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Saturday, May 17, 2025

Wildfires to take 145,000 barrels of oil and gas offline per day

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Wildfires have forced many oil and gas companies to halt their operations in Alberta as the fires continue to stretch across much of the province, leading to a state of emergency. 

Since Thursday, 29,000 people have been evacuated from their homes, including areas where oil and gas companies operate like Brazeau and Grande Prairie.

The fires are threatening to pull 145,000 barrels of oil per day from the market according to estimates. 

Major companies like Cenovus Energy Inc. have had to close down production at natural gas sites in the wildfire area.

Fires have stretched across nearly 391,000 hectares this season. At the same time last year, there were fires only covering 417 hectares. 

Additionally, Pipestone Energy Corp. had to shutter its doors at various production facilities totaling to about 20,000 barrels lost per day. Paramount Resources Ltd. too has dropped in production by about 50,000 barrels a day. 

As for Crescent Point, the company has shut-in production amounting to about 45,000 barrels a day – equalling a 29% production drop at its Kaybob Duvernay facility.

Similarly, Kiwetinokh Energy said it had to shutter a majority of its work in Placid because of how close the wildfires were. 

“We appreciate the hard work of emergency responders protecting our communities and seek to reduce any Kiwetinohk-related traffic in our areas of operations to provide priority to emergency respondents if and when needed,” Kiwetinohk Energy told the Globe and Mail.

Alberta Wildfire manager, Christie Tucker called the incident “unprecedented” with emergency crews tackling many different fires over a vast swathe of land. 

“People have called this season certainly unprecedented in recent memory because we have so many fires so spread out,” said Tucker.

Quebec school district apologizes after teachers cancel Mother’s Day & Father’s Day

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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A Quebec school district is apologizing amid outrage over elementary school teachers opting to replace Mother’s Day and Father’s Day with a more inclusive “Parents’ Day.”

The Centre de services scolaire de la Capitale’s (CSS) response differs from school boards in the rest of Canada – many of whom have embraced woke ideology.

The controversy began after Radio X host Dominic Maurais shared a screenshot of an email sent to parents of grade 2 students at the École de la Chanterelle in Quebec City, in which teachers explain that “considering the heterogeneity of our students’ families this year, we have decided not to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.”

“However, we still want to recognize you (the parents) before the end of the year. To do so, we will celebrate Parents’ Day,” the teachers added. 

The teachers’ move to cancel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day led to outrage on social media – with many Quebecers calling the move woke and nonsensical.

The school district then issued a statement, where it provided an explanation and an apology regarding the situation.

“Considering that some of the students in their classes do not have a mother or father or are in foster care, the teachers decided instead to celebrate Parents’ Day this spring by asking children to make a craft for them,” wrote the district.

“It is clear to the CSS that this initiative was based on a benevolent intention on the part of the teachers towards the students in their class” it added. “But clearly, their communication was clumsy and may have been misunderstood and misinterpreted, and we are sorry for that.”

The CSS also said the school is committed to improving its communications practices.

The district’s statement was shared by the province’s education minister Bernard Drainville, who said erasing mothers or fathers from schools has, and will always be, out of the question.

Conservative Party of Quebec leader Eric Duhaime also commented on the matter, saying “wokism is embodied everywhere in our academic institutions.” 

“Are we going to cancel Christmas because some children are Muslim? Are we going to cancel Labor Day because there are unemployed people? The celebration of Easter because of diabetics? Are we going to cancel Valentine’s Day because some people are single? I hope not.”

Duhaime also criticized Drainville for not going far enough with his response, and also called on him to also comment on news that another Quebec school intends to cancel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. 

Schools in the rest of Canada are also opting to cancel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, including the Dr. F.W.L. Hamilton School in Manitoba, which has decided to “transition to a more inclusive practice.”  

Meanwhile, a Toronto-area school has decided to take down a sign featuring an appreciative message for moms ahead of Mother’s Day after one parent complained in a Facebook group that it was “exclusionary.”
With files from True North’s Andrew Lawton and Cosmin Dzsurdzsa.

Bank of Canada asking public to weigh in on digital currency

By
Noah Jarvis
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The Bank of Canada (BoC) has announced that they are officially considering the introduction of a central bank digital currency and will be taking the public’s feedback on the matter for just over a month.

The BoC says that as the lives of everyday Canadians becomes increasingly digitized, exploring the introduction of a central bank digital currency is increasingly pertinent. 

“As Canada’s central bank, we want to make sure everyone can always take part in our country’s economy,” said the BoC’s senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers. 

A central bank digital currency is a digital alternative to bank notes issued by a nation’s central bank that is stored in an account either with the central bank itself, or as electronic tokens.

The BoC says that as cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies from other countries become more popular, this risks compromising the role of a centrally issued dollar and could affect the stability of Canada’s financial system. 

While the BoC is in the development phase for a central bank digital currency, the central bank asserts that a digital dollar is not currently needed, and that any decision to introduce such a digital dollar lies with Parliament and the Canadian government. 

The central bank says that they do not plan on phasing out bank notes upon the introduction of a central bank digital currency.

“Cash isn’t going anywhere,” reads the BoC’s press release. 

The BoC is in the process of holding an online public consultation where Canadians can ask questions and voice their concerns with the introduction of a central bank digital currency. 

The central bank says that they are seeking opinions related to how Canadians would use the central bank digital currency, what security features would be important for Canadians, and what concerns Canadians have pertaining to accessibility and privacy. 

Canadians can take a survey to voice their opinions on a central bank digital currency until June 19, 2023, after which the BoC will share Canadians’ input with senior decision makers and publish a report on their findings. 

The Atlantic Council’s central bank digital currency tracker shows that Nigeria, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and eight Eastern Caribbean countries already introduced a central bank digital currency, with many more countries in the pilot phase of launching such a currency. 

China has already launched their central bank digital currency to over 250 million of their citizens, with the project set to be expanded to the majority of their population by the end of 2023. Other countries in the pilot phase include Australia, Japan, India, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, and more.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Is Twitter the future of media?

By
Andrew Lawton
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The longtime king of cable news ratings, Tucker Carlson, has announced he’ll be relaunching his show on Twitter just a couple of weeks after being abruptly fired by Fox News. Elon Musk has positioned Twitter as being a platform for content creators and free speech. Despite claims by journalists and media outlets that they’d be boycotting the platform, most have remained. Even CBC, which stopped tweeting after its accounts were labelled “government-funded media,” has resumed. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in on the future of independent media.

Also, Canada has finally expelled the Chinese diplomat at the centre of accusations of intimidating Conservative MP Michael Chong and his family. The Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Brian Lee Crowley joins to discuss the China-Canada relationship.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

Royal Canadian Legion criticizes decision to remove Vimy Ridge from passport design

By
Andrew Kozak
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The Royal Canadian Legion released a statement chastising the Trudeau government for eliminating several historical events, including the Battle of Vimy Ridge, from the redesigned Canadian passport.

“We are disappointed by the decision to remove an image that signifies the sacrifices made for the very sort of freedom the passport provides,” said the Legion. “The Vimy Memorial was a fundamental image, also representing a defining moment for Canada, a country emerging as an independent nation with limitless potential.”

“Removing that image in the context of a design change and without knowing the rationale was, to put it bluntly, a poor decision.”

The new passport has replaced images of Terry Fox, Nellie McClung, The Last Spike, Centre Block and the Stanley Cup with images of animals such as owls and bears and scenes of nature.

The coat of arms remains on the cover of the passport, which also includes a maple leaf.

“One of the things that I heard from consultations was that we want to celebrate our diversity and inclusion, we want to celebrate our natural environment … and [we] tried to bake those elements into the design,” said Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser at a press conference.

Fraser argued that replacing the images with new ones makes the passport more difficult to counterfeit.

“Passport holders’ personal information will now be laser engraved, instead of being printed with ink, which is going to make the data page more durable and resistant to tampering and counterfeiting,” said Fraser.

When asked about whether the changes were partisan, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould said there were no complaints during consultations.

“The design of this passport started 10 years ago and this is really about ensuring the security of the document,” said Gould. “I think when you look at the images here, they are fairly traditional Canadian images.”

“I mean, if you look at polar bears, and people jumping into a lake, and birds in the winter, I mean I think it really captures the spirit of who we are as Canadians.”

The passport contains new security features such as a polycarbonate data page, laser engravings, a custom see-through window and temperature-sensitive ink.

The new passports are expected to begin being issued in the summer and fall of 2023.

Freedom Convoy trucker released on bail without conditions, will return to court in June 

By
Rachel Parker
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Freedom Convoy trucker Harold Jonker has been released on bail without conditions and will return to court in Ottawa on June 7.

Jonker, who runs Jonker Trucking Inc. out of Niagara, Ont., was told last month to turn himself in to Ottawa police on May 10 for a court appearance and to be fingerprinted.

He faces multiple charges, including one count of mischief for obstructing property; one count of intimidation by blocking or obstructing a highway; and two counts of counsel for an uncommitted, indictable offence.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) is representing Jonker.

Jonker said his legal team is requesting disclosure. Since this morning’s appearance, his lawyer has already received 400 pages of information and is waiting for some video evidence.

The trucker described his court appearance as a “mellow dynamic” and said his family plans to stay in Ottawa for a few days to participate in the annual March For Life demonstrations.

The Freedom Convoy protests emerged in winter 2022 over federal Covid-19 restrictions, including the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers.

In February 2022, Jonker drove up to Ottawa in his semi, along with 12 other trucks from his company. He was featured prominently in the Freedom Occupation documentary about the protest, which was distributed by True North.

He’s been working with the JCCF since last summer when an integrity commissioner ruled that he broke the municipal code of conduct for participating in the Convoy while a part-time councillor for West Lincoln, a township near Niagara Falls, Ont.

In November, the Public Order Emergency Commission, which studied Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the never-before-used Emergencies Act to remove protesters from Ottawa, found that Trudeau was justified in using the powers.

The commissioner also ruled that Trudeau used inflammatory language and worsened the situation when he said protesters were part of a “fringe minority” with “unacceptable views.”

You can watch the Freedom Occupation documentary here.

CBC runs back to Twitter after short row over Musk’s “government-funded” label

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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After a month-long hiatus over Twitter’s labelling of them as “government-funded media,” CBC has announced it was returning to the platform in a recent blog post. 

According to CBC News editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon, several of the public broadcaster’s affiliated accounts will be active on Twitter again. However, he added that the organization would “significantly reduce” its presence on the social media platform.

“Today, we will resume some activity on a handful of umbrella Twitter accounts, including @CBCNews, but we will significantly reduce our overall Twitter footprint and continue to assess the platform against our strategy,” wrote Fenlon. 

Twitter CEO Elon Musk reacted to the news with a meme of himself in the film “Brokeback Mountain” with the CBC logo and a caption that said: “I wish I knew how to quit you.” 

Musk labelled the CBC and other publicly-funded media, such as the BBC and National Public Radio, as “government-funded media” on their accounts in April.

The move provoked a string of criticisms from the legacy media and journalistic groups who called the label unfair and claimed that it cast doubt on the independence of said media. 

“The problem is that Twitter’s posted definition of “government-funded” referred to outlets that “may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content.” And Musk has on several occasions linked government funding to state influence and media bias,” claimed Fenlon. 

The CBC receives $1.2 billion annually in taxpayer funding from the federal government – a majority of the company’s revenue. 

“No government has involvement or influence on the journalism of CBC News and Radio-Canada Info, our French-language service,” added Fenlon. 

In contrast, the CBC has decided to continue its presence on the social media platform TikTok, despite bans preventing federal workers from using the application over fears that the Chinese government has influence over the company. 

Canada’s housing minister quietly buys another rental property

By
Lindsay Shepherd
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The minister in charge of ensuring Canadians have affordable housing has quietly purchased his second rental property.

In housing minister Ahmed Hussen’s disclosure statements, he is now listed as the owner of two rental properties in Ottawa: one on Quest Private and another on Kijik Crescent. He appears to have acquired the second property on March 23, 2023 and has two mortgages with CIBC.

A spokesperson from the Office of the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion told True North, “Minister Hussen owns two units of rental housing, which are rented to two families in the Ottawa area at below market rates.”

When asked what Hussen charges for rent and whether or not Hussen’s tenants are his friends or family members, his office refused to comment.

The housing ministry spokesperson pointed to the fact that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also owns a rental property in Ottawa and “co-owns a real estate investment company in Calgary.”

As Minister of Housing, Hussen may be privy to information about the housing market not known to the general public, which to some critics makes his investments akin to insider trading.

“It brings to mind how Congress in the U.S. won’t pass the Stock Act because they’re all inside traders,” housing expert and journalist Neil Sharma told True North. 

“The economics of housing in Canada might be a little more obscure to understand for the average Canadian, but what the Minister of Housing is doing isn’t any different. He should be solving the supply paucity, not profiting off of it.”

Within days of quietly buying his second rental property, Hussen appeared on TVO’s The Agenda and was called out by host Steve Paikin for being a landlord as well as the housing minister, and asked if he felt “conflicted by being in that situation.” 

“Not really… I’m happy to be contributing to that housing supply,” Hussen replied with a smirk.

According to Sharma, “If Hussen is merely ‘happy’ to provide rental housing, then he should have no problem selling his unit, or units, to another investor, or investors, because, then, not only will the tenants be allowed to continue living in those rental units, Canadians will know the country’s Minister of Housing isn’t profiting off of the crisis.”

“Because right now, whether Hussen admits it or not, he most certainly is profiting off of it. The word for this is ‘venality.’” 

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto and Vancouver hover around $2,500 a month. In Halifax, that figure is nearly $2,000, and in Calgary it’s $1,600.

“I predict the average price for a one bedroom in Toronto to rise above $3,000 by 2030,” Marco Pedri, real estate broker at Shoreline Realty Corp. Brokerage, recently told BNN Bloomberg.

“People see that number and find it impossible to believe, but just 10 years ago the thought of an average bedroom going for over $2,000 was unfathomable — and yet here we are.” 

The median after-tax household income in Canada is $73,000, and the average home price in Canada is $662,437, though you can’t find many houses in the Greater Vancouver and Toronto areas for under a million dollars.

The Daily Brief | Smith returns to campaign trail

By
Rachel Parker
-

UCP leader Danielle Smith returns to the campaign trail after pausing campaign activities due to the wildfires – and announces a comprehensive public safety plan to tackle rising criminal activity.


A Conservative MP roasts Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a speech in the House of Commons and blames the Liberal government for underfunding the country’s military.


And a Toronto-area school has decided to take down a sign featuring an appreciative message for moms ahead of Mother’s Day after a woke parent took issue with the sign.


These stories and more on The Daily Brief with Rachel Emmanuel and Cosmin Dzsurdzsa!

CAMPUS WATCH: hockey seminar free for people who “identify as underrepresented”

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

Brock University’s sports team, the Badgers, offered free tickets to a $160 high-performance hockey seminar to individuals who “self-identify as underrepresented.”

This comes as the Niagara-area university boasts about embracing “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” (EDI) ideology at an institutional level.

“Come learn, connect, and share with the hockey world for a 1 day event! TJ Manastersky, the Head Coach of the Brock Badgers, will serve as the event’s moderator,” reads the event’s description.

Brock says “a limited number of Community Supported Tickets are available courtesy of Stathletes upon request for individuals who self-identify as underrepresented.”

Examples of “underrepresented” include identifying as non-white and female.

For those who don’t “identify as underrepresented,” in-person tickets range from $115 to $159, while virtual attendance costs $74.

The seminar will feature “advanced hockey tactics and sport performance presentations from speakers in the OHL, NCAA, USPORTS,” as well as “networking with industry experts and thought leaders.” Participants will also earn Hockey Canada professional development points.

In the past, social justice activists have complained about how most hockey players are white.

The National Hockey League’s (NHL) 2022 “diversity and inclusion report” found that 83.6% of its workforce is white, with 61.86% saying they “identify as men” and 93.14% saying they’re straight or heterosexual.

​​”We are working to better understand and accelerate our engagement across all layers of diversity — including nationality, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and religion,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. “Each day, we are committed to ensuring inclusion becomes more of ‘who we are’ than ‘what we do.'”

It should, however, be noted that racial demographics differ for other professional sports. About 72% of National Basketball Association (NBA) and around 56% of National Football League (NFL) players are black.

On its website, Brock University says it has “identified fostering a culture of inclusivity, accessibility, reconciliation, and decolonization as a strategic priority” and that the latter “foregrounds Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) considerations.”

Other initiatives to help underrepresented groups at Brock have included the creation of a racially segregated “BIPOC Study Hall” for non-white students – as previously reported by True North. 

Neither Brock University, the presenter of the seminar, nor the sponsor of the free tickets for people who “self-identify as underrepresented” responded to True North’s request for comment in time for publication.

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