Nearly five thousand children were cited for breaking the Quarantine Act and another 60,000 children under 18 were issued warnings by the suspension of the Act on Oct 1, 2022 according to documents obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The citations were described as “a warning issued in person by a law enforcement officer as a result of non-compliance identified either at the port of entry or during a police check at the traveler’s quarantine address,” wrote Cabinet in an Inquiry of Ministry tabled to the House of Commons.
Most warnings were issued to parents or guardians by inspectors from the Public Health Agency (PHAC). The Agency has issued nearly $15 million in quarantine fines ranging from $100 for children to $275 for travellers suspected of providing false statements. $500 fines were given for “failure to comply with a reasonable measure,” and up to $1,000 fines for illegally entering the country.
More than 48,000 warnings have also been issued to children under 18 over the phone as a result of non-compliance discovered during a verification call, according to the documents. PHAC has not been able to confirm the exact age of travellers who have received warnings.
“Quarantine should never have entered the Canadian vocabulary, especially for the Heathy!” wrote a user on Twitter. “Healthy people sitting home without symptoms for two weeks in what was such a pathetically arrogant policy due to inadequate Health Care.”
Quarantine should never have entered the Canadian vocabulary, especially for the Heathy! Healthy people sitting home without symptoms for two weeks in what was such a pathetically arrogant policy due to inadequate Heath Care & now we somehow traded masks for basic medications
From March 2020 to August 2021, the Agency spent $614 million to administer quarantine orders, Covid-19 testing and housing travellers at designated quarantine facilities.
Under the Quarantine Act, dozens of Canadians were wrongly placed under mandatory quarantines due to the federal ArriveCan app. Despite the Trudeau government’s defence of ArriveCan, data shows a total of 1,651,900 travellers entered Canada this year without using the app.
These travellers had “presented themselves at the border for entry into Canada without having submitted their public health information through ArriveCan prior to arrival,” according to documents tabled in the House of Commons last summer.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is Canada’s most popular premier as 2022 comes to a close, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford continues to slide in the polls, a new Angus Reid poll found.
Among Quebec residents, 57% reported approval for Legault, a slight boost from earlier this year.
His Coalition Avenir Québec party won re-election in October, garnering a second consecutive majority government. In an inaugural speech on Nov. 30, Legault said he would preserve the French language and push for 100% of immigrants to speak French by 2026.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe fell just behind Legault, remaining one of the most popular provincial leaders in the country. He has the approval of 56% of residents. Moe’s government recently delivered around 450,000 $500 rebate checks to residents as a part of its affordability program.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston came third, receiving the approval of 53% of Nova Scotians for a second consecutive quarter.
Next came Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey with 47% approval, followed by BC Premier David Eby with 46%. Three-in-ten BC residents (28%) say they don’t know how they feel about their new premier who was elected on Nov. 18 by the governing NDP upon the resignation of John Horgan.
Another new premier, Alberta’s Danielle Smith, has the approval of 42% of Albertans.
Smith took the premiership after winning the United Conservative Party leadership race in October. Late last month, she tabled her proposed Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act in the Alberta Legislature, which she pitched during the leadership race to bar federal legislation deemed harmful to the province.
Angus Reid Institute polling previously found majority opposition in Alberta to the Act, which Smith said she hopes “to never use” while sending a message to Ottawa.
After securing a majority government in the spring general election, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s approval ratings remain low, with just one-in-three Ontarians (34%) giving Ford the green light.
The low numbers trail a flurry of controversy for the Progressive Conservative premier, who recently invoked the notwithstanding clause to ban Ontario education union members from striking and impose a new contract upon them. However, his government eventually reversed course following national criticism, including from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs’ approval is at 28%, his lowest rating. The numbers come after Trudeau criticized his handling of a review of the Official Languages Act. Higgs delayed reviewing recommendations for the Act and described the official languages commissioner as a “negative” office.
Finally, Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson ends the year where she started — at the bottom of the Angus Reid approval ratings with 26%. The poll found that of the 499 Manitobans surveyed, 4% strongly approved of Stefanson, while 23% approved.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from Nov. 28 – Dec. 3, 2022, among a representative randomized sample of 5,030 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum.
The head of one of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies says that he hasn’t heard any concerns from investors when it comes to the passing of Alberta’s Sovereignty Act this week.
On Tuesday, Cenovus announced it will invest billions in 2023 to expand operations and other companies in the sector are following suit.
In a recent interview, Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix said he has not heard any worries from investors in the field about the legislation which aims to prevent federal overreach on provincial jurisdiction including natural resources.
“I have not heard anything from investors worrying about that at this point,” said Pourbaix.
Pourbaix downplayed statements issued by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers expressing concerns about the bill scaring off investors from Alberta.
“I suspect those initial comments about the bill were really directed at ensuring any legislation maintains investor confidence,” said Pourbaix.
The company’s 2023 budget includes upwards of $4.5 billion in spending. Nearly $1.7 billion of that capital will go towards optimization and growth including constructing the West White Rose project in Atlantic Canada.
The remainder will go towards maintaining base operations and capital expenditures.
“We’re pursuing strategic initiatives in 2023 that will both enhance our integrated business today and drive our ability to continue growing shareholder returns into the future,” said Cenovus CEO Alex Pourbaix in a press release.
“In addition, we continue delivering on our commitments to shareholders, including being well on our way to reaching our net debt floor of $4 billion around year end 2022. This will see us return 100% of excess free funds flow to shareholders while at that level.”
The company projects 800,000 barrels of oil per day in upstream production next year – a 3% increase when compared to 2022.
Prior to Cenovus’ announcement, Suncor Energy also revealed it would be boosting capital spending to $5.6 billion or 11% more than what it spent in 2022.
Other companies, like MEG Energy have also reported double-digit increases in spending for the upcoming year. The latest budget for the oil sands company totals $450 million or a 20% year-over-year increase.
Despite turbulence due to the fallout from Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Canadian oil and gas sector is projected to see fair weather in 2023.
In November the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC) predicted that 6,409 new oil wells will be drilled in Canada providing over 42,000 jobs by next year.
“2022 was an exciting year for the Canadian energy services sector following a seven-year industry slowdown. Drilling activity for oil and natural gas remained steady throughout the year with high commodity prices and modest improvements in capital markets,” said CAOEC President Mar A. Scholz.
“In 2023, we expect to lead the industry forward as we embark on the energy transformation.”
Vancouver City Council passed a motion to require police officers in the city to be equipped with body cameras after receiving overwhelming support by Mayor Ken Sim and associated councillors.
The Tuesday Council Members’ Motion titled Implementing Body-Worn Cameras (BWC) for the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) was submitted by Councillor Lenny Zhou who says there’s plenty of evidence to support the effectiveness of body cameras.
“There is now an extensive body of academic research on BWC and its applications. It has shown to decrease the number of public complaints against police officers as well as to decrease the use of force by police officers,” wrote Zhou.
On Wednesday, the motion was passed to a standing committee for debate and an eventual vote. Seven out of ten ABC Vancouver city councillors, including Zhou, voted to approve the plans. Three councillors held out. ABC Vancouver is a registered municipal party.
Zhou hopes that body cameras will be worn by all front-line and patrol officers by 2025.
The motion itself calls on Mayor Sim to notify the Vancouver Police Board of Council’s support for the policy and to initiate the program’s implementation by working with stakeholders.
A report with information and recommendations is expected by early 2024.
During this fall’s municipal election, the pledge to introduce body cams on all VPD officers by 2025 was a key part of Sim’s tough on crime message.
”I do support body cameras in the sense that they do reduce investigation costs, they hold people accountable—police officers and the general public,” Sim said during Wednesday’s debate on the matter.
My 1st motion passed. I'm proud of bringing it forward because it'll improve public safety, enhance accountability & transparency. It's evidence based! Grateful for all my fellow councillors regardless the vote, city staffs & people who brought it to our attention during election pic.twitter.com/313RiiX4EZ
Vancouver has been reeling from a spike in violent incidents which has resulted in four random attacks on strangers per day according to police statistics from last year.
“Over the last few months, we’ve noticed what appears to be an uptick in unprovoked stranger attacks, so we asked our strategic researchers to take a deep dive into the numbers. What they found is concerning: over four people a day are the target of a random, unprovoked assault,” wrote the VPD on Twitter.
Last week, newly elected trustees on the Vancouver School Board also voted to reintroduce police liaisons into local schools, citing increased concerns around student safety.
“Subsequent to the discontinuation of the SLO program in June 2021, the city has seen a marked increase in incidents involving Vancouver youth, leading the (Vancouver Police Department) to raise an alarm in the spring of 2022 in response to a series of “troubling and violent” swarmings, robberies, and attacks on teens,” wrote Trustee Preeti Faridkot.
A former Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) vice chair is warning that a new clause introduced to Bill C-11 by the Senate poses numerous legal hurdles on top of the extraordinary powers the regulator is expected to undertake.
As reported by University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist in his blog, the Senate adopted an amendment to the internet regulation bill on Tuesday which would require age verification for online undertakings.
“Online undertakings shall implement methods such as age-verification methods to prevent children from accessing programs on the Internet that are devoted to depicting, for a sexual purpose, explicit sexual activity,” the clause states.
Former CRTC vice-chair Peter Menzies told True North that there are “numerous legal and privacy issues” to the proposal and it could take years for the CRTC to navigate.
“Age verification can lead to numerous legal and privacy issues that will further complicate life for the CRTC as it is about to be handed extremely imprecise authorities over the global internet,” said Menzies, who previously worked as news media executive, in an emailed statement.
“These are all going to take years to deal with and, no, this is not the best use of the CRTC’s time. What will be amusing to watch is how the CRTC might try to manage restricting access while at the same time working with producers to increase the “discoverability” of Canadian porn and other content.”
Menzies also predicted that the CRTC will likely opt to ask pornography producers to establish their own practices to limit access to minors – one possibility being to limit streaming of adult content past 8 p.m.
“At the end of the day, porn streamers are extremely popular and profitable and I have no doubt the regulated Canadian film and TV production industry is anxious to enjoy their financial contribution to the funds they depend upon,” said Menzies.
Meanwhile, Geist warned that the age-verification requirement could extend to a plethora of services and platforms.
“Age verification would raise a host of concerns, including privacy risks from collecting age data from millions of Canadians,” wrote Geist.
“This is a stunning addition to Bill C-11 that makes a bad bill dramatically worse. Further, it is discouraging that some of the same senators that have insisted on the risks to freedom of expression that arise from regulating user content in the bill would support implementing age verification for access that could easily extend to commonly used sites and services.”
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s Sovereignty Act legislation passed the Alberta legislature early Thursday morning, just ten days after being tabled.
The United Conservative Party (UCP) majority government passed motions at the final three stages of the bill to limit debate and quicken the bill’s passage.
In its final form, Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, was stripped of a provision which would have granted Smith’s cabinet the power to rewrite laws outside the legislative process. Following criticism, the government put forward amendments to remove those powers, but the premier wouldn’t say whether the original wording was intentional.
The UCP government did pass an amendment to affirm that the Alberta Legislature has the last word on lawmaking.
The house then moved to third reading and the bill was approved around 1 a.m. MT Thursday.
The final vote was 27-7, with Opposition NDP MLAs voting against Bill 1. The NDP also voted against the amendment and the bill at all three readings.
Speaking during the third reading debate, Smith said it’s time to reset the relationship with the Trudeau Liberals.
“It’s not like Ottawa is a national government,” she said.
The government says Bill 1 would allow the province “to stand up to federal government overreach and interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction, including… private property, natural resources, agriculture, firearms, regulation of the economy and delivery of health, education and other social programs.”
The bill lays out a legislative framework for Alberta to formally defend its provincial jurisdiction while respecting Indigenous and treaty rights, Canada’s Constitution and the courts.
When it was introduced, Smith said she hopes the province will “never have to use this bill.”
“It begins the conversation with Ottawa so that they do not continue to pass aggressive policy targeted specifically at our industry and specifically at our development of our natural resources,” she said.
Smith first pitched an Alberta Sovereignty Act during the UCP leadership race to bar federal legislation deemed harmful to the province and its interests.
An intrusive and nonsensical survey that asks students as young as nine years old whether they’re “gender fluid, intersex, non-binary, trans or two-spirit” was administered quietly by the Waterloo Region District School Board in mid-November, True North has learned.
The 22-page Caring and Inclusive School Survey is remarkably similar to the one planned for students in the Toronto District School Board in early November– until the media and parents caught wind of it and it was put on hold.
This one was administered between Nov. 14 and 25 seemingly without parental consent.
One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told True North he learned about the survey through a board Instagram post.
The parent said the link implies that parents were asked to help complete the survey questions, which is “not true” and there was “no consent” gathered from parents prior to its circulation.
He also said that in the information that was provided, nothing was said about the sexual questions contained in the survey.
Students from Grade 4-12 were all given the same survey – which focuses mainly on feelings and social-emotional concerns in addition to gender and racial groups.
Besides asking students their gender identity/sexuality, the survey lists several racial groups from which students are able to pick, including black, Inuit, Latino, MIddle Eastern, southeast Asian, south Asian and Metis.
White is the last option.
In one section on “Empathy and Optimism” students are asked to agree or disagree with such psychobabble as: “I am a person who cares about the feelings of others” and “I believe more good things than bad things will happen to me.”
In another section labeled “Self-Concept, Sadness and Anxiety” the amateur shrinks at the WRDSB ask students whether they feel “unhappy” a lot of time or whether they “do things wrong a lot.”
Another highly nonsensical section, called “Satisfaction with Life” prompts students to respond to statements such as, “In many ways my life is close to the way I would want it to be”; “So far I have gotten the important things I want in life” and this absolutely ridiculous statement, “If I could live my life over, I would have it the same way.”
Think about that for a moment. A student is being asked to reflect on their life experiences at the age of 9 and up.
Under Nutrition and Sleep the survey asks students to provide information on how often parents or other family members eat meals with them and how often they have pop, candy, potato chips or something else – both none of the school board’s business, in my view.
The amateur shrinks return to their line of questioning at the end of the survey when they ask students to respond to such statements as: “When I’m sad, I can usually start doing something that makes me feel better” and “When I have a serious disagreement with someone I can talk calmly about it without losing control.”
On its website, WRDSB officials provide assurances the responses will be “kept confidential” although after contacting the board, the father who relayed his experience to True North said he got the impression it would not be anonymous.
The board also contended that the survey results will be used to “inform activities to enhance school engagement, positive learning experiences and academic success.”
Cristina Bairos Fernandes ran a feisty campaign as a voice for change on the Waterloo Region District School Board. She did not win.
She feels the questions are “inappropriate” and that the majority of the survey came across as a “complete mind game.”
Curious to know how many parents of students in Gr4-12 knew about the @wrdsb 'Safe, Caring &Inclusive School Survey (SCIS) &the questions it contained? . This is not a test. I repeat #thisisnotatestpic.twitter.com/bUHlk0joNj
— Cristina Bairos Fernandes, 🇨🇦🇵🇹🚩 (@CrisBairosFern) December 6, 2022
“My goodness if you weren’t self-conscious when you started you will be by question 95 of this test of self-confidence,” she said. “I honestly would really like to know the credentials of the individuals or group that wrote this survey.
“I am doubtful that this interrogation is psychologically kosher.”
She says she can’t believe that educators would ask or need to know her child’s sexuality.
When she was in school, she says, teachers didn’t even disclose their first names to students.
“Currently we have educators divulging their sexual preferences,” she said.
Bairos-Fernandes said she had several parents reach out as soon as the survey was distributed, asking if it was even legal for adults to be asking minors about their sexuality.
She said another mother messaged her to say her kids’ sexuality is no one’s business. She told Bairos-Fernandes that her kids are at school to learn, make friends and prepare them for life – and that she finds it “super creepy” that the board is giving sexuality so much focus.
Liberal MP Brendan Hanley, representing Yukon, says he won’t support the latest gun control measures proposed by the Trudeau government.
“This is really upsetting. Many Yukoners … regularly hunt, either as a food source or for the recreational aspects of hunting,” Hanley told CBC News. “I’m not happy with this and I’m not in a position to support this bill at this point with those amendments in play,” he said.
Bill C-21 started as a ban on handguns but recent amendments have expanded the list of firearms the government plans on restricting to include long guns. The proposed amendment would seek to ban nearly all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns in Canada.
Hanley says these new amendments are “fundamentally” changing the original bill.
“I’ve had more emails on this subject than on anything I’ve received over the last year,” said Hanely on Whitehorse’s local radio The Rush. “It’s a really contentious item.”
“I’ve been hearing from everyday hunters… who are seeing this as going too far into an area that’s very sensitive for Yukoners.” Hanley said.
On Monday, Trudeau addressed concerns over the amendments.
“We’re listening to feedback now, to make sure that we’re not capturing weapons that are primarily hunting weapons,” said Trudeau in a presser. “We’re not going after hunting rifles or shotguns, we’re targeting the most dangerous weapons.”
But Eric Schroff, the director of the Yukon Fish and Game Association, says more clarification is needed.
“Where did this come from?” Schroff told CBC News. “We’re not aware of a lot of dialogue that occurred between the federal government and safety ministers around this issue.” Schroff said there should have been more conversations about gun legislation with rural people and hunters that are included in organizations such as his.
“It’s easy for someone who’s not a hunter or someone who’s not from small rural parts of Canada like we are to say that this won’t have any effect on people,” he said. “If they’d been willing to talk to people they would have heard that this type of a ban will affect the hunters in Canada and rural Canada.”
Hanley says the definitions in the amendments need to be clearer. “We know that there are these grey areas. For instance, semi-automatic rifles that are used legitimately in hunting and right now appear to fit some of those definitions,” he said.
“We need to take some time and really do the consultation with northerners, Yukoners, Indigenous Yukoners so that there’s clarification of the definitions and an understanding that we don’t encroach on hunting firearms used in the Yukon.”
Last month, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre came out against the Liberals’ proposed amendments to ban almost all semi-automatic rifles and shotguns.
“I oppose both Bill C-21 and the amendments that they most recently brought in. This amendment effectively bans hundreds of thousands, if not millions of firearms that are in Canada today that are used for hunting. These are hunting rifles and hunting shotguns,” Poilievre told True North in an interview with Andrew Lawton.
The federal government has awarded an RCMP contract to a Chinese company facing espionage charges in the U.S. – and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is demanding the Liberals cancel it.
And another rate hike from the Bank of Canada – this one sending interest rates to the highest they’ve been since 2008. What does this mean for regular Canadians?
Plus, one violence plagued Toronto high school has gotten so out of hand that, according to internal government documents sourced by True North, students were compiling a “jump list” of teachers to assault.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Jasmine Moulton!
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on the Liberals to immediately scrap a contract with a Chinese company over national security concerns.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government faced a flurry of questions from the Official Opposition in the House of Commons on Wednesday after it was reported by CBC that Ottawa had awarded a contract for sensitive RCMP communications equipment to a company facing espionage charges in the US.
The $549,637 contract in question was awarded on Oct. 6, 2021 to Sinclair Technologies – a company directed by China-based Hytera Communications. The contract was awarded to the company despite a Quebec-based competitor also submitting a bid.
Pierre Poilievre slams Justin Trudeau for the RCMP anti-surveillance equipment contract awarded to a company with alleged links to the Chinese Communist Party. pic.twitter.com/gS2738ACmH
“Yes, it should be cancelled and Justin Trudeau is responsible. He is the head of government. This is a government contract. Let’s put this into perspective. This is a contract for anti-eaves dropping technology to be used by our (federal) police force that was awarded to a company whose owner is charged with 21 potential espionage crimes in the United States of America,” said Poilievre while speaking to reporters.
“It’s almost something that you’d expect to be out of a spy novel but characters in spy novels would never be that incompetent. So the prime minister has to take the responsibility for his own government rather than trying to blame everyone else all the time.”
Last year Hytera was blacklisted by the United States Federal Communications Commission citing “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.”
On top of the fact that the company is owned in part by the Chinese government, changes to Chinese law implemented by President Xi Jinping in 2017 require companies operating in China to cooperate with the communist country’s intelligence operations should the need arise.
“How did this government think it was a good idea to give a company accused of espionage the control of our technology?”
Conservative leader @PierrePoilievre slams the govt for hiring Sinclair Technologies whose parent company Hytera is facing 21 charges of espionage in the US. pic.twitter.com/BKJ0JFV3ad
This latest debacle rekindled concerns about what influence Chinese tech has on Canadian infrastructure after the Liberal government took years to ban the Chinese company Huawei from using its technology in Canada’s 5G network.
Concerns about Chinese espionage in Canada came to a head last month when it was revealed that Hydro-Quebec researcher Yuesheng Wang was arrested on a slate of charges including obtaining “state secrets to benefit the People’s Republic of China, to the detriment of Canada’s economic interests” according to the RCMP.
