A cash incentive available to British Columbia construction companies for hiring new workers doubles if a worker “self-identifies” as anything other than an able-bodied, heterosexual, white male.
On Wednesday, the British Columbia Construction Association (BCCA) announced a new $10 million Apprenticeship Services Program that will give cash incentives to small and medium scale construction companies that hire and register first year apprentices for 39 Red Seal Trades.
The per-employee incentive is $5,000, but if an applicant self-identifies as a person of colour, woman, sexual minority, or person with a disability, it doubles to $10,000, according to the Western Investor.
According to the BCCA, over half of the apprentices already hired have self-identified as a member of one of the “equity deserving groups.”
Funding for the BCCA’s new program will come from the federal government’s Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy, launched by the federal government in September 2022.
The BBCA is calling the new program the ”most far-reaching construction trade apprenticeship drive ever undertaken in British Columbia.”
“The Apprenticeship Services project has become one of the most successful workforce development programs the BCCA has ever launched,” said Chris Atchison, president of the BCCA. “The timing of this initiative couldn’t be better. Our industry is hungry for skilled workers.”
Each employer is allowed to register two first-year apprentices before March 31, 2024.
The BCCA noted that while 35 different Real Seal trades have now hired new apprentices, the majority are registered as first-year carpenters, plumbers and construction electricians.
Canada’s construction industry will need to recruit 299,200 new employees by 2032 in order to replace those expected to retire by the end of the decade, according to predictions made by BuildForce Canada. They estimate 245,100 construction workers, about 20% of the current labour force, will retire in that timeframe.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith told a reporter who asked whether she was getting boosted that she’s “healthy” and believes vaccine conversations should take place with her doctor and not the media. Her response is a bold departure from how most politicians have discussed vaccination in the last three years, promoting it as a one-size-fits-all solution to Covid, True North’s Andrew Lawton says.
Also, the government is not committing to releasing a 37-year old report on Nazis in Canada, which was produced in secret by the Deschenes Commission in 1986. It’s high time Canadians see the names, Jewish groups are saying. B’nai Brith research and advocacy manager Rich Robertson joins to discuss.
Plus, Chrystia Freeland once contributed to an encyclopedia that downplayed the 14th Waffen SS’s Nazi ties.
Red Deer Catholic school trustee Monique LaGrange has been banned from committee meetings and is prohibited from representing the school board in public in response to a social media post comparing gender “brainwashing” to Nazi indoctrination.
LaGrange must also undergo sensitivity training about the Holocaust and LGBT issues, though she has “no regret” about her post.
The motion passed by Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) requires LaGrange to issue a public apology to have her powers reinstated, though doing so would violate her rights, her lawyer argues.
“She didn’t do anything wrong,” said James Kitchen.
“Part of this motion is that she has to go to this re-education and sensitivity training and she has to issue an apology, which is impossible for her to do without lying and violating her conscience because she has nothing to apologise for.”
Board vice-chair Dorraine Lonsdale initially complained about the meme LaGrange posted to Instagram and Facebook, which featured a picture of children waving the Pride Progress flag beside an archival photo of German children waving the Nazi flag with the caption “brainwashing is brainwashing.”
The complaint resulted in a two-day hearing in which the board, while in camera, heard testimony from LaGrange, Lonsdale, and their legal representatives. The hearings resulted in the trustees voting to reprimand LaGrange.
While Kitchen confirmed that LaGrange does not plan on issuing an apology, he was not yet able to say whether LaGrange will attend the prescribed sensitivity training sessions for the Holocaust and the LGBT community.
“Practically speaking, it seems difficult because the end goal of the sensitivity training is for her to issue an apology she won’t be able to issue in good conscience without lying,” Kitchen said.
Kitchen said LaGrange may challenge the decision in court by seeking a judicial review.
While the RDCRS publicly released the motion censuring LaGrange, the board has not published the reasons behind its punishment.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shut down a CBC News reporter who asked if she would be receiving a Covid-19 booster vaccine this fall on Wednesday.
During a press conference on the ongoing E. coli outbreak in Calgary, Smith told CBC News reporter Aaron Collins that the media has no right to know her own personal medical decisions.
"I'm a healthy person. I tend to take care of my immune system. And I believe this is something I should talk about with my doctor, not media."
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's response to a question about whether she'll get a fall Covid booster. pic.twitter.com/JX1RxfQzty
“The federal immunization panel is recommending that folks get their Covid booster this fall. Just curious if you have a sense of when that’s going to be available here in Alberta and if the province is going to be launching any kind of campaign to encourage people to do that and I guess, personally, if yourself were planning to get the shot?” asked Collins.
Premier Smith attempted to let Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange respond but Collins insisted on asking Smith if she would “get the shot.”
“Look I’m a healthy person, I tend to take care of my immune system and I believe this is something I should talk about with my doctor, not politics, not media,” said Smith.
According to LaGrange, Alberta is coordinating with the federal government to make the vaccines available in Alberta but it remains a personal decision for people to make.
“We just received information from the federal government in terms of when we will be seeing those vaccines available to the province. So we are working through the process,” said LaGrange.
“I’m very healthy as well, I have a very healthy immune system and you know what, I also believe that this is a personal decision for individuals to make. I will look at that as time progresses and what my journey is but again this is a personal decision. People have to make it for themselves, for their children and we respect the decisions that people make.”
Earlier this year, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) put out guidance instructing Canadians to be up to date on their Covid-19 vaccinations.
“Booster doses in the fall will be formulations updated to target more recent, immune-evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants,” claimed NACI.
“Individuals vaccinated with the updated formulation are expected to benefit from a better immune response against these variants compared to current vaccines.”
A Coquitlam, British Columbia teacher is being punished by the regulatory body which oversees the teaching profession for playing a video with sex and suicide scenes to a class of Grade 2 and 3 students while marking assignments.
The incident occurred in June 2022 when French immersion teacher Amira Mounir Abraham played the short animated film called “Life Is Beautiful” while marking assignments in class.
One of the scenes in the video depicts a leg shot of a couple having sex in an elevator where suggestive audio and moans plays overtop.
Additionaly, another scene shows a man committing suicide by jumping off of a skyscraper and landing on the pavement in a pool of blood.
According to a resolution agreement with the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation, Abraham “had not seen the film before and therefore did not know its content before showing it to the class.”
“The film is a nine-minute long, age-inappropriate film … containing scenes depicting sexual intercourse and suicide,” the agreement states.
Despite this, Abraham did not intervene to stop the film from finishing and let it run for its entire nearly nine minute duration while children watched on.
Abraham was ordered to comply with requirements which require teachers to behave in “a trustworthy, impartial, diligent and safe manner” and to “take responsibility for (students) physical and emotional safety.”
This is not the first time that Abraham was been reprimanded. In 2019 she was also cited for supervision issues while teaching a kindergarten to Grade 1 class.
Abraham is also being required to complete a professional development course and pass.
Canada saw widespread protests this month protesting sexual orientation and gender identity curriculum in schools.
Thousands turned up for One Million March for Children protests across Canada and one of the issues debated included inappropriate explicit material being taught in schools or made available in libraries.
The University of Alberta is returning a donation made by the family of the Ukrainian Nazi veteran at the centre of political firestorm.
The Edmonton university reviewed the $30,000 endowment established in Yaroslav Hunka’s name following following controversy over his recognition in the House of Commons Friday.
The 98-year old Hunka received a standing ovation from members of parliament and visiting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky when he was introduced by Speaker of the House Anthony Rota as a “war hero” who “fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”
Hunka served in the SS’ 14th Waffen Grenadier Division during the Second World War, a unit under direct Nazi command.
In 2019, Hunka’s family donated $30,000 to the University of Alberta’s Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies to establish an endowment named after Yaroslav and wife Margaret.
In a statement to True North Wednesday evening, the university said it is returning the donation.
“After careful consideration of the complexities, experiences, and circumstances of those impacted by the situation, we have made the decision to close the endowment and return the funds to the donor,” wrote Verna Yiu, the university’s interim provost and vice-president of academics.
“The university recognizes and regrets the unintended harm caused.”
Endowment funds are reserves universities use as investments to fund their operations, often in keeping with the wishes of a particular fund’s donor.
The Hunka endowment fund was intended to “support research related to the Ukrainian Catholic Church, with preference given to investigations of the lives and work of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptysky and Metropolitan (Cardinal) Iosyf Slipyj and the history of the underground church.”
The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, established in 1976, has 91 endowment funds listed on its website, with values ranging from a few thousand dollars into the millions.
Endowment funds can be established in anyone’s name, Yiu said, noting that the university will be reviewing its naming policies “to ensure alignment with our values.”
In the statement, she reiterated the University of Alberta’s opposition to antisemitism.
“On behalf of the university, I want to express our commitment to address antisemitism in any of its manifestations, including the ways in which the Holocaust continues to resonate in the present,” she wrote. “The university’s core values include a commitment to academic integrity and to inclusivity in its research, teaching, and community-building efforts.”
The Howe Sound Women’s Centre in the Whistler, BC area is rebranding to “PearlSpace,” removing “women” from its name as women-only spaces continue to be eroded in Canada.
“The decision to rebrand was made after several years of reflection and introspection,” the organization wrote on Facebook.
“The new brand provides an opportunity to expand the service delivery for the organization beyond cis and trans women, which will be inclusive of all Two-Spirit, trans, non-binary, and gender diverse individuals impacted by gender-based violence as well as better represent the geographic region that we serve.”
The new name mirrors the shelter that the organization operates, called Pearl’s Place, which the society notes is “named after the late Pearl Souster who passed away in 1992 and is recognized within the community for her service and support to survivors.”
“In 1995 this shelter moved into a three-bedroom rental home which was named Pearl’s Place Transition House and this name remains today.”
While the previous Howe Sound Women’s Centre website states it provides housing options for women and children fleeing abusive relationships, the new PearlSpace Constitution commits to providing “transitional housing for women, children, gender-diverse, non-binary, Two Spirit and trans people in need.”
The change is “disappointing,” one women’s rights advocate said.
“There is definitely a danger to women, especially in situations where women are particularly traumatized and vulnerable, like a domestic abuse shelter or rape shelter or prison,” Shelley Crowley, co-founder of Women’s Rights Matter, told True North.
“This is why women fought so hard to get separate spaces in the first place.”
In 2019, Canada’s oldest rape crisis centre, Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, was stripped of its municipal funding ($34,000) for refusing to open its mandate to serve biological males presenting as trans women.
“There is no women’s organization in Canada that can receive federal funding now unless they include trans women,” Crowley said.
“Most functioning democracies can manage competing rights… Vancouver, for instance, after pulling Vancouver Rape Relief’s funding decided to invest $3.8 million dollars into a brand-new community centre and shelter exclusively for people who are trans. But people who are trans are not interested in that.
“They want to be in women’s spaces. One must ask oneself why that might be.”
The Howe Sound Women’s Centre/PearlSpace did not return True North’s request for comment by the time of publication.
The catering company at the centre of an E. coli outbreak in Calgary daycares has been charged for operating without a licence.
The City of Calgary has charged Fueling Minds and its two directors for operating without a Food Services Business Licence, according to a statement released by the city.
Fueling Minds was providing a third party school lunch delivery service to five Calgary childcare centres.
The directors and company face 12 charges, and could be on the hook for $120,000 in fines if convicted.
The City of Calgary’s investigation began after it received a complaint through its 311 service from a citizen.
”We would like to thank that person for reaching out to us. We must help protect the health and safety of all Calgarians,” said the deputy chief of business safety, Michael Briegel.
Licences for commercial daycare centres that include food preparation or food service are not issued by the City of Calgary and can only be issued by the Provincial government.
The City of Calgary does require a business licence for food services catered by a third parties, however. Prior to receiving the licence, the business must undergo a health inspection, fire inspection and land use approvals.
“It is of utmost importance that businesses in Calgary have the proper licences in order to ensure a safer environment for Calgarians and the employees who work at such locations,” said Briegel.
“While the vast majority of businesses do comply, those that don’t could be putting people at risk. The City of Calgary takes this very seriously.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a confusing apology on behalf of Canada after a Ukrainian veteran who fought under Hitler’s regime was invited to the House of Commons and recognized as a “war hero.”
“I also want to reiterate how deeply sorry Canada is for the situation this put President Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation in,” Trudeau said Wednesday in Question Period.
Trudeau would not offer a personal apology, continuing to say it was the Speaker of the House’s responsibility – and not his government’s.
“The speaker was solely responsible for the invitation and recognition of this man and has wholly accepted that responsibility and stepped down,” said Trudeau, referring to Anthony Rota’s resignation.
“This was a mistake that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada. All of us who were in this house on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped even though we did so unaware of the context,” said Trudeau.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has been demanding Trudeau take accountability for the scandal, which has since made headlines around the world.
“The prime minister is now responsible for the biggest single diplomatic embarrassment in Canadian history and what has he done with that responsibility? He’s been hiding out in his cottage,” Poilievre said. “For three days, he hid there instead of coming to the House of Commons and taking responsibility.
In his remarks, Trudeau also blamed Russia for “politicizing” the event.
“Friday’s joint session was about what Canada stands for, about our steadfast support of Ukraine’s fight against Putin’s brutality, lies and violence,” said Trudeau. “It is extremely troubling to think that this egregious error is being politicized by Russia and its supporters to provide false propaganda about what Ukraine is fighting for.”
When Chrystia Freeland was a young student, she contributed to an encyclopedia that played down the 1st Galician Division’s Nazi connections.
In 1986, when she was 18, Freeland worked on the second volume of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
The encyclopedia covers a range of subjects through a Ukrainian lens, including the Second World War. It frequently references the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, a volunteer Nazi-commanded army established in 1943 to aid the Germans’ efforts against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front.
The 14th SS unit, which was later rebranded as the First Ukrainian Division, has been subject to renewed attention this week after one of its veterans, 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, was recognized on the floor of the House of Commons.
House Speaker Anthony Rota has apologized and resigned after lauding Hunka as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero” who “fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”
Members of parliament gave Hunka a standing ovation, though many have later said this was because they didn’t know the details of whom they were applauding.
If there is one MP who would know this chapter of history, however, it is Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland. Freeland, whose mother is Ukrainian, lived and studied in Ukraine and has been researching the country since her youth.
The Encyclopedia of Ukraine was based largely on the original Ukrainian work of Volodymyr Kubijovyč, a Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator whose antisemitism and fondness for Adolf Hitler are well documented. Kubijovyč was one of the founders of the 14th SS unit.
While Kubijovyč died in 1985, he’s still listed as the editor of the volume to which Freeland contributed, which was published in 1988.
The encyclopedia calls the 14th SS division “Division Galizien,” referring to the Waffen’s efforts in Galicia.
While the main entry for the unit lies in the encyclopedia’s first volume, it is referenced several times in the second volume, for which Freeland wrote.
The encyclopedia opts to refer to “German” forces rather than “Nazi” forces, despite the unit being under SS command and not a regular military unit. It also attempts to frame the 14th SS as a predominantly Ukrainian effort that set the stage for Ukrainian independence. In fact, the project was spearheaded by high-ranking Nazi Otto Wächter with the support of Heinrich Himmler.
“…a Ukrainian volunteer formation, the Division Galizien, was created as part of the German armed forces on the Soviet front; it was supported by the Ukrainians not as a German unit, but as the core of the armed forces in a future independent Ukraine,” one passage reads.
“By spring 1944 the front was in Western Ukraine, and in July the Division Galizien, a Ukrainian formation in the German armed forces created in 1943 and conceived by the Ukrainian organizers as the nucleus of the future army in an independent Ukraine, was largely destroyed at the Battle of Brody,” reads another.
The encyclopedia makes no reference to Nuremberg’s finding that the SS was a criminal organization. Also absent is the accusation of 14th SS involvement in the killing of 500 Polish civilians in the village of Huta Pieniacka.
Freeland’s contributions to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine came through a summer research placement she did with the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, funded by the Government of Canada Summer Employment/Experience Development program.
A CIUS newsletter says Freeland “wrote entries” for the encyclopedia under the supervision of Prof. Bohdan Krawchenko, later the director of the CIUS. Her name also appears among dozens of contributors in the volume’s front matter.
Krawchenko told True North Freeland’s work was predominantly on “economics, education, and sociology.”
In a statement, Freeland’s spokesperson confirmed her participation in the project and rejected extremism.
“As a young woman, the deputy prime minister contributed to the writing of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine Vol. II. She worked exclusively on four entries in this text: hayfields, horsebreeding, the jute-hemp industry, and insurance,” the spokesperson wrote.
“During this time, the deputy prime minister had no interaction with Volodymyr Kubijovyc. She categorically condemns Nazism, fascism, and far-right extremism in all its forms.”
Freeland was “super bright and super skilled,” Krawchenko said from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he’s serving as a senior research fellow at the University of Central Asia.
Krawchenko said that despite the volume being based on Kubijovyč’s work and crediting him as editor, much of its content was original and written with concern for “academic integrity.”
For his part, Krawchenko saw the recognition of Hunka in the House of Commons as a “colossal tragedy.”
“Why anybody would single out that individual to be a Ukrainian hero is beyond imagination,” he said.
He added that celebrating a veteran of this unit undermines the “historical reckoning” Ukrainians have had to undergo regarding their history in the Second World War.
“That unit in history deserves to be discussed. The legacy of the Second World War in Ukraine is something that Ukrainians appreciate,” Krawchenko said.
“Who in the world would have taken that initiative? I was active in the Ukrainian community. Nobody in their right mind would have done this.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that Nuremberg found the SSas a whole to be a criminal organization, not the 14th Waffen specifically.
