fbpx
Friday, July 4, 2025

Toronto police report surge in assaults on parking enforcement officers

Source: X

The Toronto Police Service and Toronto Police Association have warned residents of the consequences they will face for assaulting a parking enforcement officer in light of an unprecedented surge in assaults.

There were six assaults on Toronto police parking enforcement officers in 2021 and 15 in 2022. Last year, however, 46 parking enforcement officers were assaulted. As of last week, 27 have been assaulted this year, an increase over the same period last year, the agencies said.

Toronto Chief of Police Myron Demkiw said that the rise is a “disturbing trend,” emphasizing that people need to be aware of the serious consequences that come with assaulting a parking enforcement officer.

“They could be charged with assaulting a peace officer, the same as if they had assaulted any uniformed police officer. These charges can lead to a conviction, imprisonment, fines, a criminal record, and prevent you from travelling or getting a job,” said Demkiw. 

He reiterated that under the Criminal Code, assaulting a parking enforcement officer would result in the same charges as assaulting a police officer on duty.

He added that anyone thinking of resorting to violence over a parking ticket should think twice.

“Parking enforcement officers are civilian members doing an essential and challenging job for our city… The Toronto Police Service is committed, and I am committed, to ensuring their safety,” he said.

Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid said that his association, representing over 8,000 members of the Toronto Police Service and 370 parking enforcement officers, has safety as a top priority.

“They do not deserve to be cursed at, pushed, punched, let alone have to jump out of the way of a moving vehicle,” said Reid. “To risk jail for a $30 parking ticket is beyond anyone’s understanding. As a city, we must do better than this.”

Demkiw said that people struggling financially is one of the many interconnected issues that have led to increased polarization and violence in communities.

The Toronto Police mandated yearly training for parking enforcement officers, which began last year. The training consists of crisis communication training, occupational health and safety training, and de-escalation training. 

“Stop assaulting our parking enforcement officers. If you do, let me be clear: there will be very, very serious consequences. We will do everything we can to hold people accountable when they assault our members,” said Demkiw. 

Reid said that medical treatment for injuries sustained by parking enforcement officers was rare but that some members had been assaulted on numerous occasions.

“This must stop. If you get a parking notice, fight the ticket, not our officers,” said Reid. 

The 370 uniformed civilian members in the parking enforcement unit cover Toronto’s 158 neighbourhoods. In 2023, Demkiw said they helped recover more than 1,100 stolen vehicles and facilitated more than 21,000 vehicles being towed. They also assisted officers with 16 arrests and provided support during 246 special events. 

No Frills apologizes after promo casting shade at lineups at farmers’ markets

Source: Canadian Grocer

Loblaws has apologized for missing the mark with a promotional text criticized for being unfair to farmers’ markets.

The text message sent directly to its customers last weekend read, “Skip the line at farmer’s markets, we have fresh produce at low prices. Shop now,” along with a link to the store’s digital flyer. 

A screenshot of the text was posted onto various social media platforms and met with stark criticism from both farmers and consumers who see the value in shopping locally. 

Farmers’ Markets of Nova Scotia released a statement lambasting No Frills and its parent company Loblaw, accusing them of being “clearly more committed to shareholder profits than they are to the well-being of farmers, small businesses, and consumers.”

“This giant corporation felt the need to punch down at small scale producers in order to promote their flyer, which they purport is built to support local farmers,” reads the statement. “But if a huge grocery chain asks you to avoid the very places where farmers are offered a fair price in the first place, then clearly they’re missing the point.”

The association said that most local farmers can’t afford to sell to the grocery giants due to “unfair locked prices” and “razor-thin margins.” 

Loblaws also has exclusive sourcing contracts with many suppliers that are legally binding, preventing small scale farmers from selling to their grocery stores. 

“In recent years, Loblaws has participated in price hikes beyond the rate of inflation, attempted to remove discount stickers from expiring foods, and increased Galen Weston Jr’s salary 56% up to $8.4 million. This has all happened while rates of food insecurity continue to soar in Nova Scotia and Canada,” reads the statement. “Let’s show No Frills what supporting Canadian farmers and producers actually looks like. Go to a farmers’ market this week. No Frills? No thanks.”

Many people online are now calling for a boycott of Loblaws, encouraging Canadians to get out and support their local farmer’s markets. 

The Ontario mall Business Community, an online network for small business owners, also expressed its discontent with No Frills’ messaging.

“If this isn’t biting the hand that feeds you, then we don’t know what is. We’re going to talk about this because it needs to be talked about,” wrote the group in a social media post. 

The post went on to say that farmers markets are only in operation for part of the year and the only place Canada’s local and independent farms can sell directly to the customer. 

“Farmers’ markets are their home base and where they are able to do business directly with consumers without a middle man. They offer better value, fresher products, and community connections,” reads the post.

Loblaw, No Frills’ parent company, did not respond to True North for comment, however, it did issue an apology in a post to X.

“The text was meant to direct customers to our No Frills local summer produce program. However, the message in the text didn’t match the spirit of the campaign, and for this, we sincerely apologize,” reads the post. “We remain committed to supporting Canadian farmers and growers.”

Loblaw is currently being probed by Canada’s Competition Bureau along with fellow grocery giant Sobeys, regarding their use of property controls, according to Federal Court documents.

Opening ceremonies video not deleted, but is blocked in some regions due to rights issues, IOC says

The International Olympic Committee says a highlight video of the Paris Olympics’ controversial opening ceremony was not removed from YouTube, but rather is blocked in some regions due to how broadcast rights were organized.

Canadians grew suspicious when the highlight video previously uploaded by the International Olympic Committee displayed the following text over a black screen: “This video is not available.” Many social media users speculated the video, which garnered widespread backlash due to its anti-Christian displays, had been deleted by the IOC.

“The IOC has only retained digital rights in certain global markets,” the a spokesperson for the organization told True North. “Specifically, the IOC does not have digital rights in Europe and the UK, among others. Therefore, moving images from official Olympic venues and areas are geo-blocked for these markets, which is why the videos cannot be viewed. They have not been deleted.”

One of the performances in the opening ceremonies parodied Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” a painting depicting Jesus Christ and his apostles the night before his crucifixion, with drag queens standing in for the disciples and a “fat acceptance” and LGBTQ activist, DJ Barbara Butch, standing in for Jesus.

The International Olympic Committee is also issuing DMCA copyright notices to X users who post videos of the opening ceremony. Several videos were removed from the platform Saturday, but reinstated later in the day.

Following the anti-Christian mockery of the Last Supper, a bearded transgender dancer took to the stage, before a man painted blue from head to toe was presented as a dish served on a plate and began singing in French. According to the official Olympics X account, this was an interpretation of the Greek god Dionysus.

Christians around the world then took issue with images of a metal horse floating down the Seine due to the striking similarities of the pale horse from the Book of Revelations.

A statue of a gold bull and gold deer, which was built in 1937 for the World Fair, was seen on the stage of the opening ceremony. Many Christians on social media felt the imagery evoked the symbol of the golden calf, which represents idolatry and a rejection of faith.

The performance has been widely criticized, including by the Bishops’ Conference of France, which found it deplorable.

“This ceremony unfortunately included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply deplore.” the Catholic organization said in a statement.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson took his frustration with the anti-Christian display to X. 

“Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” he wrote. “The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail.”

French member of European Parliament Marion Marechal also condemned it.“To all Christians of the world watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and felt insulted by the drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation.”

Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony told France news outlet Le Monde, that the opening ceremony was about “republican ideas, inclusion, caring, generosity and solidarity.”

At a Saturday press conference, the executive director of the Olympic Games Cristophe Dubi defended the controversial opening ceremony celebrating, “the courage, the determination, the vision, and the creativity” of the show, “broke the mold.”

Editors note: This article has been updated to incorporate the International Olympic Committee’s response and explanation for the video’s inaccessibility.

“Parks Canada knew”: Former Jasper official speaks out about federal mismanagement in aftermath of wildfire

A former senior planner of Jasper National Park is blaming “unresponsive” and “politicized” Parks Canada leadership for last week’s devastating Jasper wildfire.

Peter Scholz, who was hired by Parks Canada in 2008, says the federal agency’s fire prevention staff were so confident in their abilities to control and battle wildfires that they intentionally allowed dead wood to collect inside of Jasper National Park.

According to Scholz, the Parks Canada wildfire chief at the time told him in a January 2008 meeting, “we have become so good at controlling and stopping fires that we just build up dead wood supplies.”

“I did my best to support what I had been told when I was developing land use policy for Jasper National Park,” Scholz said. This included attempts to clear out dead wood and conduct prescribed burns.

“But I found that the manager of land use planning was unresponsive to those concerns and the superintendent himself was unresponsive,” Scholz said.

Scholz said this turned the park into a powder keg.

“There was enormous amounts of dead fall, some dead trees but mainly branches that had fallen off, this becomes very dry timber and it’s very well-aerated because it’s all built up gradually over the years and it’s not compressed in any way,” he said.

“You could light a match and it’s going to practically explode. I know that because I participated in some of those transects and I saw it for myself.”

According to Parks Canada, only eight prescribed burns were conducted in 2023 in only six national parks. In 2015, Parks Canada set its own record for prescribed burns, conducting 28.

Parks Canada told True North that in the past decade, 15 prescribed fires were completed in Jasper National Park. Further, they indicated that extensive mechanical thinning of trees was conducted to reduce the risk of wildfire. The government agency also treated over 500 hectares with harvesting to remove pine beetle impacted trees.

“The Parks Canada staff who develop and execute the Park Management Plan also mostly live in the community of Jasper and have the greatest stake in ensuring the Park is properly managed for the safety of the community and ecological integrity of the Park,” the agency told True North.

Scholz estimated that by last summer, close to 40% of Jasper National Park trees were standing deadwood killed by pine beetle infestation, creating the perfect scenario for a massive wildfire.

In a Linkedin post, Scholz pinned the blame of the wildfire directly on Parks Canada and Jasper National Park superintendents.

“If Jasper Town burns, I blame the bureaucrats of Parks Canada, especially all the Jasper National Park Superintendents since 2005. This is on you,” he wrote. “Not doing your job because of ecoactivists, who now will blame climate change rather than take responsibility for their own willful ignorance regarding proper forest management.”

Parks Canada staff were unwilling to tackle the “strong political effort” from certain local environmental groups and activists against cutting down dead trees, Scholz said.

“There is a very strong opposition to cutting trees or any kind of burning. A lot of those people (liken) cutting a tree to some kind of murder – they are that emotional about it, and Parks Canada were afraid to tackle them for whatever reason and didn’t push forward appropriate policy,” he said.

“The level of ignorance in that community about proper forest management is rather extraordinary,”

Scholz resigned from his position as senior planner of Jasper National Park after just five months because he felt that he couldn’t make a positive difference and felt his “time would be wasted.”

According to local media reports, the total area of Jasper burned or partially burned is over 360 square kilometres.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said that 358 of the 1,100 structures in Jasper had been destroyed but critical infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and water treatment centres were not damaged.

The historic 96-year-old St. Mary & St. George Anglican Church was completely destroyed by the Jasper wildfire.

The evacuation order is still in effect and a timeline for when Jasper residents can return to the town is not yet released.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Upon receiving comment from Parks Canada, True North updated this article on August 7.

The Alberta Roundup | “This was TOTALLY preventable” – hunter responds to Jasper fires

Source: Government of Alberta

Today on the Alberta Roundup with Rachel Parker, Rachel speaks with Marty Belanger (@Martyupnorth_2) about the Jasper wildfires which burned up to half of the historic village. Marty, who’s been hiking in Jasper for years, said the warning signs have long been ignored and proper forest management practices like controlled burns could have prevented the out of control fires.

Rachel and Marty also discuss which level of government is responsible for managing Jasper, and whether Alberta Premier Danielle Smith reduced the firefighting budget as some reporters have suggested.

Tune into the Alberta Roundup now! 

LAWTON: Why is gas so expensive in Canada?

Newly released documents show the Competition Bureau suspects analytics company Kalibrate Canada of using gas station data to guide prices for over 1,700 fuel stations, potentially creating anticompetitive markets by helping retailers keep prices high. But is this the only thing driving up gas prices? Canadians for Affordable Energy president Dan McTeague joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to explain.

LAWTON: Trudeau can’t stop hiring federal employees

Source: X

Justin Trudeau has hired over 108,000 federal bureaucrats since taking office, expanding the public service by 42%, with the population only growing by 14% in the same period. Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta director Kris Sims joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to explain the implications of this expansion on Canadian taxpayers.

CAMPUS WATCH: UWindsor president, diversity VP under fire over “unacceptable concessions” to encampment activists 

Source: University of Windsor

University of Windsor students, faculty and alumni have signed an open letter demanding the resignation of university president Robert Gordon and vice-president of people, equity and inclusion Clinton Beckford over the decision to make “unacceptable concessions” to pro-Palestinian encampment activists.

Signatories of the letter want the university to reverse its decision to give in to the anti-Israel encampment’s demands and publicly condemn the “boycott divestment and sanctions” (BDS) movement.

The southwestern Ontario university made headlines earlier this month after it made a deal with protesters rather than seek an injunction or have law enforcement remove the encampment.

Pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs provided True North with a copy of the letter.

The letter, written by a Windsor law student, says “participants of the encampment campaign have routinely denounced Israel’s right to exist, have glorified Hamas terrorists as ‘martyrs,’ and have called for ‘intifada’ which implies the violent uprising against Jewish people and the state of Israel.”

According to the letter, the presence of the encampment on campus “made an already hostile environment for Jewish and Israeli students on the University of Windsor campus even worse.”

The letter says that by “engaging in negotiations with those responsible,” the University of Windsor has given “a free pass to those who intimidate and harass other students and openly violate school rules to promote a campaign of hate.”

The letter and its signatories have eleven demands for the university, including the call for resignation, the call for a reversal of the agreement and plans to boycott Israeli universities, and the call to condemn BDS.

The letter calls on the school to make a public commitment that antisemitism will not be tolerated and ensure Jewish representation in discussions that affect the school’s Jewish community.

The letter also demands a suspension of Students for Justice for Palestine and other clubs involved in the encampment, pending further review and disclosure of their funding sources and whether their activity is in line with the University of Windsor’s code of conduct. 

As part of the deal with encampment organizers, the university pledged to ​​“not pursue any institutional academic agreements with Israeli universities until the right of Palestinian self-determination has been realized.” The university also pledged to work towards “establishing or reestablishing institutional relationships with Palestinian universities.”

UWindsor also agreed to more enhanced “diversity, equity and inclusion” practices.

“The university’s anti-racism and anti-oppression policies and websites will address identity-based oppression, including offering comprehensive education and training for senior leaders, faculty, and staff,” the university said.


The letter says the university had an opportunity to promote “core institutional values by providing high quality educational resources about the conflict, caring for all communities that are deeply hurting, and creating opportunities for peace building.” Instead, the letter charged, the school chose to “reward extremists who have been wreaking havoc on our campus, while further silencing and isolating an already targeted population that has consistently requested support through appropriate channels.”

“By dismissing concerns about rising antisemitism on campus and appeasing those who bear responsibility for promoting it, the administration has jeopardized the future of the University of Windsor Jewish community,” the letter adds. “It is time that we stand up against this hate.”

The University of Windsor did not respond to a request for comment.

CRA accused of bias as it tries to revoke Jewish National Fund’s charity status 

Source: Flickr

A Jewish charity group is challenging the Canada Revenue Agency’s decision to revoke its charitable status, citing an unfair process and biased decision-making.

The Jewish National Fund, a charity that has been operating in Canada for almost a century, says CRA was “wrong and unjustified” to revoke its charitable status over allegations it was using donated funds to support military infrastructure in Israel.

“JNF Canada remains deeply concerned with the CRA’s decision to revoke its charitable status and its failure to provide a fair due process, thereby undermining a basic fundamental right for all Canadians,” said a letter from the Jewish group to its supporters, first reported on by the National Post.

The Jewish National Fund funds several charitable projects in Israel, including programs for special needs children and rebuilding and reforestation of areas that terrorist attacks have ravaged.

The group intends to argue that the CRA erred in its findings, that the procedures were unfair because they did not allow the group to “test the facts” before the case went to the Federal Court of Appeal, and that the audit findings were influenced by bias.

“The CRA is committed to administering acts for which it is responsible fairly and impartially. The CRA assesses all concerns about registered charities against a clear regulatory and risk framework designed to prevent bias in our decision-making process,” a representative for the tax agency told True North.

However, the CRA said it doesn’t comment on ongoing court cases “to respect the confidentiality provisions of the Acts it administers.”

According to the Jewish fund, it’s been audited five times since it was incorporated in 1967, and “no issues of significance” were raised before that.

The group was previously under the ire of the CRA for allegedly breaking Canada’s tax code, which prohibits tax-free charity funds from being used to support the armed forces of another nation. At that time, the group argued it was funding jungle gyms and activities for children on military bases and not the military itself. 

The group claims that after a series of issueless audits, the CRA is retroactively reversing a decision that recognized the charity’s projects as legitimate in 1967.

“Our position is that it is unjust for CRA to revoke a charity because a charitable object that it accepted almost 60 years ago is now no longer considered to be a valid charitable object. It is simply unjust to close a charity supported by over 100,000 Canadians based on reversing a decision the CRA made in 1967,” Nathan Disenhouse, the national president of the JNF Canada, said in the community letter. 


The group will argue using “evidence from the CRA’s own records” that public pressure on the CRA and the national revenue minister from anti-Zionist organizations was an “important consideration” in the agency’s decision.

“A review of the record would leave a reasonable person with the impression that this pressure resulted in a biased decision,” the Jewish National Fund said.

The group assured its members that it will still function as a charity until the appeal is resolved.

“We will continue to organize events, fundraising campaigns, missions to Israel, and more,” it wrote.


Shimon Koffler Fogel, the President and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, is hopeful that the two organizations will reach a “constructive resolution” in the courts.

“We believe JNF has a compelling case to make in light of a troubling experience with CRA, which is mandated to work with charities rather than adopt an adversarial approach,” Fogel said. “CIJA remains hopeful that JNF and CRA will ultimately identify a constructive resolution, permitting JNF to continue its important work ranging from relief from poverty to environmental reclamation.”

Edmonton police arrest six in extortion ring, leader remains at large

Source: Mack Male

The Edmonton Police Service has arrested six suspects and issued Canada-wide warrants for the alleged leader of an extortion series known as Project Gaslight.

All six suspects arrested are between the ages of 17 and 21. The six who have been arrested, plus the suspected leader, Maninder Singh Dhaliwal, face 54 charges, including extortion, arson, assault with a weapon, and other charges relating to association with a criminal organization targeting South Asian business owners in Edmonton.

The six adults arrested include one permanent resident, two Indian nationals, and three Canadian citizens. 

Edmonton Police Chief Dale McFee said Friday that anyone participating in the extortion scheme will be tracked down and held accountable to the full extent of the law.

“We’re going to find them. The reality is you can’t hide. We’ve got police right across internationally, nationally, and certainly locally, and we’re all interconnected,” said McFee.

Edmonton police believe that Dhaliwal has altered his appearance. His whereabouts are unknown and many of the incidents were orchestrated from India, they said.

The six arrests Thursday involved 100 officers, including three tactical teams, RCMP investigators, and search and arrest teams.

Project Gaslight is being led by the Edmonton drug and gang enforcement section, with national and international collaboration.

“The sheer volume of evidence and information they have reviewed to get to this point is simply staggering. The fact that we are here today to talk about seven accused and 54 charges only months into such a complex investigation is a very encouraging sign,” said McFee.

Acting Inspector David Paton with the Edmonton Police Service’s organized crime branch said the six accused were part of a structured group with a clear hierarchy and roles. They allegedly planned their crimes by researching their victims before committing extortions, arsons, and shootings.

“We know the criminal network run by Dhaliwal is recruiting young adults who may be influenced to commit crime for financial incentives… We believe that the individuals identified today represent the core members of this criminal network. However, there is a strong likelihood that more people will be charged as this investigation continues,” said Paton. 

The police partners held the conference in part to emphasize to anyone who might be contacted to participate that they were being used as “patsies” and that they would be abandoned. 

“No doubt this is a fool’s errand. We have information on our investigation to strongly suggest that they have been paid, but they’ve also been abandoned. My message to them is to be aware that this guy will not be there for you in the totality of the circumstances that they’ll face once they are brought to justice,” said Paton. 

McFee said that his top concern was to stop youth from being recruited because it’s destroying the community. 

“You’re signing up for something that, you know, it’s a cheque that will never be cashed because it’s going to interfere with your life, and it’s going to obviously jeopardize your future,” said McFee.

The police chief added that the next step was for the justice system to hold the accused accountable in every way possible. He said that they should use every tool at their disposal, including incarceration and even deportation.

“The message is: we’re going to find you. We’re going to hold you accountable. And if this is what you choose to do, it’s not going to end well for you,” said McFee. 

Related stories