Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Vincent Ke, who represents the same riding as Liberal MP Han Dong, Don Valley North, is the latest politician to be named by Global News in their reporting on Chinese election interference.
Unlike Justin Trudeau’s response to allegations against Dong, Ontario Premier Doug Ford swiftly moved to have Ke resign from caucus.
Despite Trudeau’s ministers announcing that they will begin the process of setting up a foreign registry, it appears their chief concern is to not be seen as “racist”.
Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner.
Canadian female powerlifter April Hutchinson is speaking up about what she describes as the unfair competition that women face when competing against transgender athletes.
Hutchinson, a powerlifter with Team Canada, has begun voicing her concerns with the Canadian Powerlifting Union after allowing male-to-female transgender women to compete in women’s powerlifting competitions.
In an exclusive interview with True North, Hutchinson explained how transgender women entering powerlifting competitions is inherently unfair, as biological men have significant physical advantage over women.
Hutchinson has previously received media attention for how her she fought off alcoholism and devoted her energy to lifting weights.
In September 2019, Hutchison was drinking alcohol daily when her doctor told her that without a change of lifestyle, she would die within a year or two. After recovering in an alcohol dependence treatment facility, Hutchinson began powerlifting the day after. Months later, Hutchison realized that her lifting numbers would qualify her for provincials, putting her on the path to coming fourth place in the World powerlifting championships representing Canada.
“I started lifting to help keep me sober. I’m four years sober. It helped me when I came out of rehab. I got into powerlifting and I excelled at it up until I made Team Canada and going to the Worlds, so its been a blessing for me.”
However, the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s policy for transgender inclusion has Hutchinson and other female powerlifters concerned that women are being crowded out of competitive powerlifting and are having female records being broken by athletes who were born male.
The Union’s trans inclusion policy states that transgender athletes are not required to disclose the fact that they are trans, are not required to undergo hormone therapy, and are not required to undergo surgical intervention.
“This [policy] was put out about five years ago when the whole trans movement kind of came out and it was put out to appease the trans community because they don’t want to get sued. Not even thinking about women,” Hutchinson says.
“If my boyfriend or my coach all of a sudden says “Y’know what? I identify as a female today” and goes to his doctor, the doctor writes a note, his passport is changed within a week. Then he can roll up and compete with the women. No questions asked,” says Hutchinson.
One of these transgender powerlifters, Anne Andres, broke the Alberta women’s powerlifting record for bench press and deadlift in her weightclass.
Hutchinson says that she reached out to women’s organizations like the Independent Council On Women’s Sports (ICONS) and the International Consortium on Female Sport (ICFS) for support and assistance in addressing these issues.
In collaboration with ICONS, a group of women attended the women’s powerlifting Nationals in Richmond, BC, where they engaged in a silent protest by dressing in all black and wearing “XY≠XX” stickers. After complaints from the Union’s president, the protesters were asked to leave the venue by the hotel’s manager.
As for Hutchinson, she decided not compete at the competition in protest of having to compete against a “trans identifying male” in the Febuary contest.
Hutchinson also sought the help of the ICFS’s Linda Blade, the professional sport performance coach and co-author of Unsporting: How Trans Activism and Science Denial Are Destroying Sport.
In collaboration with the ICFS and Blade, letters were sent to the Canadian Powerlifting Union requesting that the organization change their policies to address women’s concerns while creating a system that everyone would enjoy. However, Hutchinson says that the Union has been uncooperative.
While Hutchinson expects that the Union will change their trans inclusion policy, she believes that the Union will adopt the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) standards of monitoring testosterone levels of trans identifying athletes – a measure that Hutchinson believes to be unrealistic and ineffective.
“I do know my federation is talking with the IOC. Their policy currently is monitoring of testosterone levels. They [Canadian Powerlifting Union] don’t have the money to do that testing, there’s no way.”
“Even if they go off of testosterone, there is still men competing against women. Men after puberty still have so much more muscle mass, lung capacity, bone density and fast twitch fibers,” says Hutchinson.
In collaboration with the ICFS, Hutchinson hopes to see a change in the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s policies. If a desirable solution is not found, Hutchinson says that she plans on taking legal action.
Hutchinson says that she is not trying to exclude anyone from powerlifting and says she understands the concerns of transgender people, but emphasizes the unfairness of the current system and suggests an alternative solution of allowing trans athletes to compete in a separate division.
“We’re not trying to exclude and we want everyone to lift. I think creating a separate category would be a safe space and a place where they can enjoy the sport. And it could be very competitive, I think it’s a positive thing.”
Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet is calling out significant donations from persons of Chinese origin given to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s riding association in 2016, which came when the Liberal government was authorizing a new charter bank called Wealth One catering to Chinese Canadians.
This comes amid the Liberals being under increased pressure to call an independent inquiry into election interference from China.
“In just two days, the Prime Minister’s riding received $70,000 from donors of Chinese origin, and at the same time, the government authorized the establishment of a Chinese bank in Canada,” said Blanchet.
According to Le Journal De Montreal, 83% of donations to the Papineau Liberal EDA in 2016 came from outside of Quebec. Two thirds came from around fifty donors of Chinese origin, and were given in the spawn of 48 hours.
The Vancouver and Toronto-based donors gave donations ranging from $1382.41 to $1500 between Jul. 6 and Jul. 7 2016, for a total of $67,080. Wealth One was given the authorization to operate in Canada in July of that year.
A pie chart showing donations to the Papineau Liberal EDA in 2016. 17% of donations were made by people in Quebec, while 83% were made by people outside the province. Source: Bloc MP Monique Pauzé (2019)
Bloc MP Monique Pauze questioned the timing of the donations back in 2017, saying in a statement that “with coincidences like that, you should buy a 6/49 (lottery ticket)!”
With Chinese interference being in the news amid reports Beijing interfered with Canada’s elections with aims to re-elect Trudeau’s Liberals, the Bloc is again questioning the donations.
Blanchet has called for an independent investigation into election interference and says the investigation should also take a look at the money given to the Papineau EDA. “Justin Trudeau can’t just call everyone a racist and must agree to a public and truly independent inquiry,” said Blanchet.
When pressed for comment, Liberal Party of Canada spokesperson Mateo Rossi told Le Journal that “all grassroots fundraising activities organized by the Liberal Party of Canada fully comply with Elections Canada’s strict rules.”
Le Journal says a large portion of donations given to the Papineau EDA came after Trudeau held a fundraiser in Richmond, British Columbia.
The Prime Minister also attended a Toronto cash-for-access fundraiser in May of that year organized by a Chinese millionaire, which was also attended by Wealth One founder Shenglin Xian.
The Canadian government has since cited national security concerns with Wealth One amid suspected ties between its founders and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), as reported by The Globe and Mail.
According to sources, principal Wealth One shareholders have been under investigation, including by CSIS. The bank was fined $676,500 by FINTRAC in Feb. 2023 “for non-compliance with Part 1 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its associated Regulations.”
Sources say finance minister Chrystia Freeland expressed concerns in a letter that Xian, as well as shareholders Mao Hua (Morris) Chen Yuansheng Ou Yang, “could be vulnerable to coercion” from China.
The three men have since resigned from their positions.
Wealth One CFO Barry Ferguson told the Globe “we are not in a position to speak to any specific communications we may have with any regulatory authority but can confirm that the three shareholders you asked about are no longer directors of the bank and none of our shareholders have ever had a role in the bank’s operations.”
“We are a Canadian bank, with an independent board of directors and an executive leadership team of banking professionals who have extensive experience in operations under the Canadian banking regulatory framework, and who are fully aware of the need for the highest standards of integrity and regulatory compliance.”
Trudeau stopped short of calling an inquiry into foreign election interference last week, opting to instead appoint a “Special Rapporteur” to take into the matter. Liberals have also been filibustering in committee to prevent Trudeau’s Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, from being called to testify.
Thousands have entered Canada through the illegal border crossing of Roxham Road, and yet the Trudeau government seems to have done nothing about it.
As a result, our immigration system is becoming overwhelmed. Further, at the request of Quebec Premier Francois Legault, asylum seekers are being transported to various parts of the country, overwhelming cities’ social services.
As Anthony Furey explains in his latest video, the government needs to signal to migrants that it is, in fact, illegal to enter Canada through unofficial points of entry.
The Bank of England announced that it will cut funding for climate change initiatives first championed by Canadian economist and central banker Mark Carney.
While serving as the Bank’s governor from 2013 to 2020, Carney led several sustainability efforts including climate change insurance risks, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) scores and more.
According to Bloomberg, inflation and current fiscal challenges means that those projects will no longer get the same priority as the Bank of England dedicates more resources to traditional economic concerns.
The group Net Zero Watch welcomed the shift, saying that it’s long overdue.
“Its obsession with climate change, promoted and pushed through by its former governor, Mark Carney, in tandem with government ministers, has for years distracted it from its main responsibilities. Instead, it has been enforcing ESG disclosure guidelines, carbon-testing balance sheets and promoting Net Zero policies,” said a press release.
“During his time as Governor, Net Zero Watch criticised Mr. Carney repeatedly, warning that his climate activism and his intimidation of financial institutions and pension funds into costly Net Zero targets would eventually lead to policy failure and a distressed correction. This correction appears to have now begun.”
Net Zero Watch director Benny Peiser urged the Bank to further abandon “green virtue-signaling” and focus on the country’s financial system.
“Unless the Bank of England abandons its fixation with green virtue-signalling, it is only storing up more problems for the economy and the UK’s financial system,” said Peiser.
Despite the downgrading, the Bank of England has said it will continue to study how to best tackle environmental concerns.
On Monday, the Bank issued a report discussing the need for long-term policy on climate change.
“Existing capability and regime gaps create uncertainty over whether banks and insurers are sufficiently capitalised for future climate-related losses,” wrote the Bank.
The majority of Canadians plan to ignore the government’s update to alcohol consumption guidelines, according to a new report.
In the Ipsos report released on Sunday, 73% of respondents said Canada’s update – recommending that alcohol consumption remain below two drinks per week – is unlikely to affect their decision making.
“Canadians don’t appear set on radically changing their behaviours,” the report said.
A large portion of Canadians felt skeptical about the guideline, or distrusted the government behind it.
In the report, 57% of Canadians said the guideline of two drinks per week is so low that it lacks credibility. Slightly fewer (52%) said the recommendations are a fear mongering tactic.
The Ipsos survey of a population-representative sample of 1350 adult Canadians was conducted between February 15th and 17th, 2023.
Government of Canada officials released the update in January.
The Chinese-owned social media app TikTok may be banned from Ontario public schools, according to Minister of Education Stephen Lecce.
Lecce revealed the details on Friday, one day after the government moved to ban TikTok from Ontario government devices because of concerns that the social media app posed a threat to privacy.
“We obviously share a very profound concern about the privacy impacts for young people,” said Lecce. “This is a decision that we will communicate on.”
Lecce also told reporters the app has consequences for children beyond a potential data breach.
“I am concerned by what is happening in schools. Frankly both for the mental health and physical health of children.”
A December survey found many young Canadians believe excessive use of social media negatively impacts their mental health.
Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories have banned TikTok from government devices.
The Alberta government is launching a second Alberta is Calling campaign to attract more skilled workers from Ontario and Atlantic Canada even after Ontario Premier Doug Ford told Alberta Premier Danielle Smith he’s not a fan of the advertisements.
The first iteration of the campaign, which ran in summer 2022, targeted skilled labour workers living in Toronto and Vancouver. The second campaign seeks to attract Canadians living in the Maritimes and parts of Ontario, including London, Hamilton, Windsor, and Sudbury.
Alberta Jobs, Economy and Northern Development Minister Brian Jean said Alberta is once again putting out a call for skilled workers to join the province as it creates jobs, attracts investment and diversifies its economy.
“It is the Renewed Alberta Advantage, and I encourage more people to experience it for themselves,” Jean said Monday morning.
In a keynote speech to Alberta Enterprise Group members on March 2, Smith said Ford told her he didn’t like the Alberta is Calling campaign in her first call with him after she was elected.
“I said ‘I betcha don’t, but we’re going to keep doing it because it’s working,’” she told the crowd.
Smith also said the success of Alberta will spill over into the rest of Canada and ensure that “Alberta remains Canada’s economic engine for years to come.”
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. A total of 21,008 Ontarians left for other provinces, including 6,281 who moved to Alberta. Those leaving the province were largely made up of young people around 25.
According to a Statistics Canada report released in December, Alberta workers continue to have the highest weekly earnings of any province, at $1,268. Alberta families earned a median after-tax income of $104,000 in 2020 — $7,000 more than Ontarian families.
Alberta’s Short-Term Employment Forecast says high and moderately high-demand occupations include: restaurant and food service managers, software engineers and designers, web designers and developers, transport truck drivers, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, accounting technicians and bookkeepers, and shippers and receivers.
If the Trudeau government’s Online News Act, C-18, becomes law, Meta says it will ensure Canadians no longer have access to news on Facebook or Instagram.
Plus, reports implicate Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Vincent Ke in a Chinese foreign interference network directed by China’s Toronto consulate during the 2019 election.
And after being found guilty of violating Canada’s ethics laws for awarding a lucrative contract to a friend, International Trade Minister Mary Ng did not consider resigning or repaying back the money to taxpayers.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Andrew Lawton!
Pandemic-related charges against Windsor Pastor Aaron Rock for allegedly breaching the Re-opening Ontario Act (ROA) were quietly dropped this past February.
Rock’s attorney, the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) Litigator Chris Fleury, spoke to True North and said that the “positive outcome” of Rock’s lawsuit is not always consistent in similar cases.
“The way Mr. Rock’s case has played out does not set a precedent with how these types of charges are generally dealt with. The Trinity Bible Chapel case, which the JCCF was also representing, was in the Superior Court in the spring of 2022. We just got a decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal that came back negative. A lot of these cases are systemic challenges,” he said.
Under the ROA, the government banned religious gatherings greater than 10 people. Rock– the lead pastor at the Harvest Bible Church in Windsor– was alleged to have contravened this regulation.
As supposed admission of Rock’s guilt, the Crown presented a recording filmed outside of the Harvest Bible Church. Fleury noted that the video lacked concrete evidence to incriminate the Windsor pastor.
“There were no legal merits to the case itself because the camera footage does not even show Mr. Rock,” he said.
The prosecuting Crown Attorney withdrew the two charges levied against Rock for infringing the ten-person capacity limit on Feb. 6.
Rock faced another charge for speaking at a public gathering where he voiced concerns about Ontario’s COVID-19 response. The Crown withdrew the charge with no admission of guilt on Feb. 16 after Rock entered into a Diversion Agreement where, according to the JCCF press release, “he voluntarily made a modest charitable donation.”
Charges dropped against Rock serve for some as an emblem of optimism in face of the often harsh legislative response to pandemic-related cases.
“Speaking as a citizen of Ontario, it’s absolutely shocking to me to see the degree to which these charges were laid and how many of them continue into 2023,” said Fleury. “Though it’s encouraging that we are seeing positive outcomes.”
