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Saturday, September 27, 2025

OP-ED: Ukraine, Russia, China, and a solution in Canadian energy

By
Gregory Tobin
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Source: Wikimedia

It’s been one year now since Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. I’m friends with a priest in the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and I remember how heavily he spoke of seeing his fellow countrymen under attack.

I remember watching the horrifying videos of the shelling late into the night. Of villages and cities torn apart by bombs. And the dead. It’s been a rough year for the Ukrainian people.

And while a lot has happened in that time, one thing that hasn’t changed is the way Putin is bankrolling this war – oil.

Despot oil that he’s been selling to our European allies who need it to keep their people warm, and who are desperate to get off it.

A year ago I, and many, many others, made the case that one of the best and simplest things Canada could do to help Ukraine and the rest of the world, would be to unleash our energy sector immediately, get selling our Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) to those countries begging us for it, and use the tax revenues to boost Canada’s GDP at the same time. 

In fact, it was an argument that many have been making for a long time. We need to displace despot energy around the world with responsibly-made Canadian energy or else we’ll see more dictators engage in more brutality, and pollute with impunity. 

But what has the Canadian government done to get our energy out there to the world? Squat.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to remove red tape choking our energy industries and hampering new investment. He keeps telling our allies coming here looking for our energy that they really ought to consider installing some solar panels instead. It’s embarrassing.

On the weapons front, we’re barely able to send four tanks to go help the Ukrainians. Polling shows that Canadians want to see Ukraine win, and want to do more to help, but feel we can’t afford to at this time. Imagine how much help we could give if we had the money from selling our oil and gas? 

And while Ukraine and the world deals with Putin’s ongoing war, we have news here at home that China has been interfering in our elections. And while there are many motives for China to interfere, some are more nefarious than others.

China is an ally of Russia. After the world sanctioned Russia, China became Putin’s most important trading partner. And at the end of the day they both have an interest in keeping democracies like ours from becoming big players on the global stage. 

If Canada made full use of its resource industries, we’d become an economic super power. We have the best resources in the world, and the world wants them. If we sold them, we’d pull in more dollars than we’d know what to do with.

We would be able to afford to properly protect, patrol, and secure our skies, coasts, and oceans. Make our NATO commitments, and help our allies.

Presumably, China does not want this to happen.

It’s no secret that Trudeau’s government has run our armed forces into the ground. The Brits came and told us they’re going to patrol our arctic for us because we couldn’t.

When the spy balloon came floating over the arctic, we had to politely wait for our American allies to shoot it down. So it’s no wonder that China feels like they can interfere in our electoral processes.

The government’s official party line is that it’s not a big deal. In fact, Trudeau said if you are worried about it, you’re harming democracy. It’s embarrassing to the intelligence of Canadians who, I think, are getting sick and tired of this government’s agenda of saying they care, but not showing it.

It is a big deal that we won’t give our allies the energy they want and need. It is a big deal that we can’t fully protect our waters or elections. It is a big deal that millions of Canadians can’t afford gas, or food, or housing, or get a doctor. 

We need to stop letting bullies in the form of the communist Chinese government interfere in our affairs. And we need to stop letting bullies like Putin wage a brutal war against Ukraine.

Prime Minister Trudeau had a chance to help stop both, and failed. His government is stuck in the ditch of the outdated “keep it in the ground” ideology.

We need a government that sees Canada and its bounty of resources as a solution to global economic turmoils.  

A strong, richer, more prosperous Canada will lead to a safer world – let’s make it happen for Ukraine’s sake.

BC money laundering inquiry leads to no charges

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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British Columbia’s Prosecution Service (BCPS) will not lay any charges related to the province’s largest China money laundering investigation. 

The BCPS put out a statement saying that the “charge assessment standard had not been met” and it would not approve any charges against those implicated in alleged schemes to launder money for criminal organizations. 

“Following a lengthy review of the RCC, the BCPS concluded that the charge assessment standard had not been met and no charges would be approved,” wrote the BCPS.

This comes after Premier David Eby appointed a special prosecutor to assess whether charges were warranted after an inquiry uncovered a lucrative multi-million dollar money laundering involving transnational criminal organizations with links to China.

In an explanation provided by the BCPS, special prosecutor Christopher Considine concluded that there wasn’t enough evidence to indicate that Canada’s Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act were violated. 

Considine admitted that there was evidence that large quantities of cash were moved under “highly suspicious” circumstances but it could not be proven that the money was obtained as a proceed of a crime. 

“It is frustrating … But we also have to remember this isn’t all the tools in the toolkit. We have civil forfeiture laws, we have other ways and we’re also constantly as a government improving our ability to go after money laundering,” BC Attorney General Niki Sharma said on Wednesday. 

“There’s a whole team investigating money laundering in this province, it’s constantly working on investigating charging cases.”

BC has conducted several provincial inquiries into allegations of widespread money laundering including the Cullen Commission.

The Commission found that a vast majority of the money laundering was taking place via casinos and real estate. 

It is estimated that billions in dollars were laundered through BC casinos between 2008 and 2018. 

The Alberta Roundup | Should Notley still be on TikTok?

By
Rachel Parker
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This week on the Alberta Roundup with Rachel Emmanuel, Rachel discusses Derek Reimer, pastor for Calgary’s Mission 7 Ministries, who was arrested and charged this week with mischief and causing a disturbance following a protest at a drag queen story hour event.

Rachel also delves into the details of Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley’s TikTok account. Notley is still using TikTok, while federal counterparts have deleted it following a federal review which found it poses an “unacceptable” privacy and security risk.

Finally, Rachel goes over Budget 2023’s new spending. Do you know which policy proposal was left off the books?

Tune into the Alberta Roundup now!

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALBERTA ROUNDUP

Toronto Raptors apologizes for saying only women can procreate

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The Toronto Raptors has issued an apology after claiming in a Women’s History Month video that only women can procreate. 

In the video, players were asked to respond to the statement about how “girls run the world.” 

Players Malachi Flynn and Precious Achiuwa referenced the biological fact that only women are able to give birth in their answers. 

“They are the only ones that can procreate,” said Flynn.

“They birth everybody, said Achiuwa. 

The two players’ responses sparked widespread backlash from radical LGBTQ activists who believe that men can become pregnant. 

“We’re an organization that prides itself on doing the right thing when it comes to inclusion and representation, and we made a mistake,” the Toronto Raptors said. 

“Our sincerest apologies to our players, our staff and our fans – we’ll work to do better today and every day after.”

The apology comes ahead of plans to host a Women’s Empowerment Night this month at the Scotiabank Arena. 

Canadians think feds afraid to confront China

By
Connor McDowell
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The majority of Canadians believe the government is afraid to stand up to China, according to a new poll.

The Angus Reid poll released on Wednesday showed 69% of Canadians believe the federal government is afraid to stand up to the Chinese regime – including 46% of those who voted Liberal in 2021.

Two-thirds (63%) believe China attempted to interfere with Canada’s elections, and half (53%) said the interference is a serious threat to Canadian democracy.

The voter base of every major political party gravitated towards thinking the alleged interference was a serious threat – including 43% of Liberal voters. 

Half of all respondents said the government response to interference allegations has been too weak.

EXCLUSIVE: “We need to know what Trudeau knew” Poilievre says on election interference

By
Andrew Kozak
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Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says that Liberals have “deep ties” to China and that a public inquiry is needed to find out what exactly Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knew about Beijing’s election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

“We do need a public inquiry that can requisition documents and force testimony under oath,” Poilievre told True North in a sit down interview with Andrew Lawton in London, Ont. “But we also need Parliament to continue its examination.”

“We need to know what Justin Trudeau and his top staff knew,” he continued. “There’s reports that CSIS was briefing them about the way in which Beijing was supporting Justin Trudeau and giving money to his foundation.”

“We need confirmation that he knew that,” he said.

“Corporate Liberals have been making fortunes doing business with Beijing for many years,” said Poilievre when asked if he thinks the Liberals have a ‘soft spot’ for China. “They have deep ties and they fostered those ties into what appears to be a political advantage.”

“Now, the question is whether or not the Liberal Party knew and if so, what it did about Beijing’s interference,” he said. “So far Justin Trudeau does not seem to be wanting to tell the truth.”

When it comes to the form the inquiry could take, Poilievre offered caveats. “What I don’t want to see is for the Liberals to create an inquiry that shuts down the debate, doesn’t start for four months, is largely done in secret and doesn’t report until after the next federal election which could face interference again,” said Poilievre.

After a series of reports from The Globe & Mail and Global News that revealed the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has documented alleged interference in the Canadian elections and candidate nomination races in 2019 and 2021. The reports claim that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was made aware of this intelligence, drawing scrutiny over his government’s lack of action.

According to CSIS sources and documents first reported by Global News, Liberal MP Han Dong received help from the Chinese consulate in Toronto during his nomination to be the Liberal candidate in 2019. 

China allegedly aimed to influence Justin Trudeau after he became the Liberal Leader in 2013 by facilitating a $1 million donation that in part went to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

True North’s full interview with Pierre Poilievre, which covered housing, affordability, and his comments on German MEP Christine Anderson’s visit to Canada will be available on all platforms Monday.

‘Concrete possibility’ of strike during tax season, says CRA union president

By
Connor McDowell
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The president of a taxworker union at Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) says there’s a concrete chance the union will strike this April, right as tax season gets underway.

President Marc Briere said the Union of Taxation Employees will walk off the job in April if the revenue agency does not compromise on the important issues of remote-work and wage increases.

“We don’t want [to strike],” Briere said to True North, “but it is.. right now a real, concrete possibility. Not a remote possibility, a concrete possibility in April.”

The union is undergoing strike votes to show its commitment to contract requests – that applicable employees are free to work remotely, and the group sees a pay raise.

Briere said he’s confident the strike vote will pass, enabling an April start, but that’s not the goal.

“The object, first and foremost, is to force the employer back to the bargaining table with a new mandate,” said Briere.

Union leaders are refusing policies the CRA has implemented, he said, including that workers spend 40% of their time, or 2 days per week, in the office.

Employees who worked remotely through the pandemic believe they should be free to continue working remotely – but the CRA hasn’t flinched.

“If they think we’re bluffing, they got that wrong,” said Briere. “If we don’t go back to the table in a timely fashion by April, when we finish our strike votes, this year they will be shut down with a strike on their hands.”

Briere told True North the union does not plan to compromise on remote work – saying leaders would refuse an offer to forgo remote work if it meant higher pay.

Negotiations have spanned a year, yet relations are worsening.

In January, CRA filed a complaint against the UTE, saying union leaders were violating standards of good-faith bargaining.

“UTE has clearly stated its intention to move to a strike position as soon as possible,” its statement said at the time.

In a February email to True North, CRA public affairs said the agency will require employees to return to the office.

While both parties hold fast to their positions, time presses on. 

The union’s strike votes are scheduled to end April 6th.

Fake News Friday | The CBC buries coverage on interference

By
Andrew Lawton
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Instead of providing coverage on China’s interference in Canada’s elections, the CBC decides to flood its homepage with SIX stories about the federal government’s TikTok ban before even mentioning interference.

Next, the CBC and Canadian Press mistake a former Rebel News journalist for an illegal immigrant at Roxham road. While shooting a documentary about the crisis, filmmaker Mocha Bezirgan steps into a photograph and is quickly labelled as a migrant looking for transportation.

Lastly, as Dilbert creator Scott Adams is continually cancelled over his recent comments, The Globe and Mail decides to join in and stops publishing his comic in their newspapers.

Tune into Fake News Friday with Andrew Lawton and Sue-Ann Levy!

Were Chinese communist police stations used for election interference?

By
Connor McDowell
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An alleged Chinese police station operates a ten-minute car ride away from Liberal MP Han Dong’s riding, where intelligence officials say Canadians of Chinese origin were coerced to vote for Dong.

The alleged Warden Ave. police station neighbouring Toronto’s Don Valley North district was named last year as a station that Chinese state actors use to coerce expatriated citizens to behave in the interests of the Chinese party.

Last week, anonymous sources at Canada’s intelligence service told media that Beijing preferred Dong as the 2019 Liberal candidate for Don Valley North. The sources also told Global News that voters were bussed into Dong’s electoral district with fake addresses and were coerced into voting in Dong’s favour.

Sources did not say who was coercing the group, but an official at Safeguard Defenders – which first identified the alleged station – told True North the election activity is consistent with China’s influence network, including its overseas police stations.

“The coercion of overseas students or other members of the community to behave in compliance with the wishes of Chinese authorities is very much in line with our findings,” wrote campaign director Laura Harth.

Safeguard Defenders first identified the alleged police station in 2022, leading Canada to launch its ongoing RCMP probe. In the 2022 report, Safeguard said Chinese stations used similar tactics to what was leaked last week by intelligence officials.

Intelligence officials reported that, in Han Dong’s 2019 candidacy run, Chinese international students were coerced to vote in Dong’s favour by threatening their student-visas. In Safeguard’s 2022 report on overseas stations, it cited examples of expatriate Chinese citizens facing threats to their parent’s electricity, or their child’s education.

The alleged station on Warden Ave. is a short car ride from all of Dong’s constituents – including the communities of Pleasant View, Don Valley Village, and Henry Farm.

Han Dong celebrates with volunteers about his 2019 nomination as the Liberal candidate for Don Valley North riding (September 2019/ Han Dong Instagram)

While the case involving Chinese international students is in the past, Chinese-Canadians are still being threatened in the area.

In February 2023, several MPs for ridings surrounding the alleged Warden Ave. station testified Chinese-Canadian constituents were being harassed. Liberal MP for the district, Jean Yip, asked how her constituents could seek advice about dealing with intimidation.

While Harth applauds Canada for launching interference investigations, she said the country must not politicize the issue. Harth said political rhetoric around the issue would help China’s underlying interests.

Safeguard Defenders is a non-governmental organization headquartered in Madrid, Spain. The team spans Asia, working in-field to advocate for human rights, rule of law and civil society.

Military defines “racism” as denying you have racist beliefs

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Canada’s military is hurdling forward with a new “anti-racist” policy informed by the concepts of critical race theory and white privilege.

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has redefined being racist as anybody who believes in “equality but not equity” or those who “refuse to engage in self-reflection and education to address their own” supposedly racist beliefs. 

This is according to the Department of National Defence’s (DND) Director Anti-Racism Implementation “Anti-Racism Toolkit”, which is meant to be taught to serving members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

According to the CAF “people who are racist do not believe in equality of all persons or believe in equality but not equity (for example, do not support reconciliation efforts.” It also says that “people who are racist deny the existence of unconscious bias and refuse to engage in self-reflection and education to address their own biases and racist beliefs.” 

A separate “anti-racism lexicon” meant to guide CAF members includes a host of far-left terminology with specific reference to “critical race theory”, the idea that colour-blindness is a form of racism and “white fragility.” 

“Colour-blindness or colour evasion is the insistence that one does not notice or see skin colour or race that can foster the systematic denial of racial subordination and the psychological repression of an individual’s recognition of that subordination, thereby allowing such subordination to continue,” writes the CAF.

On the controversial practice of “critical race theory”, the CAF instructs members that it means “the core idea is that race is a social construct, and that racism is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and structures and perpetuates racial inequities.”

The CAF also hopes to have members instilled with the concepts of “white privilege” and “white fragility” which means the “state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable [for white people], triggering a range of defensive moves.” 

For some time now the CAF has attempted to instill policies informed by the precepts of diversity, equity and inclusion. As exclusively reported by True North internal communications from the DND show a military preoccupied with critical race theory and hosting “drag queen bingo” for soldiers.

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