At the height of the Covid pandemic, Canadians witnessed some of the most strict lockdown regimes in the world – our borders were closed, vaccines were mandated, playgrounds were quartered off and much more.
Many Canadians are done with Covid and the government intruding in their lives, but is there a chance the mandates and lockdowns could return?
In this week’s episode of The Rupa Subramanya Show, Rupa interviews Applied Medical Anthropologist and Implementation Scientist Dr. Kevin Bardosh, who was the lead author of the peer-reviewed scientific study titled, “The Unintended Consequences of Covid-19 Vaccine Policy.”
Rupa and Dr. Bardosh discuss the negative impacts that lockdowns and mandates had on mental health, the lack of dissent on the government’s heavy-handed decisions and much more.
“I have the pleasure to announce to you that the electoral campaign will be officially triggered on August 28th,” said Legault.
The official campaign period will last until election day, which is Monday, October 3.
“I want to… wish all candidates a good campaign,” said the premier.
Polls from 338 Canada show the incumbent Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) is on track to be re-elected, with an even bigger majority.
Seat projections say the CAQ could win between 80 and 107 seats. 63 are seats needed for a majority.
Meanwhile, the Quebec Liberal Party could win between 11 and 26 seats, Quebec Solidaire could win between 5 and 13 seats, the Parti Quebecois would win between 1 and 7 seats and the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) could win between 0 and 4 seats.
The upcoming election is the first where the PCQ is considered to be a major party.
The once small party, which only received 1.46% of votes in the 2018 provincial election, has placed second in some polls, polling as high as 24%.
The CAQ’s current probability of winning a majority government is 99%.
The Canadian intelligence community warned Ottawa that the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan could increase the risk of terrorist attacks in Canada.
According to Global News, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino was told in May 2021 by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that Afghanistan could turn into a hotspot for “extremist travellers” who could then return to Canada to conduct an attack.
“The evolving situation in Afghanistan and (the) take-over by the Taliban, a listed terrorist entity, has potentially created a safe haven and base for other extremist organizations, as well as a destination for Canadian extremist travellers,” the briefing document reads.
CSIS head David Vigneault also said that “religiously motivated violent extremism” was a top priority for the spy agency “especially with the Taliban regaining control in Afghanistan and the continued prospect of returning extremist travellers.”
Vigneault also concluded that the Taliban taking over the country would “destabilize security in the region” and “attract other insurgent groups.”
US and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan after negotiators negotiated a peace deal with the Taliban in February 2020.
CSIS warned that the total pull-out would have “severe security implications” and “the Taliban would likely realize a complete military victory over the Afghan government.”
The Conservatives have criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not doing enough to evacuate Afghan allies from the country, despite them being at risk of retaliation from the Taliban for cooperating with occupying forces.
When questioned about the lack of preparations, Trudeau avoided questions from reporters in August 2021 and instead criticized Stephen Harper’s handling of the Syrian crisis in 2015.
“We’re hearing reports about Canadian citizens in Afghanistan who feel particularly abandoned by your government. Will you prioritize getting them out of Afghanistan now that resources are becoming scarcer and it’s becoming so much harder now over refugee applications?” asked CTV reporter Glen McGregor.
“I think a lot of Canadians can’t help but reflect on this situation in this election when we are pledging to welcome tens of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing terrible violence to what we lived through in 2015, when the Conservative government at the time was not stepping up to welcome Syrian refugees,” said Trudeau.
A graphic by the left-wing Quebec Solidaire (QS) party is being compared to communist propaganda by Quebecers on social media.
Party co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois posted the graphic on Twitter on August 19 alongside the QS campaign slogan for the 2022 provincial election – “Changing eras.”
Changer d'ère, c'est notre slogan, c'est ce que nous proposerons aux Québécois et Québécoises lors de la campagne électorale.
Changer d’ère, ça veut dire qu’on ne règlera pas les problèmes du Québec d’aujourd’hui et de demain avec des solutions des années 90. pic.twitter.com/i8udj0qhpD
“Changing eras means that we will not solve the problems of Quebec today and tomorrow with solutions from the 90s,” he wrote.
The graphic features a green background with an orange circle centred behind the faces of the party’s two leaders, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Masse.
The QS party does not have a single leader, but rather employs co-leaders who are referred to as “co-spokespeoples.” One is male and the other is female. Nadeau-Dubois holds the party’s parliamentary leadership role.
Following the graphic’s release, former Parti Quebecois (PQ) leader Jean-Francois Lisee shared a meme of it, which features the two QS leaders along with Chinese communist dictator Mao Zedong.
Commentons ensemble cet excellent meme de la nvelle pub de QS. Je commence:
“Let’s comment together on this excellent meme from the new QS ad… Have we finally found the real leader of Quebec Solidaire?” he tweeted.
Lisee also shared a video meme which features Nadeau-Dubois and Masse appearing alongside former soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, with the USSR anthem playing in the background.
Encore mieux ! (il faut mettre le son.) Et pour 'Continuons' de la CAQ, vous avez quelque chose ? https://t.co/8l5uvZP2IK
True North reached out to both QS and Lisee for comment, but neither responded in time for publication.
Quebec Solidaire was founded in 2006 and ascribes to left-wing democratic socialist, feminist and environmentalist values – in addition to supporting Quebec sovereignty.
Masse previously told CBC News that her party was Marxist, saying “I think that the revolution that Québec Solidaire brings up, it’s a revolution (that) puts climate change and people at the centre of our target.”
“If you call that socialism, of course we are. If you call it — what did you say, Marxism? — yes, it is.”
However, Masse later said QS was neither Marxist nor communist.
In the 2018 provincial election, QS’ platform included a $15 minimum wage, free daycare, free tuition, a government pharmacare and dental care plan, a drastic plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and an eventual ban on gasoline-powered cars.
The party said it would fund promises with higher taxes on corporations and wealthy Quebecers, as well as carbon taxes.
QS surged from 3 to 10 MNAs in Quebec’s national assembly in 2018, and polls currently say it is on track to win anywhere from 5 and 13 seats in the October 3 election.
On Tuesday, Premier Francois Legault announced that the Quebec election will begin on Aug. 28th. Voters head to the polls on Oct. 3.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a long record of hobnobbing with individuals who have been convicted or accused of committing heinous crimes such as possessing child pornography or even attempted murder.
Renewed spotlight on a campaign interaction between Conservative leadership frontrunner Pierre Poilievre and a far-right podcaster has some asking why the legacy media has not scrutinized Trudeau’s own past to the same degree.
True North has compiled a list of the most heinous individuals Trudeau has chosen to associate with over the years.
Trudeau and convicted pedophile Ben Levin
One week before former Ontario deputy minister of education Ben Levin was arrested over child pornography charges, he attended a Pride Parade event with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former premier Kathleen Wynne.
Levin, who helped craft Ontario’s sex-ed curriculum, was sentenced in May 2015 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography, making child pornography and counselling to commit sexual crimes.
Trudeau and neo-Nazi Andriy Parubiy
As reported by True North in March, Trudeau and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland met with the cofounder of a far-right fascist party in Ukraine based on Hitler’s Nazi Party.
Parubiy met with Trudeau on several occasions between 2016 and 2019 while he served as the legislative speaker of the Ukrainian parliament. In 1991 Parubiy co-founded the “racial nationalist” Social-National Party of Ukraine.
Trudeau and convicted pedophile Terry Lo
The very same year former Calgary politician Terry Lo lured and sexually assaulted a teenage girl, he was photographed with Trudeau at the 2016 Calgary Stampede.
In 2018, Lo pleaded guilty to eight offences including sexual assault, sexual interference, obtaining sexual services for consideration, invitation to sexual touching, abduction, resisting arrest and child luring.
Lo was arrested after the teenager filed a complaint causing the RCMP to initiate a sting operation.
Trudeau and convicted pedophile Peter Dalglish
In 2016, Trudeau awarded aid worker Peter Dalglish with the Order of Canada but nearly two years later, Dalglish was charged with sexually asssaulting two children by authorities in Nepal.
Dalglish was arrested by the Central Investigation Bureau of the Nepal Police for sexually assaulting two boys aged 11 and 14. He was sentenced to serve 8 years in prison for the crimes.
Trudeau and antisemitic extremist Amin El-Maoued
Trudeau has had several meetings with antisemitic extremist Amin El-Maoued who has been characterized by B’nai Brith as a “radical activist who has incited violence against Jews.”
El-Maoued even got a certificate of appreciation in 2018 signed by Trudeau and handed to him by Liberal MP Iqra Khalid.
Trudeau and terrorist Jaspal Atwal
During Trudeau’s disastrous trip to India in 2018, his diplomatic team invited convicted terrorist and attempted assassin Jaspal Atwal to a state dinner with representatives of the Indian government.
Atwal was convicted in 1986 after attempting to murder an Indian state cabinet minister while visiting Vancouver Island. He was also arrested in 2020 for issuing death threats to a local radio host.
Trudeau and Joshua Boyle
In 2017, Trudeau met with former Taliban hostage and Islamist Joshua Boyle. While a captive in Afghanistan, the Taliban attempted to recruit Boyle. Boyle also married the sister of convicted terrorist Omar Khadr, Zaynab Khadr.
Upon his return to Canada, his former wife Caitlan Coleman accused him of sexually assaulting her. A judge dismissed charges against Boyle in 2019 after finding neither his or his ex-wife’s testimonies reliable.
Western University will refund tuition payments for students forced to withdraw from the upcoming semester because of the school’s vaccine mandate, True North has learned.
On Monday, the London, Ont. university announced all students, staff and visitors will be required to have three doses of a Covid vaccine by October 1. The policy was announced one week after the first tuition installment was due, and two weeks before classes begin.
The policy applies even to students taking online courses if the courses have an in-person component such as a final exam.
Western’s announcement made no reference to tuition refunds, prompting questions from students and parents forced to make alternate arrangements for the coming year.
Western’s media relations department did not respond to multiple inquiries from True North about whether it would be refunding tuition for students unable or unwilling to adhere to the updated vaccination policy.
However, according to an email sent by the university provost’s office to the parent of a Western student, which was later shared with True North, Western will honour refund requests.
“I’ve confirmed with our Office of the Registrar that for those that choose to withdraw due to the announcement regarding vaccination, they will receive a full refund if requested prior to Sep. 1st of this year,” the email says.
Hey @WesternU, a lot of students are ready to request refunds. We’re curious- Are you ready? 🤔
— Enough Is Enough Western (@students4agency) August 23, 2022
Enough is Enough, a group of students opposed to Western’s vaccine mandate, tweeted that “a lot” of students will be requesting refunds.
Western’s vaccine mandate has come under fire by three Conservative leadership candidates: Roman Baber, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre have all criticized the university.
United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidates are taking aim at the Trudeau Liberals after federal agents allegedly trespassed on Saskatchewan farmland to test the water.
In a letter to federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Monday, the Saskatchewan government said it wants an explanation from Ottawa after federal employees allegedly took water samples from farmers’ lands without permission.
The incident is both “bizarre” and another example of a “federal government that’s out of control,” said leadership candidate Travis Toews.
“It really demonstrates the need that we have to take every reasonable measure to strengthen Alberta,” he told True North. “And to ensure that we’re defending, standing up and advancing our vital economic interests.”
The former finance minister said he would respond by immediately applying Alberta’s trespassing laws, if Premier.
These reports out of Saskatchewan are disturbing! The federal government has no right to trespass on private land.
Candidate Danielle Smith said Ottawa’s latest actions are another example of why the Alberta Sovereignty Act is needed, legislation which would bar federal bills deemed harmful to the province.
“This is the latest example of Federal lawlessness & why we need the Alberta Sovereignty Act,” Smith wrote on Twitter.
First they attempted to force Western farmers into a corner by reducing fertilizer use. Now Minister @s_guilbeault is sending federal agents to trespass on private land without authority. (1/2)#cdnpoli#abpoli#ablegpic.twitter.com/yRar0o1o3N
Contender Brian Jean, meanwhile, praised Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s response, who announced he was demanding a response from Ottawa.
“As usual Scott Moe is right,” Brian Jean said on Twitter.
“I have not heard of this happening in Alberta but we need to be vigilant and react the same way.”
As usual Scott Moe is right. I have not heard of this happening in Alberta but we need to be vigilant and react the same way. pic.twitter.com/Mec55G7kov
Rebecca Schulz warned the federal government she would prosecute “to the fullest extent of the law” if agents trespassed on private Alberta property.
This is wild…
My message to the federal government…trespass on private property in Alberta and expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. #ableg#ucpldrhttps://t.co/uFMttjeV5D
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has said it’s investigating the incidents. The agency confirmed that water scientists were approached by a landowner who notified them they were on private land as they took samples near a highway in Pense, Sask. on August 11.
Toews said the incident is also concerning because water management is a provincial jurisdiction. Canadians, especially those in agriculture, deserve an answer from the federal government on what they were doing and why they were doing it, he said.
“Allegedly, these bureaucrats were testing for nitrates and pesticides,” he told True North. “This looks like perhaps another attack on Western Canadian agriculture.”
An ECCC spokesperson told the Canadian Press that staff have been collecting samples in water bodies at targeted sites across the country for Health Canada this year.
No nitrates or other nutrients are being sampled as part of the sampling for Health Canada, the spokesperson said.
Yet in his letter to Guilbeault, Saskatchewan’s minister responsible for the province’s Water Security Agency Jeremy Cockrill said federal employees told one producer who approached them for trespassing that they were testing pesticide residue and nitrates.
UCP members will elect a new leader and Premier on October 6.
Amid Western University’s imposition of a mask mandate and three-dose vaccine mandate for their students this upcoming academic term, Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates have come out criticizing the decision.
On Monday, the University of Western Ontario announced that they will be mandating that students receive three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, as well as maintaining an on-campus mask mandate.
Former Ontario MPP Roman Baber took to Twitter to blast Western’s Covid policies, pointing to Ontario’s chief medical officer’s hesitance to recommend the vaccine for those under 18 years old.
“How can @WesternU require a medical procedure that Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer could not recommend because of the relative risk vs. benefit?” reads Baber’s tweet.
“This decision is predicated on ideology, not science. Chancellor Linda Hasenfratz can and must put an end to this!”
How can @WesternU require a medical procedure that Ontario's Chief Medical Officer could not recommend because of the relative risk vs. benefit?
Baber also promoted a Twitter page dedicated to fighting Western University’s mandates called ‘Enough is Enough Western.’
“Enough is Enough. Peaceful advocacy, public pressure, political influence, donors withholding gifts, doctors weighing in – we need it all now,” Baber says.
Enough is Enough.
Peaceful advocacy, public pressure, political influence, donors withholding gifts, doctors weighing in – we need it all now.
Perceived frontrunner Pierre Poilievre called for an end to Western’s mandates, asking the university to allow students to control their personal medical decisions.
“Now they want to mandate a 3rd shot. When does it end? Enough. Let people take back control of their personal medical decisions and their lives.”
Now they want to mandate a 3rd shot. When does it end?
Enough.
Let people take back control of their personal medical decisions and their lives.https://t.co/nfY6gCTY5j
Baber, Lewis and Poilievre have been vocal critics of vaccination requirements and mask mandates before their campaigns and throughout the pandemic.
As an Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP, Baber spoke out against Premier Doug Ford’s handling of the pandemic. As a result, Baber was booted from the PC caucus, leading him to run in the federal Conservative leadership race instead of seeking re-election as an MPP.
During the few weeks the Freedom Convoy took to the streets of Ottawa, Dr. Lewis was vocally supportive of the Convoy’s message of scrapping all Covid-era mandates.
Lewis has campaigned to the Conservative party’s electorate on her early support of the convoy, claiming Pierre Poilievre was late to throw his support behind the movement.
Poilievre’s campaign has repeatedly demanded an end to all federal vaccine mandates and has emplored PM Justin Trudeau to encourage provincial governments to do the same.
True North reached out to the Scott Aitchison and Jean Charest campaigns for comment, but they did not respond in time for publication.
Western University in London, Ontario has become the first postsecondary institution in Canada to impose a three-dose vaccine mandate on students and staff. The school announced yesterday – just two weeks before classes start – that everyone must be triple-jabbed to come to campus. True North’s Andrew Lawton talks about this reminder that mandates and restrictions are always a pen-stroke away.
Also, Enough is Enough creator Kendra Hancock joins the show to talk about how Western students are pushing back against the mandate.
The Vancouver Police Department has arrested four men after discovering firearms at a tent city on East Hastings Street.
On Sunday at 8 a.m., police officers raided a tent after receiving a tip that drugs and guns were being stored on the premises.
Two firearms were seized including one loaded shotgun.
“We’re growing increasingly concerned for public safety in and around the encampment,” said Sgt. Steve Addison.
“Violence against the public and against our officers is on the rise throughout the Downtown Eastside, and the proliferation of guns in the encampment increases the risk to everyone.”
One 40-year-old man from Vancouver and another 23-year-old man from Burnaby were arrested alongside two other men from Surrey. Both were in their 20s.
According to Addison, the guns were being used by the group for protection and intimidation.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a ban on the importation of legal handguns.
The move was instituted without the oversight of parliament. According to Alberta Chief Firearms Officer Teri Bryant said the ban will have little impact on gun crime.
“You’re talking about banning the import of things for use by people who are the most law-abiding, and that can’t possibly have any effect on people who are criminally misusing firearms,” Bryant said in an interview with True North.
“They will see that these are not the people that they should be worried about.”
Numerous current and former law enforcement officers have spoken out against Liberal government gun bans.
“There’s no way in my world or any world I know that this [a handgun ban] would have an impact on somebody who’s going to go out and buy an illegal gun and use it to kill another person or shoot another person,” claimed President of the Toronto Police Association Mike McCormack in 2018.
