After a month of criss-crossing the country for photo opportunities while simultaneously increasing his carbon footprint, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he is taking a two-week vacation in Costa Rica. This is of course a legitimate news story, but according to some in the legacy media, we should just leave Trudeau alone and let him deserve his “well-deserved” break.
Plus, the legacy media continues to ignore a bombshell story by True North’s Rupa Subramanya, which revealed that the Trudeau government’s travel mandates were based on politics, not science.
The CBC published an op-ed, arguing that electric vehicles are not enough to address climate change. We will now have to get rid cars altogether. When will the climate madness end?
And to wrap up, the Toronto Sun falls for an obviously scripted pro wrestling storyline and reports it as news.
Andrew Lawton and Harrison Faulkner lay the smackdown on the legacy media in this week’s edition of Fake News Friday! Tune in now!
On Saturday, July 30, aboard the Papal plane on his way home from Canada following his five-day “penitential pilgrimage,” Pope Francis admitted that his Church’s involvement with the Indian Residential Schools (IRS) was “genocide,” the most horrific crime one group can commit against another.
His acknowledgement of the church’s guilt was in response to an on-board indigenous Canadian reporter’s question of why he did not use the word “genocide” during the trip, and if he would now accept that members of his Church participated in genocide, to which the Pope replied:
“It’s true that I did not use the word because I didn’t think of it. But I described genocide. I apologised, I asked forgiveness for this activity, which was genocide…. I condemned this, taking children away and, their minds, change their traditions, a race, an entire culture.”
Earlier in the week inhis official apology, the Pope also said:
“… policies of assimilation ended up systematically marginalizing the Indigenous peoples … [whose] cultures were denigrated and suppressed [and] children suffered … spiritual abuse” which he called “this deplorable evil.”
These words suggest that the Pope was referring to his Church’s role in the IRS as “cultural genocide” rather than physical genocide, the legally established meaning of the term.
On June 2, 2015, the day the Summary Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was released, Liberal Party of Canada leader Justin Trudeau hailed it as “the truth of what happened [in the Indian Residential School system],” thereby accepting its central assertion that what occurred there was “cultural genocide.”
He was not alone in this belief. Distinguished Canadians such as Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and former prime minister Paul Martin have publicly endorsed this charge as well. Even former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, although he refrained from using the term in his 2008 Parliamentary statement of apology to former IRS students, acknowledged the IRS tried to “kill the Indian in the child.” If true, surely that was cultural genocide.
Cultural genocide is an indisputable historical fact according to the TRC. Hence its recommendations calling for legal, political, and economic restitution for aboriginal cultural genocide, all based on the assumption – asserted on the first page of the report – that the schools systematically engaged in:
“… the destruction of those structures and practices that allow the group to continue as a group … to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one generation to the next.”
The origin of the cultural genocide allegation is the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, that led to the establishment of the TRC, and it has been repeated many times since, though rarely with as much authority as in the Pope’s recent confession.
But that doesn’t necessarily make it true.
Only in the post-colonial era has the most benign form of conflict-based interaction between alien people – what social scientists have long called enculturation or assimilation – been reinvented as “cultural genocide”. The term was coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin, who lost dozens of relatives in the Holocaust and later helped the United Nations formulate its legal definitions of actual genocide – the physical extermination of a people.
With endorsements by numerous prominent Canadians and the TRC Report, it has achieved widespread currency in Canada: a July 2015Angus Reid poll found that 70% of Canadians agreed that cultural genocide described the IRS experience, although most respondents admitted they knew little about the Report or the issue.
To challenge the validity of the nomenclature is not to deny the harsh physical and heinous sexual abuse that sometimes occurred at these often poorly run, maintained, and underfunded schools. These facts are undeniably true, but they do not add up to cultural genocide, partly because the term itself has no legal definition.
The label was deliberately excluded from the five grounds listed in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which says nothing about the loss of culture – the languages, beliefs, values, and ideas that distinguish groups of people from each other; rather, it talks only about the intentional destruction of a “national, ethnical, racial, or religious group” of people using various physical means. Thus, it was inaccurate for the TRC to assert that the generally voluntary attendance at residential schools is covered by the Convention.
The Convention does recognize in Article 2(e) that genocide can involve “forcibly transferring children from one group to another group”. This might apply, for example, when Boko Haram jihadists in Nigeria kidnap hundreds of Christian schoolgirls, force them to accept Islam, and marry them off to their fighters. But this is manifestly not in the same league as Canadian aboriginal children temporarily and mainly voluntarily attending boarding schools, usually for a few years, to obtain a Western education.
The cultural genocide charge is further undermined by the fact that the provision of a Western education was often requested by aboriginals and entrenched in six of the seven numbered treaties negotiated in Western Canada. Treaty Six, for example, which extends across the central portions of Alberta and Saskatchewan, was signed in 1876, the same year the IRS were established. At the request of the aboriginal treaty signatories, it promised that:
“Her Majesty [Queen Victoria] agrees to maintain schools for instruction in such reserves hereby made as to Her Government of the Dominion of Canada may seem advisable, whenever the Indians of the reserve shall desire it.”
Residential schools were subsequently established on the well-founded and altruistic notion that what remained of aboriginal beliefs and lifestyles in 1876 – over 300 years since first contact — together with the various social and economic pathologies that were supplanting them, were incompatible with a rapidly developing and modernizing country. The Federal government, along with several Christian denominations, saw their duty as helping indigenous people adapt to this reality which included the teaching of the Christian faith.
The cultural genocide charge is also rooted in weak social science. The legacy of the IRS – “the significant educational, income, health, and social disparities between Aboriginal people and other Canadians,” the negative effects of poor, abusive, or absent parenting, and high incarceration rates – hasbeen found to be no greater among those who attended IRS than those who did not.
In developed countries like Canada, these disparities can be better explained as the product of widespread multi-generational welfare dependency, which social science research has firmly linked to feelings of marginality, helplessness, apathy, fatalism, and a lack of future orientation.
The role of the IRS in trying to mitigate many of these negative consequences is supported in the Report itself which states that during the 1950s and 1960s, up to 50% of IRS students were orphans or the offspring of “broken homes.” This looks like an effort by the federal government and the churches to save both the Indian and the child.
Moreover, the cultural genocide thesis ignores the indisputable fact that human beings can assimilate characteristics of two or more cultures, including unrelated languages. The TRC Report implies instead that cultural learning and retention are zero-sum games, ignoring the abundant evidence of the human capacity for “bi-culturation.” The truth of this is clearly seen in the diversity of Canadian society, where people from a vast array of cultures have successfully integrated into the multicultural mainstream, while retaining many of their native languages, beliefs, and cultural practices.
The TRC Report grudgingly (and perhaps inadvertently) acknowledges that this is as true for aboriginal Canadians as it is for millions of other Canadians when it states that “Aboriginal cultures and peoples have been badly damaged, [but] they continue to exist. Aboriginal people have refused to surrender their identity,” echoing Murray Sinclair’s 2010 statement that “Indians never assimilated.”
This may be the truest statement in the Report, and perhaps the most hopeful one, for it acknowledges that as hard as the IRS may have tried to absorb its students into mainstream culture, these efforts failed.
Still, these words cannot transcend the bitter and hyperbolic narrative of genocide and entitlement, now reinforced by the Pope’s visit. There seems little reason to believe that there will soon come a time when a proud and confident people are recognized – and recognize themselves – as full and equal citizens of Canada, instead of its eternal victims.
The Responsible Plastics Use Coalition (RPUC) is taking the Trudeau government to court for designating all plastic manufactured items as toxic.
RPUC, a federally incorporated corporation that works towards effective regulatory responses to plastic pollution in Canada, is comprised of a number of plastics manufacturers including DOW and NOVA Chemicals who are based in Ontario and the United States.
“Members of RPUC have a shared belief that Canadians deserve a responsible and effective policy approach to tackling the problem of plastic waste in the environment.” said the Managing Director of the RPUC Alexandre Meterissian in a statement to True North.
“RPUC is currently challenging the authorizing regulation under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act that declares all plastic manufactured items are toxic and permits the federal government to enact the regulations, in this instance, to ban certain single-use plastic.” says Meterissian.
On May 12 2021, the Canadian government added all “plastic manufactured items” to Schedule 1 on the List of Toxic Substances of the Canadian Environment Protection Act (CEPA), a decision which RPUC believes is “not supported by science and will have far-reaching and unintended consequences.”
“The decision to move forward with the bans before a court decision on whether the federal government has authority to enact such bans is irresponsible and represents a significant overstep by the government,” wrote Meterissian.
The group of plastic manufacturers is urging the government to implement “science-based” solutions to address plastic waste, such as expanding collection infrastructure and further development of recycling technologies.
In June 2021, RPUC filed their first Notice of Application for judicial review in the Federal Court of Canada, arguing that the Order is unconstitutional, unreasonable and outside the enabling authority granted to the government by CEPA.
“If the Order is upheld then what will the government add to the List of Toxic Substances next if a proper scientific determination is not first required?” writes RPUC.
“The assertion is not based on fact, data, measurement, or scientific study, is based on estimates, and even these are outdated and do not originate in Canada.”
In June 2022, RPUC filed another suit against the Trudeau government’s latest ban targeting single-use plastics, arguing again that the ban is unconstitutional and that the government has no evidence that single-use plastics are toxic.
“In order for Parliament to regulate a substance, it must be shown to be ‘toxic’ as defined by section 64 of CEPA.” writes the Notice. “The substance must post a threat or danger, in the same way that Parliament regulates other threats to the public such as narcotics, and firearms.”
“The Ministers have not established that the single-use plastics are ‘toxic’. In fact, there is no credible evidence that any single-use plastics are ‘toxic.’’
In June, the Trudeau government unveiled details of its commitment to ban some single-use plastic items as part of its effort to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030.
The government will ban six common plastic products: single-use cutlery, stir sticks, straws, polystyrene food containers, six-pack rings and checkout bags.
Alberta’s New Democratic Party (NDP) fundraised more than double compared to United Conservative Party (UCP) in the second financial quarter, while Prolife Alberta came third in fundraising efforts — ahead of political parties that run candidates in elections.
Rachel Notley’s NDP fundraised $1,430,164 in the second quarter, an increase of $393,012 from the first quarter.
The UCP came in second with $521,175 this quarter, a decrease of $366,799.
The results come amid the UCP leadership contest, in which seven candidates must fundraise $175,000 to run. The first $150,000 is to cover the cost of the leadership race, while the remaining $25,000 is a refundable deposit for compliance with the contest rules.
All candidates submitted at least $75,000 last month with their leadership application. Some candidates have already paid the full deposit.
The costly leadership contest comes ahead of next year’s provincial election against the NDP.
The UCP was focused on the leadership review in the second quarter, but it’s now seeing incredible growth in membership and fundraising moving into the third quarter, UCP communications director Dave Prisco told True North.
“Tens of thousands of people are joining the party bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars in membership dues and fundraising after the review vote is very strong,” he said in an email. “We believe we’ll close the gap in the third quarter and have a strong war chest in place in time for our new Leader.”
Meanwhile, Prolife Alberta came third in fundraising efforts, ahead of the Alberta Party, the Liberals, the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta and the Green Party. The group fundraised $94,214, an increase of $26,650 from the first quarter.
Prolife Alberta does not run candidates in political elections, but seeks to promote pro-life policy through policy and politics.
Every quarter when the fundraising efforts are released, the political party serves as a reminder that pro-life Albertans are here, they want to be involved and they’re being neglected by mainstream political parties who ignore their concerns, said the executive director of Prolife Alberta Richard Dur.
“As long as Albertan politicians continue to deprive Alberta’s preborn children with the right to life, they will be depriving themselves of a dedicated base of supporters, donors, volunteers and contributions,” he told True North.
Prolife Alberta only began ramping up fundraising efforts in February 2021, but found quick success.
The group raised nearly $217,000 in contributions in 2021. In the first three quarters, it again out-fundraised the Wildrose Independence Party, the Alberta Party and the Alberta Liberals.
Dur said he’d like to see more conversation on pro-life issues in the UCP leadership race, but the group is canvassing all the candidates and hopes to publish the results ahead of the membership cutoff on August 12.
UCP members will elect a new leader and Premier on October 6.
With the help of the legacy media, Canadians can rest easy knowing that they have been right all along about Justin Trudeau – that he is a narcissist. Earlier this week, the Canadian Press reported that Trudeau had been gifted 17 portraits of himself from world leaders (including one from Xi Jinping). It also turns out that the Chinese government gifted Trudeau a very fancy e-bike and a Huawei cellphone back in 2017. Does any of this really surprise you though?
The CBC aired a segment on The National about a group of black activists in Guelph burning books in the name of racial justice as part of their Emancipation Day coverage. It turns out that book burning for left wing causes is totally acceptable now – at least if you ask the CBC.
A group of British climate activists have claimed responsibility for slashing 34 SUV tires in Victoria this past week to protest a lack of action for climate change. Nothing says you want to save the planet quite like slashing tires on cars that will just get new tires after a tow truck has towed them to a mechanic.
The BC NDP are the winners of this week’s Ratio of The Week award for being very proud about their role in using your tax dollars to “fund gender affirming surgeries” in the province. It turns out that British Columbians weren’t quite as proud.
The Ontario PCs led by Premier Doug Ford have continued the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals’ legacy of high per-person spending and growing government debts.
According to a report released by the Fraser Institute, the Ford government has increased the provincial deficit and debt despite commitments to balance the budget and bring down Ontario’s debt before getting elected.
When in opposition, the Ontario PCs fought Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne’s record of deficit spending and debt accumulation and promised a new fiscal direction for the province.
In 2018, the PCs proclaimed that “(O)ntario doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. Efficiencies exist all across the government, whether it is how different agencies and ministries purchase goods or how they deliver services.”
Despite the PCs pre-election rhetoric, the Ford government has carried on the Liberal platform of increasing government debt and deficits with spending projections not expected to come down anytime soon.
The Ford government inherited a budget with a nearly $4 billion deficit in the fiscal year 2017/2018. However, the Ford government did not bring down the government’s deficit – instead, letting the deficit reach $7.4 billion in 2018/2019 and $8.7 billion in 2019/2020.
Regarding per-person spending adjusted for inflation, the Ford government brought this figure down from $11,501 to $ 11,416 or $85 per person.
The 2022/2023 budget brought forward by the PCs has the per-person spending increasing by 2.9% from pandemic levels, bringing per-person expenditures to $11,783, higher than the Wynne government left.
The Ontario government has been running budgetary deficits since 2008/2009, with Ontario’s per person debt reaching just over $26,000 upon the PCs inheriting power.
During the pre-pandemic years of Ford’s government, the Liberal trend of ever-increasing government debt continued, with net debt per person increasing by approximately $300 over two fiscal years.
While the response to the Covid pandemic expectedly drove government debt up, the Ford PC’s spending plan forecasts that the debt will continue to increase despite the pandemic coming to an end.
While the 2022 provincial budget has not been passed in the legislature yet, the PCs forecast the per-person debt will rise from $27,889 in 2021/2022 to $28,930 in 2024/2025. The Ontario PCs plan on balancing the provincial budget by 2027-2028.
Senior fellow at the Fraser Institute Ben Eisen says that the Ford government has broken pre-election promises to bring down the provincial deficit and debt and that the Ford government needs to take drastic measures to change the fiscal course they are currently on.
“For the Ford government to fulfill its promises to restore Ontario’s finances, it must make a sharp course correction during its second term in office,” Eisen said.
Education Minister Adriana LaGrange is in the fight of her life to keep her United Conservative Party (UCP) nomination in Red Deer – North.
She’s being challenged by popular freedom fighter Andrew Clews, co-founder of Hold The Line, a group which supported Albertans impacted by Covid-19 restrictions and helped them resist vaccine coercion.
He was motivated to run because LaGrange has shown a complete lack of support for the freedom movement, Clews told True North.
“Even to date, I have not heard (LaGrange) voice any type of support for the rights and freedoms that we once had as Albertans,” he said.
“I’m not impressed with how our government has handled the pandemic, how they have so casually given rights and taken rights away from Albertans…we need to elect leaders to go to the Alberta legislature and stand for freedom.”
Variations of Hold The Line organizations emerged across North America to help citizens resist government lockdowns and restrictions.
Clews, who’s a project manager in commercial construction, said his group supported families impacted by Alberta’s vaccine mandates. For example, if someone was at risk of losing their job over a Covid-19 vaccine mandate, the group would share religious exemption waivers that had past success.
In instances where employees lost their jobs, organizers would connect them with suitable employers. If those efforts were unsuccessful, the group would financially support a family during the transition period, Clews said.
“If we could support families — so keep families together and help keep kids safe — then you could live to fight another day,” he said.
Hold the Line has over 1,000 members in the central Alberta region, Clews said.
There are 996 UCP members in Red Deer – North.
Per party bylaws, the cutoff to buy memberships to vote in the contest closed 21 days ahead of the August 18 nomination vote.
Voting will occur in-person at the Pines Community Centre from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
In a statement to True North, LaGrange said she respects anyone “who puts forward his or her name to run for this great party.”
“I am eager to connect with conservatives from all walks of life and every part of the riding,” she wrote.
The MLA was elected to represent Red Deer – North in April 2019. Premier Jason Kenney handed her the education portfolio later that month.
While in the role, she implemented a new K-6 curriculum to improve literacy and numeracy, which was criticized by the opposition and a teachers’ union for a lack of consultation. It will begin rolling out in schools this fall.
Clews said he’s not challenging LaGrange on her education curriculum, but he would like more school choices. Parents can send their kids to public schools or Catholic schools with taxpayer funding, but some would prefer homeschooling, private school or a learning pod, he said.
“We need to reform the funding for our school system so that the funding goes to the child and follows the child as opposed to going automatically into the public school or Catholic school system,” he said. “That would give parents the freedom to really send their child to a school that aligns with their values.”
The UCP board decides when to open nominations based on recommendations from local nomination committees. It’s been accused in the past of giving preferential treatment to the party’s preferred candidates.
Clews said he was nervous he might have a target on his back as a freedom fighter challenging a sitting minister.
“At the end of the day, I collected my signatures, submitted my application, went through the interview process and was accepted,” he said. “I trust it’s going to be a fair election.”
If Clews wins the UCP nomination, LaGrange will remain the UCP MLA for the riding until the next provincial election, which is scheduled for spring 2023. Clews would run as the UCP candidate in the election.
Toronto’s shelter program has become an industry intent on keeping people homeless and dependent.
Scott Tulpin, a 31-year-old homeless man, has experienced it for himself.
He’s lived in two hotel shelters in the past year – the Delta Hotel at Kennedy and Hwy 401 and downtown at the Strathcona Hotel.
In a candid interview with True North, he says the shelters give residents all kinds of “free stuff” – including cellphones – but don’t actually provide any counselling support.
They don’t offer employment, mental health or job support, he explains.
This is despite repeated assurances from Mayor John Tory and the city’s housing officials that shelter residents are getting such help.
Before the pandemic, there were “expectations” in shelters to get job training or hand out resumes but that has all changed, he says.
Tulpin, who works full-time in construction, has been in and out of the shelter system because he can’t afford a decent apartment that isn’t a drug den or full of welfare clients up all night partying.
He hasn’t met a single person at the Strathcona who is working and in all his time in the shelter system, he’s only encountered two people who are working.
“There’s no motivation to work when you can maintain your addiction and be provided housing and food and all these other things,” he said.
Tulpin says the accountability aspect has been “gravely neglected” in the shelter system.
“There’s no responsibility, no accountability, it’s just free rein in these places,” he said.
It’s not just the quality of care, or lack thereof, in the shelter system.
There is also no fiscal accountability, it seems.
A June report from the city’s auditor general showed that negligent city officials paid out at least $15 million extra for charges not covered by the hotel leases, vacant rooms and several other “facility surcharges” the hoteliers were not permitted to tack onto meals.
That $15 million equates to a ½% tax increase.
Tulpin, who’s been drug-free and sober for two years, says at the Delta hotel people of all ages are housed together – young girls with older men – and drug dealing is rampant. Even dealers live there, he said.
The Strathcona is somewhat better, he said. Still, there’s no curfew and residents can actually stay out all night.
“There is a drug problem in every shelter in the city… the hotels are worse and a little more dangerous because they (the homeless) can just hide in their rooms all day,” Tulpin said.
Mental health is even used as an excuse to sanction bad behaviour.
“It’s pretty much a free-for-all,” he said.
He feels those working in the system don’t want to challenge residents or kick them out because they could lose their jobs.
“All they’re doing is managing decline,” Tulpin said. “They (shelter officials) will do anything to keep their bed numbers up.”
He adds that if people knew what was happening inside the shelter system, they’d be “shocked.”
United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidates Rebecca Schulz and Brian Jean will not implement a provincial police if either are elected Premier of Alberta.
The policy has long been discussed as a means to give Alberta more autonomy.
Instead of a provincial force, Schulz 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.
A provincial force is “not supported by municipalities and is not top of mind for Albertans,” Schulz wrote in a policy announcement published this week.
“The $180 million or more for our own police force could better be invested to address boots on the ground to tackle rural crime or community safety.”
Jean opposes any policy that would reduce the number of police in the province, campaign manager Vitor Marciano told True North.
The leadership candidate would consider creating a provincial police force and offering it to small and medium sized cities, therefore freeing the RCMP for rural Alberta, Marciano added.
Candidates Danielle Smith, Travis Toews and Todd Loewen have all said they support a provincial police force.
The provincial government’s Fair Deal Panel Report released in June 2020 recommended a provincial force. So did the 2001 Alberta Agenda, referred to as the Firewall Letter, co-authored by future Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to former Premier Ralph Klein.
Edmonton, Calgary and other municipalities have police forces governed by the province. The remaining roughly 20% of Albertans are policed by the RCMP.
According to Statistics Canada, rural residents in the Prairies are impacted by higher rates of property crime than those living in urban areas.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers report, commissioned by the provincial government and made public in October, said a provincial force would result in a 4% increase in the number of police officers on the street. It provides no precise figure on how much more Albertans would pay for their own police force, but the province would lose the $180 million the federal government contributes annually for policing.
The report also found the force would take up to six years to create — four years of planning and preparation, and up to two years of transitioning while a provincial force swaps out the RCMP out. The cost of the transition is estimated between $366 million to $371 million.
Toews, the former finance minister, is interested in a provincial force, but he would work to build consensus on it; he’s not interested in forcing the policy down Albertans’ throats, campaign spokesperson Christine Myatt said.
Toews has said a lot of folks are opposed to the idea and “I would work to bring them along.”
Leadership candidates Leela Aheer and Rajan Sawhney have been less clear regarding the proposal, but both appear opposed based on previous comments.
During the Free Alberta Strategy leadership panel on June 23, Sawhney said Alberta’s rural municipalities have expressed serious concerns and said current plans leave serious questions.
“In short, our government has not effectively articulated why Alberta needs a provincial police force,” she said at the time.
Sawhney’s campaign did not clarify whether this remains the candidate’s position.
Aheer told True North she will be further clarifying her stance on a provincial police force in the coming days. During the June 23 panel, Aheer said “We haven’t done the work for the consultation, not even close.”
The province created a new website, futureofABpolicing.ca, to provide the public with information about the opportunities a new provincial police service could bring. No decisions have been made on proceeding with an Alberta police service, the province said in a news release Wednesday.
“As all levels of governments across the country review their policing models, Albertans need to have all the information available to ensure they lead this national discussion and make sure the future of policing in the province meets their needs,” Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said in a statement.
UCP members will elect a new leader and Premier on October 6.
The Trudeau government’s foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly and other G7 countries called for the Chinese regime to de-escalate tensions with Taiwan and the broader western world as US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday.
In response to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has taken an aggressive stance against Taiwan, provoking a joint response from the foreign affairs ministers of all G7 countries.
“We are concerned by recent and announced threatening actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), particularly live-fire exercises and economic coercion, which risk unnecessary escalation. There is no justification to use a visit as pretext for aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait,” read the joint statement.
The PLA has deployed 27 warplanes to buzz Taiwan’s air defence zone, forcing Taiwan to scramble its own fighter jets to deter the Chinese planes.
Taiwan’s defence ministry claims that they spotted unidentified aircraft, most likely drones, flying over the Kinmen Islands, Taiwanese territory that is only a few miles from the Chinese mainland.
China has launched live-fire military exercises that can be seen and heard off of the island nation’s coast in the wake of Pelosi’s arrival and departure. The PLA’s military exercises included warships and military aircraft.
The PLA has fired multiple multiple Dongfeng ballistic missiles around Taiwanese waters and into the Taiwan strait, with some missiles allegedly flying over the island.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry released a statement condemning the military exercises, saying the country is following the example of North Korea and that China needs to exercise some self-restraint.
“On 4 August, China launched multiple ballistic missiles into waters to the northeast and southwest of Taiwan, threatening Taiwan’s national security, escalating regional tensions, and affecting regular international traffic and trade.”
The joint G7 statement decries the Chinese regime’s hostility, claiming that their actions run the risk of destabilizing the region.
“The PRC’s escalatory response risks increasing tensions and destabilizing the region.”
The G7 ministers reassured the regime that they wish there to be no changes to the status quo – maintaining the One-China policy and wishing to respect the Taiwan strait’s neutrality.
“We call on the PRC not to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the region, and to resolve cross-Strait differences by peaceful means,” reads the statement.
“There is no change in the respective one China policies, where applicable, and basic positions on Taiwan of the G7 members.”
Conservative leadership candidate Scott Aitchison praised Pelosi for her visit to Taiwan and criticized the Canadian leadership for not standing up for Taiwan.
The people of Taiwan are an inspiration to the world — a beacon of hope and democracy.
Thank you @SpeakerPelosi for your historic visit to Taiwan. It takes tremendous courage to stand up to the CCP and stand for our shared democratic principles.
