A True North exclusive reveals the federal tribunal in charge of approving refugee and asylum claims says it’s not keeping track of adults who lied about their age and claimed they were unaccompanied minors upon arrival in Canada.
Plus, if a Liberal MP gets his way, Senators and members of Parliament will no longer need to swear an oath of allegiance to King Charles III.
And Liberals set their sights on Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis over a petition calling for Canada to leave the United Nations.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and William McBeath!
Canada’s unemployment rate remained at 5.8% in December, adding only 100 net jobs, according to data compiled by Reuters.
While permanent employees’ wages did increase at the fastest pace in three years, bringing the average hourly wage growth rate from 5% to 5.7%, analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a net gain of 13,500 jobs for the month of December.
The Bank of Canada hiked rates ten times between March 2022 and July 2023, keeping job growth slow but forcing wage growth up.
“The main story here is we are seeing some cool down in the job market,” Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, told the Globe Mail. “The one disturbing aspect for the bank is that average hourly wages took a big step up in the month.”
The Bank of Canada factors in employment and wage growth when it makes decisions around inflation rates. Wage growth around 4%-5% or higher, would stagnate the central bank’s efforts to bring inflation rates down.
The Canadian dollar also dropped to its lowest point in over two weeks, being worth only US$0.74, according to the data, while simultaneously the U.S. added more employees to their economy than predicted.
An average of 23,000 new employees were added monthly over the last six months in 2023, far less than the average of 48,000 per month in the first half of 2023.
Employment in the goods sector decreased by a net of 42,900 jobs last month, particularly in the areas of manufacturing, agriculture and construction.
Losses in the goods sector were balanced out by a gain in the service sector, which saw a net increase of 43,100 jobs in scientific and technical services, as well as social assistance and healthcare.
The Bank of Canada will release its data on December inflation on Jan. 21 and make its next rate announcement on Jan. 24.
A federal court judge has upheld the Commissioner of Canada Elections’ ruling that Ezra Levant’s lawn signs promoting his book “The Libranos” during the 2019 federal election broke election laws, deeming them to be unregistered campaign advertising. Rebel News founder Ezra Levant joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the court’s decision and its potential implications for free speech.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will likely draft a new national code of conduct for newsrooms before the next election.
The announcement of a possible new code of ethics was confirmed by Cabinet on Thursday, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) may regulate the following areas: ‘Creation of a code of conduct [and] a complaint process pertaining to how groups of eligible news businesses are to be structured and their conduct under the Act,’” reads a notice in the Canada Gazette, the federal government’s official newspaper.
Canadian newsrooms are required to follow CRTC guidelines on ethics, under Bill C-18, also called the Online News Act.
Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge told reporters that there will not be any political interference at the CRTC regarding the new regulations.
“They are independent, but the legislation is pretty clear,” said St-Onge.
Passed in June, Bill C-18 took effect on Dec. 19. The law forces tech companies including Google and Facebook to pay media outlets if news links are posted on the platforms. Google has agreed to pay Canadian news outlets $100 million annually in compensation for ad revenues generated by links. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has instead opted to ban links to news.
The federal government published its final regulations for the Online News Act on December 15, dictating who is deemed to be a news outlet and thus who is eligible for payment under the scheme.
News outlets who apply for Google money must comply with a code of ethics under clause 27.1.b.iv of Bill C-18, however, currently there is no nationally recognized code of ethics for journalism or media in Canada.
“We will have to get precise on that,” said CRTC Executive Director of Broadcasting Policy Scott Shortliffe. “It puts frankly a bit of an onus on us to define that.”
Shortliffe said the CRTC must provide clear definitions of what the code of ethics will be, while remaining neutral politically.
“They should not be written in such a way they either include or exclude a particular kind of news organization as long as that news organization can show it is a credible news organization,” said Shortliffe.
However, there are critics who remain skeptical of the CRTC having no political leanings, like Pamela Wallin a Saskatchewan senator and former television journalist.
“I am told by sources close to the matter that there is almost daily contact between the leadership of the CRTC and the Minister’s office,” said Wallin.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the attribution on a quotation from the Canada Gazette.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enjoyed a holiday vacation at a luxury Jamaican villa, reportedly costing over $9,300 per night, without bearing any expenses.
Trudeau spent ten days in Jamaica with his three children and ex-wife, Sophie.
The location of the Trudeau family’s stay, initially undisclosed by the PMO, came to light through social media. Photos showed two family members unwinding by the pool at the Frankfort villa, an exclusive beachfront section of the Prospect Estate resort near Ocho Rios.
This resort is under the ownership of businessman Peter Green’s family, who have longstanding connections with the Trudeau family, a relationship tracing back to the 1970s through Trudeau’s late father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
The Frankfort, one of five rentable villas at the resort, has a premium rate during the Christmas period. During the holidays, it commands a nightly price of $7,000 USD. The Trudeau family’s nine-night stay in Jamaica would tally up to approximately $84,000 in Canadian currency.
Only after media probing did the PMO release a statement claiming that Trudeau’s family vacationed “at no cost at a location owned by family friends,” according to the National Post.
“As per standard practice, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner was consulted on these details prior to the travel to ensure that the rules were followed,” said Trudeau’s press secretary, Mohammad Hussain.
However, this statement contrasts with the PMO’s initial claims, where they informed The Canadian Press that Trudeau would be personally financing his family’s stay in Jamaica.
Trudeau covered some expenses for his family’s air travel from Ottawa to Jamaica. Due to security protocols, the prime minister is required to use government aircraft for personal vacations.
Following a precedent set by former prime minister Stephen Harper, Trudeau reimbursed the government for the cost equivalent to commercial flight tickets. However, this amount falls short of the substantially higher operational costs of the government aircraft.
In April, True North reported on the scrutiny surrounding Trudeau regarding a possible conflict of interest concerning his December 2022 visit to Prospect Estate, owned by the Green family. This was due to historical donations made by the Green family to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, an organization with links to the prime minister’s family.
Trudeau was questioned about his trip last year in the House of Commons by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre at the time. Trudeau said that Poilievre struggled with the concept of friendship.
“My father was godfather to one of their kids; their father was godfather to one of my brothers. This is 50 years of friendship,” said Trudeau.
The incident is reminiscent of a previous ethics violation by Trudeau in 2016 when he and his family vacationed on Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas. Khan is an old friend of the Trudeaus.
Former ethics commissioner Mary Dawson ruled this trip a conflict of interest, as it involved accepting “gifts or advantages” that could influence government policy.
The Conservative Party posted to X about Trudeau’s recent trip.
“A Prime Minister who takes a free $84,000 vacation proves that he’s out of touch with the struggles of everyday Canadians,” said the Party.
In-house research from the Privy Council found that most Canadians believe that the government should stay out of censoring the internet to protect Canadians from “misinformation.”
The federal government contracted Strategic Counsel to hold several focus groups to engage people in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada about their views on the government’s plans to censor the internet.
“Discussing actions which could be taken to mitigate online misinformation and disinformation, participants stressed the role of individual responsibility,” said Privy Council researchers, according to the Toronto Sun.
Canadians who were concerned about potential harmful content on apps like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and SnapChat still said that it “was the responsibility of individuals” and not the federal government to dictate what was suitable.
“A number were of the view it was of critical importance for Canadians to be able to leave comments and have their voices heard regarding initiatives and policies important to them,” reads part of one of the reports, accumulatively called Continuous Qualitative Data Collection Of Canadians’ Views.
In November Attorney General Arif Virani was asked what future regulations on the internet might look like and Virani said he was studying “international best practices” on the matter, however, he did not provide any examples.
Cabinet had previously indicated it had plans to re-introduce a bill from 2021, known as Bill c-36, which would revive the controversial Section 13 amendment to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which expanded the scope of hate speech laws to the online realm.
The Section 13 amendment was shut down under the Harper government in 2013, which had been used to censor internet content deemed to be hateful.
Bill C-36 or An Act To Amend The Criminal Code proposed $70,000 fines for legal content deemed “likely to foment detestation or vilification,” but it expired in the last Parliament.
“Participants were asked if they were concerned about the spread of misinformation and disinformation,” said Canadians’ Views.
“Though all participants reported feeling some degree of concern, some also expressed reservations about the potential for censorship in any attempt by the federal government to prevent the proliferation of false information online.”
On Wednesday, a New York judge unsealed over 40 documents which exposed the names of people associated with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. The high-profile associates include former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, the Duke of York Prince Andrew, the late physicist Stephen Hawking and magician David Copperfield.
The release of the documents instantly became the biggest news story in the world.
With more Epstein documents set to be released on a rolling basis over the following days, this story is set to dominate the headlines for months to come.
Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner.
Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis is facing criticism for promoting a petition advocating Canada’s withdrawal from the United Nations and World Health Organization.
The petition says Canada’s membership in these organizations “imposes negative consequences on the people of Canada, far outweighing any benefits.”
The Prime Minister’s Office and Liberal MPs have accused Lewis and the Conservatives of being “conspiracy theorists and extremists.”
The petition, initiated by Burnaby, B.C. resident Doug Porter and sponsored by Lewis, has amassed over 66,000 signatures since it opened in October. The deadline to sign it is Feb. 7.
In a post on X, Lewis touted the petition “calling on Canada to protect our national sovereignty by withdrawing from the UN and its subsidiary organizations.”
American Republican senator Mike Lee said Lewis and the Canadians who already signed the petition were right, adding that Americans should follow their lead and that the UN has outlived its purpose.
The petition argues that Canada’s participation in UN and WHO initiatives, particularly the Agenda 2030 program, undermines the country’s sovereignty and the liberties guaranteed in the Canadian Bill of Rights and Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Lewis’ backing of the petition prompts several questions.
“Make no mistake, when someone posts a petition it’s because they agree with it. What is it about the UN that Conservatives don’t like?” Trudeau’s press secretary Mohammad Hussain said in a statement, according to the Globe and Mail. “Is it the work they do for children around the world, is it their programs to support women’s rights and human rights?”
Liberal MP Rob Oliphant said the petition is “absurd & dangerous.”
According to the petition, Canada’s commitment to the UN’s Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals compromise national sovereignty and personal autonomy. It highlights the negative impacts of these initiatives on various aspects of Canadian life, from religious and cultural values to privacy and personal freedom, often implemented without adequate public consent.
“Agenda 2030 and secretly negotiated amendments to the (WHO’s international health regulations) could likely impose unacceptable, intrusive universal surveillance, violating the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” reads the petition.
The petition also claims that Canada’s relationship with the UN and other global institutions is empowering groups like the World Economic Forum, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and International Planned Parenthood Federation, although it does not explain how.
Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull accused the Conservatives of being conspiratorial over Lewis’ support for the petition.
“It’s astonishing how the Conservative Party has become a haven for conspiracy theorists & extremists,” he said.
The Conservative party did not respond to a request for comment from True North.
Canada is continuing to give foreign aid to China to the tune of $7.59 million, according to figures confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs in a new report.
The Statistical Report on International Assistance recently tabled in Parliament revealed that the federal government continues to send money to China, despite being cited internationally for various human rights abuses.
Opposition MPs asked the Liberals to cease sending foreign aid to a “communist dictatorial government that abuses human rights” over four years ago.
At the time, Canada was giving China as much as $41 million before then-Opposition leader Andrew Scheer demanded a total suspension of the funds.
“I don’t believe Canadian taxpayers should be sending any money to China,” said Scheer at the time.
“We’re talking about a communist dictatorial government that abuses human rights, quashes freedoms, violates rights of its citizens and has a very aggressive foreign policy all throughout the region. China is headed in a direction that is not in alignment with Canadian values.”
The $7.59 million doesn’t include an additional $18.7 million in repayable loans via Export Development or the Finance Department’s USD $159.2 million purchase of shares in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank of Beijing.
Conservative MPs have repeatedly called for the federal government to withdraw its investments with the bank.
“Forty per cent of the staff are Chinese nationals, many of whom are Chinese Communist Party members,” testified Bob Pickard at a Dec. 11 committee hearing. Pickard resigned as bank communications chief last year.
“I am alleging undue Chinese Communist Party influence in the everyday operations of the bank. People keep on asking me, ‘Where are the documents?’ Well if I had taken those documents, I’d either be in a Chinese jail right now or I would be under serious litigation.”
Ethiopia receives the most money in Canadian foreign aid of any country, receiving an annual amount of $206.6 million, followed by Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The federal tribunal in charge of approving refugee and asylum claims says it’s not keeping track of adults who lied about their age and claimed they were unaccompanied minors upon arrival in Canada.
True North asked the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada to provide statistics on how many adult claimants were discovered to have misrepresented their age to immigration officials. The board said such data were not tracked.
“An unaccompanied minor is defined as a minor claimant (under 18 years old) at the time of referral to the Board that is not accompanied by their parent, family member or legal guardian,” senior communications advisor Anna Pape told True North in an emailed statement.
“The IRB has no statistics available concerning refugee claimants who misrepresent their age when making a refugee claim as this is not data that is captured in our case management system.”
As of Jan. 1, 2017, there have been 876 refugee asylum claimants registered as unaccompanied minors and referred to the Refugee Protection Division for further evaluation.
Despite claims that statistics are not tracked, the board has overseen cases in the past where adults misrepresented themselves as minors.
In 2016, Canadian authorities detained a 30-year-old refugee from South Sudan who claimed he was 17 to attend grade 11. Jonathan Nicola was even granted a full athletic scholarship and played on a Windsor, Ont. Catholic high school’s basketball team.
Nicola’s passport and official documents submitted to officials claimed his birthdate to be 1998, however, he had made other representations in the US claiming to have been born in 1986.
Despite this, Nicola was released from custody and the Canada Border Services Agency dropped the case.
The immigration board reports to the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which has strict rules on misrepresentation – a form of immigration fraud.
Those who are found to submit false information or supporting documents to immigration officials can be subject to entry bans, a permanent record of fraud, removal of status, criminal charges or ultimately deportation from Canada.
When True North asked the board whether any action was taken to rectify cases where an asylum or refugee applicant misrepresented themselves as an unaccompanied minor, officials did not address the question.
Gov’s research shows Canadians disapprove of internet censorship
In-house research from the Privy Council found that most Canadians believe that the government should stay out of censoring the internet to protect Canadians from “misinformation.”
The federal government contracted Strategic Counsel to hold several focus groups to engage people in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada about their views on the government’s plans to censor the internet.
“Discussing actions which could be taken to mitigate online misinformation and disinformation, participants stressed the role of individual responsibility,” said Privy Council researchers, according to the Toronto Sun.
Canadians who were concerned about potential harmful content on apps like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and SnapChat still said that it “was the responsibility of individuals” and not the federal government to dictate what was suitable.
“A number were of the view it was of critical importance for Canadians to be able to leave comments and have their voices heard regarding initiatives and policies important to them,” reads part of one of the reports, accumulatively called Continuous Qualitative Data Collection Of Canadians’ Views.
In November Attorney General Arif Virani was asked what future regulations on the internet might look like and Virani said he was studying “international best practices” on the matter, however, he did not provide any examples.
Cabinet had previously indicated it had plans to re-introduce a bill from 2021, known as Bill c-36, which would revive the controversial Section 13 amendment to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which expanded the scope of hate speech laws to the online realm.
The Section 13 amendment was shut down under the Harper government in 2013, which had been used to censor internet content deemed to be hateful.
Bill C-36 or An Act To Amend The Criminal Code proposed $70,000 fines for legal content deemed “likely to foment detestation or vilification,” but it expired in the last Parliament.
“Participants were asked if they were concerned about the spread of misinformation and disinformation,” said Canadians’ Views.
“Though all participants reported feeling some degree of concern, some also expressed reservations about the potential for censorship in any attempt by the federal government to prevent the proliferation of false information online.”