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Monday, October 6, 2025

Business leaders rally behind Poilievre’s pledge to end Ottawa gravy train

Source: Facebook

Vancouver business leaders are applauding Pierre Poilievre’s no-nonsense message to end corporate welfare, the head of a city trade group says.

Greater Vancouver Board of Trade CEO Bridgitte Anderson says the Conservative leader’s keynote address, his first to a trade and commerce group since winning the Conservative leadership in 2022, hit on important points for beleaguered business owners.

Poilievre addressed the Vancouver Board of Trade Friday morning with a pledge to end corporate handouts and make big businesses work for Canadians and not the promise of government cash. 

“My message to corporate Canada is that when I’m prime minister, if you want any of your policy agenda pushed forward, you’re going to have to convince not just me but the people of Canada that it is good for them,” Poilievre told the crowd of over 300 business leaders. 

“When I meet with resource companies and they come to Ottawa, all they do is sign up to the Liberal government. They have no backbone and no courage. I want to see corporate leaders fighting for their workers and fighting for the paycheques instead of sucking up to the very people who are blocking these jobs and destroying them.” 

Despite his uncharacteristically critical tone, Poilievre touted free enterprise and that message resonated with business leaders in the room who gave him a standing ovation. 

In an interview with True North, Anderson said Poilievre made his “no more easy time in Ottawa” message clear and it’s getting a reaction from the business community. 

“I would say business leaders in Vancouver reacted to that call for accountability and no more easy time in Ottawa. I think Mr. Poilievre made it clear that he is supportive of a free enterprise system but he does want to see average Canadians get ahead,” Anderson told True North. 

The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade represents over 5,000 members, a majority of which are small- and medium-sized businesses suffering from affordability issues, according to Anderson. 

“They are job creators. The couples that have the corner stores or the small retailers. I think that message probably aligned really well with what many of our members have been feeling,” she said. 

Anderson told True North that the struggling businesses are looking for solutions. 

“Hearing some solutions,regardless of political stripe,is really important. It’s a very, very complex time, whether we’re talking about mental health and addiction or we’re talking about the complex crisis in housing,” explained Anderson. 

“To hear any political leader come forward with solutions that will end in some meaningful change, I think that’s what connected with the crowd here.”

During the one-hour speech and moderated conversation, Poilievre laid out his plan to make it easier to do business in Canada by cutting taxes and ridding the culture of government handouts. 

While speaking before the board, Poilievre also announced that he was calling on BC NDP Premier David Eby to pause the upcoming provincial carbon tax hike and then “axe the tax” altogether. 

Off the Record | Unhinged pro-Hamas protesters are everywhere

Source: Spectre Journal

It’s Friday! Sit back, grab a drink and enjoy the latest episode of Off the Record with Candice Malcolm, Andrew Lawton and Rachel Emmanuel!

This week, masked pro-Hamas protesters continued to harass Jewish people, force the cancellation of events and stalk politicians – including Justin Trudeau and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Is the left finally eating its own?

Plus, are serial killers and rapists living better lives than most Canadians? According to Conservative MP Frank Caputo, when he went for a tour of a medium-security prison, killers such as Paul Bernardo and Luka Magnotta had access to a hockey rink and a tennis court.

And are homeless encampments now part of the “fabric” of Canadian cities? According to a city official in London, Ontario, they are here to stay and we need to find ways to support them.

These stories and more on Off the Record!

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“Safe supply” drugs being sold on streets by organized crime: police

Source: Prince George RCMP (Twitter)

Police are sounding the alarm about drugs distributed through “safe supply” programs following a seizure of thousands of opioids in British Columbia.

“Organized crime groups are actively involved in the redistribution of safe supply and prescription drugs,” Corp. Jennifer Cooper of the RCMP’s Prince George detachment told the National Post.

Police seized large quantities of drugs obtained through so-called safe supply prescriptions during a recent raid in Prince George, B.C.

“Many of the pills that were seized had been prescribed to specific individuals but were found all collected together, no longer belonging to those individuals,” added Cooper. “It might mean how we regulate our safe supply might need a sober second glance.”

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith echoed these concerns, treating the drug bust as vindication for the Alberta government’s approach to drug and addiction issues.

“Alberta has been warning for years that diversion of high-potency opioids from these programs could be diverted and trafficked across Canada, potentially causing irreparable harm and death in communities across the country,” Smith said. “In Alberta, we have made the provision of ‘safe supply’ illegal to prevent this very thing from happening. Unfortunately, that does not stop organized criminals from bringing it here illegally from other provinces.”

Smith has asked Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis and Addiction Minister Dan Williams to request an emergency meeting with their counterparts in British Columbia due to the “serious concern of diversion becoming evident and the reality that these drugs may be ending up for resale in Alberta,”

Cooper said that the growing problem first became evident several months ago.

“What we have seen in Prince George is people taking prescribed medication, some of which is dedicated as safe supply prescription drugs, and selling them to organized crime groups in exchange for more potent illicit drugs. The organized crime groups are then taking the prescription drugs and selling them interprovincially across Canada.”

The reason for the diversion is likely tied to recipients wanting something stronger than what they are being prescribed through “safe supply” programs, or something not currently being offered.

Several organized crime groups were discovered to have been involved in safe supply diversion rings after the RCMP’s Street Crew Unit obtained search warrants for their investigation.

The investigation led to the seizure of over 10,000 pills, including hydromorphone, codeine, gabapentin and dextroamphetamine. Investigators also discovered large quantities of what is presumed to be fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.

A second investigation led to the seizure of over two kilograms of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine, in addition to thousands of prescription pills and cash.

Both morphine and hydromorphone are pharmaceutical opioids which are regularly prescribed to Canadians through safe supply programs. 

These programs are intended to reduce the number of deaths as a result of drug overdoses by having government-funded alternatives provided to addicts in place of illicit drugs that could be tainted with toxins. 

For example, the program offers users hydromorphone to mitigate their addiction to fentanyl, which can only be acquired on the street and is far more lethal in its potency. 

Critics of these programs argue that the drugs paid for by tax dollars are then often quickly turned around and sold on the street, helping to fund organized crime, and the latest RCMP investigation in Prince Rupert only confirms those critiques.

A similar RCMP investigation in Campbell River, B.C. last month led to the seizure of 3,500 hydromorphone pills, amongst kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine, proving that divergence has become a regular practice.

Investigators in the Campbell River case said that there was plenty of evidence to suggest that the safe supply pills seized were part of “a well-organized drug trafficking operation.”

Cooper noted that another issue with diversion is that the buyer assumes the pills they are purchasing are safe to use because they initially came from a safe supply program, however that is not always the case. 

“It concerns us because the end users who are getting these prescription pills, it’s not been prescribed for them, they don’t know the dosages.

“They are sold in bundles of a variety of pills. People are mixing them and there are going to be people who don’t understand what they are purchasing and see that it is a prescription drug and assume it may be safe. But if it is not prescribed to you it is not safe.

“If these are getting into the hands of our youth or young adults who may think this is a safe way to get high, it is concerning to us.

“It’s also concerning that it’s another way for organized crime groups to make money very quickly with little to no effort on their part,” she added. “This is only perpetuating and possibly exacerbating the problem.”

A significant problem in discussing the issue, Cooper acknowledged, is that safe supply programs have been politically divisive since their inception. 

“I would guess this is going to get some political attention because we are pointing out what has been deemed safe is not being kept safe. It’s taxpayers that pay for this safe supply through our tax dollars that go towards our health units.

“It’s not only a problem for police, but it’s a problem for everybody who lives here and sees the cause and effects of this continuing to happen.”

Prince George is equal distance North of Vancouver as it is West of Edmonton, making it a key location for interprovincial distribution.

The Candice Malcolm Show | The authoritarian left is not happy with the CBC

Credit: Ted Eytan

The authoritarian left in Canada are not happy because the CBC in Quebec dared to do something that English CBC would never do.

The CBC told the truth about rapid onset gender dysphoria and the terrible and crippling impact it has on girls and young women who are lured down this path.

Candice Malcolm says a free society should applaud this type of real journalism and reject hysterical voices and activists who simply want to shut down conversation and debate.

It’s Fake News Friday on The Candice Malcolm Show.

Watch the Radio Canada documentary.

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The Daily Brief | Former chief justice predicts Online Harms bill will face challenges in court

Credit: Facebook

A former chief justice of the Supreme Court said that the federal government’s attempt to regulate online harms had legal flaws and will likely face challenges in court.

Plus, CBC’s French language counterpart Radio-Canada has released a documentary revealing how young people are quickly rushed into gender re-assignment by medical practitioners.

And two Liberal MPs want the Liberal government to find different avenues to help refugees in Gaza than resuming funding for the controversial UNRWA.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Isaac Lamoureux!

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Ontario teacher leaks “anti-racism” resource propaganda designed for K-6 students

Source: Facebook

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario released a new teaching resource called “Race Matters – Teaching Students to be Race-Conscious” for K-6 teachers. 

Complete with lesson plans and a glossary, the program aims to “examine race, racism, and anti-Black racism within the Canadian context” in the classroom.  

A copy of Race Matters was sent to True North by a concerned teacher and whistleblower, who wished to remain anonymous for fear that they would lose their job if identified. 

According to the authors of Race Matters, “Anti-Black racism remains deeply entrenched within Canadian institutions…. In Ontario’s publicly funded education system, this discrimination has not only persisted but has been further exposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd uprising.”

Some of the program’s goals for students in kindergarten up to grade three are to “identify race and ethnicity as they pertain to identity and to examine instances of anti-Black racism in Canada.” 

By the end of the module children as young as five years old will not only know how to finger paint, but they will also be able to identify the different types of racism and “explore the role of allyship in creating change.” 

According to the Race Matters glossary, allyship is the act of being an ally, which is a member of one social identity group who stands up in support of members of another group. The term ally is usually a member of a dominant group.

Some of the guiding questions for teachers to ask themselves while teaching the module are what their own biases and assumptions may be regarding race. 

“This is straight up woke racism being taught in schools. The public needs to know and pressure needs to be put on the Ontario government not to allow documents like this produced by the unions to be used in schools,” wrote the anonymous teacher in their email to True North.

Due to the uncomfortable nature of the subject matter for grades 4-6, certain module goals will require teachers to “acknowledge the discomfort” and “reflect on whether the discomfort is rooted in a lack of knowledge, guilt, fear, self- judgment, or something else.”

Once these feelings have been properly acknowledged, teachers are to affirm that they are “willing to learn more, grow as a teacher and person, and show up for your students, colleagues, parents, and community members.”

Upon reflection and completion of the module, teachers and students alike, will be able to “understand the meanings of “Black diaspora,” “anti-Black racism,” “colonialism,” “privilege,” “Black excellence,” and “Black joy.” 

For example, Black Joy is a term used to “highlight acts, experiences, and expressions of joy in the lives of Black people, often in opposition to the trauma, tragedy, and struggles perpetuated by anti-Black racism,” reads the glossary.

One of the aspects of Canadian misinformation that Race Matters would like to highlight is Canadians’ misunderstanding that slavery only occurred in the United States. 

While Canadians continue to bask in the “mythology of the Underground Railroad and our destination as a haven for those who were enslaved,” the authors argue that Canada was just as bad.

This is because “enslavement of Indigenous and Black people was common in New France and British North America throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, and slavery was not abolished in Canada until 1834,” meaning Canada managed to abolish slavery some 33 years before it actually became a country. 

However, “the history of anti-Black racism in this country is equally rooted in the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade as it is in America.” 

Race Matters also offers guidance for how teachers can create spaces for students to feel safe within the classroom, suggesting one way to do so is to “name racism and those who are responsible for perpetuating it. We must learn to ask, “How have white Canadians enacted and benefited from racism?” 

Despite the historical misconception that racism can be defined by acts of individuals, Race Matters teaches students that it is more “insidious, marked by microaggressions – everyday, subtle actions towards racialized groups that have lasting impacts on the way people interact within society.”

In teaching students to be race-conscious the guide was “created to meet the need for curriculum that addresses anti-Black racism.” 

Danielle Smith says recall legislation ‘unfair’ to voters due to high bar 

Source: Facebook

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says recall legislation being used in an attempt to unseat Calgary Mayor Jyodi Gondek is “a little unfair” because the bar is so high. 

The City of Calgary says 514,284 signatures are needed to recall Gondek, even while just 390,383 total votes were cast for all of the mayoral candidates combined in the 2021 election. 

Because of how the legislation is worded, those working on the recall campaign are seeking signatures from 40% of Calgary’s population — including children — rather than 40% of the electorate, Smith said. 

“If three times the number of people who voted for a person say that they want to reconsider it, then that seems to me to be a pretty strong expression of democracy, but it does give you an indication of just how high the bar actually is,” she said at an unrelated press conference on Thursday.

“And when I say we may have set it too high, is that it seems a little unfair that you’d have to have a petition campaign that would include everyone under the age of 18 (and) people who are not eligible to vote because they’re not citizens.”

Smith said the recall legislation is currently under review, but there won’t be any changes while a recall campaign is ongoing. 

Petitioner Landon Johnston agrees the criterion is ridiculous. In an interview with True North last week, he said it’s “statistically impossible” to get enough signatures. 

“It was never meant to be 40% of the population,” he said. “I just want to prove that this would be impossible… hopefully they’ll change it.” 

Kristy Koehler, executive director of the citizen’s advocacy group Common Sense Calgary, told True North that the requirement to collect signatures from a minimum of 40% of the population is “insurmountable.”

“Add in requirements for paper signatures, witnesses, and the short time limit of 60 days, and the odds are stacked against the petitioner,” she said. 

Gondek has said she won’t resign before the next election in October 2025, although in an interview with CTV, she did say the campaign to recall her “stings a little bit.”

A December 2023 ThinkHQ survey conducted among 1,116 Calgarians revealed a 30%approval rating for Gondek’s performance. That rating was down six points from June and came after Gondek announced a 7.8% residential tax hike.

ThinkHQ president Marc Henry said the numbers facing Gondek and council are the lowest he’s seen in Calgary.

B.C. Conservatives call for Eby’s resignation over anti-Jewish hate in province

Source: Facebook

British Columbia’s Conservative leader, John Rustad, is calling for Premier David Eby to step down. The party also said that British Columbia’s Attorney General Niki Sharma’s lack of action is an unfair, politically motivated “double-standard” being applied by the NDP government on incidents of anti-Jewish hate speech and antisemitism. 

“Attorney General Sharma has been missing-in-action on issues of antisemitism and Anti-Jewish hate,” said the Conservative Party of British Columbia in its press release posted to X on Thursday. 

The call for resignation follows the revelation of rampant antisemitism within the NDP party exposed in a letter by MLA Selina Robinson to her former NDP colleagues.

Robinson was previously the postsecondary education minister but resigned at Eby’s request. The former minister is Jewish and had criticized the lack of Holocaust education among young people. The comments were subsequently condemned by anti-Israel activists who accused Robinson of anti-Palestinian racism. 

Her constituency office was vandalized with antisemitic messages following the controversy. Some messages included “there is only one solution, intifada revolution,” “Zionism is Nazism,” “No Zionists aka Jewish supremacists, as our MLA.” 

She told Eby that she didn’t want to resign but if he and the caucus wanted her to, she would not fight him on it. 

Robinson’s letter called out several of her NDP colleagues for their apathy and lack of solidarity towards B.C.’s Jewish community and also for her colleague’s alleged antisemitism.

She had initially sent a group email to more than 35 MLAs, calling on them to join her in speaking at a vigil just days after the Oct. 7 attack. She received little response and said she was embarrassed at the turnout from her colleagues. 

She highlighted in her letter that Aman Sign, the parliamentary secretary for the environment, and MLA Kartina Chen replied to her colleagues in the initial email chain. In their reply, they asked the government to make a public statement about the plight of Palestinians instead. 

After watching Hamas terrorists celebrate the horrific murder of approximately 1,200 Jews, two of Robinson’s colleagues wanted to move quickly past what happened and “refocus government on a geopolitical conflict that has been going on for years,” she said.

“But it wasn’t their antisemitism that broke my heart. It was your silence to their antisemitism that hurt the most. Not a single one of you responded to their insensitive, disrespectful, and inappropriate email. No one. Your silence broke my heart that day. You abandoned me and my community that day,” she said. 

Robinson said she plans on sitting as an independent in the B.C. legislature. 

Conservative MLA Candidate for Victoria—Beacon Hill, Tim Thielmann, drafted a 26-page legal brief on the anti-Israel demonstrations taking place since the Oct. 7 massacres. Advanced copies have been provided to Police Chief Del Manek and Attorney General Sharma. 

“The memo documents the ongoing violations of criminal laws by Victoria’s antisemitic extremists and the legal basis on which other blockades and hate speech have been successfully prosecuted,” said the Conservative Party of B.C.’s press release.

The documents included a decision from May 2023 from the B.C. Provincial Court, which upheld the constitutionality of RCMP arrests of old-growth protestors who had temporarily blocked traffic in Nanaimo.

In Victoria, anti-Israel demonstrators have marched through the streets illegally obstructing roads, praising Hamas, and shouting chants for “intifada,” according to the B.C. Conservative Party’s press release. No arrests have been made in relation to these protests. An anti-Israel demonstration in Vancouver last weekend blocked the Granville Street Bridge.

The B.C. Conservatives said that they have learned that Victoria’s Police Chief has, in a private meeting, pinned his department’s reluctance to make arrests on the unwillingness of Crown prosecutors to proceed with charges. The prosecutors report to the Attorney General.

The Conservatives said that they have been repeatedly calling on Premier Eby and Attorney General Sharma to act on extreme anti-Jewish hate speech by Victoria imam, Younus Kathrada, for months. Kathrada has called publicly for the “annihilation of the plunder Jews,” said the party.

Kathrada also praised Hamas martyrs and instructed children in his congregation to consider non-Muslims as the “enemies of Allah,” added the B.C. Conservatives’ press release. 

Jewish leaders, Muslim leaders, and the public have all repeatedly denounced Kathrada since he began delivering hate sermons in 2018, but neither Sharma nor Eby have approved prosecutions during their respective terms, said the party.

“The Premier must resign,” concluded the party’s press release.

True North reached out to Premier David Eby and Attorney General Niki Sharma but received no response.

LEVY: Anti-Israel protesters celebrate female hijacker for International Women’s Day

Source: Twitter + Instagram

Since the atrocities of Oct. 7, an entrepreneurial group of Jewish women in Toronto have created a variety of pro-Israel bracelets, key chains and events  to raise money for IDF soldiers and wounded warriors in Israel.

Paula Zarnett-Shrott, one of the ladies, raised $3,800 for two charities and also donated some of the proceeds to the IDF for food.

Revi Laufer says she looked for ways to help as soon as the massacre and war started, coming up with the idea to sell items people can wear in “solidarity” while raising money for our brothers and sisters in Israel.

Through her “Am Yisrael Chai” (the people of Israel live) bracelets and other Israeli items including dog tags, hats and keychains, she has raised $14,000 to date.

“Right away people opened up their hearts and purchased lots of bracelets and items,” she said. “(It was) truly remarkable and heartwarming.”

So far her funds have been sent to Beit Halochem, which does a remarkable job rehabilitating wounded soldiers, and the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization.

I wear two bracelets everyday anywhere I go and plan to purchase more.

Laufer says she’s continuing to sell Israel items and hold community events to raise as much money and awareness as possible.

Esther Bakinka, who has stood at a street corner in a very Jewish area of Toronto every weekend quietly waving the flag of Israel, has organized a group called Canadian Women Against Antisemitism, which welcomes women of all religions and ethnic backgrounds.

She is planning an event for March 24 in Toronto to send a “clear message” that Canadian women will not tolerate violence and violent rhetoric, support of rape and the worst – calls for the annihilation of Jews.

They’ve done these good works quietly with little fanfare, advertising and selling their items through social media.

No screaming. No calls to eradicate Muslims. No spreading of lies about the conflict or rape denial on social media and in the streets of the GTA. 

They have spent the last five months trying to do what they can to support Israeli soldiers and their families since the brutal atrocities of Oct. 7 during which 1,200 innocent Israeli civilians were raped, burned to death and murdered in cold blood by the Hamas terrorists. More than 100 hostages are still being held by sadistic Hamas terrorists somewhere in Gaza.

I thought of all these women while viewing the video of an aggressive rally by a series of Muslim women in downtown Toronto last weekend — to mark International Women’s Day.

The annual tribute to women falls on Friday.

Zaheera Soomar, whose Instagram feed is chock full of Israel hate, led the march shouting “Resistance is Justified … When People are Occupied.”

In other words, this woman is claiming that the brutal rapes, murders and burnings were justified because Palestinians are victims. 

What she won’t say is that they are victims of Hamas – that’s who’s holding them captive – not Israel, because that wouldn’t fit with her hateful narrative.

Behind her are women holding signs celebrating the “accomplishments” of various Palestinian women and assorted female terrorists including Leila Khaled, a vile woman who was responsible for hijacking a plane from Rome to Tel Aviv in 1969.

Soomar proudly posted pictures of the women’s hatefest and the posters glorifying Khaled on Instagram, labelling it the Palestinian Women’s Day March.

On her Instagram feed this week, Soomar also posted a Jerusalem Post article in which she was called antisemitic. Her followers have cheered her on,  claiming Leila is their “hero.” They call Soomar a “resistance fighter.”’

Her post is backed up with Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” song.

Soomar gives a shoutout to her organizing committee who glorify the terrorists and have Instagram feeds full of hateful anti-Jewish rhetoric.

Here I thought the original purpose of International Women’s Day was to shine a spotlight on women’s rights with respect to gender equality and to call for positive change and respect for all women in countries and cultures where they are treated like chattel or worse, genitally mutilated.

In fact one of the day’s core values is respect for others – and the idea that we should all seek to understand others, caring for and valuing diversity and appreciating differences.

I doubt that its intent was to be hijacked by a bunch of Israel haters to block the streets of any city spewing hatred towards and lies about Jews and calling for the eradication of the Jewish state.

The women who marched glorifying terrorists – under the guise of celebrating International Women’s Day – are not freedom fighters.

Their hateful words do nothing to improve the situation of the residents of Gaza.

Unlike the entrepreneurial Jewish women, they aren’t raising money to help the Palestinians or exposing the truth of life under Hamas. And yes that includes how the terrorists are blocking aid to Gazans. The facts don’t fit with their narrative.

The fact that Israel is a democracy that celebrates women is also lost in their propaganda.

I highly doubt International Women’s Day was meant to glorify terrorists either – especially those who once hijacked a flight to Tel Aviv as part of a terrorist group called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine either.

Contrary to what these hateful women might think, strength is not being divisive or intimidating and screaming toxic Jew-hatred on the streets of Toronto.

That is not a way to earn respect as a woman.

Ratio’d | Justin Trudeau HECKLED AGAIN while snowboarding!

It’s not the fringe minority who Justin Trudeau is having to run away from anymore, it’s now the angry pro-Palestine protesters. Everywhere he or his Liberal cabinet go, masked pro-Hamas activists waving foreign flags are there to greet them. On Monday, while snowboarding in Thunder Bay, Trudeau was accosted by protesters on the ski hill, demanding that he do more for a foreign cause that has nothing to do with Canada.

Earlier in the week, his event with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had to be cancelled because a mob of protesters caused such a scene that the reception was deemed unsafe. The day after at a restaurant in Toronto, a fundraiser for Chrystia Freeland was swarmed by the same mob of angry protesters.

You reap what you sow. Trudeau declared in 2015 that Canada has no core identity and that our country is the first “post-national state.” Is it any wonder that people who come to this country no longer respect Canadian values?

Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner!

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