Statistics Canada data shows that Canada’s homicide rate went up in 2021 – the third year the national murder rate has continued to climb.
In their latest report Homicide trends in Canada, 2021, the department reported 788 homicides last year or 29 more than in 2020.
Overall the homicide rate went up by 3% last year. Nearly one quarter, or 23% of all murders, were a result of gang-related violence. Meanwhile, spousal violence accounted for 17% of all homicides.
Despite the Liberal government implementing several gun control measures, firearms remained the number one murder weapon.
“Among firearm-related homicides, handguns were the primary type of firearm used (57%), followed by rifles and shotguns (26%),” wrote analysts.
“Almost half (46%) of firearm-related homicides were identified as gang-related. Overall, the national firearm-related homicide rate increased by 6% compared with 2020, from 0.73 to 0.78 per 100,000 population.”
Cities with the highest rates of homicide were Regina, Winnipeg and Thunder Bay.
Data was gathered from police report surveys submitted to Statistics Canada by law enforcement agencies across Canada.
Law enforcement officials have criticized the Liberal government’s approach to tackling crime. In October, Edmonton Police Service Chief Dale McFee told the House of Commons public safety committee that the latest handgun ban would lead to a short-term spike in criminal trafficking.
“In the short term we can expect those wanting to acquire guns will find alternatives including increased incidences of smuggling,” said McFee.
Others including Toronto Police Service deputy chief Myron Demkiw has stated that current legislation would not deal with the city’s crime problem.
“Our problem in Toronto are handguns from the United States,” Demkiw told parliamentarians in February.
“The issues around investing in what you described is certainly not going to deal with the crime problem we’re facing in Toronto, as it relates to the use of criminal handguns.”
Tensions ran high during today’s Public Order Emergency Commission hearing as Commissioner Paul Rouleau ejected Freedom Convoy lawyer Brendan Miller while Miller attempted to raise issues regarding outstanding motions about the government’s redaction of documents. True North’s Andrew Lawton discusses the explosive turn in the proceedings in this live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show. Also, world leaders descended on Egypt for COP27 – or the big Sharm El-Sheikhdown. ClimateDepot.com‘s Marc Morano joins Andrew to break down the eco-virtue signalling global leaders are partaking in, and how climate lockdowns will soon replace Covid lockdowns. Also, what does Alberta’s new premier mean for Alberta’s energy sector? Alberta Proud president Lindsay Wilson weighs in.
More Canadian parents are choosing alternatives to public education, a new study has found.
According to the think tank Cardus, the number of independent schools in Ontario has grown by 52% since 2013.
The report, titled Naturally Diverse: The Landscape of Independent Schools in Ontario found that there are at least 1,445 independent schools throughout Ontario.
In total, independent schools saw a surge of 29,531 new students from 2013 to 2020. According to the latest available data, there are over 154,000 students enrolled in an independent school throughout the province.
“Unlike Quebec and every Western province, Ontario offers zero taxpayer funding for independent schools, yet many parents value them enough to pay for tuition over and above the taxes they contribute towards district schools,” said Cardus education director David Hunt in a press release.
“Ontario’s Ministry of Education, political leaders, researchers, the media, and the public should seek to understand why our neighbours, friends, and family members are making these choices. We hope our report sheds new light.”
As per the Education Act, private or independent schools in Ontario “do not receive any funding or other financial support from” the provincial government.
According to OurKids, a directory of private and independent schools in Canada, average tuition costs range from $6,000 to $12,000 a year. More prestigious schools can cost up to $50,000 a year or more. Many schools also offer financial aid for pupils.
When broken down further, 40% of independent schools have a special focus like special education or Montessori. Nearly the same amount are classified as religious schools, with one in four being Jewish or Muslim. Cardus has found 21 different types of schools in the independent system.
“There is extraordinary diversity among Ontario’s independent schools,” writes Hunt. “Each school serves unique and specific student needs that district schools either don’t or can’t meet.”
Cardus has also called for direct funding for families when it comes to child care. In March, the Ontario government announced a $10.2 billion child-care deal, but according to the think tank many families will be left behind as they do not have children who attend a government-licensed day care.
Amid constant labour disputes between education unions and the provincial government, calls for alternative school choices have grown in Ontario.
School choice advocate and former executive director of the Society for Quality Education, Doretta Wilson, recently told True North that alternative schooling options can help alleviate the damage caused by teacher strikes.
“We’ve got to get around all of this constant labour strife. The way to do that is to offer some competition in the system and school choice is that competition,” said Wilson.
When the Taliban reclaimed Afghanistan last year, the country’s artists quickly scrambled to hide their creations or even destroy them. They knew what was to come.
Whenever the Islamic extremists had surged to power in the past, they moved swiftly to desecrate statues, paintings and other forms of artistic expression throughout the country – both in people’s homes and private galleries as well as throughout public institutions.
The most infamous example of the Taliban destroying culture came when they tore down the massive Buddhas of Bamiyan statues, which climbed some 50 feet high into the sky.
That desecration garnered a lot of headlines when it happened in 2001. Yet, 20 years later, it’s not the Taliban’s destruction of art that’s making the news (although they’re no doubt still at it). Now it’s environmental activists who are destroying culture in their pursuit of an extremist agenda.
This past year activists in England, Europe and Australia have vandalized artwork by legendary painters including da Vinci, Van Gogh, Botticelli, John Constable and Andy Warhol. And it’s now come to Canada.
Earlier this month, two extremists from British Columbia threw maple syrup on a painting by Emily Carr at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
What’s bizarre is that so far there have been no charges despite the fact the attackers have not only been identified but gone on to publicly brag about their acts.
The anti-oil organization Stop Fracking Around actually distributed a photo to media outlets of Erin Fletcher and Emily Kelsall posing proudly before their vandalism.
Kelsall, who has been writing this year for the online Canadian publication the National Observer, even gave an interview to CBC rationalizing the attack.
“I think any amount of publicity we can get as an organization is worth it because the climate crisis is the most pressing crisis of our time,” Kelsall said.
This obviously doesn’t make any sense. Then again neither do the edicts of the Taliban.
We can and should hold Fletcher, Kelsall and all the other art vandals accountable for their misdeeds. But we also need to address how these things aren’t happening in a vacuum.
The rhetoric around climate issues has stepped up in recent years. It’s now commonplace for mainstream news sites and politicians to cavalierly toss around phrases like “climate disaster” and even “climate apocalypse.”
This sort of language messes people up. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s annual report now includes a section on how pondering all of this climate talk is causing mental health challenges among some people.
When it comes to Canadian politics, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has such a disproportionate fixation on the issue that he’s not only content to jack up the current carbon tax and bring in a second one (the Clean Fuel Standard) as consumers already grapple with inflation, but he’s willing to risk our food supply by threatening to mandate fertilizer reduction.
So what’s a little damaged art along the way? Engaging in all sorts of random ritualistic acts of cultural desecration is just par for the course if you believe the apocalypse is imminent.
Maybe – here’s a crazy thought – we rein these nutters in a bit by cooling the rhetoric.
The bulk of the reporting on the Emily Carr attack was written up as if it was a rational, if slightly inappropriate action. That’s a problem.
And it doesn’t seem like Trudeau or Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault have signaled any sort of disapproval to it. While I don’t think cabinet ministers should be randomly tweeting about breaking events, the truth is that they already do it when it fits their narrative and appeals to their base.
Guilbeault is an elder statesman of the climate protest crowd. Every political watcher has by now seen that image of Guileault smirking like the Joker as he’s being taken away by police from the base of the CN Tower for an illegal stunt he performed there.
Is Guilbeault quietly applauding the art vandals? Maybe. Or maybe he disapproves. If he does think it’s too much, he should say so. His words would go a long way.
Until then – until someone like Guilbeault or Trudeau or David Suzuki tells the zealots to simmer down – the Taliban-lite tactics will likely continue. Let’s just hope they don’t get worse.
On Day 27 of the Emergencies Act hearings, Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair was the first cabinet minister to testify and it was revealed he urged the government to “keep the language down” prior to the prime minister calling the Freedom Convoy a fringe minority with unacceptable views. Also, CSIS director David Vigneault confirmed that he advised Trudeau to invoke the never-before-used Act despite acknowledging that the Convoy did not meet the threshold of a national security threat.
Plus, from TERFS to Trump – a swath of big names, including some Canadians, are back on Twitter thanks to Elon Musk.
And despite reports that CSIS officials presented briefings to Trudeau and his cabinet in January, the prime minister is now claiming that he was never briefed on the fact that 11 candidates were suspected of benefitting from Chinese government interference during the 2019 election.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Anthony Furey and Andrew Lawton!
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several of his cabinet ministers will appear before the Public Order Emergency Commission this week to justify the government’s use of the Emergencies Act to quash the Freedom Convoy.
Today, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino will appear before the inquiry.
On Day 27 of the Emergencies Act hearings, Canadian Security and Intelligence Service director David Vigneault confirmed that he advised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the Act despite acknowledging that the Freedom Convoy did not meet the threshold of a national security threat.
Vigneault advised the Prime Minister to invoke the Act on Feb. 13 – the day before Trudeau did so – while also stating clearly that a threat to national security as defined by Section 2 of the CSIS Act was not met.
When asked by Trudeau on Feb. 13 if he supported the decision to invoke the Act, Vigneault’s in-camera witness summary reads: “Mr. Vigneault explained that based on both his understanding that the Emergencies Act definition of threat to security of Canada was broader than the CSIS Act, as well as based on his opinion of everything that he had seen to that point, he advised the Prime Minister of his belief that it was indeed required to invoke the Emergencies Act.”
Prior testimony at the inquiry and evidence heard by the commission from Deputy Minister of Public Safety Rob Stewart indicates that Vigneault told cabinet on the 13th, “at no point did the Service assess that the protests in Ottawa or elsewhere constitute a threat to national security as defined by Section 2 of the CSIS Act,” and “CSIS cannot investigate activity constituting lawful protest.”
Under questioning from Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms lawyer Hatim Kheir, Vigneault was asked to explain how he could advise Trudeau to invoke the Act while also acknowledging in cabinet on the same day that the Convoy did not meet the legal threshold of a threat to national security required for the government to be justified in invoking the Act.
“The protest itself did not post a Section 2 threat to the security of Canada,” Kheir asked Vigneault.
“What we testified to is that we did not make a determination of the event itself – it is part of our testimony,” Vigneault responded.
“And yet you still advised the Prime Minister to invoke the Emergencies Act?” Kheir followed up.
“Yes, I did,” Vigneault responded.
“And you did that not because you thought that the protest was a threat to the security of Canada as defined in Section 2 of the Emergencies Act, but because you were reassured that the threat to the security of Canada had a different meaning in the context of the Emergencies Act?” Kheir asked.
“My testimony was based in part on that, but it was also based on all the other information I became aware of during all the other departmental meetings,” Vigneault responded.
Despite no confirmed threats to Canada, CSIS director David Vigneault says he still advised PM Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act, providing his opinion "as a national security adviser as opposed to the director of CSIS."#POECpic.twitter.com/3Qh1A4caPU
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association – an organization given standing by the Commission – released a statement Monday concerning the revelations surrounding Vigneault’s testimony.
“The government’s argument appears to be that the Emergencies Act doesn’t mean what it says. It is relying on this novel interpretation to justify its decision to invoke,” the statement reads.
The testimony of CSIS’ witnesses today at @POECommission confirms that CSIS expressed its view to the government that there was no threat to the security of Canada as required to trigger the Emergencies Act. #cdnpoli#EmergenciesActInquiry
— Canadian Civil Liberties Association (@cancivlib) November 21, 2022
Testifying after Vigneault was minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair, the first cabinet minister to testify at the Emergencies Act hearings.
Meeting notes disclosed at the inquiry between Blair and his counterparts in provincial and municipal governments revealed that the minister made a point of telling everyone involved to “keep the language down.”
Commission counsel asked Blair to explain further what this meant.
“I was concerned that inflammatory language could incite a more violent response,” Blair said.
“So minimize name calling, that sort of thing? Keep the language down, keep the rhetoric moderate on the government side?” Commission lawyers asked Blair.
“Quite frankly, I’m always concerned about fear,” Blair responded. “My advice to my colleagues was that we remain tempered in our language.”
This testimony flies in the face of comments made about the Freedom Convoy by Trudeau prior to the Convoy arriving in Ottawa and throughout the three week protest. Trudeau famously labeled the protesters as a “small fringe minority” who held “unacceptable views.”
When asked by Commission lawyers about the public enforcement operation carried out by law enforcement officials to clear the Freedom Convoy from Ottawa, Blair described the operation as “textbook,” “professional” and “proportional”.
"I've never seen it done better": Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair describes the joint police operation that ended the Freedom Convoy protest by force. Blair oversaw the Toronto police's controversial response to a G20 summit in 2010.
During the public enforcement operation in Ottawa, riot cops on horseback trampled on two protesters, enforcement officers shot a journalist with a tear gas canister, and one officer was seen on camera beating a protester with his rifle.
Testifying alongside Vigneault Monday morning was Michelle Tessier, the deputy director of operations at CSIS and Marie-Helene Chayer, the executive director of the CSIS Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre.
What happens next?
Hearings will resume tomorrow morning at 9:30 am ET.
Public safety minister Marco Mendicino and minister of intergovernmental relations Dominic Leblanc are scheduled to testify tomorrow. Justin Trudeau is scheduled to testify on Friday.
True North will continue to bring you daily coverage of the ongoing Public Order Emergency Commission.
Former Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz believes government red tape and over-regulation are sending Canada’s economic productivity down the drain.
While speaking about the country’s export potential during a Forum for International Trade Training webinar, Poloz pointed to the fact that Canada was second to last for productivity performance among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
“The living standard can’t be maintained with things like fiscal policy or good monetary policy. Those are just ingredients that can help around the edges,” said Poloz.
Poloz said that cumbersome regulatory processes have created too much uncertainty for businesses.
“We tend to get in our own way. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit around the productivity issue. It has to do with government regulations or processes for getting things done,” explained Poloz.
“If you’re putting headwinds in front of that all the time. Regulations are different one province to another or between the provinces and the feds. (Businesses) are not sure who’s in charge and who sets the scene and so on,” he continued.
“I do think that there’s a stronger incentive to clean up some of the regulatory issues, the red tape kind of issues or that sort of thing that’s slowing us down.”
Over the summer, a report by the CD Howe Institute also found that Canada was lagging behind other OECD countries for attracting investment.
“Business investment is so weak that capital per member of the labour force is falling, and the implications for incomes and competitiveness are ominous,” wrote researchers.
“Investment per available worker lower in Canada than abroad tells us that businesses see less opportunity in Canada, and prefigures weaker growth in Canadian earnings and living standards than in other OECD countries.”
In the House of Commons on Friday, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre blasted finance minister Chrystia Freeland for being “out of touch” on the state of the economy after claiming that inflation was going down.
“The reality is that inflation in Canada went down or remained stable for four consecutive months. That is good news, but we understand that Canadians are having a tough time. That is why we have a responsible and compassionate tax plan to help the most vulnerable Canadians,” said Freeland.
“She tells Canadians that they have never had it so good. She is out of touch, and Canadians are out of money. One of the reasons is the rising cost of fuel,” said Poilievre.
“Home heating bills are up 77% in Newfoundland and Labrador. There are similar increases across the Atlantic, and northern Ontario will get hit hard because of oil heating, yet the government wants to triple the carbon tax to punish people further. This is after the tax has failed to reduce emissions or hit targets to fight climate change.”
True North has compiled a list of notable people who have had their Twitter accounts reinstated in the last few days amidst owner and CEO Elon Musk taking the company in a new direction.
Donald Trump
Former U.S. President Donald Trump was reinstated on Saturday after a Twitter poll by Musk saw the majority of respondents express their support for his return to the platform.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” tweeted Musk after the poll closed.
Trump was banned from Twitter, as well as Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, following the events of Jan. 6 2021 – where some of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol with hopes to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Despite being reinstated, Trump has so-far shown no interest in returning to Twitter, opting instead for his social media site called Truth Social.
Dr. Jordan Peterson
Renowned Canadian author and psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson was allowed back on Twitter last Friday.
Peterson was suspended from the platform in June after he referred to transgender actor Eliott Page by his pre-transition name (Ellen Page) and suggested the actor’s breasts were removed by a “criminal physician”.
Peterson thanked Musk for reinstating his account.
Meghan Murphy
Canadian writer, journalist and Feminist Current founder Meghan Murphy, who is known for opposing the agenda of transgender activists, had her account reinstated on Sunday.
Murphy had previously received a permanent suspension from Twitter in Nov. 2018 after she referred to B.C. trans activist Jessica Yaniv, who notoriously went after aestheticians who refused to wax her male genitalia, as “him.”
The Bee was suspended back in March after it named transgender Biden administration official Rachel Lavine “Man of the year.”
Ye (Kanye West)
American rapper Ye, commonly known as Kanye West, returned to Twitter on Sunday. He had been locked out of his account in October over concerns of anti-Semitism.
Following the rapper’s reinstatement, Musk tweeted “Don’t kill what ye hate
Save what ye love.”
Other notable accounts
Several other high profile figures who were previously banned but have been reinstated include U.S. GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, author James Lindsay, conservative influencer Alex Lorusso, internet personality Andrew Tate and activist group Project Veritas.
Some Twitter users are calling on Musk to also reinstate the accounts of Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough, two health professionals who questioned Covid vaccines.
Twitter needs to bring back Robert Malone and Peter McCullough.
Others also want to see conspiracy theorist Alex Jones be reinstated. However, Musk is declining to do so, writing in one Tweet, “I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.”
Jordan Peterson, Donald Trump and the Babylon Bee are back on Twitter thanks to Elon Musk, who just Made Twitter Great Again.
So why should this matter to Canadians?
As Canada’s legacy media try their best to tell us that Twitter is on the ropes and they are about to collapse under Musk’s ownership, the Trudeau government is on the cusp of passing into law Bill C-11, the controversial internet censorship law. This will have a huge impact on how we interact with online streaming services and social media platforms like Twitter.
Tune in to the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner.
