Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis is sounding the alarm about “concerning” amendments to the World Health Organization’s international health regulations as the global health body works towards a pandemic treaty.
In an open letter to Health Minister Mark Holland, Lewis expressed worries on behalf of tens of thousands of Canadians who signed a petition about the International Health Regulations, warning that the treaty would threaten Canada’s sovereignty.
Petition e-4401, signed by nearly 19,000 Canadians, expresses apprehension about Canada’s acceptance of amendments to the agreement during the 75th World Health Assembly in May 2022.
Canada consented to the amendments to the WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR), which limits Canada’s time to respond to further amendments, despite thousands of Canadians signing a petition expressing their concerns.
Lewis contends that these amendments, which reduce the time frames for responding to future treaty changes, pose a serious threat to Canada’s ability to handle pandemics on its own terms.
In her letter, Lewis outlines three key issues including the limitation of response time, procedural violations during the treaty process and insufficient review.
“While your department’s response to the online petition was meant to reassure Canadians that their healthcare sovereignty would not be compromised, several concerning amendments are now in force as a result of Canada’s failure to reject the May 28, 2022 amendments,” wrote Lewis.
“Firstly, these amendments substantially limit the time for Canada to sufficiently respond and they alter the terms of the original treaty. The petitioners are concerned that these treaty amendments, and now future amendments under the shortened timeline, are not valid and effective unless they have been reviewed and ratified by the House and the Senate.”
Lewis demands a more satisfactory response from Holland, emphasizing the need for transparency and scrutiny, especially in the context of global negotiations on a pandemic instrument.
“This period will also be far too short to have these amendments go through the parliamentary process and to conduct the necessary public consultations on changes that constitute binding rules on Canada’s response to health emergencies,” wrote Lewis.
Last year, World Health Organization Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus emphasized the need for a global treaty to handle the threat of another global pandemic.
During the last assembly, the World Health Organization’s budget saw a substantial increase to $6.83 billion for the 2024-2025 year, with Canada contributing $175.3 million in the current year, maintaining its historical support as a significant contributor to the organization.
On today’s episode of the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice talks about how the tides are starting to turn against the woke left and the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) cult.
This is the silver lining of the October 7th massacre in Israel, the resulting war in Gaza and the troubling wave of antisemitism across North America.
Everyone knows that woke Universities and their DEI agenda – a doctrine that claims that Jews are oppressors and are therefore guilty no matter what – are to blame for the terrifying rise in Jew-hatred and bigotry across North America.
We’ve seen this script play out before.
When Canadians were met with a similar cultural accusation in 2021 over the unmarked graves moral panic, we didn’t fight back. We allowed our history to be erased, our statues to be toppled and our churches to be desecrated. Most Canadians bent the knee to the woke left and groveled for forgiveness.
But that’s NOT happening today. Instead, Jews are starting to fight back in a serious way. One of the ways they’re doing that is by taking aim at the very institutions promoting the DEI agenda: the universities.
Afterall, there is only ONE way to curb the growing Anti-Semitism on campus. It’s not firing woke administrators or creating new cultural centers for Jewish students on campus.
The only way to stop this terrifying trend is to dismantle DEI, ditch the harmful oppressor vs. oppressed worldview and to abandon the poisonous ideology of the woke left.
While the Covid era has come to an end, the courts are still filled with cases of people who were targeted by the Orwellian regime that covered Canada for the better part of three years. In many cases, constitutional challenges have fallen on deaf ears, with courts giving wide latitude to governments. In this edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms president John Carpay joins for a check-in on the state of civil liberties in Canada and whether we should be pessimistic, optimistic, or somewhere in between.
Canada’s population grew by 430,000 people in one single quarter – a spike not seen since 1957, according to the latest Statistics Canada data.
Plus, Republican primaries contender Vivek Ramaswamy has thanked the Freedom Convoy and Canadian truckers for leading the way when it came to the fight against government authoritarianism.
And a controversial McGill University student group that has put out pro-Hamas messaging was ordered to stop using the post-secondary school’s name in its official branding.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Lindsay Shepherd!
Daphna Pollak was fed up that over the past 73 days since nearly 250 hostages were taken by Hamas, the Red Cross has not seen or attended to a single captive. She felt they were derelict in their duty and mission as a humanitarian organization – especially in light of the abhorrent conditions reported by released hostages.
The Toronto-area woman decided to take matters in her own hands and planned a care package convoy to Red Cross Canada’s office with the aim of raising awareness, and ideally, having the items make their way to the hostages.
About thirty people convened at Lawrence Plaza in Toronto, Tuesday, with bags of materials ranging from hygiene products, warm clothing, and teddy bears.
There were an additional thirty participants who met at Promenade Mall in Thornhilll, who filled their cars with packages for the hostages.
“We demand that Red Cross finally do its job and visit the hostages,” Pollak said at the gathering. “There is no justification for leaving them to languish.”
Many brought letters addressed to specific hostages that were placed in a courier envelope to be mailed to Red Cross’ international headquarters in Geneva.
From the plaza, the demonstrators made their way to the Canadian Red Cross headquarters in Mississauga, where these dozens of packages were left at the front desk. The offices were empty, save for one individual who disappeared through the back when the group arrived.
Pollak said this added insult to injury.
“We had hoped that someone would receive us, and see how much care people took to choose these items, how they decorated their bags. How they lovingly dedicated their gifts to certain hostages, and the time they took to show they care. We had hoped someone in the office would at least tell the international offices that people came by, and showed compassion for the hostages,” Pollak said.
Pollak urged people to understand that each of the hostages is a real person.
“The hostages aren’t some abstract idea,” she continued. “They are seriously wounded, newborn babies, sexually assaulted women, people desperate for medical care, new mothers, elderly, ill people, who – if they aren’t killed – are starved and tortured to the point of barely holding on to life. They are not being provided the necessities of life.”
According to the Israeli military, 129 hostages are still being held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists.
True North asked Canadian Red Cross spokesperson Jason Small to acknowledge receipt of the packages, if they would be delivered to the intended recipients, and was asked what happens to the donations if they cannot be delivered. He immediately emailed a 400-word boilerplate that did not answer the questions.
“The Canadian Red Cross is deeply concerned about the violence impacting civilians in the Middle East. International Humanitarian Law requires that civilians must be protected and our Red Cross Red Crescent partners on the ground have mobilized to help all people affected by the escalating conflict,” it said in part.
He claimed that The International Committee of Red Cross has “publicly and repeatedly” sought to have access to the hostages. The statement added that the international Red Cross transferred released hostages held in Gaza, to Israeli authorities, and “was also able to transfer Palestinian detainees to authorities in the West Bank, to be reunited with their families.”
The Jerusalem Report reported last month that six women and seven children – who were released in exchange for three times as many Palestinian prisoners – were shuttled out of the Gaza Strip by Red Cross drivers. According to Pollak, Red Cross taxi-serviced 110 women and children that Hamas released.
Hen Mazzig, a senior fellow at think-tank Tel Aviv Institute, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the International Red Cross is “being used a car service only to transfer Israeli hostages back to Israel. They have done nothing to promote the release of the hostages and ignored them in their advocacy. Remember that when you see their cars in their footage from the crossing.”
UN Watch, an NGO that scrutinizes United Nations statements and policy, has taken Red Cross to task, saying it is “overwhelmingly” biased against Israel.
“By systematically omitting the direct responsibility of Hamas for the damage to civilians and property in Gaza, the Red Cross promotes a narrative that wrongly blames Israel — a democracy that has made efforts, unprecedented in any other army, and exceeding the requirements of the laws of war, to save Palestinian civilian lives, including warning them to leave target zones,” UN Watch wrote in a statement.
Salman Sima, a Muslim event participant, attended to show his support for the Jewish people.
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 in a half, mostly in solitary confinement.
“I feel the pain of my Jewish brothers and sisters. This was my main motive. I have no hope for Red Cross or UNICEF – who have shut their eyes. They have shown bias against Jewish people. Red Cross has failed to do its duties in Israel.”
Andria Spindel, executive director of the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation, said that she participated because she understood the Red Cross “failed in reporting, and calling out, the crime of kidnapping babies, children, the elderly, youngsters, pregnant women, and other civilians”
“If it is choosing to ignore the Israeli and foreign nationals held in Gaza for over 70 days, then they are not deserving of Canadian support. Where is the Red Cross speaking out about the execution of innocent Israelis by terrorists?”
Dorit Smali, a professional marketer strategist in attendance, said: “The right thing for Red Cross to do would be to constantly use every means at its disposal to get to the hostages in Gaza, and even work with Qatar – the mediators and negotiators – to get to the hostages. But that’s not happening.”
She said the initiative Tuesday was “a much-needed awareness piece, because we really don’t see much of this kind of advocacy otherwise. I feel like we brought more attention to the conditions that our hostages are living in.”
The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, currently owned by the Canadian government, is on the brink of a severe setback due to overregulation.
Trans Mountain Corp. has warned of a potential two-year delay and billions in losses if the Canada Energy Regulator does not reconsider a recent decision.
“The company building the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is warning the project’s completion could be delayed by two years if the Canada Energy Regulator does not allow a previously rejected request for a pipeline variance,” the corporation disclosed in a regulatory filing.
This delay, termed “catastrophic” by Trans Mountain Corp., stems from the regulator’s refusal to permit a change in the pipeline’s construction in a challenging section. The project, which is more than 97% complete, aims to boost the pipeline’s capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day.
The federal government initially purchased the pipeline for $4.5 billion, although costs have now escalated to $30.9 billion.
This significant increase is largely due to regulatory hurdles, environmental opposition, and construction difficulties, particularly in a mountainous area between Hope and Chilliwack, British Columbia.
Trans Mountain said the hard rock conditions and fractured areas within the bedrock have allowed high rates of water ingress, causing complications, reported Reuters.
“If the [horizontal directional drill] fails and Trans Mountain is required to implement an alternative installation plan, the TMEP schedule will likely be delayed by approximately two years, and Trans Mountain will suffer billions of dollars in losses,” said Trans Mountain Corp.
Earlier this month, the Canada Energy Regulator’s decision denied Trans Mountain’s request to install a smaller diameter pipe in a 1.4-mile (2.3-km) section of the pipeline’s route.
If the decision remains unchanged, the Crown corporation cautions that it could lead to a potentially “catastrophic” delay of two years, accompanied by billions in additional losses.
The project has faced opposition from environmental groups and regulatory compliance issues.
“Canada’s onerous and uncertain regulatory environment continues to hurt the investment attractiveness of the country’s oil and gas industry,” noted Elmira Aliakbari, director of the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Natural Resource Studies, according to Rebel News.
Anticipated to be operational early next year, the Trans Mountain Corp. now faces the possibility that its $30.9 billion pipeline project might be delayed until December 2024. This comes after the company discovered the need to potentially alter the original pipeline route, a move that could save $86 million in extra costs.
The Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc First Nation has raised objections to Trans Mountain’s planned modification of the pipeline route through a region called Pípsell.
“It is a concern, there’s no question. First, the delay, and second, the cost,” Tristan Goodman, the president and CEO of the Explorers and Producers Association, expressed.
Previously, TMC had attempted to obtain external financing for the project.
“As we committed to Canadians last year, no additional public money will be invested in this project as construction is completed,” Freeland told the press in February 2022.
“The federal government does not intend to be the long-term owner of the project, and we will launch a divestment process in due course.”
To prevent additional setbacks, the company overseeing the project has requested that the regulator decide on their appeal by January 9.
Currently, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project anticipates starting oil shipments by the end of March 2024, with producers increasing their output in preparation for enhanced access to refineries in both California and Asia.
At present, the construction of the pipeline expansion is nearly complete, standing at 97%.
Alberta has seen an immense influx of interprovincial migration over the last year prompting the province to end its “Alberta is Calling” advertising campaign, which encouraged Canadians to move there.
Alberta’s population increased by 17,094 people, driven by migration from other provinces and territories in just the months between July and September, the highest recorded amount since tracking such data began in 1971.
The province has seen a steady increase of at least 10,000 people migrating interprovincially, for the last five consecutive quarters, according to Statistics Canada.
New Brunswick is the only other province to see interprovincial migration gains in the last quarter, however, it was an increase of only 21 people.
Every other province saw a loss of people leaving, and most likely, headed to Alberta.
“Most of Alberta’s population gains through interprovincial migration were due to its exchanges with Ontario and British Columbia,” wrote Statistics Canada in a release.
While Alberta has seen a total population increase of 4.3% in the last year and continues to rise in migration, British Columbia is moving in the other direction.
“British Columbia experienced five consecutive quarters of interprovincial migration losses for the first time since the first quarter of 2013,” reads the release.
Since the first quarter of 2020, Ontario has been the province with the largest amount of out-migration, with 5,952 more people leaving than arriving. However, that trend has started to slow down as of 2023’s third quarter.
“Meanwhile, the Atlantic provinces observed a negligible or negative net interprovincial migration, which is a contrast to the trends seen from 2020 to 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they recorded strong growth from population exchanges with other provinces and territories,” said the agency.
“This can be largely attributable to the recent decrease in the number of migrants moving from Ontario to the Atlantic provinces.”
Alberta’s advertising campaign was first launched in August 2022 and was relaunched in March of this year.
It aimed to attract other Canadians to move to the province with the promise of “bigger pay cheques” and “smaller rent cheques.”
“We have the most affordable housing in all of Canada, pretty much, of any city,” said Brian Jean, Alberta’s minister of jobs and economic development in March. “So people now can, for instance, sell their house in Toronto or in Vancouver and buy four houses here in Alberta: live in one and rent three.”
Alberta’s population also saw a major spike due to international migration, international students and natural growth, bringing the total population up to 4,756,408 people.
The surge in population can most be felt in Calgary, where rent prices have gone up by 16.1%, since 2021.
Finance Minister Nate Horner called the “Alberta is Calling” campaign a success and announced that it would be ending last week during a town hall.
The town hall discussed the rising cost of housing and inflation, according to CBC News.
“We’ve since quit that campaign,” said Horner. “We think Alberta called and many, many answered but it has taken up a lot of the vacancies. The housing market’s very tight.”
Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith was up in arms following the federal government’s new mandate for zero-emission vehicles. In a Tuesday response, she critiques the policy as an overreach and a misjudgment of Alberta’s needs and capabilities.
Smith’s comments follow the Liberal government’s push, led by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, to phase out gas-powered vehicles by 2035. True North previously reported that Ottawa was poised to announce that all new vehicles were to be emission-free by 2035.
Alberta’s government supports reducing emissions from the transportation sector, and it supports Albertans who wish to drive lower-emissions vehicles, said Smith. However, the province’s emission reduction plans will come on its own terms.
“The federal government has no legal or moral authority to tell Albertans what vehicles they can and cannot buy,” she clarified.
The province is working with municipalities and industry to explore the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles and evaluate the options to increase hydrogen fuelling stations across Alberta. Smith confirmed that the province is funding pilots testing long-range hydrogen trucks for industry and buses in major cities. Alberta is also working to improve access to Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations.
“The federal government should rein back its failed command economy tactics and work with us on a consumer-based market approach that is achievable and doesn’t hurt people,” said Smith.
The Premier’s response criticized the federal government for imposing bizarrely impossible timelines and regulations that will lead to increased vehicle and utility costs, shortages of traditional vehicles, increased costs to businesses, and safety risks for hundreds of thousands of Albertans and Canadians trying to travel in Canada’s unpredictable and cold climate.
According to Smith, the recent federal mandate is hypocritical. The federal government’s EV approach has been a disaster, she said. The Premier’s response highlighted that the federal government is significantly behind on its target to make 80% of its fleet vehicles net zero by 2030, with projections indicating only a 1% conversion rate by the due date.
“The federal government will fail to hit its target even where it has complete discretion, and yet it plans to mandate similar targets on consumers throughout all of Canada,” wrote Smith.
Recent studies and industry responses reveal growing skepticism among Canadian consumers towards electric vehicles, citing reliability issues and economic concerns.
A J.D. Power Canada study found that 66% of Canadians are either “very unlikely” or “somewhat unlikely” to consider an electric vehicle for their next purchase — up from 13% last year, as previously reported by True North.
The number of Canadians considering an electric vehicle has decreased from 47% to 34%, largely due to electric vehicles encountering 79% more problems than gas vehicles.
Smith criticized not only the EV mandate but also the federal electricity regulations. She said Alberta’s electric grids are not equipped to handle the demand that a forced full-scale transition to EVs would need. Alberta’s Premier added that the federal government has not provided remotely enough financial assistance to assist provincial grids to meet this added electricity demand.
Moreover, Smith expressed concerns about the practicality of the mandate for Albertans, particularly those in smaller communities or with long commutes, who may not have the means or infrastructure to support an EV, leaving them at risk in harsh weather conditions.
“Apparently, the federal government doesn’t understand that freezing with their families in -30C on the side of a rural road is not an option for Albertans,” wrote Smith.
However, Smith said there is a way to encourage Canadians to drive more EVs, hydrogen-powered cars, and other low-emission vehicles. She asked the federal government to focus on helping provinces develop infrastructure and advanced technologies suitable for Canada’s long distances and cold weather instead of telling Canadians how to spend their money.
“Canadians deserve more than destructive virtue-signalling regulations and unachievable targets. Unfortunately, this federal government continues to show that it is all rhetoric and no substance. This approach does not serve Canadians and it won’t protect the environment,” said Smith.
“The Government of Alberta will do everything within its legal jurisdiction to thwart implementation of these unconstitutional regulations in our province,” she concluded.
The Saskatchewan government received 18 official complaints during the summer, before passing a law which would require parental consent for a child to change their pronouns or names while at school.
Emails obtained by the Canadian Press via an access to information request show that parents were raising concerns with the Saskatchewan government in June and July of this year.
The emails pressed the provincial government to do something in response to the way pronouns, sexual education and Pride events were being presented in schools.
Many of the emails referenced how the New Brunswick government had previously handled its response to said issues in schools.
Under the new law, students under the age of 16 who want to change their name or pronouns will have to first receive permission from their parents.
Additionally, third-party organizations are no longer allowed to present sexual education in schools and parents are permitted to pull their children out of certain courses.
“If New Brunswick can take a stand against this UN-backed deterioration of our society, surely Saskatchewan can also take a stand as well,” said one email, according to Castanet.
Another email, written by the grandparent of a student, wrote, “It’s OK to be proud of being LGBT+ but not of being straight … we have gone from the ditch of persecuting non-heterosexuals to the ditch of giving in to their every whim.”
Another parent wrote, “I want God taught in school if (gay) Pride is taught. If there is a Pride week/day, then I want a God week/day, and a Black week/day, a white week/day, an Irish week/day, a straight week/day, a week/day for every single race, religion, culture in the whole school.”
Another parent, who pulled their child from Pride activities from their school, wrote that parents should be aware of these activities, in case they wish to do the same.
“There has been a lot of pushback on Pride this year, and I feel 100 per cent that it’s because gender ideology isn’t merely being celebrated — it’s being pushed down our throats.”
The provincial government is facing a court challenge from the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity at the University of Regina over the rule. UR Pride is being represented by Egale Canada, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
The court challenge is expected to be heard in January, at which point the Saskatchewan government will likely argue that the case is moot.
The 18 letters received “are just one snapshot,” said the government, of what is actually “thousands” of parents that it has heard from.
“As a government, we had been considering this policy for several months, particularly following the decision of one school division to exclude parents from obtaining crucial information about their children,” said the government.
“Many school divisions in Saskatchewan had similar practices in place before the policy was implemented.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill have both said that they received support from “thousands” of residents who are in favour of the policy change.
Former education minister Dustin Duncan argued that students cannot go on a field trip without parental consent and that changing their name or pronouns should be no different.
The McGill University pro-Hamas student group, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill, which openly praised the Oct. 7 attack against Israel as “heroic” while celebrating the launching of rockets and taking of hostages, has been ordered to stop using the university’s name.
The organization, known for labelling Hamas as “the resistance,” says it is outraged by the decision and will not comply.
In a statement, McGill’s undergraduate student union, which is responsible for clubs on campus, said the order to stop using the name resulted from failed negotiations involving the union, the student group and the university.
McGill had requested in October that the student union revoke the pro-Palestine group’s permission to use the school’s name. Then in November, the university followed up, telling the union they were in default of their memorandum of agreement.
“We have spent this 30-day working period liaising between (Society for Palestinian Human Rights) and the administration. We have had multiple meetings with both parties attempting to reach a mutual agreement and understanding to resolve the issue without removal of the McGill name. However, this effort was not fruitful and we were not able to reach an agreement.”
“As such, we regret to announce that (the society) will no longer be able to use the McGill name.”
In response, the Palestinian group said in a statement to the Montreal Gazette, “we are rejecting this name change because we are McGill students who have a right to political expression on the McGill campus.”
“This is just another blatant way to smear the only group on campus which is representing Palestinian students.”
The university, meanwhile, told the paper it was not suppressing free speech rights.
“The university cannot be, or seen to be, associated with a celebration of the taking of civilian hostages. This post by (the Society for Palestinian Human Rights) was antithetical to the university’s values and stands to undermine the important work aimed at bringing our community together through the Initiative Against Islamophobia and Antisemitism.”
“While (the society) may choose to express itself in the manner it wishes, it may no longer do so using McGill’s name,” added Murley.
In addition to praising the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Facebook, the Palestinian human rights group has organized and promoted several anti-Israel protests on McGill’s campus, including walkouts and sit-ins.
The McGill student union has faced challenges with the administration in the past including over holding an anti-Israel referendum demanding that the university denounce Israel’s war against Hamas. It additionally, called for the university to cut ties with parties allegedly complicit in genocide or “settler-colonialism”.
Although the motion was adopted with 78.7% support, its ratification was stopped shortly after a McGill student aided by Jewish group B’nai Brith Canada successfully obtained a temporary injunction against the “discriminatory” initiative.
“The notion of voting that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is offensive and has no business in student politics,” B’nai Brith’s Quebec regional director Hank Topas told The Canadian Jewish Journal.
