British Columbia’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the new Covid-19 mRNA vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech should be treated as an “updated seasonal vaccine” and not a booster.
Henry made the comments in a recent interview as the new vaccine is pending approval by Health Canada.
According to Henry, British Columbians can expect the vaccine to be available in September or October.
“I’m really thinking of this as an updated seasonal vaccine, as opposed to a booster, because the protection that we have from the previous vaccines that we’ve received still provides good strong cell-mediated immunity,” claimed Henry.
Henry claimed that getting the new seasonal vaccine is necessary “regardless of how many vaccines” somebody has received.
“Getting this updated one will be important for everybody … to protect you going into this fall,” said Henry.
She also noted that the new vaccine will be very similar to the flu shot, which gets a new formula every year.
“It may be that this updated vaccine will last longer than a year — those things we are still learning as we go,” said Henry.
Despite her call for British Columbians to protect themselves with a Covid-19 shot, she admitted that the virus poses a very low risk.
“Omicron has stayed relatively stable for almost a year and a half now, so we’ll see what happens through this next respiratory season,” said Henry.
Unlike other provinces, the BC government has stuck by its vaccine mandates for healthcare workers.
The province recently revealed that regulators no longer had to ask for vaccination status but the requirement would still be enforced.
Telus Corp. will be laying off 6,000 employees due to regulations and competition in an effort to decrease their payroll, the company announced on Friday. A spokesperson for Telus Corp. said the movie will help them adapt to the “rapidly changing industry,”
This comes at a time when Canadians already pay amongst the highest cell phone bills anywhere in the world.
“It was a very difficult decision,” said Doug French, the chief financial officer for the Vancouver-based telecommunications company. “The industry keeps changing and from a competitive perspective, we always want to prepare ourselves for the future. We see more digitization, we see prices are coming down in our industry, which customers are looking for. And so preparing to ensure we continue to be very competitive in the market, we need to align our cost structure to what that looks like.” said French.
The reduction will include 2,000 layoffs and another 2,000 will be offered early retirement or voluntary departure. Many existing vacancies will not be filled at their main office. Telus International, which serves global customers with IT service is responsible for the remaining 2,000 job cuts.
Part of the change in the industry is tied to a new mandate for the CRTC which was detailed earlier this year by federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. The mandate requires the agency to rule in favour of consumers rights, universal access and affordability. French said he believes that the federal government should, “let the market compete.”
“We’re one of the few countries in the world that still has four national competitors. There’s been consolidation everywhere else,” said French. “We obviously would prefer to just have straight competition and regulation. I believe the competitive environment in Canada is very, very strong.”
Telus and other large telecommunications providers pay some of the highest spectrum costs internationally as a result of Canada’s size and sparse population. “It’s very, very expensive to do that,” said French. “To keep investment going, you have to have a return.”
Last year, Telus employed 108,500 workers and the job cuts will affect “All areas of our business,” according to French.
Telus’ job cuts will lead to an annual savings of more than $325 million however the company will pay out $475 million this year for the restructuring. The announcement comes just after the company faced a 61% decline in net income during the second quarter from the same time last year.
Last month, Rogers Communications Inc. released a memo to their staff offering voluntary departure packages as well, following the company’s purchase of Shaw Communications. The offer is hoping to eliminate any duplication of job roles, however just how many jobs that will be was not made clear.
“When we make a decision like this, it is not easy and we’d prefer not to continue to do more in the future,” said French, who alluded to the possibility of future job cuts. “That being said, depending on market conditions … that would be more determined on what that looks like, including regulation.”
The average Telus customer pays $58.80 for their mobile phone plan, a 1.8% increase from the time last year. The company said the increase is tied to a spike in international travel, thus higher roaming charges.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff, Katie Telford, was fact-checked by X’s community guidelines after sharing an article from the Guardian claiming that Canada has no pro-choice Conservative MPs.
“Canada has zero pro-choice Conservative MPs.” wrote Telford Thursday. The claim was quickly labelled false by X’s community notes team. X was called Twitter until a rebrand last week.
“Bill C-311 is a 78-word Bill that does not contain the word abortion,” wrote the note applied to Telford’s post. “The Bill is to protect a pregnant woman with aggravating circumstance for the purpose of sentencing.”
X provided a link to the one-page document summarizing the Violence Against Pregnant Women Act, which aims to give higher sentences to violent offenders against pregnant women.
CTV News columnist Don Martin retweeted Telford’s comments noting her interpretation of the Bill is misleading.
“Not sure why the Prime Minister’s chief of staff is retweeting something she knows is misleading at best but basically false.”
Not sure why the Prime Minister's chief of staff is retweeting something she KNOWS is misleading at best but basically false. https://t.co/us1PIeK7ry
The Guardian’s article cites the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC), Canada’s largest abortion rights lobby criticizing Bill C-311.
According to the Guardian, ARCC’s executive director, Joyce Arthur, said the bill was a “thinly veiled attempt to encroach on Canada’s longstanding view that fetuses do not have personhood status.”
“[The bill] is basically singling out pregnant people for special protection. In an ideal world maybe that would be OK, but the bill was actually introduced by Cathay Wagantall, who’s got a reputation for introducing anti-abortion bills,” Arthur told The Guardian.
On June 14th, Conservatives voted in favour of Bill C-311 in the House of Commons, but was defeated 205-113.
“One cannot be pro-choice in a vacuum – or in this case a hotbed of growing right-wing extremism,” wrote the ARCC in a statement. “These ‘pro-choice’ Conservatives have signed up to a party that is largely anti-choice.”
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released its latest statistics confirming 87,485 induced abortions recorded in Canada in 2021. An Angus Reid poll shows almost half of Canadians believe there should be some limit on abortion. The survey was conducted in the wake of the latest Roe v. Wade discussion south of the border.
The latest Statistics Canada economic update paints a bleak picture when it comes to unemployment.
Canada shed 6,400 jobs in July and it could have ramifications on upcoming interest rate adjustments by the Bank of Canada (BoC).
Unemployment grew by 0.1% last month to 5.5% indicating a three-month consecutive spike in job losses.
“The soft July employment report is just the latest arrow in the quiver of signs that the economy is losing momentum,” said BMO managing director of economics Doug Porter.
Some of the groups hardest hit by unemployment were men aged 25 to 54 (0.4%) and men aged 15 to 24 (0.9%).
Unemployment was led by the construction industry with a whopping 45,000 jobs lost in July. Construction was followed by losses in public administration and information, culture and recreation.
“Looking beyond the next rate decision, we suspect that the bank may be done raising rates, although still-firm wage and core price growth means that rates are likely to stay high for long,” said Porter.
Recently, former BoC governor David Dodge warned that Canadians should expect higher interest rates well into 2025 should the country reach its inflation targets.
“It’s going to be a long period of what would be considered elevated interest rates,” said Dodge.
“What it will require (disinflation) is continued— rather elevated— interest rates right through 2024, right into 2025.”
In July, the BoC raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 5% – the highest it’s ever been since 2001.
“The stubbornness of core inflation in Canada suggests that inflation may be more persistent than originally thought,” said the BOC’s report.
“The next stage in the decline of inflation towards target is expected to take longer and is more uncertain. This is partly due to elevated services inflation, which can adjust sluggishly, and uncertainty about expected inflation.”
Newly appointed Liberal Minister of Immigration Marc Miller told reporters this week that he has no intention of tempering Canada’s reckless plan to let in a million new people into the country every two years even when confronted with a bleak housing crisis.
The Trudeau government has perpetuated a myth that more immigrants equates to more houses built, but have not offered a shred of evidence to substantiate their fairy tale thinking.
In fact, several measures indicate that Canada’s housing supply is not meeting the increased demand forced upon the market by irresponsible hikes based on Ottawa’s ideological commitment to elite-driven “open society” models championed by the likes of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, George Soros and the World Economic Forum’s Klaus Schwab.
The Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey numbers are in for July and it’s not looking good by any measure.
Canada lost nearly 45,000 jobs in construction last month. Before that, the economy shed 14,000 construction jobs in June. It’s peak construction season in Canada and we’re losing construction workers by the tens of thousands. Can you believe it?
And before you ask, no, this doesn’t happen every year. Last year, Canada saw a net gain of 7,700 construction workers from June to July.
The shocking decline in construction jobs this year comes after Ottawa let in a record number of immigrants in the first quarter of 2023 – 145,000 newcomers to be exact.
If the Liberal line is true and flooding the country with newcomers is a part of the solution, where are all of the new immigrant builders and construction workers?
If you were to listen to the self-assured remarks of mass immigration ideologues currently in government like outgoing immigration minister Sean Fraser, you would think that immigrants are stepping out of the airport, picking up a hammer, donning a high visibility vest and heading to the closest work site.
The Liberals insist that mass immigration will somehow help build houses but according to Statistics Canada we actually LOST 45,000 JOBS in construction last month.
“When I talked to developers, in my capacity as a minister of immigration before today, one of the chief obstacles to completing the projects that they want to get done is having access to the labour force to build the houses that they need,” said Fraser in his final statement in the role.
That’s simply not happening. Only a sliver of a fraction of newcomers will enter the home-building business. Even labour force statistics show that utilities and construction jobs are not the preferred jobs of new and recent immigrants. New immigrants are more likely to take a job in accommodation and food services, the health sector, transportation or manufacturing. It’s not that those jobs are not needed but we can’t ignore the reality that every single person we take in will require housing and we’re not building those homes fast enough.
Recent figures presented by Bloomberg based on Statistics Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data shows that for each new unit of housing constructed in Canada, there are 4 to 5 immigrants arriving into the country. This is a tremendous discrepancy.
What is Miller’s proposed solution? Apparently, it is to “have a conversation” with immigration critics which now include economists and housing advocates. Yet, there’s little conversation to be had when one party (the federal government) has no intention of revising its record immigration targets.
Instead of reaching out to concerned Canadians who face the increasingly likely prospect that they will never be able to own a home anytime in the near future, Miller wants to ramp up immigration even further.
Simply put, he’s a zealot and there’s no conversations to be had with ideological zealots.
Miller has even resorted to the same old tactic of painting those who have concerns about the Liberal juggernaut immigration targets as uncaring, racist or some such divisive label.
This is all meant to ensure that immigration remains a taboo in Canada but polls and public opinion is turning.
But think for a moment what is more compassionate?
To offer both residents and newcomers a nation where everybody who works honestly and hard an opportunity to own their own home where they can raise a family and settle down?
Or to shuffle them into shelters, hotels and God-forbid the streets only to tell them we require their labour without any promise of a prosperous future?
One of the most high-profile men felled during the #MeToo era was Kevin Spacey. After a slew of allegations of sexual misconduct, Spacey was fired from “House of Cards,” replaced in “All the Money in the World,” and has vanished from Hollywood. Six years later, Spacey has emerged victorious in every legal challenge he’s faced over the allegations. Journalists Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney covered Spacey’s most recent fight, a United Kingdom criminal trial, through the hit podcast series Kevin Spacey Trial: Unfiltered. Phelim McAleer joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to talk about the Spacey trial, the #MeToo movement, and when justice isn’t enough.
Despite concerns about a housing shortage, the Trudeau government is refusing to budge on its record-high immigration targets.
Plus, the gaming industry is pushing back against lobbyists from Canada’s music industry who are urging the government to use C-11 to regulate video games.
And newly released CSIS documents reveal the extent of China’s control over the media in Canada.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Elie Cantin-Nantel!
Alberta’s Mental Health and Addiction Minister Dan Williams has slammed “radical activists” and “progressive media” for their failed approach to tackling drug addiction in the province.
Williams said that the approach taken by far-left ideologues who advocate for safe supply and other progressive initiatives only leads to “misery, carnage and death.”
“I couldn’t care less what the progressive media and the radical activists say,” said Williams.
“There aren’t other options. The only thing left for us is to intervene as a society and say we still care for you.”
According to Williams, pursuing the same policies endorsed by the left, which he argues has led to increases in opioid overdoses, is the wrong choice.
“The left’s best thinking has gotten us to this point. The idea we need more of the left’s thinking to solve the problem is insanity,” said Williams.
“For two decades, the progressive left has held a monopoly on policies around addiction. Their logic is we haven’t done enough of it.”
These policies have failed spectacularly, says Williams.
“It’s obvious the radical progressive Left has failed Alberta, Canada, North America and the West in its thinking on addiction. It would destroy us as a province to go down that path further. The only solution is another road,” he explained.
“There are some things so crazy you have to be an elected liberal or socialist to believe them.”
According to Williams, Premier Danielle Smith has the mandate from Albertans to take a different approach which includes intervention.
“The solace I take is we won an election and we told Albertans exactly what we wanted to do,” said Williams.
Williams announced that Alberta is constructing 11 recovery facilities across the Province including on First Nations.
“Investing in recovery is not a choice that we make, but it is our moral obligation to allow for better futures for those suffering today,” said Williams in June.
The Smith government has also pledged to pass legislation to force addicts who are a danger to themselves or others into treatment.
The Compassionate Intervention Act would be the first involuntary treatment law in Canada to specifically target addiction.
Smith said the Act would allow a family member, doctor, psychologist, or police officer to make a petition to a specially appointed non-criminal judge to issue a treatment order.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow gave a vote of confidence to a motion to rename Dundas St. due to the alleged historical contributions of its namesake to the global slave trade.
Chow threw her support behind the project, which was first concocted a few years prior by former mayor John Tory.
According to spokesperson Shirven Rizvany, the mayor “supports changing the name and will work with the community throughout the process.”
Her vote of support came despite some former councillors who advocated for the project saying that the city cannot afford the $8.6 million undertaking required to make all the necessary changes.
“We don’t have the money to do it right now, and that’s been made quite clear,” said Ward 17 Coun. Shelley Carrol who voted in support of the project in 2021.
Following the pandemic, Toronto is faced with an operation deficit of $1.5 billion projected until 2025.
Even Chow herself has admitted that Toronto is faced with a dire fiscal situation. In an interview last month on shelter space for asylum seekers, Chow said that “the City of Toronto is broke.”
Critics of the plan have said that the evidence is lacking that Henry Dundas prolonged the slave trade – a claim many of those advocating for the name change have used to justify its costs.
As reported by True North in 2020, renaming Dundas St. and other similarly-named assets would also impact the city’s transit system and other critical infrastructure.
“Maps will need to be replaced in all 4,000 bus shelters, 75 subway stations, on-board all streetcars and subway train cars,” Manager of Corporate Communications for the City of Toronto Beth Waldman told True North.
Anti-racism advocates have called on all facilities that bear the Dundas name to be renamed. Those assets include street signs, transit routes, parks 625 bike share stations and other city properties.
A Critical Race Theory (CRT) organization chaired by the founder of controversial diversity consultancy KOJO Institute has received over a million dollars in government grants – including from Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government.
Parents of Black Children (PoBC), which says CRT is one of its core principles, advocates against the presence of police liaisons in schools and for “decolonized” curricula, the inserting of “Black Canadian experiences” into math and for all academic streaming to be abolished.
In 2022, the organization listed that its Board of Directors was chaired by KOJO Institute founder Kike Ojo-Thompson.
A lawsuit alleges that a TDSB principal was bullied, shamed, humiliated and labelled a “white supremacist” at an “anti-racism” session by the KOJO Institute after he challenged Ojo-Thompson’s her claim that Canada is far more racist than the United States. Ojo-Thompson subsequently suggested that the TDSB take action against 60 year old Richard Bilkszto for allegedly choosing not to “unlearn” his white supremacism.
The lawsuit has yet to be served, and the allegations have not been proven in court. Ojo-Thompson has denied the allegations.
Bilkszto later committed suicide. His family claims that he was plagued with stress stemming from the confrontation at the training.
Amid the fallout over Bilkszto’s death, PoBC and other black activist groups held an emergency press conference at Queen’s Park Wednesday to stand in solidarity with Ojo-Thompson’s KOJO Institute. They fear that diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training is under threat amid growing scrutiny of the ideology.
📢 Urgent Call to Action 📢
We Black communities of Ontario, demand unwavering support for Anti-Racism work and dismantling systemic racism. Together, let's create a province that values every individual, regardless of race or background. #NOTYOURSCAPEGOATpic.twitter.com/jaJidWVVhd
— Parents of Black Children (@PoBCAdvocate) July 31, 2023
“A tragic incident involving a former TDSB Principal is being misused to fuel a right-wing backlash against equity and anti-racism work in our province,” said PoBC.
“We cannot stand idly by as the progress we have tirelessly fought for in the battle against systemic racism and discrimination is threatened. Anti-racist work is essential in preventing harm and violence against our children and the most vulnerable members of all racialized communities.”
PoBC was launched in 2019 with the aim to “eliminate anti-Black racism and oppression of Black students within their schools and connected systems,” and to “de-colonize the education system.”
The organization’s 2022 Annual Report says it received $1,076,408 in government grants, making up for 93% of its total revenue. PoBC also saw a 75% increase in funding last year, going from $293,617 in 2021 to $1,153,122 in 2022, as a result of taxpayer funded grants.
SCREENSHOT: A pie chart showing Parents of Black Children’s 2022 sources of revenue. PoBC p. 47
PoBC’s government partners include Ontario’s Ministry of Education, Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the City of Toronto.
SCREENSHOT: A list of government agencies & private organizations who have given money to Parents of Black Children found in its 2022 Annual Report. PoBC p. 51
Ford government press releases also boast about the province giving PoBC hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Six figure grants given to PoBC by the Ford government include $150,000 in 2022 to run a tutoring program and $300,000 in 2021 to, among other things, develop “a bilingual toolkit to provide educators with an understanding of the Black experience in the education system.”
The organization also received $254,700 from 2019 to 2020 from the province’s Trillium Foundation to “build capacity and knowledge of the education system along with providing concrete system navigation support and mentorship for Black parents experiencing challenges within the education system.”
On its website, PoBC lists 10 education related demands it seeks to achieve.
These demands include the decolonization of all school curriculums, including math. “Black Canadian experiences must be built into all school curriculums, K-12, including math, science, social studies in order for teachers to create equitable classrooms,” says PoBC.
PoBC is also demanding for all performance streaming to be abolished and replaced with “mixed-ability classrooms.” The organization also wants schools to hire more black teachers.
PoBC wants the removal of police from schools, including School Resource Offices, School Engagement Team programs, Police Liaison Officers, Student Liaison Officers, Campus Police and Special Constables.
“Police in schools historically come out of the idea that having police interact locally with the community will lead to better relationships. We now have years of data and research to show that police in schools leads to the criminalization and over surveillance of Black children,” claims PoBC.
The organization is also demanding a Student and Parent Bill of Rights.
In response to the pro-DEI demonstration at Queen’s Park Wednesday, a spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce told CP24 that while the province is reviewing school training amidst Bilkszto’s death, DEI training in Ontario schools will continue, calling it “important work”.
A spokesperson for Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce told the legacy media today that DEI trainings will continue. #OntEdpic.twitter.com/l2AXWD5V1S
“We will continue this important work to remove barriers that hold back too many children from reaching their full potential,” said a spokesperson for Lecce.
True North reached out to the offices of both Education Minister Stephen Lecce and Children, Community and Social Services minister Michael Parsa to ask if they would continue funding PoBC, neither responded in time for publication.
PoBC also did not return a request for comment. They also would not confirm whether Ojo-Thompson is still affiliated with the organization.
