On Day 1 of the World Economic Forum, True North was booted from the pavilion hosted by the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation, a Saudi foundation that partners with the WEF.
The Saudis demanded that we stop filming and show them our footage. We politely declined and did not turn over any footage.
As Andrew Lawton explains, the purpose of these pavilions is to showcase your country to the world so it’s rather odd that the Saudis don’t want True North viewers to know them better.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says a new report on the federal government’s “Just Transition” proposal confirms her “worst fears” that it will seek to shut down Alberta’s oil and gas industry.
On Monday, Blacklock’s Reporter uncovered a June 1 briefing note to Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson which said a “green economy” would still require workers without “green skills,” like janitors and truck drivers.
Speaking on the Shaun Newman Podcast on Monday, Smith said the memo confirms her “worst fears.”
“This is the language that they’re using in the bureaucracy,” she said.
“That doesn’t come from nowhere — that comes from a large concerted effort by a number of people who want to shut down our oil and gas industry.”
“Just transition” emerged from the 2015 Paris Agreement, an international climate change treaty. The goal is to reduce the harm to workers as economies move from high-carbon activities to a green economy.
Earlier this month, Wilkinson said Ottawa would move ahead this spring with legislation to provide a framework for the transition plan. He said it would provide incentive for workers to make a seamless transition to a less carbon-intensive economy.
Wilkinson said the concern won’t be a lack of jobs but finding workers to fill the long-term needs in the changing energy landscape.
The memo said more than 2.7 million Canadians face “significant” disruptions in sectors that will be affected by climate change programs.
“The transition to a low carbon economy will have an uneven impact across sectors, occupations and regions and create significant labour market disruptions,” it reads.
“How many jobs will be lost in the oil and gas sector as a result of the Government of Canada’s climate change actions?” “The answer to this question depends.”
Department staff said not “every job that exists in today’s economy has a perfect twin in a net zero economy.”
“And it’s not to say the transition will not be accompanied by change and uncertainty for some workers and communities where the labour force requirements of the future will differ from those of today.”
Smith said her response to Ottawa would be different if it spoke about the transition to sustainable jobs in carbon capture and hydrogen. “Just transition” is language to phase out the coal industry, she said.
“To use that terminology, they’re virtue signaling to an extreme base that is openly advocating to shut down oil or natural gas,” she said Wednesday.
The premier reiterated those comments to Newman on Monday, saying jobs in hydrogen and carbon capture are “good paying jobs for the long term.”
She also said she’s paying close attention to the World Economic Forum’s annual general meeting in Davos because she thinks it aspires to shut down Alberta’s energy industry.
Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino announced a $3 million investment on Monday to the city of London, Ont. for gun crime prevention.
The announcement comes as the federal Liberals face ongoing criticism, including from senior police figures, for appearing to prioritize firearms regulations over measures to prevent crime.
The $3 million for gun crime prevention comes as part of the federal government’s “Building Safer Communities Fund” (BSCF). Mendicino announced the fund in March 2022, pledging $250 million to programs that steer Canadian youth away from gangs.
“Investments in grassroots efforts in London are essential to addressing the social conditions that lead youth and young adults to get involved in a life of crime,” said Mendicino.
According to an estimate from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), the total investment for BSCF may be nearly three times less than what the government will spend on its controversial gun ban and buyback scheme.
In 2021, the PBO estimated it will cost the government between $47 million and $756 million to ban and buy back firearms, whereas the BSCF caps off at $250 million for gun crime prevention programs.
Six-hundred thousand more had been spent on bans and buybacks than was invested today in London, Ont. before a single firearm was purchased by the government.
Meanwhile, Bill C-27, which aims to further restrict the list of guns Canadians can legally own, has been heavily criticized for infringing on the rights of sport shooters and hunters.
On Day 1 of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, the first discussion of the conference dived headfirst into the issue of climate change as panelists discussed how we all can live a more “climate positive lifestyle.”
Much of the festivities today were ceremonial as awards were handed out to well-known guests and a variety of receptions were held, including a warm welcome to the media. As Andrew Lawton notes, many of the meatier sessions will take place on Tuesday – including a press conference with WEF Chairperson Klaus Schwab and panels on globalization and decarbonization.
True North’s Andrew Lawton reports from Davos at the WEF Annual Meeting.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to use the Emergencies Act to freeze the bank accounts of Freedom Convoy protesters garnered a mention as a “shocking” act of censorship in the UK House of Lords last Tuesday.
While discussing PayPal’s recent decision to restrict services for people associated with anti-lockdown and Covid-19 vaccine views, Baroness Claire Fox of Buckley said that it reminded her of Trudeau’s crackdown last February.
“Such financial censorship reminded me of when the Canadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau froze the Freedom Convoy protesters’ bank accounts last February,” said Baroness Fox.
“That was shocking, but at least it was clearly a political act. The problem when payment process organizations defund based on content is that they are often evasive and opaque about who it is targeted and why.”
On Jan. 10 Baroness @Fox_Claire said @JustinTrudeau's use of the Emergencies Act to freeze Freedom Convoy bank accounts was "shocking" while discussing PayPal in the UK House of Lords.
"Such censorship reminds me of when (Trudeau) froze protesters' bank accounts last February." pic.twitter.com/bqIrHn3RvY
Last year the Trudeau government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time ever in response to protesters opposed to federal Covid-19 vaccine mandates setting up camp in Ottawa. The legislation gave police authorities powers to request financial institutions freeze the funds of Freedom Convoy organizers and supporters.
The move was condemned both in Canada and abroad. On Feb. 15, 2022, UK MP Marcus Fysh accused the Canadian government of resorting to “authoritarian measures” over the move.
“I am writing today to the Foreign Secretary to ask her what the UK is doing to discourage Canada from arbitrary & authoritarian measures against Canadian residents & their rights. We should do what we can to help our good friends there find a better way,” tweeted Fysh.
I am writing today to the Foreign Secretary to ask her what the UK is doing to discourage Canada from arbitrary & authoritarian measures against Canadian residents & their rights. We should do what we can to help our good friends there find a better way. @trussliz
More recently UK Tory MP Danny Kruger blasted the Trudeau government’s pandemic response, comparing it to the likes of China.
“Although many questions about our covid response need to be answered, the UK is by no means the worst offender,” said Kruger
“We are not Canada, New Zealand or China—places where Governments think they can exterminate covid by depriving their population of the most basic civil liberties.”
PM @JustinTrudeau doesn't want you to know how he is viewed abroad.
British Tory MP @danny__kruger told the UK parliament last week that the Liberal government was among the "worst offenders" alongside China when it came to depriving civil liberties during Covid-19. #cdnpolipic.twitter.com/ri8SY3FGJt
In Nov. 2022 the Public Order Emergency Commission wrapped up its hearings to determine whether Trudeau’s use of the law was justified under the precepts of the Act. It is expected to deliver its findings by Feb. 20.
A racially segregated event titled “Let’s Talk: Pleasure, Sex & Magic with Lydia Collins” is scheduled to take place next month at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) – formerly known as Ryerson – True North has learned.
A racially segregated "Pleasure, Sex & Magic" workshop is scheduled next month at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson). The speaker, Lydia Collins, "brings an accessible, anti-racist, intersectional approach to sexual health education." #CampusWatchpic.twitter.com/DDK0QiqOus
“Join us for a conversation with author and sexual health educator Lydia Collins as we discuss Black sexual agency,” reads the event’s description on TMU’s website.
“What does it mean to reclaim pleasure? What does sexual self-care look like after trauma, including colonialism, capitalism, and rape culture?” the description continues. “Together we will explore how to foster Black sexual agency, reclaim pleasure and cultivate sexual self-care.”
TMU’s website says the “Pleasure, Sex & Magic” event is “a space for Black community members solely”. It will be held in the university’s racially segregated “Black Student Lounge”, which TMU says provides “Black-Identified students with a safe and culturally relevant space on campus.” When signing up, attendees must confirm that they are black students.
Collins is described on TMU’s website as an “Author, Educator, and Content Creator who brings an accessible, anti-racist, intersectional approach to sexual health education.” She minored in Women and Gender Studies at Brock University.
In a 2022 interview with London radio station 106.9 The X on tackling anti-Black racism and sexual health, Collins explained that she was not seeing people “diving into larger conversations around the fact that race and racism needs to be a key component of sexual consent education.”
“Anti-Blackness is such a big topic that kind of permeates the sex lives and romantic lives of Black people. So why aren’t we talking about it in the context of sex and romantic relationships?” she asked.
Collins described “Decolonial sexual health education” in an essay she wrote, explaining that “[i]t translates to moving past the idea that white, western ideals of sex and sexuality are the default, and instead, validates the experiences, practices, and knowledge from those who are most affected by poor sexual health outcomes.”
Collins also wrote a blog post in 2021 titled “I can’t put a condom on racism.”
The event is scheduled for Feb. 28 and is hosted by TMU Consent Comes First, the Tri-Mentoring program, the Centre For Women and Trans People as well as the Toronto Metropolitan Student’s Union.
“Let’s Talk: Pleasure, Sex & Magic with Lydia Collins” is not the only racially segregated event planned at TMU in February, which is Black History Month.
Another event titled “We Heal Together Table Talk: Black Community Healing” is scheduled for Feb. 15. The event is a launch of a journal and colouring book.
Source: Toronto Metropolitan University’s website.
A poster for the event notes that it is “Open to Black TMU students”
True North reached out to the organizer of both events as well as to Collins and TMU for comment, but did not receive a response prior to deadline.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh forgot to take off his $5000 Rolex watch in his latest video where he claims victory for working people across Canada against the “Conservative and billionaire agenda.” Singh also thanked “workers, women and young people” for sending a message to the “Conservative extremists” in America and to Conservative Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.
Does Singh realize that Justin Trudeau is prime minister? What’s the point of the NDP these days besides propping up the Trudeau government?
On the latest episode of Ratio’d, Harrison Faulkner dissects Singh’s identity crisis between being the upper class “well-cut” suit-wearing politician and the working class hero on the picket line standing in solidarity.
Police are investigating an overnight church fire in northern British Columbia and have so far offered no indication of the cause.
Early Friday morning, a witness reported to RCMP that the Upper Pine Gospel Chapel of Rose Prairie was fully engulfed in flames.
RCMP received the report at 12:34 a.m.
Police released a statement later that morning, saying details will be followed up on by the Fort St. John RCMP.
“The Investigation is in the early stages and will be ongoing,” said Cst. Chad Neustaeter in the statement. “Further investigation will continue once the structure has cooled enough to better evaluate.”
The Pine Gospel community has since moved worship services into a nearby curling club. The chapel website also reads “no Sunday school until further notice.”
Earlier this year, RCMP in Alberta declared an overnight church fire in Hay Lakes, Alta. as intentional.
Fire Chief Bryce Wolfe at the time told the Canadian Press the fire damaged history, rather than civilians.
“Main concern is no one was hurt, but at the same time it’s a lot of history loss…a lot of the community around here has been involved for generations.”
First responders found the Hay Lakes church ablaze at 11:30 p.m.
Conversative MP Dane Lloyd last year criticized officials from Canada’s Security Intelligence Service about the agency’s lack of concern for a church fire in Morinville, Alta.
“It doesn’t seem to have merited a single mention by our security service,” he said in a public safety committee meeting in May 2022.
True North in 2021 created a map of 68 different cases of vandalism and arson against Christian churches in Canada.
The world’s most influential elites and politicians are currently in Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The policies being discussed at the meeting will have a direct impact on how people around the world will live their lives – including Canadians.
Reporting from Davos, True North’s Andrew Lawton caught up with protesters of the WEF. While most of the protesters would identify themselves as leftists, like many people who are critical of the WEF, it’s clear there is a massive distrust of the elites attending the international event.
A new business outlook poll by the Bank of Canada found that a vast majority of Canadian consumers agree that Canada will experience a recession sometime in the next year.
On Monday the bank released its Business Outlook Survey which found that expectations are low for Canada’s economy.
Despite recent data showing an uptick in job creation, two-thirds of businesses are also predicting a recession. On top of that, weak growth and high interest rates could lead to businesses reining in plans to invest.
“Rising interest rates are dampening firms’ sales expectations and plans to invest,” wrote the Bank of Canada.
“Firms also link their weaker outlook on demand to high inflation eroding consumers’ spending power and to the possibility of a recession. More businesses than usual expect their sales to decline.”
Chief economists with the World Economic Forum (WEF) are also predicting a global recession this year.
Two out of three economists surveyed by the organization said that they believe a global recession is likely while 18% said it is very likely to happen. The report comes as the WEF meets with global leaders in Davos, Switzerland for their annual gathering.
Europe is expected to be the hardest hit with high inflation, with 57% believing that inflation will worsen in 2023 on the continent. In comparison, only 24% said the same of the United States.
Coupled with weak economic growth, however, the United States will likely experience stagflation.
“With two-thirds of chief economists expecting a world-wide recession in 2023, the global economy is in a precarious position,” said WEF managing director Saadia Zahidi.
“The current high inflation, low growth, high debt and high fragmentation environment reduces incentives for the investments needed to get back to growth and raise living standards for the world’s most vulnerable.”
Economists are blaming geopolitical tensions like Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine as well as monetary tightening in North America and Europe for the forecast.
