A potential armed robbery at a convenience store in Peterborough, Ont. has led to two men being charged – the robber and the store clerk who fought him off.
The incident took place at around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, according to the Peterborough Police Service, who arrived on the scene after a robbery was reported near the corner of King and Bethune streets.
Officers were told that the clerk was in the middle of helping a customer when another man entered the store and began demanding money while wielding a baseball bat.
“A struggle ensued and the clerk was struck with the bat before grabbing the bat away from the suspect,” police told Global News.
The suspect managed to flee the store but was chased down by the clerk until he caught up to him, striking him several times with the baseball bat along a sidewalk close to the store.
The suspect is reportedly in a hospital in Toronto, where he is being treated for head injuries. The clerk was treated on site by local paramedics.
The suspect in the robbery, a 37-year-old man, has been charged with possession of a weapon and assault with a weapon.
Police also charged the 22-year-old clerk with aggravated assault.
He was held in custody until appearing in court on Jan. 6.
The whereabouts of the male customer who was being helped at the time of the robbery and likely a witness to the altercation remains unknown. Anyone with information is asked to notify Peterborough police at 705-876-1122 ext. 555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca.
The federal government spent almost a half-a-million dollars on evenings celebrating the Public Service Award of Excellence over the last decade, despite the fact that the bulk of federal departments have failed to meet their performance targets since 2012.
Taxpayers are the ones who cover the cost of these lavish ceremonies, which have racked up a bill of $476,000 from 2012 to 2022.
“It’s time to end Ottawa’s party with taxpayers’ cash,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “The appropriate trophies would be big golden pigs.”
The event was launched in 2005 with 14 “award categories” to recognize government employees who “demonstrated excellence in achieving results for Canadians.”
According to a report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer released last year, under half of all federal departments managed to meet their performance targets on an annual basis.
The cost of these celebrations for just 2022 and 2023 alone was $118,000, with the majority of that money, about $80,000, spent on custom-designed trophies.
The trophies are described as being a “plaque in bevelled black glass,” featuring “clear crystal overlay with silver standoffs” and a “personalized inscription deep-etched and silver-filled.”
Additionally, costs were expensed for “mileage and parking for 165 local employees,” who may have had to drive into downtown Ottawa for the festivities.
In 2021, the event lasted almost three days, with $20,000 being spent on the development of an online “platform,” event production. There was also a speech writer, which cost an additional $2,000.
The trophies for that year only cost $15,000 however, as the feds opted for a “stone art with blown glass mounted on an optical crystal base,” “COVID heroes coins,” and a “black hexagon tower cast in stone.”
Before the era of COVID hero coins, the federal government spent $23,000 on the award gala in 2019, with a menu that featured cured arctic char, smoked and candied salmon, smoked trout, pork terrine, duck prosciutto and charcuterie.
“It’s nice that bureaucrats are able to find time to blow tens of thousands of dollars on award shows for themselves while the Canadians who pay their salaries can’t afford ground beef,” said Terrazzano. “Canadians staring down their growing bills have every right to be furious about the government’s glitzy galas.”
That same year, a photographer was hired to snap the moments bureaucrats were handed their “custom imported medallions” with “antique gold recessed finish,” presented in a “black velvet box” with “engraving on the back.”
Since 2012, the trophies have amounted to $242,909.
“Nothing screams fiscal responsibility like spending thousands every year awarding bureaucrats that can’t meet their own performance targets,” said Terrazzano. “The government is more than $1 trillion in debt, so Prime Minister Justin Trudeau must do the right thing and end these expensive bureaucrat award shows.”
2012 marked the most expensive gala on record, costing over $195,000 in taxpayer money.
The CTF was informed by a government spokesperson that from 2005 to 2011, the cost of the parties was “in line” with 2012. However, the following year, the government ceased having the parties take place in a rented ballroom and moved future events to Rideau Hall, to reduce costs.
The World Health Organization quietly appointed a controversial University of Alberta law professor and trans activist to a group tasked with helping create transgender health guidelines.
Florence Ashley, whose pronouns are “they, them, that, bitch,” believes puberty blockers ought to be the “default option” for children and that they shouldn’t require mental health screenings prior to undertaking a gender transition.
Before Christmas, the WHO’s gender identity and diversity, equity and inclusion departments, announced the development of “a guideline on the health of trans and gender diverse people.”
“The guideline will focus in five areas: provision of gender-affirming care, including hormones; health workers education and training for the provision of gender-inclusive care; provision of health care for trans and gender diverse people who suffered interpersonal violence based in their needs; health policies that support gender-inclusive care, and legal recognition of self-determined gender identity,” reads a WHO press release.
Along with the new guidelines, the WHO announced the creation of a development group. The group features 21 people, including Ashley and other militant trans activists.
“Members of the (guideline development group) for this guideline were chosen by WHO technical staff among researchers with relevant technical expertise, among end-users (programme managers and health workers) and among representatives of trans and gender diverse community organisations,” notes the organization.
However, Ashley’s appointment was met with criticism online, including from prominent X (formerly Twitter) account Libs of TikTok.
This is Florence Ashley. A nonbinary law professor at @UAlbertaLaw who tells kids on tiktok to “be gay and do crime.” She was just appointed by the WHO to create the guidelines on child se* change surgeries.https://t.co/rSOEHkqnBHpic.twitter.com/4xoUJ4pKgl
The criticism comes amid Ashley having expressed controversial views on gender, particularly regarding child transitions and puberty blockers.
In a 2019 article titled Thinking an ethics of gender exploration: Against delaying transition for transgender and gender creative youth, Ashley said that “unbounded social transition and ready access to puberty blockers ought to be treated as the default option.”
“Youth who take puberty blockers have their options wide open, their bodies unaltered by either testosterone or estrogen,” said Ashley.
While Ashley admits that “much remains unknown about the long-term effects of puberty blockers,” the scholar still supports them – citing some “limited empirical evidence and clinical experience.”
Ashley also argued in an article published in the American Psychological Association that people should be able to obtain medical sex change procedures without having a mental health “gender assessment.”
“There’s really no evidence that gender assessments work, on the contrary, they are predicated on stereotype considerations, arbitrary considerations and just plainly irrelevant ones,” claimed Ashley in a TikTok video promoting the article.
“Gender assessments are really an unnecessary form of gatekeeping.”
One of the many, newly appointed trans members of the World Health Organization's trans guidelines committee says there should be no mental health assessment prior to a person getting medical sex change drugs and surgeries. pic.twitter.com/SCzoKadmnm
In an email to True North, the WHO said that “all views will be weighed on the composition of the (guideline development group) as part of the guideline development process which has begun in 2021” and that guidelines “are always based on balancing of available evidence, human rights principles, consideration of harms and benefits and inputs of end users and beneficiaries.”
It added that the development of a guideline on the health of trans and gender diverse people announced in December is “focused on adults only.”
Ashley did not respond to True North’s request for comment, but did take to social media to mock conservative opposition to the appointment.
Federal government spending on debt interest charges has increased by 36.7% in the third quarter of 2023, according to a report released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.
Franco Terrazzano, federal director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, has expressed serious concerns over the impact of these charges on Canadians.
“Taxpayers have every reason to believe this government isn’t serious about managing our money,” said Terrazzano.
While interest expenses incurred by the federal government increased by 36.7% year over year in the third quarter, the interest expenses of the provincial-territorial government grew by 10.7%.
The report showed that the federal government spent 10.1 cents of every taxpayer dollar to paying down interest. This ratio increased from the 7.9 cents spent per taxpayer dollar the year prior.
Terrazzano explained that taxpayers are losing billions of dollars every month as these funds can’t be used to lower taxes or improve services because that money is going towards paying interest on the government credit card.
“This should be a wake-up call for the feds,” he said, urging for a change in spending habits. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to put down the credit card and pick up some scissors.”
The Canadian general government’s surplus — including federal, provincial, and territorial governments — decreased by $3.4 billion since last year, leaving it at $3.6 billion in the third quarter.
This decrease is because the revenues grew at a smaller rate than the expenses. Revenues grew at $15.4 billion, or 5.4%, while expenses grew at $18.8 billion, amounting to 6.7%. According to the report, the main contributors to the increase in expenses are higher compensation of government employees and interest charges.
While the report did not break down revenue streams, taxes generally form the largest portion of government revenue.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation also highlighted a pattern of fiscal mismanagement.
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would balance the budget in 2019, but he missed that by $20 billion,” said the taxpayers group, pointing to the government’s failure to meet its own budgetary goals.
According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the government is now not projected to balance the budget until 2035, and this projection is dependent on continued economic growth, relatively low interest rates, and no new spending.
“The problem is the Trudeau government is spending our money like crazy. This reckless spending means higher taxes, higher prices, more debt, and more money wasted on interest charges,” Terrazzano explained.
The federal government’s deficit was $5.3 billion in the third quarter, a decrease from the $7.1 billion deficit a year earlier. However, this improvement is overshadowed by the provincial-territorial governments moving from a $6.8 billion surplus to a $0.8 billion deficit, a decrease of $7.6 billion.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lamented the troubling state of the free press in Canada after news circulated that a Rebel Media journalist was arrested while trying to question Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Poilievre took to X to condemn the incident after a video of the arrest went viral on social media.
“This is the state of freedom of the press,” wrote Poilievre on X. “In Canada. In 2024. After 8 years of Trudeau.”
Menzies, a journalist for Rebel News, attempted to question Freeland on Monday about why the Trudeau government hasn’t deemed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity.
The exchange took place in Richmond Hill, Ont. outside a memorial service commemorating the victims of Flight PS752.
Menzies was arrested in the exchange and the officer arresting him claimed that Menzies assaulted him, although the journalist was eventually released without any charges.
Later, Menzies can be seen asking for the police officer’s name and badge number multiple times but is denied the information and subsequently taken away by police.
Flight PS752 was shot down by Iranian missiles, killing all 167 passengers on board, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents on Jan. 8 2020.
The attack happened during rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran over the assassination of chief military leader Qasem Soleimani.
Elon Musk also commented on the video of Menzies’ exchange with Freeland and her security, writing, “They won’t make it past the next election,” referring to the Liberal Party of Canada.
Sure looks that way. Fine for the officer to body block someone trying to get close to a senior government official, but false to say that he deliberately assaulted an officer.
The Iranian regime continues to silence those in Canada who speak out against them and a recent probe into foreign interference in Canada revealed that over 700 Iranian agents are covertly operating within the country.
This has led to a growing effort to have the IRGC labelled as a terrorist entity by the federal government from people like Poilievre and independent MP Kevin Vuong.
“How could you allow the same terrorist group that murdered 55 of our citizens and 30 of our permanent residents to operate legally in Canada? How could you let them recruit and raise funds on Canadian soil? How could you allow 700 agents of the Iranian terrorist regime to live freely here, using the money they stole from the poorest people in the world to terrorize our Jewish and Persian populations, putting all of us at risk? How could you risk all of that to appease this terrorist organization?” asked Poilievre in a recent video posted to X.
Today, we remember the 55 Canadians, and 30 others who called Canada home, who were murdered by the IRGC shooting down Flight PS752.
We stand with their families and demand that Canada ban the IRGC completely by listing them as a terrorist entity once & for all. pic.twitter.com/gbdHyUMqe0
On Monday, Vuong wrote on X, “Today marks the 4-yr anniversary of the downing of #PS752. 1,461 days later…Despite promises to @zarei_arad and the families of the victims, the Trudeau govt still has not listed the #IRGC as a terrorist organization. The IRGC killed 57 Canadians & 119 others. List them—now.”
Today marks the 4-yr anniversary of the downing of #PS752.
1,461 days later…
Despite promises to @zarei_arad and the families of the victims, the Trudeau govt still has not listed the #IRGC as a terrorist organization.
Rebel News reporter David Menzies was arrested for “assaulting a police officer” while he was attempting to question Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland at a Richmond Hill, Ont. event yesterday. While he was released without charges, the incident was a brutal overreach given the video footage shows no assault. The police were effectively serving to protect Freeland from uncomfortable questions, True North’s Andrew Lawton says. Menzies joins the show to explain what went down and why he’s now suing Freeland and the police.
Also, the Canadian Military Journal, the official publication of the Canadian Armed Forces, devoted a whole issue to attacking the military for being rooted in “patriarchy” and “white supremacy.” Veteran and author Tom Marazzo and Veterans 4 Freedom president Drew MacGillivray join the show to discuss.
The RCMP arrested Rebel News Journalist David Menzies on Monday for attempting to question Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Plus, a True North exclusive reveals nearly every article in the latest issue of the Canadian Military Journal was devoted to critical race theory and disparaging “whiteness” in the military.
These stories and more on The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Noah Jarvis!
Argentina’s economist Javier Milei has been to Davos before, but this year he’s returning for the first time as president.
Milei was announced Tuesday as one of more than 300 public figures to be attending the World Economic Forum’s flagship event in the Swiss alps.
It is not yet clear if Milei will be speaking. His name does not yet appear on the published agenda, but not all panels were complete when True North reviewed the public programme.
Milei, a libertarian, became the president of Argentina on December 10 and quickly brought about a sweeping set of reforms that included slashing the size of cabinet and banning government officials from describing anything paid for by taxpayers as “free.”
Milei campaigned on reining in inflation and righting Argentina’s economic course, but he was candid that this won’t be easy.
“There is no alternative to a shock adjustment,” Milei said after taking office. “There is no money.”
Milei spoke in Davos previously as an economist, before getting into politics two years ago.
Other public figures attending this year’s annual meeting include Chinese premier Li Qiang, French president Emmanuel Macron, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The theme for the conference, which kicks off Monday, is “Rebuilding Trust.” Sessions on the official programme include discussions about where “freedom of expression is going,” “protecting the vulnerable online,” and “preparing for disease X,” a reference to a mystery diseases the World Health Organization claims could be more dangerous than COVID-19.
True North’s Andrew Lawton, Cosmin Dzsurdzsa, and Shawn Thompson will be reporting from the ground in Davos next week. Support True North’s coverage here.
It was a performance that one could have easily mistaken for a Saturday Night Live skit. Except this one was no joke.
While Hamas apologists screamed and bellowed around her, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow endeavoured to deliver one of her typical namby-pamby speeches at her skating party on Nathan Phillips Square.
“I am so excited to be here for my first skating party to mark the new year,” she said, as one of the professional protesters walked behind her carrying a Palestinian flag.
“We are here at the iconic Nathan Phillips Square which is marking its 60th anniversary,” Chow continued, trying desperately to read from her prepared script.
But she was quickly interrupted and distracted by shouts of “Ceasefire Now,” a call for Israel to lay down its arms against Hamas.
Instead of having the police usher them away, she turned to the interlopers and said, “I agree…You see my message about ceasefire, right…so why don’t you let me continue?”
She tried to deliver her hopey-changey message of how she as an immigrant came to this country where she “belongs,” but the angry protesters got louder, not giving a damn what she said.
As the chaos ensued behind her, Chow said with that ridiculous smile on her face: “Today you see democracy in action…I’ll just keep on talking.”
And she did, not reading the room (or plaza).
When she finished, she insisted on walking over to a series of protesters to try to convince them she was in support of a ceasefire.
“I’m trying to have a dialogue,” she told the media.
The edited footage from the friendly media — City, CP24 and Global in particular — doesn’t show Chow as weak and inept as she was.
That is part of the problem.
But the real problem is that Chow is every bit as incompetent as I suspected she’d be.
Her outdated utopian socialist ideology and her need to be loved by everyone are making her a laughingstock.
She has bungled the handling of these terrorist sympathizers from the get-go by ignoring their steadily escalating verbal violence and their takeover of major streets and intersections in Toronto.
She remained silent when they targeted Jewish businesses, when they took over major intersections to scream, shout and pray, when they hassled shoppers at the downtown Eaton Centre and when they took their shameful protests to the Avenue Rd. overpass at Hwy 401 (right in the midst of a Jewish community) over the last few weekends.
The Hamas sympathizers and the assorted professional protesters have been allowed to terrorize the city with impunity.
It was only a matter of time before they besieged and harassed her.
It is clear Chow did not have a plan in place to deal with what occurred Sunday because she appears to honestly think that everything can be solved and that the protesters will dissipate if she has a “dialogue” with them.
She doesn’t appear to have a plan at all, choosing to continue on with her tone deaf announcements while the chaos ensues around her.
This is not the Year 2000 when she and her late husband Jack Layton had control over the professional protesters who supported their various causes.
I saw how they used them back then.
This is 2024 and the people with whom she is trying to have a “dialogue” don’t care what she says, have a propensity for intimidation, and many have brought their outrageous lack of values and decency to Canada with them.
The media may continue to make excuses for her but Toronto residents are tired of being “held hostage” by terror apologists.
The Jewish community is not being protected. Neither are those who attended Sunday’s skating party.
She needs to take a side but she won’t because she’s too weak and out of touch with reality to do so.
Her weakness and incompetence is turning a city that already needed a strong dose of tough love into an out-of-control hellhole.
I wish I could say her behavior Sunday was all terribly funny and laugh it off.
But it is becoming a nightmare from which we may never wake up.
A majority of Toronto residents disapprove of the renaming of Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square, according to a new poll released by Liaison Strategies.
The latest poll starkly contrasts the Toronto City Council’s decision, revealing that 72% of Toronto residents disapprove of the renaming.
This move by the council has already led to significant backlash, including the resignation of Mike Fenton, the chair of the square’s management board, over concerns about the rushed process and lack of public involvement.
An earlier survey by Liaison in October indicated a 54% approval rate among residents for the Dundas name change. However, this support declined to 42% once respondents were informed about the financial implications. The estimated expense for renaming the street and all associated landmarks is projected to reach a staggering $12.7 million, as outlined in a report by the city manager.
“The question was always going to be, though, what would Dundas Street be renamed to? There is slim support though for renaming Yonge-Dundas to Sankofa,” said David Valentin, principal of Liaison Strategies, according to CityNews.
In his resignation letter, Mike Fenton criticized the naming process for its lack of a consistent, public review and disjointed approach.
Councillor Chris Moise, who proposed the Sankofa name, found Fenton’s resignation surprising and defended the last-minute timing of his motion due to scheduling issues. However, the word Sankofa is linked to a Ghanaian tribe with connections to the slave trade themselves.
The name Sankofa means “to go back and get it.” The word has many interpretations but primarily signifies that modern and future generations can learn from the wisdom of the past.
Adding to the complexity, Ceta Ramkhalawansingh, a member of the renaming advisory committee and former City of Toronto director of diversity management, expressed a lack of confidence in the process, saying that she feels that Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow interfered in the process by demanding a single choice from the council, instead of offering a consultation with the public.
Despite Mayor Chow’s heavy support and the unanimous backing from the review committee, the renaming has been mired in controversy.
The original proposal to rename Dundas Street was slated for a public presentation in the fall, ahead of a final decision by the city council in 2024. However, the plan encountered resistance as some council members reversed their support, considering the enormous financial burden.
Even Josh Matlow, who voted in favour of the renaming, said that the situation was handled very poorly and was not an example of good governance.
Renaming the entire 23-kilometre stretch of Dundas Street was estimated to cost billions, a daunting figure given the city’s budget constraints.
Moreover, there was pushback from advocates who want the Dundas name to remain, such as one of the namesake’s descendants, who challenged the portrayal of his historical role in the delay of abolition, arguing that his legacy had been unfairly represented.
In response to these challenges, a compromise emerged to focus on renaming Yonge-Dundas Square instead of the entire street. This compromise, which shifted the renaming efforts solely to the square, gained unanimous support from the review committee just a day before the proposal was put forward.
The revised proposal, estimated to incur a cost of approximately $700,000 for the city, was successfully passed, with Councillor Moise’s motion receiving strong support in a 19-to-2 vote.
The poll, however, revealed that support may not be so strong among Toronto citizens. The poll surveyed 831 residents with a margin of error of 3.39%.
While the poll indicates a 72% opposition to the renaming of Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa, it interestingly contrasts with Mayor Olivia Chow’s approval ratings, where 71% of the respondents express satisfaction with her performance as Mayor.
The poll also revealed how respondents would vote in a federal election if it were held today. Liberal supporters took the lead, flanked by Conservatives and NDP, at 38%, 32%, and 22%, respectively. The rest of the respondents would vote for the Green Party or PPC.
The poll also revealed where respondents lived. The most support for the renaming came from Downtown Toronto, at 17%.
