A Nova Scotia youth organization is handing out “gender-affirming items” such as prosthetic breasts, fake penises and chest binders to “two spirit, trans, non-binary or gender questioning youth” under the age of 25.
The Youth Project is a non-profit charity focused on providing gender identity services to youth and the organization lists the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness and the Nova Scotia Department of Education as supporters.
“The Youth Project provides a variety of gender affirming items to youth in need throughout the province of Nova Scotia,” the gender-affirming items web page states.
Among the items it gives out free of charge to youth who request them are chest binders, groin packers, trans tape, tucking underwear and prosthetic breasts.
“In order to provide the best breast form size for you, we use band size measurements. To find out your band size, please measure around your ribs directly below your chest tissue,” claims the Youth Project.
One of the online retailers the group is directing youth to includes Venus Envy, which advertises sex toys such as a “banana dildo” and “pleasure ring” on its front page.
“If you wish to purchase a binder, packer, gaff, trans tape, or breast forms locally, you can do so at Venus Envy,” writes the Youth Project.
Another retailer advertised by the tax-payer funded program, Origami Customs, sells BDSM gear like “harnesses and collars” and includes images of nude models.
“Our gaffs are from Origami Customs. In order to find out your best fit, please measure yourself based off of their size guide,” writes the Youth Project.
According to the Youth Project, the gender-affirming item project is in high demand and has a “lengthy waitlist” of up to three months.
“There is currently a lengthy waitlist for some of our gender affirming items, with wait times of up to 3 months depending on size and style requested. Orders continue to be filled in order of receiving as we receive supply,” states the Youth Project.
Full parole has been granted to an Edmonton man convicted of killing his pregnant wife and dumping her body in a ditch.
Plus, the Royal Bank of Canada hired a wealth manager a month after he faced a multi-million bankruptcy proceeding.
And the Trudeau government’s “Special Rapporteur” on foreign interference David Johnston appeared before a House of Commons committee Tuesday and denied allegations of bias and defended his report into foreign interference.
These stories and more on The Daily Brief with Rachel Emmanuel and Cosmin Dzsurdzsa!
Twitter CEO Elon Musk recently said Canada needs a new government because the Liberals do not care about enacting protections for free speech.
Musk made the comments during a recent Twitter space with Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a conversation that touched on government censorship and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Elon Musk calls for a new government in Canada to strengthen & protect free speech.
"You don't have the free speech rights in Canada that you have in the United States. Perhaps a new government in Canada at some point will enact those rights because it is incredibly important." pic.twitter.com/8XNaLls4P3
— Harrison Faulkner (@Harry__Faulkner) June 6, 2023
Musk took the opportunity to highlight Canada as a country lacking in free speech rights. He expressed gratitude for the existing system in the United States and suggested that Canada should enact similar rights in the future.
“It’s easy for people to take for granted the system we have here in the United States, but it really doesn’t exist anywhere else, you know, not even in Canada,” said Musk.
“I’m half Canadian, you don’t have the free speech rights in Canada you have in the United States and perhaps a new government in Canada at some point will enact those rights because it’s really important.”
The controversy surrounding free speech in Canada has gained attention in recent years and has attracted Musk’s attention on several occasions.
Musk has used his role at Twitter to express concern about Bill C-11 and even criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s crackdown on the Freedom Convoy last year.
His comments come shortly after the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) recently announced its return to Twitter after a month-long hiatus.
The decision followed Twitter’s labeling of the CBC and other public broadcasters as “government-funded media.”
The CBC’s editor-in-chief, Brodie Fenlon, confirmed last month that affiliated accounts would become active again, albeit with a reduced presence on the platform.
Critics, including legacy media outlets and journalistic groups, argued that such labels undermined the independence of these organizations.
The CBC receives a significant portion of its annual funding, around $1.2 billion, from taxpayers.
The Toronto division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) hosted a televised debate for Toronto’s leading mayoral candidates and excluded one of the race’s top candidates.
Mayoral candidate Anthony Furey’s campaign has been gaining support in recent weeks as shown by recent public opinion polls, passing other Toronto politicians with name recognition.
The lack of invitation came despite the CBC recently writing an article conceding that Furey has been gaining ground and edging out several high-profile rivals.
Furey is currently on leave with True North as the VP for editorial and content.
In response to True North’s request for comment, the CBC says that they promise to give space to candidates whose commentary and platform “doesn’t violate CBC’s Journalistic Standards and Practices or Code of Conduct.”
CBC’s head of public affairs told True North that the public broadcaster considers a “combination of factors” when assessing who will be invited to participate in the debate and who will be excluded.
The first reason given is polling – the CBC says that on May 23rd, when invitations were sent out, Furey was not performing well in the public opinion polls. However, on May 12th, Mainstreet Research released a poll pegging Furey at 7% support, ahead of Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford.
A Forum Research poll released on Monday estimated Furey’s support at 10%, ahead of Bradford, former deputy mayor Ana Bailão, and former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Mitzie Hunter.
The second factor given is that candidates who do not have a robust platform that addressed the key issues Torontonians are facing were not invited to the debate. The key issues listed included housing, transit, transportation, and city finances.
The final factor listed is that invited candidates had “relevant civic or governmental leadership experience in Toronto.”
The rule requiring all candidates invited to the debate to be a former or current politician prevents candidates coming from the business sector and media from participating in the debate.
For many years, Furey was an editor and columnist for the Toronto Sun, but he has not previously served as an elected official.
Furey took to Twitter to criticize the CBC for failing to invite him to participate in the debate, saying that the exclusion is a bad look for the state broadcaster.
“I’m looking forward to the upcoming TV debates that I’m in but it’s certainly a bad look on CBC’s part that they’re deliberately excluding me, the only frontrunner with momentum, from today’s debate,” said Furey.
I’m looking forward to the upcoming TV debates that I’m in but it’s certainly a bad look on CBC’s part that they’re deliberately excluding me, the only frontrunner with momentum, from today’s debate. https://t.co/lnKY53PFYo
Civic commentator and YouTuber J.J. McCullough slammed the media for arbitrarily excluding Furey from the debate, criticizing the CBC and the media’s gatekeeping practices.
“Faced with a ton of candidates but lacking traditional parties, the media just seems to arbitrarily designate several random people the only candidates worth caring about,” said McCullough.
Municipal politics in Canada, especially Ontario, always feels like the most gatekeeped form of democracy. Faced with a ton of candidates but lacking traditional parties, the media just seems to arbitrarily designate several random people the only candidates worth caring about. https://t.co/43Y0lIVsfr
Bradford did not participate in the debate despite being invited, as he withdrew his invitation to spend time with his second child born the previous day.
The heat is now intensely on Commissioner Anne Kelly to describe what in hell was going through the mind of her officials when one of the most psychopathic serial killers and rapists in Canadian criminal history was secretly moved from the maximum-security Millhaven Penitentiary near Kingston to a medium-security institution in the Laurentians of Quebec.
Paul Bernardo, still designated a dangerous offender, should be the last person in person to warrant such a move.
But there he is today — in La Macaza, a prison for sexual offenders and those at risk of being harmed by other inmates.
No doubt he’ll be a star.
Bernardo’s move to a facility in Quebec was made public last week after the correctional service notified the lawyer representing the families of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, whom Bernardo kidnapped, tortured and murdered in the early 1990s.
The killer and serial rapist had been serving an indeterminate life sentence at Millhaven Institution, a maximum-security penitentiary near Kingston, Ont.
Tim Danson, a lawyer for the victims’ families, says it was unacceptable that the prison service refused to answer questions about the reason for Bernardo’s move or details of his custody conditions, citing, of all things, Bernardo’s privacy rights.
The Correctional Service said Monday it was “restricted by the law in what we can divulge about an offender’s case.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he understands how “shocked and appalled” Canadians are at the decision.
Trudeau said that’s why Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino will be raising the matter with the commissioner of the correctional service this week.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on Trudeau’s government to use whatever tools it can to reverse the transfer, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Bernardo “should rot in a maximum-security prison for the rest of his miserable existence.”
At a press conference Monday, Poilievre said it was “outrageous” that the prison system had moved the killer to a medium-security institution.
“He should be in a maximum-security institution,” he said. “The government should review any powers it has to reverse this ridiculous decision. Mr. Bernardo is a monster and he belongs in maximum security.”
In a statement last Friday, Mendicino said Bernardo’s transfer was “shocking and incomprehensible,” adding that he planned to raise the issue this week with Kelly, head of the correctional service.
Danson said he was pleased to see the minister’s reaction.
“Now we need action,” he told The Canadian Press on Sunday. “This is one of Canada’s most notorious, sadistic, psychopathic killers.”
“We need the public in masses, in millions, to be writing to the minister, to the commissioner of corrections, and to the members of Parliament, to express their outrage over this—that secrecy will not work. We want transparency.”
Mendicino said in his statement he expects the correctional service to “take a victim-centred and trauma-informed approach in these cases.”
Danson said the French and Mahaffy families were shocked to hear of Bernardo’s transfer, with the move bringing up decades of anguish and grief.
“Then for me to have to tell them as their lawyer and their friend, ‘I’m afraid I have no answers for you because of Bernardo’s privacy rights,”‘ he said.
“Of course, their response is the one that you would expect: What about the rights of Kristen? What about the rights of Leslie? What about their rights?”
“These are questions I can’t answer other than just to agree with them and share in their despair.”
Bernardo’s dangerous offender status makes the move all the more puzzling, Danson added as he questioned why Bernardo should reap any benefits of being in a medium-security facility with more lenient living conditions.
“We need an open and transparent discussion and debate. These are major, major public institutions paid for by the taxpayers of Canada.”
He suggested the correctional service’s handling of the matter risks leading the public to feel suspicious of the entire system.
“They want to do everything behind closed doors and secretly.”
Calgary city council has approved a bylaw amendment to fine those handing out pro-life material $1,000 — unless they hide images of aborted babies inside an envelope.
In a bylaw amendment passed last month, city council ruled that images depicting abortion victims must be hidden inside an opaque envelope with a warning about its contents. The envelope must also show the name and address of the sender.
Richard Dur, executive director of the political party Prolife Alberta, says the bylaw indicates that abortion itself should be outlawed.
“If the images are ‘too graphic’ for public consumption then perhaps the act of abortion, which brings about these horrific images in the first place, ought itself to be further regulated/outlawed,” Dur told True North.
Prolife Alberta uses its status as a political party to draw attention to pro-life policies. While the entity does not distribute abortion victim photography, Dur said the fliers make the reality of abortion undeniably clear.
“Abortions in Alberta, like the rest of Canada, are publicly paid for,” he said. “People should know where their money is going.”
Canada is the only democracy in the world which provides no legal protection for pre-born humans. In March, the Canadian Institute for Health Information revealed that there were 87,485 induced abortions in 2021.
The city says reported incidents will be investigated and enforced based on “education, voluntary compliance and officer discretion.”
Calgary Coun. Jennifer Wyness said images of aborted babies can be “deeply traumatizing and harmful” for some people.
“While we want to uphold the freedom of advocacy groups to express their opinions, we need to also balance our responsibility to protect communities. As a society, we accept that not all content is appropriate for everyone, which is why we have R-ratings for disturbing or mature films, for example,” she said.
“These pamphlets fall under that same category and it’s reasonable to ask that they come with a content warning.”
Dur said council is intent on protecting — even promoting — graphic expression through drag queen story hours at public libraries, but restricts it and prohibits free speech to those decrying the horror of abortion.
The occupation of Allen Gardens in downtown Toronto is living proof that the city does not have homeless problem.
It has a drug problem.
While there were more than enough shelter beds (according to the city’s own bed count from the first week of June) to accommodate those squatting in the downtown park, it seems a group of drug addicts and Indigenous have opted to take over Allen Gardens this summer.
They are mere steps away from an injection site and a church that caters to the homeless, making it far easier to sleep rough.
They have pitched their tents strategically throughout the main part of the park so well that it is near impossible for families and others to enjoy it.
Judging from the frosty reception — bordering on abuse — True North’s Sue-Ann Levy received while walking through there, there’s a reason that the city of Toronto is paying for four security guards to monitor the site 24-7.
This is what it has come to: A loud drug and poverty industry that enables them to remain there and a city that pays for security instead of simply removing them to shelters.
While not the only encampment in this country, Allen Gardens is yet another sign of the decay in Canada’s major cities run by self-described progressive politicians who’d sooner turn a blind eye to the mess than make tough decisions.
Several major Canadian corporations have co-authored a plan outlining their vision towards the adoption of global digital identity – a step which they call a “necessary evolution” towards digital citizenship that’s rooted in the ideals of equality and inclusion. The plan also cites the United Nations Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Insurers Desjardins, Beneva, as well as KPMG, Telus and Vidéotron all contributed to the creation of the Digital Identity White Paper which was published with the support of the Digital Identity Laboratory on May 25.
“Most countries are moving toward digital ID. It will be implemented in tandem with governments, businesses and the public. Digital ID is a necessary evolution for society,” claims the white paper.
“We must educate people and raise awareness about digital citizenship in order to garner broad support for digital ID. Only then will we be able to create the best possible conditions to achieve this desirable and inevitable evolution of the way we enter into relationships with public and private organizations.”
The paper promises that digital identity will offer “access to every service and privilege, with no discrimination.”
“Equality and inclusion will be promoted,” it claims.
“Digital ID will be part of everyday life. It will be easy to use, secure and will allow everyone wishing to use it to have control over their personal information. For example, suppose you need to rent a car. You could do it online by providing the rental company with your relevant personal information, driver’s licence and proof of insurance from three different issuers. The rental company would be able to verify the integrity and authenticity of the information.”
Digital Identity Laboratory of Canada.
Several scenarios which would require digital identity are highlighted by the companies including applying for a job, opening a bank account and taking out a mortgage.
“Taylor must provide several pieces of information so that the company can create an employee file and pay their salary via direct deposit every two weeks. Taylor uses their digital wallet to select only the verifiable credentials required by the company, providing a detailed view of the requested information,” explains the white paper.
Digital Identity Laboratory of Canada.
The white paper comes shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave an interview in which he claimed that the Covid-19 pandemic “showed us what we’re capable of” in achieving Agenda 2030 targets.
“We’re down at halftime but I remain incredibly optimistic. I mean yes, we had a pandemic and global circumstances that slowed down the progress we would have liked to have made but it also showed us what we’re capable of,” said Trudeau.
“The way we’ve come together to counter the food crisis caused by Russia’s illegal invasion. The way we worked on vaccines and getting them out around the world through the pandemic and supporting people that showed us what we’re capable of.”
Among the World Health Organization’s plans to “better protect citizens” is to globalize the European Union’s vaccine passport, making an international standard for proving vaccination status as a ticket to board plans and visit other countries. This comes as the World Health Assembly continues to move towards a global pandemic treaty, which it hopes to finalize next year. True North’s Andrew Lawton talks about what’s at stake with former congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann.
Also, the federal government is leaning into carbon capture to meet its lofty “net zero” ambitions. Will it work? Fraser Institute senior fellow Dr. Kenneth Green joins the show to weigh in.
Full parole has been granted to an Edmonton man convicted of killing his pregnant wife and dumping her body in a ditch.
As first reported by the Canadian Press, the Parole Board of Canada says Michael White was granted full parole in late May.
In 2006, the 46-year-old was convicted of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body in the death of his wife.
Liana White was fatally stabbed in July 2005. She was four months pregnant with the couple’s second child.
A few days after her death, her body was found in a ditch by a search party which included her husband.
The Parole Board said White maintains his innocence. It also said White demonstrated employment stability and the ability to live a law-abiding lifestyle.
White was previously granted day parole in February 2021, which was continuously extended.
When he was granted another six months of day parole in August 2022, the board said he had “no issues” living at a halfway house, and was spending four nights a week at his fiancee’s home.
The parole board also said White had supportive relationships with his daughter, his family and some of his deceased wife’s relatives.
The shocking revelation comes one week after serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo was secretly transferred from the notorious maximum-security Millhaven Institute near Kingston, Ont., to the medium-security La Macaza prison in the Quebec Laurentians.
None of the victims’ families were notified.
A source, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly, told Global News that La Macaza is a prison for sexual offenders and those at risk of being harmed by other inmates. The source also said Bernardo’s transfer was done “secretly.”
Bernardo’s sex crimes transpired between the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Among his acts, he and his then-wife Karla Homolka kidnapped, tortured and killed Leslie Mahaffy, 14, of Burlington, Ont., in June 1991 at their home in Port Dalhousie, Ont., before dumping her cement-encased remains in a nearby lake.
They similarly kidnapped and killed Kristen French, 15, in April 1992.
Bernardo admitted to raping 14 other women. He was also convicted of manslaughter in the December 1990 death of Homolka’s younger sister, Tammy. The 15-year-old girl died after the pair drugged and sexually assaulted her.
