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Sunday, July 6, 2025

Former Canadian powerlifter speaks out against males competing in female sports in Olympics

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
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Source: X

One former Team Canada powerlifting competitor is calling sporting federations and the Olympic committee to bar males from competing in women’s sports, saying it’s endangering women, after a woman boxer abandoned her bid for the Olympic medal over safety concerns.

Italian boxer Angela Carini dropped out of her welterweight match-up with Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who failed a testosterone test to determine gender eligibility in last year’s world championships, after 46 seconds in the ring. Fairness in Women’s Sports advocate April Hutchinson says that the fight demonstrates the advantages that males have in female sports.

This year, the Olympics welterweight boxing fight in Paris went viral, causing many online to call for males to be barred from competing against female combatants.

After feeling the power of Khelif’s straight right-hand jab, Carini abandoned her chance at the medal out of fear for her safety.

Khelif was a silver medalist at the 2022 World’s competition and was disqualified in 2023 for not meeting the International Boxing Association’s eligibility criteria for competing in the women’s league. Khelif has said this was due to discrimination against Algerians rather than because of having too much testosterone levels for the competition.

In a statement this week, the International Olympic Committee stated that ” all athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations.”

Competitors need to have females written on their passports to compete against women in the Olympic sport. Notably, Algeria does not allow for legal gender changes.

The conversation online reignited the debate, however, of whether men should be allowed to compete in combat sports against women.

“It’s basically violence against women with spectators,” Hutchinson told True North in an interview. “All those years of (time and money spent on) training, tossed aside just so that she didn’t have to get beat, hurt or possibly killed by a man in the boxing ring. Women shouldn’t have to be put in these positions.”

The IOC’s 2021 framework for fairness, inclusion and non-discrimination allows biological males to compete in female sports during the Olympic games.

“A female recognized in law should be eligible to compete in female competitions provided that she has androgen levels below the male range as shown by the serum concentration of testosterone,” one guideline says. “Or, if within the male range, she has an androgen resistance such that she derives no competitive advantage from such levels.”

“The International Olympics Committee and the Federation need to step up and protect women in sports,” Hutchinson said. “Without cheek-swabbing these athletes, we don’t know how many males there are. We don’t know because there’s no full disclosure.”

The IOC’s guidelines state a commitment to transparency of the decision-making process when determining gender eligibility but prevent “personally identifiable information” from being disclosed to protect the athlete’s identity.

The guidelines state, “No Athlete should be precluded from competing or excluded from competition on the exclusive ground of an unverified, alleged or perceived unfair competitive advantage due to their sex variations, physical appearance and transgender status…Everyone, regardless of their gender identity, expression and sex variations, should be able to participate in sport safely and without prejudice.”

The rules also prevent “targeted testing” aimed at determining a competitor’s sex. The IOC states that athletes should be included based on the gender given on their legal documentation, such as a passport, and assessed by an independent team of doctors on metrics such as male sex hormone levels.

“Each sport has different rules. Some go by levels of testosterone. Some say that they can’t go through male puberty. Some say, for example, if their passport says female, then they are female,” Hutchinson said. “To solve this issue, we need to bring back the cheek swab. If you have male on your birth certificate at birth, then you compete with males, or at least have not gone through male puberty.”

She said male athletes are incentivized to compete against women in sports.

“If they weren’t incentivized, they would just go compete with their biological sex. They can claim prizes, thousands of dollars in prize money, get sponsors, notoriety, medals and can take scholarships away from women,” Hutchinson said. “There’s no incentive to go over in their other biological sex because they might (rank) six thousandth Instead of number one.”

Hutchinson said advocates for fairness in women’s sports, such as herself, have been calling for a co-ed division where transgender athletes can compete among themselves.

“We have asked for…an open category so that the men and women if they so choose, can compete together in a coed category. That’s the fairest solution, and that’s all we’ve asked for and that’s not discrimination and that’s not unethical,” she said. “Federation’s the Olympic Committee and governments policymakers, these board members, they need to step up and protect women and girls.”

LEVY: Toronto doubles down on failed homeless strategy

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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Source: Sue-Ann Levy

The residents of a close-knit inner-city Toronto neighbourhood are worried — and rightly so — that their community will change drastically once an emergency shelter opens down the street.

Like many woke progressives currently in politics, their councillor, Ausma Malik, gave them no advance warning about the 50-bed shelter, which is around the corner from an injection site and steps from an elementary school.

Malik and city officials also refuse to respond to their safety concerns — which are more than valid considering the mayhem caused by the injection site and the fact that the service operator has not had a track record of being a respectful neighbour at two other Toronto sites.

The shelter is months behind the targeted opening date but the city has been paying leasing costs of $640,000 since the beginning of the year. It will cost upwards of $880,000 per resident over the next 10 years.

This is yet another product of a socialist government that pushes injection sites on drug addicts and declares itself a Sanctuary City open to any and all migrants, illegal or otherwise.

Sue-Ann Levy reports.

Court upholds sanction against Canada soccer amid drone spying scandal

By
Noah Jarvis, True North Wire
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Source: X

The world’s preeminent authority on sport has rejected an appeal by the Canadian Olympic Committee to reverse a sanction against the women’s national soccer team, stripping them of six points in the group stage.

Despite the adversity, the women’s national soccer team advanced out of the group stage to qualify for the Olympic tournament’s quarterfinal stage. 

Last week, it was revealed that Canada Soccer had engaged in a scheme to illegally spy on the New Zealand women’s soccer team by flying a drone over the team’s training session while recording footage of the practice.

This was not an isolated incident, as whistleblowers revealed that Canada Soccer on both the men’s and women’s teams have been spying on their opponents by flying drones over their training sessions for years, even dating back to the women’s team’s gold medal run in the 2021 Olympics.

The spying scheme unraveled as Team Canada staff member Joseph Lombardi was arrested by French officials after getting caught flying a drone over the New Zealand team’s practice on two occasions. 

Lombardi and the women’s soccer team’s assistant coach Jasmine Mander were initially implicated in the scheme and sanctioned, but Canada Soccer also suspended head coach Bev Priestman for her involvement in the scheme. 

In light of the allegations, FIFA swiftly imposed a one-year ban on Priestman, Mander, and Lombardi, imposed a $317,063 fine on the team, and imposed a six point deduction from the women’s team in the group stage.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer appealed the automatic point deduction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the forum to appeal controversial sport decisions created by the International Olympic Committee.

The Court of Arbitration and Sport dismissed the Canadian Olympic Committee’s appeal, with the court planning to release their reasons for dismissal on a later date.

“The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer thank the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Ad Hoc Committee for its expedited process in hearing this case,” reads the Canadian Olympic Committee’s statement on the ruling.

“While disappointed in the outcome of our appeal, we commend the players for their incredible resilience and grit over the course of this tournament, and look forward to cheering them on in today’s match against Colombia.”

In the tournament’s group stage, each team plays three games where the winner of a match is rewarded three points, a draw at one point, and no points in a loss. 

Despite starting at -6 points in the group stage, Canada’s women’s soccer team beat all odds, winning all three group stage games to place second in the group stage and earn a spot in the tournament’s quarterfinal. 

Canada beat New Zealand 2-1, France 2-1, and Columbia 1-0 to place second in a group that they ordinarily would have placed first in. 

Canada will play Germany in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

Research group calls for Canada to rethink its stance on gender-changing treatments

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
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Source: Unsplash

A new study is calling for Canada to reconsider its stance on gender-affirming treatments, asking the country to “protect our youngest and most vulnerable patients.”

The Aristotle Foundation, a public policy think tank, alleges that the recent exponential number of children receiving transgender medical care is likely closer linked to social contagion, instead of the theory that gender is a social construct. 

“The wide acceptance of this belief system has coincided with a substantial increase in the number of children receiving transgender medical care,” reads the study. “Between 2017 and 2021, the number of children known to be on puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones more than doubled. During the same period, the number of children diagnosed with gender dysphoria tripled.”

In response to concerns that the medical industry “allows such ideology to compete with or even usurp the scientific method as a guide to research and medical practice,” the foundation conducted a study of how gender affirming care is dealt with in the U.S. and Europe for contrast.  

The Aristotle Foundation found that while Western European countries generally share the same values as Canada, this is one area where they begin to diverge. 

While Canada and the United States are the “most permissive countries” when it comes to the legal and medical gender transition of children, most European countries have reversed their stances on gender-changing treatments.

For example, the majority of Canadian provinces do not have any age restrictions on puberty blockers as long as there’s parental consent, whereas in Scotland they are banned until the age of 18 regardless and were banned completely in England earlier this year. 

“The only other country to come close is France, yet unlike North America, France’s medical authorities have recognized the uncertainties involved in transgender medical care for children and have urged “great caution” in its use,” reads the study.

Roy Eappen, who co-authored the study appeared on The Andrew Lawton Show to further discuss its results, and what they might mean for Canadian policy going forward. 

Eappen said that 22 of the U.S. states now have legislation in place to pull back on the issue, while in Canada, Alberta and Nova Scotia remain the only provinces with some restrictions in place around puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. 

“In many European countries, most notably the United Kingdom, which has a system of healthcare very similar to our own, puberty blockers are basically banned except for research purposes,” said Eappen on The Andrew Lawton Showon Monday.  

Eappen said that while it was the Tory government that implemented the ban, it has since been upheld by the newly elected Labour Party government. 

Bans have also been implemented in Scotland, Finland and Sweden. 

A recent challenge by a trans activist group against the ban was brought before the U.K.’s High Court, however the ban was ultimately ruled to be lawful earlier this week. 

“The evidence for that is (ruling) was the Cass Review, which was a four year review of the literature and a series of systematic reviews by Dr. Cass who was the former head of the Royal College of Pediatricians,” said Eappen. “I think that’s pretty much a game changer in many ways.”

Eappen explained that puberty blockers stop the biological process of puberty until it has stopped completely, which can lead to health complications around fertility and bone density later on. 

While there is much speculation about whether these gender-changing treatments can be later reversed, Eappen thinks it’s best to err on the side of caution. 

“Puberty is an extremely complex process with many, many reactions. We’re not even sure what all the reactions are,” he said. “I think we need to do a lot more studies before we can say that these are safe and reversible. I think the opposite is probably the case.” 

Eappen went on to say that Canada has done far fewer systematic reviews than European countries. 

Canada becoming increasingly dangerous: study

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
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Source: X

When it comes to its management of violent crimes and overall public safety, every province and territory in Canada has gotten worse over the last five years by nearly every metric.

The Macdonald Laurier Institute released its third-ever “Justice System Report Card,” this year and the results show that Canada continues to become increasingly dangerous. It found that Canada’s performance has declined by almost every metric over the last five years.

The report gave every province and territory a letter grade based on several metrics, such as its level of public safety, support for victims of crime, cost and management of resources, and efficiency.

The report said, “While some provinces, notably Alberta, have increased overall rankings (compared to the other provinces), the trends do not paint a positive picture across the country.”

According to the report, Canada’s Violent Crime Severity Index is at its highest point since 2007, the homicide rate is the highest it’s been in 30 years, and reports of sexual assault are at the highest level since 1995.

The report uses a collection of stats and surveys and relies mostly on Statistics Canada’s annual public safety reporting up to 2022.

However, the updated crime severity index for 2023, released after the report was written, still indicates a rise in both violent and non-violent crime. There was a 0.4% rise in violent crimes in 2023—in contrast, there was a 5.7% increase in violent crimes from 2021 to 2022.

“The trend of a sharp rise over the previous couple of years did not continue, but it still went up, and it’s still high, and that’s concerning,” Dave Snow, one of the report card’s authors, told True North in an interview.

The report also found that police use of force-related deaths has increased over the years, and conversely, there has also been an uptick in violence against police.

“Canada averaged fewer than two police officer killings for almost three decades. In a seven-month period from September 2022 to March 2023, eight police officers were killed – often by repeat violent offenders,” the report said.

The report also showed that Canadians have lost confidence in the justice system overall, with only 46% saying they are confident.

Using data from a Leger poll, MLI found that 79% of Canadians think that too many repeat offenders are offered bail, 78% agree that it is too lenient toward violent criminals, and 91% agree that repeat violent offenders should not have access to bail.

The one area where most provinces and territories saw reduced crime was the number of Canadians charged with breaching their probation. Though Snow notes this is likely due to Liberal government changes, which emphasized reducing “administration of justice offence” charges, the numbers on that front decreased.

“Breach of probation per 1000 offences is the one category that is undoubtedly getting better. I think if you say that statement to most Canadians, that’s not going to assuage their concerns,” Snow said.

The authors theorize that this change is tied to the Government’s Bill C-75.

“Bill C-75 contained provisions that provided police and the Crown greater discretion to avoid laying charges for “administration of justice offences” such as failure to appear, failure to comply, breach of probation, and unlawfully at large.” the report said.

With the government emphasizing reducing “administration of justice offence” charges, the numbers on that front decreased.

Snow thinks the government should focus most of its efforts on reducing violent crime instead of administrative issues. However, he wished for the report to remain an objective analysis of the state of the country.

“A defining feature of our criminal justice system is that a disproportionately small number of offenders are responsible for a disproportionately large volume of crime,” he said. “To the extent that our criminal justice system focuses on minor administrative issues, that would be a bad thing. To the extent it’s focusing on violent crime reduction, that is a good thing.”

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre’s office blamed the uptick in crime on the NDP-Liberal coalition that has “unleashed a crime wave” across the country.

“Trudeau’s Bill C-75 has all but guaranteed that even the worst violent offenders will be released on bail shortly after they’re arrested,” a spokesperson for Pierre Poilievre said in a statement. “Since Trudeau became Prime Minister, violent crime is up by nearly 50%. Homicides are up 28%, while sexual assaults, auto theft and extortion are up 74%, 45% and 357%, respectively.”

The Conservatives believe that “ending the Liberal soft-on-crime approach,” by repealing Bills C-75 and C-5, which repealed mandatory minimum sentences and made bail more accessible,will help take repeat violent criminals off the streets and improve the otherwise declining state of public safety in Canada.

The Daily Brief | Canadians increasingly divided on immigration

By
Isaac Lamoureux
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Citizenship Ceremony Toronto 2024 - Source: X

Canadians are becoming increasingly divided on the federal government’s current immigration targets, with over a third now saying we’re taking in “too many” people from other countries.

Plus, extending a mortgage by five years will lower Canadians’ monthly housing costs by a few hundred dollars but cost them six figures in the long run.

And though Justin Trudeau hasn’t commented on the turmoil surrounding Venezuela’s disputed election results, Canada is standing with the Venezuelan opposition to the authoritarian Maduro regime.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Isaac Lamoureux and William McBeath!

Conservative Party releases pair of attack ads against Jagmeet Singh

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

The Conservative Party of Canada released a one-two-punch of attack ads against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, warning Canadians that they are paying the price for Singh propping up the Liberals.

The party released the first video of the ad campaign on Tuesday, labelling Jagmeet Singh as “Sellout Singh.”

“The Conservative Party of Canada is launching a cross-country ad campaign pointing out Jagmeet Singh’s hypocrisy for delaying the election so he can qualify for a pension and continue living his luxury lifestyle on the taxpayers’ dime,” said the party in a press release.

The first 30-second ad flips through a fictional virtual magazine featuring Singh titled “Luxury Pensioner Monthly.” 

“Jagmeet Singh sold you out and signed on with Trudeau in a costly coalition to raise taxes, crime, and housing costs,” wrote Poilievre in his post to X. “Sellout Singh gets his pension, and you pay the price.”

MPs are eligible for a pension after six years of service.

Despite being elected as the NDP leader in 2017, Singh did not become a Member of Parliament for Burnaby South until Feb. 25, 2019. He was re-elected on Oct. 21, 2019. 

Therefore, Singh will be eligible to receive a pension if he serves until Feb. 2025. 

The video cited the Toronto Sun’s previous article, showing calculations made by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which indicated that Singh’s pension would be worth $2.3 million if he lives until the age of 90. The total pension is paid out annually and would be worth over $45,000 per year by the time Singh turns 55. By the age of 60, the yearly payout would rise to $54,000 per year.

Singh and the NDP previously agreed to prop up the Liberal government in exchange for addressing their key priorities in Mar. 2022.

True North previously reported that Singh said he would not form another coalition with the Liberals after the next election because he expects to become the next Prime Minister.

The Conservatives’ attack ad also criticized Singh for driving a BMW, owning and wearing two Rolex watches, and his previous controversy for sporting a Versace bag, and attending a private school with an annual tuition of $26,000 to $34,000 USD. 

Text on one of the magazine’s pages where Singh and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are shaking hands reads “Raising taxes, crime, housing costs.”

“But now he’s got a problem. He needs to delay the election till next year, when he qualifies for his $2 million pension. So he sold you out,” said the first video’s commentator. 

“Sellout Singh. He gets his pension. You pay the price,” concluded the first video.

The second video of the ad campaign was released on Wednesday. It was entitled “Why Jagmeet Singh is keeping Justin Trudeau in power.”

The video made several claims, accompanied by news articles as citations throughout. The video claimed that Singh was voting with Trudeau to increase the carbon tax, double rent, double mortgage costs, and unleash crime and chaos on Canadian streets.

“Jagmeet Singh. He gets his pension. Trudeau gets power, and you pay the price,” it concluded.

True North reached out to Singh for comment but received no reply. 

Father and son arrested at Richmond Hill for plotting ISIS-linked terror attack in Toronto

By
Isaac Lamoureux, True North Wire
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Source: Facebook

A father and son accused of having connections to ISIS have been arrested in Toronto for allegedly planning a terrorist attack on the city’s citizens.

The duo are being charged with several terrorism-related charges after the RCMP received consent from the Attorney General to commence proceedings. Other charges include conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated assault, with the latter only against the father.

Ahmed Eldidi, age 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, age 26, share the host of other charges. The two were allegedly in possession of an axe and machete when they were arrested.

Despite being under a section 517 publication ban, which prohibits the publication of any information, evidence, or otherwise in anticipation of a bail hearing, The RCMP and various other police partners held a press conference and revealed to the public what they were able to on Wednesday.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Peggs of the RCMP said that the two were arrested on July 28 at a hotel and were “in the advanced stages of planning a serious violent attack in Toronto.”

RCMP Superintendent James Parr confirmed that there is no ongoing threat to Toronto’s citizens.

“But as far as what or where that plan may have went, naturally, we don’t know how it could have grown, but we do know that it was real,” said Parr. 

He added that because the threat was “apparent and forthcoming,” police forces felt that now was the time where they needed to intercede.

Both the father and the son are Canadian citizens. The RCMP was unaware of any dual citizenship. The RCMP believes they immigrated to Canada but were unsure of the date. The two are residents of Toronto.

Parr said that he couldn’t give an exact timeline but that the Eldidis were allegedly very close to executing their terrorist attack.

ISIS, also known as the Islamic State, has been listed as a terrorist entity by Canada since Aug. 2012.

While the pair were alleged to have links to ISIS, Parr said that he was not aware of the duo receiving any financial support or incentives from ISIS operatives to carry out the planned terrorist attack.

Despite ISIS being less common than they were a decade ago, Parr said that the terrorist group hasn’t fallen off the radar of the RCMP and remains a real concern.

The terrorist attack was prevented by the RCMP’s Federal Policing Greater Toronto Area Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, said Peggs. INSET consists of representatives from the RCMP, municipal, and provincial police forces, along with federal and provincial partners and agencies. 

Parr confirmed that one of the accused was also accused of an attack outside of Canada. Global News said that this charge is related to Ahmed Eldidi appearing in a June 2015 ISIS video where he dismembered a prisoner with a sword.

Court is scheduled for Thursday at 9 am, and the Eldidis will appear virtually.

Despite the threat being neutralized, the investigation is ongoing.

“It’s better for the patient”: Quebec doctor says private clinics improve healthcare

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
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Source: elnamedical.com

A Quebec doctor with experience in both the public and private healthcare systems says private clinics are the clear winner when it comes to patient care.

Private clinics were formally allowed in Quebec following a 2005 Supreme Court ruling that helped spur legislative action permitting them to perform select surgeries.

Initially limited to just three procedures, Quebec’s private clinics now offer more than 50 different procedures covered by the province’s public system. It has given both doctors and patients a choice they didn’t have before.

“I never wanted to work in private,” Dr. Naila Debbache, a physician with a private clinic, told True North. “I started in public but there were so many rules. The first one was that when you work in Quebec as a doctor you have to first apply for a permit for the area where you want to work. I wanted to work in Montreal so I applied for a Montreal permit.”

Debbache was denied a permit for Montreal – a sought-after location for doctors – but was given one for Mascouche, an hour north.

Another obligation as a doctor in Quebec’s public system is that you must select a mandatory clinical activity from a list provided, which may include hospital work, long term care or working in a rehabilitation centre, depending on what’s available to choose from at the time. 

After having to choose a mandatory clinical activity she didn’t want and six months of working in Mascouche, Dabbache decided to move back to Montreal. 

She continued to practice there within the public system, however, working in Montreal without a permit led to the province garnishing her salary by 30% as a standard punitive measure. 

“That’s when I decided to leave,” said Dabbache, who has now been working for a private practice for 10 years.

Quebec has the most private healthcare clinics in Canada, meaning if residents want to pay the price, they won’t have to deal with the ever-increasing wait times plaguing public healthcare. 

Absurdly long wait times to see a doctor in Canada have become normalized in recent years and the problem has gotten exponentially worse over the past three decades. 

According to the Fraser Institute, the average wait time to see a general practitioner and receive  care was 27.4 weeks in 2022, with wait times increasing by 6.5 weeks just since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dabbache’s practice operates three clinics around Montreal, where patients can often get a same-day appointment for the cost of around $200.

“It could be more, it could be less, depending on whether you’re booking an appointment for just one issue or if you want an overall checkup,” she said. “For specialists and procedures it will usually cost more but for a regular family doctor, an appointment will be between $200 and $300.”

Dabbache usually sees around 10 patients a day, with general appointments lasting between 30 to 45 minutes each.

“It’s better for the doctor and it’s better for the patient because you actually have time with them,” said Dabbache. “It’s not a five minute appointment, you actually have time to answer their questions. You have the time to examine them and it’s much more freedom for the doctor.”

However, the decision to work in the private sector was a difficult one for Debbache, who said it conflicted with her values, saying that she entered into medicine to help those most in need. 

Working in a hospital also allowed her to meet and work with more specialists but the lack of work-life balance and overbearing bureaucracy eventually caused her to change her mind.

One of the benefits the private sector offers doctors is more schedule flexibility, as they can see half the amount of patients for the same money. 

While the money is a draw for private physicians, it can also be the downside at times when patients need follow-up appointments, noted Dabbache, “and they have to pay every time they come.”

“Another downside is extremely high expectations from patients because they pay so much and sometimes their expectations aren’t realistic,” she added. “Basically, we practice the same medicine (as public). It’s just that they get to see you quicker but sometimes they think we have more knowledge or something, and that’s not the case.”

She said the transactional fee-for-service care can be awkward, too. 

“Especially if they come to see you and it’s nothing and you don’t want to prescribe them anything, it puts you in a weird position because they just paid you $200 and you have to be like, ‘it’s nothing, it will just go away on its own,’” said Dabbache.

Allowing for more private clinics comes at a time when Canadians are becoming increasingly disillusioned with their provincial healthcare system. A recent poll by the Montreal Economic Institute found that 50% of Canadians were unhappy with how provincial governments have handled healthcare policy.

OP-ED: Premiers’ meeting was a fight about federalism, not funding

By
Shawn Whatley
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Source: YT: Council of the Federation-Conseil de la fédération

Premiers expressed intense frustration last week over the lack of federal support and partnership on healthcare. The premiers’ Council of the Federation met for three days in Halifax, and as usual, healthcare topped their list of priorities.

The frustration falls only four months after Quebec signed its own side-deal with the federal government – the last province to settle details from last year’s $196.1 billion healthcare-funding agreement.

Since the council formed in 2003, meetings have centred on money and control. Provinces want more federal money and less federal control. The federal government wants more control, while continuing to pay the provinces as little as possible.

This year, discussions seem to have gone beyond funding to address the deeper causes of frustration.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith called attention to provinces rejecting federal funding aimed at boutique programming. Smith said provinces end up funding the “lion’s share” of operational costs.

Historically, the provinces have grumbled at federal funding offers – bribes designed to build programs the provinces could not afford to build on their own. Grumbling aside, provinces usually accept federal cash and do so willingly, with one notable exception.

The final pillar of medicare, the Medical Care Act (1966), came with an offer to fund 50 per cent of medical services funded by a new federal ‘social development’ tax. Taxes would increase whether or not provinces accepted the new funding. Ontario Premier John Robarts called it, “The greatest machiavellian fraud ever perpetrated on the people of Canada.”

The current group of premiers have taken a different tack. They reject federal bribery cloaked in the constitutionally questionable use of federal spending power. The provinces can neuter federal power, if they stick together. The federal government knows this, which might explain the use of “side deals” in the 2023 federal-provincial funding agreement mentioned above.

In fairness, not all funding is bribery. It hinges on how it is structured.

Premier Tim Houston, chair of the council, sent a letter to Justin Trudeau on behalf of the premiers. In it, he calls for “true partnership to revitalize cooperative federalism in Canada.”

True partnership, according to Peter Block, organization development expert, includes four things:  an exchange of purpose, the right to say no, joint accountability, and absolute honesty. This means provincial and federal leaders should meet and build a shared purpose, before planning any new program. Each party should have the right to stop plans at any time.  Joint accountability would mean neither federal nor provincial governments could blame the other for poor performance. And neither side would conceal information about resources or true intentions.

True partnership captures the essence of what federalism was meant to be in Canada. Federalism was never a rigid protocol to delineate absolute rights between one level of government and another. Canadian federalism offers a place to start negotiating. It sets the table and gives everyone a voice.

Federalism is meant to be the basis of our ability to work together as a unified nation, not as a power play to force governments to do what they never wanted to otherwise.

Yuval Levin, director of the American Enterprise Institute, makes this same point about the American constitution in his new book, American Covenant: How the constitution unified our nation – and could again.

Negotiation frustrates political idealists. The constitution exists to facilitate peace and cooperation given a plurality of interests. Though different than American republicanism, Canadian federalism serves the same purpose – peace and compromise, not power and force exerted by one government on another.

The premiers’ call for “true partnership to revitalize cooperative federalism in Canada” will require compromise by all. We cannot tolerate one level of government wielding anything against the other, be it ‘spending power’ or power of any other kind. Governments must embrace true partnership, or Canadian federalism becomes a charade.

The premiers have taken the high ground and asked for change. Will Justin Trudeau listen?

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