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Saturday, September 27, 2025

BONOKOSKI: Taiwan is critical to the future of democracy

By
Mark Bonokoski
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China argues against Taiwan’s entry into the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming Taiwan lacks statehood and that Beijing represents Taiwanese people within the organization.

The problem is, Taiwan is a fully sovereign state, and China has never ruled Taiwan, nor tread its military boots within the country, and nor has it ever contributed to Taiwan’s healthcare needs.

Yet Beijing keeps on pressuring the world to believe that Taiwan belongs to China when, truth be told, it was once ruled by Japan.

In 2021, Taiwan was ranked the second-freest place in Asia, according to Freedom House.

It is a vibrant multi-party democracy, with peaceful transitions of power between ruling and opposition parties for the past two decades.

Not only that, but Taiwan is a leader in public civic participation through programs such as Citizen Congress Watch, a fourth-generation legislative oversight mechanism.

The organization gathers representative opinions, publicizes oversight outcomes, and puts forward suggestions to the legislature to effect changes the public wants to see.

Taiwan is emerging as an international leader in democracy, having recently hosted the 2021 Open Parliament Forum, an international gathering of parliamentarians and experts.

The forum is focused on protecting liberties and human rights in the face of rising threats of authoritarianism. Through its involvement, albeit as a non-member, Taiwan demonstrates its commitment to safeguarding civil liberties through transparency and openness of government, reinforcing the role of citizens and media in providing checks and balances to public policies.  

Taiwan’s hard-earned democracy, having transitioned from authoritarianism to a vibrant democratic system, is constantly under siege from Beijing’s intimidation and coercion, which considers Taiwan part of its territory.

But in many ways, these challenges make Taiwan stronger by giving it a foil.

In a recent Foreign Affairs essay, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen makes the strong case that the island’s resiliency is critical to regional peace and the future of democracy.

The United States and its allies, Canada included, agree, and are coordinating their Taiwan policy to safeguard the rule-based international order.

As an op-ed by Director General Jin-Ling Chen at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto recently explained, “China’s recent military exercises against Taiwan following U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022 and President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with current U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles in April this year further refutes Beijing’s claim to represent and protect the interests of Taiwan’s people at the WHO.”

“It is absurd that a regime threatening the health and safety of Taiwan’s people claims to represent them in the organization,” Chen writes.

What is also absurd is China’s contention that its governance, like Taiwan’s, can be best described as a democracy when, as the world knows, it is an authoritatively communist dictatorship closely aligned with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

As Chen contends, the exclusion of Taiwan from the WHO is not only wrong, but it also politicizes global health issues, which undermines the global response to public health crises.

Taiwan, according to the diplomat, “provides powerful lessons on democratic resilience, as in the future of democracy hinges on inclusive partnerships among like-minded democracies and stakeholders.”

”Taiwan provides valuable lessons in how to address challenges facing modern democracies while under constant threat,” she stressed.

“Taiwan is one of Canada’s fastest-growing trading partners,” writes Chen. “Millions of Taiwanese tourists travel to various destinations each year, promoting international trade, tourism and cultural exchange.

“These facts underline Taiwan’s significance as a global citizen and underscore the necessity of its inclusion in the WHO.”

LEVY: Woke Toronto Catholic teacher gets the boot

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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The black non-binary Jesus is gone from his Grade 7-8 classroom, as is the Pride flag.

So is Catholic teacher Paolo DeBuono, who hasn’t been seen at St. Antoine Daniel, a Toronto Catholic District School board school, since he got into a confrontation with a group of parents during a York Catholic District School board meeting on April 25.

The debate was over whether to raise the Pride flag at York Region schools next month.

He is seen on Twitter exchanging words with (and possibly goading) angry parents in the York Catholic education centre rotunda.

To this day, he portrays himself as the victim of the incident.

He’s still tweeting incessantly about his plight and about 2SLGBTQI issues.

One parent of a 13-year-old boy in his class told me she’s pleased to see DeBuono and his circus gone.

But she says school officials won’t tell her whether that is temporary or permanent.

The mom, who asked to keep her identity anonymous, says DeBuono–who still wears two masks–read his class a book about a trans boy who wants to become a girl the very first week of school.

She thinks that all the paraphernalia he put in his classroom was inappropriate.

“Part of the reason we sent him (my son) to a Catholic school was for a Catholic-based curriculum,” she said in a recent interview.

“Let them learn (about gender ideology) at an appropriate age and pace,” she said. “They don’t need to be exploring it in Grade 7.”

The mom said she’s extremely concerned about DeBuono’s two Twitter accounts (@misterdebuono and @pdbclassroom) which he uses primarily for his pro-2SLGBTQI activism.

“He’s tweeting all the time and on school days,” she said.

He even tried to bring a drag queen into the class. But the mom said she has assurances “that’s not happening.”

She wonders when he has time to teach and feels he’s not doing his job to adequately prepare her son for high school.

“My son said he’d (De Buono) go off on these tangents,” the mom said “And he constantly came home with no homework whatsoever.”

Her trustee Marie Rizzo has been useless about reining in this teacher and the school officials appear to want to sweep it all under the rug (which is par for the course). The teachers union protects him, she said.

Efforts to reach DeBuono were unsuccessful. He previously refused to comment and blocked me on Twitter.

Since being out of the classroom, he has produced a creepy YouTube video in which he offers a bounty of $500 to anyone who can identify Patricia De Amassi, who has been tweeting about his activities. He claims he wants to sue her.

The mom of one of his students says the videos he produces make her worried for her child’s safety.

“I don’t want him coming back at all,” she said. “I don’t want him anywhere near my children.”

He shouldn’t be teaching anymore.

The same goes for Kayla Lemieux, implicated in Boobgate at Halton District School Board.

The trouble is school boards are notorious for moving controversial teachers like these two from school to school, hoping parents won’t notice. 

For educators who claim it’s all about the kids, they do a poor job of demonstrating that.

School board trustee who said Christian men are “threats” resigns

By
Angelica Vecchiato
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Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) trustee Wendy Ashby, who equated Christian males to “threats,” has announced her resignation as an elected official. 

In a statement released Sunday evening, Ashby said she would “vacate” her seat so that “we can all return our focus back on the important work that we have dedicated ourselves to doing,” referring to advancing “diversity, equity and inclusion” in the WCDSB.

Ashby’s resignation comes after parents complained about two controversial statements she made on Twitter. 

In addition to her Tweet about Christian men, Ashby reacted to the newly-released provincial budget’s allocation of funds for personal support workers, claiming that “white women make obedient soldiers for the christofascist patriarchy.”

In an attempt to boot Ashby out of office, pro-parental rights groups like Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) and Parents as First Educators (PAFE) rallied supporters to attend board meetings and created petitions urging for her formal resignation. PAFE’s petition collected 3518 signatures and CLC’s collected 3160 to date.

Following the public pushback, WCDSB trustees Marissa Phillips and Robert Sikora condemned Ashby’s Tweets. 

Even with a public statement issued by Ashby earlier in April, Sikora questioned whether she was “truly contrite and repentant.” He continued to endorse her resignation, stating that it would “allow the WCDSB to focus on the students and affirm to the public that our focus is on the safety and education of our students and staff.”

PAFE President Teresa Pierre is satisfied with Ashby’s departure.

“PAFE is pleased to have worked with trustees and a coalition of local parents these past few weeks to bring the situation of Wendy Ashby to light and to have pressured her to resign,” she said.

Ashby equated her resignation, driven by concerned parents, to online bullying.

“The outrageous rage baiting campaign that has been playing out illustrates the exact kind of harassment and online bullying that so many kids experience. What is even more troubling is that this behaviour is coming from adults. Most are from outside interest groups who have their own agenda,” she said.

Although Ashby’s resignation entails an absence from the school board realm of influence, she promises to continue her activism work through other channels. 

“I stand, as always with our Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Particularly with transgender and nonbinary folks at this time of great uncertainty and fear. I will be continuing my advocacy in a capacity where I will be able to challenge tough issues and bring lasting change in a way that is positive and meaningful. I hope that one day advocacy for these groups will no longer be considered an act of bravery.”

Taxpayers group gives Notley’s proposed tax hike a ‘failing grade’

By
Rachel Parker
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is giving the Alberta NDP’s plan to hike taxes a “failing grade,” with Alberta Director Kris Sims calling it a “reckless thing” to do in a province that’s booming and hiring thousands of people.

The NDP released a costed economic platform on Tuesday, which forecasts a $3.3-billion surplus over three years, including an increase to the corporate tax rate from 8% to 11% to increase revenue.

The CTF says revenue collected by the government from the business tax is actually increasing under the lower tax rate introduced by the United Conservatives. 

“People are flocking here in record numbers to work hard and pay lower taxes, this huge NDP tax hike would be a scarecrow for entrepreneurs,” Sims said. 

Alberta is forecasted to pull in $6.4 billion from the business tax in 2022-23. That’s an increase from the $4.8 billion that the government collected in business tax back in 2018-19 when the tax rate was 12%. 

In 2015, former Alberta NDP premier Rachel Notley increased taxes on job creators by 20%. Under the UCP, the Alberta business tax became the lowest in the country at 8%, creating an environment that welcomed $729 million in venture capital investment last year. 

UCP candidate Brian Jean says Notley’s proposed increase will kill jobs, just as Notley did while serving as premier. 

“Albertans deserve better and last time Rachel’s NDP increased taxes like this, Albertan businesses fled the province for 13 consecutive quarters, investors looked the other way, and our revenue plummeted,” he said Tuesday. 

The NDP also pledged to drop the small business tax rate down to zero, matching the rate in Saskatchewan.

The small business tax rate in Alberta currently sits at two per cent on the first $500,000 of income generated. The NDP said in a media release that small businesses would save up to $10,000 per year, at an estimated cost of $150 million to the Government of Alberta.

“By cutting the small business tax to zero, the Alberta NDP is looking out for the little guy,” Notley said Monday. 

Sims said that’s the right move, but added that the NDP are poking a “huge hole” in the economy by hiking the general business tax. 

“The government should cut taxes on all job creators to keep Alberta booming,” she said. 

The NDP’s plan also focuses on addressing the health-care crisis, investing in education by hiring more teachers and educational assistants, and lowering the cost of living by reducing utility bills and freezing personal taxes.

Albertans head to the polls on May 29.

Liberal minister blames Harper government for LNG failures

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Liberal Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson recently blamed former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government for current failures to expand Canada’s liquified natural gas (LNG) capacity.

Wilkinson made the comments on Tuesday during a heated exchange in the House of Commons natural resources committee with Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs who accused the Liberals of losing out on hundreds of billions in revenue for Canada. 

“The biggest issue has been the regulatory delay, regulatory hurdles and opposition to pipelines. Your LNG failures cost Canada $108 billion in government revenue, $500 billion in new investment and 100,000 good paying Canadian jobs while you ceded the global market to Americans and to dictators and hostile regimes with lower environmental and human rights standards,” said Stubbs. 

“Will you actually accelerate approvals for LNG projects just like the Deputy Prime Minister claims you guys want to do? And on what date? Will Canada actually export LNG to our free and democratic allies around the world?”

In response, Wilkinson called Stubb’s assessment a “series of statements” and claimed that it was the Harper government that “gutted the environmental assessment process” and lost a “social licence” from the public to be trustworthy on developing natural gas projects. 

“I would say that one of the challenges we had in this country was the gutting of the environmental assessment processes by the Harper government, which ruined the ability to actually achieve social licence because nobody trusted that environmental issues were being addressed,” said Wilkinson. 

Wilkinson’s comments come at a time when Canada’s window of opportunity to supply Europe with LNG is quickly closing. 

European LNG imports skyrocketed by 63% last year as the continent moved to alleviate its dependence on Russian energy and Canada is missing out big time, according to industry experts.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has quashed any hopes that Canada could become a major LNG supplier across the Atlantic.

During a diplomatic visit to Canada by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in December, Trudeau told the media that there lacked a “worthwhile business case” to export gas to our European allies.

A recent poll by Nanos found that a vast majority of Canadians support expanding the country’s oil and gas sector. 

The survey found that 74% of Canadians saw the industry as being critical to the country’s economy and another 64% believed that oil and gas exports need to increase. 

BC government to pay for cancer treatments in the US

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Some cancer patients in British Columbia will soon have the option to receive radiation therapy in Bellingham, Washington, as part of a temporary initiative to reduce wait times and increase capacity in the province’s cancer care system.

BC’s Minister of Health Adrian Dix announced on Monday that beginning on May 29, eligible breast cancer and prostate cancer patients will be able to travel to one of two clinics in Bellingham, located a short drive south of the border, for their treatment.

According to Dix, the government will cover any additional costs of travel or accommodations for the duration of the treatment. 

“This commitment to supporting radiation treatment will initially focus on a specific group of patients – breast cancer and prostate cancer patients – are the largest patient populations receiving radiation therapy,” said Dix. 

The new policy could help up to 50 patients per week receive immediate care. 

Physician and Macdonald Laurier Institute Munk Senior Fellow of Healthcare Policy Dr. Shawn Whatley told True North that the move by BC was a step in the right direction and to the benefit of patients. 

“Well done! We should applaud BC Health Minister Adrian Dix for taking seriously the government’s promise to provide access to care. Patients should have wait-time guarantees,” said Whatley. 

“Let’s hope BC can carry through with their plan. Medicare was supposed to be a promise by governments to pay for care. It has become normal in Canada to deny care and do nothing about it. Hopefully other provinces follow BC’s lead.”

Dix said the province is making the move because BC hasn’t been meeting its target for ensuring cancer patients receive radiation therapy in a timely manner.

“But for British Columbians dealing with a cancer diagnosis, right now, in May of 2023, that’s not fast enough. For them, for those they love. It’s not acceptable,” said Dix. 

Both North Cascade Cancer Center and PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center will be offering services to Canadians. 

The head of BC Cancer Dr. Kim Nguyen Chi also praised the decision saying that it ensures increased capacity and timely access to healthcare. 

“Importantly, this initiative won’t just benefit patients who can travel, “Chi said. 

“It will also ensure increased capacity, and therefore, timely access for people across the province waiting for their radiation treatment.”

Recent data shows that over three million Canadians are currently on a healthcare waiting list as provinces scramble to patch up capacity issues.

“It’s difficult to generalize from this one announcement. The waits in BC for cancer treatment add to a long list of other waits we already know about. Canadian healthcare exists in a continuous state of crisis,” said Whatley. 

“But we cannot say that this announcement makes the crisis worse or more real. If anything, this announcement finally shows us that someone is taking the situation seriously.”

Library decision to ban free speech lecture involved board of directors: leaked memo

By
Andrew Lawton
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A decision by the London Public Library in London, Ont. to deny meeting space to an academic freedom group involved consultation with the library’s “senior team” and “board of directors,” True North has learned.

As first reported Monday by True North, the library refused to allow the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship to rent a theater to host a May 19 talk on “sex, gender, and the limits of free speech” by British author and academic Joanna Williams, citing a risk of “physical danger” and violation of the library’s workplace harassment policies.

In an internal memo sent to library staff Tuesday morning, London Public Library CEO Michael Ciccone provided “additional background on the events that led to the posting of the article in True North.”

In the memo, which was shared with True North by a library employee, Ciccone said SAFS’ request was “reviewed against our policy, including in discussion with Senior Team and our Board of Directors, and was declined based on several policy considerations.”

The library previously told SAFS that it was declining the booking based on the risk of physical danger, the likelihood the event could “impede the ability of others” to enjoy the library, and violation of the library’s workplace harassment and sexual harassment policies.

The library declined to give specifics to SAFS.

Critics of the library’s decision have pointed to its policy vowing to uphold “intellectual freedom,” including the right to “seek, receive and impart information.”

Nevertheless, Ciccone told staff the library is standing by its decision.

“As community institutions, libraries exist in the public space and our decisions are sometimes subject to a wide range of public opinion,” Ciccone wrote in the memo. “We welcome that role and the scrutiny that can sometimes come along with it. We feel we made the right decision and will stand by it, however, we recognize that the Library will bear criticism for this decision and we sincerely apologize for any negative feedback you may encounter as a result.”

Ciccone asked staff to direct any requests for comment on the incident to him or the library’s manager of communications, and to fill out an “incident report” if they encounter any “abusive comments or behavior.”

Ciccone and the library’s communications manager did not respond to requests for comment from True North.

True North also reached out to library board chair Brian Gibson, and London city councillors Peter Cuddy and Sam Trosow, who sit on the board, but did not receive replies.

In the memo, Ciccone told staff that the library approaches its values “through the lens of exceptional customer service and a commitment to anti-racism and anti-oppression.”

Notley has police remove reporter from press conference

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley had police forcefully remove a journalist from a press conference after he was intending to ask about her party’s past stance on defunding the police. 

Prior to making an announcement in Calgary on Monday, Notley called the Calgary Police Services (CPS) to escort The Counter Signal editor-in-chief Keean Bexte from the premises. 

A video captured by True North shows the police following Bexte out of the announcement room with his hands behind his back. 

Bexte, who is accredited with the Alberta Legislature, has since claimed that he was detained and charged with trespassing by the CPS. 

In a video with one of Notley’s staffers, Bexte can be heard passing on his question.

“A half dozen of her candidates have supported anti-police rhetoric including actively defunding the police,” Bexte said. 

“They’ve supported it and in practice done it. And now that the new Janet Brown poll is coming out, saying that over 50% of Albertans are supporting Danielle Smith. Does she think it’s time to discipline these candidates or re-tweak the anti-police message?”

This is not the first time that Notley has refused to take questions from reporters. 

Last month, Notley had security drag out two reporters from a press conference shortly after she criticized Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for limiting the amount of questions journalists could ask. 

Both Bexte and Rebel News reporter Alex Dhaliwal were forcefully removed by security before getting to ask the NDP leader any questions. 

The incident resulted in the Independent Press Gallery of Canada issuing a statement that called on Notley to ensure access at her press conferences for all media outlets. 

“Independent journalism is vital to a healthy Canadian mediasphere, and reporters should not be blacklisted simply because they don’t work for large government-subsidized media organizations,” wrote IPG president Andrew Lawton. 

“Independent journalists are able to ask questions of politicians that truly hold power to account and inform the Canadian public. You have led Albertans to believe that this is something you value.”

All True North journalists are accredited with the Independent Press Gallery of Canada.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Public library bans “free speech” event

By
Andrew Lawton
-

A London, Ontario library is banning a free speech talk being hosted by an academic freedom group from renting its theatre, despite having a commitment to “intellectual freedom” and opposition to censorship. This type of no-platforming is becoming more and more common, however. True North’s Andrew Lawton discusses with Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship president Mark Mercer.

Also, weeks after we learned Volkswagen is getting $13 billion in taxpayer subsidies to build an electric vehicle battery plant, Stellantis is halting construction on its Windsor factory because it wants more money from the government. Aaron Wudrick from the Macdonald-Laurier Institute weighs in.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

Toronto mayoral debate interrupted by unhinged heckler, as candidates discuss housing and taxes

By
Noah Jarvis
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Monday’s debate between Toronto’s highest polling mayoral candidates was dramatically interrupted by a heckler who stormed onto the stage screaming and shouting.

The debate hosted by the Daily Bread Food Bank featured candidates Ana Bailão, Brad Bradford, Josh Matlow, Mitzie Hunter, and Olivia Chow, discussing issues affecting Toronto’s residents, from affordable housing to TTC service.

However, the debate was interrupted past the halfway mark by a heckler who walked onto the stage as Hunter was speaking and incoherently began to shout at the crowd. He said, “You will not fix an election,” before security began to haul the man off the stage and escort him out of the venue.

While security attempted to remove the heckler, the man demanded that the security guards take his hands off of him and complained that he was being assaulted.

The dramatic scene persisted as the heckler struggled against the security guards attempting to escort him out of the building, leading to the stage’s backdrop being pulled down while the heckler shouted that he couldn’t be assaulted as a Canadian citizen. 

Police officers and security guards were eventually able to detain the man and escort the man out of the building, not before the incident rattled the candidates on stage and the audience watching the debate. 

The heckler was identified as Kevin Clarke, a perennial mayoral candidate who is currently seeking the mayoralty in the June 26 byelection.

Besides the debate’s colourful interruption, candidates spoke on important issues and presented plans that vary from minor reforms to radical makeovers to municipal governance in Toronto.

In his opening remarks, Matlow admitted that his mayoralty would see tax increases and called the clearing of homeless encampments from a public parks and streets as “violent.”

Matlow would use the debate to attack landowners, saying that private developers should not be pocketing profits for building homes while promising to go after landowners who seek to evict renters for a variety of reasons. 

The St. Paul councillor promised to expand rent control – a program that artificially brings the price of rent down – in Toronto, increase the fines for property standards violations, and bring in a parking lot tax.

Chow said she is “ready to tax,” saying that she would increase the property vacancy tax from 1% to 3% and increase taxes on high-income homebuyers. 

When speaking on the city’s revenue and budget shortfall, Chow said that she doesn’t know why or how the city ended up with a deficit of over $1 billion, but boasted that Toronto can leverage its power to ask superior levels of government for more funding. 

After Bailão pressed Chow, expressing her concern that Chow is unaware how the city ended up with a $1.5 billion shortfall, Chow responded by referencing her record as a city councillor.

“Don’t tell me that I don’t know how to read a budget for heaven’s sake,” said Chow. 

Bradford attempted to attack Chow on the issue of taxes and the budget, but he gaffed on his line of attack, accidentally complimenting Chow for her plan to make Toronto more affordable.

“My concern when I hear about all of [Chow’s] policies is that they are going to make life in this city a heck of a lot more affordable…a heck a lot more expensive,” said Bradford.

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