosted more than half of all Canadian visitors last year.

When Canadians spend money in Cuba, they are not helping to bring wealth and opportunity to the Cuban people. They are inadvertently, but directly, lining the coffers of Cuba’s military.

And as the military benefits from all those Canadian tourists, the housekeeper cleaning hotel rooms takes home less than $20 per month.

The real Cuba isn’t a tropical heaven. It is a despotic hellhole…(READ MORE)

People from around the world witnessed history last week as Donald Trump won the U.S. election. The pollsters couldn’t predict such a monumental win for The Donald. The American media refused to believe the possibility of a Trump Administration, even the media in Canada predicted a sweeping win for Hillary Clinton. President-elect Donald Trump proved all of his critics wrong, as Americans voted in favour of policies such as stricter immigration controls and a shift on foreign policy and international development.

Trump has said some pretty awful things over the course of this campaign, some of which is simply unacceptable for a leader and public figure. Despite Trump’s boorish comments and brash behaviour, he deserves a chance to govern. We should try to be open-minded about his forthcoming Presidency.

Many Canadians are wondering how a Trump Administration will affect Canada. It’s mostly speculation at this point, but we expect to see more pressure on Canada to spend more on the military, as Trump has been quite critical of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, calling it a “disaster”. Furthermore, trade deals like NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) are likely to be negotiated. It will be interesting to see what kind of relationship Prime Minister Trudeau will share with President-elect Trump. We don’t expect any selfies with the two of them in the near future…

The case surrounding Maryam Monsef continues to develop. As True North’s Candice Malcolm reported – on Monday, the Federal Court of Canada ruled against a group of lawyers who wanted to place a moratorium on citizenship revocations. This decision could have a significant implication on Monsef and her citizenship controversy. Despite the left’s attempt to downplay this issue, questions have yet to be answered.  Does the law apply equally to Liberal cabinet ministers? The Liberal government has been silent on this issue but Canadians deserve to know the truth. 

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Two weeks ago, the Sun exclusively reported that a file within the federal government had been opened to investigate Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef for citizenship fraud.

During a recent Huffington Post town hall event, Monsef was asked to address the controversy surrounding her birthplace – in Iran, not Afghanistan as she once claimed.

Monsef was specifically asked if she knew anything about the file and the investigation into her possible citizenship fraud.

In response, Monsef denied that any investigation was taking place.

“If there’s an investigation, folks are notified,” said Monsef. “And that hasn’t happened.”

Simply put, Monsef’s answer is untrue. That is not how fraud investigations work.

Following the Sun’s initial report on the file being opened to investigate Monsef, her communications director gave a similar response. He said it was “standard practice” for a person to be notified when they are being investigated for fraud.

Government sources have offered the same explanation to the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Press and likely several other journalists in Ottawa.

But this information is not correct. It is not the case that the subject of a fraud investigation is notified when an investigative file is opened.

I have spoken with several immigration lawyers who have confirmed this. Prominent Toronto-based immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann told me the idea someone that would be notified of an investigation is “absolute nonsense.”

Data from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada backs this up.

According to a statistical overview on citizenship fraud investigations from 2012 – the most recent data available – there were 3,129 Canadian citizens under investigation for citizenship fraud. Of those, only 530 were notified through what is called a Notice of Intent.

In other words, only one in six people investigated for citizenship fraud are notified.

In the great majority of cases, individuals are only informed if the government decides to move forward with citizenship revocation. Otherwise, they’re not told at all.

Anyone who regularly reads the news and sees stories about citizenship revocation would be aware of this process – a process which is often criticized in the media.

On September 18, 2016, the Canadian Press wrote a story about Byrdie Funk – a woman who was born abroad to Canadian parents and brought to Canada when she was just two months old.

According to the story…(READ MORE)

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Does the law apply equally to Liberal cabinet ministers? The Trudeau government has won a court challenge and will continue the practice of citizenship revocation in cases of fraud.

Meanwhile, the government continues to evade questions about how this will impact the controversy surrounding Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef.

On Monday, the Federal Court of Canada ruled against a group of lawyers who wanted to place a moratorium on citizenship revocations. This decision could have a significant implication on Monsef and her citizenship controversy.

In late September, two civil rights groups initiated a lawsuit against the Trudeau government over the practice of stripping citizenship without a formal court hearing.

The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) had asked the court to stop all revocation proceedings while the Senate is considering making changes to Canada’s citizenship revocation rules.

On Monday, they were told that the court had denied their application.

“The Federal Court’s decision means that people will continue to lose their citizenship without a right to a fair hearing before an independent decision-maker,” said Lorne Waldman, the lawyer who represented CARL in this case.

During the last election campaign, Justin Trudeau famously said that “a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.” On the same evening, however, Trudeau defended the practice of stripping citizenship in some cases.

“Revocation of citizenship can and should happen in situations of becoming a Canadian citizen on false pretences. Indeed, when people have lied on their applications, those applications get rescinded. Even years later,” said Trudeau on September 28, 2015.

The federal court decision gives support to this practice and to Trudeau’s position.

Last month, after Monsef’s citizenship scandal broke, Immigration Minister John McCallum told a Senate committee that he would consider a complete moratorium on citizenship revocations. He later changed his mind and, under his watch, the government continues the practice of citizenship revocation without a trial.

According to a report from the CBC, the Trudeau government has increased the practice of citizenship revocation compared to the previous Harper administration. Between November 2015 and August 2016, McCallum’s office made 184 decisions on citizenship revocation.

According to the report, about 90% resulted in a person being stripped of their Canadian citizenship without a trial.

The federal court decision, combined with…(READ MORE)

On Monday, Immigration Minister John McCallum tabled the immigration levels for the upcoming year. Canada will bring in 300,000 new arrivals next year despite the government’s own economic council recommending raising the target to 450,000. We’re glad to see the government focus on economic immigrants (skilled workers, entrepreneurs, caregivers, etc.) to address shortages in the Canadian economy. However, it’s not enough to simply bring in more immigrants into the country. The government has to ensure Canada is bringing in the necessary skills to fill the various labour needs across the country and help grow the economy to benefit ALL CANADIANS. It’s not acceptable that skilled immigrants are struggling to find jobs even though they’re qualified. 

The Conservative Leadership race continues to heat up. Lisa Raitt, the MP for Halton, officially entered the race and almost immediately has become a favourite to win the race. One of the first things reporters asked was her opinion on Kellie Leitch’s proposal to screen immigrants and refugees for “anti-Canadian values”. Raitt said ensuring we have a strong immigration system that helps immigrants prosper in Canada is more important than having a test “determining whether or not you enjoy freedom, or if you like maple syrup.”  It’s easy to cater to the Ottawa elitists and poke fun of Kellie Leitch, but the fact of the matter is – Canadians are in favour of additional screening of immigrants to ensure they integrate and prosper in Canada. 

True North’s Senior Fellow, Candice Malcolm, has written more than a dozen articles about the developing case surrounding Maryam Monsef. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Trudeau finally addressed questions regarding his Democratic Institutions Minister. Speaking at a press conference, Trudeau defended Monsef, and said it’s common for people from conflict zones to be unclear about where they were born. “This is a situation in which people are conflating for political reasons,” he said. Although we’re glad the Prime Minister has finally acknowledged the controversy surrounding his colleague, he is clearly misinformed and is hoping this story just goes away. But Canadians deserve to know the truth – as Candice points out, the Trudeau government actively revokes citizenship from people who provide false information on their applications. Will Maryam Monsef receive the same treatment if it turns out her citizenship application contained false information? 

(This column originally appeared in the Toronto Sun)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally addressed the controversy surrounding the birthplace and citizenship of his Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef.

Not surprisingly, Trudeau defended Monsef and claimed on Thursday her critics were “spreading misinformation.

In his remarks, Trudeau made four key points about Monsef’s case. Two of his claims were not relevant to her case, one was flat out incorrect and one even contradicted his defence of his star minister.

First, Trudeau said that refugees in camps often don’t know where they are born. That may be true in general, but it does not apply to Monsef.

Monsef was born in the Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. It is a sophisticated hospital in a high-ranking medical school in a wealthy pocket of Iran. There is no evidence the Monsef family ever lived in a refugee camp.

Second, Trudeau made the case that people often don’t know what side of a border they are born in while fleeing a war zone.

That may also be true. But it is also not relevant to Monsef.

The Iran-Afghan border is a well-defined and heavily patrolled border. Iran is an oil-rich nation where the average person in the mid-1980s was about eight times richer than the average Afghan.

I’ve spoken with many people from the region, none of whom believe that a person could reasonably confuse Mashhad, Iran with Herat, Afghanistan.

Furthermore, by Monsef’s own admission she was not born in a conflict zone.

In a statement issued following the initial revelation that she was born in Iran, Monsef said the following:

“While we were technically safe in Iran, we did not hold any status there and like the thousands of other Afghan refugees, we were not afforded all of the same rights and privileges given to Iranian citizens.”

Monsef says she was safe in Iran. She was not born in a conflict zone.

Third, Trudeau said that Monsef was nine years old when she came to Canada. As it turns out, Monsef was born in 1984, not 1985 as she once claimed, and came to Canada in 1996. She was 11 or 12 years old, not nine.

Finally, Trudeau emphasized the distinction between an honest mistake about one’s past on a refugee application and a deliberate act of dishonesty to gain status in Canada through fraudulent declarations.

Trudeau implied that Monsef falls into the first category, that hers was an honest mistake.

Even if Monsef was in the dark about her place of birth, her mother surely was not.

When Monsef’s mother applied for asylum in Canada, did she tell immigration… (READ MORE)