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Friday, September 26, 2025

Johnston to deliver decision on interference public inquiry in May

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Former governor general David Johnston’s decision on whether or not to launch a public inquiry to investigate Beijing’s alleged election interference in previous Canadian elections will be made public in May. 

A mandate for former governor general David Johnston’s role as independent special rapporteur on foreign interference has been disclosed by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). 

The PMO’s directive outlines that Johnston is responsible for making a determination on whether the Canadian government should launch a public inquiry into foreign interference, which is something the Conservatives have been calling for since the media stories on the issue were first published. The decision is expected to be announced by May 23, 2023.

Further to that, a full review of the allegations is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2023. 

“Additionally, [Johnston] will identify innovative approaches and improvements in the way public agencies work together to combat foreign interference in our electoral processes,” the PMO wrote. 

“To fulfill this mandate, he will be given complete access to any relevant records and documents, classified or unclassified.”

According to media reports based on intelligence leaks, Beijing interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal election, including on the campaigns of 11 mostly candidates, most Liberals. Liberal MP Han Dong is so far the only candidate who has been named. and the 

The Trudeau Foundation was also implicated in a scheme to peddle influence for political gain. 

Johnston’s appointment has been criticized by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as being partisan, citing the former governor general’s relationship with the prime minister. 

“Justin Trudeau has named a ‘family friend,’ old neighbour from the cottage, and member of the Beijing-funded Trudeau foundation, to be the ‘independent’ rapporteur on Beijing’s interference,” tweeted Poilievre on Mar. 16. 

After applying pressure on Trudeau, the Conservatives were able to get confirmation that Trudeau’s Chief of Staff Katie Telford will appear before a parliamentary committee to testify on the election interference allegations. 

Bill C-18 is ‘wildly misguided,’ says technology prof

By
Connor McDowell
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An information and technology expert says Bill C-18 is the wrong approach to channel cashflow back into Canadian journalism.

Brett Caraway, an associate professor of information and technology, told True North it’s senseless to ask tech giants like Facebook to pay when users hyperlink to Canadian journalism.

“I want to go in front of Parliament and ask, ‘Do you guys even know how the internet works?’” the University of Toronto professor said.

Caraway understands the concern parliamentarians may have about supporting journalism, but said the bill is a terrible approach.

“[This] is terrifying to me. That’s not how you fix this problem.”

Bill C-18 would charge websites like Facebook and Instagram when Canadian news content is shared on the platform. 

The stated goal is to create revenue for Canadian journalism, which has seen a decline in advertising dollars over the past 30 years.

Google and Meta opposed the legislation, signalling they would avoid the fee by blocking Canadian users from seeing news content. 

As Bill C-18 stands, many believe the conflict between Parliament and tech giants is coming to a head.

Michael Geist, who serves as the research chair of Internet law at the University of Ottawa, said Canadians may soon see consequences from Parliament’s bill.

“At this stage, I think Meta is very likely to block news sharing,” Geist told True North. “Google is a harder call. I could see them stopping the Google News service but continuing to index and link in general search.”

Caraway disagreed with recent claims that said Meta and Google are attempting to intimidate Parliament. 

“They’re actually doing what [the] bill says they should do,” said Caraway. “They either need to pay for linking to the content, or not link to it.”

“They’re just responding like any business would.”

Caraway told True North he believes a “public fund” model is more appropriate to support Canadian journalism, because it wouldn’t encroach on the fundamental offer of the internet: hyperlinking.

A public fund plan would see companies like Meta earmark funds for local journalism initiatives. 

The Andrew Lawton Show | Trudeau’s chief of staff will testify on Chinese interference

By
Andrew Lawton
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After immense pressure from the Conservatives, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, has agreed to appear in parliamentary committee to testify on recent allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections. This comes after Trudeau backed down on threats of turning a Conservative motion into a confidence motion. Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer joins the show to discuss a rambunctious 24 hours in Canadian politics.

Plus, a citizen-led public inquiry looking into Canada’s Covid-19 response is underway in Truro, Nova Scotia. National Citizen Inquiry’s Michelle Leduc Catlin joins the show to give us an update on the inquiry.

These stories and more on a live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show!

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

BC pharmacist suspended for faking Covid vaccination to avoid mandates

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Under the threat of losing his job for failing to comply with Covid-19 vaccine mandates and the plethora of other restrictions placed on the unvaccinated, a British Columbia pharmacist faked his vaccination records and has now paid the price in the form of a suspension.

Earlier this month, the College of Pharmacists of BC announced its 30-day suspension of Aftabahmed Shaikh after receiving a complaint.

The acknowledged statement of facts claims that in Aug. 2021, Shaikh “entered Covid-19 vaccination onto” his pharmacy’s records without actually receiving the shots.

“(He) recorded that another pharmacist was the authorizing pharmacist and injection administrator for both vaccinations. The other pharmacist was not aware of the Registrant’s actions,” the College writes.

Additionally, it is said that Shaikh purposefully obfuscated his record to make it harder to find by changing the spelling of his name and date of birth. As a result of the investigation, Shaikh is suspended from practicing until Apr. 11 and will not be able to oversee pharmacy students until 2025.

Additionally, the pharmacist will have a permanent record on his register which includes a letter of reprimand.

“The Inquiry Committee considered that the Registrant created false PharmaNet records and subsequently obtained a COVID-19 vaccine passport by false pretense. The vaccine passport could have been used to circumvent vaccination requirements both domestically and internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic,” claimed the College.

In the decision, investigators alleged that Shaikh put others at harm by falsifying his record.

“The false vaccine passport could have put the public at increased risk of harm. The Registrant’s actions were self-serving and contrary to the conduct expected of a pharmacy professional,” claimed the College.

Unvaccinated Canadians faced several layers of restrictions at the height of the pandemic. Provincially, they were prohibited from attending restaurants, sporting events and athletic facilities. At the federal level, the unvaccinated could not travel by air or domestically.

Alberta to argue against federal ‘No More Pipelines’ bill Wednesday

By
Rachel Parker
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The Alberta government will present arguments to Canada’s top court on Wednesday as it argues against what the province has dubbed the “No More Pipelines” bill.

The Supreme Court of Canada began hearings on Tuesday as the federal government asked it to overrule an Alberta Court of Appeal opinion that declared their 2019 Impact Assessment Act (IAA) to be unconstitutional.

Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says the legislation is a threat to the long-term economic prosperity of Alberta’s province, energy industry and the entire country. 

“We want to grow investment in Alberta, not have it driven away by unbalanced, unpredictable new rules for major projects,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The act was adopted to “establish a federal environmental assessment process to safeguard against adverse environmental effects in relation to matters within federal jurisdiction,” the attorney general of Canada stated in written legal arguments to the Supreme Court.

The Alberta government argues that the legislation is “a profound threat” to provincial jurisdiction over natural resources.

“Alberta’s economic wellbeing, and the employment and prosperity of its population, are dependent on its ability to sustainably manage and develop its natural resources, and in particular its oil and gas resources,” the attorney general of Alberta argues in its written legal brief.

Shandro also said Alberta has contributed $400 billion more to the federal government’s revenues than it has received in federal spending. In 2021, Alberta was the only province that made a positive net fiscal contribution to the federation, paying $394 million more in taxes to the federal government than it received in federal spending. 

“Any damage to the Alberta economy caused by the ‘No More Pipelines’ act will be felt across the country,” Shandro said. 

Under the Canadian Constitution, provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over laws relating to resource development. But neither the provinces nor the federal government has total control over environmental regulation. 

The IAA, or Bill C-69, gives Ottawa power to assess and stop new resource projects which impact climate change, public health and Indigenous concerns. The act can also stop projects if they impact other areas of the environment regulated by Parliament, like fisheries and federal lands.

The appeal is drawing 29 intervenors, including Indigenous groups, environmentalists, business groups and seven provinces. Environmentalists and most Indigenous organizations are siding with the federal government, while industry and some Indigenous organizations and all but one province are backing Alberta.

BONOKOSKI: Trudeau has failed to shove election interference under the rug

By
Mark Bonokoski
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It is safe to say that the Liberals’ filibuster to keep Justin Trudeau’s chief of staff from testifying at committee was barely noticed across the country.

Games of inside baseball rarely are.

It is also safe to say that the Liberals’ allowance for Katie Telford to testify will earn them bonus points. For the party, that is. Not Trudeau.

Trudeau had been dancing around to avoid a full-scale public inquiry to interference by Communist China into our electoral process. He has stalled things by appointing a special rapporteur in old friend David Johnston to decide if a full-scale inquiry is needed to quell the public’s appetite for the truth.

He had told security organizations to up their game. He has been doing the ol’ duck-and-weave. But at least the conflict over Telford testifying is over.

“While there are serious constraints on what can be said in public about sensitive intelligence matters, in an effort to make Parliament work, Ms. Telford has agreed to appear at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee as part of their study,” Trudeau’s office said in a statement.

Everyone with skin in the game can now exhale.

“If the Liberal government, if Justin Trudeau doesn’t stop the obstruction that’s going on in committee, if Justin Trudeau doesn’t allow his chief of staff to testify, we will force him to do so, by voting with the opposition,” NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said earlier in the day, pointing still to a public inquiry rather than a parliamentary study as the more apt venue for further investigation.

“Right now there’s a lot of serious questions about what the Prime Minister’s Office knew, when they knew it, and what they did about that. We would prefer that there was a public inquiry that was investigating this and finding out those answers.

“In the meantime, these questions are very important and so we want to make sure that Canadians have an opportunity to hear what was known, and when it was known, and what was done with that information,” Singh said.

All of this was sparked by the Globe and Mail and Global News reports, citing largely unnamed intelligence sources, alleging specific attempts by Beijing to alter election outcomes, and what the opposition thinks is an insufficient response by the Liberal government.

Officials have repeatedly asserted the integrity of both elections held, despite China’s interference efforts.

On Monday, the Conservatives had the House debate a motion they put forward that, if passed, would have seen the House instruct the opposition-dominated ethics committee to strike a fresh study into Chinese interference in the last two federal elections.

The motion contains clear instructions that the committee call Telford to testify under oath before mid-April, followed by numerous other federal officials and party players believed to have insight into allegations of meddling during the 2019 and 2021 campaigns.

During question period on Monday, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, along with MPs Melissa Lantsman and Michael Barrett, pushed for the Liberals to allow Telford to testify.

Poilievre said Canadians needed to know what Telford and Trudeau both knew about election interference and went on to target NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh whose party’s votes would be necessary in order for her to be called for testimony.

“The question for (Singh) is will he help his boss, the prime minister, cover up or will he vote for the prime minister’s chief of staff to testify, which is it?” Poilievre asked, though during question period only those on the Liberal bench would be able to answer his questions.

The Liberal government has been under immense pressure to explain what it knew about foreign interference. 

It’s an issue that could hardly be shoved under the rug.

$88 million to quarantine unvaccinated Roxham Road border crossers

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Canadian taxpayers coughed up nearly $88 million to pay for temporary quarantines for unvaccinated asylum claimants who arrived in Canada by illegally crossing Roxham Road. 

The House of Commons committee on citizenship and immigration released data pertaining to November 2022 funding and expenditure details on Friday. 

The webpage explains how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has incurred expenses totaling $269.4 million from Apr. 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2022 to manage the illegal entry point at Roxham Road. 

“Most significant expenditures relate to interim health services, leases for accommodation, security and transportation services,” wrote the committee.

A total of $149.2 million was spent by Canadians to temporarily house asylum and refugee claimants over that time period. 

From 2021 to 2022, $87.8 million was put towards “temporary accommodations for unvaccinated asymptomatic asylum seekers without a suitable quarantine plan.”

As reported by True North last year in 2021, while unvaccinated Canadians were being barred from travelling via plane or train domestically and internationally, the federal government was accepting refugee and asylum claimants “regardless of their vaccination status” and getting Canadians to pay for their lodging. 


Other expenditures detailed by the committee report includes security “guard services” at hotels – some of which cost taxpayers millions. 

Canadians paid $1.79 million for “guard services at the Best Western Montreal” and $1.39 million for “guard services at Hotel St. Bernard in Quebec near the Canada-United States border.

Substantial sums were also expensed for healthcare services, transportation, rentals and other amenities. 

In the report, the government also admits that its decision to exempt visas for Mexican citizens in favour of a simple Electronic Travel Authorization led to a spike in asylum claims. 

“The number of asylum claims from Mexican citizens has increased, which puts additional strain on Canada’s asylum system and Canada is concerned about that,” claimed the report.

St. John’s most affordable for first-time homeowners

By
Rachel Parker
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A new study reveals that St. John’s is the most affordable place to be a first-time home buyer, followed by Regina, Saskatoon, Quebec City, and Edmonton.

Research by real estate experts Edmonton Homes compared and ranked the 25 most populated cities in Canada across three metrics: average annual income compared to house prices, property tax, and electricity bills to reveal the most affordable city for first-time homeowners. 

Edmonton Homes graded cities on a 50-point scale, with 50 being the most affordable rate. 

St. John’s ranks first on the list with an affordability score of 58.8 points out of 70. The city’s homeowners’ median salary of $104,630 forms 37.31% of the average house prices in the city. 

Homeowners pay $3,650 in property taxes for a $500,000 house. Annual electricity bills equate to 1.58% of the average yearly income. 

Canadian Taxpayers Federation Federal Director Franco Terrazzano says Canada must build more homes in Canada and that means cutting the red tape and taxes that make home building more expensive.

“All levels of government have work to do to make life more affordable for Canadians,”  Terrazzano told True North. 

Regina is second on the most affordable city for first-time homebuyers scoring 56.6 points. The average house price stands at $284,334, or 37.40% of residents’ median wage. Property tax will take 5.05% of homeowners’ median salary. 

Saskatoon takes third place with an affordability score of 56.1 points. With an average housing price of $279,800, the homeowners’ median annual income of $102,830 equates to 36.75% of it. 

Terrazzano also said city governments need to stop wasting so much money and cut property taxes. 

“The federal government in particular has increased the cost of living with its runaway spending, money printing and tax hikes,” he said.

Quebec City ranks fourth on the list with an affordability score of 52.2 out of 70. Average house prices in the city are pegged at $357,754 — 29.31% of the average homeowner’s income.

Edmonton rounds out the top five with an affordability score of 46.4. Homeowners in the city will see their median annual income of $107,450 constitute 29.04% of house prices, which average $370,068. The city’s property tax costs 4.04% of the median income.

Winnipeg, Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa and London, Ont. finished off the list of the top 10 most affordable cities.

A September report from the Alberta Treasury Branch found that almost 10,000 more people moved to Alberta from other parts of Canada in the second quarter of 2022.

In the same quarter, Ontario lost the largest number of people to interprovincial immigration and contributed the most number of new Alberta residents. 

Anthony Furey throws hat into crowded Toronto Mayoral Race

By
Noah Jarvis
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A veteran journalist is running to become the next mayor of Toronto. 

Anthony Furey, who serves as vice president of editorial and content at True North and will take a leave of absence when the campaign begins, announced on Tuesday he’s running to become mayor of Toronto – joining a race that ends on June 26.

“While we all love our city, the one thing more and more people are saying is that Toronto feels like it’s in decline,” said Furey. “I don’t believe the status quo people who got us to this point are the ones who can get us out.”

Furey said he’ll offer a fresh perspective and big ideas in the coming weeks, but Toronto’s addiction crisis needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

“Treatment. Treatment. Treatment.” 

“Our brothers and sisters on the street need our help, and by helping them, we make our neighbourhoods safer.”

The Toronto Mayoral Race is shaping up to be a crowded contest, but Furey said he’s offering a fresh perspective that voters won’t find elsewhere – such as a firm stance against fringe activism.

The journalist joins several other candidates vying for Toronto’s mayorship role – which emerged after former mayor John Tory admitted to having an affair, and resigned.

Josh Matlow, who is serving a fourth term as a Toronto city councillor, on Tuesday announced he’s joined the race.

Matlow’s flagship idea is to create a “City Works Fund.” The program is designed to finance improvements in Toronto’s services – such as snow removal – through an annual property tax of about $67 for the average family.

Former police chief Mark Saunders has also joined the mayoral race. 

Saunders said his leadership would focus on safeguarding Torontonians against violent attacks in the city – a problem which he said has instilled unprecedented levels of fear.

Former city councillor Ana Bailao announced last week she was running for mayor of Toronto. Bailao, who was a city councillor for more than a decade, said her focus is Toronto’s quality of life.

“I’m running with a plan to fix our city’s services, build housing, and make life more affordable,” she said in a Twitter post.

As the Toronto Star reported, one of Bailao’s priorities is improving Toronto’s transit system, which suffered setbacks during the pandemic – at one point having reduced its service by 93%.

Toronto councillor Brad Bradford signalled in February his intention to run as well. Bradford announced he gathered a diverse team, with perspectives from each side of the political aisle, as well as diverse sectors in the city.

Several individuals have also declared their intention to run for the Toronto mayorship, including retired police officer Blake Acton, third-place finisher in the 2022 election Chloe Brown, entrepreneur Frank D’Angelo, former NDP MPP Giorgio Mammoliti and runner-up in the 2022 election Gil Peñalosa.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Anthony Furey currently serves as True North’s Vice-President of Content and Editorial. He will be taking a leave of absence from True North when the Toronto Mayoral by-election begins in April.

Telford to testify on foreign interference

By
Andrew Kozak
-

Katie Telford, the Prime Minister’s Chief-of-Staff, has agreed to appear in parliamentary committee to testify on recent allegations of foreign interference in Canadian elections.

“While there are serious constraints on what can be said in public about sensitive intelligence matters,” wrote the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement, “Ms. Telford has agreed to appear at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee as part of their study.”

Earlier this morning, Trudeau told CTV News that the Conservative Party’s motion to summon Telford to testify on foreign interference will not be a confidence motion after NDP leader Jagmeet Singh criticized the government’s response to allegations.

“It’s not going to be a confidence motion. Obviously, it goes to show how important the issue of foreign interference is,” Trudeau said walking into a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning.

On Monday, Conservatives debated a motion that would see the House call on the ethics committee to investigate foreign interference in Canada’s 2019 and 2021 elections. The motion is set to be voted on in the House Tuesday afternoon.

The motion would call Telford and other federal officials to testify under oath within the next few weeks.

Last month, the Globe and Mail leaked CSIS documents revealing China’s favoured outcome to be another Trudeau minority government term. The leaks also implicated 11 candidates who benefited from foreign interference.

Last week, Trudeau appointed former governor general David Johnston as the chief investigator into China’s interference. Johnston’s connections to the Trudeau Foundation, which promptly returned a large donation from China, caused a stir.

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