Billionaire Elon Musk mocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for blaming the “American right wing” for Muslim communities opposing gender ideology being taught in schools.
Musk shared his thoughts on Twitter by replying with the clown emoji to a New York Post story on Trudeau’s comments.
As previously reported by True North, Trudeau lectured members of Calgary’s Muslim Community concerned about gender ideology, telling them “there is an awful lot of misinformation and disinformation out there,” due to “people on social media, particularly fuelled by the American right wing… spreading a lot of untruths about what’s actually in the provincial curriculum.”
“These are people in the far right who have consistently stood against Muslim rights and the Muslim community, but they’re weaponizing the issue of LGBT, which is something that, yes, Islam has strong opinions on, the same way that the religious right in Canada, the Christian right, has strong opinions against as well.”
Trudeau also suggested that older Muslims are more opposed to the LGBTQ community than younger generations, and called on Muslims to unite with the LGBTQ community because both are facing “increasing levels of violence and hatred.”
Trudeau’s comments received criticism from Muslim community members, in addition to being mocked by Musk.
“We are Muslim parents, and he is careless about us or our feelings as of now. He wants our next generation, he wants to protect the LGBTQ Muslim kids, he wants to protect our kids from us parents,” said the man who posted the video of Trudeau to TikTok.
“(The) prime minister delivered many soft threats, and he showed his fear of us Canadian groups building bridges with each other because this move will make him lose power and control.”
This is not the first time that Musk has criticized Trudeau.
The Billionaire Twitter owner and Tesla founder shared a meme comparing Trudeau to Hitler during the Freedom Convoy. The latter featured a photo Hitler with the text “stop comparing me to Trudeau – I had a budget.” Musk later deleted the meme.
Musk has also criticized Trudeau’s internet regulation policies, saying they sound like “an attempt to muzzle the voice of the people of Canada.” Musk believes Canada needs a new government to protect free speech
Sounds like an attempt to muzzle the voice of the people of Canada
An international cycling sports organization has said that it will impose a ban on male-born transwomen competing in all women’s sports events categories.
In an updated policy statement, the Union Cycliste International (UCI) announced on Friday that athletes who “transitioned after puberty” cannot compete with other women due to physiological advantages.
“The meeting of the UCI Management Committee was held following a seminar on the conditions for the participation of transgender athletes in women’s cycling events, organized by the UCI on 21 June, at which the various stakeholders — transgender and cisgender athletes, experts from the scientific, legal and human rights fields, and sporting institutions — were able to present their respective positions,” wrote the UCI.
“From now on, female transgender athletes who have transitioned after (male) puberty will be prohibited from participating in women’s events on the UCI International Calendar — in all categories — in the various disciplines.”
On social media, Canadian Olympian and former world champion Alison Sydor welcomed the change but blasted the ICU for allowing transwomen to compete in the sport for so long.
“I’d argue that allowing any (male to female person a) race licence from the start was a drastic move,” she tweeted.
“But is change truly the right word here? For what we are witnessing, in essence, is a correction” @UCI_cycling & IOC deserve all the criticism levelled. There will be no apologies or admissions they were wrong, correction took 20+y & left so many impacted https://t.co/YCegaxuwmw
“The UCI having ignored the issues female athletes have presented regarding fairness for over 20 years finally being rectified should have pleased anyone with knowledge about sport.”
The UCI was prompted to establish a committee to review its policy on the inclusion of transwomen after widespread public backlash to male-born cyclist Austin Killips’ victory at the Tour of the Gila women’s competition.
In its review, the UCI cited the fact that modern science and technology cannot guarantee that hormone replacement therapy would eliminate the physical advantages of being born a man.
“In this context, the UCI Management Committee concluded, considering the remaining scientific uncertainties, that it was necessary to take this measure to protect the female class and ensure equal opportunities,” the statement said.
According to UCI President David Lappartient, the organization has a responsibility to guarantee equal opportunity for women competitors.
“It is this imperative that led the UCI to conclude that, given the current state of scientific knowledge does not guarantee such equality of opportunity between transgender female athletes and cisgender female participants, it was not possible, as a precautionary measure, to authorize the former to race in the female categories,” said Lappartient.
Nearly 60% of Canadians say that they believe the combined federal-provincial income tax rate should not exceed more than half of someone’s income.
Despite the public’s sentiment, the top combined income tax rate exceeds 50% in all provinces except Alberta and Saskatchewan.
According to a Leger poll commissioned by the Fraser Institute, a plurality of Canadians believe that some Canadians do not pay their fair share in taxes despite the same poll showing support for tax cuts.
Of the Canadians polled, 70% agreed that some people do not pay their fair share of taxes, with the sentiment strongest among the elderly and in the prairie provinces, British Columbia, and Quebec.
Interestingly, only 58% of Canadians earning less than $20,000 a year said that some Canadians do not pay their fair share of taxes, lower than any other income bracket.
Despite this, over three-quarters of Canadians say that the highest federal-provincial marginal income tax rate should be 50% with half of Canadians saying the rate should be 20% or less. Only 2% of respondents felt that the marginal income tax should exceed 50%.
In Canada, the combined marginal personal income tax is consistently higher than 45% in every province and exceeds 50% in every province except for Alberta and Saskatchewan. The tax is highest in Newfoundland & Labrador at 54.8%, with Manitoba and Nova Scotia falling just shortly behind.
The survey then asked Canadians at what rate they believe the top 20% of income earners should be paying in taxes.
Nearly 60% of respondents said they believed the highest tax rate should be at or below 50%, with nearly 50% responding it should be at or below 45%. Less than 20% of Canadians said the highest tax rate should exceed 50%.
The poll’s results show a disconnect between voter attitudes toward taxation and the actual rates that Canadians are being taxed.
Despite the poll finding that 70% of Canadians believe some are not paying their fair share in taxes and 35% of Canadians saying high-income earners should pay more, only 19% said they want the marginal tax rate to exceed 50%, a reality in most of Canada’s provinces.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is slamming the City of Toronto’s plan to decriminalize hard drugs, including fentanyl and meth for kids and adults, saying he’ll do everything in his power to fight it.
In a Friday radio interview with Global AM 640’s Alex Pierson, Ford said Toronto’s sweeping proposal is the “craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Go out to Vancouver, go out to San Francisco,” he added amid the two cities facing major drug issues.
“I will do everything I can to fight this,” said Ford. “This goes up to the federal government. They cannot be following up with the request. It would be an absolute disaster for our city.”
As reported by True North, Toronto’s plan to decriminalize hard drugs for people of any age does not specifically limit the quantity of drugs that can be possessed for personal use.
This makes the proposed policy even more lenient than the decriminalization order granted to the entire province of British Columbia by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year – given that B.C.’s order does not apply to kids, only applies to certain drugs and limits possession to under 2.5 grams
Speaking on the proposal, Toronto’s medical officer of health Dr. Eileen Devilla, said, “we’re talking about a matter of health and a matter of human rights, not one that really is meant to be addressed or is best addressed with a criminal justice approach.”
During the 2023 mayoral campaign, candidate Anthony Furey revealed that City of Toronto-branded crack pipes and crystal meth pipes were being handed out at shelters.
True North’s Harrison Faulkner was able to get his hands on one of the free drug kits.
Premier Ford also touched on drug injection sites in his Global AM 640 interview, amid a 44-year-old mother of two being killed by a stray bullet from a fight breaking out next to an injection site last week.
Ford said he believes drug injection sites should not be opened in communities that oppose them.
“Putting a safe injection site into a community — what does it attract? It attracts drug dealers,” Ford added. “It’s unacceptable.”
He also said he’s directed his staff to look into the drug injection site where the shooting took place to see if it was compliant with guidelines. “If they aren’t in compliance, that’s it. They’re done,” he said.
Ford believes drug addicts “need to go to a treatment centre,” an approach Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has championed in recent months, counter to the “safe supply” agenda.
Ford added that the province will be making more beds available for drug addiction treatment.
When asked by Global News what newly elected Toronto mayor Olivia Chow thought of Ford’s comments, spokesperson Shirven Rezvany said the request to decriminalize drugs was made by the medical officer of health and is supported by the Toronto Police Service and its chief.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has also been a vocal opponent of drug decriminalization. “Flooding our streets with decriminalized and taxpayer subsidized drugs has led to a massive overdose crisis right across the country,” said Poilievre
With files from True North’s Cosmin Dzsurdzsa, Noah Jarvis and Sue-Ann Levy.
As of July 1st, federal government workers and their families will be entitled to up to $75,000 in reimbursements for “gender-affirming procedures.”
Gender-affirming care can include a wide range of practices ranging from hair removal to more invasive surgeries such as a vaginoplasty.
True North first reported the incoming federal insurance policy changes last year.
According to the new policy’s details, coverage is capped at 80% for procedures performed in Canada.
To become eligible for the claim, federal workers must be over the age of 18, receiving physician care for gender affirmation, do not have other coverage options, prove their receiving a medically necessary procedure and have pre-approval.
One federal worker cited by CBC News said that they plan on using the funds to receive a phalloplasty – or the artificial creation of a penis using tissue from the forearm.
“If more and more employers have [this coverage], it gives you the power to talk to the provinces and territories and ask them to have equitable coverage for everyone,” said Gabriel Lanthier.
Other governments have also embraced covering “gender affirming” services for public servants at the expense of taxpayers.
An updated Yukon Health Care Insurance plan includes new coverage eligibility for facial feminization, vocal surgery and hair removal.
“This addresses the gap Yukoners faced when accessing gender-affirming care offered in private facilities,” a news release explains.
“Yukoners can now access services including tracheal shave, facial feminization, body contouring, vocal surgery and hair removal without having to pay out-of-pocket.”
The games take place every few years and feature Indigenous athletes from across the continent.
Athletes contend in various sports including lacrosse, canoeing, wrestling, archery, basketball, soccer and other sports.
This isn’t the first time where Trudeau was heckled by a crowd at a First Nations event.
While at a 2022 event in Kamloops, British Columbia, the prime minister was beset by Indigenous protestors.
While appearing alongside Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation elected chief Rosanne Casimir, Trudeau reminded his detractors to “respect (their) elders.”
“I had the opportunity earlier to speak to a number of elders, and I know for them it’s something that they want to hear – me sharing my reflection,” said Trudeau.
“I hear your anger towards me, that’s fine but I would ask you to respect your elders please. Thank you, sorry for your anger.”
Hecklers called the prime minister “criminal” and told Trudeau to “shut up” prior to his speech.
Drummers also surrounded the prime minister and called him disrespectful.
“Take your disrespect out of our tribe,” one drummer chanted at Trudeau.
“It was a difficult year for survivors and their families. It was a difficult year for Canadians as well. We have a long path ahead of us for reconciliation,” said Trudeau during his speech.
BC NDP premier David Eby is following in the footsteps of the federal Liberal government by pulling advertisements from Facebook and Instagram, however, his party is continuing to run ad campaigns on Meta’s platforms.
The same day that Bill C-18 (the Online News Act) received Royal Assent, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta announced that they would be removing Canadians’ access to news on their platforms. Meta had been warning for months that they would do as much should C-18 pass.
Bill C-18 will require Google and Meta to pay news outlets for linking news on their platforms.
In a tit-for-tat, Liberal heritage minister Pablo Rodriguez said the government would cease running ads on Facebook and Instagram, taking away approximately $11 million of Meta’s revenue.
However, this represents less than 1% of Meta’s advertising revenues, as last year they earned approximately $116 billion USD.
Despite Justin Trudeau accusing Meta of “bullying” and comparing the C-18 power struggle to World War II, his federal Liberal Party will continue to advertise with Meta.
“The government is one thing and the party is another,” said Rodriguez.
BC premier Eby called Meta’s decision to cut off Canadian news “totally unacceptable” and said Google and Meta’s conduct was “absolutely disgraceful.”
Ebay stated that the BC government will no longer advertise on Facebook or Instagram except in the case of emergencies. In 2022, the BC government spent about $1.4 million advertising on Meta platforms.
“To send a strong message to Meta that journalism is a vital public service and access to news should never be blocked, our government has decided to stop all advertising on Facebook and Instagram,” said Eby.
Meanwhile, his party, the BC NDP, launched two Meta ad campaigns: one featuring a petition in support of free birth control, and another petition advocating for gender dysphoric people to have increased access to cut off their body parts, among other transgender-related items.
True North asked the BC NDP if they plan to stop advertising on Meta platforms to practice what they preach, but the party did not respond.
Quebec premier François Legault announced his government would also stop running Facebook and Instagram ads. His party, Coalition Avenir Québec, has not run any ad campaigns with Meta since June.
A pro-life organization is filing a constitutional challenge against the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS), claiming that its Charter rights were violated on the grounds of the nation’s capital in May.
The day before the annual March for Life on May 10, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) held a press conference on Parliament Hill. The Hamilton-based pro-life advocacy group brought signage with abortion victim photography, which shows images of aborted fetuses. The PPS – the federal department dedicated to the protection of Canada’s Parliament – prohibited the signs, declaring that their content was inappropriate for use.
Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) constitutional lawyer Hatim Kheir, who is representing CLC in court, said that the legality of the PPS’ actions hinges on the concept of “reasonable limits”.
“I really think this is a clear-cut legal issue,” Kheir said in an interview with True North. “CLC was trying to express itself on a matter seeking truth, which is a higher value form of speech according to the Supreme Court. The real question is whether these limits imposed by the PPS are reasonable.”
The PPS cited policy within the “General Rules on the Use of Parliament Hill,” to justify banning the signage. As the PPS informed CLC, the guidebook forbids signs “that are obscene, offensive, or that promote hatred.” Eight days ahead of the March for Life, on May 3, the policy was updated to read that “signs or banners that display explicit graphic violence or blood” are also prohibited. The PPS officer in communication with CLC used an earlier, non-updated version of the rules.
“The Supreme Court has been clear that while there can be reasonable limits on people’s expression, limits that merely prevent offensive material cannot be prevented. The right to freedom of expression includes the right to offend others in pursuit of truth,” continued Kheir.
The JCCF filed a Notice of Application in the Federal Court on June 30, on behalf of CLC and a woman who planned to hold a sign during the press conference, which argues that their freedom of expression was limited.
“We hope that the policies restricting signs and banners on Parliament Hill will be ruled unconstitutional, and that freedom of expression will be restored on the Hill,” said CLC’s Director of Advocacy and Education Josie Luetke. “More broadly, we hope that in the future, others in government will think twice before pursuing similar attempts at censorship.”
In a public location like Parliament Hill, a space intended for upholding the rights and freedoms of Canadians, Luetke points out the situational irony.
“Parliament Hill ought to be considered the very location where freedom of expression is most important and deserving of protection. When bubble zones were established around Ontario abortion facilities a few years ago, we warned legislators and others that a terrible precedent was being set. It’s disappointing, but unsurprising, to see how censorship has exploded in recent years. We are pushing back,” she said.
Hamilton Citizenship Ceremony / Copyright: JOEY COLEMAN / THEPUBLICRECORD.CA
The Trudeau government’s immigration policies are having a drastic impact on Canadians’ standard of living and the housing market. The government’s latest plan includes a goal to welcome 465,000 new immigrants in 2023 with that target raising to 485,000 the next year and to 500,000 by 2025.
Plus, Governor General Mary Simon goes on yet another pricey international junket and taxpayers are on the hook – again.
And another school board goes woke and puts on a drag queen conference for students.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Elie Cantin-Nantel!
Winnipeg police say Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois, and a fourth unidentified woman the community has named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, were all the victims of an alleged serial killer, Jeremy Skibicki, 35, who is charged with four counts of first-degree murder. (Submitted by Cambria Harris, Donna Bartlett, and Darryl Contois)
In an announcement that shocked the city on December 1, 2022, the Winnipeg Police Service revealed Jeremy Skibicki, a 35-year-old unemployed white man, had been charged with first-degree murder of four indigenous women.
These unfortunate women were 39-year-old Morgan Harris, 26-year Marcedes Myran, 24-year old Rebecca Contois, and a fourth woman who has never been identified.
This revelation was followed by a December 6 news conference where Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth said that although it was believed the remains of Harris and Myran were at the Prairie Green Landfill north of the city, the police had made the “very difficult decision” not to excavate the site. He said it wasn’t feasible to do so because of the passage of time and the large volume of material deposited there.
Police had not become aware that the remains were dumped at Prairie Green until 34 days later. At the December 6 briefing, Inspector Cam MacKid said he and his forensics, intelligence and technology department determined that by that point, about 10,000 truckloads of debris were dumped on the same spot they were interested in searching.
MacKid also said the garbage was later compacted with 9,000 tonnes of wet, heavy construction clay.
An additional study, only recently revealed, supports these assertions. The RCMP concluded in December 2022 that police were not able to deal with the complexities of searching the Winnipeg-area landfill for the slain women’s remains
This decision has always been roundly rejected by Harris and Myran family members, indigenous leaders and activists, and many other supporters.
Seven days after December 6 police press conference, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) and other indigenous organizations asked the federal government for money to conduct their own feasibility study.
On February 8, 2023, Marc Miller, the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, allocated $500,000 to support that effort.
The AMC quickly appointed a Landfill Search Feasibility Study Committee to carry out the feasibility study. Its nine-member Landfill Search Feasibility Study Oversight Committee, a body with unfettered authority to recommend a search, was composed solely of indigenous politicians, representatives for the two affected families, indigenous activists, and elders. Hardly a disinterested body of people.
The objectivity of the study’s Technical Subcommittee can also be questioned. Though it employed two forensic experts, less than two pages of the report reviewed previous forensic searches of landfills. The important and well known 2019 Paulsen and Moran study was given short shrift and saw its warning “A search should not be initiated if more than 60 days had passed between the body entering the landfill and the search being initiated” arbitrarily softened to read “Paulsen and Moran (2019) caution initiating a search when more than 60 days has passed between the body entering the landfill and the search being initiated.”
If “caution” is necessary for a post-60-day search, what should a 10-fold post-600-day search be called, the time that would elapse if a Prairie Green search were initiated in mid-August of this year?
Given these biases and data distortions, it is mall wonder the study concluded in early May that, “Ultimately, after consideration of all the variables outlined in this report, the Technical Subcommittee has determined a search … for remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran is feasible.”
In a July 6 statement Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, citing the feasibility study, expressed concern that a search for the women’s remains could negatively affect the court case.
“We need to respect the judicial process that this continues to go through. We don’t want to jeopardize that,” she told reporters without elaboration.
A week later, Miller said the Manitoba government’s decision not to support a search based on the feasibility study’s findings was “heartless” and callous and that it had damaged, if not destroyed, the federal government’s ability to help with the search.
In reply, Stefanson added the key issue of questionable feasibility while also arguing that:
“What should not happen — must not happen — is the continuing politicization of this awful tragedy. This irresponsible approach can only compound the suffering of the families, inflame wider community issues and threaten matters already before the courts.“
Though she has never detailed these legal threats, Stefanson was clearly referencing Skibicki’s trial for the murder of these women scheduled to begin in April 2024.
That Skibicki could benefit from all the turmoil surrounding the search for the remains of these women is both compelling and troubling.
In the interest of objectivity and transparency, the still officially secret feasibility study should have been headed by impartial researchers.
In particular, Skibicki and his lawyer, Leonard Tailleur, must certainly be hoping that the fruitless hunt for these two women goes forward as its angry and frustrated supporters, including Miller, are demanding.
Though the identity of the members of the feasibility study’s Oversight Committee are now known, this only confirms it was made up of people with preconceived notions about the search, a questionable state of affairs which could very well compromise the murder charges against Skibicki. Banning the police and other experienced fact-finding institutions from taking the lead in the feasibility study was highly problematic. The universal principles of natural justice and their application in Canada say that victims or their families and close allies must never be allowed to control any criminal investigation.
Perhaps the most important threat to Skibicki’s successful prosecution is recognition that justice delayed is justice denied. In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada set hard limits of 30 months from the date charges are laid for these kind of cases to their conclusion.
Skibicki was charged in December 2022. His trial is slated to start next April — 16 months after his charges were laid. It’s unclear how long that trial could take. The feasibility study estimates a search, if it is undertaken, could take 12 to 36 months.
If the Crown were to ask for a stay of proceedings pending the completion of the search, a real possibility given how hard it is to get a murder conviction in the absence of dead body, Stibicki’s could end up walking free.
Whether remains are found or not, his lawyer could also claim that Skibicki’s right to a fair trial had been abrogated by what is nothing short of a vigilante hunt by those closely connected or sympathetic to his alleged victims.
As expected, the Winnipeg Police Service has been very tight lipped about their evidence against Skibicki though it may be surmised they have eye witness and/or forensic evidence implicating him in the murders.
Whether such evidence alone would be sufficient to convict him of the heinous crime of murder beyond a reasonable doubt is questionable given that murders without bodies are very hard to prosecute, especially in Manitoba.
Despite these legal conundrums, social media insights and records of past convictions certainly paint Skibicki in an unflattering light.
Facebook posts viewed by the Winnipeg Free Press are said to contain threats of violence, antisemitic content and references to a white conspiracy theory.
Yet, those who assert that Skibicki hated aboriginals and that his actions — if proven in a court of law — constitute “genocide,” will have to reconcile that with the fact that his two wives were both indigenous women.
Nevertheless, he abused and threatened to kill both of them.
In June 2015, he was convicted of assaulting his common-law wife and spent some two months behind bars. According to a court statement of facts, Skibicki grabbed his pregnant partner’s hair and punched her in the face several times, then tried to strangle her. He told her he would kill her if she called police.
In 2019, Skibicki’s estranged second wife successfully filed for a protection order against him, alleging that she suffered a litany of abuse at his hands and that he threatened to kill her.
Police have said Skibicki and Rebecca Contois, the first murdered woman, knew each other but gave no details.
It is also know that Skibicki preyed on vulnerable indigenous women by frequenting soup kitchens and homeless shelters in Winnipeg’s inner city, meeting women whom he would take home to his apartment, according to numerous sources.
CBC spoke with a friend of Skibicki’s, who spent time with him at the McKay Avenue apartment Skibicki moved into in October 2021, and where he lived until his arrest on May 18, 2022.
During the time Skibicki lived at the apartment, the man saw about half a dozen women he believes were indigenous come and go, though Skibicki told him he’d had at least 30 women stay with him for varying periods of time.
He also often saw drug paraphernalia in Skibicki’s apartment after the women left.
Jeremy Skibicki is facing four first-degree murder charges. A friend describes Skibicki’s behaviour with vulnerable women as ‘predatory.’ (Jeremy Skibicki/Facebook)
All this indirect evident suggests these four women were likely homeless individuals hopelessly involved in the dangerous streetwalker sex trade to feed their substance addiction. But this in no way excuses their wilful execution: these were heinous crimes regardless of the women’s status, occupation, or life circumstances. These women never deserved to die.
Skibicki has claimed he is innocent of all charges and none of these observations remotely prove that Skibicki murdered four hapless women.
Like any citizen, he deserves to be considered innocent until proven guilty. Conversely, fruitlessly searching for the remains of the two women may result in a guilty man being found innocent.
