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Wednesday, May 14, 2025

LEVY: Another woke TDSB policy has been a complete failure

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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An articulate Grade 8 student told a Town Hall in Toronto this past week she was completely distraught when she learned the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) decided to select student placements in specialized arts and other programs based on a lottery.

Lela, 14, broke into tears as described to 250 people in person at Earl Haig secondary school and online how she was not offered a cherished spot in that school’s dance program for next year.

The student, who is currently at Claude Watson School for the Arts,  said she’d started preparing to audition two years ago but lost hope over the past few months when she realized she was No. 17 on the waitlist.

“During my five years at Claude Watson, I tried so hard to improve my dance (abilities),” she said.  “My future has been reduced to a lottery.”

The criteria for admission to the board’s highly specialized programs in the arts, math, science and athletics programs were changed from auditions, entrance exams, report cards and other merit-based assessments to simple interest and a lottery.

The controversial changes to the board’s special interest programs and schools were voted on last May and are impacting current Grade 8 students seeking to apply to specialized schools in the fall.

Black activist education director Colleen Russell-Rawlins, who appears hellbent and determined to dumb down the curriculum as much as she can, said when the policy was passed that the objective of the changes was to provide students with a “fair chance of acceptance” into such programs no matter their identity, ability, postal code or family income.

Her idea was to “remove barriers” allegedly present for black and Indigenous students.

However, most of those who attended Tuesday night’s town hall, agreed that the new policy has been a massive fail.

Using the board’s own statistics (obtained through a Freedom of Information request) UofT professor Marcin Peski showed how the lottery system doesn’t accomplish the board’s goals.

More than anything, a system like that does not take into consideration the passion or talent required to flourish in accelerated arts, math and science programs.

That’s because the board has not been successful at “generating interest” among those groups at the middle school level.

The town hall was organized by new trustee Weidong Pei, who knocked off TDSB chairman Alexander Brown in last fall’s election, party because Pei was vehemently opposed to the specialized program changes.

Peski said accelerated programs require effort sustained by high passion and interest.

“We are not talking about tutoring programs… we’re talking about accelerated programs,” he said.

He added that despite Russell-Rawlins contentions, socioeconomic barriers were not considered in the application process.

Peski said a brief he obtained from the secondary school planning committee indicated the plan (under Russell-Rawlins) is to close all specialized programs within five years and create one homogenous system without any choice.

Ethan, a student at Ursula Franklin Academy, said the lottery system didn’t open up applications and in fact has been “complete failure.”

The well-spoken young man said the board rushed into the decision without a plan and schools had to scramble to accommodate the changes.

“The TDSB needs to rethink this decision or the system will inevitably fail,” he said.

The town hall also heard that the TDSB is “putting up all kinds of roadblocks” for those trying to get into a gifted program when they move from middle school to high school.

According to a variety of speakers, students are being told there is an 18-month gap to apply for the gifted program, even if they’re already in one in middle school.

Jennifer Waston, a retired teacher and daughter of Claude, said her father would be absolutely “appalled” at what the board is doing with this program.

Apparently the 200-plus parents who attend the Pei’s town hall were also appalled by the nonsensical and downright dangerous policy moves by Russell-Rawlins and her woke lieutenants in the TDSB senior management ranks.

One wonders how many times these radical activists masquerading as educators will be allowed to mess up the schools under their watch before the province says enough.

Russell-Rawlins’ policies have led to absolute anarchy and violence in some schools.

This particular policy will drive the more gifted students out of the system turning the board’s classrooms into ones where academics take a back seat to critical race theory and gender ideology.

It is already happening.

Russell-Rawlins is destroying the board’s schools one misguided policy at a time.

Petition to oust woke Chilliwack school board chair surges

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A petition to remove Chilliwack School District (SD33) chair Willow Reichelt has accrued over 1,300 signatures two days after it was started on the platform change.org. 

Reichelt has been at the centre of recent controversy at SD33 after a flood of parents complained that the school board was making sexually explicit material available to children. 

The petition accuses Reichelt of censoring voices that don’t align with her progressive woke goals and belittling those who oppose her. 

“As seen many times in public School Board meetings, Willow does not listen when parents, guardians and other residents of the Chilliwack community, attempt to voice their concerns. She will turn off their mic before they’ve finished speaking,” wrote Cindy Carpenter, who began the petition. 

“She will also shut off the mic of fellow trustees, if their opinion doesn’t align with hers. She has also raised her voice, scoffed, laughed at and belittled, the ones trying to speak.”

The board recently censured Trustee Heather Maahs for claiming that parents belonged to their children after she raised issues with the district’s decision to put up obstacles in front of parents such as providing photo ID to attend public meetings.

The petition cites several comments from the public which include a former student who alleges that as a teacher, Reichelt “never allowed room for anyone’s thoughts or beliefs except her own.” 

“I highly believe it’s crucial to leave space for kids to discover their own opinions rather than being told what’s right and wrong – she would openly tell certain students she wished they were the only ones in the class etc. worst teacher i’ve ever had. honestly thought she got fired,” wrote the anonymous former student. 

As of this article’s writing, the petition has received 1,357 signatures and continues to grow. 

The Daily Brief | Taxpayers group calls out “out of touch” federal workers

By
Rachel Parker
-

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation heavily criticized the demands made by The Public Service Alliance of Canada, saying federal employees are “out of touch” and are asking for too much while Canadians are struggling to make ends meet.

Plus, the CBC wants 12-year-olds to read a book about a transgender teen who takes a job moonlighting as a drag queen at a “local club.”

And the Independent Press Gallery is calling on Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley to commit to allowing independent journalists to cover her campaign events after security removed two journalists from a recent press conference.

These stories and more on The Daily Brief with Rachel Emmanuel and Lindsay Shepherd!

Independent Press Gallery demands answers from Notley after she evicted journalists

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

An association representing independent media outlets is calling on Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley to commit to allowing independent journalists to cover her campaign events after security removed two journalists from a recent press conference. 

In the open letter dated Apr. 19, Independent Press Gallery president and True North journalist Andrew Lawton called on Notley to take a stand for press freedom by ensuring access 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 Lawton in the letter, which was also signed by representatives of the Western Standard, Rebel News, True North, and the Counter Signal.

“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.”

On Monday, Notley had reporters Keean Bexte from The Counter Signal and Rebel News’ Alex Dhaliwal forcefully removed from a presser by private security. 

“Fostering a system where politicians can cherry-pick journalists’ questions while blacklisting random outlets is an affront to the basic tenets of democracy, and runs contrary to the expectations that Albertans have for a free press,” wrote Lawton about the incident. 

“You have stated on social media that Albertans deserve a leader that takes their questions, and you proudly declared you would take media questions and follow-ups. But your behaviour indicates the opposite.”

Signatories of the letter included True North President Candice Malcolm, Rebel News President Ezra Levant, The Western Standard President Derek Fildebrandt and others. 

The IPG was first created in 2020 as an alternative to the government-influenced Parliamentary Press Gallery.

As an organization it advocates for the rights of independent journalists and media outlets.  

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

BONOKOSKI: The longer the public service strike goes on, the more Canadians will suffer

By
Mark Bonokoski
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There is the pity-appeal aspect when striking unions — like today’s massive 155,000-member Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) walkout — go to the public with tales of how they were hard done by during negotiations, how they were given a disrespectful short shrift, and how they are now having difficult times making ends meet, let alone putting food on the table.

Today’s economic climes, with high inflation, help sell the image of the hard-done-by public servant — even if this pitch is arguably based on fiction and hyperbole.

Entering the picture now with his own take on the PSAC strike is Franco Terrazzano, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), a federally incorporated, not-for-profit citizen’s group dedicated to lower taxes, less waste and accountable government.

In its Labour Day reality check, which was months before the strike, the CTF laid it out that:

  1. During the pandemic, 312,825 federal government employees received a pay raise.
  2.  There have been 395,900 private sector job losses vs. 149,500 new government jobs (all levels) since February 2020.
  3. In 2020, 74,925 federal bureaucrats made more than $100,000. That number grew by 5,918 employees during the pandemic. That’s up from 43,424 in 2015.
  4. The federal government has no record of its employees ever receiving a pay cut.

And then there is this:

Compensation for each full-time federal employee is $125,300 on average when pay, pension and other benefits are added up, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. 

“(Federal) personnel spending over the past two years increased by 30.9%,” according to the PBO. “The public service expanded by 31,227 full-time equivalents.” 

“Taxpayers paid for hundreds of thousands of pay raises, hundreds of millions in bonuses and tens of thousands of new employees over the last few years and now bureaucrats are demanding billions more,” Terrazzano said.

 “Enough is enough. The government must reject PSAC’s unaffordable, unsustainable and out of touch demands.”

Well, that being the case, we’re in for a long one.

PSAC is demanding a 13.5% pay increase over three years (4.5% annually). The Treasury Board Secretariat, the government department that is nominally the employer of bureaucrats, has offered 9% over three years.

PSAC also wants more flexibility in the rules on working from home. The government has demanded that public servants return to in-person work for a few days a week after years of Covid-related virtual work. That hasn’t gone over well with public sector unions.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has warned taxpayers that its services “will be delayed or unavailable” — which is bad timing given the deadline to file taxes is April 30 (or June 15 for the self-employed).

In a statement, the CRA said benefits payments will be prioritized and Canada child benefit (CCB) payments will still go out as scheduled.

Call centre operations will be limited during this job action, the CRA said.

In announcing the strike action, PSAC said Canadians can expect “a complete halt of the tax season.”

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier says mediated talks continue.

She says both sides were back at the table yesterday morning, even as union members hit the picket lines. “That is the same case as we speak” Fortier told reporters this afternoon.

She wouldn’t say how long she expects the strike to last and remains hopeful that a deal can be reached “as soon as possible.”

Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie, the critic for the Treasury Board, ducked questions about whether her party would support back-to-work legislation to force federal workers back on the job.

She said Trudeau is to blame for the job action.

 “We’re calling on the prime minister and the Liberal government to get their act together and end this strike,” she said. “It’s his incompetence that has brought us to this place.” 

She said the longer the strike goes on; the more Canadians will suffer. 

Unvaccinated woman denied organ transplant proves natural immunity in bid for life-saving procedure

By
Rachel Parker
-
Rebel News

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms’ lawyer representing an unvaccinated woman who’s been denied an organ transplant is demanding Alberta Health Services (AHS) overturn its decision after patient Sheila Annette Lewis proved she has natural immunity. 

Lewis is dying of a terminal illness. She was removed from the top of the organ donor transplant list after refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19. She has been challenging the constitutionality of Covid-19 vaccine requirements for transplant candidates put in place by AHS, an Alberta Hospital, and six transplant doctors for more than a year.

Her counsel is now demanding that health officials accept her newly established natural immunity to Covid-19 as an alternative to vaccination and reinstate Lewis to the high-priority transplant waitlist by April 21. 

 “There is no principled medical or scientific reason to continue to deny Ms. Lewis a life-saving organ transplant,” legal counsel Allison Pejovic said in a statement. 

“She is protected from Covid-19 as she has had it twice. The refusal to accept Ms. Lewis’s natural immunity as an alternative to Covid-19 vaccination and give her life-saving surgery is indefensible and a disgrace.”

On March 29, Lewis provided her Alberta Transplant Program doctors with a privately funded medical report, known as the Kinexus Report, establishing her natural immunity to Covid-19. 

On April 3, one of the transplant physicians informed Lewis that nothing had changed and she would still need to receive the Covid-19 vaccines ahead of an organ transplant. 

The organ Lewis requires and her doctors’ names are under a publication ban.

In August 2022, the US Centre for Disease Control announced that while Covid-19 vaccines have reduced mortality and hospitalizations due to Covid-19 in the US, so has natural immunity to Covid-19. 

A February 2023 study from The Lancet demonstrates that natural immunity cut the risk of hospitalization and death from a Covid reinfection by 88% for at least 10 months, and the immunity generated from an infection was found to be “at least as high, if not higher” than that provided by two doses of an mRNA vaccine.

Lewis was unsuccessful at both the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and the Alberta Court of Appeal in 2022, with both levels of court finding that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not apply to the Covid-19 vaccine policies of AHS, the Alberta Hospital where she would receive her transplant, or her transplant doctors. Both courts also dismissed her claims under The Alberta Bill of Rights.

In a November ruling, the appeal court acknowledged it’s a “virtual certainty” Lewis will die without an organ transplant. 

In January, Lewis filed a court application asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear her case against Alberta Health Services. 

Disruptions by the public service strike that may affect you

By
Andrew Kozak
-

The federal government has not been able to reach a deal with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). As a result, 155,000 federal employees began their strike on Wednesday. 

PSAC represents roughly 35,000 workers at the Canada Revenue Agency and 120,000 employees in a variety of departments, including tradespeople, teachers, firefighters, Employment Insurance and Immigration workers.

Here are the disruptions you can expect:

The Canada Revenue Agency says certain services such as processing income taxes and benefit returns will be delayed and that filing taxes by paper will be unavailable entirely. Tax returns are still due on April 30 despite the strike. 

Passport services will be heavily impacted by the strike, with the delivery of passports being limited only to “clients experiencing humanitarian or emergency situations.” Passport renewals will also be unavailable during the strike. 

Transport Canada says people can expect to see delays when applying for licenses, certificates and registrations. Motor vehicle safety complaints hotlines will also be disrupted.

Employment and Social Development Canada says clients should expect longer processing and wait times in call centres and Service Canada locations. In-person services are limited to those requiring Employment Insurance, Social Insurance Numbers, Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada says services will only be available online and that clients can expect further delays with processing applications and any in-person appointments such as citizenship ceremonies and passport services. 

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program and Canada Disability Savings Bond services may see partial or full disruptions during the strike.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police says that while regular police services will be available across Canada, administrative support and public media relations will see disruptions.

The Canadian Coast Guard says lighthouses, and the wrecked, abandoned and hazardous vessels, which aim to protect coastal communities, may be partially or completely disrupted during the strike. Indigenous Funding Programs, Licensing, Small Craft Harbours and Fisheries Management are also expected disruptions.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says programs that will see disruptions due to the strike are AgriInvest, AgriStability, Poultry and Egg On-Farm Investment Program, Wine Sector Support Program, and Youth Employment and Skills Program.

PSAC president Chris Aylward is calling on the government to start negotiating “seriously” and said the union is ready to strike as long as it takes to reach a fair deal.

“We cannot sign a blank cheque. Numerous PSAC demands are unrealistic. We have no doubt that there is enough common ground to reach an agreement,” said Treasury Board President Mona Fortier. 

PSAC demanded up to 47% compensation increases over three years, according to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, which would cost taxpayers $9.3 billion. The average pay for a full-time federal employee is $125,300 including pension and benefits, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

The Rupa Subramanya Show | Has the CBC always been this terrible? (Ft. Trish Wood)

By
Rupa Subramanya
-

After Elon Musk rightfully labeled the CBC as “Government-funded media” on Twitter, questions surrounding the editorial independence of the CBC have arisen. It’s no secret that the state broadcaster receives $1.2 billion annually from the Trudeau government — can a media outlet be fair and neutral when they’re beneficiaries of government handouts? Is the CBC beholden to the government?

Award-winning journalist and former host of CBC’s The Fifth Estate Trish Wood joins the Rupa Subramanya Show to discuss the state of the CBC and what the future holds for the state broadcaster and the Canadian media landscape.

Trish believes the CBC used to prioritize journalism, but that has changed drastically in recent years as the left has become more infatuated with woke causes. Trish also questions how the Canadian state broadcaster can focus on Canadian issues when it’s being run by a woman who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Tune into The Rupa Subramanya Show!

SUBSCRIBE TO THE RUPA SUBRAMANYA SHOW

CBC promotes “Drag Queen Baby” book to 12 year olds

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The CBC wants 12-year-olds to read a book about a transgender teen who takes a job moonlighting as a drag queen at a “local club.” 

On Apr. 13, CBC Books promoted Canadian “trans masculine” author C.A. Tanaka’s book “Baby Drag Queen” as being “for ages 12 and up.” 

“Ichiro is a transgender youth in his final year of high school,” writes CBC Books. 

“A budding drag queen, he takes a second job performing drag at a local club and learns of an upcoming contest where the prize money would be enough to pay for a camper van. But nobody knows he does drag.”

In March, CBC News put out a segment titled “Queens and kids in class: An honest conversation about drag, gender and dress-up” which featured adults wearing drag discussing LGBTQ culture with schoolchildren. 

The drag queen’s public social media profiles included erotic and sexually explicit photos. 

CBC Kids also published a video in which “kids explain drag and why they do it.” 

Several Canadian cities have seen protests flare up around drag queen events advertised to children. 

Recently students at York Mills Collegiate Institute protested gender indoctrination after the school hosted a drag queen event.

CBC’s push towards radical gender ideology comes at a time when the broadcaster was labeled a “government-funded media” outlet by Twitter.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Trudeau told NATO Canada would never meet its defence spending commitment

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Leaked Pentagon documents reveal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told NATO officials privately that Canada was never going to meet the commitment it previously made to NATO to spend no less than two per cent of its GDP on defence.

Also, lawyer Lia Milousis on the case of a mother fighting in court for the right to make vaccination decisions for her children when their father thinks otherwise.

Plus, Andrew discusses the despicable case of a self-identified woman sexually assaulting a woman at a Windsor women’s shelter.

All this and more on another live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show.

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