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Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Firearms group says Trudeau’s admission proves C-21 is a hunting ban

By
Rachel Parker
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After denying his government’s latest firearms ban would affect hunters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has conceded it does exactly that, a firearms group has pointed out.

In a preview of a year-end interview with CTV, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said some firearms will be taken “away from people who were using them to hunt.” 

Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights (CCFR) spokesperson Tracey Wilson said the admission comes after the Liberals “denied” that C-21 targeted hunters throughout the legislative process. 

“They called it ‘gun lobby disinformation’ or Conservative fear mongering, yet here they are admitting we were right the whole time,” Wilson told True North. 

“It’s a hunting gun ban, the largest in Canadian history.” 

If passed, Bill C-21 would build off the government’s ban of 1,500 so-called “assault-style firearms” in 2020 by further banning numerous rifles and shotguns, including several used by hunters.

During Question Period on Dec. 13, Trudeau said his government would continue to “consult” with Canadians on the proposed list of guns to ban.

“We are not interested in going after guns that are typically used for hunting and protecting farms,” he said. 

After the House of Commons Public Safety committee completed its study of C-21, Liberal MPs introduced an amendment to ban hundreds more models of semi-automatic shotguns and rifles.

In the committee’s final meeting before Parliament rose for Christmss break, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor attacked the government for introducing the amendment so late in the legislative process. He said the government is asking opposition MPs to do a “tremendous amount of extra work” — work that should have been done by the government. 

“The way this amendment landed has frankly been a complete and total abuse of process,” he said. 

Wilson also said the government introduced the amendment at the “11th hour.” She said it came without debate, witness testimony or consultation with hunters, indigenous peoples, remote and northern communities or law enforcement. 

“This should concern all Canadians, along with their complete failure to address crime, violence and gun smuggling,” she said. “Another tragically failed Liberal policy.”

Meanwhile, the Alberta government is recommending prosecutors don’t pursue charges against firearms owners whose guns were deemed illegal under the Trudeau government’s 2020 order in council.

Justice Minister Tyler Shandro says Albertans should not automatically be considered criminals because they own a firearm that was legally purchased and possessed.

“This new protocol for prosecutors will help prevent otherwise law-abiding individuals from facing criminal charges and potential time in jail,” he said on Dec. 15. 

When Parliament returns in six weeks, the committee will continue debating a motion on whether to hear from witnesses on how they would be impacted by the amendment.

The Daily Brief | Trudeau says “it sucks” when his government breaks ethics rules

By
Anthony Furey
-

On the heels of the Trudeau government’s sixth ethics breach, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says, “it sucks” when these things happen. Trudeau says the fact that the public knows about the scandals means the system is working.

Plus, Canadians surveyed by Health Canada during a series of focus groups reacted negatively to several aspects of a mass campaign to encourage Covid-19 vaccination.

And the government’s plan to ban single-use plastics began on Tuesday, but it is being criticized as both poor environmental policy and potentially worsening inflation.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Andrew Lawton!

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Edmonton “blowing” $100 million on bike lanes, says taxpayer watchdog

By
Rachel Parker
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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation says Edmonton city council is “blowing” $100 million on bike lanes for a handful of winter cyclists.

Councillors voted on Friday to give $100 million to implement the city-wide bike lane network.

Kris Sims, Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says city politicians should “read the room.”

“Blowing $100 million on bike lanes in Edmonton while sticking households with a huge property tax hike is tone deaf,” she told True North.

“Working people can barely afford ground beef right now because of inflation and the federal carbon tax. Overspending on bike lanes that can only be used by the majority of cyclists for six months a year is wasteful and out of touch.”

Sims also said that she used to be one of the “handful of of hardcore winter cyclists” who endured -30 C temperatures and snow and still “this is way too much money to spend for what should be simple route changes and lane markers for bike commuters.” 

Common Sense Edmonton said more than 4,000 Edmontonians signed its petition against “this incredibly expensive bike lane project.”

“We’re disappointed that Council has, once again, failed to listen to taxpayers,” the advocacy’s group spokesperson Will Vishloff said. 

“This kind of reckless spending, while taxes are skyrocketing and the City is approaching its debt limit, is unsustainable.”

After Mayor Amarjeet Sohi introduced 17 amendments, council voted to add millions to the existing $7.75-billion budget for 2023-26 for initiatives like bike lane infrastructure, building retrofits and emissions-neutral vehicles.

Sohi said the cycling infrastructure contributes to the city’s climate change goals. Edmonton declared a climate emergency in 2019. 

“If we don’t (invest), we will not be able to build a city that is net-zero by 2050,” he said.

BONOKOSKI: Trying to make sense of the horrendous Vaughan shooting

By
Mark Bonokoski
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Police north of Toronto are working to determine the motive in what they’ve called a horrendous mass shooting at a condo that left five people dead, plus the suspected gunman.

York Regional Police say Francesco Villi’s victims at the high-rise building in Vaughan, Ont., on Sunday night included three members of the building’s condo board.

Court documents indicate the 73-year-old had a lengthy history of threatening members of the board and believed they had a conspiracy to “systematically murder” him.

Police say a sixth shooting victim — the wife of a board member — remained in hospital with serious injuries.

The force also says Villi shot the victims in three different units in the building before an officer shot and killed him.

Now, if this had happened in the United States, recent documentation would have recorded the Vaughan killings as the 602nd mass murder of the year (as of November 20).

If stats tell us anything there will have been at least 26 more mass murders in the U.S. since Nov. 20 — since they have been averaging 13 incidents a week.

The tally comes from the Gun Violence Archive, an independent data collection organization. The group defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed, excluding the shooter. 

Vaughan, therefore, would have qualified.

On May 14, a racist attack at a Buffalo, N.Y.,  supermarket snatched the lives of 10 people and left three more injured. It was the deadliest mass shooting of the year in the United States for just over a week.

Ten days later, a gunman targeted a Grade 4 class at an elementary school in  Uvalde, Texas,, killing 21 and injuring 17. It was the deadliest school shooting in America since Sandy Hook.

Mass shootings happen in the U.S. with depressing regularity. The nation has seen at least 26 mass shootings since the start of November, with the latest on Saturday at a LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs where at least five people were killed in the shooting and at least 18 others were injured.

Mass shootings in gun-loving America are a common recurrence, with 2021 ending with 690 mass shootings. The year before saw 611. And 2019 had 417.

The massacres don’t come out of nowhere, says Mark Follman, who has been researching mass shootings since 2012, when a gunman killed 12 people at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colo.

“This is planned violence. There is, in every one of these cases, always a trail of … behavioral warning signs,” he told NPR.

“The general public views mass shooters as people who are totally crazy, insane. It fits with the idea of snapping, as if these people are totally detached from reality.”

That’s not the case, he said. There’s “a very rational thought process” that goes into planning and carrying out mass shootings.

Describing Vaughan as one of the country’s largest small towns, its mayor Steven Del Duca said people tend to know each other and talk freely in the community. 

“What would have driven an individual to take matters into their own hands this way, were there breakdowns in the process, were there other issues affecting this particular individual,” Del Duca. “Just lots of issues that will need to be addressed. And I’m pretty sure York Region Police, they know that.” 

A mass shooting of this size would barely draw notice in the U.S, but, in gun paranoid Canada, we got tweets of condolences from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

In a lengthy video posted to Facebook hours before the killings — but which he says was shot on Dec. 13 – the suspected shooter, now dead, listed the people he blamed for his illness and for his losses in an ongoing court case. 

His statements are full of religious fervour and deep-seated paranoia about the people he believes conspired to hurt him and ruin his life. 

Villi calls out Solmar, the company that built the Bellaria condo development where he lived, his own lawyer, and various other people who are believed to be condo board members and officers. 

In the 16-minute video, he talks about these people being killers, stating, “They are murdering me in my own home for self interest and for money … they have harmed me enough for seven years.” 

And he accuses people of bribing and manipulating judges. 

“They want me dead. You can take this body but never this soul, this spirit … God will see me through. I am ready to die.” 

The Andrew Lawton Show | Is the Freedom Convoy making a comeback?

By
Andrew Lawton
-

Ottawa’s police chief has said he will not allow a repeat of the Freedom Convoy as several people involved in the original trucker-led protest earlier this year say they want to return to Ottawa in February. Do you think it’s possible to replicate the Convoy – and should people even try? True North’s Andrew Lawton, author of a #1 bestseller about the convoy, shares his thoughts.

Plus, the City of Oshawa has fined a woman for giving the homeless food and necessities on the weekend. Ashley Wickett joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to explain what happened.

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Alberta’s new civil liberties parliamentary secretary tasked with taking on Bill C-18

By
Rachel Parker
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Alberta’s new parliamentary secretary for civil liberties has been tasked with fighting the federal government’s proposed Bill C-18, legislation that has been dubbed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “online censorship” bill.

The new role will be filled by United Conservative Party MLA Tracy Allard, who was appointed to the position last week.

According to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office, Allard will report to Justice Minister Tyler Shandro as she determines what steps can be taken to challenge C-18. The province says the bill will “limit the Charter Rights and Freedoms of Canadians by affecting independent news outlets, content creators, and every Canadian who uses online media.”

Federal Conservative MPs have called C-18 an affront to the freedom of the press and an attempt by the Liberal government to stack the cards in their favour. 

“Simply put, this law would force Facebook, Google and other Internet companies to prioritize CBC and other government-approved news outlets on our feed over the smaller alternative news media platforms that may be more critical of the NDP-Liberal view of the world,” Conservative MP Brad Redekopp said on Dec. 13, before the House sent the bill to the Senate.

Facebook has warned the Canadian government that it could block access to news sharing for Canadian users, should the bill become law. 

Allard has also been tasked with looking into further steps to protect law-abiding firearms owners. The Alberta government is already recommending prosecutors don’t pursue charges against firearms owners whose guns were deemed illegal under the Trudeau government’s 2020 order in council.

But Smith wants Allard to find more protection for hunters, farmers and target shooters who face criminalization under an amendment to Bill C-21, currently being examined by a Parliamentary committee. 

The position will fall under the Justice ministry’s purview, but Allard will report to Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis as she investigates potential police reforms. The new premier wants Allard to look into issues related to the use of force and police oversight with the goal of increasing transparency, accountability and fairness in the administration of policing services.

She’ll also assess whether amendments to legislation are required to better protect Albertans’ rights and civil liberties.

During the UCP leadership race, Smith was known for aggressively attacking Covid-19 restrictions. She promised never to lockdown the province again, to resist federal pressure to do so, and to do away with vaccine and mask mandates.

Last month, Smith made good on her promise to ban masks in schools through regulatory changes. She also announced that she won’t permit schools to move classes entirely online anymore. 

Ontario NDP’s gender-affirming health bill labeled a “flawed proposal”

By
Noah Jarvis
-

The Ontario NDP is facing backlash for a bill they’ve tabled that seeks to expand “gender-affirming health care” in the province.

Bill 42, if passed, would compel Ontario’s Minister of Health to create a “Gender Affirming Health Care Advisory Committee” to improve access and coverage for procedures and treatments that align with a patient’s gender identity.

The Canadian Gender Report, a non-profit that raises concerns about the gender transition of children, called the bill a “flawed proposal that should be rejected.”

The proposed committee would make recommendations on how to expand the province’s coverage by reducing wait times for gender-affirming care, reducing referral requirements to access transgender care, and redefine gender-affirming care as a “lifesaving procedure.” 

The bill also says the committee must consist of transgender people, two-spirit people, non-binary people, intersex people and “gender diverse communities.”

The Canadian Gender Report, in an open letter, criticizes the bill for the voices it seeks to both include and exclude.

“For example, there is a large cohort of people who experience gender distress as children but found that it resolved without the need to transition,” reads the letter. “Additionally, there is a rapidly growing group of detransitioners who have found that gender affirming care harmed their physical and mental health.”

They also point to countries like the United Kingdom and Sweden, which have rejected the practice of delivering gender-affirming care to minors.

“Three national health systems – Finland, Sweden, and the UK – have conducted systematic evidence reviews on the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors. They have all rejected the affirmation model of care in favour of an approach that prioritizes mental health,” the letter continues.

According to Bill 42, the committee would be tasked with expanding insurance coverage for cosmetic transgender treatments never before covered under the Health Insurance Act, like facial feminization surgery and chest contouring. 

The politician behind the bill, NDP MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam, wrote an op-ed arguing that transgender Ontarians face significant discrimination and that the passage of Bill 42 is the first step in fixing a healthcare system in crisis.

“The timely passing of my private member’s bill will be the first step in reversing a health care system that had abandoned select Ontarians. If the Premier and Minister of Health are serious about fixing the health care system, then they can demonstrate their support by allowing the expedited passage of my bill with all-party unanimous consent and support.”

Wong-Tam also claimed that backlash against gender-affirming care in the United States is motivated by “right-wing zealots” and compared opposition to gender-affirming care to white supremacy. 

While Bill 42 was introduced by a member of the official opposition, it is unclear whether the Ford government will oppose the Bill, as the Progressive Conservatives allowed the legislation to be carried through to second reading in the last legislative session.

The Ontario PCs have been largely silent on their position regarding the bill, as no MPPs opposed the tabling of the legislation in the current and previous legislative sessions.

Bill 42 arrives at a time when there are growing concerns around the way gender ideology is becoming mainstream in institutions.

School boards across Ontario have been administering student censuses asking children for their gender identity and sexual orientation and even asking students if they are aware of breast binding, genital tucking, and other physical practices.

The Ottawa school board is in the process of hiring a “Trans and Gender Diverse Student Support Coordinator,” a full-time position exclusively devoted to engaging with transgender students.

Plastics ban beginning Tuesday is “bad environmental policy,” says industry group

By
Andrew Kozak
-

The federal Liberal government’s plan to ban single-use plastics begins Tuesday, but is being critiqued as both poor environmental policy and for potentially worsening inflation.

The new ban will limit single-use plastic items such as plastic bags, straws, cutlery, polystyrene food containers, and six-pack rings. It first affects manufacturers and importers before impacting consumers later next year. Businesses will be asked to use up their current supply before the end of 2023.

Industry professionals are concerned about the impact the ban will have on small businesses.

“It’s sold under false pretenses,” said Catherine Swift, President of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada, in an interview with True North. “The replacements are even worse and they cost more.”

A 2011 research paper produced by the Northern Ireland Assembly found that it “takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.”

“30,000 cotton bags can be packed into a 20-foot container, but the same container will accommodate 2.5 million plastic carrier-bags. Therefore, to transport the same number of jute or cotton bags 80x more ships would be required than for plastic bags, using 80x more fuel, using 80x more road space and emitting 80x more CO2.” wrote the paper.

“It is bad environmental policy,” added Swift. Due to higher costs, “it’s bad for rising inflation in every industry.”

Swift said that Canadian businesses have become real innovators in the plastics industry, even producing plastic bags that are 50% recyclable. 

“It is just virtue-signalling,” said Swift. “This policy won’t have a big impact and we should be doing sensible things that would be good for the environment.”

Swift warns that due to the ban, Canadian consumers will need to pay more for products that are lower quality. “The industry is very innovative and we can do better,” said Swift. “We can teach the world how to use plastics responsibly.”

Jasmin Guenette, VP of National Affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said in an interview with True North that earlier this year they recommended to the government that the ban be delayed in order to allow businesses to fully recover from the pandemic.

“52% of small businesses are still earning below pre-pandemic levels,” said Guenette. “The plastics ban could increase their costs of business.

“This policy forces businesses to change their models based on a political decision,” added Guenette. “The government should help businesses while they adjust.”

Alexandre Meterissian, who represents the Responsible Plastic Use Coalition (RPUC), told True North that they have filed a legal case against the government designating plastics as toxic. They hope for the case to be heard in court in March 2023.

Canadians thought vaccine campaign was “threatening” and “bossy,” government survey found

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Canadians surveyed by Health Canada during a series of focus groups reacted negatively to several aspects of a mass campaign to encourage Covid-19 vaccination.

When presented with a series of concept videos on the topics of getting a booster vaccine and vaccinating children, participants raised concerns about federal directives to get a Covid-19 shot because they were too “bossy” and “authoritative.”

The $233,291 survey was conducted by Quorus Consulting Group Inc. on behalf of the department and included 45 focus groups between March 15, 2021 to July 28, 2022. 

“The main weakness in the concept was the part of the tagline in both storyboards that reads “Get vaccinated” as many participants believe that getting vaccinated remains a choice and that they are not receptive to any messaging that is telling them what do to,” wrote Health Canada.

Participants also perceived the order to “get vaccinated” as “an order rather than a suggestion” and that it was “too authoritative.” 

“A concern raised by a few participants was that the ad seemed unrealistic because it seemed to suggest that if children get vaccinated, they can immediately start socializing, which to them seemed to contradict suggestions by public health authorities,” explained researchers.

“A few also felt the tagline was a bit “bossy” and should suggest parents get their children vaccinated rather than telling them to do so.” 

Focus group subjects also reacted strongly to ads instructing children to get vaccinated with some seeing the ad as “threatening.”

“Alternatively, some participants perceived the ad as threatening, thinking that it was suggesting children would not be able to return to fall activities if they did not get vaccinated. As well, a few felt that it played on guilt rather than factual information by leaving the viewer feeling like they are bad parents if they choose not to vaccinate their children,” explained researchers. 

Earlier this year the City of Toronto had to pause a child vaccination campaign over similar concerns after facing public backlash over videos showing unvaccinated children being prevented from playing outside. 

City of Toronto spokesperson Brad Ross told True North that the ads were “designed to engage parents and caregivers about the availability and efficacy of vaccines for children.”

“(They) have all been paused while being reviewed to ensure the messages are clear and unambiguous.” 

Canadians in the Health Canada study were also concerned about the neutrality of the experts presented to them as authorities by the federal government.

“For the most part, participants are looking for someone who is above all neutral and unbiased, meaning they are not connected to the pharmaceutical companies producing the vaccines, nor are they connected to the government, who, for many, is seen as predisposed to wanting Canadians to get vaccinated,” a research summary reads. 

As exclusively reported by True North, several media outlets throughout Canada failed to disclose the pharmaceutical funding of medical professionals presented in reporting as experts on Covid-19 vaccination.

The Daily Brief | Freedom Convoy 2.0?

By
Anthony Furey
-
Darrin Calcutt

Will the new year bring a new Freedom Convoy? Some organizers from last year’s convoy are planning a Freedom Convoy 2.0 for February, but Ottawa Police service is already claiming they won’t allow a repeat.

Plus, more Canadians than ever are struggling to afford holiday spending due to the rising cost of living.

And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending his government’s gun grab scheme, claiming that they’re not going after hunters but are going after “some of the guns used to do it.”

Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Rachel Emmanuel.

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