Earlier this week, NDP MP Charlie Angus introduced private member’s Bill C-372, which aims to ban fossil fuel advertisements, with fines of up to $1.5 million or imprisonment for violators. Modern Miracle Network head and Questerre Energy CEO Michael Binnion joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the potential impacts of such a ban on the energy industry.
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This week on the Alberta Roundup with Rachel Emmanuel, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre weighs in on the ongoing debate about parental rights. Also on the show, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith travels to Ottawa for meetings with federal ministers and announces a new Alberta office. Questions on her recent transgender policies dominate her visit.
Later, Rachel explains how a Liberal MP snubs Smith after challenging her to testify at his committee.
And finally, Rachel has details about a petition to recall Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
Tune into the Alberta Roundup now!
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A new documentary about BC provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry premiered in Victoria on Thursday evening as part of the Victoria Film Festival.
The film’s title?
“Our Time to be Kind.”
I gagged upon hearing the news.
British Columbians will know that Henry’s signature phrase from 2020-2022 was “Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe.” That’s also what she titled her book. In the film, she is seen with a tote bag with the same phrase printed on it.
How can Henry purport that her brand is about “kindness,” when it was under her pandemic public health orders that the unvaccinated were banned from working out at the gym, attending university, visiting a museum, and dining at a restaurant with friends and family?
Actually, in B.C., healthcare workers without the COVID vaccine are still barred from returning to work, despite the understaffed and strained healthcare system.
And I haven’t forgotten about the 12-year old boy with severe autism who was denied entry to an Indigo bookstore in Burnaby because he wasn’t able to put on a mask. A Paralympic swimmer born without hands, thus unable to affix a mask, was also turned away from the bookstore chain’s Vancouver location. How kind!
According to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, those who questioned masks were “irresponsible idiots” with “narcissistic, self-indulgent ways.”
I remember attending my first anti-lockdown protest in the spring of 2020 with a massive parade of others who were concerned about the effects of school closures on children, as well as how peoples’ mental health will be affected if they lose their jobs and are denied human connection.
Onlookers spat that we were “f***ing stupid.” It was all so… kind.
Anyhow, I bought a ticket to see the new documentary film, “Our Time to Be Kind,” because I like to see these things for myself.
And seeing as Henry herself would be at the premiere, which included a Q&A, I wanted to ask her what exactly was “kind” about her discriminatory rules.
The film itself was just as expected: Henry talked about how “kindness is a superpower” while also admitting she was taking away peoples’ liberties. She wept about how people really need to be able to gather during Christmastime, but she isn’t going to let them. To make it the whole package, the film also displayed an onscreen land acknowledgment and featured plenty of discussion about how B.C. is racist, colonialist and white supremacist.
There were a couple standout moments, such as when journalist Rob Shaw of CHEK News, who was interviewed in the documentary, said that the news media interviewed too many scientific experts who called into question Henry’s orders during the pandemic. According to Shaw, the media should have simply broadcasted Henry’s advice without questioning it.
Speaking of Rob Shaw, he was also at the premiere, and posted on social media that protesters outside the venue were blocking moviegoers from entering the cinema.
“These Covid whacko protesters can pound a big fat bag of sand,” he eloquently added.
“I had to run a gauntlet of them to get in. Disgusting people,” Global News reporter Keith Baldrey chimed in.
Rob Shaw’s claim that protesters were blocking the theatre is false.
A group of about 50 protesters were outside the venue, lined up in such a way that the cinema’s entry was completely unobstructed. The protesters taunted people as they entered, saying things such as “do you need a mask before you go in?” and “I bet you believe the vaccines are safe and effective, don’t you?”, but no one was prevented from entering or exiting the theatre.
One protester, Renee Fennell, attended the protest from Vancouver primarily due to BC’s “safe supply” program, which makes hydromorphone tablets available to drug addicts. Bonnie Henry recommended last week that pharmaceutical heroin and fentanyl be made available to the addicts as well.
“My main thing right now is the fentanyl for underage children,” Fennell told True North, pointing to evidence that shows government-supplied opioids have been found on the streets being resold to youth.
Bonnie Henry did ultimately make an appearance at the screening, but no audience questions were taken. (She remarked on stage that we’re not supposed to call lockdowns “lockdowns” anymore, they’re “restrictions.”)
Despite the non-violent nature of the protest outside, the film festival staff and moviegoers acted as if everyone’s lives were in danger.
“This is a volatile situation. Do not engage with the group outside. Verbal engagement is not going to get you anywhere tonight,” a police officer announced after the film was over. The police barked at the audience to remain seated as Bonnie Henry’s bodyguards escorted her out a secret exit.
One gentleman shouted in the crowd, asking the police officer if the protest outside could be deemed illegal, because their signs had messages such as “Bonnie Lied, People Died.”
The police officer said that, no, the protest outside was not legally actionable.
Attending the film premiere was a bit like reliving the 2020-2022 time period: the loathing that the pro-mask/pro-lockdown/pro-vaccine rule-followers have for the public health order skeptics became palpable again.
The pandemic was never a time of kindness and Bonnie Henry’s public health orders were not kind.
British Columbians shouldn’t let Henry get away with claiming kindness as her legacy.
Protesters were chanting "lock her up" and there's a lot of signage similar to protests at the height of the lockdowns.
— Cosmin Dzsurdzsa 🇷🇴 (@cosminDZS) February 9, 2024
The entrance to the film screening is largely unobstructed and moviegoers are freely entering. A few police cars in the area but don't see any officers yet. pic.twitter.com/9LZAb8u2Zs
Prime Minister Justine Trudeau expressed his discontent with Bell on Friday after the media giant announced that it would be laying off thousands of employees. Bell responded by saying Trudeau didn’t come through on promises of financial relief.
“I’m pretty pissed off about what’s just happened,” Trudeau said during a press conference in Toronto, calling the move a “garbage decision.”
Bell announced that it would be laying off 4,800 people “at all levels of the company,” the largest layoff in the company in almost 30 years.
The announcement comes less than a year after the company sold or closed nine radio stations and laid off 6% of its total employees last spring.
Additionally, the company will be ending multiple television newscasts, among other programming cuts, after its parent company, BCE Inc., announced that it would be selling 45 of its 103 regional radio stations.
“This is the erosion not just of journalism, of quality local journalism at a time where people need it more than ever, given misinformation and disinformation … It’s eroding our very democracy, our abilities to tell stories to each other,” said Trudeau.
The money saved from the job cuts will allow for a larger payout in dividends to Bell’s shareholders.
“I’m furious. This was a garbage decision by a corporation that should know better,” said Trudeau.
“We need those local voices and over the past years, corporate Canada — and there are many culprits on this — have abdicated their responsibility toward the communities that they have always made very good profits off of in various ways.”
While Trudeau expressed his anger with Bell, its chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson laid the blame at the feet of Trudeau’s own government.
According to Malcolmson, the Trudeau government has taken too long to provide media companies with the financial relief it had promised.
“We’ve been advocating for reform for years. It’s not coming fast enough and when it does come, it doesn’t provide meaningful help,” Malcolmson told CBC News, connecting the layoffs to Bill C-11.
The bill made changes to the Broadcasting Act to require online streaming platforms like Netflix, YouTube and Tiktok to produce and promote Canadian content.
However, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has yet to announce how much foreign streaming companies should have to compensate the Canadian government for the required content.
Malcolmson accused the CRTC of stalling on the details of a “crisis that is immediate.”
Federal Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge blames Bell for not upholding its promise to produce quality news at the local level.
“They’re still making billions of dollars. They’re still a very profitable company and they still have the capacity and the means to hold up their end of the bargain, which is to deliver news reports,” said St-Onge on Thursday.
Critics of Bill C-11 see it as a form of censorship, one that could easily be manipulated for political gain.
“We will move quickly in the early part of my term to overturn C-11 and other censorship and put Canadians in charge of what they see and say online,” said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in response to the layoffs.
Poilievre claimed that the real reason for the layoffs was that Trudeau’s government has created a poor business environment, due to unnecessarily high taxes and policies that don’t promote competition.
“We have been stepping up over the past years, fighting for local journalism, fighting for investments that we can have, while all the while fending off attacks from Conservatives and others who say, ‘No, no, no, you’re trying to buy off journalists,'” said Trudeau in response to Poilievre.
The British Columbia government’s decision to limit the sale of nicotine pouches to pharmacies only has sparked outrage from the Consumers’ Association of Canada.
The consumer group says the move, which was announced yesterday without any prior consultation with consumers, contradicts the province’s harm reduction approach and denies smokers access to a safer alternative to cigarettes.
Nicotine pouches are a type of nicotine replacement therapy that has been approved by Health Canada as a way to help smokers quit or reduce their tobacco consumption.
They are small pouches that contain nicotine and other ingredients that are placed under the lip and release nicotine into the bloodstream.
The Consumers’ Association of Canada president Bruce Cran called the restriction “one of the most ridiculous and counterproductive measures” he has seen in his 50 years as a consumer advocate.
He questioned the rationale behind the decision, which was based on the premise of preventing youth use of nicotine pouches.
“Under what possible pretense could a province that has championed safe supply and harm reduction make it more difficult to access a nicotine replacement therapy that is in high demand from adult smokers,” said Cran.
“It is beyond my comprehension that a harm reduction champion like BC would restrict access to a Health Canada-approved nicotine replacement therapy. Governments should be encouraging smokers to switch to these products, not making them more difficult to access.”
The consumer rights group says it will fight against the sales restriction and urges consumers who use nicotine pouches to voice its opposition to Health Minister Adrian Dix.
“The minister made this order without consulting consumers. That is unacceptable. He will hear from them now,” Cran said.
At the same time, the British Columbia government is looking to expand its so-called “safe supply” program to provide even more addicts with government narcotics.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend towards divesting from oil and gas assets, driven by concerns about climate change and environmental sustainability. In this latest instalment of the Unjust Transition series, Aspenleaf Energy CEO Bryan Gould sits down with True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the hidden costs and unintended consequences of oil and gas divestment.
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Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he would implement mandatory minimum prison sentences for people convicted of extortion during a press conference in Surrey B.C., where organized crime against businesses has been on the rise.
Extortion increased by 218% since 2015, with violent crime increasing 39% over that same time period.
“In just eight years, there has been a terrifying increase of extortion across Canada. What happened eight years ago? Justin Trudeau was elected,” said Poilievre in a press release on Friday.
“His reckless approach to extortion has unleashed crime and chaos in our once-peaceful towns and suburbs, making Canada a haven for organized crime and gangs.”
Extortion-related crimes continue to be reported to police at an exponential rate across Canada, with the annual rate in 2022 being five times higher than it was in 2012.
It’s particularly present in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, where it’s gone up by 263%, 284% and 386% respectively.
It’s felt most in Vancouver, which has seen a 228% spike in extortion since 2015.
The Greater Toronto Area also saw an increase of 155% over the last eight years.
“Common sense Conservatives will fix the damage Trudeau has caused by making sure that the extortionists who scare and intimidate our neighbours stay in jail for longer,” said Poilievre.
“We will go after the leaders of these organized crime rings to make sure they get shut down once and for all. Extortion has no place in Canada. Conservatives will bring home safe streets for all Canadians.”
The Conservatives blame Trudeau’s passing of Bill C-5, a federal legislation that eliminated mandatory jail sentences for someone committing extortion with a firearm.
Poilievre promised to reinstate a mandatory four-year prison sentence for such an offence.
He also cited Bill C-75, which makes it easier for offenders to get bail, as part of the problem in Canada’s growing crime wave over the past several years.
Referring to it as “catch-and-release bail,” the Conservative leader promised to repeal the bill.
He also said his government would impose a mandatory minimum sentence of three years to anyone found convicted of extortion.
Furthermore, it would impose a five year minimum sentence to anyone found to be “acting on behalf of gangs or organized crime.”
The Conservatives believe this would allow police and prosecutors more options to take down the ring leaders of these gangs organized crime operations.
Additionally, they would make arson an aggravating factor for the charge of extortion.
The announcement comes in the aftermath of Surrey seeing a spike in extortion threats, including arson, on businesses owned by South-Asian Canadians.
As auto thefts have become more prevalent in Canada’s biggest cities, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s justice minister has had their government vehicle stolen three times in the past three years.
According to a report from the CBC, documents tabled in the House of Commons show that Trudeau’s justice ministers David Lametti and Arif Virani have had their government-issued vehicles stolen multiple times.
Most recently, Minister Virani had his Toyota Highlander XLE stolen this past November, requiring authorities to recover the SUV.
That same vehicle was stolen by thieves and recovered by authorities just ten months prior in February 2023 when Lametti was serving as minister of justice.
By this point, Lametti was no stranger to having his government-issued vehicle stolen, as in February 2021, a different Toyota Highlander was stolen from the minister.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre mocked Minister Virani on X for having his vehicle stolen.
“These car thieves have no gratitude. They keep stealing the car of the guy who keeps letting them out of jail to do it,” said Poilievre.
The scourge of organised criminals stealing Canadians’ vehicles en masse and illegally exporting them to Africa and the Middle East has drawn the ire of the Canadian public.
In Toronto, instances of motor vehicle theft have increased by over 350% from 2015-2023 while the Region of Peel has been reeling from an over 200% increase from 2020-2024. This has caused insurance rates to rise for the average Canadian auto owner, further inflaming cost of living concerns.
On Thursday, the Trudeau government held a national summit on combating auto theft where they announced a $28 million commitment to the Canada Border Security Agency to combat the export of stolen vehicles.
RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme recently spoke on the threat auto theft poses to Canadians and how the RCMP is working to combat this problem.
“I share the concerns raised here today that vehicle theft is reaching concerning volumes with a level of violence never seen in Canada, and it is impacting community safety and well-being across the country,” said Duheme.
Earlier this week, Poilievre announced his party’s new platform to combat auto thefts, promising “jail not bail” for repeat car thieves and significant penalties for theft that’s connected with organised crime.
“A common sense Conservative government will fix the criminal code to put the criminals in jail, we will reform the RCMP to stop organised crime, and we will secure our ports to keep the illegal drugs and guns out and our cars in the country,” said Poilievre at a Monday press conference.
Justice Minister Virani ridiculed Poilievre’s plan in question period, claiming that the Trudeau government was already getting tough on auto thieves.
“Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition purports to be tough on crime,” said Virani.
“Who do I listen to about crime measures? Police officers. What do they tell me? They tell me that this is not an individual crime; this is backed by people who are organised criminals. How do we deal with that? We get tough on money laundering.”
The federal government is contemplating a rebrand of its carbon pricing program in hopes of addressing supposed confusion and misconceptions about the controversial scheme. Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta director Kris Sims joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the Liberal’s latest attempt to rehabilitate their image and recapture public support.
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A ban on smoking in private spaces and a phase-out of tobacco sales are among the measures Health Canada planned to offer up at the World Health Organization’s annual tobacco control conference this week.
A Health Canada tobacco control official said these are within the scope of the global treaty governing tobacco restrictions and should be presented to countries as they decide what policies to entertain.
Laura Smith, the director of tobacco and vaping policy in Health Canada’s Tobacco Control Directorate, delivered a presentation on “forward-looking tobacco control measures” at a November webinar hosted by Europe’s Joint Action on Tobacco Control initiative.
The session was a lookahead to the World Health Organization’s annual conference of the parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The conference, called COP10, is taking place in Panama.
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was signed in 2003 “to protect present and future generations from the devastating health, social, environmental and economic consequences of tobacco consumption and exposure to tobacco smoke.”
The convention sets out universal standards for limiting tobacco, but as Smith noted in her presentation, countries are encouraged to “implement measures beyond those required by this Convention and its protocols” and impose “stricter requirements that are consistent” with the agreement.
One example provided by Smith was “smokefree private spaces (regulate or ban smoking in private places).
“Smoke-free private spaces involve the regulation of smoking in private places such as homes, vehicles, multi-unit housing, government-subsidized housing, balconies, patios, and yards belonging to housing complexes,” Smith said.
These policies have not been publicly proposed by the Canadian government.
Smith said that Canada would propose at the Panama conference the formation of an “expert group on tobacco control measures that are forward-looking” and within the scope of the WHO’s tobacco control framework.
In a statement to True North, a Health Canada spokesperson said Canada isn’t proposing any specific policies, but rather seeks to “generate new discussions.”
“Canada’s draft decision does not advocate for any one tobacco control measure. Rather, the intent of the draft decision is to generate new discussions and reinvigorate the collective response to the global tobacco epidemic,” the spokesperson said. “Specifically, the draft decision proposes to establish an expert group on tobacco control measures beyond those required by the (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control), within the scope of Article 2.1.”
If Canada’s draft decision is adopted, parties to the convention will “identify and describe forward-looking tobacco control measures that expand or intensify approaches to tobacco control as they apply to tobacco products” and prepare a report ahead of COP11 next year.
All levels of government have a hand in smoking regulations. Smoking is banned in virtually all indoor public spaces across Canada and many outdoor public spaces.
There is no blanket ban on smoking in homes or cars, but all provinces prohibit smoking in vehicles carrying children. Smoking is not illegal in apartment and condo units, but some buildings have instituted their own bans.
Other policy examples provided by Smith include limiting tobacco sales to “specialist stores,” a “polluter pays” framework that would force the tobacco industry to account for “environmental costs,” and imposing a “health levy or solidarity levy on the tobacco industry.”
Smith also discussed the idea of a “sinking lid” strategy on the amount of tobacco able to be sold each year. The amount would lower over time with the goal of eventually phasing out tobacco sales altogether.
COP 10 concludes Saturday.
This article has been updated to include a response from Health Canada.
