Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the foreign interference inquiry that CSIS intelligence briefings regarding potential election interference in 2019 weren’t “sufficiently credible information” to act on.
Plus, Canada’s premiers may meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss the carbon tax after an opposition motion, unexpectedly backed by the NDP and Bloc Québecois, passed.
And Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has introduced legislation requiring provincial approval for future deals the federal government may have with Alberta municipalities.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and William McBeath!
On the latest episode of Ratio’d, Harrison Faulkner goes to Brampton, Ontario to see Canada’s mass immigration crisis first hand. Brampton is one of Canada’s most infamous ethnic enclaves and has become a symbol of the federal government’s years-long commitment to mass immigration.
2021 census data showed that Brampton was over 80% non-white and that the majority of Brampton residents are of Indian origin.
Tune into the latest episode of Ratio’d, to see the side of Brampton that you never hear about it in the legacy media.
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett will be addressing the Canada Strong and Free Network’s annual conference, True North has learned.
Bennett, who served as Israel’s head of government from June 2021 to June 2022 after briefly replacing Benjamin Netanyahu, will be speaking to the conference’s 1,000-plus attendees Friday morning.
Organizers kept Bennett off of the published agenda for security reasons, a source told True North, but will be announcing his participation Thursday afternoon.
Volunteers and staff for the conference were given a security briefing Wednesday given the sensitivity of Bennett’s presence.
This year’s conference has had heightened security with former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott and former British prime minister Boris Johnson among the speakers, as well as Canadian Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Protests and threats against politicians since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel have increased, with several politicians now assigned RCMP protective details.
Bennett is a part of Israel’s New Right, a party he co-founded in 2018 to target religious and secular Israelis.
Bennett rose to power in 2021 after forming a coalition to oust Netanyahu after 12 years in office.
He left politics in 2022 after finishing his term.
A female UCP MLA is telling Alberta NDP MLA Marlin Schmidt to seek anger management treatment after a verbal dispute which forced the Legislative Assembly Security Service to intervene.
UCP MLA Jackie Lovely was in the south members’ lounge on Monday, following a speech on a private members’ bill on urban parks, when a verbal altercation occurred between her and Schmidt.
In a statement to True North, Lovely said Schmidt became “enraged” over the debate and “chased me and screamed at me in private to the point where security had to intervene.”
“This is the latest in a long pattern of behaviour from this NDP MLA that is not only unbecoming of a member but downright disturbing,” Lovely said. “I urge him to reflect on his behaviour and seek anger manager management training and psychological help for what is clearly a negative pattern of behaviour,” she said.
The UCP and the Alberta NDP have varying recollections of the altercation.
On Tuesday, Government House Leader Joseph Schow rose on a point of privilege and called Schmidt’s actions an “incredibly serious breach of privilege.”
According to Schow, Lovely was approached by Schmidt and “verbally intimidated and physically prevented from freely circulating either to the washrooms or back to the chamber by (Schmidt).”
“When (Lovely) told the member that, and I quote, ‘You are scaring me,’ he outright mocked her in an aggressive and intimidating manner,” Schow continued. “As she tried to leave, (Schmidt) followed her, sought her out to continue this onslaught of harassment.”
Schow went on to say that Schmidt’s actions resulted in intervention from the Legislative Assembly Security Service, who told the NDP MLA to take a walk.
Schmidt responded in the chamber by offering his “own version” of the events.
“(Lovely) instigated the incident by continuing the debate that was here on the floor,” he said. “And I responded by escalating the argument.”
The NDP MLA said he wasn’t following Lovely, but was headed in the same direction as her.
“That’s my version of events, Mr. Speaker, and I’m pleased to put that on the record,” he said. “I’m also apologizing directly to the Member of Camrose for my own actions.”
In response to a request for comment, the Alberta NDP told True North that Schmidt offered his apology on Tuesday, and it was accepted by the speaker.
House Speaker Nathan Cooper called Schmidt’s actions “inappropriate,” but said the matter was settled following his apology.
This is not the first time Schmidt has been the subject of a point of privilege for his actions.
In November 2021, Schmidt apologized after making a “menacing gesture” and yelling in a “threatening manner” towards a member of the Government caucus.
In November 2023, he made an “absolutely unacceptable gesture directed at the government House leader,” according to the House Speaker.
He’s also been the subject of many points of order, including 20 on just one day in October 2018.
Former U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised Harry Potter Author J.K. Rowling as a “modern saint” during an address in Ottawa Wednesday, saying that her stance on gender identity was common sense.
Johnson spoke at the Canada Strong and Free Network’s 2024 conference alongside former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
“What’s happening in universities, the restrictions on free speech, J.K. Rowling being demonized when she’s probably done more to encourage young people to read around the world than any other person I can think of…” said Johnson.
“She’s a modern saint. It’s unbelievable what they’re saying about her.”
Johnson went on to say that “what’s so crazy is what she says about gender, is of course what 95 percent of the population secretly think… but don’t have the guts to say anymore because they’re worried that they will offend somebody or somebody will jump down their throat.”
Rowling first spoke out against gender ideology in 2020 and has continued to hold the line since, to the ire of progressive activists.
Recently, she has been in the news amid challenging the Scottish government’s controversial hate crime legislation, which offers protections for transgender people but not women.
Johnson did however also praise green net-zero agendas, saying he has no apologies for his stances on climate. Johnson’s climate comments led to some pushback from Abbott.
“Did you ask the scientists how they explained the ice ages?” Abbott said.
“There are obviously factors in climate change way beyond mankind’s carbon dioxide emissions, because if mankind’s carbon dioxide emissions were the only things that mattered, we would never have had the ice ages. We would never have had previous periods of climate change.”
“First, there is no climate emergency,” he went on. “Second, it’s far from clear that mankind’s carbon dioxide is the only or even the main factor in climate. And third, trying to turn the world upside down in order to reduce our emissions to zero by a particular date, I just think is folly of the first order.”
Abbott said, “the green agenda has given us much higher power prices and in the process we have effectively deindustrialised by exporting most of our emissions intensive industries to countries which are less fastidious about this than we are.”
Johnson and Abbott also discussed the war in Ukraine, as well as the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
On Israel, Abbott referred to Hamas as a death cult. “How can you want an apocalyptic death cult to save face? There’s only one way to deal with an apocalyptic death cult, it’s to get rid of it,” said Abbott.
The Canada Strong and Free Network 2024 conference is taking place from April 10 to 12 in Ottawa. True North’s Andrew Lawton and Elie Cantin-Nantel are on the ground to cover.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the foreign interference inquiry that CSIS intelligence briefings regarding potential election interference in 2019 weren’t “sufficiently credible information” to act on.
CSIS officials warned Trudeau in the lead-up to the 2019 election that they suspected irregularities including potential interference in the nomination contest of Liberal MP Han Dong’s Don Valley North riding.
“Irregularities itself is not enough to overturn a democratic event,” Trudeau told the inquiry on Wednesday.
“In this case, I didn’t feel that there was … sufficiently credible information that would justify this very significant step as to remove a candidate,” he said.
According to Trudeau, CSIS officials first made him aware of the potential interference in September 2019 after the intelligence agency learned about buses of Chinese students who were being mobilized to support Han Dong.
CSIS believed their mobilization to be directed by the People’s Republic of China.
The prime minister recounted meeting with Liberal campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst at the time to discuss the “concerns” presented to him by officials from both CSIS and the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force officials had brought to him.
The SITE task force was created by the Trudeau government in response to allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election to sound the alarm on threats of foreign interference in Canadian elections.
However, Trudeau and Broadhurst ultimately determined that these agencies weren’t familiar enough with election processes to accurately assess the situation.
“Intelligence services had shared with him (Broadhurst) concerns that Chinese officials in Canada had been developing plans to possibly engage in interference in the nomination contest. Specifically, by mobilizing buses filled with students or buses filled with Chinese speakers or Chinese diaspora members who … would have been mobilized to support Han Dong,” Trudeau told the inquiry.
But according to Trudeau, this was no different than busloads of Italian-Canadians and Greek-Canadians who came out to vote for him during his 2007 nomination race in his riding of Papineau in Montreal.
Council for Michael Chong pressed Trudeau that the mode of transportation wasn’t the issue of the briefing, but rather that intelligence suggested that the event had been organized by the PRC and assisted by the Chinese Consulate in Toronto.
“The emphasis again wasn’t on the mode of travel for these people. They took buses this time, alright, they could’ve come some other way and it wouldn’t have terribly mattered from the services’ perspective because their concern was they were directed by PRC and assisted in getting to the nomination place in order to allegedly help one candidate over another,” said counsel. “They could have gotten there by tricycles, it doesn’t terribly matter, the point is they were directed by China.”
“I would suggest that it might be more difficult for a foreign actor to organize fleets of individuals showing up on tricycles rather than filling them into a bus,” replied Trudeau.
Trudeau stressed the importance of remaining skeptical of intelligence briefings and not taking their information as evidence, while also telling Canadians themselves to remain confident in these agencies.
“There’s always a level of skepticism, of critical thinking,” said Trudeau.
However, he told the inquiry that Canadians can have more confidence that the two previous elections were “free and fair elections” because the panels launched by his government to ensure that hadn’t been created yet.
“Having a panel in place in both 2019 and 2021 say that they had determined or concluded that the election was free and fair is a really important step. Nobody can say that about the 2015 election for example, or elections before because those panels didn’t exist,” said Trudeau.
He also shared the predicament he found himself in after these briefings were leaked to the public because his government couldn’t refute them without declassifying secret information.
“Why these leaks were of such deep concern was that we couldn’t actually correct the record without … sharing with adversaries some of the information or the methods that we use to keep Canadians safe,” he said.
Across the country, communities are being hollowed out and overrun by tent cities and increasing homeless populations. What has gone so wrong? True North’s Andrew Lawton catches up with former Toronto mayoral candidate Anthony Furey to discuss on the margins of the Canada Strong and Free Network’s annual conference, the flagship event for the country’s conservative movement.
Also on the show, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher John O’Sullivan, plus Tracey Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, and some other folks who get pulled in as the show progresses.
Canada’s chief intelligence officer expressed significant alarm over a court verdict asserting IP addresses are shielded against undue searches.
Plus, Quebec’s Premier, Francois Legault, warned of a possible “referendum” should the federal authorities fail to curb the influx of temporary immigrants to the province.
And culturally sensitive food, venting sessions about toxic masculinity, and a magazine about intersectionality are among the many DEI initiatives taxpayers are funding at British Columbia’s wokest prison.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Isaac Lamoureux!
Canada’s premiers might get their wish to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss the carbon tax.
After a surprising turn of events, the Conservative’s opposition motion calling on Trudeau to convene an emergency meeting passed, with the unexpected support of the NDP and Bloc Québecois.
The non-binding motion, debated on Tuesday and spearheaded by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, calls for Trudeau to gather all of Canada’s 14 first ministers to discuss the levy.
The opposition motion to hold a televised carbon tax emergency meeting was voted on Wednesday and passed despite Liberal MPs’ opposition.
The motion calls for the meeting to address “(a) the ongoing carbon tax crisis and the financial burden it places on Canadians, (b) the Prime Minister’s recent 23% carbon tax increase, (c) plans for provinces to opt-out of the federal carbon tax to pursue other responsible ideas to lower emissions.”
The opposition motion states the reasoning for its demands, considering Canada ranks 62 out of 67 countries on the Climate Change Performance Index, even with the federal government’s current environmental plan in place.
“And that this meeting be publicly televised and held within five weeks of this motion being adopted,” concluded the motion.
During the debate on Tuesday, NDP MP Laurel Collins called out Trudeau on his climate policy.
“The Prime Minister wants to use it to divide Canadians. He does not see fighting the climate crisis as an opportunity to unite people to take on this existential crisis. Instead, he uses it as a political wedge,” said Collins.
“He tried to buy votes with exemptions for Atlantic Canadians. He treated carbon pricing as the be-all and end-all of climate policy, so that when the Liberals bought a pipeline, missed targets, and broke climate policies, they could present it as proof of their climate credibility.”
“Justin Trudeau has unleashed economic misery across Canada. But instead of providing Canadians with some relief, he decided to hike the carbon tax again on April 1st by 23%. This is just one step in Trudeau’s plan to make everything more expensive by quadrupling the carbon tax over the next six years,” reads the release.
Five provincial premiers wrote letters to Trudeau in recent weeks, calling on him to convene an emergency first ministers’ meeting to discuss the carbon tax. He has refused these requests.
In 2015, Trudeau said in a post to X that “Canadians need a PM who will meet with the Premiers, & forge a smart economic plan for all Canadians, in every sector and region.”
The Conservatives tabled a motion on March 20, 2024, calling for a stop to the 23% increase in carbon tax on April 1. It was defeated 205 to 119 in Parliament.
Four premiers wrote to the finance committee, requesting to testify in opposition to the carbon tax increase on April 1. They were not granted a hearing, but some were allowed to testify before the Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan tabled a motion last Friday to allow the premiers who have yet to testify an opportunity to appear before the finance committee.
“Trudeau has ignored premiers and the majority of Canadians all to continue his carbon tax crusade and raise prices on Canadians. Not worth the cost,” wrote Hallan in a post to X.
Hallan’s motion was also debated on Tuesday. The motion calls on the committee to invite Premiers Furey, King, Houston, Ford, and Kinew to appear before the finance committee within two weeks of the motion’s adoption.
“Furthermore, the committee prioritize hearings with the premiers above all other business,” concluded the motion.
Hallan reported that the NDP, Liberals. and Bloc Québecois voted against the motion, stopping premiers from appearing before the committee.
“I think he’s too scared. Trudeau is in hiding. He’s hiding from me at QP today. I just learned he won’t show up to debate me on the carbon tax in the house today. But do you blame him? He’s losing the debate. Canadians want to axe the tax. There’s going to be a carbon tax election. And whether Trudeau hides from me or not, he’s going to have to face me in a carbon tax election,” said Poilievre.
Although the motion’s passage is non-binding, it signals a shift in parliamentary sentiment toward carbon tax discussions. The onus now falls on Trudeau to decide whether he will host the meeting.
InfoWars founder Alex Jones hit back at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and chastised the Canadian leader for his criticism regarding the controversial news show host’s endorsement of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
Trudeau attacked Poilievre during Question Period in the House of Commons on Tuesday for not immediately denouncing Alex Jones’ support.
“But speaking of misinformation and disinformation, any responsible leader that receives an endorsement and support from proven conspiracy theorist and liar Alex Jones would have immediately denounced that. But that’s not what the leader of the opposition did. He did absolutely nothing because those kinds of endorsements fit within his political strategy,” said Trudeau.
True North previously reported Jones’ endorsement of Poilievre. “Been following this guy for years, and he is the real deal! Canada desperately needs many more leaders like him, and so does the rest of the world,” Jones said of Poilievre.
A spokesperson for the Conservatives told True North that “we do not follow the individual you mention or listen to what he says. Common sense Conservatives are listening to the priorities of the millions of Canadians that want to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, and stop the crime. It is the endorsement of hard-working, everyday Canadians that Conservatives are working to earn.”
Prior to Jones posting an almost 11-minute video, much of which was in response to Trudeau, he posted a video to X where Trudeau lashed out at Poilievre with the aforementioned captions.
“Is this the same Trudeau that gave a standing ovation to an actual Nazi war criminal from WW2?” Jones wrote in the post’s caption.
Following that, Jones posted a lengthy video to X, Alex Jones Responds to Justin Trudeau’s attack.
“Trudeau only won with 20% of the vote but did a parliamentary procedure to stay in power. He came out and attacked me yesterday, and it’s totally blown up in his face,” said Jones.
For the 20% calculation, Jones was likely calculating the 5,556,835 total votes cast for the Liberal party in the 2021 election. This would amount to approximately 20.2% of the total 27,509,496 votes cast. The Conservative party received more votes, a total of 5,742,635.
As for the parliamentary procedure, Jones could have been referencing the Liberal-NDP coalition that has allowed the minority Liberal government to maintain power in the House of Commons.
Jones continued describing Trudeau during his video.
“We’re talking about globalists trying to put people in jail for life. Prime Minister Trudeau, who again says he wants to be a dictator. He admires dictatorships. He’s trying to pass a law right now for life in prison for speech. He throws peaceful protestors in jail. He shuts down churches for years while liquor stores, topless bars, and Walmart are open. This guy is a real tyrant,” said Jones.
True North previously reported that renowned podcast host Joe Rogan had echoed similar claims against Trudeau. Rogan called Trudeau a dictator and said that Canada had become a communist country.
He added that Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, said that Trudeau served as a model for the WEF penetrating government cabinets worldwide.
Polling Canada’s most recent polling shows that the Conservatives will form a majority government if the voting aligns with the numbers from its polling.
“So, this guy is wildly unpopular, but with parliamentarian manipulations, with only 20% of the vote, he was able to continue as Prime Minister,” said Jones.
Jones warned listeners that while people in power, such as Trudeau and Hillary Clinton, are attacking him and other independent media creators like Tucker Carlson, the public is the real target.
“They’re coming for you. Living on your knees is no place to live. Let’s live on our feet… It’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees… A hero dies once, but the coward dies a thousand deaths,” said Jones.
