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Sunday, July 6, 2025

Lewis and Aitchison clash over Nuremberg code campaign email

By
Noah Jarvis
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Conservative leadership candidates Leslyn Lewis and Scott Aitchison are exchanging jabs at one another over an email the Lewis campaign sent referencing the Nuremberg code. 

In the campaign email, Lewis explains the Nuremberg code was created to prosecute Nazi doctors conducting unethical human experiments and goes on to list its ten principles.

She claims that Canada has been a historical violator of the Nuremberg code concerning experiments conducted on First Nations peoples, as well as the U.S’s Tuskegee experiments on black people.

Lewis says that “the Canadian nutrition experiment on Indigenous people” should “remind us that even in modern times the tenets of informed consent and voluntary participation in scientific experiments, can be easily undermined by even our modern governments.”

Responding to Leslyn, Aitchison asked why she would bring up the Nuremberg code and relate it to the challenges Canada currently faces. Aitchison also pointed to the Liberal government’s funding of an antisemitic consultant for anti-racism training, saying the Conservatives should aim to do much better.

He then alleged that Lewis was attempting to court people who believe that the imposition of Covid mandates and the general rollout of Covid-19 vaccines parallel the horrid human experiments by Nazi doctors.

“Leslyn’s email was a dog whistle to these people so loud that it sounds more like a freight train’s horn,” says Aitchison.

“Let me be clear — being offered a vaccine that prevents serious illness and our governments’ responses to this pandemic are not the same as being tortured in a Nazi concentration camp.”

Many opponents to the Covid vaccine have alleged on social media that Canada’s provincial and federal governments have violated the Nuremberg code.

While Aitchison still decries the Trudeau government’s vaccine mandates as being “unscientific,” he blasted Lewis’s message as untrustworthy and reliant on “misinformation.”

Only a few hours after the Aitchison campaign’s email, the Lewis campaign struck back with an email of their own titled “I’m being cancelled.”

Lewis made clear that she didn’t appreciate Aitchison comparing her to a radical antisemite as she asserted her authority on the matter of racism given her black heritage.

On her being a Covid-19 conspiracy theorist, Lewis pointed out that her original email didn’t mention Covid-19 once. 

“Scott accused me of comparing COVID to the Holocaust. This is outright misinformation,” says Lewis. 

“He called me a racist for his own political gain. He diminished my existence as a Black woman who has endured racism, and rose above it all. I have been one of the most vocal voices on medical freedom, informed consent, and the mandates in our caucus.”

The Democracy Fund sends letter urging Western to rescind booster mandate

By
Andrew Kozak
-

The Democracy Fund (TDF) has sent a letter to Western University disapproving the university’s recently announced booster mandate for students and staff. The TDF says the mandate is “legally problematic, morally improper, and medically unnecessary.”

As first reported by True North, Western University announced that it would require proof of one booster from all students, staff and visitors to its campus. The University of Toronto announced a similar booster requirement for students living in residence on July 28. 

In a statement, the TDF expects more universities to implement similar restrictions in the coming weeks and is preparing to offer free legal assistance to students and staff facing booster requirements.

With only weeks before classes begin, many students have already enrolled in the fall semester, paid tuition fees and made plans to move into residences. The TDF says the renewed mandates  “may result in legal action against student tenants.”

Dr. Matt Strauss, the acting medical officer of health in Haldimand-Norfolk and a Western alumni, says he spoke to health experts working at the university and was informed that they were not consulted before the announcement.

Strauss also condemned Western’s takeover by what he called “preening zealots.”

“They congratulate each other in an echo chamber and distribute dubious credentials in a daisy chain of obeisance,” he said. 

Strauss, who attended Western, said in a Twitter thread that he found the news of the mandate to be demoralizing.

“Some of the best years of my life (2004-2013) were med school, internal medicine residency and ICU fellowship at Western. I still bleed purple,” he wrote.

“This mandate will hurt people and threatens to ruin a very special place.”

Western University students are planning a protest on campus this Saturday at noon. The event is being organized by graduate student Kendra Hancock, who launched the Enough is Enough Western campaign.

The campaign is calling on the university to reverse course and drop both its mask and booster mandate – giving students the option to choose. 

“I knew this had to be done,” said Hancock in an interview with True North’s Andrew Lawton, “I thought about some things that might be helpful for the community to know, or to have one central spot where people could talk and could support one another.”

Ousted BC Liberal MLA endorses Conservative byelection candidate

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Independent MLA John Rustad endorsed the campaign of Conservative Party of British Columbia candidate Harman Bhangu on Thursday.

The endorsement comes only a week after Rustad was booted from the BC Liberal Party by leader Kevin Falcon for questioning the climate change narrative. 

Rustad shared photos of himself and the South Surrey candidate together in the riding. 

“Great to chat with Harman Bhangu. Harman is running for MLA in South Surrey. He’s committed to fighting environmental elitist policies which punish working people. I made a donation to him – and if you want to fight environmental elitism you should too,” tweeted Rustad. 

In a statement emailed to True North, Rustad said while he plans on continuing to serve as an Independent MLA for his riding, he “will be exploring all options” but he has not spoken with the leader of the Conservatives.  

“I met with Harman on Tuesday. We spent some time together discussing a variety of topics, the riding of Surrey South and why he has entered the race. I found him to be genuine, caring with a desire to represent all of the voices of the riding. He shares my concern about environmental elitist policies that are hurting people,” Rustad told True North. 

Bhangu, who is a first-generation Canadian and a heavy-load trucker, announced his candidacy during a weekend campaign launch. At the event he was introduced by political commentator Aaron Gunn who had his candidacy for the BC Liberals leadership cancelled by the party last year. 

“John is an incredibly principled MLA and I couldn’t be more thankful to have his endorsement. We need brave MLAs who are willing to stand up for taxpayers, scrap the carbon tax, call out the failing healthcare system, and defend free speech. I am proud to be running for a party that encourages dialogue instead of silencing others,“ Bhangu told True North.

Rustad was kicked out of the BC Liberals caucus after he retweeted Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore who questioned whether CO2 drives global temperature changes. 

“Following a pattern of behaviour that was not supportive of our caucus team and the principles of mutual respect and trust, I have removed MLA John Rustad from the BC Liberal Caucus effective immediately,” said Falcon in a statement on Rustad’s expulsion. 

According to Rustad, current climate policies are having a negative impact on British Columbians by driving up the cost of living. 

“These environmental elitist policies are impacting on all three of these driving up prices and lowering our standard of living,” Rustad told True North. 

“About 50% of people in British Columbia are struggling to put food on the table and I find it unacceptable that policies are being implemented without a full debate and without publicly discussing the intended or unintended consequences.”

The Conservative Party of British Columbia has been active since 1903 but has not had an MLA representative in the BC Legislature since 1975. Its current leader is Trevor Bolin. 

In recent months, the party has adopted a new logo and elected a new Board of Directors.

Canadians must cut meat consumption by half to reach climate goals: report

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A research report published by a federally-funded consultancy group says that Canadians must cut their meat and dairy consumption by half by the year 2050 to reach federal climate targets. 

The report was published by World Animal Protection and Navius Research – both of which have received funding from the Trudeau government. 

Researchers concluded that to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, Canadians need to cut out meat and dairy by 35% by 2030 and in half by 2050. 

“We wanted to look at the potential for reducing our climate change footprint in Canada by moving away from diets high in animal protein,” World Animal Protection farming campaign manager told the National Observer. 

The model used by Navius Research to produce their report simulated three scenarios: the substitution of meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives, the declining price of meat and dairy alternatives and the willingness of consumers to substitute their consumption. 

“The consumption of meat and dairy declines by 84% relative to current levels by 2050 in the low animal consumption scenario, and declines by 51% and 20% from current levels by 2050 in the medium and high animal consumption scenarios,” researchers wrote. 

“In all target scenarios simulated, Canada’s economy continues to grow at a similar rate out to 2050. At the same time, scenarios in which future animal consumption is lower lead to lower costs for Canada’s economy to achieve its climate targets.”

 On Dec. 6, 2021, Navius Research was awarded a $360,000 grant by Natural Resources Canada for a project “related to increased knowledge and collaboration with stakeholders and/or international organizations.” 

That same year, World Animal Protection, formerly known as the World Society for the Protection of Animals, was given several thousand dollars by Employment and Social Development Canada under the Canada Summer Jobs Program. 

In July, a United Nations and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development study predicted that protein intake would slow down as consumers shift to plant-based diets and alternative insect-based “meat.” 

“In high-income countries, average per capita consumption of proteins is not expected to expand much over the next decade, due to near saturation in consumption, and heightened concerns about health and the environment,” the report describes.

Ratio’d | Government pride awards? Seriously?

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

When the federal public service isn’t busy enforcing the ArriveCan app or giving money to antisemites, they’re busy congratulating themselves for wasting our money on woke pride initiatives. These include valuable initiatives such as, “Corrections Canada painting the stairs at a penitentiary the colours of the rainbow” and “Agriculture Canada adding pronouns to email signatures.”

Thank God the public service is working so hard for us!

Also on the show, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants Canadians to know that their freedoms are guaranteed by “strong institutions” and “Liberal ideas.” How does that sound to you?

And to see who wins the highly coveted Ratio of the Week award, you’ll have to watch the program to find out.

Tune into the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner.

The Andrew Lawton Show | Why people are turning on vaccine mandates (ft. Rupa Subramanya)

By
Andrew Lawton
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These past two years have left Canadians feeling more divided than ever. Justin Trudeau’s government has inflamed this by vilifying the unvaccinated and promoting vaccine segregation. Increasingly, it’s difficult to even talk about the issue. A country built on free speech is now inhospitable to civil discourse. One journalist who has felt the full effect of this is Rupa Subramanya.

She was attacked by legacy media journalists after reporting on court documents showing Canada’s travel restrictions were not based in science.

She joined True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss her recent article, how she came to write it, and how she went from a supporter of vaccine mandates to one of their largest critics.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

Pronouns caused Agriculture Canada systems to crash

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A federal department’s decision to add gendered pronoun identifiers to its internal communications and remote work software caused the systems to crash and display errors. 

On July 18, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) decided to introduce pronouns to Microsoft (MS) Teams and Outlook “to further (their) commitment to diversity and inclusion.” The use of pronouns such as “they/them” is a common practice among the LGBTQ+ community.

AAFC had already introduced pronouns to its internal employee directory DirectInfo last year – a move that earned the department a nomination for the 2022 Public Service Pride Awards. 

“After introducing pronouns in MS Teams and Outlook, there were technical issues that interfered with display names and prevented employees from accessing documents in online collaboration spaces and searching for employees in MS Teams and Outlook,” an AAFC spokesperson told True North. 

The crash caused AAFC to reverse course and remove the ability to have employee pronouns displayed. 

“To minimize the interruption to employees’ day-to-day tasks, we temporarily removed the pronouns from MS Teams and Outlook. We fully intend to restore personal pronouns on all platforms,” said the spokesperson. 

“We are currently working on addressing the technical issues and looking at how we can increase the accessibility of the displayed pronouns.”

An internal communication seen by True North shows that a month after introducing the pronouns, the department’s Information Systems Branch encountered technical difficulties. 

“Last month, the department enabled the display of pronouns on MS Teams and Outlook. The Information Systems Branch (ISB) unfortunately encountered some technical difficulties that may have caused issues with permissions and access to collaboration spaces, as well as display issues on your workstation and mobile device,” wrote AAFC officials earlier this month. 

“We have temporarily removed the pronoun display in Outlook and MS Teams while we work on these technical issues to ensure an optimal and accessible experience.” 

Pronoun use in federal departments has become a common practice. In June, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat released a guide lecturing Canadians how to properly use pronouns so as not to “unknowingly misgender” anyone. 

In a tweet, the Treasury Board accuses Canadians of making “assumptions and (having) implicit bias” about others.

University of Toronto education workers union wants students masked on campus

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

A University of Toronto (U of T) education workers union wants the school to require students to be masked when they return to campus in the fall.

“We’re calling on (U of T) to reinstate a mask mandate, as well as for low-effort interventions to increase uptake: free masks, more mask distribution points, and advertising to promote a safe campus,” wrote CUPE 3902 in a social media post.

CUPE 3902 believes “mask-wearing is an important and necessary measure to prevent the transmission of COVID-19,” and that the U of T has failed to take this “simple step to keep students and workers safe.”

The union says there is “significant evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of mask-wearing in curbing transmission in University settings, both with vaccine mandates and without.”

U of T has so far not announced plans for new mask mandates in the fall, but it said in July that students moving into residence would be required to have “at least” one booster shot.

Meanwhile, Western University is mandating that all students, staff and visitors receive a booster shot by October 1. The university is also reintroducing its mask mandate. Masks will only be required in “instructional spaces” rather than all of the university.

Critics of mandates allege Western implemented its policy due to demands from faculty members rather than public health advice. 

The Ontario government has since asked post-secondary institutions to follow the directives of the Chief Medical Officer of Health – who ended Ontario’s mask and vaccine mandates in March.

Spokesperson for the ministry of colleges and universities Scott Clark told the Toronto Sun that “throughout the pandemic, our government has always followed the advice of the chief medical officer of health. We encourage all other institutions, including post-secondary schools, to do the same.”

CUPE 3902 also opposed U of T’s lifting of its mask mandate this summer. 

True North reached out to CUPE 3902 for comment, but they did not respond in time for publication.

Western’s vaccine policy “will hurt people,” Ontario health official says

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

A Western University grad who now serves as a medical officer of health in Ontario is calling out Western’s three-dose vaccine mandate for students and staff.

Dr. Matt Strauss, the acting medical officer of health in Haldimand-Norfolk, a region east of London, condemned Western’s takeover by what he called “preening zealots.”

“They congratulate each other in an echo chamber and distribute dubious credentials in a daisy chain of obeisance,” he said. 

Strauss, who attended Western, said in a Twitter thread that he found the news of the mandate to be demoralizing.

“Some of the best years of my life (2004-2013) were med school, internal medicine residency and ICU fellowship at Western. I still bleed purple,” he wrote.

“This mandate will hurt people and threatens to ruin a very special place.”

As first reported by True North, the University of Western Ontario will be requiring students, staff and visitors to have three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by October 1. 

The school is also re-imposing a mask mandate, despite having suspended its mandatory masking policy for the summer term.

Strauss also questioned Western’s claim that experts were consulted on the policy – sharing a study that suggests “significant waning of vaccine effectiveness against the Omicron variant of the third dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine within a few months after administration.”

“Why would you kick someone out of school because they didn’t take a booster 8 months ago that is currently providing ~0% protection against transmission?” he asked.

“Pretension? Malice? Callous disregard for people who think differently than you? I’m struggling to understand.”

Strauss also said that vaccination mandates failed to contain the spread of the Omicron variant, citing a study of New York’s Cornell University’s Covid response. The study found the University’s experience showed “that traditional public health interventions were not a match for Omicron.” 

Strauss also said he spoke to some health experts who work at Western, and they told him they were not consulted on the policy before its announcement.

He also highlighted the disruption that the mandates will have on student’s daily lives, saying “these kids about to start first year, whose futures you would casually foreclose upon (with two weeks notice!), were 15 when this madness started” he wrote.

“They didn’t have dances. They didn’t have sports. They didn’t have theatre. They deserve to have college. With smiles. Next week.” He ended with the hashtag #EnoughisEnough

Strauss is not the only health expert to speak out against Western’s new booster mandate.

Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng, a physician and associate professor at the University of Ottawa, also criticized the policy, saying he is “at a loss”.

Meanwhile, infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said that “any future vax program should be guided by high-quality clinical trials.”

A group of Western University students will be holding a protest against the new booster and mask mandate Saturday at 12pm.

Head of Alberta RCMP say provincial policing plans hurting members’ morale

By
Rachel Parker
-
Source: RCMP

The head of Alberta’s RCMP says a proposal for a provincial policing service is harming its members. 

Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro unveiled the government’s blueprint for provincial policing last week. The Alberta government has not yet made a decision about establishing a provincial police service, but the proposal ensures the province is ready to transition if needed. 

However, Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said the province’s proposal is impacting morale and causing staff concern over their futures. 

“Quite frankly it’s been very disruptive and distracting for all our employees. Our staff are concerned about their futures and the futures of their partners and their families,” Zablocki told The Canadian Press.

“I’ll say it’s impacted the morale of the Alberta RCMP as well and I will say it has also impacted the trust and confidence that we see from our communities in those relationships, which is very critical.”

The new blueprint proposed adding 275 police officers to the 42 smallest detachments. The model also proposes a minimum of 10 front-line police officers. Currently, there is no minimum number of officers at RCMP detachments and some have as few as three.

But Zablocki said the Alberta government’s proposal is similar to what the roughly 3,500 RCMP members provide. He also said most municipalities prefer the RCMP and that he hopes Albertans will have a say in any final decision.

“Their positions on this should be the most important consideration of any decision,” Zablocki told CP.

The Rural Municipalities of Alberta said earlier this year it supports the RCMP and opposes a provincial policing service because the government has failed to demonstrate how it would increase service levels in rural areas.

A provincial service has long been debated as a means to give Alberta more autonomy. It was recommended in the provincial government’s Fair Deal Panel Report released in June 2020.

In an interview with True North last week, Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said it’s incumbent on the provincial government to look at innovative ways to improve policing in its communities.

“This is a conversation that is happening everywhere in the country,” he said. “And we think that Alberta is on the precipice of being a leading voice and modernizing policing in the country.”

United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidates Rebecca Schulz and Brian Jean will not implement a provincial police if either are elected Premier of Alberta.

In a policy announcement, Schulz said a provincial policing service is “not supported by municipalities and is not top of mind for Albertans.” She said the RCMP and municipal police services should dedicate resources to rural crime under a new Rural Crime Response Unit within the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams.

Jean said he opposes any policy that would reduce the number of police in the province. He would consider creating a provincial police force and offering it to small and medium-sized cities, therefore freeing the RCMP for rural Alberta.

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