The World Economic Forum summit in Davos is a nexus of power and wealth, but it’s also a place that offers the allure of discreet escort services for elite clients.
Selling sex is a legal and regulated trade in Switzerland, which means that the so-called world’s oldest profession also benefits from the economic boom spurred on by the exclusive conference’s arrival in the Swiss mountain village.
Additionally, dating-style applications make it easier than ever for elites hoping to purchase sex to get in touch with an escort. It’s a lucrative business to be in, not only for the escorts but also for the platforms themselves which are fully booked for the summit’s duration.
Not all services offered are sexual, however. Some professional sex workers offer companionship and modelling for exclusive events.
One available Davos escort going by the handle “austrian_girl” advertised “accompany only” and “hostess” services at a rate of €800 ($1,175 CAD) for every two hours booked.
Other escorts like “Samantha” don’t even advertise a price and instead require clients to book in advance – with the fee being negotiated based on demand.
On average, however, elite clients have to cough up anywhere from €2,000 ($2,937 CAD) to €3,000 ($4,405 CAD) for a 12-hour night with a call girl.
Davos escorts like “Savannah” know their clients well, advertising themselves as providers of “sophistication”, “charm and elegance” to those willing to pay steep prices.
Booking the 32-year-old Moldovan mistress for two days – a quarter of the summit’s length – would cost €8,000 ($11,747 CAD).
Independent escort and “international companion” Catherine stresses that she is the “ideal companion” for gentlemen who require discretion.
“I guarantee safety and confidentiality and I expect it in return,” writes Catherine.
Just like their would-be clients, Davos escorts can be considered the elites of their profession. Often they are well-educated and even speak multiple languages.
One escort makes a point to inform her potential customers that she’s fluent in “Catalan, English, French, Italian and Spanish.”
But what of the clients themselves? According to one German escort who spoke to French media outlet 20 Minutes, Mia May, their proclivities are not as risque as some might think.
“My clients are all decent, friendly, completely normal people and of all genders,” May told the outlet.
“In addition, the customers, who have good basic training, are pleasant and well-behaved. They are never disturbing.”
Except the services advertised by escort platforms have a different story to tell. Kinks and fetishes are often the rule rather than the exception.
The Chinese embassy in Canada has expressed its dismay regarding Canada’s acknowledgement and congratulations to Taiwan, following the country’s recent elections.
“Canada congratulates the people of #Taiwan on the conclusion of their recent elections. Guided by the pillars of #democracy, #humanrights & #peace, Canada looks forward to advance its people-to-people, science, trade & investment ties,” wrote Canada’s Foreign Policy account on X. Its initiatives are led by Global Affairs Canada.
Canada congratulates the people of #Taiwan on the conclusion of their recent elections. Guided by the pillars of #democracy, #humanrights & #peace, Canada looks forward to advance its people-to-people, science, trade & investment ties.
The Chinese embassy said it was “strongly dissatisfied” and “firmly opposed” to Canada’s foreign ministry for congratulating Taiwan on its presidential election.
Additionally, the embassy urged Canada to “recognise the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan issue… and immediately stop its ’wrong’ words.”
China’s position on Taiwan has been blunt and unwavering, perceiving the island to be a breakaway province from the mainland country and not an independent nation.
Therefore, the embassy views any recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty to be a diplomatic disapproval of Beijing’s authority.
China previously criticized the US Secretary of State as well as other countries who congratulated the Taiwan election, leading them to make a formal diplomatic complaint.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden during their recent summit in San Francisco and bluntly told Biden that Beijing intends to reunify Taiwan with mainland China, according to U.S. officials.
Officials noted that Jinping told Biden that it was China’s preference to take Taiwan peacefully, not by force.
Canada recognizes the one China policy and does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent nation despite sharing economic and cultural ties with the island nation.
According to the Government of Canada, “Canada’s relationship with the PRC and Taiwan is governed by its one China policy. Established in 1970, the policy recognizes the PRC as the sole legitimate government of China.”
Canada does not endorse nor challenge China’s position on Taiwan.
As Alberta grappled with a cold snap that resulted in a province-wide Emergency Alert, Saskatchewan’s crucial intervention played a pivotal role in averting a critical energy crisis.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe confirmed in a post to X Saturday night that Saskatchewan was providing 153MW of electricity to Alberta to assist them through the evening.
“That power will be coming from natural gas and coal-fired plants, the ones the Trudeau government is telling us to shut down (which we won’t),” said Moe.
On Saturday, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency issued an alert, warning residents that the extreme cold has resulted in high power demand and placed the province’s grid at high risk of rotating power outages.
The Emergency Alert sent to Albertans’ mobile devices throughout the province asked residents to limit their electricity use to essential needs only.
Alberta’s Minister of Energy, Nathan Neudorf, said in an interview with True North that the province is incredibly grateful that Saskatchewan stepped up and provided Alberta with 153MW of energy when the province needed it most.
Neudorf said that without Saskatchewan’s help, Alberta’s load would have exceeded its generation; this would have caused rolling brownouts.
“At those temperatures, even an hour or two without power would have resulted in significant consequences,” said Neudorf.
The risks and consequences would have been serious. -40°C temperatures, not including windchill, would result in freezing water lines and people trying to heat their homes in unconventional ways — which could lead to fires, and extreme frostbite would set in very quickly, said Neudorf.
There have been no rotating outages in 11 years, said Leif Sollid, spokesperson for the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), according to The Globe and Mail. The province would have had to implement 30-minute rotating outages across the province had it not been for Albertans’ response.
“Within seconds, we saw 100 megawatts of demand fall off the system. Within a few minutes, we had 200 megawatts fall off,” said Sollid. “Within seconds, we could see in real-time in our control room the demand just drop and it was phenomenal. A huge shout-out to Albertans for doing their part.”
If we zoom in, can see the drop more clearly. About 150MW in minutes after the alert.
This *could* be consumers turning off lights, dryers, etc. Could also be the AESO starting to load shed. Both are plausible. Will wait to hear from AESO as to whether rolling blackouts occured. pic.twitter.com/vs5Wh5KB8U
While thankful for Saskatchewan’s helping hand, Minister Neudorf also emphasized that Alberta stands in solidarity with Saskatchewan against Ottawa’s proposed clean energy regulations.
“This is a perfect case in point that at certain times during the year, particularly in winter at very cold temperatures, the reality of a northern-based climate is: we need dispatchable energy there when we need to call upon it,” said Neudorf.
He added that no solar was available, given that it was after sunset. He said it was either too cold to generate wind, or there was no wind during the weekend.
Martyupnorth, an Albertan commentator on X, analyzed Alberta’s power consumption from data on the AESO website. He showed that Alberta has 20,777 MW of installed and approved power generation. Of that, 2,400MW was under construction or commissioning on Sunday morning when he posted the data.
Wind and solar power account for 6,132MW (29.5%) of the capacity. On Sunday morning, wind and solar delivered 32MW of power or 0.29% of the 10,958MW being consumed by Alberta at that time.
He said that 6,115MW of wind and solar power generation were frozen.
While Saskatchewan was extremely helpful to Alberta, so too were Albertan citizens. Premier Danielle Smith thanked Albertans in a post to X for responding to the government’s call to reduce electrical consumption where possible.
“The swift and impactful actions led to a remarkable 200MW reduction in demand, averting the need for rotating power outages,” she said.
Alberta has begun inquiries into the balance and mix of its power generation so that it can better plan for a future where sustainability, reliability, and affordability are key to the province’s power generation mix.
To add insult to injury for the low-morale and undermanned Canadian Armed Forces, last week the Canadian Military Journal, the official publication of the Department of National Defence, demeaned white soldiers as upholding “colonialism” and “white supremacy” in the CAF. It went even further to attack military families for enforcing the “patriarchy.” The majority of CAF members are white men, so it makes you wonder what the end goal here really is.
Soldiers also have to put up with the constant humiliation of having tampon dispensers inside male washrooms. Some soldiers, however, aren’t having it and they’re taking matters into their own hands by removing the dispensers. It’s the least they could do.
All of this explains why recruitment numbers continue to dwindle and why budget cuts from the Trudeau government continue unabated. The once feared and celebrated Canadian military is being undermined and attacked from within.
Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner.
The World Economic Forum’s 2024 annual meeting is underway and True North is on the ground all week bringing you the coverage that only independent media will. The Andrew Lawton Show is live from Austria – the nearest affordable place to stay while reporting on the conference. In this episode, Andrew talks about the conference agenda and Klaus Schwab’s belief that people are the problem when it comes to falling trust in institutions – rather than the institutions themselves. Andrew checks in with his True North colleague Cosmin Dzsurdzsa for early impressions from the ground.
Plus, while WEF is talking up the necessity of transitioning away from traditional energy sources, Albertans are being told to rein in their electricity usage as the province deals with extreme cold temperatures. Kris Sims from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation joins to discuss.
Marking one hundred days since the hostages have been held by Hamas in Gaza, a thousand people braved sub-zero temperatures at Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto on Sunday to draw attention to the captives’ plight.
Maayan Shavit, a cousin of hostage Carmel Gat, compared her situation with “horror movies in theatres.” She stressed the sobering point that “this can happen in a democratic country, and any country in the world.”
Shavit told the crowd that she resents the phrase of “making a deal” with the terrorists.
“A deal is something you do with an object, but human life is not a bargaining chip,” she said.
She also said “this is a humanitarian world crisis, not an Israeli one” and elicited cries of “shame!” from the crowd when noting that “the so-called humanitarian agencies haven’t visited the hostages.”
Other speakers included Toronto area Liberal MP Marco Mendicino; Progressive Conservative MPP for Thornhill Laura Smith; author and Postmedia columnist Warren Kinsella;Iranian prison survivor and activist Salman Sima, and hostage family members.
The event was spearheaded by Avi and son Dean Attali, and the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, with help from Canadians for Israel.
Avi Attali said at the event that the 136 remaining hostages are in “Hamas hell – tunnels, cages, with medical conditions unknown. One hundred days; each day is incomprehensible.”
“Imagine it was you or someone you love,” he said. “While the rest of the world has ignored them, we have not.”
The rally was organized “to be the voice of the hundreds of kidnapped that cannot talk for themselves, and to insist on their immediate release,” Attali told True North.
Those who attended and watched the live-stream, “came together in a message of remembrance and awareness,” adding that “the speeches of support and solidarity offered us as a community some measure of hope.”
Mendicino told the crowd that “for all of us, time moves on, but for the hostages, it is still Oct. 7.”
He said his recent trip to Israel, where he saw what was left of the kibbutzes that were attacked, was to “bear witness of the atrocities of Hamas.” He and fellow parliamentarians on the delegation “grieved with the families of victims and hostages, and we know the pain is palpable.”
What was particularly chilling for him was to learn of the “vile, depraved, unspeakable violence against women and children.”
Mendicino told True North that he “will never forget” what he saw in Israel, and is using that visit “to motivate all of the actions” he’s taking, including demanding the immediate release of hostages, and condemning antisemitism. “And I believe this is something that all Canadians should unite behind.”
It is not just a Jewish issue or an Israel issue, he told True North. “Because what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. And we saw that throughout history. And so the antisemitism which does directly target Jews, has as its core fear, and anger, and division, and spreads like a disease to other communities as well.”
Mendicino said he believes it’s important for people to reach out to Jewish friends and neighbours, at a time when they’ve “felt like there’s just been crickets,” he said. “Tell them they’re not alone. And just doing that will make a difference.”
Smith pointed out that there were members of twenty nationalities and five religions represented in the hostages, and that as a mother, she was affected by the fate of the young daughters who were captured.
“What kind of torture are they going through day to day? Are they losing hope?” she asked. “The only thing that would be worse would be those who deny these heinous atrocities took place. To deny these hostages is to deny Canadian values.”
Sima, an Iranian Muslim and event speaker, said that standing against radical extremism was personal for him.
The mathematics teacher, who fled to Canada from Iran in 2011, said that he could relate to the hostages as he was jailed as a political prisoner in the Islamic Republic as a student, convicted of phony charges. Over the course of three arrests, he served a year-and-a-half behind bars, mostly in solitary confinement.
“We share the same enemies,” he said of his birthplace Iran. “You should not fear to defend Israel. You do not need to be a Jew; you just need to be human,”
“This is not our fight, or your fight. It’s the same fight. I do believe that. I’m not alone in this belief. Many Iranians believe that,” he told True North. He also said that the gathering might go a long way to foster morale. “Courage is contagious. As a freedom fighter I know the value of the streets” — referring to rallies and demonstrations. “How else are you doing to show everyone what you stand for?”
Kinsella in his speech said that “when one of us is held hostage, we are all held hostage. When one of our businesses is attacked, we are all attacked.” Leaders are silent on antisemitism, moreover, and they “refuse to acknowledge what is happening. When they refuse to confront the hate, that is seemingly everywhere these days, they fail. They fail our children and our future.”
Brian Lilley, a Postmedia reporter in attendance told True North that “it’s important to show solidarity and support for Canada’s Jewish community, as they’re dealing with this” because the religious extremism driving Hamas also drives other terrorist groups.
“If they’re coming after Israel, and they’re coming after (the) United States, you think they’re not coming after us?” Lilley told True North, noting that there have been scores of terror attacks all over the world.
Politicians, meanwhile, “could be stronger in their denunciations” of antisemitic attacks, “and, I’d like to see more action.”
As Albertans deal with an unprecedented cold snap that resulted in the Alberta Emergency Management Agency issuing a province-wide Emergency Alert, Canada’s state broadcaster is touting electric vehicles as “the best vehicle” in frigid temperatures.
On Saturday, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency issued an alert, warning residents that the extreme cold has resulted in high power demand and placed the province’s grid at high risk of rotating power outages.
The Alberta Electric System Operator declared a Grid Alert due to extreme cold and several power facility outages at 8:00 am on Saturday.
The Emergency Alert, sent to Albertans’ mobile devices throughout the province, asked Albertans to limit their electricity use to essential needs only.
SaskPower is providing 153 MW of electricity to AB this evening to assist them through this shortage.
That power will be coming from natural gas and coal-fired plants, the ones the Trudeau government is telling us to shut down (which we won’t). pic.twitter.com/DxdBl8i03V
“Turn off unnecessary lights and electrical appliances. Minimize the use of space heaters. Delay use of major power appliances. Delay charging electrical vehicles and plugging in block heaters. Cook with microwave instead of stove,” said the alert.
Despite the warning, the CBC published an article on Saturday titled, Electric cars ‘the best vehicle’ in frigid temperatures, Sask. Advocates say.
EVs have a track record of unreliability in colder temperatures. Even CBC’s cited experts said that the range of EVs goes from 500km to 300km on cold winter days, a 40% decrease in range.
True North previously reported that temperatures below -6.7°C can cut an EV battery’s capacity by up to 41%.
Further, True North previously reported that electric vehicles have 79% more problems than gas vehicles, even in warm weather.
Alberta saw temperatures nearing -50°C over the past week.
CBC’s article touting EVs during the province’s near-failure of its electrical grid system led to disbelief from residents and users online.
While the Alberta govt asks people not to charge their electric cars, due to the extreme cold straining the grid, CBC publishes this article.
Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer highlighted the odd timing of CBC’s article in a post to X.
“While the Alberta govt asks people not to charge their electric cars, due to the extreme cold straining the grid, CBC publishes this article. Brilliant. $1.3 billion of your tax dollars ladies and gentlemen, he said.
Alberta’s Minister of Energy, Brian Jean, also expressed his disbelief amid the crisis.
“Another home run from CBC. Is this parody?” he asked in a post to X.
No-one believes this. No-one even says this. Not even the electric car companies themselves.
Only the desperate Trudeau regime, and the government journalists at the CBC state broadcaster. pic.twitter.com/L7dd5hBP5P
Ezra Levant, founder of Rebel News, highlighted CBC’s inaccurate header in his own post to X.
“No-one believes this. No-one even says this. Not even the electric car companies themselves. Only the desperate Trudeau regime, and the government journalists at the CBC state broadcaster,” said Levant.
Ottawa announced in December that all vehicles sold by 2035 are required to be electric. Alberta’s Premier, Danielle Smith, called this mandate “destructive” and “unachievable.”
The World Economic Forum’s 2024 annual meeting in Davos Switzerland has kicked off. True North’s Andrew Lawton is on the ground. In the past, the WEF has released ahead of time a full list of conference participants by country. This year, that hasn’t happened, and the World Economic Forum ignored a request from True North for the information. Also, True North was not allowed into the conference this time around despite being accredited last year. How can the WEF rebuild trust when it’s being so untransparent?
This year’s theme guiding the World Economic Forum summit is “rebuilding trust” and the founder of the annual meeting of global leaders says China will play a critical role.
In a recent interview with the Chinese state media outlet CGTN, Schwab said that the participation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang is critical to the conference.
In a recent interview with the Chinese state media outlet CGTN, Klaus Schwab says that the presence of China's Premier Li Qiang at WEF can help "rebuild global trust." pic.twitter.com/CuWMCbjEpx
“The participation of Premier Li Qiang could exactly be placed into this framework of rebuilding trust because as you know, there are many doubts at the moment whether China really could master all those challenges or is at the beginning of a fast slowing-down phase of its economic goals,” said Schwab.
“So to hear Premier Li Qiang speaking about the prospects of the Chinese economy and the role China will play inside the global economy, I think can restore and rebuild to a large extent – not only growing into China but growing into our global system.”
WEF managing director Gim Huay Neo also told CGTN that the organization was confident that the Chinese government was critical to addressing global challenges.
Lli, one of the highest-ranking officials in attendance at the WEF 2024 summit, joins the likes of French President Emmanuel Macron in addressing the gathering of global leaders.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that Li received a personal invitation from Schwab to attend the forum. The premier will also make official visits to Switzerland and Ireland during the same week.
Li arrived in Switzerland with a warm welcome from Swiss President and Defense Minister Viola Amherd on Monday.
Prior to the beginning of the conference, WEF released its 2024 global threat risk report which ranked misinformation and disinformation as the foremost challenges facing the world, outranking even terrorism and inflation.
