Amid an influx of illegal border crossers at Roxham Road in Quebec, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Trudeau government to close the illegal border point within the next 30 days.
Plus, Ontario Tech University is refusing to release a list of the 300 “far-right” extremist groups operating in Canada, which has been cited by the Liberal government to bolster impending anti-hate legislation.
And a Liberal MP accused Conservatives of using “Trump-type tactics” for questioning past election results amid a Globe and Mail report which outlined CSIS documents revealing a PRC strategy to influence the 2021 election.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Andrew Lawton!
As tax season begins, a policy expert says a major dispute between Canada’s tax agency and a union of its workers has little to do with the job itself.
Carleton University business professor Ian Lee says the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is pushing workers to return to the office because of concerns about the state of small businesses in Ottawa.
“[Businesses are] so short of customers right now because people are working from home,” said Lee. “[People are] not coming downtown and buying coffees, pizzas, dry cleaning . . .”
Lee believes the federal government is attempting to bring all public-sector workers back to the office because a significant number would return to the struggling city of Ottawa, and, in-theory, revitalize the economy.
Ottawa is made up of roughly 1,000,000 people. The Government of Canada employs about 105,000 workers in the area, including about 12,000 CRA workers.
Union leaders have refused to budge on return-to-office policies, prioritizing remote work after a year of negotiations.
The CRA was attempting to impose a flawed system of return-to-work, the leaders said, which would force many employees to relocate, or scramble to find childcare arrangements.
“If your work can be done 100% of the time and in an effective manner from home, […] the Canada Revenue Agency should allow you to continue working remotely. Period,” the union wrote in a public statement last week.
Lee, who teaches at Carleton’s Sprott School of Business, said the work-from-home policy is especially appealing to women – and pushing for a return-to-office mandate is shunning that group the federal government has long claimed to prioritize.
“The government’s being insensitive to the needs of women with children,” said Lee, “which is ironic, because this is the government that was elected in 2015 that said it will always put the needs of women first.”
Lee said women with children are attempting to navigate a complex work-life balance, and are likely driving the union’s push for remote work policies.
True North reached out to the CRA for comment, but did not receive a response before publication.
Union leaders reaffirmed their priority of work-from-home policies last week, saying the union will continue strike votes as a way to gain bargaining power.
Strike votes started on January 31st, and are scheduled to end on April 7th.
Nearly half of young Canadians say socialism is the ideal economic system for Canada, according to a new report.
A Fraser Institute report released on Wednesday shows Canadians aged 18-to-34 had a more positive impression of socialism (46%) than capitalism (39%), communism (13%), and fascism (8%).
The percentages shown represent the share who either “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that each system was ideal for Canada, as opposed to disagreeing, strongly disagreeing or answering that they didn’t know.
Many young Canadians felt socialism was defined as receiving more from the government.
The most common perspectives of socialism among the group were “government providing more services like healthcare, education and daycare” (67%), and “the government guaranteeing a certain level of income for all citizens” (59%). The least common perspective of socialism was “the government taking control of companies and industries to control the economy” (36%).
According to most young Canadians, additional services and a guaranteed level of income should be financed by taxing wealthy citizens.
Seven-in-ten (72%) said socialism should be funded by increasing taxes on the top 1% of high-income citizens, and six-in-ten (57%) said the system should be funded by taxing the top 10%.
Fewer (32%) said socialism should be funded by raising income taxes to all citizens except those with low-income, and the least (20%) said socialism should be funded by adding a purchase tax on goods and services.
Support for socialism trended downwards with age, as 18-to-24-year-olds favoured socialism the most, and those aged 55+ favoured socialism the least.
The City of Victoria is debating whether or not to ban gas ovens and heating after several councillors put forward a motion to require rezoned developments to be powered only by electricity.
A Council Member Motion on Low GHG/Electric energy systems in new buildings has been presented to the Committee of the Whole.
Receiving support from Councillors Dave Thompson, Susan Kim, Krista Loughton and Jeremy Caradonna, it asks the city to do two things.
The first request is to ensure that all developments that require a rezoning process are required to only include electric energy systems. This would mean that heating, cooling, hot water and cooking are all powered by electricity.
Secondly, the councillors posit that should “such mechanisms appear impossible or very costly” to produce reports which “prioritize” electric energy over alternatives.
“We are in a climate emergency. Victoria has targets for reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and it will be difficult to hit those targets,” the motion reads.
“About 40% of GHG emissions in Victoria are from buildings. Installing GHG-producing systems in new buildings will lock in decades of GHG emissions, or require far-more-expensive retrofits at a later date.”
According to Victoria bylaws, rezoning is required when a new proposal for a development doesn’t meet existing use and density requirements for the area.
As of the time of writing, there are 93 rezoning applications being considered including for large scale projects like the construction of a residential building near the city’s harbour, independent senior rental apartments in the downtown core and other developments.
Similar proposals have been floated by other municipalities in Canada, including in a recommendation by Montreal’s environment task force.
[Dernière heure] La Commission sur l’Environnement recommande à la Ville de Montréal de « proscrire dans les plus brefs délais » l’installation de cuisinières au gaz et d’interdire que tout nouveau bâtiment soit raccordé au gaz naturel. #polmtl@RadioCanadaInfopic.twitter.com/ErPm6mMz4Z
The recommendation by the commission asks for Montreal to “set a maximum threshold of around 15% for the use of natural gas depending on the type of existing building, among others in the case of heritage buildings, and limit its use only during peak consumption periods.”
Victoria’s gas ban for rezoned development comes on top of an existing ban for the construction of new homes.
As of 2025, Victoria will no longer allow the construction of housing heated by natural gas. Developers in the city have since raised concerns that the equipment and services are not available to undergo such a drastic shift to electric-only constructions.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta is “indisputably” Canada’s leader in a recovery oriented system of care following the four years of the United Conservative Party government’s efforts to address homelessness and addictions epidemic.
The premier was speaking on Tuesday morning in Calgary to 1,300 attendees at the Alberta Recovery Conference.
Smith said the devastating impacts of addiction on families and communities are evident in Alberta and across North America — and it’s a result of years of neglecting systems of care.
“Since being elected in 2019, our government has sought to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to pursue recovery,” she said.
“There are some of us that tell us that we have unreasonable expectations, predicting that recovery is not an achievable or even a realistic goal. But what they fail to understand is this: when we see recovery as possible, we’re providing hope and optimism to people who are often living without any hope. We’re saying that you can recover and there is a better life for you that you deserve and that we will be there for you.”
Smith touted the six recovery communities currently underway, including one in north Red Deer which is about to open its door to residents. The facilities recreate community in a healthy way.
Budget 2023 allocated funding for nine recovery communities with $75 million to put three new projects on the books, bringing the total investment to more than $200 million.
“Recovery communities mark a monumental shift in the way addiction treatment is provided in Alberta,” she said. “When all is said and done, they will add nearly 700 new treatment beds across the province.”
The government is partnering with organizations to offer 10,000 Albertans barrier free access to treatment services.They’ve also eliminated all user fees for publicly funded addiction treatments, which previously cost $40 per day.
The premier also said that budget 2023, if passed, would provide $275 million in funding for the ministry of mental health and addiction — that’s up from $87 million in 2019.
“This record breaking investment would be used to focus on key priorities, including increasing our harm reduction programs, indigenous partnerships, further increasing access to treatment and recovery supports helping children and youth improve their mental health, partnering with first responders to keep communities safe while treating mental health and addiction compassionately.”
Smith said, “none of this could have happened” without the leadership of Jason Kenney. The former premier recruited Marshall Smith, a recovered addict of 17 years, from BC to run Alberta’s addictions and mental health office.
Smith is now chief of staff to the premier, an appointment he told True North “without a question” signifies the seriousness with which the premier considers the addictions crisis.
Smith said her government has rejected the idea that the system we inherited from the previous government is the best we can do.
“We dared to set higher expectations, we’ve made significant progress toward achieving them,” she said.
“We are well on our way to having systems of care where recovery and wellness is possible for everyone.”
At an NBA game in Utah, Canadian singer Jully Black changed the lyrics to O Canada, singing “our home on native land” instead of “our home and native land” to make a statement about Indigenous peoples. Since then, Black has been praised by the media and activists, prompting her to double down by claiming she sang the “facts.” True North’s Andrew Lawton says the ordeal demonstrates politicization is only okay if you have the “right” beliefs.
Also, with the Public Order Emergency Commission’s final report published, civil liberties advocates are saying it’s still possible for there to be some accountability for the government’s use of the Emergencies Act. Canadian Constitution Foundation litigation director Christine Van Geyn joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to talk about the report and next steps.
Remnants of the Freedom Convoy returned to the nation’s capital on the first anniversary of their forcible eviction, more to make a point of their continuing presence than to bolster any argument.
There were a few new faces, but not many.
There were a few hundred demonstrators, many carrying crude signs mostly casting insults at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but also with a few disparages directed as Justice Paul Rouleau, chair of the Public Order Emergency Commission, who issued a report Friday declaring the federal government had “met the threshold” to invoke Emergencies Act to bring an end to last winter’s intense three-week protest.
There was also signage protesting Covid-19 regulations, which was a prime motivator for last year’s gridlock of the lower-city core.
Police went to great lengths to keep a small counter-demonstration apart from the main protest, and protect the final weekend of the Winterlude festival which was deemed unsuccessful by the majority because the Rideau Canal refused to freeze deep enough to open what has been called the world’s longest skating rink.
It is annually the largest winter tourist draw.
In an exclusive interview with True North’s Andrew Lawton, one of the Freedom Convoy’s primary organizers, Tamara Lich, expressed disappointment at Rouleau’s long decision to uphold Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act.
“I really felt at that time (of my testimony) that the Commissioner was really listening to me and empathetic to our plight. I’m still a little shocked. Like I said this wasn’t a surprising decision but we were holding out hope for something a little more,” said Lich.
“This is a dark day for Canada in my opinion but we have to stick together and we have to keep working together. We cannot make change in this country if we’re all divided.”
Few, if any, of the leadership of the 2022 protest had returned to the capital since many face charges from previous altercations and are under court-ordered bail conditions to stay away from Ottawa.
Saturday’s group left Parliament Hill and headed toward the ByWard Market, where they marched around the historic part of town.
This included a brief stop outside the Bell Media-CTV building on George Street, where several protesters shouted “Fake news,” before moving to the Sparks Street Mall which was blocked by police to protect Winterlude’s ice sculptures.
In his massive 2,000-plus page report tabled before Parliament on Friday afternoon, Commissioner Rouleau concluded, “with reluctance,” that the federal government was justified in invoking the Emergencies Act which, much like the War Measures Act, invoked by Trudeau’s prime minister father to end the murderous 1970 FLQ crisis, effectively shut down the Freedom Convoy protest.
“I have concluded that Cabinet was reasonably concerned that the situation it was facing was worsening and at risk of becoming dangerous and unmanageable,” wrote Rouleau. “There was credible and compelling evidence supporting both a subjective and objective reasonable belief in the existence of a public order emergency.”
“The decision to invoke the Act was appropriate.”
But Rouleau also called the protests “legitimate,” and blamed government leaders and police for failing to “properly manage” the demonstrations against Covid-19 health measures, which he described as a predictable response to a disruptive pandemic.
Despite her disappointment, Lich told True North’s Lawton that it was important to remain hopeful and united as Canadians.
“I feel that the testimonies we heard at the (commission) gave a voice to Canadians and Canadians’ concerns,” Lich said.
“I guess my message has always been that we need to stay focused, we need to stay positive. I truly believe we can look at it as an opportunity,” she added. “ I really hope that this doesn’t discourage Canadians…. I really hope that we can try to take this and steer it in a way that we can have a positive outcome or we can have a common goal and try to make some change.”
Transgendered parent Julia Malott found out last week that even someone who has dealt with gender dysphoria and the uphill battle of transitioning is not immune from having her words pre-approved by the radically woke trustees and bureaucrats who operate Ontario school boards.
Malott, who came to the Halton District School Board (HDSB) meeting to lend her insights into what the dress code for staff should look like, was informed she’d have to remove a portion of her speech because it “violated” the board’s privacy rules.
The Waterloo parent, who transitioned at age 28 after going through an “undesired” male puberty, told Halton trustees that in the first six months of her transition she wore silicone breast forms sized 34B, which she characterized as ones that emulate “natural breast dimensions.”
The part she was not permitted to say – but which was subsequently posted on social media – referred to silicone forms that “exaggerate breast proportions” and are often used by the “drag industry and sex workers.”
A dress code policy should be able to distinguish between the two forms, she wrote in the banned portion of her speech, later noting that the intent of getting parents and other parties to speak is to acquire diverse opinions, instead of filtering opinions.
She was of course referring to Boob-Gate, the now internationally known case of trans shop teacher Kayla Lemieux, who has turned up at Oakville-Trafalgar high school wearing mammoth prosthetic breasts and tight tops with the nipples sticking out. In September this inappropriate costume was accompanied by a blond wig and short shorts, the latter now replaced by ankle-length leggings .
The story and the inept handling of the situation by the trustees and senior management has made the HDSB the laughingstock south of the border and overseas.
Essentially, afraid of repercussions from the teacher and his union, Lemieux has been moved around Oakville high schools with a police escort to protect her/him.
Trustees voted in early January to have education director Curtis Ennis craft a dress code policy with a deadline of March 1. At last week’s meeting, flooded by upset parents, he was supposed to provide a status update.
But his update suggested he’s done little if anything to craft such a policy (despite the outcry).
Ennis claimed he’s soliciting responses from the public but couldn’t say how he was doing so when asked. He also kept repeating that they were in collective bargaining, which meant a statutory freeze on changes (in my view a convenient excuse to further drag his heels).
I spoke to Malott the day before pictures surfaced in a New York newspaper of what was supposedly Lemieux emerging from his/her residence after school to do errands dressed as a male, having shed his/her outlandish costume. (Lemieux has since told other media that these photos are incorrect and also that the extremely large breasts are indeed real.)
Malott said she was invited by Halton parents to speak – all of whom have been dismissed as transphobic for expressing their concerns about Lemieux being in the classroom and the board’s poor handling of the situation.
Malott said she felt it important to make the “distinction” between the silicone breasts worn by most transitioning males and the mammoth breasts sported by Lemieux.
She said only the former should be permitted under the dress code policy.
Malott added that there’s a reason there are so many protests at the over-the-top in your face Drag Queen Story hours.
“I don’t see a need for it at any age,” she said. “I don’t know why anybody considers it (these story hours) anything different than Blackface.”
The story hours are “very objectifying to women,” she said.
Malott said the parent protests started because of the board’s mishandling of the situation with Lemieux, but it is quickly becoming “so much more.”
She also spoke at the Waterloo Region School Board early last week warning trustees that “widespread acceptance” by school officials should not mean “encouragement” (or indoctrination) to become trans.
“Leading the non-gender dysphoric down the path (to transitioning) may not be right for them,” she said.
Malott said her daughter, who is in the WRDSB system, has been led to believe that if she makes a mistake with names or pronouns or anything gender related, it will result in punishment and she will be labelled “transphobic.”
Her daughter shows acceptance through love and not through ‘virtue signaling and nitpicking,” she said.
“The tides are turning,” she said. “The more ridiculous the narrative, the stronger the pushback.”
It strikes me that a transgendered woman who has lived through the pain and suffering of being in the wrong body and of transitioning would have better insights into appropriate dress than a bunch of trustees and overpaid bureaucrats desperately trying to be woke.
Malott’s insights made it ever more clear that these school boards have completely lost the plot.
Ontario Tech University (OTU) is using a provision of the Privacy Act (FIPPA) to prevent the release of a list of the 300 “far-right” extremist groups operating in Canada, which has been cited by the Liberal government to bolster impending anti-hate legislation.
In response to an access to information request filed by True North to have the university identify the said groups, OTU administrators cited certain exceptions which bar the release of records “associated with research conducted or proposed by an employee of an educational institution or by a person associated with an educational institution.”
“The request in this case is for specific details regarding methodology of the research project, as well as the data obtained through research which clearly meets and exceeds the threshold for exclusion from FIPPA,” wrote the OTU registrar.
In 2020, prominent OTU Professor Barbara Perry, Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism, concluded in a $366,985 taxpayer-funded study that there were 300 active far-right groups operating in Canada.
Perry, who has been cited extensively by Public Safety Canada and has testified before the House of Commons, has never produced a list of the groups. Most recently, the Minister of National Defence Advisory Panel on Systemic Racism and Discrimination cited the claim last spring.
The OTU did, however, release an email chain pertaining to negative media coverage of Perry’s study.
In reference to an op-ed by National Post columnist Jonathan Kay questioning why nobody can name the hate groups, OTU vice president of external relations and advancement Susan T. McGovern responded by downplaying Kay’s and others’ concerns about a lack of transparency by claiming “academic freedom.”
“Just letting you know that a National Post comment piece was published today that is critical of Barbara Perry and her research,” wrote OTU’s social media coordinator Marie Harvey on Jan. 27, 2021.
“So far very few mentions and/or tags of the university or (the Centre of Hate, Bias and Extremism) in the conversation, but will continue to monitor,” continued Harvey.
“What are they criticizing? And I recall this happened before,” replied McGovern.
“The number of right-wing groups. He said Barb’s reported various numbers of the years. He asked her for her list and she said she’s not releasing it until the spring. He said she’s had the list for more than two years,” emailed Harvey.
Perry did not publicly release the list in the Spring of 2021.
“Boo boo. (sic) It won’t be the only bad press she will get,” McGovern wrote back. “She can take it. We stand behind a (sic) academic freedom.”
A number of prominent individuals are questioning Commissioner Paul Rouleau’s ruling that the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act was justified, including Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich and Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro.
Plus, while Rouleau ruled in favour of the Trudeau government, Rouleau also stated many media outlets amplified disinformation about Convoy protesters last year.
And while the Trudeau government continues to remain silent on the surge of illegal border crossers, namely at Roxham Road, the Quebec government is taking matters into their own hands.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Lindsay Shepherd!
