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Monday, June 30, 2025

UCP leadership front runners slam Hinshaw’s $227,911 Covid bonus

By
Rachel Parker
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United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership front runners are slamming Alberta’s provincial chief medical officer of health’s $227,911 Covid bonus. 

Dr. Deena Hinshaw received the “cash benefits” in addition to her $363,634 salary, marking the largest cash benefit payout of any provincial civil servant since the Alberta government began posting records in 2016, as reported by CBC. 

Leadership contender Danielle Smith says Albertans are “rightly stunned and outraged” by news of the Covid bonus. 

“As Premier, not only will we not lockdown again or impose vaccine mandates, we will have a full review into the handling of the pandemic, including the role our CMOH (Chief Medical Officer) of health played in it,” Smith wrote on Twitter. 

Under Hinshaw’s direction, Alberta underwent a series of lockdowns and implemented a vaccine passport. Alberta Health Services (AHS) fined a number of churches for staying open in breach of Covid restrictions and three Christian pastors were arrested. 

Two weeks ago, the Alberta Court of Appeals ruled in favour of Pastor Artur Pawlowski who was arrested, fined, and jailed for continuing to preach amid lockdowns. The court ordered AHS to repay the fines. 

Premier Jason Kenney’s popularity plummeted during the pandemic. After he narrowly passed a leadership review in May, Kenney cited lasting anger over his Covid policies as a key reason for his impending resignation.

Kenney will step down as UCP leader and Premier once party members elect a new one on October 6. 

In campaign stops across the province, Smith has said AHS failed Kenney, because the department reduced ICU beds, after the Premier ordered it to increase capacity. 

In a Leger poll released last week, Smith placed first among the seven candidates with backing from 22% of UCP supporters. Former federal Conservative MP and now UCP MLA Brian Jean ranked second, at 20%. 

Jean said the bonus “is unsettling, to say the least.”

“While Albertans were losing businesses, while our health system was collapsing under mismanagement, the people on the Sky Palace balcony signed off on an all-time record bonus,” he wrote on Twitter. 

UCP leadership contender Travis Toews is polling in third with 15% support from party supporters. Despite being finance minister at the time Hinshaw received the bonus, the Toews campaign told True North that Toews had no knowledge of Hinshaw’s bonus and did not authorize it.   

The bonus is a response to the “extraordinary” additional work from Hinshaw during the pandemic, Ministry of Health spokesperson Mark Feldbusch told CBC News. The bonus covers her overtime hours, though the department did not reveal how much overtime she worked. 

Hinshaw’s contract, which is posted online, does not specify the number of hours in her work week, nor does it include overtime provisions. The numbers were posted on the Alberta government’s salary and severance disclosure database. 

Hinshaw is one of 107 employees in management positions who received extra pay for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, the province told CBC. The total extra compensation cost Albertans more than $2.4 million.

Trudeau’s vaccine mandates were about politics, not science (feat. Rupa Subramanya)

By
Andrew Lawton
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For two and a half years, Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers have said that “the science” is behind their Covid restrictions and vaccine mandates, but evidence filed in a court challenge against those mandates tells a different story. In an investigative piece for Bari Weiss’ Common Sense, True North’s Ruba Subramanya shows how the mandates have a political basis, not a medical one. She joins The Andrew Lawton Show to explain.

Also, Andrew’s new book “The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks that Shook the World” was the #1 non-fiction book on Amazon.ca last week and has been #1 on the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail bestseller lists for the last three weeks, but the mainstream media won’t cover it. In this live edition of the show, Andrew takes your questions about the convoy and his new book.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

Montreal police allegedly threatened to shut down kids’ lemonade stand and arrest mother

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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A Montreal mother claims police told her to take down a charity lemonade stand her kids had set up and threatened her with arrest.

Ayana Massa told Global News her two young sons, 11-year-old Ness and 8-year-old Ariel, have been selling lemonade to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.

Massa was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2020, and uses a walker and wheelchair to get around.

“If we give a bunch of money to the charity, we can find the cure for multiple sclerosis,” one of the sons told Global News.

However, Massa says an issue arose when her kids used a megaphone to attract people to their lemonade stand. An angry man reportedly approached the boys and rudely told them off.

“He said, ‘you little mother-effers. I’m going to shut you down,’” claims Massa.

Massa says she responded by telling the man to “get the hell off my property” to which he said “I’m calling the police.”

Police showed up at Massa’s Montreal property and told her the lemonade stand had to be taken down.

Massa says she told the officer, “give me a fine. I’ll pay the fine.”

According to Massa, the officer did not take her statement well and responded by making a comment about her wheelchair.

“Oh, I’m not giving you a fine. You think that because you’re in a wheelchair, you’re above the law,” the officer allegedly said.

Massa says that the officer then threatened to arrest her, leading her to record the ordeal.

She says the police ended up leaving three hours later but warned she would be arrested if her kids used the megaphone again.

“It ended with this sergeant telling me my kids are not allowed to have their megaphone and that they don’t want to have to come back here and arrest me,” said Massa.

Massa also said she found the situation traumatizing and is demanding an apology from police. 

“To have such a beautiful story turn into such a nightmare disaster like it did yesterday, I was shaking.”

In response to the incident, Montreal Police told the Global News that officers came to the scene due to a noise complaint, not the lemonade stand, stating that four 911 calls about excessive noise had been received.

“That is the only reason officers from Station 3 presented themselves to the location multiple times,” wrote Montreal Police in an email, adding that “Station 3 had no intention of closing the kiosk.”

Police also claimed Massa wanted her children to continue using the megaphone, which led to her being told that continuing such behaviour would result in a fine or possibly an arrest.

“Nobody wanted to get to the point,” added Montreal Police.

 “They simply asked multiple times to stop using the megaphone, for the peace and respect of the neighbourhood and good relations between residents of the area. They explained the powers, responsibilities, and procedures of the SPVM (Service de police de la Ville de Montréal) to stop this type of infraction.”

Police did not apologize in their statement, but invited Massa to file a complaint. 

Massa and her boys have received support from neighbours following the incident, and the boys say they’ve raised over $2000 for the MS Society.

U.S House Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, escalating tensions with China

By
Noah Jarvis
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The Chinese regime is escalating its hostility towards Taiwan as U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visits the island nation on her tour of Asian countries. 

Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan makes her the highest-ranking U.S. government official to visit the democratic nation in over 25 years in an effort to bolster America’s unofficial relationship with Taiwan. 

In response to Pelosi’s expected arrival in Taiwan, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) posted the simple comment “Preparing for war!” on the Chinese social media app Sina Weibo. The post garnered 300,000 thumbs-ups in 12 hours, with thousands of comments parroting the sentiment.

China’s defence ministry spokesperson Tan Kefei made clear that China does not support Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, claiming it is a violation of the One-China principle and a threat to China’s national security.

“Chinese side has repeatedly made clear our firm opposition to the visit,” said Tan. 

“As the ‘third most important figure’ of the U.S. government, if Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, the move will seriously violate the One-China principle and the provisions in the three China-U.S. joint communiques, severely endanger China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The House speaker is expected to meet with pro-Taiwan activists and visit Taiwan’s presidential office and parliament, despite China’s warnings that their military will not sit idle if their guidance is opposed.

“The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to take practical actions to fulfill its commitment of not supporting ‘Taiwan independence,’  Tan said.

“Should the U.S. side insist on doing otherwise, the Chinese military will never sit idle by, and will certainly take strong and resolute measures.”

Ahead of Pelosi’s arrival in Taiwan, China’s PLA dispatched multiple warplanes to buzz fly along the Taiwan strait’s border, marking the end of Chinese territory and the beginning of Taiwanese territory. The PLA also sent several warships to the dividing line on Monday and has not moved them since. 

While the Taiwanese government has not commented on Pelosi’s visit, Taiwan’s citizens have by in large made their support for Pelosi’s visit known – displaying messages welcoming the House speaker on large buildings while affirming Taiwan’s appreciation for the United States.

The last time a U.S. government official of Pelosi’s standing went to Taiwan was in 1997, when House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited the nation.

China has also been becoming increasingly hostile with the Canadian Armed Forces, as PLA warplanes were reported flying dangerously close to Canadian aircraft in an attempt to intimdate Canadian military men while conducting a United Nations mission.

Conservative leadership candidate Scott Aitchison took to Twitter to applaud Pelosi for the visit to Taiwan, while affirming that Canada must step-up.

Aitchison has consistently made is support for Taiwanese independence known, as his campaign has suggested that Canada end its historic support for the One-China policy. 

According to the Aitchison campaign, an Aitchison government would help Taiwan become a member of the international community in joining organizations like the World Health Organization, INTERPOL and include Taiwan in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

“For the better part of 50 years, Canada’s and Western foreign policy was premised on the basis that increased trade and prosperity with China would lead to greater adherence to human rights and liberalization of communism’s harsh edges,” said Aitchison.

While prime minister Trudeau has said that “Taiwan’s inclusion in multilateral forums [and] multilateral bodies to make sure that their perspective is heard,” Canada did not sign a proposal to include Taiwan in the World Health Assembly when given the opportunity.

Trudeau spent more time in the air in July than all of last summer

By
Harrison Faulkner
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent all but 11 days last month abroad CANFORCE ONE and flew a total of 26,238km across 20 flights within Canada. 

According to the National Post’s Bryan Passifiume, Trudeau spent more time in the air this June than all of last summer when he flew 26,059 km, which included a G7 and NATO summit abroad. 

Trudeau’s public itinerary from July shows the prime minister was mostly participating in photo opportunities, which included a visit to a children’s camp in Vancouver and a pub in Charlottetown. 

While his public itinerary doesn’t include partisan events, Elections Canada data shows Trudeau partook in four Liberal party events last month, which coincided with government business in those cities.

For example, on July 9, Trudeau participated in a tree planting event with Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault in Milton, Ont and hours later, embarked on a 2,700 km flight to Calgary for a Liberal party Stampede breakfast. 

In July, Trudeau travelled across the country, including trips to Markham, Sudbury, Toronto, Halifax, Charlottetown, Quebec City, Vancouver and Okanagan. 

For security reasons, the prime minister cannot fly commercially. Trudeau relies on a fleet of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Challenge 650 business jets to fly domestically. 

While Trudeau jet-set across the country, his government continued to lecture Canadians to do more about climate change. The government targeted Canadian farmers by proposing to cut emissions from fertilizer 30% by 2030 as part of its plan to achieve net zero in the next three decades. Many farmers believe the government’s latest climate scheme will threaten food supplies. 

Passifiume used online calculators to calculate the prime minister’s carbon footprint. According to his estimates, Trudeau released nearly 120 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide into the environment in July. 

Passifiume used online flight tracker websites to uncover Trudeau’s flying habits in July. However, the RCAF says it’s looking to restrict public access to the real-time movement of its flights, including ones that carry Trudeau. 

After a busy month of photo opportunities and partisan events, Trudeau announced on Sunday that he is hitting the beaches of Costa Rica for a two-week vacation. 

Majority of Canadians disapprove of the Trudeau government: poll

By
Harrison Faulkner
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The majority of Canadians disapprove of the Trudeau government and have a negative view of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to a new poll by left-leaning pollster Abacus Data.

According to the poll, 51% of Canadians disapprove of the Trudeau government’s performance – the highest number ever recorded since Trudeau was elected in 2015.

When it comes to how Canadians view the prime minister, the same number, 51%, had a negative view of Trudeau – the highest number the pollster has ever recorded. 

If an election were held now, the pollster predicts the Conservative Party of Canada would win with 35% of the vote.

Abacus Data CEO David Coletto told the Toronto Sun that “these results should be a warning sign to the Liberals that they have entered uncharted territory for their government.”

“It is a toxic cocktail when people are unhappy with the direction of the country and they disapprove of the government’s performance. That’s where we are today. The result is a wider Conservative Party lead and growing desire for change.”

The current state of the country may explain Trudeau’s negative polling results.

At a time when Canadians are struggling with an inflation crisis and a looming recession, Trudeau recently decided to take a two-week vacation to Costa Rica with his family. 

The historically high inflation rates have impacted food prices, accommodation, gas and many everyday goods and services.

Further, Canadians continue to face long lines and delays at airports and passport offices across the country and many have blamed the Trudeau government’s existing Covid measures.

Despite growing demands from the public, politicians and industry experts to scrap the government’s ArriveCAN app, the Trudeau government is continuing to double down on its mandatory use – claiming the pandemic isn’t over.

The feds also recently made enhancements to the app to allow people to submit CBSA customs and immigration declarations prior to their arrival.

This has led to speculation the Trudeau government is planning on making the ArriveCAN app a permanent feature of entry to Canada.

Food banks in Canada are at a “crisis stage”

By
Andrew Kozak
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Amid skyrocketing food prices as a result of the inflation crisis, more Canadians are using food banks to feed their families. 

According to the Daily Bread Food Bank, a Toronto-based food charity, nearly triple the number of people visited a food bank in June 2022 (171,631) compared to June 2019 (65,000). 

“The stories that we’re hearing — the common theme is people’s income doesn’t match what their expenses are,” Daily Bread Food Bank CEO Neil Hetherington told CTV.

“I’m seeing more and more working families who have a job, or maybe they’re putting together two part-time jobs, and are unable to make ends meet.”

In addition to the demand for services, Hetherington says food banks’ operations are also being impacted because of the increased cost of food.

“We are at a crisis stage and as more people come to food banks across the country, it is more expensive for us to be able to feed that need,” Hetherington said.

Food Banks Canada is also raising similar concerns as it is reporting the worst summer Canada’s food banks have ever seen.

Food Banks Canada CEO Kirstin Beardsley says inflation has caused a strain on their network.

“You’ve got more people coming through the doors because they aren’t able to put food on the table for their families, you’ve got fewer people in the community who are in a position to give — they might not need a food bank but their budgets are stretched,” says Beardsley. 

According to Beardsley, the number of first-time users has risen significantly in recent months.

Canada’s consumer price inflation in June rose to 8.1% – the largest yearly change since January 1983.

According to Statistics Canada, the cost of basic accommodations jumped by nearly 50% across Canada when compared to last year. Air travel also saw a 6.4% increase in prices. 

Heavily impacted food items include onions which jumped by 25% in June, prices of carrots also spiked by 23% while canned beans went up by 20%.

Meats like chicken breast and ground beef spiked by 20% and 10% respectively. 1kg of chicken breast costs $15.04 on average while 1kg of ground beef goes for $10.32.

GUEST OP-ED: A case for a Parliamentary Immigration Officer

By
Rabea Allos
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Source: Government of Canada

Rabea Allos is the co-founder and member of the executive committee of the Catholic Refugee Sponsors Council. Rabea has advocated for refugees since 2005, particularly for Christians and other vulnerable minorities from the Middle East. He has appeared a few times in Canadian Parliamentary Committees, including Foreign Affairs and Citizenship & Immigration.

Immigration is a vital sector and dynamic of the Canadian Economy. Immigrants keep the growth of our economy on the proper trajectory. Their numbers in the workforce keep the Canadian Pension Fund afloat.

Immigration levels are always a source of debate: too many; not skilled enough; too old; no net benefit or a drain on our social programs. But regardless of what your position is on immigration,  Canada’s declining birth rate aging population and labour shortage crisis reveal that immigration is an integral part of Canada.

The federal government’s 2022 immigration target is 431,000. Whether this number is based on any performance criteria is another matter. However, there is no independent Parliamentary Officer to track the functioning of the department for the House of Commons and for the Canadian public.

For example, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does not disclose retention rates, so the public doesn’t know whether the recruitment is efficient (recruits or approved “ideal numbers”) or effective (success rate measured by the numbers who strive to contribute to the country once landed). Knowledge of these retention rates is especially important for decision-makers looking to build support for one immigration stream or another.

How do we know that there is a retention problem? In 2019, the Munk Centre published a summary of all existing literature and numbers on retention. The report details how Ottawa “estimates” and “lowballs” the retention rates and numbers while agreeing that, as of 2011, there were at least 3.0 million Canadians living abroad,

The Munk Report acknowledges that nothing much has been written on the subject since a 2011 report by the Asia Pacific Foundation.

There are several immigration streams. Knowing which stream has higher retention, would give the government direction on where to focus immigration policies. Streams with low retention rates tend to muck up the system with higher backlogs.

While IRCC can provide annual intake [landed] numbers for all streams, it does not provide any “exit”  (naturalized Canadians and immigrants leaving Canada) numbers. There is no audit of the “net numbers” (those landing as immigrants vs those leaving Canada). Crudely put, there is no analysis of “people in, people out,” and no measurement of performance outcomes.

Two problems immediately come to mind. First is the number of naturalized Canadians who leave Canada annually – effectively abandoning the investment made in going through the process of immigration. Estimates based on a study by Statistics Canada in December 2018, suggest annual numbers in the 200,000 range.

If this is the case, is IRCC obligated to inflate the annual landing targets to 431,000 just to cover the economic loss of 200,000 Canadians leaving Canada? If that many are leaving, of what value are IRCC’s policies?

The second is the scope of illegal/undocumented workers in Canada. Again, the estimates vary but the numbers fall in the one million range. If there are over one million undocumented workers in Canada, again –  how effective are IRCC’s policies?

Immigration, Refugee, Citizenship Canada (IRCC) publishes annual statistics of immigrants landing in Canada whether they are immigrants under different immigration programs, refugees and work permit visas. However, IRCC does not publish numbers of naturalized Canadians (immigrant, refugee, foreign workers) who leave Canada annually; we do not know if those numbers are tracked. In addition, there are no formal numbers of foreign workers who choose to stay beyond the expiration of their work permit visas.

IRCC has never published data on Canada’s retention rates for immigrants and refugees. The data is essential to audit the government’s immigration policies and optimize them. Being able to know how each immigration stream performs and retention rates for each stream will enable the government to emphasize one stream over another. Immigration streams that has low retention rates should be scrapped and give way to streams that have higher retention rates. IRCC will have to keep increasing the immigration quota to compensate for those who are leaving the country. The higher the immigration quota, the higher the backlog will be.

As for undocumented workers, Ottawa does not deny the issue. A Parliamentary Standing Committee studied the problem. Some MPs have quietly provided the one million number. But there has been a political/bureaucratic/media/industry/union consensus to not publicly acknowledge it as a problem. 

How do government Agencies like the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Statistics Canada treat “retention numbers” or “undocumented workers?” Do CRA or Statistics Canada have reliable data on “retention numbers?”

In a word – no, they deny having reliable data. If there is no data, there is no problem. It is ironic to have several millions of citizens/Immigrants leave Canada, while one million undocumented workers remain in Canada. It is proof of how flawed IRCC’s selection process is.

It is time to create an independent body to oversee IRCC. A body that provides independent audit and analysis of the IRCC’s different immigration streams, retention numbers, backlogs, as well as any other data that can help the government improve Canada’s immigration system. A Parliamentary Immigration Officer is needed, now more than ever, to ensure that IRCC operates in an efficient and effective way to ensure program integrity.

Trudeau heads to Costa Rica for 2-week vacation

By
Harrison Faulkner
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Amid concerns about a looming recession in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hitting the beaches of Costa Rica for a two-week vacation – and taxpayers are paying for big parts of it.

According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Trudeau and his family are returning to the same place they vacationed for Christmas in 2019.

According to Global News, while the Trudeaus will be paying for their own accommodation, they will fly on a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) plane for security purposes. The Trudeaus’ 2019 vacation cost taxpayers nearly $200,000, according to records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

In 2019, the prime minister billed taxpayers $196,137 for his vacation with the majority of costs attributed to multiple RCAF business jet flights. The cost of flight crews to serve the Trudeaus was also billed to taxpayers.

The prime minister travels by military plane for security reasons.

The prime minister’s vacation comes at a time when Canadians are struggling with an inflation crisis and a looming recession. 

Canada’s consumer price inflation in June rose to 8.1% – the largest yearly change since January 1983. High inflation rates have caused the price of everyday goods and services – including gas, food and accommodation – to rise significantly.

In an effort to combat the inflation crisis, the Bank of Canada hiked interest rates to 2.5%, a 100 basis points increase. 

Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem told Canadians to brace for further economic stress this winter and further skyrocketing prices.

“We do have a material reduction in growth. We are forecasting growth this year at three-and-a-half percent moving down to one and three-quarters percent next year. That is a material reduction in growth. That does imply some pain,” Macklem said.

“Yes, the economy is going to slow. The economy needs to slow. We need to take the steam out of inflation.”

On July 28, the United States witnessed its economy shrink for a second straight quarter by an annualized rate of 0.9%. Economists define a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Amid declining economic indications, many economists predict Canada’s economy is also headed for a recession. 

The PMO says Trudeau will get regular briefings while he is out of office.

Legacy media flies maskless on Pope’s plane while mask mandate still in effect

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

Members of the legacy media were seen maskless on Pope Francis’ plane while Canadians continue to be subjected to the Trudeau government’s air travel mask mandate.

The federal government’s website states that “all passengers must wear a mask throughout their entire journey except for brief periods while eating, drinking, or taking oral medication, or unless otherwise exempt.” 

The feds say the rules apply to flights to, from and within Canada.

However, photos shared by the legacy media suggest the mask mandate was not applied on the Pope’s plane.

CTV News shared a photo of its Winnipeg Bureau Chief Jill Macyshon in flight maskless with the Pope and other maskless individuals.

Macyshon did not respond to True North’s request for comment in time for publication.

Pope Francis was also seen maskless on board. 

The photos resulted in backlash on social media, with users highlighting a double standard when it comes to mask mandates.

Rebel News founder Ezra Levant tweeted that “if you don’t wear a mask on a plane, you could be arrested, fined and even banned from flying. But Canada’s journalists — who are the loudest lobby group for masks and lockdowns — don’t wear masks on their media flights. Because rules are for the little people.”

True North reached out to the Press Office Of The Holy See to ask if the Papal flights were not subjected to Canada’s mask rules. They did not respond in time for publication. 

It should be noted that the operator of the Pope’s plane, ITA airways, does not require masks on board its flights – like many European airlines.

Some on social media also pointed out how a group of Montreal social media influencers were brutally treated after partying maskless on a chartered Sunwing plane in December 2021.

According to the Canadian Press, the influencers received a total of 42 tickets worth $59,500. 24 of those tickets were for mask mandate violations.

The influencers were also condemned by several Canadian politicians, including transport minister Omar Alghabra and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“We know how hard people have worked to keep themselves safe,” said Trudeau in January.

“It’s a slap in the face to see people putting themselves, putting their fellow citizens, putting airline workers at risk by being completely irresponsible.”

Pope Francis was in Canada from July 24 to 29, with the trip being focused on reconciliation and apologizing for the Catholic Church’s involvement in the residential schools system. 

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