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Saturday, July 19, 2025

BONOKOSKI: Trudeau’s approach to gun control will have little effect on violent crime

By
Mark Bonokoski
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Under the headline Shooting Off Target, the non-partisan Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) takes dead aim at pillaging Bill C-21, the bill focused on banning “assault-style firearms,” codifying the 2020 freeze surrounding these weapons and further strengthening Canada’s already robust “red flag’ laws.

Evidence, says the MLI, shows that these changes will have little effect on violent crime, but will adversely affect hundreds of thousands of Canadian hunters, farmers, trappers, collectors, and sport shooters, including Indigenous communities, and those businesses and networks supporting them.

Worse still, these policies distract from meaningful, evidence-based efforts to reduce crime and violence.

Canada, for example, has strictly regulated access to handguns since the 1930s. Beginning in 1932, Canadians wanting to acquire a handgun had to show evidence of an approved need before they could do so.

Current law and practice limit those approved needs to being a member of a handgun shooting club or range, an approved collector, special occupational requirements, and, very rarely, for personal protection.

The law, in this case, says authors Noah Scwartz and Tim Thurley, offers no appreciable public safety benefit; the overwhelming majority of guns misused for the commission of crime continue to stream into Canada illegally from the United States.

Canada’s ability to control the supply of illicit firearms in our country is limited, says the report, since we share the world’s largest undefended border with a country that has the largest supply of firearms in civilian hands.

The report argues that tackling gun violence must involve shifting our approach to focus on community-based interventions in areas where gun violence has taken hold.

“Recent changes to Canada’s gun policies have been shaped largely by political considerations and wedge politics, not by the government sincerely considering public safety research and concerns,” the report reads.

This paper offers a few recommendations for improvement, including that the government remove the freeze on legal handgun transfers, sales, and inheritances, repeal the ban and planned confiscation of assault-style firearms, and review the existing firearms classification system.

This is counter-grain thinking. 

Further, they say, the government should give the RCMP Canadian Firearms Program more resources to strengthen Canada’s gun licensing system and properly enforce the existing laws.

“We recommend that the government repeal the costly and ineffective 2020 ban of assault-style firearms, as well as the planned expansion of the ban to include other firearms,” says the MLI’s experts. “Compensating gun owners for their confiscated property from the 2020 Order in Council alone is estimated to cost at least $750 million, and once administrative costs are considered, the entire operation will likely cost several billion dollars.

“Should the government impose additional Orders in Council as it has pledged to do, this figure is likely to increase significantly,” they say. “Despite the high costs, there is little evidence that these prohibitions will contribute to public safety through a reduction in either homicide or mass homicide.

“The downside in fact is known. It will harm Canadian businesses, will erode necessary trust in the Canadian government by gun owners, and will remove firearms from communities where they are necessary for sustenance, employment, or protection from wildlife.

The bottom line is that Bill C-21 will have a significant negative impact on 2.2 million Canadian hunters, farmers, trappers, sports shooters, and collectors, as well as on the businesses that serve this community.

Those affected include the 1.3 million hunters who contributed $5.9 billion dollars to Canada’s economy in 2018, the 1.4 million sports shooters who contributed $2.6 billion, and the 45,000 trappers who contributed $131 million, numbers courtesy of the Conference Board of Canada.

Correction: A typo in this column incorrectly identified the Liberal firearms freeze as taking place in 2002. In fact, it was 2020.

Jagmeet Singh under fire over wife’s rental property in British Columbia

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Source: Facebook

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is under fire on social media after a government asset review showed that his wife owns a rental property in Burnaby, British Columbia, that is earning income.

This comes as Singh blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for favouring “rich investors” in the housing market. 

“None of this is an accident. Conservatives and Liberals have let rich investors use housing as a get-rich quick scheme. Now their greed is so out of control that a 200 sqft ‘apartment’ is going for $2000/month,” tweeted Singh. 

Housing news outlet Better Dwelling called out Singh on X (formerly known as Twitter) over the rental property. 

“Dang ole’ rich Conservative & Liberal real estate investors. On an unrelated note, congrats to your spouse on the new rental property,” tweeted the outlet.

According to disclosures dated June 23, 2023, under the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, Singh’s spouse has “sole ownership of a rental property located in Burnaby, British Columbia with Singh as the “guarantor for spouse’s mortgage with RBC.” 

Additionally, his spouse’s sole source of income over the next 12 months is listed as “rental income.”

Singh, who represents the riding of Burnaby South, first moved to the area with his wife Gurkiran Kaur Singh in 2018. 

True North reached out to Singh’s office to ask how much his wife was charging for rent and how many people lived on the property but did not receive a response by the deadline given. 

As reported by True North’s Lindsay Shepherd, a total of 41% of Trudeau’s recently appointed cabinet were landlords or real estate investors – up from 31% during the last cabinet. 

Evacuation orders issued in Yellowknife and Kelowna as wildfires rage on

By
Quinn Patrick
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Evacuation orders have been issued in Yellowknife and Kelowna, as wildfires continue to pose a threat to Canadians. 

The Northwest Territories’ government issued an evacuation order on Thursday with some flights leaving for Fort Providence, about 300 kilometres away from Yellowknife. 

The emergency flights departing from Yellowknife are limited to those with health issues and residents who cannot drive themselves, according to the evacuation order. 

Of the 20,000 residents of Yellowknife who are driving to refuge, they will only have one road available to leave that does not pass through the fire. The road leads south to Fort Providence and passes through the town of Enterprise, which has already been scorched by the flames. 

“There is a time to evacuate safely and this is exactly what we’re planning on doing,” said N.W.T. Environment Minister Shane Thompson. 

Thompson told residents to leave Yellowknife by noon on Friday. 

“If you’re able to and plan to leave by road, pilot vehicles will help guide drivers through smokier areas immediately outside the city,” he said.

Many residents are stocking up on additional fuel for the drive as there are few gas stations along the way. One person reported that a gas station along the drive had a lineup of cars almost a kilometre long with a wait time of several hours. 

A makeshift rest station has been set up by Alberta’s transportation ministry outside of Steen River, Alberta, just south of N.W.T. border. The stop has a Petro Canada tanker truck available to supply gas to those in need and Alberta Wildfire has donated crates of bottled water to be given out to Yellowknife residents as they stop by.

“As you know, during this record breaking wildfire season Alberta received support from across the country, and we are more than happy to help with the hard work happening in the NWT now,” said the ministry in a statement on Thursday.

The City of Kelowna, B.C. has also declared a state of emergency as a wildfire that began at McDougall Creek blew across Okanagan Lake around 1 a.m. Friday morning. The fire was initially discovered at McDougall Creek late on Tuesday night and has since grown to an estimated 11 square kilometres. 

“[Residents] should prepare to be away from their home for an extended period of time, make arrangements for pets and pack essential items such as medicines and important documents,” said Kelowna city authorities.

“Due to unpredictable fire behaviour, it is critical that all residents evacuate for their safety and the safety of first responders in the area,” said Kelowna officials in a statement. “All current orders and alerts remain in place and the public are reminded to stay out of the evacuation area as they are active fire zones,” 

“The weather is going to be erratic and significant,” said Cliff Chapman, of the B.C. Wildfire Service. Chapman is asking that everyone take the evacuation orders seriously, saying that “now is not the time” to risk taking chances.  

“When there is an evacuation order, we urge you to please leave. We will try to get you home as soon as we can.” he said. 

In a press conference on Friday, West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund said this was one of the biggest fires he’s had to fight in his career. 

“It’s like 100 years of firefighting all at once in one night,” said Brolund. “We had people trapped last night, that’s a fire chief’s worst nightmare,” he added. “Those emergency responders were trapped because they were rescuing members of the public who chose not to leave.”

Although Brolund could not provide reporters with an exact number of structures lost due to the fire, he did say that West Kelowna’s fire hall, school, dam and recently built water treatment plant have all remained intact. 

Over 2,400 properties are part of the evacuation orders and at least another 4,800 properties have been put on alert.

According to DriveBC, the fire has closed down sections of Highway 97 between Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Kelowna’s International Airport is working with several organizations including B.C. Wildfire Services, NAV Canada and Transport Canada in order to plan out safe flights for evacuees from Yellowknife.

MP Chong calls on Minister Guilbeault to step down from Chinese environment council

By
Noah Jarvis
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Conservative MP Michael Chong blasted Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault for sitting on China’s Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) and attending their annual general meeting in late August.

The CCICED is an advisory council to the Chinese government that meets once a year, consisting of Chinese and international ‘experts’ mandated to collect research and deliver policy recommendations to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 

Minister Guilbeault is listed on the CCICED’s website as the council’s executive vice chairperson, working underneath the People’s Republic of China’s Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang. 

MP Chong is calling on Guilbeault to resign his position on the CCICED, pointing to China’s recent history of human rights abuses, attacks on Canadians’ sovereignty and citizens, and their overall indifference to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions despite international pressure to do so.

In a lengthy thread posted to X (formerly Twitter), Chong explained that after a decade of belligerent behaviour from the Chinese government, Guilbeault lending Canada’s good name to China is inexcusable. 

“Ten years ago it was reasonable for Western gov’ts to propose cooperation with China on GHG emissions,” says Chong, starting the thread.

“But over the last decade, Beijing’s actions demonstrate it’s not working in good faith. It’s working furiously to increase GHG emissions.”

Chong goes on to point out how China burns more coal than the rest of the world combined, and how the Chinese government had recently granted approval to build more coal-fired power plants.

“China is increasing its coal consumption at a furious pace & plans for even more consumption. China burns more coal than the rest of the world combined. China is the reason why global coal demand rose to an all-time high in 2022 & will likely rise again in 2023,” said Chong.

“In light of these facts & in light of Beijing’s belligerence toward Canada (jailing of the two Michaels, meddling in our democracy, etc), it’s unfathomable why the Trudeau government continues to “cooperate” with Beijing on climate change & lend Canada’s good name.”

The CCICED plays a major part in promoting China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative, which critics say seeks to establish influence in less developed countries by developing expensive infrastructure projects, saddling them with unsustainable amounts of debt, then taking control of that country’s infrastructure. 

The CCICED proudly promotes the Belt and Road initiative on their website, promoting their annual general meeting, touting a “green shift” in the initiative. 

Guilbeault defended his planned trip to China in an interview with the National Observer, as he says climate change cannot be solved without cooperation with China.

“Maybe some [political opponents] will try and attack me,” said Guilbeault.

“I am clearly a lightning rod for some of them, but I think Canadians in general will understand how important it is. We can’t solve climate change, you can’t solve the international biodiversity issue, without working with countries like China.”

Bill Gates-funded ‘soil fungus’ fake meat company greenlit by Health Canada

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Source: Nature's Fynd press kit

Health Canada has given the greenlight to an alternative protein company funded by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos that turns a fungus found in soil and plants into edible meat and protein substitutes. 

According to an information bulletin Health Canada notified Nature’s Fynd, formerly known as Sustainable Bioproducts LLC, that it can sell its “novel food” products in Canada for human consumption. 

“Health Canada has notified The Fynder Group, Inc. DBA: Nature’s Fynd (herein referred to as Nature’s Fynd) that it has no objection to the food use of Fy Protein™ from Fusarium sp. strain flavolapis (also referred to as Fusarium strain flavolapis in the literature) as a food ingredient and alternative protein source,” the bulletin states. 

“Fy Protein” as it’s officially known is a fungus called Fusarium stain flavolapis, which was uncovered by the company in a NASA supported study on life in extreme environments.

“It’s mind-blowing that we’re relying today for food on the same species we started to domesticate when agriculture began 11,000 years ago,”  said Nature’s Fynd CEO Thomas Jonas in 2020. 

“Out of the millions of organisms and species on the planet, we have perfected our system around fewer than 10 plants that provide about 60% of our global caloric intake—including the plants that feed the animals that we eat. That’s reaching its limitations in terms of its efficiency and its ability to provide food to all of us.”

Groups like the World Economic Forum have promoted the idea of alternative proteins, including those sourced from insects, as being a potential solution to climate change. 

Canada has already seen one major facility operate in London, Ontario devoted to creating edible cricket proteins to be used in dog food. According to Aspire Food Group, the company hopes to open a second factory and branch into products for human consumption.

Extracted from the geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Fy Protein is being turned into alternative chicken and other products. 

The company has received millions in support from the likes of billionaires like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Michael Bloomberg and financing has been led by Al Gore.

Nature’s Fynd has been able to raise a total of $158 million in funds and has already been used in meatless breakfast patties and cream cheese products.   

According to Health Canada, the product approval came after a comprehensive assessment of Fy Protein’s safety.

“The levels of the reported contaminants in Fy Protein™ are therefore not expected to pose a concern to human health,” wrote Health Canada. 

“The Public Health Agency of Canada’s ePATHogen database classified the Fusarium genus as risk group 2, hence representing a pathogen that is able to cause serious disease in humans or animals but is unlikely to do so. Literature reports indicate that Fusarium infections are rare and opportunistic, developing in patients with trauma, injury, or in severely immunocompromised conditions, however, Fusarium spp. are of limited pathogenicity in otherwise healthy individuals.”

Liberal MPs voice frustration with current state of party under Trudeau

By
Quinn Patrick
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As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enters his eighth year leading the Liberal Party of Canada, he is struggling to keep morale high within his caucus due to the recent cabinet shuffle and a drop in the polls, according to sources within his party. 

Several members of the Liberal party spoke anonymously with the Toronto Star, with one Liberal MP comparing the current state of their caucus to that of Kathleen Wynne’s Ontario Liberal government in 2018, the year they were defeated in a landslide election. 

National polls have shown Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has surpassed Trudeau in previous weeks, causing unrest and frustration amongst Liberal MPs. 

“I’m just sensing a lot of frustration.” said one MP.. “People are starting to question..’Do I want to keep taking the beating I’m taking?’”

One MP wondered whether or not Trudeau’s office had any concern for what the Liberal caucus thinks, saying that the party must stop defining itself so much by Trudeau’s leadership and focus more on a centrist approach to economic policy. The source also said that although morale was low before the cabinet shuffle, it has gotten “worse” since, referring to the shuffle as putting, “lipstick on a pig.”

“We don’t need to outflank the NDP on the left anymore,” said the source. “We need to embrace the fact that we are Liberals, not just the party of Justin Trudeau.” 

The MP did say that the “vast majority” of members do still support Trudeau’s leadership however and that they are driven out of their mutual dislike for Poilievre and his politics. 

“Every single person agrees that Poilievre should not be prime minister,” said the MP. “A common enemy is a uniting force.”

Polling aggregator338Canada suggested that if a federal election were held now, Conservatives would likely win anywhere from 135 to 201 seats in the House of Commons. The same poll predicted that the Liberals would take between 77 and 140 seats. In order for a majority government, a party must win 170 seats. Currently the Liberals hold a minority government with 158 seats and the Conservatives have 117 seats.

Members of the Liberal front bench are headed to Charlottetown, P.E.I. this week for a three-day retreat to strategize how they will bring down the high cost of living. 

“We all know that there’s a tight circle around the PM. If you’re going to convince Canadians that you’re going to think differently and be different, then you need to have to make changes around that circle as well,” another MP said. 

The Andrew Lawton Show | “Safe supply” isn’t safe

By
Andrew Lawton
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Drugs and addiction have reached a crisis level in Canada, with overdose deaths on the rise and seemingly no community immune to the problem. This is in spite of a continued expansion of “harm reduction,” a policy involving a range of interventions, from supervised drug use sites to the distribution of so-called “safe supply” of drugs. But is safe supply actually safe, and is harm reduction reducing harm? In this edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, True North’s Andrew Lawton discusses with National Post columnist Adam Zivo, addiction psychologist Dr. Julian Somers, and addiction medicine consultant Dr. Sharon Koivu.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

The Daily Brief | Does Poilievre support Trudeau’s immigration levels?

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Does Pierre Poilievre support the Trudeau government’s immigration levels? He’s refusing to say.

And struggling Canadians take to social media to decry the cost of living and they’re all pushing one common message – Canada is broken.

Plus, Conservative members are set to debate several anti-woke policy resolutions at the upcoming convention in Quebec City.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Elie Cantin-Nantel!

SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY BRIEF 

Quebec woman who sent ricin-laced letters to Trump gets 22 year prison sentence

By
Quinn Patrick
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A woman who sent poison-laced letters to the White House, addressed to former President Donald Trump, was sentenced to almost 22 years in prison by the U.S. District Judge today. 

According to a federal plea agreement, Pascal Cecile Veronqiue Ferrier, 56, a dual citizen of Canada and France, made ricin in her Quebec home for the purpose of lacing letters with poison. In Sept. 2020, she mailed the letters to then president Trump as well as eight Texas law enforcement officials.

Ferrier was sentenced to 262 months in prison as well as a lifetime sentence of supervised release by the U.S. District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich. 

Once Ferrier has served her prison time, she will be permanently deported from the U.S. 

During her hearing, Ferrier addressed the court to read a statement in which referred to herself as a “peaceful person.” She expressed no remorse for her actions in her statement.

“Terrorists widely spread terror and death by targeting innocent people. I saw my actions as an act of activism,” said Ferrier. “I consider myself to be an activist, not a terrorist.” 

“Activists are constructive, terrorists are destructive.” she said. “It was never my intention to harm innocent people. And in fact, I did not harm anyone.”

“The only regret I have is that it didn’t work and that I couldn’t stop Trump,” she said.

U.S. attorney Michael Friedman was the prosecutor in the case, arguing that Ferrier’s offences, “involved, or was intended to promote, a federal crime of terrorism.” 

 “There is absolutely no place for politically motivated violence in the United States of America,” said Friedman.

This was potentially deadly,” said Judge Friedrich. “It’s harmful to you, harmful to society, harmful to the potential victims.”

Judge Friedrich went on to express his discouragement in Ferrier, regarding her lack of self awareness.

“I’m discouraged that there’s not either a realization or a willingness to look internally at what prompted this very inconsistent, almost aberrant behaviour, for your own future and your own peace of mind,” the judge said. “It’s almost like two different personalities.”

According to the plea argument, written inside the letters was a reference to a “special gift,” which went on to say, “If it doesn’t work, I will find a better recipe for another poison.”

Ferrier wrote in one of the letters that she “might use my gun when I will be able to come.”

In the letter Ferrier sent to Trump, she wrote, “You ruin USA and lead them to disaster. I have US cousins, then I don’t want the next 4 years with you as President. Give up and remove your application for this election!”

The plea also includes previous letters Ferrier sent in 2019 while she was being detained in Texas for a number of weeks. Ferrier later sent poisonous letters containing ricin to law enforcement officials that she believed were involved in her detention. 

Ferrier mailed the letters from Canada in 2020 and was later apprehended while attempting to cross the Canada-U.S. border in September 2020. 

During the stop, border agents discovered she was carrying a loaded gun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and several other weapons. It was then that Ferrier confessed to being on an FBI wanted list for mailing the letters. 

Ferrier pleaded guilty to nine separate biological weapons charges, each of which carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.

Conservatives to debate several ‘anti-woke’ policy resolutions at convention

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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Conservative Party of Canada members attending next month’s national convention are set to debate several “anti-woke” policy proposals, True North has learned. 

Resolutions advancing to the convention will address gender ideology as well as “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI). Other resolutions touch on free speech, fighting child grooming and promoting medical freedom. 

True North had a look at the list of the 60 policy resolutions that are set to be debated at the convention. 

Policy proposals are submitted by Electoral District Associations (EDAs), which are made up of party members. This gives the possibility for grassroots members to influence the party’s policies.

Conservative policies are non-binding in that leaders are not obligated to include them in the platform and a Conservative government would not have to enact them into law. Nonetheless, official party policy has always been regarded as a useful tool to gauge where the party’s grassroots members are on key issues.

Gender ideology:

Conservative members will debate a policy submission aimed at protecting women’s spaces, including sports, change rooms and prisons. The policy, sponsored by the Edmonton–Strathcona Electoral District Association (EDA), would add to the party’s policy declaration that “the Conservative Party of Canada believes that women are entitled to the safety, dignity, and privacy of single-sex spaces (e.g., prisons, shelters, locker rooms, washrooms) and the benefits of women-only categories (e.g., sports, awards, grants, scholarships).”

The resolution defines a woman as “(a) female person.”

Meanwhile, a policy proposal sponsored by the North Okanagan—Shuswap EDA seeks to have the party support a ban on life altering and irreversible gender transitions for children and teenagers, while encouraging “positive mental and physical health support for all Canadians suffering from gender dysphoria and related mental health challenges.”

The rationale for the resolution notes that “children cannot understand or consent to transitioning.”

DEI ideology:

A proposal sponsored by the Calgary Heritage EDA seeks to put an end to DEI hiring practices and “restore merit in Canada’s innovation by directing hiring practices associated with federal research funding away from ideology and instead emphasizing first and foremost, supporting and retaining Canada’s top research talent, irrespective of personal immutable characteristics.”

Another resolution sponsored by the Edmonton–Strathcona EDA seeks to make the party oppose mandatory DEI training for workers. “Those employed in the public sector, unions or self-regulated trades/professions should not be forced to make affirmations, or participate in ideological programs, as a condition of employment or practice,” reads the proposal. 

Free speech:

Delegates will also be debating a policy proposal sponsored by the Perth—Wellington EDA that would strengthen the party’s pro-free speech stance by having it “promote policies and legislation designed to protect freedom of expression (speech) in the public square, including media and internet platforms in accordance with the Charter Of Rights and Freedoms,” and having it support the safeguarding of “Canadians’ Rights to create and access content on the internet without government sanctioned censorship” and the nullification of “unconstitutional restrictions.”

Another proposal sponsored by the St. Albert—Edmonton EDA would replace the campus free speech policy implemented in 2021 that requires universities to adopt University of Chicago principles to receive funding, with calls for a “provincial-federal accord” to tackle censorship in academia.

“A provincial-federal accord is required given that education is the responsibility of the provinces and the protection granted by the Charter of Rights and Freedom can be removed by invoking the Section 33 notwithstanding clause,” reads the proposal.

Child grooming: 

Conservative delegates will also be debating a proposal sponsored by the Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner EDA that would make the party support stronger measures against sex-offenders, pedophiles, human trafficking, and child pornography and have the party support the elimination of all defences that are used to justify “engaging in predatory conduct to prepare a child or young person for sexual activity at a later time (‘grooming’).” 

The proposal’s rationale cites “deliberate moves to make access to children much easier” by left-wingers and a “new rebranding of pedophiles to ‘minor-attracted person.'”

Medical freedom:

A policy in favour of bodily autonomy and ethical vaccine production sponsored by the Thunder Bay—Rainy River Conservative EDA will also be debated. The latter would have the party “support domestic research, development and production of vaccines, using a variety of traditional and new technologies, including options for vaccines that do not violate religious beliefs or ethical values of Canadians,” and “affirm Canadians have the freedom and right to refuse vaccines for moral, religious, medical or other reasons.”

Other proposals:

Other resolutions advancing to convention include one to implement a “three strikes” rule for ethics violation, one to end media subsidies, one to defund the CBC, one in support of building of high speed rail, several anti-China policies, one aimed at reforming Canada’s bail system, one to protect vulnerable people from doctor assisted suicide, as well as proposals to eliminate income tax for working seniors and eliminate GST on Essential Maternity and on Newborn Products.

It should be noted that not all 60 resolutions will make it to the main convention floor. Different workshops will debate the resolutions in a first phase. The most popular resolutions will then go to the floor for plenary voting.

The Conservative Party of Canada convention takes place Sept. 7-9 at the Quebec City Convention Centre. True North will be on the ground to bring you independent coverage. 

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