Ontario Liberal Party leader Bonnie Crombie took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax and recently announced rebate cheques that both Trudeau and Premier Doug Ford plan on sending to their constituents.
At an Ontario Liberal fundraising event in front of party donors, Crombie attempted to distance herself and her party from the federal Liberals by declaring her willingness to stand up to the prime minister if she becomes Premier after the next provincial election.
Crombie told donors that she won’t tell Trudeau what to do as prime minister, but would be willing to call him out for policies that she disagrees with like the carbon tax.
“I’m not here to tell the prime minister how to do his job,” said Crombie. “But, I promise you, I will tell him when he’s wrong. Like on the carbon tax.”
Crombie also said that she would rather see a reduction in taxes rather than governments sending out rebate cheques with taxpayer dollars, as Trudeau and Ford have signalled that they would be doing.
“And, I’d rather cut your income taxes permanently than cut you a rebate cheque,” said Crombie.
Last month, Crombie announced that if the Liberals form government after the next election they would implement a tax cut for middle class Ontarians and would eliminate sales taxes on home heating and hydro bills. This builds upon the Ontario Liberals’ plan to slash the small business tax rate in half.
True North reached out to the Premier’s office for comment, though no response was given.
Crombie’s pronouncement against the carbon tax comes as the federal Liberals have been sagging to all-time lows in public opinion polls while the Ontario Liberals’ support has stagnated.
According to 338Canada, if a provincial election were held tomorrow, the Progressive Conservatives would add seats to their super-majority and win 91 out of 124 seats in the legislature while the Ontario Liberals are only projected to win 12 seats.
Crombie has made a concerted effort to distance the party from its left-wing past under leaders like former Premier Kathleen Wynee and Steven Del Duca since beginning her campaign for the Liberal leadership.
On the campaign trail, Crombie said that she thought the Liberals had moved too far to the left and would “govern from the right of centre.”
After joking about annexing Canada and making it America’s 51st State, President-elect Donald Trump posted an AI-generated photo of himself appearing to look over a “Canadian” landscape on his social media.
Trump posted the AI-generated photo with the caption “Oh Canada!” on social media. It depicted the incoming president looking over a mountainous landscape with a Canadian flag waving behind him.
The AI-generated mountain looks nothing like those found in Canada and has more similarities with a Swiss national landmark, the Matterhorn.
Many in the comment section said some variation of “Make Canada Great Again,” and another individual commented, “Please invade us. Please.”
Another, in turn, threatened to make California a Canadian province, much to the chagrin of Trump’s Canadian Instagram audience.
The image appears to be a follow-up to a joke Trump made during a Thanksgiving dinner party Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended at Mara-a-Lago. Trump invited Trudeau for dinner after announcing last week that he would impose a 25% tariff on Canada if it did not secure its border and prevent illegal immigrants and drug smugglers from entering the US.
As Fox News reported Monday, from two sources who were present at the dinner table, Trudeau told Trump that the tariffs on Canadian imports would kill the Canadian economy. To which Trump supposedly quipped back “If Canada can’t survive without ripping off the U.S. to the tune of US$100 billion a year, then maybe Canada should become the 51st state.”
The sources said that somebody at the table said that Canada would be a very liberal state, and Trump suggested that Canada be split into two states, one red and one blue.
In a round of media interviews, including with CPAC and CTV, Canada’s ambassador to the US, Kirsten Hillman said the comments were just jokes, like “ribbing between family members” at a dinner table.
“In Mar a Lago, on the terrace where people were eating, it was a very celebratory atmosphere. It was holiday season,” Hillman said on CTV’s power play. “People were dressed up, little kids were running around. It was a really happy, joyous kind of atmosphere, and the President made jokes.”
She said other people at the table made jokes and that it should reassure Canadians to know that officials from both countries feel comfortable enough to joke with each other.
“Any good joke kind of always hits a little bit, you know, a little bit of a nerve. And certainly, President Trump is one who likes to hit a nerve,” she said.
Hillman reaffirmed that it was a great thing that Trudeau was invited to Mar-a-Lago for dinner and that other nations are envious of the diplomatic relationship that the US and Canada share.
“Let’s focus on the fact that a few days after the president posted about the tariffs and the border, (Trudeau) was sitting at a table with the President and many of his core advisors,” she said. “Let’s focus our attention where it should be which is on the importance of this dialogue that it’s serious, and it’s continuing and not on the fact that the president is enjoying this joking moment.”
"It was a really happy, joyous kind of atmosphere and the President made jokes. Other people at the table made jokes."@KirstenHillmanA on Donald Trump's reported quips about Canada becoming a 51st U.S. state: #cdnpoli#uspolipic.twitter.com/QEFZbmZ61a
On Tuesday, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was also present at the dinner, told reporters in Ottawa that Trump’s remarks are clearly not to be taken seriously.
“The fact that there’s a warm, cordial relationship between the two leaders and the president is able to joke like that, we think, is a positive thing,” he said. “It wasn’t a meeting in a boardroom with ten bureaucrats keeping notes. It was a social evening. And there were moments where it was entertaining and funny, and there were moments where we were able to do, we think, some good work for Canada.”
There is still no sign of a B.C. paramedic who went missing while out with his dog six weeks ago, but the man’s partner believes their dog has been found alive.
Paramedic Jim Barnes went for a walk with his golden retriever Murphy on Oct. 17 and was last seen on Groundbirch Forest Service Road, about 60 kilometres southwest of Fort St. John.
This story out of BC is crazy !!! Jim Barnes took his Dog Murphy for a walk in October, and never returned.
A week after they went missing, a boot and paw print were found along the river, search and rescue kept looking for days 🧵 pic.twitter.com/bafGfH4nws
His partner, Micaela Sawyer, now believes that a golden retriever found emaciated and injured last week is the same dog that she and Barnes owned.
“We feel as though we have confirmed that the dog found near Wonowon is indeed Murphy, though it was a difficult identification due to his severe condition,” wrote Sawyer in a social media post. “He is badly injured, with major swelling, puncture wounds (possibly from a dog or coyote), a broken front paw, and scabs all over.”
Sawyer noticed a change in behavior but said he was noticed on familiar routes and that “his reactions were unmistakable.”
However, she still needs time to confirm that it’s the same dog as Murphy.
“Thank you all for your ongoing care and support; it has meant the world to us. The RCMP has been contacted and plans to conduct DNA testing, though it may take weeks,” wrote Sawyer.
“We’re hoping to find a quicker way to confirm the tests, so we can get Search and Rescue back out. Finding Murphy alive gives us hope that we might finally get answers about what happened to Jim.”
A picture of the dog was initially posted to a local Facebook group for lost and found pets last week and many members wondered if it was Murphy.
The dog was found shortly thereafter near Mile 95 Road close to the community of Wonowon, about 100 kilometres northwest of Barnes’ last known location.
After being taken in for veterinary treatment, the dog was given to Sawyer.
A petition was launched last week to reopen the official search for Barnes after news surfaced that another missing man, 20-year-old Sam Benastick, was found alive having gone missing around the same time albeit in a different part of northeastern B.C.
Missing since Oct 18, the search was ended at the beginning of November.
But Jim’s sister wouldn’t give up hope, and she and others have been searching, posting and trying to find Jim! pic.twitter.com/6ltldaxnls
Quebec Premier François Legault has warned against bringing foreign tensions into his province.
“The Quebec government will not tolerate the Middle East conflict to be imported into Quebec,” he wrote in a post to X on Tuesday.
Legault shared an article to accompany his statement, highlighting that Quebec Minister of Higher Education Pascale Déry launched an administrative inquiry into two of the province’s anglophone post-secondary institutions.
Déry confirmed in her own post to X that the ministry had received reports from students citing insecurity and unease on these campuses.
“We know that the conflict in the Middle East generates its share of emotions, but institutions have an obligation to take all necessary steps to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all students,” said Déry.
She added that she had instructed the ministry to investigate whether Dawson College and Vanier College had taken all the necessary measures to guarantee students’ physical and psychological safety.
Vanier College told True North it was surprised at Déry’s announcement, considering it had not received any internal complaints that would warrant any such investigation.
“The conflict in the Middle East has had numerous repercussions around the world and particularly on campuses, and Vanier College has taken this matter very seriously,” reads a statement from the college shared with True North. “Fostering a respectful and welcoming environment is at the heart of the Vanier culture. A number of proactive initiatives have been deployed, and the College has swiftly addressed breaches to the Code of Conduct or policies.”
Vanier College said it would collaborate with the Ministry of Education to ensure that it fosters a welcoming environment.
“We expect the findings of the investigation to be made public to ensure any required measures may be taken in this regard,” said the college.
Dawson College shared a statement with True North as well, echoing that while the college had yet to receive information about the investigation, it would collaborate fully with the ministry.
“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has stirred emotions around the world, including at Dawson College. The College’s priority is to fulfill its mission of education and to provide an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and working where all members of the Dawson community feel safe,” reads a statement from the college shared with True North. “As a place of higher learning, Dawson College must balance upholding the right to freedom of expression while ensuring that laws and policies are respected.”
Déry gave examples of students filing complaints to her ministry, according to CBC. One example was of a math teacher allegedly teaching students about the history of Palestine instead of mathematics.
An executive for the Dawson Teachers’ Union told True North that the examples cited by Déry were “inaccurate.”
“The biggest threat to the learning environment is Minister Déry’s drastic budget cuts, which she is trying hard to distract from,” said the executive.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs issued a joint statement with its French division applauding the investigation.
“As we have said for months, the vitriolic attacks on our shared values taking place in our educational institutions must end now,” reads the statement.
The Jewish advocacy group said it will continue to help the institution and ministries throughout the process.
“We hope the investigation will shed light on the past 14 months’ disturbing pattern of hate and lead to an effective approach to tackle the crisis. As we have said for months, the vitriolic attacks on our shared values taking place in our educational institutions must end now,” reads the statement. “Students have the right to learn in a secure environment free from intimidation, hate, and harassment. We welcome this important step in the right direction in the fight to defend our society and reiterate our ongoing commitment to support students during this challenging time.”
A questionnaire sent to soldiers by the Canadian Armed Forces asks if they have purchased “extremism merchandise” — offering “Make Canada Great Again” hats up as an example.
The questionnaire, which was leaked to True North, was designed to assist the military in its efforts to “detect and combat hateful conduct and radicalization” among the ranks.
Soldiers who participate in this study are being asked, for example, if in the last two to five years they have purchased “extremism merchandise” such as a “Make Canada Great Again hat”, “‘liked’ an extremist group post on social media” or “provided strategic advice or training to an extremist group.”
The Department of National Defence distanced itself from the survey in a written statement to True North writing, “The DND/CAF is not funding this research, nor has it contracted this research. This study is being conducted by independent researchers from Ontario Tech University’s Network for Research on Hateful Conduct and Right-Wing Extremism in the Canadian Armed Forces.”
The DND noted that the final report will be shared with the Canadian Armed Forces when ready and reiterated that “hateful conduct, be it through words or actions, is completely incompatible with the values and ethical principles of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces.”
The questionnaire also asked soldiers if they suspect members of their current unit or soldiers outside of their unit belong to extremist groups.
Soldiers were then asked if they have ever “searched for and watched extremist music and/or videos,” “sported a tattoo or clothing with extremist symbols,” or verbally or physically attacked a member of a racial or religious minority.
The questionnaire also asked soldiers to what extent they agree with the following statements, such as: “Jews have too much control over certain institutions,” “Canada appears to be moving towards fascism,” and “non-white immigration trends are a threat to white people.”
The optional questionnaire is part of an independent study led by Ontario Tech University’s “anti-hate” researcher Barbara Perry and David Hoffman from the University of New Brunswick. According to the Department of National Defence, both researchers “seek to understand the breadth, depth, and extent of hateful conduct and right-wing extremism in the CAF.”
The study is titled, “Hateful Conduct and Right-Wing Extremism in the Canadian Armed Forces”, and while individual questionnaire results are anonymous, CAF members must sign a consent form agreeing to participate in the study, raising questions about the extent of the survey’s anonymity.
In April of 2024, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $1 billion investment spread out over the next 20 years to advance “culture change and wellness” in the CAF.
Furthermore, Canada’s new chief of defence staff, Gen. Jennie Carignan, was tapped by Trudeau to lead the military’s culture change efforts in 2021 before her eventual promotion to Canada’s top soldier.
A freedom of information attempt by True North in 2022 to gain access to Perry’s alleged list of 300 “active far-right hate groups” in Canada which has been used by the government to craft anti-hate legislation was denied by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in September. To date, Perry has never publicly released her list.
This article was updated on December 5 to include comment from the Department of National Defence.
The City of Mississauga raised the Christian banner in the city centre for the first time, after the municipality recently declared Christian Heritage Month.
Seats quickly filled, and many had to stand during the ceremony. On Wednesday, around 100 community members, including city councillors, the city’s mayor, Carolyn Parrish, and Christians of various denominations and non-denominations, attended the historic flag-raising event.
Pastor Pat Francis along with Ghada Melek And Mississauga city councilors raise the banner of Christianity for the first time over Mississauga, during the recently proclaimed Christian Heritage Month.
The ceremony leading up to the flag-raising was filled with praise music, Christmas carols, speeches and prayer led by Christian pastors and priests.
Source: True North
In November, city councillors unanimously passed a motion brought forward by Councilor Brad Butt to declare December “Christian Heritage Month.”
Attendees, including Parrish, told True North how “diverse” the Christian community is as members of the Coptic Orthodox community, Catholics, evangelicals, and people of many ethnicities attended.
Butt told True North at the event that the showing underscored and affirmed the council’s unanimous decision to proclaim the month to celebrate the heritage of Christianity in Canada.
“It just shows that the community is completely united around this and that this was a very important recognition for our city,” Butt said.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2021, nearly half, 49.5%, of Mississauga’s 717,961 residents identified as Christians.
Brampton declared December Christian Heritage Month four years ago, and Toronto followed suit this week. Unlike Mississauga, the vote passed with four councillors rejecting the proclamation.
Ghada Melek, a former Conservative candidate for Mississauga-Streetsville and Pat Francis, a pastor at the local Chayil Church, and the city organized the ceremony.
Ghada Melek, a former Conservative candidate for Mississauga-Streetsville – Source: True North
“We decided there’s no Christianity without prayers, and there’s no Christmas without carols. So that’s how we put it together,” Melek told True North.
Melek is a Coptic Christian whose family came to Canada seeking religious freedom and to escape religious oppression in Egypt more than three decades ago.
“We’ve lived this for centuries, and we’ve suffered to keep the faith, and all of a sudden, here in Canada, you’re being careful not to be Christian in order not to offend anybody,” she said.
Source: True North
She said the flag raising and proclamation was necessary, noting the over 100 church burnings and vandalism incidences targeting Christian sites in Canada since the apparent discovery of a grave near a residential school in 2021.
“This is unacceptable. We cannot, as Christians, live in fear in Canada that’s promising this inclusivity and acceptance of the other,” Melek said. “(The proclamation) just made a lot of sense. We have to stand up for what we believe in. We have to be equally treated like everybody else.”
Francis told True North that the event celebrates the legacy of Christians in Canada.
A video featuring Francis played during the celebration highlighting the role Christians have played in establishing Canada, its constitution, laws, inventions, and charitable works.
Despite having heritage months for multiple ethnic groups, religions and causes on all other months, Mississauga had not declared December as any group month before the proclamation.
“It took us a while, but now I think it is God that literally kept December for his Christian Heritage Month,” she said. “the Founding Fathers founded Mississauga and Canada on biblical principles, asking God to be the supreme one. And so now, city by city, we’re going to proclaim Christian heritage month, December.”
Mayor of Mississauga Carolyn Parrish – Source: True North
James Amores, a parishioner at The Merciful Redeemer in the city, was praying a rosary at the event before telling True North that he really appreciated the city proclaiming the celebration and recognizing Christians.
Rev. Pishoy Wasfy, a priest at The Virgin Mary and Saint Athanasius, Coptic Orthodox Church, called the event “a great blessing” in a “special time of year and coming of Christ to the world to spread peace, love and redeem all of us.”
Sadine Dalberry-Whyte, who pastors with Francis at Chayil Church, said she’s worked in the corporate world for many years and has seen many other months dedicated to other groups.
“So why not Christians and why not Christian Heritage Month, especially at a time of year where there’s the joy of Christmas and the hope of Christ?” she said. “It’s historic. It was more than a flag. It was a banner being lifted over our city, which we need.”
The bulk of Canadians don’t think employers should be selecting candidates for jobs based on cultural or ethnic backgrounds, according to a new Leger poll for the Association of Canadian Studies.
The poll found that 57% of Canadians disagree with diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices, a sentiment that is surprisingly even more pronounced in Canada than in the United States.
Walmart was the latest to join some of the world’s largest corporations in rolling back its DEI policies amid a growing public backlash.
The company joins the likes of Harley-Davidson and John Deere which have already done away with race-based hiring.
“There is clearly pushback on DEI approaches that extend to hiring practices and support for employment equity (affirmative action in the US) appears to be softening both in Canada perhaps more so than it is in the United States,” reads the survey.
According to the survey, only 28% of Canadians support equity hiring, compared to 36% of those who support it south of the border.
Additionally, only 46% of Americans said they outright oppose it.
Certain political parties have also scrapped DEI hiring, most notably Alberta’s governing United Conservatives. The provincial party has explicitly endorsed eliminating such practices regarding public service and Crown corporation employment.
Meanwhile, Canada’s federal government first implemented specific equity targets for hiring in the 1980s.
More recently, visible minorities in the federal government grew from nearly 18% in 2016 to almost 27% this year.
However, diversity hiring among the average Canadian is becoming increasingly unpopular, particularly among those aged 45 to 54, at 62%.
While it’s similarly disliked across all age groups, even among the country’s youngest working demographic of 18 to 24-year-olds, 50% still said they were opposed to diversity hiring policies.
Broken down by gender, men and women responded equally in their opposition, at 57%. A surprising result considering that women tend to hold more progressive views on social issues compared to men generally speaking.
Author of the study Jack Jedwab noted that this may be that among the cohort of women who do feel there is systemic racism in Canada, they still don’t believe that DEI hiring is the right avenue to remedy the situation.
Provincially, the pushback against DEI hiring was most evident in Quebec at 63%, where the government has already made strong efforts to have religious dress and symbols removed from the workplace.
Alberta was next in line at 58% responding that ethnic background should not be considered in hiring, followed closely by British Columbia at 57%.
In Ontario, 55% of respondents felt that way, with Saskatchewan and Manitoba agreeing at 53%.
Only in Atlantic Canada did that sentiment get as low as the halfway point, with 50% of respondents opposing DEI hiring, making it the only region to not hold an outright majority opposition to it.
On a national scale, 15% of respondents said they didn’t know how they felt about it, with a minority percentage in each province giving that response. Ontarians were the most likely to not know at 19%.
By sector, freelance workers and those self-employed are most likely to oppose equity hiring at 75%, followed by full-time workers at 58%. Whereas, just over half, (51%) of part-time workers opposed equity hiring.
Immigrants were slightly more likely to support diversity hiring when compared to non-immigrants at 34% and 36%, respectively.
Still, a solid 50% of immigrants opposed the practice.
Today on Rachel and the Republic with Rachel Parker, Rachel explains how U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump is trolling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and why it’s funny — but also bad news for Canada.
Also on the show, Rachel explains that some on the right are saying America should annex Canada and why that’s a bad idea.
Conservative MP Jamil Jivani has launched a new campaign to address what he describes as escalating threats to the rights and freedoms of Christians in Canada.
The national initiative, called “Protect Christians Canada,” is centred around a petition urging governments at all levels to take stronger action to defend religious freedoms and Christian communities. The petition was authored by concerned residents in Ontario’s Durham Region, which Jivani represents in Parliament.
At the campaign’s launch, Jivani made an impassioned plea for support, emphasizing the urgency of the issue.
“We need to do more to protect Christians in Canada,” he said.
“This is about whether Christians have the freedom in Canada to live according to their own traditions and practice their own faith.”
Jivani also stressed that the initiative is not about imposing Christian values on others but about ensuring that Christians can live freely without fear of discrimination or violence.
It outlines several priorities, including strengthening penalties for crimes targeting places of worship, such as arson and vandalism. Jivani also highlighted the need to defend parental rights, safeguard the conscience rights of healthcare workers, and protect the legal status and freedom of expression of Christian charities.
Jivani pointed to recent incidents that underscore the importance of the campaign. In education, there has been growing concern over policies that exclude parents from key decisions about their children’s gender identity. Some parents have even faced child services investigations for questioning their child’s transition.
Meanwhile, healthcare professionals have spoken out against legislation they believe infringes on their right to refuse participation in procedures like medical assistance in dying.
Churches have also increasingly been targeted by crime. As exclusively reported by True North, since the former residential school sites discovery announcement, over 100 churches across Canada have been vandalized or burned.
Jivani also emphasized that the broader social contributions of Christian charities to Canadian society, including their $67.5 billion economic impact, must not be undermined by policies threatening their charitable status.
The petition aims to gather widespread support and will be presented in Ottawa in February, according to the Durham MP.
The University of Winnipeg allows all students to enter and enjoy their BIPoC Lounge – so long as they don’t identify as white.
Inside the University of Winnipeg’s Bulman Student Centre, the university’s students’ association opens its BIPoC Lounge everyday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to serve as a safe space exclusively for students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of colour.
The University of Winnipeg Student Association claims that the BIPoC Lounge is a dedicated space for people of colour to “learn and heal through their understandings and experiences as a BIPoC.”
A list of the lounge’s rules posted at the entrance clearly states that students who do not identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of colour do not meet the requirements to enter the lounge and are not welcome inside.
The lounge’s Facebook and Instagram pages promote exclusive movie nights, study sessions, and book club meetings, among other events, open only to students of colour.
The University of Winnipeg celebrates its campus’ racial diversity, boasting that 11.8% of the student population identifies as Indigenous.
Among the university’s international students as of 2019, 582 came from India, 135 came from Nigeria, and 52 came from China. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of international students climbed from 13% to 18% of the student population.
The University of Winnipeg’s student association does not make clear whether or not racial minorities such as East Asians or Jews are allowed inside the BIPoC Lounge.
True North reached out to the University of Winnipeg Student Association and the BIPoC Lounge for comment, but did not receive a reply.
Universities offering racially segregated programs to racial minorities has become a growing trend in Canada.
In 2022, True North reported on a similar program at St. Catharines, Ont.’s Brock University, where students who identified as black, Indigenous, or a person of colour could exclusively access their BIPOC study hall, which offered“racialized” students free tutoring from fourth year students.
Earlier this year, True North reported that the University of Waterloo began offering racially segregated swim times exclusive for “Black folx,” to help the black community develop a “better relationship with water.”
