An Ontario Superior Court justice ruled that a 12-year-old girl can’t be forced to take a Covid vaccine against her will by her father.
According to Blacklock’s Reporter, in a judgement, Justice Christopher Corkery sided with the girl and her mother saying that he is satisfied with her being mature enough to make personal medical decisions.
“I am satisfied she is able to reasonably form her own opinions,” he wrote.
“What are the health implications if children receive the current vaccine but skip some or all of the boosters? What future Covid variant will boosters guard against?”
“These are all valid questions requiring answers which are currently unavailable. It is improper for the Court to pre-determine future medical treatments at unknown times, in unknown circumstances,” he continued.
During the court procedure, the girl stated that not wanting to be vaccinated was her final decision.
“This is my final decision. I do not want the vaccine. I hope my wishes will be respected,” she said.
Additionally the mother involved was “not against the Covid-19 vaccine” but was “not prepared to force her daughter to be vaccinated against her will.”
Crockery argued that forcing the girl to be vaccinated could put the girl at risk of serious harm mentally.
“Requiring her to be vaccinated against her will would not respect her physical, emotional and psychological safety, security and well-being but would in fact put her at risk of serious emotional and psychological harm,” said Crockery.
“It is not in her best interest.”
Although vaccinations have opened up for children under the age of five, federal research shows that parents are less willing to have their children get the Covid-19 shot.
A federal survey found that parents had “legitimate concerns about the possible side effects and long-term impacts of a drug that, in their view, had been rushed to market for emergency use and remained largely untested in children.”
Another judicial review has been filed against Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) chairman Scott Piatkowksi and his associates – this time related to the allegedly biased decision to silence and punish their colleague Mike Ramsay.
Ramsay, the board’s only black trustee, recently announced the judicial review along with his decision to run for re-election in October.
Piatkowski – who has adamantly refused to step down and has charged full-steam ahead with his re-election bid–now faces three ongoing court actions.
In addition to Ramsay’s, 20-year teacher Carolyn Burjoski has filed both for a judicial review and a $1.7-million defamation suit against the self-serving chairman for canceling her presentation in January and calling her transphobic in a subsequent series of media interviews.
The 12-page court filing by Ramsay, a six-term trustee and former board chairman, challenges a secretive June 6 decision by the board to find him guilty of breaking the board’s Code of Conduct and to impose the maximum number of sanctions available. He is essentially banned from all board and committee meetings until the end of the term.
That decision was upheld by the same cabal of trustees – Piatkowski, Jayne Herring, Carole Millar, Karen Meissner, Kathleen Woodcock and Joanne Weston – on June 28. Trustee Laurie Tremble, who laid the complaint, did not vote.
To this day, the report of the pricey downtown Toronto law firm paid to investigate Ramsay has not been made public.
But the filing states that the following allegations were made in Tremble’s complaint: 1. Ramsay did not respect Piatkowski’s decision to terminate Burjoski’s January presentation to the board by asking the chairman to apologize for the way he handled the meeting; 2. Ramsay retweeted tweets and articles (including those from True North) about Piatkowski’s decision to cancel Burjoski; 3. Ramsay expressed concern on Feb. 14 that education ministry directives were being exceeded with staff vaccination mandates and 4. Ramsay revealed confidential information, an allegation the Integrity Commissioner said was not proven.
In January Piatkowski shut down Burjoski four minutes into her presentation about the age appropriateness of certain highly sexualized books in the board’s elementary school libraries.
Burjoski alleges in her $1.7-million lawsuit that the chairman defamed her in media interviews when he claimed her presentation was “disrespectful” and could cause trans people to be “attacked.”
As I suspected, Piatkowski likely refused to release the report on Ramsay because it reveals what appears to be a personal vendetta against the black trustee and shows that time and money was spent to vindictively muzzle someone who holds him to account.
It also would have exposed a double standard when it comes to transgressions under the board’s Code of Conduct.
Ramsay, in his filing, alleges Piatkowski was biased when he participated in the votes that found the trustee broke the board’s Code of Conduct and imposed draconian sanctions.
The filing indicates that Piatkowski voted after submitting 58 pages of allegations against Ramsay to the Integrity Commissioner investigating the complaint–which is in itself against the board’s Code of Conduct.
According to the filing, Piatkowski claimed in those 58 pages Ramsay’s transgressions are “even greater than suggested” by Tremble’s complaint against him.
“In providing submissions in support of the complaint and then participating in the decision, the Chair acted as witness, advocate and adjudicator… (this) would appear biased to a reasonable observer,” the filing states.
Claiming that the board of trustees failed to justify its decision in a “transparent and intelligible” manner, Ramsay asks the court to set aside the decision and to prohibit the board from initiating any further inquiries against him.
Despite the ridiculous actions against him, Ramsay says he’s decided to run again to try to re-direct the focus of the school board to academic excellence and preparation for a successful career instead of “divisive identity politics.”
Ramsay told True North this week the board’s anti-racism promoters would like him to “support discrimination” against the innocent grandchilren of people with whom he went to school.
“For six terms I have been elected to create the best opportunities for ALL students,” he said. “I will continue to do so with the support of the community.”
Canadian airports continue to be plagued with massive delays, leading many to avoid air travel altogether.
The worst of the delays have been at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. Things have gotten so bad that Canada’s largest and busiest hub was recently ranked the worst in the world in terms of delays.
Many travellers have been reporting horror stories, including long lines leading to missed flights, tarmac delays, lost baggage, and sudden flight cancellations.
True North spoke with Air Passenger Rights president Gabor Lukacs about what passengers are entitled to when dealing with major disruptions while flying.
Airport delays
If long lines at check-in or security lead you to miss your flight, Lukacs says you should be able to get rebooked at no extra cost – even if you’re travelling on a basic fare.
“Generally, if someone misses a flight for no fault of their own at the airport, then the airline would have to take care of them.”
Flight delays and cancellations
For delays within the airline’s control that are not related to a safety issue, the Government of Canada says passengers are entitled to varying compensation, depending on the length of the delay and the airline they’re flying on.
Passengers subjected to a 3 to 6-hour delay are entitled to a compensation of $400 on a large airline and $125 on a small airline.Passengers subjected to a 6 to 9-hour delay are entitled to compensation of $700 on a large airline and $250 on a small airline. Meanwhile, travellers who are subjected to a delay of over 9 hours are entitled to a compensation of $1000 on a large airline and $500 on a small airline.
Lukacs says that compensation needs to be in cash and passengers should expect “rebooking on another flight, in some cases also flights of competitors, and meals and accommodation overnight, if necessary” in addition to being compensated.
The government defines “large airlines” as those who’ve carried over 2 million passengers in the last two years. Other carriers are considered to be “small airlines.”
It should be noted that airlines are exempt from having to provide compensation if they communicate the delay more than 14 days before the flight.
Passengers have one year to request compensation, while airlines have 30 days to respond to a compensation request.
Air Canada previously denied requests for compensation over disruptions caused by staff shortages, claiming the lack of staff was a safety issue – something which Lukacs calls fraudulent.
“Crew shortage is not a safety issue, it’s just bad management,” he said. “Presenting crew shortage as safety is fraudulent, that is breaking the law.”
True North reached out to Air Canada and Westjet to ask what percentage of compensation claims resulted in a payment. Neither responded in time for publication.
Lukacs says passengers who believe they were improperly denied a compensation claim should take legal action against the airline by taking them to small claims court.
Tarmac delays
The Government of Canada says airlines must provide passengers facing a tarmac delay with the option to disembark if that delay hits the three-hour mark, unless takeoff is likely imminent. In that case, they can keep passengers onboard for an additional 45 minutes.
The airline is exempted from the requirement if it’s not possible to disembark passengers due to safety, security, air traffic control or customs reasons.
While discussing tarmac delays, Lukacs slammed the Trudeau government’s “Air Passenger Bill of Rights”, which he said doubled the time passengers can be kept on the tarmac from 90 minutes to three hours.
“The Senate was actually siding with the public and insisted that after 90 minutes, passengers should be provided with the option to disembark. But the Liberal majority at the time rammed through a bill that would say three hours,” said Lukacs.
Lost luggage
According to the Air Passenger Rights’ website, luggage is deemed legally lost after 21 days of delay. At this point, Canadian passengers are entitled to up to approximately $2300 in compensation.
Lukacs says passengers should take the airlines to small claims court if they refuse to compensate them for lost baggage, saying that “the judge will order the airline to pay.”
He also recommends making a list of the items you placed in your checked baggage before heading to the airport, as well as collecting the receipts of purchases made due to lost luggage.
Passengers may also expense up to $2300 in expenses if their baggage is delayed.
Additional advice
Lukacs is recommending Canadians avoid air travel as much as possible at this time, due to the ongoing chaotic situation.
“I recommend passengers in Canada to avoid travel for time being as much as they possibly can, if they must then avoid Canadian airlines as much as they can, and if they can avoid Canadian airports as much as they can.”
He added that the current situation “is not business as usual.”
Lukacs also says that airlines must honour compensation rules and be proactive in assisting affected passengers.
“The airline has to be proactive. They have to proactively offer you a rebooking,” said Lukacs, adding that telling customers to call their call centre doesn’t meet the legal requirement.
Lukacs adds that passengers who are dealing with an airline that is not cooperative should simply buy a ticket on another airline and have their original airline pay for it.
He also recommends documenting everything, including recording interactions, adding that doing so is legal and the airlines cannot say otherwise.
“Don’t be intimidated… I heard stories like (of people being told) ‘if you take photos you won’t get here.’ No, they cannot do anything to you.”
Lukacs says “if somebody’s harassing you because you take photos or videos, call a police officer, you have every right to record conversations in Canada. You don’t need anybody else’s permission.”
The delays at Canadian airports have been going on for months, with critics saying the Trudeau government has shown a lack of accountability for the unprecedented chaos.
The Liberals have also been maintaining travel mandates, their controversial ArriveCAN app and also reintroduced mandatory random Covid testing for fully vaccinated travellers. It is unclear when the situation will improve, but one expert says airports could continue to be plagued with problems for the rest of 2022.
Kingston city councillor Jeff McLaren is calling on a statue of Canada’s first prime minister and father of Confederation Sir John A. Macdonald to be erected at his gravesite after a local cemetery turned down plans to host the statue.
Macdonald was a Kingston, Ontario local and was the MP for the riding until 1891.
“Sir John A.’s statue should never have been taken down. Now after an appropriate time of mourning, it is time to put Sir John A.’s statue back up,” wrote McLaren in the Kingston Whig Standard.
“Erasing history is never a good policy. However, it is by adding perspective that we advance history. This requires respect for the truth — especially when it isn’t a truth one likes.”
The statue of Macdonald was removed by the city last year and remained in storage until councillors could decide what was to be done with it.
Last week, the board of Cataraqui Cemetery where Macdonald’s remains rest voted against hosting the statue.
“This update today is the first time staff were made aware that a reconsideration by the board was underway,” said Kingston’s director of heritage services Jennifer Campbell.
“As recently as June 27, staff were in communication with the assigned board representative to co-ordinate the completion of a site survey, as part of confirming the detailed mounting/installation plan.”
In his op-ed, McLaren also called for the former space of the statue to be lent to different groups to display how Macdonald’s legacy impacted them.
“I propose that this former statue space be used to present the perspectives of the different groups who were affected by Macdonald’s legacy. The city should allow each group to commemorate in a culturally suitable fashion,” wrote McLaren.
“In my European heritage, we celebrate great achievement with statues on pedestals — the city should put Sir John A.’s statue back up.
“For First Nations, I understand statues are not culturally significant, so the city should facilitate whatever it finds appropriate if and when it is ready to express how it wishes to commemorate Sir John A,” he continued.
United Conservative Party (UCP) MLA Grant Hunter says Albertans experienced severe curtailment of their civil liberties during the Covid-19 pandemic because Calgary MLAs on the committee overseeing pandemic policy outnumbered rural MLAs who did not want restrictions. Hunter also said he was removed from cabinet for speaking against pandemic restrictions.
The Taber-Warner MLA made the comments below a Facebook post urging followers to purchase a membership with the Toews campaign before last Friday’s deadline.
If the entire UCP caucus could vote on whether to implement restrictions, there would have been a regional approach on Covid rules, Hunter said.
“Calgary and Edmonton wanted restrictions, the rest of Alberta didn’t,” he wrote. “But because the majority of members were from Calgary the vote was always for restrictions. Caucus was never given the chance to vote on restrictions. If we were able to vote I am confident (because the majority comes from rural Alberta) we would have had a regional approach.”
Hunter was Alberta’s associate minister of Red Tape Reduction from April 2019 until July 2021. He said he was removed from cabinet for fighting against Covid restrictions.
The original Covid-19 committee was the Emergency Management Cabinet Committee (EMCC), but the Priorities Implementation Cabinet Committee (PICC) took control of pandemic policy in late 2020.
Throughout late 2020 to early 2022, PICC included at one point or another: Premier Jason Kenney, Ministers Jason Nixon, Sonya Savage, Jason Copping, Adriana LaGrange, Kaycee Madu, Ric McIver, Tyler Shandro and MLA Mickey Amery. It also included former ministers Travis Toews and Rebecca Shulz who are both running to replace Kenney.
In his post, Hunter was referring to a period where the ten PICC members included seven MLAs who represented Calgary ridings, two MLAs from rural Alberta, and one from Edmonton.
Kenney, Savage, Copping, McIver, Shandro, Amery, and Schulz all represent Calgary ridings, while Madu represents the only riding the UCP holds in Edmonton.
Nixon, LaGrange, and Toews represent rural Alberta ridings.
The Premier’s office declined to comment.
In an interview with True North, Hunter said he doesn’t blame his Calgary colleagues for advocating for restrictions their constituents likely wanted. He also said Madu likely presented a rural perspective against restrictions, despite representing an Edmonton riding.
Toews also advocated for rural Albertans and against restrictions, he said. Hunter has endorsed Toews as the best person to be Alberta’s next Premier.
Hunter told True North that Toews and Madu never broke cabinet confidence by revealing committee conversations. He’s friends with both the MLAs and “can imagine” they advocated for rural Albertans, he said.
The Alberta Institute founder Peter McCaffrey said if Hunter lost his spot in cabinet for opposing restrictions, it seems Toews should have as well.
“To be frank, it seems pretty clear (Toews) either didn’t actually oppose them, or he offered token resistance that didn’t amount to much (hence why he didn’t lose his spot like you did),” McCaffrey commented.
Hunter said he wasn’t on PICC so he can’t answer why Toews didn’t lose his role as the Finance minister.
Jordan Kosik, who runs the popular Facebook page Holding MLAs Accountable with 21,000 members, wondered why Hunter is the first MLA to speak out after 2.5 years of “bullshit.”
Hunter responded that he’s been “sounding the alarm” about pandemic restrictions since six months into the pandemic.
“I just haven’t been talking about this to the liberal media. Also, other MLAs have (been) doing the same thing,” he wrote.
“There were many days and months when I asked myself if the silent majority were ever going to become vocal. Once the freedom convoy started I was relieved to know more people were just as upset as I was.”
While before the House of Commons public safety committee on Tuesday, the two RCMP officials who brought charges of political interference against RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki pertaining to the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting investigation stood by their claims.
Earlier this year, an explosive report alleged that Lucki pressured her subordinates to reveal details of the firearm in the shooting that left 23 dead, including the gunman, in order to help the Trudeau government’s gun control agenda.
Chief Supt. Darren Campbell and former RCMP strategic communications director Lia Scanlan testified to MPs about their interaction with Lucki.
RCMP Chief Superintendent Darren Campbell shreds RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki saying “the commissioner made me feel as if I was stupid.”
The Liberal government is accused of pressuring Lucki to use the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting for political gain. #cdnpolipic.twitter.com/zpI3SYj5wG
“The commissioner told my colleagues and I that we didn’t understand, that this was tied to pending legislation that would make officers and the public safer,” Campbell said.
“The commissioner made me feel as if I was stupid.”
According to Campbell, the call in which Lucki requested investigators to reveal confidential details to the general public lasted about 20 minutes.
“The principle was the oath that I swore to uphold as a young recruit over three decades ago. I could not and would not break that oath,” said Campbell.
Emails from the time show while Lucki was opposed to releasing details of the firearms to the government, Lucki eventually sent information about the guns used to the Public Safety minister and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s advisers.
Scanlan also corroborated Campbell’s report saying she would never dispute the notes he left behind. While she was present at the meeting she says that she could not exactly recount the words Lucki used during the phone call.
“I would never dispute Darren Campbell’s notes and at the end of the day, whether we’re saying promise, pressure, influence — they all lead to the same end result,” Scanlan told MPs.
Following the meeting with Lucki, Scanlan said she felt “disgust” over the interaction calling her behaviour “appalling, inappropriate, unprofessional and extremely belittling.”
Former public safety minister Bill Blair has denied any claims that his office asked Lucki to release the details of the shooting.
“I know very clearly the line between government responsibility for governance and oversight of the RCMP and giving direction,” said Blair.
“At no time did I cross that line or any member of my government cross that line, giving direction to the commissioner of the RCMP.”
United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidate Danielle Smith won’t seek to represent the riding of Calgary-Elbow should there be a byelection this fall.
UCP MLA Doug Schweitzer said earlier this month he will step down as the representative for the riding at the end of August “or such other date established closer to that time.” Schweitzer already resigned from his cabinet position as the minister for jobs, economy and innovation.
There’s been some speculation about whether Smith would put her name forward to replace Schweitzer.
“There has been no changes, (Smith) still will run in Livingstone-Macleod,” campaign manager Matthew Altheim said in a message to True North on Tuesday.
Smith said she would run in Livingston-Macleod, where she’s lived since 2011, when she launched her campaign in May.
“I’m old fashioned,” Smith said at the time. “I feel like you should live in the riding that you represent.”
When she was leader of the Opposition Wildrose Party in 2012, Smith was elected to represent Highwood, a riding south of Calgary. She lost the PC nomination in 2015 after crossing the floor to join Premier Jim Prentice’s Progressive Conservatives (PC).
In 2010, some of Highwood was redistributed to the Livingstone-Macleod riding.
Since Livingstone-Macleod’s creation in 1997, it’s been represented by conservatives, including the PCs, Wildrose, and the UCP.
The riding is currently represented by UCP MLA Roger Reid, who won his seat with over 70% of voters’ support in 2019.
Schweitzer’s Calgary Elbow has elected Liberals in the past. It was held by the Liberals in 2007-2008, and by the centrist Alberta Party from 2015-2019.
Schweitzer beat Alberta Party incumbent Greg Clark with 44.34% of the vote in 2019.
The riding was also represented by former beloved Alberta Premier Ralph Klein.
At a press conference on Monday, Kenney said it’s his understanding a Calgary-Elbow byelection is not mandatory once Schweitzer steps down because Alberta’s next general election is happening within the year. It’s scheduled for spring 2023.
“We’ll reflect on that and we’ll see exactly when Mr. Schweitzer decides to leave the legislature,” Kenney said. “That may be very close to the end of my tenure as premier. So this may be an issue that my successor addresses.”
This week on The Rupa Subramanya Show, Rupa reflects on the response to her bombshell story which proved that the federal government’s vaccine mandates were not based on science, but were merely political.
Since breaking the story, Rupa describes the successes and the obstacles that have risen, including having the story picked up by the National Post and the Toronto Sun.
Rupa notes that despite the gravity of the story, there is still silence from the legacy media. Instead, two MPs from the Liberal-NDP government Mark Gerretsen and Charlie Angus have accused Rupa of spreading lies and conservative propaganda.
Rupa provides an analysis on her story and what it will mean when MPs return to Parliament in September.
Lawyers representing the United Conservative Party (UCP) are accusing the political advocacy group Take Back Alberta of improperly sharing a party membership list with the polling company Mainstreet Research.
In an Aug. 12 letter obtained by True North, lawyer Steven Dollansky accuses Take Back Alberta founder David Parker of having played a “role in providing” Mainstreet Research with the list.
“The Party has been made aware from your public statements that you have partnered with Quito Maggi and Emrys Graefe to give ‘Take Back Alberta’ members with daily polling results on the UCP Leadership Contest,” wrote Dollansky.
“The Party is concerned that you may have played a role in providing those individuals with what you purport to be a Party membership list in order to allow Mainstreet Research to carry out the opinion polling referenced above.”
The letter goes on to demand that Parker “immediately destroy” the membership list and “cease any further use of disclosure of the personal information contained within it.”
True North reached out to the UCP for comment but did not receive a response.
In a statement sent to True North, Parker said that Mainstreet Research was contracted by Take Back Alberta and he will continue with his advocacy work.
“Take Back Alberta has contracted Mainstreet Research, in partnership with iPolitics, to poll the UCP Membership. Take Back Alberta will continue to educate Albertans on how their democracy works and encourage them to participate in the democratic process,” said Parker.
The UCP is currently undergoing a leadership contest with party members set to head to the polls to elect Premier Jason Kenney’s replacement on Oct. 6, 2022.
Kenney stepped down from his post in May despite narrowly winning a UCP leadership review.
Although Kenney received 51.4% of the vote to remain on as leader, he announced soon after that he would not longer remain at the party’s helm.
Take Back Alberta took a leading role in calling for the leadership race which eventually saw Kenney ousted.
“Most of the people that are signing up to vote against Jason Kenney are people who used to work for him, like myself,” said Parker at the time.
In 2017, Parker worked as an organizer on the former UCP leader’s campaign.
“(Kenney) is not trusted by anyone in this province, whether you’re left or right. And I don’t think we should continue having a leader that Albertans can’t trust.”
An official with Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) inappropriately brought up doctor-assisted euthanasia with a veteran seeking treatment for mental health issues.
According to Global News, the veteran who wished to remain anonymous was told to seek doctor-assisted suicide – or medical assistance in dying (MAID) – without prompt.
His family said that they were shocked and disturbed when they learned about the incident
VAC has acknowledged the interaction saying that what the federal employee did was inappropriate and not the standard at the agency.
“VAC deeply regrets what transpired,” said the agency claiming that “appropriate administrative action will be taken.”
“Providing advice pertaining to medical assistance in dying is not a VAC service.”
There are concerns that there may have been other cases where veterans have been told to seek doctor-assisted suicide instead of mental health services.
A recent poll shows Canadians are divided on whether those with mental health issues should be allowed to access doctor-assisted euthanasia.
In July, Leger reported that 45% of Canadians supported making the option available to those with serious mental illness.
Additionally, 51% of Canadians supported allowing those who are under the age of 18 to have the option to seek a medically assisted suicide should they show a “certain level of maturity and decision-making ability.”
“I would describe support for the new propositions as cautious or tacit, but the high numbers of ‘don’t know’ responses suggest some uncertainty among Canadians, as well as an indication the discussion around these new policies is not widespread throughout the general population,” said Leger executive vice president Andrew Enns.
“There is nothing in here that suggests that any of these (doctor-assisted suicide policies being studied) are horrendously bad. There’s support to continue the conversation. But I (also) don’t think there is anything here that says, ‘This is a slam-dunk, just go ahead.’”
Recent changes to the law by the Liberal government will legally permit those diagnosed with mental illness to be approved for doctor-assisted suicide after March 2023.
True North’s Andrew Lawton, a mental health advocate and survivor of a suicide attempt, said the government’s approach to this issue has normalized death as a treatment.
“Simply put, allowing those with mental illness to end their lives with the state’s sanction and help reaffirms the dangerous thinking many suicidal people have already adopted – that they’re better off dead than alive,” Lawton said.
“We can’t tell people to have hope and that life is worth living while simultaneously championing policies that say the opposite.”
