fbpx
Tuesday, July 22, 2025

BONOKOSKI: Is the United States unsafe for gay Canadians?

By
Mark Bonokoski
-
Source: Flickr

For the first time in history, Global Affairs Canada — the bailiwick of Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly — has issued a travel advisory to Canada’s “2SLGBTQI+” community regarding heading south to, of all places, the United States.

On its “Travel advice and advisories by destination” page, Canada still gives the USA a green checkmark (its best rating), indicating “Take normal security precautions.”

What is new, however, is that Canada has updated its travel advisory for the USA “specifically advising people to check state and local laws before visiting” and that this update is in response to “some U.S. states targeting the LGBTQ2 community.”

While Global Affairs Canada did not directly address what laws or states Canadians should take note of when traveling, the department told the Toronto Star via email that since the beginning of 2023, “certain states in the U.S. have passed laws banning drag shows and restricting the transgender community from access to gender affirming care and from participation in sporting events.”

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was typically vague on specifics and did not address whether the federal government even had a conversation with the White House on the issue.

“We have professionals in the government whose job is to look carefully around the world and to monitor whether there are particular dangers to particular groups of Canadians,” she said.

“Every Canadian government — very much including our government — needs to put at the centre of everything we do, the interests and the safety of every single Canadian and every single group of Canadians.”

The move comes after at least 18 U.S. states passed laws that limit or ban certain things relevant to the community, including gender-affirming medical care for minors and teaching about sexual orientation in schools.

In a written statement on the issue, U.S. Ambassador David Cohen also did not directly address the new travel warning but said his country “stands for equality and equal treatment for all.”

“The United States is committed to promoting tolerance, inclusion, justice and dignity while helping to advance equality for the LGBTQI+ community,” he wrote.

“We all must continue to do this work with our like-minded partners not only in the United States, not only in Canada, but throughout the world.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also warned in May that threats of violence against the LGBTQ+ community were becoming more frequent and intense.

That month, the NAACP and the Human Rights Campaign, a U.S.-based LGBTQ+ advocacy group, were among several civil rights groups issuing their own travel advisories specifically for Florida.

That came after Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, signed into law restrictions on drag shows, the use of bathrooms and the use of preferred pronouns in schools.

Florida teachers are also now required to teach that sex is “an immutable biological trait,” and that students must only use the pronoun of the sex on a person’s birth certificate.

They also cannot teach anything about gender identity or sexual orientation until high school, a law critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

The groups said their advice wasn’t to avoid Florida at all costs.

But they said if people still chose to travel there, they should use the opportunity to speak out against the laws, and if they chose not to, they should be clear about the reason why.

It’s a complex issue, for sure.

But definitely it’s also a subject of the year.  

Feds undercounting non-permanent residents in Canada by a million: report

By
Quinn Patrick
-
Source: Flickr

There are one million more non-permanent residents and foreign students living in Canada than the number presented by federal government figures, according to an analysis report from a leading economist.

CIBC Capital Markets Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal told federal cabinet ministers during a briefing at their recent cabinet retreat in Charlottetown that their official number of non-permanent residents (NPR) had been vastly undercounted.

Tal warned the Liberal government that this undercounting in the official statistics means that Canada is, in turn, also underestimating the amount of new houses that will need to be built to alleviate Canada’s housing crisis. 

In 2021, the government estimated that around one million non-permanent residents lived in Canada; however by Tal’s analysis, that number is closer to two million, he said in an interview with the Globe and Mail. He argued that the main reason for this discrepancy is that the government wasn’t counting people who continue to live in Canada once their visas have expired.

The misconception is linked to how Statistics Canada tallies its data regarding temporary resident visa holders, including students. Tal said that Statistics Canada presumes visa holders leave Canada within 30 days of their visas expiring, despite that often not being the case.

 “Their software, their coding, makes the assumption that 30 days after your visa expired you left the country, despite the fact you have not left the country,” said Tal, adding that many will remain past that time frame and often apply to extend their stays.

On Wednesday, Tal published a report of his research, writing, “the practical implication of that undercounting is that the housing affordability crisis Canada is facing is actually worse than perceived, and calls for an even more urgent and aggressive policy action.”

The Trudeau government has raised immigration levels and future targets to some of the highest levels in the country’s history, with a target goal of reaching 500,00 new immigrants annually from now until 2025. That half-a-million figure does not include people on temporary work permits or foreign student visas.

The number of student visas issued currently has no maximum and the program was recently discovered to be riddled with fraud, leading to an investigation by the Canadian Border Security Agency. 

Housing Minister Sean Fraser told reporters that the government was considering capping the amount of visas issued, citing the program’s “explosive growth” and its effects on housing.

The cost of housing, whether to rent or buy, has become perhaps the forefront political issue over the last several years and the Conservatives have been pushing the Trudeau government to step up when it comes to solutions on the matter. 

Tal said that Statistics Canada’s assumption regarding students leaving 30 days after visa expiration only accounts for around 750,000 of the roughly one million non-permanent residents missing from the official statistics. 

Another 250,000 international students are missing from the census data, according to Tal, who said the paperwork can be confusing for many students.

The most recent census forms ask students to fill out their information if they are living in their main residences but not to do so if they are returning home to live with their parents during the year. Tal said many students found the wording confusing and they thought that their main residences were abroad.

“This is why even Statistics Canada believes that the census continues to undercount NPRs with valid visas in Canada,” said Tal.

Tal said that the incorrect census data will directly affect housing policy because the federal Crown corporation responsible for housing, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, relies on that census data to make predictions that will inform planners across the country. 

“If your starting point is too low, your forecast will be far too low, resulting in a suboptimal planning process,” said Tal, who added that even the figures in his report are conservative.

Another paper by the founder of Integrative Trade and Economics, Henry Lotin, concurred with Tal’s analysis.

“Upwards of one million persons are missing in the official population, largely due to expired visa holders remaining in Canada awaiting new visas.” wrote Lotin, a former federal economist.

Similarly to Tal’s report, Lotin also suggested that Statistics Canada change its method of analysis to include holders of expired visas.

Pastors, Whistle Stop Café acquitted of Alberta public health violations

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Several pastors and the owner of the Whistle Stop Café have been acquitted of public health charges related to violating Alberta’s Covid-19 rules and lockdown orders or have had their charges dropped. 

According to The Democracy Fund, Whistle Stop owner Chris Scott was acquitted of seven violations after he refused to close his restaurant at the height of the pandemic.  Scott was facing charges under the Public Health Act and the Gaming Liquor and Cannabis Act. 

Lawyers defending Scott cited a recent decision that found public health orders were made outside of the Public Health Act’s jurisdiction due to the fact that politicians had the final say and not public health officials. 

“Scott may have been convicted if he had a less tenacious legal team,” said TDF’s litigation director Alan Honner. 

“The delay caused by Scott’s disclosure application ultimately gave the defence the benefit of the Ingram decision, which led to Scott’s acquittal.” 

Scott isn’t the only one to be vindicated due to the decision known as the Ingram v. Alberta case. 

GraceLife Church pastor James Coates was acquitted of all charges related to his decision to continue offering worship services while churches were ordered to close their doors. 

“Pastor James Coates and GraceLife Church endured a great deal of vilification and abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was meted out by the media, the Kenney government, Alberta Health Services, the RCMP, many Albertans, and even the Alberta Courts,” said Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) lawyer Leighton Grey. 

Coates was facing a possible jail sentence for allegedly violating public health orders. The Alberta Crown is also expected to withdraw remaining Covid tickets and could potentially reimburse fines paid by Coates. 

Another case involving Fairview Baptist Church pastor Timothy Stephens also saw all charges withdrawn by Crown prosecutors. 

“The Justice Centre is pleased to have been able to ensure that legal representation was provided to Pastor Tim Stephens, Pastor James Coates, Ty Northcott, and so many other courageous citizens who appropriately exercised their Charter rights and freedoms even when these were being unjustifiably violated by governments, from March of 2020 onwards,” said JCCF president John Carpay.

Conservatives leading among 18- to 29-year-old voters

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Conservatives are leading by a wide margin with young voters, according to the latest Nanos Research poll. 

The survey found that 39.21% of voters aged 18- to 29-years-old would vote Conservative. 

That figure is well ahead of the Liberals who polled at 15.97% among that group. In second place with these young voters were the NDP with 30.92%. 

The Liberals have plunged to third place despite polling at 26.8% with 18- to 29-year-olds earlier this month.

According to the polling company’s chief data scientist and founder Nik Nanos, the Liberals have a lot of reasons to worry about the latest polling data. 

 “I would be very concerned if I were the Liberals,” said Nanos. 

“Right now the Conservatives are really doing well among male voters, they’re more competitive among female voters than they have been, and the Conservatives are now doing well among younger voters.” 

Nanos said that it looks like the coalition Prime Minister Justin Trudeau built to get elected in 2015 is “slowly unraveling.” 

“That means that the Liberal coalition that was built in 2015, the movement led by Justin Trudeau, is slowly unraveling, and they’ve got to reverse this trend if they want to have any chance to hold on to government,” said Nanos. 

Trudeau’s failure to address affordability issues and the housing crises has caused a rift among young voters but some who are more interested in climate change and progressive politics are lending their support to the NDP.

“The Liberals are getting squeezed on both sides, where young people are swinging to the progressive left because they want action, and then to the Conservatives for those young Canadians that are struggling to pay the bills and figure they’ve got nothing to lose by potentially having Pierre Poilievre as prime minister,” explained Nanos. 

Other polling shows that young Canadians are among the hardest hit by rising interest rates and inflation.

According to a July Yahoo/Maru survey, 52% of young adults reported suffering from anxiety due to borrowing costs.

Ford gov’s anti-racism plan doubles down on funding for DEI, left-wing groups

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government has published a new anti-racism strategic plan that doubles down on “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) initiatives and funding for left-wing organizations.

The plan, published on the Government of Ontario’s website on Aug. 24, commits millions of dollars towards anti-racist initiatives and highlights several recent anti-racist policies implemented by Ford’s PCs.

“Too many individuals are denied opportunities or face discrimination because of the colour of their skin, their cultural identity or their beliefs,” says Ontario’s minister of citizenship and multiculturalism Michael Ford.

The Ford government believes anti-black racism “is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions, policies and practices,” such that it is “either functionally normalized or rendered invisible to the larger white society.” 

It hopes the new plan will help “break down barriers and address systemic challenges to ensure every Ontarian — from every corner of the province, urban and rural — can participate, contribute and succeed.”

True North has compiled noteworthy initiatives highlighted in the plan. 

The government is doubling down on DEI training, saying it “heard from community members that there is a need for students, teachers, staff and school boards to learn more about anti-racism and the diversity of culture in Canada.” It is currently “working with community partners to enhance and provide culturally relevant and responsive supports, services and resources to students and educators to combat racism, hate and discrimination.”

Ford’s PCs are spending $1 million on, among other things, anti-racist lesson plans and classroom materials while also investing $3 million over 2 years in “anti-hate initiatives that include development of classroom resources to promote diversity.”

The Ford government plans to work in collaboration with several organizations on anti-hate training, including trans rights group Egale Canada.

Among other things, the government funded group opposes parental rights policies and is pushing for restrictions on protests against drag shows for children. As previously reported by True North, Eagle also made headlines for a campaign calling on the CRTC to ban Fox News and for pushing for Christian blue jays player Anthony Bass to be cancelled over a video he made discussing the biblical foundation for boycotting companies that promote gender ideology to children.

Other organizations listed as partners on anti-hate training include the Muslim Association of Canada, African Canadian Coalition against Hate, Oppression and Racism, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, FrancoQueer, L’Association Canadienne pour la Promotion des Héritages Africains and the Indigenous Trustees’ Council Chair.

The Ford government is also giving an additional $303,500 to Parents of Black Children – a race-focused organization supportive of Critical Race Theory that opposes the presence of police in schools. As previously reported by True North, the group previously received over one million dollars in government funding, including from Ford’s PCs.

The organization was previously chaired by the founder of controversial DEI consultancy KOJO Institute, Kike Ojo Thompson. A lawsuit against the TDSB alleges late principal Richard Bilkszto was bullied, shamed, humiliated, and accused of upholding white supremacy at an “anti-racism” session by the KOJO Institute after he challenged a claim that Ojo-Thompson made. 

Bilkszto died of suicide two years later, with his family claiming he was dealing with plaguing stress stemming from the incident. 

The allegations have not been proven in court and Ojo-Thompson has denied them.

Parents of Black Children have been strongly defending Ojo-Thompson and her organization amidst blowback, saying she’s being used as a scapegoat by the right wing.

Ontario’s anti-racist plan also highlights a “strengthening (of) standards and anti-racist education for teachers” through the creation of anti-black racism qualifications and anti-black racism professional advisories for teachers. Ford’s PCs have also made DEI training a mandatory PA day activity for teachers.

The province also amended Regulation 437/97 on Professional Misconduct to recognize “hateful remarks and behaviour” as misconduct and modified teacher hiring practices to ensure teacher hiring is dictated by merit, diversity and unique needs.

Other initiatives listed in the Ford government’s anti-racism plan include changes made to trades programs to “increase the representation of Indigenous People and Black and other racialized individuals” by among other things, giving employers “additional milestone payments” for sponsoring apprentices from under-represented groups.

It is also giving $3 million to community organizations that offer sport and recreation programming – placing emphasis “on the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

DEI ideology has been criticized by many as woke, racist and counter productive.  Several U.S. states, including Florida, have moved to ban both DEI ideology and CRT. Some had hoped Ontario would follow suit following the death of Bilkszto. 

While Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has ordered a review of the circumstances surrounding Bilkszto’s suicide and a review of school trainings, his office told CP24 that DEI training in Ontario schools would continue, calling it “important work.” 

The Ford PCs opting to abet wokism rather than fight it, especially in the education system, has been criticized by many – including members of Ontario’s black community. 

In a 2021 National Post op-ed, author Jamil Jivani, who was appointed as Ontario’s first community opportunities advocate and is now a federal Conservative candidate, accused Lecce of being “a woke liberal in conservative clothing who has turned his back on parents.”

Jivani resigned from the position last year, criticizing the Ford government’s policies.

True North reached out to Minister Ford’s office for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Are masks coming back?

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Despite us living in a post-pandemic world, there seem to be a growing number of places eyeing a return of masks, and Covid Zero fanatics pushing for another cycle of boosters, restrictions and paranoia. True North’s Andrew Lawton says they can try, but people aren’t going to go along with it again.

Also, Whistle Stop Cafe owner Chris Scott has been acquitted on charges of breaching the last round of Covid restrictions. And new Alberta court ruling means some Covid fines will be refunded, but is this the victory against lockdowns some people think? Lawyer Sarah Miller of JSS Barristers joins the show to weigh in.

Plus, the federal government’s virtue signalling foreign policy has led to a Global Affairs Canada warning to LGBT Canadians travelling to the United States.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

City of Montreal not replacing toppled John A. Macdonald statue

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Montreal will not be replacing a historic statue of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, after it was toppled from its downtown pedestal by far-left activists in 2020.

According to the City Council’s executive committee, the toppled statue will be displayed in another location and not at Place du Canada where it was originally located. 

The statue was decapitated and knocked down by radical protesters as demonstrations for George Floyd were raging across Canada and the US.

At the time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “deeply disappointed” with the incident. 

“We are a country of laws, and we are a country that needs to respect those laws even as we seek to improve and change them,” Trudeau said.

“Those kinds of acts of vandalism are not advancing the path towards greater justice and equality in this country.”

According to executive committee member Ericka Alneus, the city will redesign the statue and reinstall it with “context” elsewhere. 

“The decision was not made to erase history, but to confront it with the values and preoccupations of our time,” said Alneus. 

“We have the opportunity here to add elements that were missing from the story. The challenge will be to add the context that explains why the canopy is empty.”

Statues of Canada’s first prime minister and father of Confederation have been targeted across the country by the far-left. 

In Hamilton, a statue of Macdonald was doused in paint at Gore Park. 

Baden, Ontario also decided to move a similar statue into storage after facing pressure from left-wing activists. 

In 2020, Trudeau accused “extreme right” groups of using the statue vandalism to allegedly sow division. 

“We’ve seen, following that, people on either side of the spectrum trying to use these elements as a way of furthering debates,” Trudeau said. 

“I think that we’re seeing, particularly on the extreme right, that they’re trying to start culture wars and divide Canadians on issues such as that.”

The Daily Brief | Trudeau’s Online News Act has no effect on Canadians’ use of Facebook

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The recent decision by Meta to block news links in Canada in response to the Online News Act has not deterred Canadians from using Facebook, according to a recent data analysis.

Plus, the Trudeau government has issued an LGBTQ travel advisory for the United States – an advisory that is usually reserved for authoritarian states in which homosexuality is criminalized.

And disgruntled New Brunswick PC Party members have failed to trigger a leadership review of Blaine Higgs over his support for parental rights.

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

SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY BRIEF

MALCOLM: True North’s reporting on the “unmarked graves” narrative has been vindicated

By
Candice Malcolm
-
Source: Wikipedia

Back in 2021, the country was shaken by the gruesome accusation – presented as “fact” – that the graves of 215 children buried at a former Kamloops, BC residential school were apparently discovered.

The media went into overdrive to dismantle Canada’s international reputation and rebrand our great country as a racist, genocidal, imperialist former-dictatorship, guilty of unspeakable crimes against humanity. 

Of course, as you now know, none of it was true. Or at least there is no hard evidence to verify any of these horrendous accusations. 

At the time, every single member of the legacy media went along with the story, happy to exaggerate the claims to drum up hatred towards Canada and further the agony and pain among Canada’s First Nations. 

Even the independent media were silent, no one dared to publicly question the narrative that “unmarked graves had been discovered.” 

As a result, in the summer of 2021, churches throughout Western Canada were vandalized or burnt down, Canada Day celebrations across the country were cancelled, and the Prime Minister even created a new national holiday for Truth and Reconciliation. 

Phrases like “mass graves” and “murdered children” were repeatedly uttered by legacy media journalists and politicians.

As Winston Churchill once said, a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. 

As a journalist, I believe that before we accept the very worst accusations against our country, we need to carefully study the facts, and in this case, we had our work cut out for us. 

Even as my own editors urged caution, I reported on the facts on the ground. 

True North was the first media outlet in the world to question the “unmarked graves” narrative. Not only does our initial reporting still stand, we have been vindicated. 

With caution and sensitivity, we accurately pointed out that no bodies were discovered or unearthed, that the numbers reported in the media were mere speculative and estimates that were seemingly overblown, and that many of the alleged unmarked graves in question were, in fact, previously marked graves in known cemeteries which serviced the broader rural (non-First Nations) communities. 

We pointed out that no research had been made public, and that despite the reckless irresponsible media hyperbole, no First Nation made the accusation of a “mass grave.” 

In the weeks and months that followed, we continued to report and update the True North audience of new developments in the story, and many media outlets gradually and reluctantly followed in our footsteps. 

By May 2022, a small handful of Canadian journalists and many international outlets had caught wind of the facts on the ground, and how they differed from the hysterical news coverage. 

The New York Post called it “the biggest fake news story in Canada” and former New York Times editor Bari Weiss called it “The Great Canadian Mass Graves Hoax.”  

This week, we have even more proof to validate our reporting. 

After two long years of the absolute worst accusations imaginable – the idea that Canadian priests and nuns in Catholic and Anglican schools were murdering children, committing genocide and hiding the bodies in mass graves – the verdict is in. 

The results of an excavation of a church in Pine Creek, Manitoba, which was formerly part of a residential school operating from 1890 to 1969, were made public.

No human remains were found.

This isn’t the only residential school excavation that has concluded with the finding of no human remains. 

In August 2021, a team of researchers in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia conducted an excavation at the site of the former Shubenacadie Residential School in search of clandestine burials – but to no avail. Nothing was found.

Further, in October of 2021, an excavation was conducted for unmarked graves on the site of former Camsell Hospital in Edmonton. Once again, no human remains were found. 

You probably haven’t even heard about these excavations.

That’s because while every legacy news agency in Canada reported that Pine Creek began its search for unmarked graves, none of them reported on the findings. 

That’s right. The good news is that no children were killed or buried – but that’s a non-story, according to the gatekeepers in the legacy media. 

SHEPHERD: BC provincial park closed to everyone but members of two First Nations

By
Lindsay Shepherd
-

Among the media-academia-political class, it has become the norm to start off any announcement with a land acknowledgment. “I acknowledge I am on the traditional unceded territories of the Sto:lo peoples,” for instance.

Some even write these acknowledgments into their email signatures. (Usually these are the same types who put their pronouns there too).

Over the years, these land acknowledgments have become more self-deprecating, with some settler Canadians and Canadians with immigrant backgrounds declaring they are “guests” or “visitors” on so-called indigenous lands, or even “uninvited guests” on “stolen land.” 

I have never once recited a land acknowledgment. In fact, by being born on Planet Earth – specifically on the land mass we call Canada – I was invited here by some sort of spiritual or natural force, so I would never refer to myself as an “uninvited guest” just because I am not a Canadian indigenous person who migrated from Asia via the Bering land bridge.

Land acknowledgments have been criticized even by indigenous people as being superficial and meaningless without concrete steps to return land.

However, a precedent may have been set last week in British Columbia making those land acknowledgments people have been uncritically reciting for the last several years actually have some consequences.

Two First Nations – Lil’wat First Nation and N’Quatqua First Nation – decided unilaterally on August 23 that they were immediately shutting down public access to Joffre Lakes Provincial Park so that members of their two nations could privately go berry-picking on the grounds.

The First Nations’ statement said they would reopen the park five weeks later, on National Truth and Reconciliation Day (September 30).

According to BC Parks, Joffre Lakes is BC’s most popular provincial park. In 2019, 196,000 visitors enjoyed its famous turquoise waters and gorgeous mountain scenery, with weekends in the summer season being the busiest time.

As the park sees a drop-off in demand after Labour Day, the nations did not state why they couldn’t gather berries and herbs while people from other ethnic backgrounds are hiking in the park. 

They cited the United Nations Declaration of Rights for Indigenous Peoples as one of the documents supporting their assertion of land rights. 

In a statement to True North, environment minister George Heyman said, “My staff and I have been in active conversations with members of the Nations as we work to find a solution that meets everyone’s needs. To support these important conversations, at this time Joffre Lakes Park will remain inaccessible to the public through to Friday, September 1, while these conversations continue.”

The government is saying public reopening is September 1, and the First Nations are saying September 30. There must be a power struggle happening behind the scenes. 

True North asked the Ministry of Environment how much taxpayer money is funneled to maintain Joffre Lakes park every year, but did not receive a reply in time for publication.

According to the province’s budget, the BC government estimates it will spend $69.6 million on parks, recreation sites and trails this year. 

It should go without saying: British Columbia provincial parks are funded by taxpayers, so we should all be able to enjoy these public use lands. Our province also relies on tourism for $13.5 billion of revenue, so shunting tourists doesn’t seem like a smart move. 

The park shutdown is reminiscent of when the government closed provincial parks and put up caution tape in childrens’ playgrounds during the devastating Covid lockdowns. 

We know it is healthy for humans to hike and forest-bathe: moving your body in nature reduces stress, boosts creativity, and improves mental health and body strength. 

It was cruel when the government took away peoples’ ability to access public parks in 2020, and it is cavalier for two First Nations to do the same three years later.

1...476477478...1,460Page 477 of 1,460

Related stories

© 2025 True North | Privacy Policy