The International Olympic Committee has apologized for the 2024 Paris Olympics’ controversial opening ceremonies, which included a Last Supper depiction featuring drag queens at a “fat acceptance” activist playing the part of Jesus. The organizers insist that no mockery or offence was intended, but True North’s Andrew Lawton points out that Christians are pretty well the only religious group anyone would dare make such a performance about.
Also, Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta director Kris Sims went by Edmonton City Hall to take a stock photo and was shocked to find the area around it filled with garbage and urine. Cities across the country are falling into similar states with no one seemingly doing anything about it.
Plus, a new report from the Aristotle Foundation finds that Canada and the United States have the most permissive approaches – making younger patients eligible for “invasive surgeries and/or potentially irreversible and medically harmful dispensation of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.”
The video of Olympics opening ceremonies, which was criticized as “anti-Christian,” has been removed from YouTube.
Plus, a former senior planner of Jasper National Park is blaming “unresponsive” and “politicized” Parks Canada leadership for last week’s devastating Jasper wildfire.
And Canada’s overall crime rate ticked up another 2% in 2023, spurred in part by a large spike in child pornography incidents.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Andrew Lawton and Isaac Lamoureux.
Loblaw and its parent company George Weston Ltd. have agreed to pay $500 million to settle two class-action lawsuits over an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
Loblaw was just one of several George Weston companies to be part of the class-action cases, which also included Metro, Walmart Canada, Giant Tiger, Sobeys and bakery supplier Canada Bread Co.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of all Canadians who purchased packaged bread after Nov. 1 2001, with the plaintiffs accusing the companies of cooperating in a 14-year industry-wide price-fixing conspiracy from 2001 to 2015, leading to an artificial increase in the cost of packaged bread.
“We are pleased to be able to put this issue behind us at both Loblaw and George Weston,” said Loblaw chief financial officer Richard Dufresne during an earnings call Thursday.
According to a statement released by the company, George Weston agreed to pay $247.5 million in cash and Loblaw would pay $156.5 million in cash.
Loblaw also agreed to pay another $96 million in credit, which it had previously paid to customers under the Loblaw Card program.
Chairman and chief executive of George Weston Galen Weston said “this behaviour should never have happened.”
“On behalf of the Weston group of companies, we are sorry for the price-fixing behaviour we discovered and self-reported in 2015,” said Weston, who is also Loblaw’s chairman, in a statement.
“We have the privilege of serving Canadians from coast to coast. That privilege needs to be earned each and every day. Reaching a settlement on this matter was the right thing to do in response to previous behaviour that did not meet our values and ethical standards.”
Loblaw president and CEO Per Bank pledged that the grocery giant would look for any opportunity to earn back Canadians’ trust in the future.
“Canadians count on Loblaw to provide great value and we seek to meet their needs and earn their trust whenever and wherever they choose to shop with us,” said Bank. “We will continue to work hard to deliver on that commitment.”
Loblaw reported a 10% drop in its second-quarter earnings, which it attributed to the lawsuit payments. However, Dufresne said that Loblaw customers won’t see that reflected in its prices.
According to the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, pending court approval, the settlement is slated to be the biggest antitrust lawsuit payment in Canadian history.
“This is a significant milestone in Canadian class action history and sends a strong message that conduct that harms consumers will not be tolerated,” said lawyer Jay Strosberg in a press release.
Now the lawyers will shift their focus onto the other Weston companies allegedly involved in the price-fixing scheme, including Canada Bread, Sobeys, Metro, Walmart Canada and Giant Tiger.
The Competition Bureau began investigating the alleged scheme in 2016.
Weston Foods and Loblaw had both previously admitted their participation in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” but received immunity from prosecution in exchange for their cooperation.
The companies added at least $1.50 to the price of a loaf of bread, alleged the bureau in 2018, according to court documents.
Canada Bread was fined $50 million last year after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing bread products under the Competition Act.
The Competition Bureau said it was the highest fine ever imposed by a Canadian court for price-fixing.
The waitlist for a family doctor in Nova Scotia has gotten so long, the government is calling people on it to see if they’re still looking.
Nova Scotia Health will begin making phone calls over the next several weeks to the over 160,000 Nova Scotians on the waitlist for a primary care provider to confirm if they still need a provider and ensure they know where to access healthcare during their long wait on the registry.
Registrants will be called from unknown numbers or blocked caller IDs.
“Staff will not ask registrants to provide any personal information other than the last four digits of their health card and their birth date. They will then ask registrants to confirm the address, email, and phone number that are on the registrant’s profile,” reads a press release issued by Nova Scotia Health.
The Need a Family Practice Registry allows Nova Scotians looking for a primary care provider—a family doctor or a nurse practitioner—to participate voluntarily.
As of June 1, 160,234 Nova Scotians were on the Family Practice Registry, according to data from Nova Scotia Health. The number of Nova Scotians on the registry represents 16.2% of the population.
Between May 1 and Jun. 1, 2024, the registry increased by 1,859 people, with 4,917 joining and 3,058 being removed.
56,343 (35.2%) of Nova Scotians on the registry are new to the area. 16,390 (10.2%) of provincial residents joined the registry because they had not needed a provider until now.
However, even those with family doctors face unsuitable wait times.
Canadians waited longer than ever recorded to see a healthcare specialist or receive treatment in 2023. The median wait time between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment was 27.7 weeks across the country. The province with the lowest wait time was Ontario, at 21.6 weeks. Nova Scotians had to wait an average of 56.7 weeks – almost triple the Ontario number.
While Ontario had the lowest wait times, previous data showed that 2.5 million Ontarians were without a family doctor.
Healthcare leaders previously warned that the capital gains tax hike would drive doctors out of Canada or into retirement. Canadians were worried that this hike would affect their access to healthcare.
One quarter, or 40,082, of Nova Scotians on the Family Practice Registry were there because their provider had moved or closed their practice. An additional 31,239 (19.5%) Nova Scotians were on the registry because their provider had retired, with 15,988 (10.0%) on the registry because their provider was retiring.
“Nova Scotia Health will also be calling people who added their name to the registry because their provider has notified them that they will be retiring. Staff will confirm if the registrant’s provider has now retired,” reads the press release.
The largest monthly change between May and Jun. 2024 was the gain seen among those joining the list because their provider was deciding to retire, rising by 801 Nova Scotians, or 5.3%.
Nova Scotia previously offered healthcare workers cash prizes for ideas on improving the system.
Nova Scotia Health updated the registry to include a health questionnaire to help the province better understand residents’ health concerns and improve services.
A new documentary sheds on light on pressing issues within the Canadian healthcare system, offering five possible solutions to improve efficiency, reduce wait times, and enhance patient care. SecondStreet.org president Colin Craig joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to break down these potential reforms, and why they could be pivotal in transforming the healthcare landscape in Canada.
Earlier this week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre slammed the legacy media for their “irresponsible” reporting on the drug crisis, accusing them of propping up a system with profit-driven motives. Centre for Responsible Drug Policy founder Adam Zivo joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss these claims.
As the Trudeau government accepts a record number of newcomers to Canada, a majority of Canadians say they want the government to slash the immigration rate.
In a Leger poll conducted on behalf of the Association for Canadian Studies, 60% of Canadians said there are currently too many immigrants coming to Canada. Just over one quarter said that we are accepting about the right number of immigrants while only 3% said we are accepting too few.
Regardless of political identification and where they reside, Canadians want to see the rate of immigration reduced, the poll showed.
Of the four major federal parties, Conservative voters are the most supportive of cutting immigration, with 76% of them saying the immigration rate is too high and only 19% believing it to be just right.
Bloc Québécois skepticism about immigration numbers roughly mirror that of the Conservatives, with 73% favouring a reduction in and 17% in support of the status quo.
In a French language interview last month, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre committed to cutting back on immigration to Canada by reducing the number of asylum seekers and temporary immigrants arriving in the country.
“It’s going to be much lower, especially for temporary immigration,” said Poilievre.
Even Liberal party supporters on balance support a reduction in the rate of immigration. Nearly half, 45%, of Grits say that the immigration rate is too high while 43% say the rate should remain where it is currently at. Only 5% of Liberals support bringing in more immigrants.
Earlier in the year, Liberal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that the government would be imposing a two-year cap on international student permits and recently encouraged international students to bring the skills they’ve developed back to their home countries.
However, statistics from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada show that more international student permits have been issued this year than in the same period last year.
NDP support for immigration is similar to the Liberals, as 42% say they want immigration to be reduced, while 41% say the immigration rate is about right.
Among the different regions of the country, support for the status quo is the least popular in Ontario at 24% approval, with 62% of Ontarians supporting a slash in the immigration rate.
Torontonians are particularly concerned with immigration, as 64% say there are too many newcomers in the city compared to 22% who say the rate is about right.
Similar to Ontario, 61% of Quebecers support reducing the immigration rate while 28% say that the number is about right, and 67% of Albertans want the rate reduced while 29% say it’s about right.
Quebecers have been especially resistant to immigration as the province has waged a long-term war to preserve their province’s unique culture and a more immediate war against a surge of temporary immigrants.
Premier François Legault said that Quebec’s social services can no longer accommodate the influx of migrants into the province, and even threatened to hold a referendum on the matter if the federal government does not take action.
Canadians are concerned with the current immigration system as the country deals in a crisis of unaffordability, especially in the housing sector.
In the last ten years, the average price of a home in Toronto has more than doubled, reaching an average of over $1.1 million, while Vancouver’s average property price is over $1.3 million.
Even newcomers to Canada are increasingly thinking about moving to another province or leaving Canada altogether to escape the affordability crisis.
Canada’s overall crime rate ticked up another 2% in 2023, spurred in part by a large spike in child pornography incidents. The latest data from the Crime Severity Index marks the third year in a row that crime has increased.
There were 21,417 incidents of police-reported child pornography in Canada last year, marking an increase of over 50%, compared to 2022.
The Crime Severity Index was created to augment conventional and self-reported crime rate data, evaluating both the number and severity of crimes reported in a given year.
According to CSI data, “the rate of police-reported child pornography (also sometimes referred to as child sexual exploitation or abuse material) increased 52% in 2023 to 53 incidents per 100,000 population.”
Statistics Canada said that the massive increase is likely tied to more cases being reported to “specialized provincial Internet child exploitation police units and the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre.”
Of the incidents reported, the overwhelming majority involved a cybercrime component.
“Relatively high proportions of child pornography and sexual violations against children included a cyber component,” read the CSI report. “For instance, 79% of incidents of child pornography and 20% of sexual violations against children were recorded by police as cybercrimes.
“In 2023, nearly all (97%) of the increase in child pornography incidents involved those with a cybercrime component,” it continued.
Of the 21,417 incidents of child pornography reported by police in 2023, the bulk of incidents, 76%, involved making or distributing said material.
The remaining 24% of incidents involved possessing or accessing child pornography.
British Columbia saw the largest increase in incidents last year, responsible for 79% of the increase.
Alberta accounted for 14% of the increase, while Manitoba saw a decrease.
Other crimes varied year-over-year and provincially.
Reports of homicide and sexual violations against children were both down in 2023.
However, extortion reports increased by 35% and robberies by 4%.
Assault committed with a deadly weapon or causing bodily harm also saw an increase of 7%.
Unsurprisingly, auto thefts rose for the third year in a row, up 5% from 2022 and 24% higher than its pre-COVID-19 pandemic level.
Ontario and Quebec saw the largest increases in auto theft, with an increase of 16% and 15%, respectively, while the three prairie provinces also recorded decreases in 2023.
The CSI is one of several metrics for measuring crime in Canada.
A national Jewish rights organization is filing a complaint against a mental health practitioner it is accusing of racially discriminating against patients and spreading “antisemitic misinformation.”
B’nai Brith Canada said it has complained about British Columbia psychotherapist Dania Chebib to the B.C. Association of Clinical Councillors due to advertisements for her practice which openly discriminate based on ethnic and national origin.
Chebib took down the racially discriminatory note advertising her practice in Kelowna, B.C. on Psychology Today, but it still appears in some cached versions of the site.
“Note: currently only accepting Palestinian, Arab, South West Asian and North African diaspora clients due to humanitarian crisis in Palestine,” the advertisement said.
B'nai Brith Canada has filed a formal complaint against Kelowna, BC-based psychotherapist, Dania Chebib for her breach of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors’ clinical standards and practices. Ms. Chebib engages in discriminatory practice by only accepting Palestinian,… pic.twitter.com/HvFvkw0Sr9
— B'nai Brith Canada (@bnaibrithcanada) July 25, 2024
With many Canadians struggling to find mental health supports, this is especially problematic, a representative of B’nai Brith Canada said.
“It’s one thing for a mental health practitioner to specialize in clients of a certain gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic or national background,” Richard Robertson, the Jewish group’s director of research and advocacy, told True North. “It’s another thing to limit your practice at a time when Canadians are struggling to access mental health practitioners.”
The human rights group also accused Chebib of violating the B.C. clinician’s standards and questioned the effect her attitudes could have on patients.
“Clinicians have to be able to act in the best interests of their clients, and should this clinician have a client who is Jewish or Zionist, we are concerned that (Chebib) would be unable to act in the best interest of that client,” Robertson said.
In one video, the clinician recorded herself doing “grassroots activism,” where she entered a Starbucks and accused customers of participating in genocide.
“I just like to let you know that Starbucks is funding Israel. They’re sending missiles, and your coffees are killing Palestinian children. Enjoy your day. Enjoy your coffee. There’s blood in them,” she said in the video.
Chebib did not respond to True North’s request for comment.
B’nai Brith also noted in the complaint that Chebib had called Israel an “illegitimate settler colony,” promoting symbols associated with terrorism and diminishing the Holocaust by suggesting its significance is only recognized because Hitler’s victims were European.
She also has reposted claims calling Israel’s war against Hamas a genocide while calling terrorism at the hands of Hamas “Palestinian resistance” while pledging support for such resistance.
“As a human rights organization, we have concerns about the ability of somebody who engages such anti-semitic, the dissemination of such antisemitic vitriol being able to fulfill their obligations under their code of ethics as a mental health clinician, as a psychotherapist,” Robertson said.
The BCACC standards of practice prohibit discrimination or racism against anyone based on race, colour, and national origin, among other characteristics.
Robertson said B’nai Brith posits that it’s in Canadians’ best interests that clinicians remain in the highest repute and follow the standards set out by their practice.
“It’s a privilege to practice in certain professions regulated in Canada. Suppose those regulations require that you maintain the competence and trust of the community in the society in which you serve. Your conduct outside of your practice becomes a valid concern when it is reprehensible,” he said. “This is a concern for everyone in society, and we feel it’s necessary to ensure that Canadian professionals remain in the most repute and abide by the standards and codes of ethics established for them.”
A convicted criminal serving his nearly eight-year sentence escaped from Edmonton’s Stan Daniels Healing Centre.
Evin Sayer is the fifth inmate to escape the detention facility this year. He is serving a sentence of seven years, 11 months, and one day for reckless use of firearms, obstructing a peace officer, and assault causing bodily harm, among other charges.
“In the current fiscal year, there have been three escapees from Stan Daniels Healing Centre, with one of those offenders having already been apprehended,” a spokesperson for Correctional Service Canada told True North.
The government’s fiscal year begins on Apr. 1. CTV News previously reported that four people had escaped by the end of May 2024, with two escaping in January and February, prior to the fiscal year beginning.
According to Correctional Service Canada, Sayer had a total of 14 charges, including three counts of failure to comply with conditions
The Stan Daniels Healing Centre is a Section 81 facility operated by the Native Counselling Services of Alberta. These facilities are specifically used to house some Indigenous inmates where they can be offered “culturally appropriate services and programs to offenders in a way that incorporates Indigenous values, traditions and beliefs,” the correctional service says.
Correctional Service Canada told True North that it routinely assesses all inmates to ensure they are assigned to the appropriate security levels, with only those deemed to pose a low risk to public safety being placed in minimum-security institutions.
“We are working closely with the police to ensure that they have all the information necessary to apprehend these offenders and return them to our custody,” said the department spokesperson. “When an escape occurs, CSC thoroughly examines the circumstances of the incident with the assistance of local police and actively works with them to locate the inmate as quickly as possible.”
Edmonton Police Service referred True North to the federal agency as the one “ultimately responsible to speak to an inmate who has escaped their custody.”
True North reached out to the Native Counselling Services of Alberta but received no response.
Stan Daniels Healing Centre’s website lists the requirements for inmates to transfer to the centre.
Conditionally released and federally sentenced Indigenous inmates can transfer after receiving an “Elder Review,” submitting a letter to the centre through their parole officer and conducting an in-person, video, or telephone interview.
Residents are encouraged to participate in ceremonies, such as a sweat lodge and round dances. The healing centre includes common rooms, program rooms, a ceremonial room, a dining area, a hobby room, and a weight room.
A warrant for Sayer’s arrest is active. Anyone with information on Sayer is urged to contact Edmonton Police Service, Edmonton Crime Stoppers, or submit their tip online.
