Following the city’s largest-ever public hearing, Calgarians will learn whether City Council heard their concerns and abandoned a proposal for city-wide rezoning in a week.
Councillors will be able to question city administrators at a special meeting on Monday. After that, councillors will vote on the proposed motion and any amendments that might be put forward.
Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek has said she thinks the debate could last two to three days.
Gondek closed the hearing on Monday night after hearing from 736 speakers and 238 panels. City council received another 6,101 written statements, now part of the public record.
The proposed bylaw is one of around 80 recommendations in the City of Calgary’s housing strategy, which would amend the base residential zoning district.
Currently, the majority of residential areas are zoned to only allow single-family homes by default. Under the change, single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and rowhouses could be built.
Ward. 13 Councillor Dan McLean told True North the proposal means a bungalow could be torn down and replaced with 12 units. He said city infrastructure wasn’t built to handle the demand for water, parking, and garbage.
“There’s some big issues here to consider,” McLean said on the Alberta Roundup.
He also said the proposal is causing “chaos” in the market, and that city and developers will benefit from the policy and subsequent new builds and property taxes. He said he suspects some amendments will be put forward to try and “water down” the rezoning efforts so fewer units can be built on a property.
“In my opinion… it’s going to come down to one or two councillors,” he said of the vote.
Calgarians are no longer allowed to submit to speak before council but can still provide written submissions for the public record at calgary.ca/publicsubmissions.
The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario released a statement Thursday in support of the anti-Israel university encampments across Canada and the U.S.
In the statement, the student union group that claims to represent over 350,000 full-time and part-time students in Ontario, called Israel a “settler-colonialist,” “apartheid,” and “Zionist occupation,” which unleashed a “brutal genocidal campaign” against the people of Palestine 200 days ago.
The release did not mention Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, which killed over 1,200 people and kidnapped hundreds more, or how Hamas is still holding nearly 130 hostages.
As the group celebrates the encampments, they said the Canadian and US governments and universities are deploying “violent attacks on students.”
The statement declared that police and universities endanger students by identifying them and having a police presence on these campuses.
Days after the statement was released, there was an attack on a Jewish man for waving an Israeli flag at a pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Toronto. According to the man, arrests were not made due to a lack of police presence.
The CFS-O is demanding disclosure of any investments that are linked to Israel, increased transparency of institutional spending, for the campus to divest from any organizations tied with Israel and for the campuses they are occupying to defend their right to protest on their property, which often entails preventing those that the protesters disagree with from entering.
Their final demand is to denounce what they declare a “genocide and occupation” by Israel against the Palestinian people. And for the universities to condemn police action against their “frontiers of resistance” on student campuses.
Jewish groups were shocked by the student union’s statement and accused the CFS-O of being one-sided.
B’nai Brith told True North that anyone accusing Israel of genocide is “misinforming the public.”
“Accusations of genocide are inciting and have the propensity to misinform the public. there is international legislation in international law that clarifies the criteria for something to be considered a genocide that simply is not met in this situation,” Richard Robertson, a representative of B’nai Brith, told True North. “Israel is not an apartheid state. Gaza is self-governed by Hamas.”
Hillel Ontario, an organization for Jewish students focusing on campus life, said the CFS-O is “discriminating” Jewish students.
“Hillel Ontario is disturbed to see yet another discriminating and one-sided statement from the CFS-O, which claims to represent the many post-secondary students in our province,” Jacqueline Dressler, the Director of Advocacy for Hillel Ontario, told True North in an email.
The group has been scrutinized before for its partnership with Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and Faculty For Palestine, a group who have openly called for “Intifada.”
In the context of the Israeli-Palestine conflict, calls for Intifada are recognized by Jewish rights organizations in Canada, such as B’nai Brith and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, as calls to violence against Israelis and Jews.
“To see the CFS-O commend the protests as “critical frontiers of resistance” is a gross mischaracterization,” Dressler said.“These protests have devolved into disturbing antisemitic and hateful events, promoting the idea that Jews and Zionists are not welcome on campus.
True North requested comment from the CFS-O but did not receive a response before the deadline.
The City of Toronto took down a sign on the fence of a baseball diamond in the west end after an image of the rules made its rounds on social media as an example of city overregulation.
The sign at MacGregor Playground on Lansdowne Avenue banned the use of hardballs and aluminum bats, competitive and high-level play, and restricted pitching to underhand throws exclusively. The sign, introduced in 2019, originally said “home runs are not allowed” as well, but that part was removed due to backlash.
“If the fun police have a Mission Statement,” one X user said. Another read, “No fun permitted. Absolutely none.”
Others took the sign as an indication of a declining society.
Jennifer Keesmaat, the former chief planner for the city, posted on X that the citizens of Toronto should ignore the sign and “swing for the fences always!”
“It was written in error by a hapless bureaucrat,” she said.
In a follow-up post on Monday evening, Keesmaat said, “I made some calls” and that the sign should be down “imminently.”
“Due to the proximity of the field at MacGregor Park to nearby residences, balls are to remain within the playing field to avoid damaging property and potentially hurting residents. These specifications are outlined in permits for leagues utilizing the diamond to limit home runs/balls going out of the field,” a city representative told True North in an email.
They told us that new signage was introduced in 2019 to inform users of this requirement.
Physical changes were also made in response to ongoing complaints from residents of the neighbouring condominiums and the former local councillor about stray balls damaging property.
They said they added netting, planted additional trees, and reviewed the types of permits issued at the diamond to address the neighbourhood’s safety concerns.
Amidst growing calls to defund the CBC, debates rage over the public broadcaster’s relevance and future, raising the fundamental question: Does the CBC still have a role to play, and can it be salvaged? The Line co-founder Jen Gerson joined True North’s Andrew Lawton at the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference in Ottawa to discuss.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is being called out for a slew of misleading social media posts alleging Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was trying to block women’s right regarding access to contraceptives.
“This weekend I gave Pierre Poilievre an ultimatum: 48 hours to stop blocking access to Birth Control for women and Canadians,” posted Singh to X on Monday. “Today is the deadline. He can withdraw or we’ll stop him. He’s going to learn: never mess with women’s rights in Canada again.”
Not sure which I like more — the ratio, the community note, or Jagmeet Singh’s continued cosplaying as the strongman while desperately seeking political relevance. pic.twitter.com/euLtLtWgqK
Singh made the comments in regard to the Conservatives’ opposition to the NDP-led pharmacare law. Canadians were quick to point out the fallacy of Singh’s statement.
Contraceptives like birth control are accessible to women throughout Canada and the current debate in Parliament has nothing to do with reversing that. The Conservatives oppose taxpayer-funded contraceptives and other elements of the NDP bill.
Also, under the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement, they do not need a single Conservative MP’s support on passing legislation of any kind, therefore making the options of the “ultimatum” nonsensical.
Singh’s claims were enough to get X to add a fact check under the NDP leader’s post in the form of a community note.
“The LPC and NDP have a confidence and supply agreement & don’t need the CPC to pass legislation,” said the reader’s added context block. “Birth control is legal across Canada and no one is blocking access to it. There is no Charter-enshrined right to government-paid birth control/contraception in Canada.”
Of the dozens of user comments that followed Singh’s post, many were able to swiftly point out that same disingenuous framing.
“The Conservative Party has no effect on whether a bill can be passed. The NDP Liberal coalition control the majority of seats,” wrote one user. “This is just Jagmeet grandstanding and deceiving people as he usually does.”
“Conservatives are not in power. You get that, right? And you want to be PM,” wrote another user.
One user wrote, “please end this nonsense today and vote non confidence. You would if you believed in even half the stuff you post.”
Despite X’s community clarification and an onslaught of Canadians pointing out Singh’s misrepresentation of how the current government in power is able to operate, the NDP leader marched on with his framing with a follow-up post on Monday.
“Pierre Poilievre has doubled down his attack on women’s reproductive health,” wrote Singh. “We just moved a motion to force him to stop his attempts to block access to Birth Control and Diabetes Medications. Conservatives said no. This isn’t over. I’ll update you on what’s next.”
Hamilton Centre’s Independent Ontario MPP Sarah Jama had one more thing to say after speaking to a pro-Palestine protest encampment at McMaster University on Monday.
She was given the mic from the NDP MP for Hamilton, Matthew Green, and yelled, “Globalize the intifada.”
Jewish rights organizations such as B’nai Brith and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs have warned that calls for intifada, especially calls to globalize the intifada, are incitements to violence against Jewish people worldwide.
“The term intifada refers to periods of violent unrest in Israel that resulted in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of Israelis,” Richard Robertson, the director of Research and Advocacy at B’nai Brith, told True North in an interview.
The last intifada was known as the “Second Intifada,” which was characterized by suicide bombings, stone-throwing, and rocket attacks in civilian areas in Israel from 2000-2005.
“For Sarah Jama to suggest that such unrest be globalized, which would infer that she wants to see such unrest take place here in Canada as a civic leader, that’s incredibly disheartening to see her make such a call,” Robertson said. The “McMaster Apartheid Divest Coalition” posted an Instagram video showing Jama calling for a global intifada.
Sure. Not a prop.
Here’s Sarah Jama at the McMaster encampment gleefully calling to “globalize the intifada”
The intifada means the killing of jews. The second intifada was a wave of terrorism that saw 1,000 Israelis killed. That’s what they’re chanting for https://t.co/RAMWkUMKbQpic.twitter.com/6fsYXIY8u6
— Ariella (tortured poet version) (@ariellakimmel) May 6, 2024
“Given the history of the various intifadas, it’s ludicrous for anyone to suggest that the term refers to anything but a period of violent unrest characterized by repeated terror attacks against innocent civilians,” Robertson said. “To suggest otherwise is providing misinformation. And it could even be considered manipulating history.”
David Cooper, the Vice President of CIJA agreed.
“Intifada implies bloody violence and calls for the death and murder of Jewish Israelis, Cooper said.”
“That an elected official in Canada is making an overt call for the murder of Israelis and Jews around the world is either a shameful display of ignorance or a dangerous endorsement of violence.”
The same day, Jama was kicked out of the Ontario legislature for refusing to remove her keffiyeh, which was banned in the chamber for being a political prop. Using political props in the legislature violates long-standing parliamentary conventions.
“This is part of a pattern of inflammatory actions on the part of MPP Sarah Jama,” Robertson said. “As an organization, B’nai Brith feels that her behaviour has become increasingly problematic.”
Robertson doesn’t think her comments have crossed a line into criminal behaviour but thinks law enforcement should continue to monitor her.
“She continues to be more aggressive in her inciting behaviour. There is the capacity that, at some point, she will engage in action that warrants the laying of charges,” he said. “It will be up to her constituents to determine in the next election whether or not they feel that such a divisive and problematic figure is worthy of being their representative in the provincial legislature.” Jama has a history of anti-Israel activism.
Ontario NDP leader Merit Siles kicked Jama out of her caucus for “antisemitic” and “discriminatory” remarks she made in defence of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack last year.
In November Jama also denied the severity of the largest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.
The attack killed over 1,200 men, women, and children. Hamas also took hundreds more hostage. There are over 100 hostages still held by Hamas.
Green, at the same rally, called Israel a “brutal occupation” that is perpetrating a “horrible genocide.”
“Accusations of genocide are inciting and have the propensity to misinform the public. There is international legislation in international law that clarifies the criteria for something to be considered a genocide that simply is not met in this situation,” Robertson said. “And Israel is not an apartheid state. Gaza is self-governed by Hamas.”
The UN defines genocide as “a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part.”
Through the International Court of Justice, South Africa has accused Israel of genocide though the state of Israel has not been found guilty.
“MP Green, has a history of inflaming tensions and in being a divisive figure who seems to be interested in inciting against the Jewish community,” Roberston said. “it’s unbecoming of a federal member of Parliament to be making such, such disingenuous accusations.”
True North contacted Jama and Green for comment, but they did not respond by the deadline.
Ottawa announced it would approve the B.C. government’s request to recriminalize the use of illicit drugs in public spaces. The province is now walking back part of its pilot project a little over one year after its implementation.
The pilot program introduced in January 2023 allowed adults to carry up to 2.5 grams of drugs like fentanyl and cocaine for personal use which could also be consumed in public spaces without facing criminal charges.
Health Canada granted B.C. an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to allow for the use of illicit drugs in public spaces.
However, almost two weeks ago B.C. Premier David Eby asked to have the exemption reversed for public spaces, like hospitals and restaurants after several unsavoury incidents and strong public backlash.
Federal Minister of Addictions and Mental Health Ya’ara Saks told reporters that Eby’s request had been approved and would take effect “immediately” on Tuesday outside the House of Commons.
“We’ve moved forward with B.C. on this with a clear lens on public health and public safety, because we know that we need to address the opioid crisis and the overdose deaths that we’re seeing as a public health issue,” said Saks. “That being said, communities need to be safe.”
Adults will still be permitted to carry small amounts of illicit drugs for personal and private use, but they can now be arrested for using them in public again.
B.C.’s pilot program was in response to the public health emergency declared eight years ago in the wake of an onslaught of deaths due to toxic, illicit drugs, with over 14,000 dying in the province alone since 2016.
At least 42,000 people have died across Canada from opioid overdoses over that same period.
Proponents of the program believed that by allowing people to use drugs in public, it would reverse the stigma associated with opioids and allow for better access to lifesaving care when needed.
However, critics say it was introduced with no guardrails and is a threat to public safety.
Vancouver Police Deputy Chief Fiona Wilson testified at a House of Commons health committee hearing last month about the results of the program thus far, saying that it limits the abilities of police to respond to the issue of public drug use, including incidents inside hospitals and bus stops.
“In the wake of decriminalization, there are many of those locations where we have absolutely no authority to address that problematic drug use, because the person appears to be in possession of less than 2.5 grams,” Wilson told the committee on April 15.
“So, if you have someone who is with their family at the beach, and there’s a person next to them smoking crack cocaine, it’s not a police matter.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was removed from Parliament last week for addressing what his party believes to be a failed program, calling the Liberal government’s approach to the opioid crisis “extremist” and “wacko.”
Comments which he refused to withdraw and ultimately had him removed from the House of Commons by the House Speaker.
While the federal government will be walking back the allowance of illicit drugs in public spaces, individual possession of small amounts, under 2.5 grams, will remain legal.
“Decriminalization is about ensuring that people don’t have to face stigma and actually go to get help,” said Saks.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is once again defending controversial legislation which would give the province sweeping powers over municipalities, this time, by saying it could be used to stop non-citizens from voting in Calgary.
The Alberta government introduced Bill 20, the Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, which would give cabinet power to fire city councillors and overturn bylaws. The proposed legislation comes as Calgary City Council passed a motion to allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections last week.
Smith said that in “rare circumstances” the province needs to take a second look at city decisions that are unconstitutional or fall outside a municipality’s responsibility.
“That is simply not appropriate nor within their authority,” Smith said of Calgary’s motion to allow non-citizens to vote.
“Bill 20 will provide the province with a tool to deal with these rare but serious examples of municipal overreach.”
In rare circumstances, the province does need to take a second look at certain city decisions that are unconstitutional or fall outside their responsibility.
One example is the City of Calgary attempting to alter election laws to allow non-citizens to vote. That is simply not…
Municipal Affairs Minister Ric McIver has already said he won’t change rules to allow non-citizens to vote, but Smith’s statement comes as the Alberta government is playing defence on the controversial bill.
At an unrelated press conference last week, Smith said municipalities receive their authority from the provincial level of government. As the federal government tries to bypass provincial authority, Alberta is using proposed Bill 2o to ensure that Ottawa talks with the province on plans for cities, she said.
“We are taking every mechanism that we need,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, McIver said amendments will be made and that he will work with municipalities to appease their concerns. He also said that cabinet would only fire a city councillor as a “last resort” and that changing city bylaws would “not be done lightly.”
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the proposed Bill 20 is unclear because it would allow the province to remove a city councillor if it’s in the “public interest.”
“It’s all unclear, it doesn’t mesh together well. And ‘public interest’ has to be defined very clearly,” Gondek told reporters last week.
The first Black female to serve as superintendent with the Toronto Police Service has pleaded guilty to seven counts of professional misconduct for her role in providing six Black constables with answers to cheat on their promotions exam.
Supt. Stacy Clarke believed her efforts were justified because of the slow pace she saw in promoting Black candidates for promotions within the Toronto Police Service, her lawyer Joseph Markson argued during the tribunal hearing.
“As the first Black female superintendent in the history of the Toronto Police Service, Supt. Clarke has been running uphill and against the wind for more than 26 years,” said Markson.
“In these unique and extraordinary circumstances, there is a straight line in connecting systemic discrimination in policing towards Blacks, Supt. Clarke’s lived experience, and the facts of misconduct to which she had pled guilty. She is extremely remorseful for her misconduct. However those acts of misconduct were rooted in real despair, real hurt and real pain.”
Clarke pleaded guilty to all seven counts last fall after she was caught providing pictures with the answers to questions for officers in the promotional process, which included three counts of breach of confidence, three counts of discreditable conduct, and one count of insubordination.
All of the incidents occurred in 2021; she was promoted to superintendent the year before.
While her misconduct could merit a dismissal, TPS isn’t pushing for that.
“There’s good reason to question whether a senior officer who engaged in conduct like this has a realistic role in the service in the future. I want to be clear that’s not the penalty I’ll be asking you to consider,” said TPS representative at the hearing, lawyer Scott Hutchison.
Hutchison told the tribunal that he would not object to introducing evidence and witnesses that could illuminate what he called a “pernicious problem of anti-Black racism.”
According to Hutchison, TPS are seeking a two-rank demotion to staff sergeant for a one year period before returning Clarke to the rank of inspector at the end of that year.
She would not be automatically re-promoted to superintendent, however.
Markson on the other hand is arguing for a one year demotion and then an automatic reinstatement to her rank of superintendent.
“A return to the rank of superintendent is in the best interests of the TPS and the diverse communities that it proudly serves,” said Markson.
The hearing was attended by as many 60 supporters for Clark, according to CP24.
Clarke’s record of statement claimed that she was remorseful for her misconduct and wanted to put her actions into context, saying that she had personally experienced mistreatment and hurtful comments.
“Going through this role as the only female Black officer was traumatic, painful and disorienting. I have been forever changed by what I had to endure through that time,” said Clarke, reading from her statement.
“I’ve had to jump through hoops created just for me even though I worked to get my promotions. I’ve stood up when credentials of people of colour were undermined… I soon realized my efforts were having no impact. I was frustrated and desperate. I myself had benefited from lobbying on my behalf in the past. However the differential treatment experienced by the candidates I was mentoring was painful….A rising tide of emotions overwhelmed me. I decided that if the opportunity presented itself I would assist the candidates and make a desperate effort to level the playing field.”
Lawyers involved confirmed that TPS Chief Mark Saunders will be among the witnesses called to the sentencing hearing which remains ongoing, and that Clarke herself is also expected to testify.
The five officers who were involved in the cheating scandal have been dealt with at the divisional level, each receiving between ten and 20 days without pay.
Constable Horace Harvey pleaded guilty to one count of discreditable conduct and received a six-month demotion from first class to second class constable.
Toronto District School Board education director Colleen Russell-Rawlins — a black activist — seems to have quite a different interpretation of “back to basics” compared to education minister Stephen Lecce.
While Lecce has told school boards to return to focusing on teaching the basics — math, literacy, reading and history from a traditional bent — Russell-Rawlins is back at it yet again this school year pushing the basics of her ideology, one which celebrates “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” and panders to black and Indigenous students.
One has to look no further than the special opportunities provided to black TDSB students this spring, coupled with the massive budget increases for DEI pet projects.
It is not surprising that school boards like the TDSB do what they want, considering Ontario’s disappointingly weak education minister is more talk than action.
Lecce repeatedly makes pronouncements that parents want to hear, then just as quickly, drops the ball instead of engaging in stern oversight of the rogue school boards.
According to information provided by teacher sources, in the past month, the TDSB’s Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement has arranged special opportunities for black students only.
These include a “Meet the Scientist program” for Grade 7-12 students in partnership with the Sunnybrook Research Institute.
“The goal of the program is to provide Black students with a unique opportunity to learn more about the different pathways in the field of medical technology and research,” says the flyer promoting the initiative, which took place over a series of Thursdays last month.
Grades 7-12 black students who are “animal lovers” were invited to explore veterinary career options in collaboration with the Black Veterinary Association of Canada.
That series of sessions for black students-only ends this week.
This is what we call reverse racism.
Or as the teacher sources say, all other students, visible minorities included, are considered white or “white adjacent.”
“Unless you are black or Indigenous you literally get thrown under the school bus,” my sources say.
This is the reality of the culture under Russell-Rawlins and her anti-back racism-obsessed administrators.
It’s not even close to “back to basics.”
That said, it’s hard for me to believe that Lecce would simply hand over $745-million to school boards for apparent supports for “back to basics” learning, considering the figures provided to me by inside sources on the amount TDSB has devoted – with steady increases – to various DEI pet projects.
The budget numbers are extremely difficult to obtain from the TDSB, likely deliberately so. There are great gaps in the reporting over the past two years.
However, according to the figures provided, the budget allocated to human rights, equity, black and Indigenous initiatives tripled between 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 from $3-million to $9.4-million.
The Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement appears to have been added in 2021-2022 at a cost of $ 2.3 million.That’s the year Russell-Rawlins returned to the board from the Peel District Board.
But this year’s budget really tells the tale.
Despite projecting a deficit of $34.8-million at the outset of the year and much hand-wringing about how to balance it, the budget for Indigenous education has jumped to a whopping $9.3-million from $3-million three years ago.
The Centre for Excellence of Black Students is still absorbing $2 million this year.
The equity program is budgeted at $1.4-million compared to $776,661 three years ago. That figure, however, is conservative considering that equity now appears to be spread across several departments.
Human rights are now at $1.9-million compared to $1-million three years ago.
As I said, we only have Lecce, his boss Premier Doug Ford and the education ministry to blame for this train wreck in education.
I have no confidence in this allegedly Conservative provincial government to make things right.
Meanwhile, educrats like Russell-Rawlins and her sycophants continue foisting their dangerous ideology on innocent students who just want to learn.
