The federal government has initiated the search for vendors to manage its Firearms Buyback Program, marking the next phase in Justin Trudeau’s controversial gun grab scheme. Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights executive director Rod Giltaca joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the potential implications for law-abiding gun owners.
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Earlier this week, the Federal Court declared Justin Trudeau’s use of the Emergencies Act unconstitutional, prompting the Liberals to announce their intent to appeal the decision. Canadian Constitution Foundation litigation director Christine Van Geyn joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to break down the ruling and outline the possible next steps in this ongoing legal saga.
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This week on the Alberta Roundup with Rachel Emmanuel, Rachel discusses the left melting down over Tucker Carlson’s visit to Alberta. While appearing on Carlson’s show, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced that she would double Alberta’s oil and gas production.
Also on the show, there was an active shooter at Edmonton City Hall this week and gunshots can be heard during a recording of a city council committee meeting.
And finally, CSIS is warning Alberta of foreign entities wishing to exert their influence due to the province’s economy, resources and large number of ethnic communities.
Tune into the Alberta Roundup now!
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Alberta’s Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ric McIver, will investigate whether municipal single-use item bylaws in Edmonton and Calgary violate the Municipal Government Act, announced Premier Danielle Smith on Thursday.
Calgary passed a single-use item bylaw in mid-January, requiring businesses to provide cutlery, condiments, and shopping bags only by request. Paper and reusable bags are each accompanied by a fee.
Edmonton’s single-use item bylaw has been in place since last year, but councillors moved to increase the fees for paper and reusable bags last week, which is set to come in effect by July 1. Edmonton’s bylaw has banned plastic bags from stores, but paper bags can be sold for 15 cents, and reusable bags cost $1.
By July 1, Edmonton’s charge for paper bags goes from 15 cents to 25 cents. The charge for a reusable bag will double, from $1 to $2.
Edmonton’s bylaw aims to reduce waste by targeting items that can be easily avoided or replaced with reusable options, according to the city’s website.
“The goal is to reduce single-use items, not to switch from plastic items to non-plastic items,” reads the website.
Edmonton city staff admitted that they do not have data to show whether the fee is serving its purpose of cutting back on waste in a committee meeting earlier this week, according to Global News.
Speaking at an unrelated conference on Thursday, Smith was asked about the bylaws in light of the Federal Court ruling which found the federal single-use plastics ban to be unreasonable and unconstitutional.
“I heard there was near-mutiny on wing night in some restaurants because you have to ask whether or not people want napkins. I mean, some things are just so obvious that you need napkins when it’s wing night,” said Smith.
Despite starting off her response with a humorous touch, Smith clarified that she does not support the single-use item bylaws.
“I’m not supportive of the decisions in both Calgary and Edmonton, but I’ve put it to my Minister of Municipal Affairs to see if they’ve gone outside the realm of the MGA,” she said. “I think there’s a little bit of ideology getting ahead of common sense here.”
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he is confident that the city’s bylaw is in accordance with its authority under the Act.
“The MGA authorizes the city to pass bylaws for environmental purposes and to regulate businesses,” he said in a statement to Global News.
Josh Dehaas, counsel for the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), said that he understands people’s frustration with these bylaws, having himself recently sat at Edmonton’s Swiss Chalet. He said he was dumbfounded when he wasn’t given cutlery with his quarter chicken dinner.
Dehaas said he’s no expert in Alberta’s Municipal Government Act, so he doesn’t know whether either city followed the correct procedures. However, he said that even if the bylaws were properly enacted, the Alberta legislature could change the law to take away the power of municipal councillors to pass these kinds of bylaws.
“That’s because provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over municipalities granted to them under section 92(8) of the Constitution Act, 1867,” said Dehaas. “As was reiterated by the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2021 decision that confirmed the constitutionality of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cuts to the size of Toronto city council, municipalities are ‘creatures of provincial statute’ and provinces have ‘absolute and unfettered legal power to do with them as [they] will.’”
Smith said that if there’s a garbage management problem, the province should instead figure out how to manage that. She said that Edmonton is doing a waste-to-energy project, as is a similar project in Southern Alberta.
“I think we have to have policies that put people first, and some of these are really just putting ideology ahead of common sense,” she said.
While Sohi said that single-use item bylaws are a common feature of waste bylaws in several major cities in Alberta and North America, Smith said that this bylaw seems to be happening only in Calgary and Edmonton, not other municipalities.
While McIver has been tasked with investigating the municipalities, Smith recommended that, in the meantime, people call their councillors and mayors to tell them what they think of the bylaws.
“In the meantime, call your councillor and call your mayor and tell them what you think of these because I can tell you it’s not happening in every municipality. It just seems that it’s happening in Calgary and Edmonton.”
Canada has joined the United States in suspending funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East following allegations of staff involvement in Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.
This development reflects a growing concern among donor nations regarding the integrity and neutrality of international humanitarian organizations.
Canada’s minister of international development, Ahmed Hussen, released a statement Friday confirming that Canada would temporarily pause funding to UNRWA during the investigation. He said that he had spoken with the UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini to express Canada’s alarm about allegations of his agency’s staff being involved in Hamas’s brutal terrorist attacks against Israel on October 7.
“Should the allegations prove to be accurate, Canada expects UNRWA to immediately act against those determined to have been involved in Hamas’s terrorist attacks,” wrote Hussen in his statement. “As UNRWA undertakes this investigation, Canada will not reduce its support to the people of Gaza. Canada will continue to work with other partners to provide life-saving assistance to civilians in Gaza.”
Canada’s decision comes in the wake of a broader international reaction to the incident, with the United States announcing earlier in the day a temporary halt to its funding of UNRWA shortly after the allegations surfaced.
“The United States is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” stated US Department of State’s spokesperson Matthew Miller in a press statement issued on Friday.
Citizens across Canada were calling on the federal government to follow suit and suspend its funding to the UNRWA.
Independent MP Kevin Vuong said in a post to X that he called for Hussen to review UNRWA’s funding last year.
Since then, Vuong said that Switzerland has voted to cut its funding to the organization, the US has halted its funding, the Secretary-General of the UN has called for an investigation, and the UNRWA has fired staff implicated in October 7 terrorism.
“Will @HonAhmedHussen finally act?” asked Vuong in his post.
Vuong’s answer came only a few hours after Hussen’s statement surfaced.
Many other Canadians were echoing Vuong’s call to action for the federal government during the day on Friday.
One of those citizens was David Granovsky, Director of Government Relations for B’nai Brith Canada, the country’s oldest independent Jewish human rights organization.
“@bnaibrithcanada believes that it is imperative that Canada pause its funding of #UNRWA and that the @un immediately commence its proposed comprehensive review of UNRWA and its role in the October 7th massacre,” he wrote in a post to X, tagging Hussen.
The UNRWA, known for its humanitarian work in Gaza, has been under scrutiny after Israel provided evidence suggesting the involvement of several agency employees in the October attacks.
In response, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini issued a statement.
“I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay,” he said. “Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.
Despite pausing its funding, Hussen said that Canada remains deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and continues to call for the rapid, sustained, and unimpeded passage of essential relief so that it can reach those in need.
“We urge all parties to uphold international humanitarian law,” said Hussen.
Doubling down on your failures can only lead to more problems. This is especially true of Canada’s broken health care system.
Imagine your friend runs a spaghetti restaurant. It’s never really managed to get the job done: customers wait far too long for their orders, people are getting the wrong dishes, and the portions are too small. The government sets up complicated regulations that effectively stop anyone else from selling spaghetti, giving this restaurant no reason to improve its services.
This friend mentions to you that they’ve been thinking of buying the ice cream shop across the street.
Would you tell them it’s a good idea to take on yet another responsibility? Common sense would suggest that they figure out how to run their business effectively before taking on new projects.
Despite government-run health care failing pretty much across the country, the federal government has created a national dental insurance program and some federal politicians continue to flirt with the idea of a national pharmacare program.
The Canadian health care system is run like that failing spaghetti restaurant. It’s basically a government monopoly – and it’s not working out. Tens of thousands are dying on waitlists each year. Wait times are longer than ever. About one in eight Canadians is waiting for surgery, a diagnostic scan, or to see a specialist.
Considering governments have struggled with health care delivery for decades, why do some think they should take on dental care and a national pharmaceutical care program?
The federal government is dead set on getting involved in dental care. It plans to launch a new government dental insurance plan this year. For now, thankfully, it doesn’t plan to ban private insurance. But that could easily change down the line – like we saw with health care.
More concerning is the push to nationalize pharmaceutical care. Many Canadians rely on life-saving drugs – heart medication, insulin for diabetics, etc. And they’re able to get this important medication quickly and efficiently in a privately-run setting The federal Liberal-NDP coalition hasn’t yet worked out all of the details of their plan, but the NDP hopes to create a universal, single-payer system, just like we currently have for most aspects of health care. The Liberals haven’t yet committed to going that far.
Canadians are not convinced about this idea. A recent Leger poll showed that only 18% of Canadians think that creating a new, nationalized pharmacare plan is a top priority. About 44% supported a more reasonable plan to offer support to lower-income people who don’t have drug coverage through their employer.
If this plan winds up simply being a subsidy to pay for drugs for those who don’t have private coverage, this wouldn’t be too controversial. Most provinces already provide some kind of drug plan to help pay for prescriptions.
The real danger would be if governments copy the way they run health care and apply it to pharmaceuticals.
There are too many horror stories to count when it comes to government-run health care.
Judy Anderson, a retired Ontario nurse, described to SecondStreet.org how she lost her two adult daughters because of waitlists. They both died waiting for heart surgery that could have saved their lives. Allison Ducluzeau, a B.C. patient who was diagnosed with cancer, told media that the government gave up on her and refused to give her treatment, saying her chances of survival weren’t good enough. Instead, they offered her assisted suicide. Thankfully, she refused, and travelled to the U.S. for the life-saving care.
That’s just scratching the surface of the system’s failures.
What else might we see if the government monopolizes pharmaceuticals and dentistry? Could we see months-long waits for insulin, leaving diabetics without a reliable way to control their blood sugars? Will people with arthritis be forced to wait for medication that helps control their chronic pain? Will dental surgery wait times skyrocket?
If the way Canadian health care currently runs is any indication, the answer to those questions is likely ‘yes.’
Government support for people who can’t afford care is one thing. However, we’ve already seen the disastrous consequences of government-run health care. Doing the same to pharmaceuticals and dentistry would just open the floodgates for more inefficiency, more wait times, and more Canadians receiving terrible health services.
Instead of dreaming up new ways to cause trouble, the government needs to focus on the real issues at hand: fixing the current health care system, not by doubling down on a failing model, but by introducing real reform.
Dom Lucyk is the Communications Director with SecondStreet.org, a Canadian think tank.
Have you dealt with a long wait in Canada’s health care system? Please reach out to share your story – I can be reached by email at [email protected].
The salaries for members of Parliament are expected to rise by 4.2% on April 1, despite the federal government’s $1 trillion debt and the increased financial challenges currently facing taxpayers. Canadian Taxpayers Federation Alberta director Kris Sims joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the timing and necessity of such a salary increase, and the message it sends to Canadians.
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Montreal’s Concordia University is seeking to “decolonize and Indigenize” every aspect of its academic curriculums and pedagogy.
The university has highlighted its agenda in a “5-Year Strategic Implementation Plan” published last fall.
“As direct beneficiaries of Concordia University’s curriculum programs, students will be grounded in the knowledge and ability to critically evaluate the history and impacts of colonialism, value the importance of learning about diverse Indigenous histories, voices and perspectives while experiencing creative learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom,” the plan notes.
Concordia’s strategy contains four priorities for “decolonization” – a term that the university defines as “a necessary and ongoing process of unlearning, uncovering, and transforming legacies of colonialism, as well as utilizing the educational and knowledge systems available to relearn and rebuild the social, cultural, and linguistic foundations that were lost, or eroded through colonialism.”
The first priority seeks to “decolonize and Indigenize curriculum and pedagogy university-wide.” Concordia adds that it wants “to critically evaluate and decenter Eurocentric knowledge systems” and “reconceptualize curriculum in ways that centre, weave and privilege Indigenous ways of knowing, lived experiences, histories and perspectives.”
There are several ways in which the university hopes to make this goal a reality, including by cultivating a “collective critical consciousness.”
Concordia’s second priority is the imposition of “cultural safety across diverse learning spaces,” which the school hopes to achieve through DEI training that centres on “microaggressions.”
“This will be achieved by working in collaboration with GradPro Skills, Equity office and CTL’s Inclusive Pedagogy on co-designing and implementing workshops, activities and/or events for faculty and grad students on ways to address microaggressions and develop the knowledge and skills to promote cultural safety in the classroom.”
Concordia’s two other priorities include the developing and codesigning of “new programs in collaboration with Indigenous communities” as well as expanding and supporting “collaborative, shared learning communities across Faculty units.”
The term “decolonization” has been the subject of controversy – with some critics linking it to violence.
Frantz Fanon, a Francophone Afro-Caribbean Marxist who was a prominent decolonial thinker and writer, believed that decolonization is always violent.
“Decolonization is always a violent phenomenon. At whatever level we study it – relationships between individuals, new names for sports clubs, the human admixture at cocktail parties, in the police, on the directing boards of national or private banks – decolonization is quite simply the replacing of a certain ‘species’ of men by another ‘species’ of men,” wrote Fanon in his famed book Wretched of the Earth.
Some woke progressives have also used the term “decolonization” to justify Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel – falsely claiming that Israelis are settlers oppressing the Palestinians.
In the past, Concordia academics have made headlines for projects seeking to counter colonialism in physics and for claims that animal agriculture is linked to “Western modernism,” “Eurocentrism” and “whiteness.”
Concordia University did not return True North’s request for comment.
A Conservative candidate is hitting back at Justin Trudeau for calling him a “twofer,” a term Pierre Poilievre says is racist.
Trudeau called out Jamil Jivani, who’s running to replace former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, in remarks to his caucus this week.
“Pierre Poilievre’s new candidate in Durham is a twofer. He’s both an ideologue and an insider,” Trudeau said.
Jivani, a former radio host and president of the Canada Strong and Free Network, played a snippet of the comment in a video in which he expressed confusion about the term.
“I’m not exactly sure what that means in reference to a human being. I’m also not sure how the Prime Minister has time to be name-calling when he should be trying to save his failed administration, but I thought I would take this as an opportunity to introduce myself since you certainly can’t take Justin Trudeau’s word for it,” Jivani said in a four-and-a-half-minute video posted to X.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre shared Jivani’s response on X, referencing Trudeau’s comments.
“Justin Trudeau called Conservative candidate, Jamil Jivani, a ‘two-fer’—another racist comment from a leader who has an ugly racist past,” said Poilievre.
Poilievre’s top adviser, Jenni Byrne, echoed the point by sharing a clip from the former NBC show 30 Rock.
“We call him twofer cause with him you get a two for one, he’s a black guy and a Harvard guy,” said Alec Baldwin in the clip shared by Byrne.
“Liberals pushed their racist dog whistles in the Oxford by-election last year, and now they’re doing the same in Durham against our Conservative candidate Jamil Jivani with Justin Trudeau calling him a ‘twofer,’” wrote Byrne in the caption of the shared clip.
The portion of Trudeau’s speech shared by the Conservatives does not show the entirety of the speech, however.
“Pierre Poilievre’s new candidate in Durham is a twofer. He’s both an ideologue and an insider,” said Trudeau.
Prime Minister’s Office aide Supriya Dwivedi called out Jivani for cutting out what Trudeau said following the twofer remark.
Byrne responded, saying, “I guess we now know who wrote the PM’s caucus remarks…”
Jivani used the video as an opportunity to introduce himself to voters and respond to other criticisms Trudeau levelled at him.
During his speech, Trudeau said that Jivani is not someone who has lived and served in the community for years.
“This is a candidate who Poilievre expects will do his bidding in the riding, will be Ottawa’s voice, Pierre Poilievre’s voice in Durham, instead of being Durham’s voice in Ottawa.”
Drawing comparisons to the Liberal candidate, Trudeau described Robert Rock as the opposite.
“That’s especially clear when you compare their candidate to our guy, Robert Rock, who has grown up, lived, and served in Durham for years as an engaged community leader. As someone who is excited to bring the voices, the concerns, the ambitions of Durham to right here in Ottawa, to right here in this Caucus,” said Trudeau.
Jivani described his Durham region roots and said he was recording the video from where he lives, a place he rents in Oshawa.
“I wish I could tell you I own a home here, but I don’t. I’m a renter because, like many Canadians my age, I can’t afford a home,” he said.
Jivani added that he had lived in the Durham region for years and previously recorded a national talk show for Newstalk 1010 at his home studio in an Oshawa apartment.
The 36-year-old has been a writer for the National Post, the Toronto Sun, and wrote a book called Why Young Men about the challenges faced by young men in modern society.
Jivani also emphasized being a fighter. He beat stage four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma just two weeks ago after being in remission for five years.
Despite being considered illiterate in grade ten, Jivani received a scholarship to study law at Yale University by age 22.
CAMPUS WATCH: B.C. college reverses course and fires pro-Hamas instructor it planned to reinstate
British Columbia’s Langara College has backtracked on its plans to reinstate an instructor who called Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel an “amazing, brilliant offensive” – opting instead to terminate her employment.
In a statement, Langara said that the instructor, Natalie Knight, is no longer an employee of the college.
Natalie Knight was an English instructor and Indigenous curriculum consultant.
Knight’s firing comes after she previously bragged at a protest that the college reinstated her, claiming this was vindication for her past comments.
“I’ve been reinstated as an instructor with no disciplinary actions, which means we won,” said Knight. “It means I did nothing wrong. It means none of you are doing anything wrong.”
However, it appears that those remarks led the college to backtrack on their decision to reinstate her.
“The College made the determination that the employee would return to work with the expectation they would comply with the College’s policies and initiatives which support a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning and working environment. Further, they were expected to take care to ensure any future remarks could not reasonably be interpreted as celebrating violence against civilians,” said Langara.
“The employee proceeded to engage in activities contrary to the expectations laid out by the College and as a result this employee is no longer an employee of Langara College.”
Knight had initially come under fire in October for celebrating Hamas’ massacre of Israelis at a protest in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery last October.
“This was a feat of determination and ingenuity only eclipsed by the amazing, brilliant offensive waged on Oct. 7,” she said at the time.
“United in Struggle upholds the unqualified right to resist and fight back against imperialist aggression, colonialism and genocidal campaigns of the Israeli state.”
In its statement, Langara College also condemned a rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia.
“Our province has seen reprehensible acts of hate and discrimination in recent months. There is no place for this in our community and we condemn any act of anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. We are focused on supporting those in our community who are living with immense pain over the continuing violence and tragic loss of life in the Middle East,” the school said.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in our campus community. Our aim is to provide an environment where differing views can be held and expressed in a way that promotes human dignity for all and protects the safety of our students and staff.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs lauded Langara for taking action.
“We thank the college for showing accountability and taking this step to restore trust with its Jewish and Israeli campus community. There should be absolutely no room for the glorification of terrorism and antisemitism at any post-secondary institution in Canada.”
Knight did not respond to True North’s request for comment in time for publication.