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Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Injunction halts Edmonton Police’s encampment clearances

By
Isaac Lamoureux
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Source: Facebook

A court-issued interim injunction has temporarily suspended the Edmonton Police Service’s plan to clear homeless encampments. 

The legal challenge, led by the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, comes just days before the scheduled removal of eight encampments in Edmonton’s central areas.

“The court has implemented an interim injunction until 12 p.m. Monday, December 18, 2023, to allow the Court proceedings to continue,” City spokesperson Alison Turner told CTV News. “The city will comply with this direction from the court. The city cannot comment further, however, as this matter remains actively before the courts.”

Last week, police announced plans to dismantle 134 structures in central city locations shortly before Christmas. 

According to Chris Wiebe, co-counsel representing the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, the police informed various social service agencies that work with the homeless that the police planned to remove several encampments. The police asked the agencies to stay away during the removals. 

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) cannot comment while the injunction is before the courts but said they will release a comment to their social media accounts when and if they can.

The EPS has argued in earlier documents submitted to the court that the camps pose a fire risk, said Wiebe. A 54-year-old man and a woman believed to be in her 20s died in encampment fires during the first weekend of November, according to The Globe and Mail.

Sam Mason, president of the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, warned that the removal of the encampments would overwhelm the province’s healthcare system. 

“If it goes ahead the way that it’s scheduled … we’re going to see amputations, we’re going to see people get hypothermia, it’ll further overload our healthcare system that is not prepared for this,” Mason stated. 

As of early November, Homeward Trust Edmonton, a group committed to eradicating homelessness, reported that approximately 3,080 individuals were homeless in the provincial capital, marking an increase of 521 compared to the same period last year.

Last month, Scott Pattison, a spokesperson for the Edmonton Police, revealed that the city had received over 14,000 complaints about encampments in 2023. In response to these complaints, the police investigated and addressed 4,500 camps.

Edmonton Councillor Andrew Knack remarked, “I don’t think there’s anyone who would suggest that EPS shouldn’t be going in to address criminal activity to arrest those who are breaking the law and to make sure they’re brought to justice. At the same time, how do we make sure we’re treating humanely those who are just in need and who don’t have a place to go? That’s the big question.”

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi commented on the issue, stating that the “scale and timing” of the planned encampment response was “concerning.” 

“Given the number of people potentially impacted in this case, I am worried about how displaced people may take shelter in other spaces that are not safe or appropriate,” he said.

With nearly 3,100 homeless individuals in the city and only 1,126 shelter spaces available, the city’s homelessness issue remains unsolved. The ECOHH estimates that as many as 300 people live at targeted locations. 

Ottawa poised to announce all new vehicles be zero-emissions by 2035

By
Quinn Patrick
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The Trudeau government is expected to announce next week that all new cars will have to be zero-emissions by 2035, according to a senior government source.

Under the new rules, called the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, Ottawa aims to ensure that the Canadian market will have an ample supply of electric vehicles to lead by example as a country that is moving towards electrification, the source told Reuters. 

Both British Columbia and Quebec already have provincial sales targets in place. 

The different zero-emissions vehicles include plug-in, battery and hydrogen models and will be required to make up 20% of all new car sales in 2026 and 60% by 2030. 

The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the plan is to have 100% of all new sales be zero-emissions by 2035.

About 13% of all new auto sales are now EVs worldwide, and that number is expected to increase to 40%-45% by 2030, estimates the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Tesla, the leading manufacturer of EVs, sold 325,291 vehicles in the United States in the first six months of 2023. General Motors’ Chevrolet brand of EVs was the second highest selling company behind Tesla, selling 34,943 over that same time period.

Despite pressure from the federal government to make EVs more popular, there is growing pushback from Canadian consumers as EVs are known to have more issues of reliability and problems when compared to gasoline vehicles. 

The J.D. Power Canada Electric Vehicle Consideration Study found that 66% of Canadians are either “very unlikely” or “somewhat unlikely” to consider an electric car for their next purchase – up 13% from last year. 

The number of Canadians considering an electric car has decreased from 47% to 34%.

A Consumer Reports survey conducted recently also found that electric vehicles encounter 79% more problems when compared to gas vehicles.

Last week, leaders of Canada’s automotive industry held a press conference to warn Canadians that the push to move towards all vehicle sales being electric is premature.

“With the current high interest rates and high inflation severely impacting consumer affordability, many consumers lack the means to purchase EVs as evidenced by the rising inventory levels on our dealers’ lots today,” Tim Reuss of the Canadian Automotive Dealers Association. 

“Instead of attempting to dictate what individuals have to purchase, we suggest government focus on creating the right set of circumstances to stimulate demand.”

The Daily Brief | Toronto renames Yonge-Dundas square to tribe linked to slave trade

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square will now be called Sankofa Square after a vote by city council. The word Sankofa relates to a tribe known to be involved in the slave trade.

Plus, 1.6 million Canadian children and youth struggle with mental health disorders and barriers to treatment which means that it could take up to 2.5 years before being seen by a professional.

And the Liberal government wants to speed up permanent residency for hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants illegally residing in Canada.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Lindsay Shepherd!

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Poilievre talks immigration, inflation, and “radical authoritarian” Trudeau in year-end interview

By
Andrew Lawton
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Pierre Poilievre is just about to conclude his first full year as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. In this year-end interview on True North’s The Andrew Lawton Show, Poilievre sits down to discuss the past year and offer a bit of a glimpse at what may come in the year ahead. In this wide-ranging interview, he and Lawton discuss inflation and housing, legal and illegal immigration, Israel, and free speech – and why Poilievre thinks Trudeau is a “radical authoritarian.”

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Poilievre rejects “perverse incentives” for illegal immigration after feds promise amnesty

By
Quinn Patrick
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Source: True North

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is saying that law-breaking should not be rewarded following Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s promise to offer illegal immigrants a pathway to legal residency.

Miller said in an interview last week the federal Liberal government was putting together a “broad and comprehensive program” that would allow for immigrants in Canada illegally to acquire permanent residency.

In an exclusive interview on True North’s Andrew Lawton Show, Poilievre rejected “systematic illegal immigration.”

“I support lawful immigration. People have to come in the right way. We can’t have systematic illegal immigration as the Liberals presided over with the Roxham Road, that they persisted for many many years and other forms of illegal entry,” Poilievre told Lawton in the interview, which premieres Monday at 1 p.m. ET.

“It causes chaos in the system and it also creates resentment among the people who actually followed the rules. When I’m prime minister, we’ll restore lawful immigration and we’ll make sure there are no perverse incentives for people to break the law to get in.”

Lawton pressed Poilievre for not giving a direct, yes or no response to the question of amnesty for people who arrived in Canada illegally, and asked again, referencing Poilievre’s now infamous apple munching exchange with a B.C. reporter in October.

“Don’t apple me for misrepresenting what you’re saying, but are you saying no amnesty?” asked Lawton.

“Well I think what he’s saying (referring to Miller) is he wants a path to permanency. I think permanency should be given to people who come here lawfully, not to people who deliberately broke the rules to get into the country,” said Poilievre. 

Miller’s proposal would aim to regularize the status of individuals who entered Canada illegally and those who entered legally but overstayed their visas.

Miller acknowledged the divisive nature of the policy, but said this just means there is a need for a “greater conversation as a country.”

“The conversation on regularizing people that are here, and by my estimation – my belief – should be Canadian, is not one that’s unanimous in the country,” he said. “We have to have a greater conversation as a country about that.” 

The year-end interview between Poilievre and Lawton also covered inflation, immigration’s effect on the housing crisis, and the Israel-Hamas war.

OP-ED: Canada’s high business tax rates hurt Canadian living standards

By
Jake Fuss
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Source: Pexels

Canada will be the worst-performing advanced economy among 38 OECD countries for growth in per-person GDP between 2020 and 2030 – a common measure of a country’s prosperity – according to projections.

Canada’s uncompetitive business tax rates – which limit economic growth by stifling innovation, discouraging investment, lowering wages and reducing job creation – are partly to blame.

Business taxes are levied on corporate profits – that is, the returns on investment that businesses make. Just as personal income taxes change the way individuals act or affect the decisions they might make, business taxes change the behaviour of businesses. Because business taxes reduce returns on investment, businesses often redirect investments towards jurisdictions with relatively lower taxes. Due to this, jurisdictions compete with each other through business taxes to attract more businesses and/or investment.

In Canada, both the provinces and the federal government impose business taxes, so we must consider both tax rates together. The federal corporate income tax rate is 15 per cent while provincial rates vary from eight per cent in Alberta to 16 per cent in Prince Edward Island. The OECD estimates Canada’s combined rate to be 26.2 per cent, assuming a representative provincial rate of 11.2 per cent.

OECD countries including Canada compete with each other to attract investment. In the OECD, Canada has the 12th highest combined corporate income tax rate, higher than the United States (25.8 per cent), the United Kingdom (25.0 per cent) and the OECD average (23.6 per cent).

Countries with the lowest business tax rates include Hungary, Ireland and Lithuania, which all have rates at or below 15 per cent. While Canada’s federal rate has remained unchanged since 2012, countries such as France, Sweden and the U.S. have all since reduced their rates and become more tax competitive than Canada. Clearly, Canada’s relatively high business tax rate is uncompetitive with the majority of OECD countries, and most importantly the U.S.

The empirical research makes a convincing case for why Canadian governments should reduce their business tax rates to help raise living standards for Canadians.

Indeed, high business tax rates reduce innovation because investing in new technologies or ideas is inherently risky so businesses need high returns to engage in these investments. High tax rates can also lower worker wages because instead of taking the hit to their profits, businesses often reduce costs by lowering wages. And high business taxes stifle job creation because when there are fewer new businesses, projects or investment opportunities, there’s a lower demand for workers.

You can’t overstate the importance of competitive business tax rates. It’s not the only thing businesses consider when planning to invest, but it’s a major factor. To avoid falling further behind other advanced economies on living standards and economic growth, Canadian governments should lower their business taxes.

Jake Fuss and Grady Munro are fiscal policy analysts at the Fraser Institute.

LEVY: Cancelled Waterloo teacher appealing court ruling siding with woke school board

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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A retired Waterloo teacher has vowed to press on with her legal fight for the freedom of speech denied her by the board’s trustees.

Carolyn Burjoski announced this week that she is appealing a ruling by three judges with Ontario’s Divisional Court to dismiss her application for a judicial review of a January 2022 decision by the largely woke trustees – who cut off her delegation exposing some highly sexualized books in the board’s elementary school libraries.

“This ruling is deeply concerning,” she says in a video on her website. “It could set a troubling precedent for free expression in Canada empowering school boards to silence and censure every voice they disagree with.

“This is not just about one school board … it is about the integrity of open dialogue on important issues in our education system and other public forums.”

She referred to “administrative overreach” which stifles open dialogue that should be protected by our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Burjoski barely got through four minutes of her presentation in January of 2022 – during which she objected to the two highly sexualized books – when then board chairman, Scott Piatkowski, a longtime NDPer, stopped her and expelled her from the meeting.

The next day she was put on home assignment and warned to keep quiet (if she wanted to receive her retirement benefits) while Piatkowski did the rounds of friendly Kitchener-Waterloo media alleging she was “transphobic” and had used “hate speech” in the meeting.

She filed a $1.7-million defamation suit against the board and Piatkowski in May of 2022, alleging Piatkowski also said her presentation would cause trans people to “be attacked.”

That lawsuit is still working its way through the courts.

On June 21 of last year, she applied for judicial review of Piatkowski’s decision to end her presentation amid claims it violated the Human Rights code.

On Nov. 29 three judges of the divisional court – five months after the hearing –  issued their ruling dismissing Burjoski’s application.

They indicated the Waterloo Region District School Board’s decision to cut her off mid-deputation was “reasonable” and that there was no “actual bias” on the part of the board’s chairman (at the time) Piatkowski or the NDP trustees who supported him.

In what can be reasonably called, in my view, a very weak, biased and almost laughable ruling that sympathized with the board’s actions, the judges appeared to reprimand Burjoski for veering off topic from her deputation request to speak about the “need for transparency” in the board’s review of library books.

They seemed miffed that she included (and read from) two specific books she felt should be removed from the libraries during the board’s review.

“Soon after Burjoski began her delegation, she digressed from the scope of the issue that had been approved … shifting rapidly toward a critique of specific books that were available in school libraries,” the decision says.

As someone who listened to her original presentation, she did indeed raise those two books – both on LGBT issues – as examples of subjects she felt were age inappropriate for elementary school libraries.

Reading the ruling, one wonders if the judges entirely lost the plot or couldn’t be bothered to connect the dots.

Burjoski was arguing about transparency. The very fact that the board’s trustees had to approve the topics of her deputation first strikes me as the crux of the problem.

These judges not only ignored that fact but called the reference to the two books “irrelevant” and claimed the board “followed its own procedures” for ending the presentation even though the bylaws do not articulate how the board may stop a delegation. 

According to the judges, as long as the decision was legal, the Waterloo trustees were free to do what they wanted.

“The process that was afforded to Burjowski was not unfair,” the judgment says, in this case spelling her name wrong.

On the bias issue, the judges claim that because the decision to shut her down was made by “five members of the elected WRDSB,” there was no actual bias and that Piatkowski did not have a “closed mind” before he voted on the decision.

Except that, in my view, not only did Piatkowski have a closed mind but so did the rest of his sycophants who supported him.

It was clear viewing their outrageous behaviour that night that they didn’t want Burjoski to expose the questionable books. Their lack of transparency carried over to the next several days when they refused to post the video of the public meeting.

The final insult with this ridiculous ruling was that $5,000 in costs were awarded to the WRDSB, who have used a pricey downtown Toronto law firm to fight Burjoski.

What this shows is that getting justice from a school board is an uphill battle considering they can use (unlimited) public resources to fight back. In this case, it appears that our justice system protected the status quo too.

However , Bujorski is not deterred, noting that she’s thankful she has the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms to fight her case pro bono.

Woman who traveled to U.S. for cancer treatment now denied services in Canada

By
Quinn Patrick
-

A woman from British Columbia traveled to the U.S. to pay for cancer treatments after too long of a wait time now says she is being denied service from the B.C. cancer care system. 

In August, Surrey, B.C. resident Sheila Vicic, 60, was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. 

She patiently waited to begin treatment but by October, having no luck, she decided to go south of the border to get chemotherapy from a hospital in Bellingham, Washington. 

The treatment cost her US$10,000 but she felt she couldn’t wait any longer to begin her treatment. 

Now, Vicic is being denied followup treatment from the BC Cancer Agency because of her decision to go to Bellingham. 

After two treatments in Bellingham, Vicic continued seeking treatment from the BC Cancer Agency so she wouldn’t have to travel so far. 

“At that point, I asked for a partnership with BC Cancer where I would continue my infusion meds (in Bellingham) because I have an infusion chair,” she explained to Global News. 

“And if BC Cancer would support me with the oral meds and they weren’t willing to do that.”

Vicic will ultimately have to have all her treatments in Bellingham.

“I’m kind of appalled that I’m in this position, but I’m not alone,” she said. “I think they’re great people. I think they’re probably passionate about cancer care, but there’s something systemically going wrong.”

“I don’t know if it was explained to me that by declining chemo support in British Columbia that I declined all BC Cancer Support, including the dietitian, the social worker, the counselling services.”

She is receiving treatment from Bellingham’s North Cascades Clinic, a clinic that the B.C. government themselves have referred hundreds of patients to due to an overflowing backlog of patients in B.C. 

On Thursday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the BC Cancer Agency will reach out to anyone who needs cancer care in the province, however he would not provide any further details, citing privacy reasons. 

“In this case, we’ll be in touch, of course, as they’re still a B.C. resident in B.C. under the care of B.C. health care,” said Dix.

The BC Cancer Agency released a statement saying that it’s an individual’s primary care provider who is responsible for making referrals to their agency so that they can then provide services on a case-by-case basis.

“We’re a first-world country,” said Vicic. “And we can do better — way, way better, not a little bit better. We can do massively better for the people who need cancer treatment and for the people who need every other, like family doctors.”

Her final round of chemo treatment is scheduled for later this month and additional treatment will be scheduled in 2024.

Vicic admits to having created her own two-tiered healthcare system but says she has no regrets about it now.

“I would just say for me, every week waiting, in my mind, was cancer winning,” said Vicic.

LAWTON: The UN’s latest attack on Canada’s energy sector (Ft. Marc Morano)

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Earlier this week, countries at the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit agreed to “transition away” from oil and gas.

To nobody’s surprise, Canada also signed onto this pledge. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault even went as far as applauding the pledge as a “global consensus” for clean energy.

Climate Depot’s Marc Morano joined Andrew Lawton to discuss how the UN’s latest climate scheme will harm Canada’s economy and do nothing for the environment.

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Auto industry leaders slam Trudeau government’s electric vehicle mandate

By
Noah Jarvis
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Source: Facebook

Industry leaders from Canada’s automotive sector are warning Canadians that a national transition towards electrical vehicles is premature.

They warned in a press conference that Canada is not ready for the Trudeau government’s desired transition away from combustion engine vehicles because consumers are not accepting the transition and the government has not set the preconditions for EVs to succeed in the market.

The representatives included Tim Reuss of the Canadian Automotive Dealers Association, Brian Kingston of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, and David Adams of Global Automakers of Canada.

“With the current high interest rates and high inflation severely impacting consumer affordability, many consumers lack the means to purchase EVs as evidenced by the rising inventory levels on our dealers’ lots today,” said Reuss. 

“Instead of attempting to dictate what individuals have to purchase, we suggest government focus on creating the right set of circumstances to stimulate demand.”

Reuss went on to warn that EV mileage sees a significant reduction when temperatures drop below freezing and that rural Canadians would be disproportionately impacted. 

“The federal government needs to produce a realistic and flexible plan that takes into account the vastly different economic and geographic realities of Canada,” he said.

“Canadians living in rural and northern communities will face more difficulties with the transition to EVs due to prolonged periods of cold temperatures that affect the range of battery electric vehicles as well as the substantially longer average distances they need to travel.”

As previously reported by True North, the range of electric vehicles can plummet precipitously, by as much as 41% in cold weather.

Kingston of the CVMA warned that EVs are significantly more expensive compared to comparable combustion engine vehicles and that an EV mandate would disproportionately harm the poor, rural Canadians, and northerners. 

“According to Environment Canada’s own analysis, the forthcoming regulation will have a disproportionate and negative impact on low-income Canadians, rural Canadians, and northern Canadians,” said Kingston.

“There’s an average price gap right now between internal combustion engine vehicles and ZEVs (zero-emission vehicles) of $14,000. The current purchasing incentives available to Canadians do not close this gap.”

Kingston also raised concerns around Canadians’ ability to charge their EVs, as the underdevelopment of charging infrastructure remains an issue.

“For those Canadians that are able to afford ZEVs, the next challenge they face is the lack of charging infrastructure. According to Enercan, 442,000 public chargers and 2.2 million multi-unit residential chargers are required by 2035. There are currently only 25,00 public chargers available to Canadians, and no plan to close the gap.”

Adams of the Global Automakers of Canada echoed the comments that his colleagues made, but stated that he believes Canadians need to be re-educated so as to compel them to purchase EVs.

“We need further education and awareness to ensure that customers are compelled to make the switch,” said Adams.

The Trudeau government has outlined their plan to phase out combustion engine vehicles by mandating that at least 20% of new vehicle purchases be an electric vehicle by 2026, 60% by 2030, and that all new vehicle purchases be electric vehicles by 2035.

The Trudeau government is expected to release their finalized plan next week.

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