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Thursday, July 10, 2025

Cost of rentals in Toronto jumped by 24% with two-bedrooms costing $3,266

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The cost to rent an apartment in Toronto spiked by 24% in August when compared to last year, new data reveals.

According to Rentals.ca’s National Rent Report, Toronto placed second on the list of 35 cities that saw huge surges in rental prices. 

Renters were expected to pay an average of $2,649 per month for a rental unit. Costs for one-bedroom apartments reached $2,329 last month and two-bedrooms reported a staggering average price of $3,266. 

Condo rental reached $2,945, nearly $1,000 more than the national average of $2,053. 

“The average rent for all property types across Canada in August 2022 was $1,959 per month, representing an annual increase of 11.1%. The average rent is up 1.3% monthly, and 16.8% from the recent market low of $1,676 per month in April 2021,” wrote the author of the report and president of Bullpen Research Ben Myers. 

Other GTA municipalities including Mississauga and Brampton were also affected with each city reporting an average rental of $2,348 and $2,107 respectively. 

“With several economists calling for an extended ownership housing market correction, demand has shifted dramatically to the rental market, which is significantly under-supplied in many major Canadian municipalities,” said Myers. 

The rental situation in Toronto has forced some university students this year to seek housing in homeless shelters.

A report by Bloomberg from August revealed that homeless shelters were reporting an increase in students seeking their services.

Covenant House Toronto youth shelter executive Mark Aston said that students made up one-third of his shelter’s inhabitants. 

“It’s very much a trend that has mirrored the affordability issues with rental housing in Toronto,” said Aston. 

“I was astounded for a whole number of reasons. One, that somebody could actually have that much turmoil going on in their life, that much instability, and yet continue to perform and stay in a really high-demand course.”

CSIS tight-lipped on whereabouts of spy accused of smuggling girls for ISIS

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is tight-lipped on whether a former informant accused of trafficking three UK teens to become Islamic State extremists has re-entered Canada.

According to the Globe and Mail, sources familiar with the story told the outlet that Mohammed al-Rashed recently left a Turkish prison on Aug. 5 after being held there since 2015 on various charges including terrorism. 

Turkey wanted al-Rashed – who was recruited by CSIS as a spy in 2013 – out of their country. al-Rashed was to be sent to Syria or on the other hand released to Canada but now CSIS is refusing to reveal whether he is in Canada.

“As you can expect, CSIS cannot comment on investigations, methodologies or activities in order to maintain the integrity of operations,” CSIS spokesperson Brandon Champagne told the outlet.

“There are important limits to what CSIS can confirm or deny given the need to protect sensitive techniques, methods and sources of intelligence.”

Upon his arrest by Turkish authorities, al-Rashed claimed that CSIS was going to relocate him after he was freed from his sentence. When questioned by reporters, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino also gave a murky response on al-Rashed’s whereabouts. 

“For obvious reasons we don’t want elected officials commenting on operations. I would leave it at that. Operational questions are best put to the service,” said Mendicino. 

A book by UK author Richard Kerbaj recounts some of al-Rashed’s involvement with Canada’s foremost spy agency. 

According to Kerbaj, CSIS didn’t disclose how al-Rashed was involved in smuggling three teenage girls aged between 15 and 16 from the UK into Syria to join the Islamic State.  

“You always try to protect your sources and your agents and you don’t abandon them. It also stands up with what al-Rashed said, because he said that he was promised relocation,” claimed Kerbaj in his book. 

“If they have agreed on his relocation and gone through with it, that is admirable and honourable. On the other hand, it confirms the cover-up and confirms their role.”

“Instead of providing that information immediately to the British counterterrorism authorities, they just sat on it.”

Lawyer Tasnime Akunjee representing the three girls has since called on the Canadian government to hold an inquiry into what exactly happened after two of the girls are believed to have died while abroad. 

The Alberta Roundup | The Alberta NDP’s “shameless stunt”

By
Rachel Parker
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This week on The Alberta Roundup, Rachel discusses how unsealed court records revealed that Rachel Notley’s NDP knew one of its MLAs hacked Alberta’s vaccine portal causing the system to buckle — and then blamed the UCP government for the system’s failure. Chief Government Whip Brad Rutherford told True North called the NDP’s action “the most shameless stunt we’ve seen from the Notley NDP so far.”

Plus, a Coutts border protester who made headlines last month when he was implicated in his friend’s conditional release has been charged by the Alberta RCMP.

And the latest in the UCP leadership race – including a bizarre email from the Rebecca Schulz campaign pretending to be an NDP supporter begging Conservatives not to vote for Schulz because the NDP are afraid of her.

These stories and more on The Alberta Roundup with Rachel Emmanuel!

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ALBERTA ROUNDUP

Ottawa Police prosecuting officer for donating to Freedom Convoy

By
Noah Jarvis
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The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) is charging their own Constable Kristina Neilson with discreditable conduct for donating to the Freedom Convoy’s GiveSendGo fundraising campaign in February. 

Last month, the allegation served to the officer states that Neilson knew the Freedom Convoy was an “illegal occupation” but donated to their GiveSendGo campaign anyway.

The Freedom Convoy began its fundraising effort on GoFundMe, raising millions of dollars before being shut down at the behest of the Ontario government.

The convoy organizers opened another fundraising campaign on the American fundraising website GiveSendGo, raising millions more.

As stated in the OPS’s notice of disciplinary hearing, Neilson allegedly donated to the “Freedom Convoy Fund” on GiveSendGo on February 5th.

OPS claims that the donation to the Freedom Convoy’s fundraiser was “acting in a disorderly manner” and that she should have reasonably known that donating to the convoy amounted to financial support of the “illegal occupation.”

Although OPS asserts that on February 5th Neilson should have known that donating to the Freedom Convoy was supporting an “illegal occupation,” the donation was before law enforcement began cracking down on the protest.

At the time of Neilson’s donation, the Freedom Convoy was entering the second week of rolling protests at Parliament Hill, with convoy organizers co-operating with an Ontario Provincial Police liaison on a daily basis.

Neilson’s donation was made before an Ontario judge placed a nationwide ban on Freedom Convoy funds from GiveSendGo and ​​before the Trudeau government invoked the Emergencies Act to stop the truckers.

OPS interim police chief made clear in March that there is no place in the force for officers who have donated to the Freedom Convoy and that officers who did donate to the convoy were being investigated.

“We need to deal with the people who supported it, because there’s no room for them,” said Bell in a March comment.

After the list of donors who contributed to the Freedom Convoy’s crowdfunding page was illegally leaked via a hack, CBC journalists doxxed Canadians by identifying several officers who contributed to the GiveSendGo page. In total, six Ottawa officers were identified, with Nielson being one of them.

LEVY: Halton school board fails to handle teacher’s obscene “coming out”

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that in an earlier version of this story, the teacher was identified incorrectly. True North regrets this error.

A transgendered Ontario high school teacher pictured wearing mammoth fake breasts and tight tops to her class has gone viral on social media.

The teacher, Kayla Lemieux, was photographed in the shop class she teaches at Oakville Trafalgar High School wearing what appears to be a busty prosthetic under very tight shirts – showing fake nipples – along with biking shorts and blond hair (likely a wig). 

She is seen in class both speaking and demonstrating wood-cutting on a saw while her fake breasts hover dangerously close. Other shots show her walking both inside the halls of the school and outside wearing a purple mask to match her tight shirt.

According to websites selling these prosthetic breasts, the largest pair can weigh up to 35 pounds (16,000 grams).

Both Lemieux and the school’s principal Meredith Cammisuli did not respond to a True North request for comment on the appropriateness of her presentation.

But on Friday afternoon, the school removed the list of staff and their e-mail addresses from its website.

At first, many Twitter users believed the pictures to be a parody given their outrageousness. But it would appear students in her shop class took the photos and vouched for their authenticity.

Although somewhat quieter than other Ontario school boards, the Halton District School Board (HDSB) appears to be no less woke.

The board’s recently appointed director, Curtis Ennis, came directly from the Toronto District School Board, which has taken a leadership role in its effort to push radical gender and anti-black racism ideologies.

The HDSB’s Gender Expression policy, created in October of 2021 indicates that students and staff have a right to equitable treatment based on gender identity and gender expression.

“The HDSB is committed to establishing and maintaining a safe, caring, inclusive, equitable and welcoming learning and working environment for all members of the school community – staff included – who identify as transgender.

Under dress codes, the policy states that all students should be permitted to wear the clothing of their choice, provided that the clothing “does not violate” the school’s dress code. 

That section indicates dress codes will be developed permitting students to express their gender identity.

There is no indication in this policy what constitutes a suitable dress code for transgendered teachers.

But one does not need to be a rocket scientist to suggest that coming to school dressed like an outrageous drag queen – whether a man who identifies as female or a biological female – is highly inappropriate.

Lemieux may have felt the need to make a statement but her “coming out” as a female is obscene, not at all conducive to classroom learning.

Most Twitter commenters agreed that they don’t care whether a teacher is transgendered but Lemieux’s choices are beyond the pale.

Instead of hiding behind their gender policy or removing the names of staff people from the Oakville-Trafalgar High School website, it would be nice to see the HDSB act as adults and take a measured common sense approach to this teacher.

At the moment, if we had to give this school marks for its mishandling of the situation, it would be double F.

Fake News Friday | Poilievre Derangement Syndrome returns with a VENGEANCE

By
Andrew Lawton
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The legacy media’s knives are out for Pierre Poilievre since winning the Conservative leadership race less than one week ago. From heckling the Carleton MP during his first presser to criticizing his move into the official residence of the Leader of the Official Opposition, it’s clear Poilievre Derangement Syndrome is back with a vengeance!

This week on Fake News Friday, Andrew Lawton and Harrison Faulkner look into the legacy media’s most ridiculous takes on Poilievre’s win and their rush to defend Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Also on the show, the legacy media rallies behind the need for King Charles II (not III) to address colonialism and reparations. This may prove to be difficult considering he hasn’t been around since the 17th Century!

Tune into Fake News Friday on True North!

Maxime Bernier digs at Poilievre and touts PPC as only alternative to Liberals

By
Andrew Kozak
-

Only days after Pierre Poilievre secured the Conservative leadership, People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier voiced his opposition to what he called “weak and unprincipled Conservatives.”

“I didn’t wait until the Freedom Convoy to suddenly decide that we must protect our fundamental rights and freedoms,” wrote Bernier in a PPC newsletter. “For two years, I was touring the country, getting arrested and being given tickets for holding supposedly illegal rallies.”

Bernier has also taken to Twitter to push back against Poilievre’s messaging. 

“Pierre Poilievre still claims he opposed covid mandates from the beginning,” he wrote in a Tweet. “That’s a lie. Last year he agreed with the idea that we had to be jabbed or else confined.”

“He was only criticizing Trudeau for not getting more Canadians vaccinated fast enough.” he added.

True North reached out to Bernier to further elaborate on his criticism of the Conservatives.

“[The Party] did nothing to repel the attacks on Canadians’ rights and freedoms, and supported the Liberals’ massive covid programme spending.”

“Although Poilievre has now rejected Erin O’Toole’s carbon tax, he still promises government interventions to reach emissions targets, but hasn’t said how he would do it.”

“The Conservatives – including Poilievre – agree with Trudeau’s mass immigration policy of bringing 450,000 immigrants a year.” Bernier continued. “The PPC is the only party opposed to it.”

Bernier admitted that Poilievre has much better communication skills than previous leader Erin O’Toole and that “he is not intimidated by the leftist activists masquerading as journalists in the mainstream media.”

“I think it’s a very positive development in Canadian politics,” wrote Bernier. “But now that he is the leader, he will have to make all the usual compromises to please the party’s different factions.”

“I think he will have no choice.”

True North reached out to Poilievre for an opportunity to respond but did not comment before the deadline. 

Global News begs for government money as it faces imminent collapse

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The owners of Global News are demanding more government funding as its news media company faces imminent financial collapse. 

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, although Corus Entertainment Inc. has benefited from millions in taxpayer funding, its executive vice president told the Senate transport and communications committee that its news business was “on the brink.” 

“News is a challenging business. Traditionally we have offset our news losses through more profitable entertainment programming but this is no longer a feasible strategy,” said Troy Reeb. 

“Our ability to provide local, fact-based news in large parts of the country, in small markets, in places like the English-language minority community in Montréal, it all teeters on the brink.” 

Reeb called on the Trudeau government to provide unspecified “measures to support news.” 

“The status quo is not sustainable. The future of an entire Canadian industry is hanging in the balance,” said Reeb. 

“It’s a money losing business in television that is subsidized by entertainment programming. It’s those cross-subsidies that can no longer be provided to news and we can only carry so many burdens.”

Reeb also complained of “competitors who come in and take audiences” as well as social media companies. 

“We have all these other quotas, fees, requirements for Canadian content, requirements on independent production, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, and at the same time have foreign competitors who come in and take audiences at the same time as Facebook and Google take advertising dollars,” said Reeb.

“Netflix and Amazon compete with us for audiences and are now taking more of it than ever. The same U.S. studios that used to license us content for Canadian television are now going around Canadian broadcasters to take it directly to Canadians themselves.”  

In the last five years, Corus Entertainment Inc. has lost nearly 80% of its stock value on the Toronto Stock Exchange. 

With the support of legacy media companies, the Trudeau government is currently pushing through its internet regulation law Bill C-11 which is designed to prop up legacy media companies by forcing social media giants to pay for their content. 

Feds struggled to give away millions to businesses affected by Freedom Convoy

By
Andrew Kozak
-
Darrin Calcutt

The Trudeau government struggled to give out $20 million in subsidies to businesses they claimed suffered during the Freedom Convoy in downtown Ottawa. 

After federal workers went door-to-door asking business owners to apply for cheques, the Federal Economic Development Agency managed to payout $12.9 million despite efforts to encourage take-ups that averaged $11,494. 

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, local authorities claimed severe economic losses over the protests. 

Invest Ottawa cited a March 11 CBC story, which claimed “total economic damage may range from about $44 million up to $200 million,” to justify their claims.

“I can tell you from my vantage point they were very significant,” said the CEO of Invest Ottawa Michel Tremblay, CEO of Invest Ottawa, during a House of Commons Finance committee on March 14. 

According to the City of Ottawa, costs were closer to $37 million. Ottawa City Council said it has no plans to try and recover the costs from Freedom Convoy organizers.

The federal government offered to pay businesses directly for any losses including, “utilities, insurance, bank charges, loss of inventory, wages, rent and other costs acquired during the demonstrations” according to terms of compensation. 

Records showed the Federal Economic Development Agency went to extraordinary lengths to make payouts. The Agency extended the application deadline from April 30 to May 15. Federal workers were instructed to “boost awareness and increase applications from business owners.”

Businesses whose applications were originally rejected report receiving phone calls with unsolicited help on how to fill out forms. 

“The team is reaching out by telephone to these applicants to move their file along as a deficiency in their application was noted,” wrote staff.

The government also translated the grant guide into “Arabic, Vietnamese and Chinese to ensure those business owners for whom English or French is not their first language may understand the eligibility.”

Records show the Agency’s final payout figure came 36% under budget.

According to an internal report provided to the Trudeau cabinet, most Canadians believe the Trudeau government overreached when invoking the Emergencies Act in February to clear peaceful Freedom Convoy protestors from Ottawa’s core.

“Though a small number of participants felt implementing the Emergencies Act was a necessary step given the disturbance caused by the seemingly indefinite nature of the protests, most felt this action represented significant ‘over-reach’ by the federal government as they interpreted this as limiting the right of these Canadians to peaceful protest,” wrote researchers. 

“A significant number identified with the frustration expressed by the protesters regarding ongoing public health measures even if they disagreed with some of the methods.”

Hearings for the commission investigating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s invocation of the Emergencies Act have been postponed to October 13 as Commissioner Paul Rouleau tends to an undisclosed medical situation.

Toews surpasses $1 million in fundraising but won’t release number of donors

By
Rachel Parker
-

United Conservative Party leadership candidate Travis Toews has matched opponent Danielle Smith in surpassing $1 million in fundraising efforts — but he won’t release the number of donors who contributed to his campaign. 

As of Saturday, the former finance minister raised $1,027,397, his campaign told True North. 

“I’ve been extremely grateful and humbled to see hundreds of Albertans from all walks of life show up at our rallies and bbqs,” Toews said in a prepared statement. 

“These grassroots UCP members are excited to hear the message of hope and optimism for our future. We will continue to push that message for the rest of the campaign.” 

His campaign did not respond to repeated queries about the number of donors that contributed.

The Smith campaign on Monday announced it had raised $1,040,000 from 5,442 donations, with an average donation of $191.

Under Alberta’s election laws, donors can contribute a maximum of $4,300 to a political candidate or party. This total can be split between a variety of candidates and political parties or given to just one. It’s also tax deductible. 

The minimum number of donors a campaign could have is its total donations divided by the maximum contribution. 

Candidates are not required to release donor information but that data will become publicly available after the leadership race through Elections Alberta, where candidates are required to report all donations and campaign expenses. Candidates must file their election report within the year, but donations must be filed earlier so donors can be given verified tax receipts. 

All other campaigns have so far declined to release fundraising numbers. The Brian Jean campaign and the Rebecca Schulz campaigns both said they will be releasing their fundraising numbers in the coming days. The Schulz campaign also said fundraising efforts are currently in “the hundreds of thousands.”

Leela Aheer’s campaign said it’s running a “fiscally conservative campaign.”

“This is about people for us. Not money,” the campaign said in a statement to True North.

Rajan Sawhney’s campaign said it has no plans to release fundraising numbers. 

Donations to both Toews and Smith surpassed registered donations for the UCP in the first two quarters, but fell short of donations to the Alberta NDP.

Donations to the UCP in the first two financial quarters totalled $887,974. That number rose to $1,823,176 for the NDP. 

In spring 2023, the new UCP leader will face off with the NDP in a general election.

A Mainstreet Research survey conducted earlier this month found that Smith looks poised to win the Premiership with 44% support of party backers. 

Another 20% said they backed Brian Jean in the leadership race, followed by former finance minister Travis Toews with 19%, and 7% for Todd Loewen. Rebecca Schulz received 6%, Leela Aheer had 3% and Rajan Sawhney had 1%.

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