A handful of social media content creators were paid by the federal department of health to promote the government’s Covid-19 pandemic messaging.
The content creators were told that it was not necessary for them to disclose the fact that they were being funded by the government to avoid any embarrassment that receiving government funds would bring them.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the department of health quietly signed a contract beginning on May 3, 2021 to pay influencers $682,000 of taxpayer dollars to promote Health Canada’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The contract says that the government was advancing a secretive influencer campaign to push Canadians towards making “informed decisions” concerning the Covid-19 vaccines.
The content creators funded include fitness creators, travel creators, family creators, drag queens, and more. One of these content creators, ohkairyn, self-identifies as a “two spirit shapeshifter.”
While the specifics of what these content creators were paid to do is not clear, one creator, iamsukhmangill, posted a picture of himself posing in a shirt promoting the Covid-19 vaccine after the start of the contract with Health Canada.
These creators did not disclose whether or not these posts were made to satisfy their contract with Health Canada, however these posts are generally beyond the type of content these creators normally post.
A federal judge has upheld the decision to deport Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, the truck driver responsible for the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018, dismissing applications for his stay in Canada.
This ruling comes despite Sidhu’s earlier parole grant after being sentenced to eight years for causing the crash that resulted in 16 fatalities and 13 injuries.
The Canada Border Services Agency had recommended that Sidhu be deported to India.
Sidhu’s lawyer, Michael Greene, had argued that the Canada Border Services Agency failed to consider Sidhu’s previously clean criminal record and the remorse he had shown.
Greene asked the agency for a second review of the case that was rejected by Chief Justice Paul Crampton, who, however, mentioned that Sidhu could still apply for permanent resident status on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Crampton acknowledged the border officials’ were fair in their assessment and addressed both Sidhu’s record and “extraordinary degree of genuine, heart-wrenching remorse.”
“The officer’s decision was appropriately justified, transparent and intelligible,” wrote Crampton in his judgment.
He noted that the decision “reflected an internally coherent and rational chain of analysis and meaningfully engaged with the key issues raised by Mr. Sidhu.”
“It’s the right decision and sends the right message,” expressed Chris Joseph, whose 20-year-old son, Jaxon, was among those tragically killed in the crash, according to The Globe and Mail.
Sidhu, a newly married permanent resident and rookie trucker at the time, had driven through a stop sign at a rural intersection, colliding with the junior hockey team’s bus.
In December 2018, the provincial government said it would aim to improve safety at the site by installing “Stop Ahead” warning messages and rumble strips on the pavement leading to the intersection. 13 total recommendations for the crash site were recommended. At least 12 have been implemented.
The Broncos crash also prompted more stringent truck driver training and licensing rules and greater seat belt use on buses in Canada.
In January 2019, federal and provincial transport ministers agreed to develop a national training standard for entry-level semi-truck drivers. Mandatory truck driver training, only required in Ontario at the time of the collision, was scheduled to be implemented in Saskatchewan and Alberta in 2019.
The regulations concerning mandatory truck driver training vary greatly from province to province.
The federal government also announced that it would require all new built highway buses to have seat belts by September 2020.
Following the investigation, Sidhu was charged with numerous criminal counts, including dangerous driving causing death. A review also found that he had violated many safety-related trucking regulations, including driving time limits, in the days preceding the crash.
Global News reported that a logbook review found that Sidhu violated 51 federal and 19 Saskatchewan regulations between March 26 and April 6.
His employer, Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., was also charged with violating various federal and provincial trucking regulations, such as failing to maintain adequate logbooks. CBC reported that the company faced eight counts of failing to comply with various safety and log-keeping regulations.
In January 2019, Sidhu pleaded guilty to all charges that he faced. In March 2019, Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison. Federal law holds that a non-citizen permanent resident convicted of a serious crime can lose their residency.
One of the country’s most high-profile highway tragedies of all time led to nationwide support for the city, with people across the country propping up hockey sticks outside their doors to honour the players who were killed.
A GoFundMe campaign to support the Broncos and their families became the website’s most successful campaign ever launched in Canada. It raised more than $10 million in the week following the crash and reached more than $15 million by the time it closed.
Toronto city council voted unanimously on Thursday to change the name of Toronto’s world famous Yonge-Dundas Square to “Sankofa Square” to distance it from Henry Dundas’ purported connection to the transatlantic slave trade.
The word used by the City of Toronto, True North has learned, originated from a tribe known for its role in the slave trade.
While Dundas was, in fact, an abolitionist, the Akan people of Ghana, from whom the word “sankofa” comes, were active participants in the slave trade and imported slaves to develop their own economy.
As scholar A. Norman Klein, reviewing the work of renowned Ghana historian Ivor Wilks, wrote, the Akan “exchanged their gold for these slaves, who rewarded their Akan masters by creating an ‘agricultural revolution’ during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Toronto is stripping Henry Dundas' name from Yonge-Dundas Square over his 'connection' to slavery – even though he was an abolitionist.
But get this, the city is renaming it "Sankofa Square," a word from the Akan tribe in Ghana.
The Akan people imported slaves to help clear their forests, where they searched for gold, and also sold slaves to Europeans, fuelling the transatlantic slave trade.
In 2006, Ghana apologized to descendents of slaves for its role in the slave trade.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the name change is part of the city’s commitment to “confronting anti-Black racism, advancing truth, reconciliation and justice, and building a more inclusive and equitable City.”
“The City of Toronto is committed to acknowledging the impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery, while focusing on mitigating costs and impacts on residents and businesses,” Chow said. “Adopting the name Sankofa Square recognizes the need to reflect on and reclaim teachings from the past, and enables us to move forward together.”
A primer on the “sankofa” concept by NC State University’s African American Cultural Center says it originates from “King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa” and translates to, “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.”
Historians, even those on the political left, tend to agree that Dundas was a supporter of the abolition of slavery. Controversy around him stems from an amendment he proposed to an abolition motion from William Wilberforce to make it more “gradual,” but he said in doing so it was because he thought that was the most effective way to end slavery. Given it took more than 50 years from that point for the transatlantic slave trade to end, he was likely right.
Dundas also called on African leaders to stop their complicity in the slave trade, which they didn’t do at the time.
Despite the city’s historic revisionism of Henry Dundas and his legacy, it said in a statement that the “Sankofa” word was inspired by a reverence for history.
“The concept of Sankofa, originating in Ghana, refers to the act of reflecting on and reclaiming teachings from the past, which enables people to move forward together,” the city’s announcement said.
Toronto will also be stripping Dundas’ name from two subway stations and a library next year.
Sam Cooper reported in Global News in November of 2022 that the Chinese consulate in Toronto was cultivating a network of 11 political candidates in the 2019 federal election. A series of subsequent reports would show that the Chinese Communist Party has been meddling in Canadian politics at all levels of government for many years and that Justin Trudeau was China’s preferred choice to be Liberal leader, and prime minister.
Cooper’s reporting has been at the forefront of this political scandal, leading the Trudeau government to first appoint the former governor general David Johnston – a close family friend and onetime ski buddy of Trudeau’s – to be the “special rapporteur”. This obvious conflict of interest was so scandalous that Johnston was forced to resign and the Trudeau government finally succumbed to the pressure to open a formal inquiry into foreign election interference.
Sam Cooper, founder of The Bureau, joins Harrison Faulkner on the show to discuss how the Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated Canada’s democracy.
Ukrainians who fled to Canada as a result of the war are now seeking safety in Canada under a temporary visa program are now asking Ottawa to settle here permanently, by the tens of thousands.
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting the Canadian government to enact the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), which allowed an unlimited number of Ukrainians to come to Canada and stay for up to three years.
Over 21,000 Ukrainians have come to Canada since the CUAET was implemented and the majority of them do not want to return home, according to an advocacy group for Ukrainians displaced by the war, called Pathfinders for Ukraine.
An additional 726,000 Ukrainians are approved for arrival in Canada but haven’t yet come, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Between Sept. 5-12, 1,200 Ukrainian families were asked about their future plans for a survey conducted by Pathfinders, which revealed about 90% of them want to become permanent residents.
When asked what they would do if the war ended immediately, 79% of respondents said they would still rather stay in Canada.
“According to our data, 76 per cent of them are employed, and that is even better than the [43 per cent] employment level for those in Europe,” said Pathfinders executive director Randall Baran-Chong in an interview with the Globe and Mail.
“The ones who came here want to create a better future for their children and they want to work,” said Baran-Chong, who noted that the temporary visas are set to expire in the next 18 months for many of those people.
“For employers, if they know you have a year and a half left on your visa, they will not necessarily want to invest in training or promote you,” he said. “There is also the anxiety about being displaced again. Forty-five per cent of the people we spoke to have children in school, so the prospect of pulling their kids out of school again is worrisome.”
Baran-Chong wants Ottawa to extend the program and create a new avenue for Ukrainians to acquire permanent residence outside of the regular federal and provincial criteria, as many will not qualify under those economic migrant programs.
“For example, if you are over the age of 30, your points are going to be significantly diminished, and about 60 per cent of the war displaced Ukrainians are over the age of 30,” said Baran-Chong.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he wants Ukrainians who have fled to other countries to return home after the war, so that they can help rebuild the economy.
“And so, as an ally, I think it would be careless not to take that into consideration and perhaps provide the pathways for people to make that decision,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
Other Western nations like Norway and Switzerland have offered to pay Ukrainian refugees to return home.
Miller said Ukrainians do have rights in Canada and therefore would not be forced to return to a war zone.
“I think you have to look into a family or an individual’s particular context and their rights as people that are on Canadian territory – and they do have them,” he said. “You can’t remove someone into a war zone. And you can’t force people against their will when they have real rights in Canada – that is just reality.”
The government of Saskatchewan has adjusted its immigration nominee program to prioritize Ukrainians who want to settle in the province, which already has a large Ukrainian community, welcoming about 5,600 since the war began.
“The Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program [SINP] prioritizes the processing of applications from Ukrainians and has nominated just over 150 Ukrainian applicants since the war broke out,” said Nipun Taneja, a spokesperson for Saskatchewan’s immigration department.
“In November, 2023, the province made it possible for more displaced Ukrainians to settle permanently in Saskatchewan by expanding eligibility requirements under the Existing Work Permit stream of the SINP.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Environment Minister Rebecca Schulz issued a joint statement calling for the prime minister to immediately replace Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
The joint statement was issued by Smith and Schulz after attending COP28 in response to the federal government’s approach to climate change policy at the conference.
The Alberta leaders expressed optimism about the success of Alberta and Saskatchewan, along with other nations and subnational governments, for pushing back against the voices of those obsessed with accelerating the phase-out of sustainable and affordable energy derived from oil and natural gas at the UN summit.
“We were gravely disappointed to see federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault and other radical activists continue to push an approach that would consign the world to energy poverty and economic stagnation by focusing only on ending all fossil fuel use,” read the statement.
Smith and Schulz praised the growing alliance of thoughtful world leaders that defeated that extreme position. These leaders understand that economies can be grown, natural resources developed, and food and energy security ensured while simultaneously reducing emissions through technology and collaboration.
“It was a national embarrassment to witness Minister Guilbeault at an international conference actively sabotaging the interests of Albertans and other Canadians by releasing a series of incoherent and illegal policy pronouncements that he and his government have absolutely no legal authority to impose upon the provinces of Canada,” said Smith and Schulz.
Even though the final agreement didn’t explicitly recommend a full phase-out, Smith and Schulz said Albertans will still not forget Guilbeault’s crusade against their energy sector.
“We once again call on the prime minister to replace this minister immediately, as he continues to damage Canada’s international reputation and sell out the interests and livelihoods of millions of Canadians with his misguided personal obsessions,” said Smith and Schulz.
In contrast to the federal government’s approach, Alberta emphasized its commitment to a pragmatic strategy that balances environmental and economic interests.
“Alberta will continue to further develop and implement our Emissions Reduction and Energy Development Plan as we demonstrate to the world how an energy-producing jurisdiction can simultaneously increase renewable and non-renewable energy production while achieving carbon neutrality through investments in new technologies,” the statement outlined.
True North previously reported that the COP28 climate summit concluded with an agreement among nearly 200 countries to transition away from fossil fuels. However, the agreement, while promoting a shift from oil, gas, and coal, avoided explicitly recommending a phase-out. The agreement called for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner.”
COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, commented on the agreement, saying, “Together, we have confronted realities, and we have set the world in the right direction.” The agreement aims for net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 and a substantial reduction in non-carbon-dioxide emissions, particularly methane, by 2030.
Alberta’s plan aims for the province to achieve a carbon-neutral economy by 2050 without compromising affordable, reliable, and secure energy for Albertans and Canadians.
“This is the Alberta Way. We once again invite Ottawa to align with Alberta’s approach rather than continue to act in violation of the Constitution and stand in the way of real environmental and economic progress,” concluded the joint statement.
A motion to recognize the month of December as “Christian Heritage Month” was shut down in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu, who represents Sarnia–Lambton, introduced Bill C-369, the Christian Heritage Month Act, to the House of Commons last week.
This week, Gladu attempted to mark the month with a motion.
A motion by Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu to designate December as Christian Heritage Month is shot down in the House of Commons.
“Today is Christmas on the Hill and there have been discussions between the parties and I think if you seek it you will find unanimous consent for the following: The House designate December as Christian Heritage Month,” she said Wednesday.
However, the Speaker responded by saying, “unfortunately, I heard a member say no to that request for unanimous consent.”
NDP MP Charlie Angus, who represents the northern Ontario riding of Timmins—James Bay, opposed.
Gladu’s initial bill was introduced in response to a recent paper published by the Canadian Human Rights Commission that alleged that statutory holidays recognizing Christian religious dates are discriminatory.
“Discrimination against religious minorities in Canada is grounded in Canada’s history of colonialism,” reads the paper. “This history manifests itself in present-day systemic religious discrimination. An obvious example is statutory holidays in Canada.
However, Canadians who identify as Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews already have heritage months devoted to their various religions, noted Gladu.
“Statutory holidays related to Christianity, including Christmas and Easter, are the only Canadian statutory holidays linked to religious holy days.
The paper claims that because non-Christians have to make special requests if they wish to get time off for their religious events, recognizing Christian holidays is discriminatory.
“Canada is a country that celebrates all faiths,” said Gladu in the House. “It’s only fair and right that we would have a Christian heritage month since there’s (19.3) million Christians in Canada, according to the last census. And what better month to pick than December?”
According to a 2021 census, 53.3% of Canadians identified as Christian, which is a big drop from the 77.1% who identified as Christian in a 2001 census.
The CHRC paper was also addressed by Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet last week.
“According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, celebrating Christmas with trees, family, music and gifts, that’s systemic racism,” said Blanchet. “I wonder whether Santa Claus is racist. I wonder whether snow has become racist. According to the prime minister, is Christmas racist?”
Speaker of the House Greg Fergus challenged Blanchet as to whether his questions should go to the government administration, to which Blanchet said that the CHRC is under the purview of the government and called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to answer the question.
“I’m very pleased to stand up and try to answer a totally ridiculous question,” answered Trudeau. “Obviously, Christmas is not racist. This is a country of diversity, a country that celebrates not just our personal individual beliefs but we share and celebrate the events of our neighbours too.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stood up after that exchange and wished everyone in the House of Commons a Merry Christmas and a Joyeux Noël.
Renowned psychologist and author Jordan Peterson had jokingly offered to take over as Harvard president following a plagiarism scandal embroiling the Ivy League school’s current president, Claudine Gay, and backlash to the school’s light touch when it comes to rampant on-campus antisemitism. In a post on X, Peterson hinted that he has a “proven academic track record, a now-international reputation, and the ability to stand up to the bloody narcissists of the woke mob.” Would you support a Peterson takeover of the Ivy League?
Also, the House of Commons has voted to advance a bill requiring age verification to access online pornography, with only the Liberals opposed. True North’s Andrew Lawton says the goal of keeping porn away from children is a noble one, but this bill is the wrong way to do it.
Plus, Prof. Tom Flanagan joins the show to discuss his new book “Grave Error,” an anthology challenging the mainstream media and establishment narrative about residential schools and unmarked graves.
Representatives at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai have launched yet another attack on Canada’s energy sector by agreeing on a climate pledge to transition away from oil and gas.
Plus, Freedom Convoy organizers are set to appear in court today to attempt to dismiss a $290 million class-action lawsuit.
And a whistleblower on corporate mismanagement in the federal government’s green tech fund delivered explosive testimony to Parliament’s industry and technology committee and accused Trudeau’s industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, of lying.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Andrew Lawton and Isaac Lamoureux!
Statistics Canada confirmed that its annual mortality datasets do not include medically-assisted deaths due to the lack of an official classification by the World Health Organization.
This exclusion occurs despite Health Canada’s report indicating significant MAID-related deaths last year.
Health Canada’s fourth annual report on medical assistance in dying (MAID) highlighted 13,241 MAID deaths in 2022, positioning it as the sixth-leading cause of death in the country. MAID accounted for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada in 2022. However, this figure remains conspicuously absent from Statistics Canada’s annual mortality data.
There were 334,081 total reported deaths in Canada for 2022. The leading causes of death, as per Statistics Canada’s report, were cancer (24.7%), heart disease (17.2%), COVID-19 (5.90%), accidents (unintentional injuries) (5.50%), cerebrovascular diseases (4.17%), and chronic lower respiratory diseases (3.73%).
“In the database, the underlying cause of death is defined as the disease or injury that initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death. As such, MAID deaths are coded to the underlying condition for which MAID was requested,” said Statistics Canada in a clarifying post on social media.
“Causes of death are coded using the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) 10th revision (ICD-10)… There is no code for MAID in the ICD,” Statistics Canada told the Epoch Times.
In other words, someone suffering from cancer who dies by MAID would be classified as a cancer death.
The situation is further complicated as some provinces do not include MAID on medical certificates of death, which are vital for reporting to provincial and federal vital statistics registries.
“Therefore, Vital Statistics is not a reliable source for tracking MAID. Stats Can will continue to classify deaths according to the WHO ICD rules,” said the agency.
In 2022, 3.5% of MAID recipients (463 individuals) were granted MAID despite not having a reasonably foreseeable natural death. This is an increase from 2.2% (223 individuals) granted MAID in this circumstance in 2021. There are safeguards in place that must be met for MAID to be granted to individuals without a reasonably foreseeable natural death.
The total number of MAID deaths grew 31.2% between 2021 and 2022. Deaths from MAID are expected to grow even more in the coming years as the federal government prepares to expand the procedure to Canadians whose sole medical condition is mental illness.
Legislation that extended the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID where a person’s sole medical condition is a mental illness was tabled last March. The delay for administering MAID to someone who suffers solely from a mental illness ends on March 17, 2024.
“This one-year extension provides the Government of Canada, Provinces and Territories, and medical regulatory bodies the additional time needed to prepare for the safe and consistent assessment and provision of MAID where the person’s sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness,” reads the government of Canada’s MAID report.
In 2022, MAID garnered international attention, particularly when it was revealed that several veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces were offered MAID unsolicitedly.
Notably, Christine Gauthier, a veteran and ex-paralympian, disclosed to a House of Commons Committee that she had been seeking assistance to install a wheelchair ramp at her home for five years. When contacting Veteran Affairs, she was instead offered MAID.
Conservative MP Ed Fast introduced Bill C-314, which would have restricted the expansion of MAID. The bill was defeated with 167 MPs voting against and 150 in favor.
