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Friday, October 10, 2025

Ontario to review circumstances surrounding TDSB principal’s suicide

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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Source: Facebook

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has ordered a review of the circumstances surrounding the recent suicide of a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) principal who sued the school board after a confrontation which occurred during a “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) training session. 

Lecce also ordered his staff to review school trainings and to provide “options to reform professional training and strengthen accountability on school boards so this never happens again.” 

60-year-old Richard Bilkszto was dealing with plaguing stress stemming from the incident at the time of his suicide. 

In a statement to the Toronto Sun’s Brian Lilley, Lecce called the matter “serious” and “disturbing,” and said “no staff member should ever be subject to harassment while in their place of work.”

The incidents took place during “anti-racism” sessions held by the TDSB with Kike Ojo Thompson of the KOJO Institute on April 26 and May 3, 2021. Bilkszto was allegedly publicly berated, humiliated and harassed after he challenged claims made by the contractor. 

As previously reported by True North’s Sue-Ann Levy, Bilkszto had filed a $750,000 lawsuit against the TDSB alleging breach of contract, defamation of character and reprisal by the board’s senior administrators after he was allegedly repeatedly labelled a “white supremacist,” shamed and humiliated. The lawsuit has however yet to be served to the board.

According to the statement of claim, Bilkszto politely challenged Ojo Thompson after she claimed Canada was more racist than the United States and a bastion of white supremacy.

“To sit here and talk about facts and figures and then walk into the classroom tomorrow and say ‘Canada is just as bad as the United States,’ I think we are doing an incredible disservice to our learners,” Bilkszto said according to the lawsuit.

Bilkszto had previously taught at an inner-city school in Buffalo, NY. 

The lawsuit claims Ojo Thompson responded by telling Bilkszto, “we are here to talk about anti-black racism but you in your whiteness think that you can tell me what’s really going on for black people?”

The lawsuit claims Ojo Thompson ended that session by contending she got out the “weed whacker” to cut down a weed (Bilkszto). “I was hot today,” she is quoted. “It was good. It was really good.”

Ojo-Thompson allegedly continued to harass Bilkszto, repeatedly calling his response  “resistance in support of white supremacy.” She subsequently suggested that the TDSB take action against Bilkszto for allegedly choosing not to “unlearn” his white supremacism.

Bilkszto ended up taking a stress leave. He then sought a ruling from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) – which ruled in his favour.

“This conduct took place for over an hour, and noting that the speaker had sufficient opportunity to address you privately between April 26, 2021 and May 3, 2021, it would suggest that the speaker did so with the intent to cause reputational damage and to ‘make an example’ of you,” reads the August 2021 WSIB ruling.

The KOJO Institute said it had no involvement in the WSIB hearing.

The lawsuit claims that despite the ruling, the TDSB reneged on the contract to hire Bilkszto at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate when he returned from sick leave. He had other contracts revoked and failed to get other internal positions as well.

With files from True North’s Sue-Ann Levy 

Vancouver comedy club cancelled comedian for ‘offensive’ residential school joke

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The Vancouver comedy club Little Mountain Gallery (LMG) cancelled Canadian comedian Sophie Buddle’s performance in May after a fellow comic complained about an ‘offensive’ joke she made last year referencing residential schools.

Buddle landed herself in hot water in 2022 after she referenced residential schools in a joke about a Catholic friend who couldn’t get an abortion. Buddle’s performance was aired as a Crave special.

“We all know Catholics love a loophole. They’re like lawyers, you know what I mean? They love a loophole. So she figured out what she has to do, she has to have the child then she has to kill it and bury it at a residential school,” Buddle said.

The controversial comments have since led Vancouver’s LMG to cancel Buddle from their line-up a few months back, but it wasn’t until yesterday that the venue issued a statement explaining the rationale behind the decision. 

“In late May, a comic contacted LMG to say they were not comfortable performing at our space if we hosted a comedian who was booked to perform that month,” wrote the venue. 

“LMG was asked if hosting this comedian was consistent with our community standards because of a joke they made at a different venue in 2022, which was hurtful and offensive to many people.”

The comic in question was Sasha Mark, who revealed on Instagram that he contacted LMG about Buddle because of the allegedly hurtful past joke and was involved in an ongoing discussion with the venue. Mark was also identified by LMG’s Board Chair Stacey McLachlan as the complainant on social media. 

According to LMG’s Board of Directors, it was the first time they have ever cancelled a comedian over such a matter and relied on the advice of “diversity, equity and inclusion” consultants.  

“In June, we hired consultants to review LMG’s policies and standards through a DEI lens to address any potential organizational gaps, and that work is ongoing. We have communicated these steps to the comic who raised the issue, and greatly appreciate the outreach,” claimed the venue.

“To be clear, we do not support the joke at the root of this complaint. It is a priority for LMG’s work to listen to the voices of marginalized performers as we take inclusion and equity seriously and will take the learnings from this experience to heart in the future.” 

True North identified Buddle as the performer in question based on statements made by Mark on Instagram referencing her Crave special and past jokes. Attempts to reach both Buddle’s talent agency Omnipop Talent Group and Little Mountain Gallery went unanswered by the time of publication. 

Buddle, who was raised with a Jewish and Catholic background, said on Instagram in 2022 that the joke was edited out of context and that she was trying to emphasize “the disgusting actions by the Catholic Church against Indigenous Peoples.” 

Buddle has also said in the past that she identifies as a progressive politically.

“I know dark comedy is not for everyone but I wanted to say that the residential schools in Canada are by far the worst thing I’ve ever learned about Canadian history and I was so horrified when the news broke I wanted to use whatever platform I had to not let people forget it,” said Buddle on Instagram. 

“As a Jewish woman I do also get that you have to defend your group for what you see to be something attacking you, because who else will, so I don’t fault any of these comments or reactions to this (albeit small) slice of a joke.” 

Crave even temporarily removed Buddle’s special from the platform at the time and edited out the portion of the joke. 

Buddle has made several notable appearances in her career including landing spots at the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Comedy Central and the Late Show with James Cordon.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Is the Trudeau government a sinking ship?

By
Andrew Lawton
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Several prominent cabinet ministers have announced they will not be seeking re-election ahead of a major cabinet shuffle by Justin Trudeau. Among those not running again are Omar Alghabra, Carolyn Bennett and Joyce Murray. David Lametti is also reported to be out of cabinet. Do you think this is a shake-up to get rid of underperformers, or a sign of a Liberal government in disarray? True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in.

Plus, key economic indicators show Canada is lagging on standard of living, with with on-paper economic growth not translating to economic prosperity in the real world. Former Statistics Canada chief economic analyst Philip Cross joins the show to break down the numbers.

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Top cabinet ministers not seeking re-election as Trudeau approval dwindles

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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Several prominent federal cabinet ministers have announced their intentions not to seek re-election ahead of an anticipated cabinet shuffle amid Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s declining popularity with Canadians.

The Prime Minister is expected to do a substantial cabinet shuffle Wednesday – his largest one since the 2021 federal election.

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett announced Monday that she would not seek re-election.

“Serving the people of Toronto St. Paul’s is the best job anybody can have, and I look forward to just doing whatever I can and whatever the Prime Minister wants me to do,” said Bennett at a Monday press conference. She was first elected to parliament in 1997. 

During her time in cabinet, Bennett received criticism for her support of controversial “safe supply” drug policies, her role in pushing the government’s assisted suicide agenda and for sending an offensive text message to former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra announced on Twitter Tuesday morning that he too would not run for re-election. He also resigned from cabinet.

“This was not an easy decision, it’s always tricky to figure out the best timing for such a step, but I feel it’s the right time for me,” said Alghabra. He served as MP for Mississauga Erindale from 2006 to 2008, and Mississauga Centre from 2015.  

During his tenure as Transport Minister, Alghabra was widely criticized for his handling of major problems plaguing Canada’s airports. He was an avid supporter of mask and vaccine mandates as well as the botched ArriveCAN app. He was also criticized for his stance on Israel.

Public Services and Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek and Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray have also announced that they will not seek re-election. 

More major changes are expected in tomorrow’s cabinet shuffle. 

La Presse is reporting that Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti will be ejected from cabinet. CBC has also reported that Mona Fortier

and Marco Mendicino will be leaving cabinet. 

Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen and Minister of Official Languages and Minister Responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Ginette Petitpas Taylor have cancelled planned announcements – leading to speculation that they too may be shuffled.

Sources have also told Radio Canada that Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc was asked to return to Ottawa this week.

Sources have also told Radio-Canada that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault will not be changing portfolios.

Angus Reid’s popularity tracker shows just 36% of Canadians approve of Trudeau’s performance as Prime Minister, while 59% disapprove. A recent survey conducted by Research Co. found that 30% of Canadians believe Trudeau is the worst prime minister in modern Canadian history – more than any other prime minister in the last 55 years.

A poll by Abacus Data also found that only 20% of Canadians believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party deserve to be re-elected. Meanwhile, 81% of Canadians said they want a change of government.

Projections from 338Canada show Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party  would win the most seats if an election was held today.

This story will be updated if more ministers make announcements about their re-election plans.

Canadians’ standard of living lagging behind other advanced economies

By
Noah Jarvis
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Over the past few years, Canada’s standard of living has been lagging behind other advanced economies as per-capita GDP growth slowed down compared to previous decades.

According to a report by TD Bank, Canadian economic growth has slowed compared to countries like the United States as a result of lacklustre per-person productivity and poor public policy. 

Canada has seen GDP growth comparable to some of the G7’s best-performing economies at just over 2% per year in the last decade, but much of the GDP growth is not reflected in improvements to prosperity but is instead reflective of large population growth as a result of the Trudeau government’s immigration policy. 

In 1980, Canada’s real GDP per capita was almost $4,000 USD higher than the average advanced economy and was comparable to the United States. By 2000, this advantage had dissipated and the United States moved ahead of Canada in real GDP per capita by over $8,000 and its advantage over Canada has grown to over $21,000 USD per capita. 

Since the 2014-15 oil crisis, Canada’s real per capita GDP growth had slowed once again to a poor rate of 0.4% compared to the 1.4% rate of the average advanced economy. 

The report points to firms investing lacklustre sums of money into nonresidential structures, machinery and equipment, intellectual property and research & development.

The report specifically points to underwhelming investments into research and development as causing an innovation gap, a problem that had already existed in Canada but was being exacerbated. 

Poor tax policy and regulatory climate were also mentioned as inhibiting productivity and innovation contributions to the economy.

Pessimistically, the report concludes that for the foreseeable future, Canada’s innovation,  productivity and economic growth problem will not be remedied, as Canada’s record immigration and systemic issues will result in unimpressive outcomes.

TD forecasts that real GDP per capita will contract until the end of 2024 as the federal government continues to pursue ambitious immigration targets that will continue to prop up population flows. 

Top scientists demand Canada launches public inquiry into pandemic

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Top doctors and scientists have taken to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) to call on Canada to launch an inquiry into “major pandemic failures.” 

At the centre of the call is a biting critique of the country’s fragmented public healthcare system and a full accounting of how Canada handled Covid-19 is needed to determine its weak points. 

“We wouldn’t know because no pandemic inquiry has been established by (the) federal government. This is a mistake,” wrote the experts. 

BMJ international editor and Canadian public health expert Jocalyn Clark told CBC News that she hopes the government doesn’t cover up how it handled the crisis. 

“If this global catastrophe doesn’t cause the need for a deep examination… I don’t know what will,” said Clark. 

“I hope the authorities don’t just sweep it under the carpet,” she continued. 

“What we need is something at the federal level that’s properly legislated and governed… so that we’re doing a full comprehensive public inquiry that looks at the full pandemic response.”

Scientists in the BMJ argued that Canada’s decision making at top levels was marked with inconsistencies, as well a crises in long-term care housing. 

“The picture that emerges is an ill prepared country with outdated data systems, poor coordination and cohesion, and blindness about its citizens’ diverse needs. What saved Canada was a largely willing and conforming populace that withstood stringent public health measures and achieved among the world’s highest levels of vaccination coverage,” wrote the BMJ. 

“In other words, Canadians delivered on the pandemic response while its governments faltered.”

Senior care centres were particularly hardest hit, despite advanced warnings for decision makers. 

“A particular disgrace is Canada being at the top of wealthy nations for [COVID-related] deaths in care homes for older people, despite more than 100 reports foreshadowing a nursing home crisis,” argued scientists. 

In a statement to the CBC, the office of Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told the outlet that he was “committed to a review of the response to COVID-19 in order to take stock of lessons learned and to better inform preparations and responses to future health emergencies.” 

Despite that, the Liberal government has yet to announce a full public inquiry into their handling of Covid-19. Although no inquiry has been held at the federal level, an independent National Citizens’ Inquiry was held earlier this year featuring experts in the field. 

The Daily Brief | Trudeau govt poll accuses Canadians of intolerance

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A study commissioned by the Trudeau government claims Canadians who are worried about liberty and values taught to kids are “intolerant.”

Plus, another violent incident takes place near a Toronto drug injection site this month.

And many parents feel that their children are ill-prepared and lack the financial literacy to build a healthy financial future amid economic uncertainty.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Andrew Lawton!

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Rural Ontario food banks report record uptick in new families accessing services

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Food banks in rural Ontario are seeing a surge in new clients, including those from dual-income families. 

In Simcoe County, several organizations meant to help those in need have seen a record rate of visitors. 

According to Sharing Place executive director Chris Peacock, the trend shows no slowing down. 

“We are forecasting to continue to see an upward trend in individuals accessing our services without a shadow of a doubt,” Peacock told the outlet Simcoe.com

“There are individuals that have never thought that they would be walking through the door of a food bank. But we’re in a time that a lot of individuals are not able to afford what many would consider to be life subsidies.”

Last month, Canadians saw food prices spike by 9.1%, according to the latest inflation statistics. 

In Tottenham, Our Town Food Bank president Susan Iacoucci has spotted a similar pattern. 

“We even have dual income families coming to us now, which we’ve never had,” said Iacoucci. 

“We are definitely seeing an increase in numbers again.” 

Angus Food Bank president Heather Morgan noted that her organization has seen up to eight new families tapping into her services every single week. 

“We are getting anywhere from three to eight new families a week consistently, probably since the fall,” said Morgan. 

According to Morgan, the food bank is now helping up to 170 families per month, up from 60 to 80 in 2021. 

Although supplies are steady for the time being, food bank organizations are urging those who can to consider donating to help their fellow citizens. 

“We’re in a fortunate position where we can currently afford to continue the support that we’re providing for our member base,” said Peacock. 

“But without the continued support from our community, we will not be able to do that.”

Food banks in metropolitan areas like the Greater Toronto Area have reported a similar trend. 

CBC staff disgruntled with CEO’s vision for the public broadcaster’s future

By
Noah Jarvis
-

CBC staff are disgruntled with comments the public broadcaster’s CEO Catherine Tait made in February about eventually transitioning the CBC’s coverage to online only.

According to emails obtained by the Canadian Press, CBC staff had expressed to one another frustration over comments Tait made that appeared in the Globe & Mail hinting at plans to transition the CBC to an online-only media platform, eventually dropping the CBC’s radio and television coverage. 

Tait said that if the CBC wants to remain relevant to Canadians, its focus needs to increasingly turn toward their online content and away from their radio and television broadcasts.

“If we’re going to be audience first, we have to be digital first,” Tait said.

“We get up every day and say, ‘What does our audience want, and where is it?’ And they are digital in increasing numbers. So if we’re not there, we’re no longer relevant.”

Tait’s comments angered CBC staff who feel that the CBC doesn’t plan on keeping them around in the long term.

In an internal email, Shaun Paulter, the CBC’s executive director of strategy public affairs and government relations, said that the Canadian Media Guild – the union representing the CBC’s staff – and their representatives felt “blindsided” and “betrayed” by Tait’s digital-first comments.

“Is there someone you can speak to there and ask them to read the article and not get sucked in by click bait. We are not abandoning TV and radio ffs,” Poulter asked another colleague, adding an abbreviated expletive at the end. 

The Canadian Media Guild had planned on issuing a press release as a response to Tait’s comments, l expressing concern about shrinking newsrooms and increased workloads for CBC staff, but decided against it.

The union said that a common question CBC staff asked was “Does this mean I will be out of a job in 10 years?”

A senior manager of CBC’s Alberta/British Columbia wing attempted to reassure staff and the CBC’s viewers in an email, saying that “no Canadian will be left behind.”

“But this is not the reality for us at CBC. Even with a plan to advance and move towards a streaming future, no Canadian will be left behind.”

Tait had commented on the CBC becoming a digital-first platform after the BBC’s CEO had announced that Britain’s public broadcaster will become online only within the next ten years. 

The CBC has a mandate and has received upwards of $1.2 billion annually to provide Canadians with television and radio content, though has been heavily scrutinized by Canadians and the Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre. 

Poilievre has promised to strip the CBC of its funding with the exception of the French language Radio-Canada division. 

Man stabbed in broad daylight near Toronto drug injection site

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

Toronto Police say a man is facing non-life threatening injuries after being stabbed in broad daylight near a drug injection site Monday.

The stabbing took place at Yonge-Dundas Square and Victoria St. following an altercation between three men. 

The site of the stabbing is near Toronto Public Health’s drug injection site, called “The Works.”

Police say the two other men involved in the implication fled the scene.

Monday’s stabbing marks the latest violent incident to take place near a Toronto drug injection site this month.

On July 7th, 44-year-old Toronto mother of two Karolina Huebner-Makurat was killed by a stray bullet from a fight breaking out next to a Leslieville drug injection site.

Reports say she was caught in the crossfire while walking to get lunch.

Despite problems caused by drug injection sites and other “harm reduction” policies, the City of Toronto is proposing to decriminalize hard drugs for people of any age.

Toronto’s proposal has been blasted by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said it was the “craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” 

Police are still investigating the stabbing and anyone with information to contact them.

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