Haldimand–Norfolk member of parliament and 2020 Conservative leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis is again seeking to lead the Conservatives, standing as the only pro-life candidate in the race. In this wide-ranging interview as part of True North’s Conservative Leadership Series, Lewis speaks to Andrew Lawton about what Canada’s relationship with the World Health Organization and World Economic Forum, what a Conservative environmental policy should look like, identity politics, and more.
This is the final instalment of the Conservative Leadership Series on The Andrew Lawton Show, featuring in-depth discussions with all the candidates in the race. Watch them all here.
Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Jean Charest said vaccine mandates “keep public sector workers safe” in a campaign mailout obtained by True North.
In the mailout, Charest took several jabs at his main rival Pierre Poilievre, and said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is counting on the Conservative Party to elect the Ottawa MP as its next leader.
The former Quebec premier believes Polievre’s “extremist” agenda would lead to Trudeau winning a majority government.
“I’m very worried Pierre Poilievre’s extremist, unelectable agenda will make it impossible for Conservatives to win in Ottawa” wrote Charest.
Charest also called out a number of Poilievre’s policies and positions he finds “dangerous, unelectable, and divisive,” including a private members bill tabled by Poilievre that would ban federal Covid-19 vaccine mandates.
“He even tabled a bill that said he would stop the federal government from implementing steps to keep public sector workers safe in another pandemic,” wrote Charest.
“How will Conservatives ever win seats in Ottawa, where many public sector workers reside, with Pierre Poilievre pushing policies that threaten their health and safety?”
When asked by True North if Charest’s statement was an endorsement of vaccine mandates, campaign spokesperson Michelle Coates Mather pointed to a fireside chat hosted by the Western Standard – where the former Quebec premier dismissed vaccine mandates.
“I don’t think it works. Looking into the future… I don’t see how you can impose it [the vaccine] on everyone,” said Charest in Calgary on July 11.
Charest had also said that “there’s other ways of working around it and making sure that we do as much as we can so that people have the ability to choose to protect their health and protect those around them.”
True North also asked if Charest believed unvaccinated Canadians pose a risk to the vaccinated, to which Mather responded that “as of right now, it’s clear whether you are vaccinated or not, there’s a high probability you will catch covid. It’s also clear vaccines reduce severe illness.”
In the mailout, Charest also doubled down on his opposition to the Freedom Convoy.
He again accused Poilievre of “supporting the illegal blockades that shut down borders, hampered our economy, and blocked Ottawa residents from getting to their homes or workplaces.”
He also referred to convoy participants as “illegal blockaders” and claimed they laid siege to the city of Ottawa.
Charest also took aim at comments Poilievre made on The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast.
Poilievre told Peterson he was “a believer in using simple Anglo-Saxon words that strike right at the meaning that I’m trying to convey,” a comment which led to accusations of white supremacy from the left.
Charest finished his mailout by saying he was thrilled with the re-election of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, saying Premier Doug Ford offered Conservatives a “road map to win in Ontario”
“I agree with Doug Ford’s welcoming approach, not Pierre Polievre’s politics of division and anger.”
RCMP officials in Langley, British Columbia have confirmed three people are dead, including the suspect, after a series of gang-related shootings took place on Monday.
Two men were found dead, a woman was critically hurt and another man was shot in the leg at separate scenes around Langley.
The RCMP emergency response team found a man matching a description of the suspect close to the scene where another man was found injured with a gunshot wound to his leg.
The suspect was shot and killed in an altercation with the police.
The RCMP said the victims were homeless and that they believe the attack was targeted. The two dead were found at a city bus loop and at Creekstone Place, a supportive housing facility for the homeless. The female victim was found several blocks away.
“At this time we don’t know the motive behind this deadly incident, nor if there was any relationship between the deceased suspect and the victims,” B.C. RCMP Chief Supt. Ghalib Bhayani, the Vancouver Sun reported.
Langley RCMP says there are “several victims” and “several different scenes.”
The deadly shootings took place in the morning and prompted the RCMP to issue a series of emergency alerts.
According to CBC News, the first alert was issued at approximately 6:15am PT, reporting “multiple shooting scenes” in the downtown core of the City of Langley. Shortly after, one “incident” was reported in the Township of Langley, which included a description of the suspect.
The suspect was described as a white man with dark hair, wearing brown Carhartt coveralls and a blue and green camouflage T-shirt with a red logo on the right sleeve.
Another emergency alert was issued at approximately 7:20am PT, urging residents to stay away from the downtown core.
As a result of the ongoing investigation, police have closed 200 street between Willowbrook Mall and the Langley Bypass, a major route through the city.
Police have also urged the public to avoid 200 Street and the Langley Bypass, Cascades Casino on Fraser Highway and 204 Street and the Langley bus loop at Logan Avenue and Glover Road.
The deadly Langley shooting is the latest gang-related shooting in BC, as gang activity continues to spill into towns and communities outside Vancouver. On Sunday, two people were killed in a popular vacation spot for tourists in Whistler, BC. Two people were later arrested.
Conservative leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis thinks Pierre Poilievre’s promise to bar Conservative cabinet ministers from attending World Economic Forum (WEF) events doesn’t go far enough.
In an email to party members, Lewis pledged to oppose all WEF policies that undermine Canada’s sovereignty.
“I will go further by challenging the WEF net-zero policies that negatively affect our farmers, that dictate climate change policies that impoverish citizens while not reducing emissions, and that will control every aspect of our lives through the digitization of our economy,” wrote Lewis.
“I will stand against WEF policies that undermine our sovereignty, erode our freedom, and attempt to shape our destiny into their post-nationalist state.”
The Haldimand–Norfolk MP also took aim at the Poilievre campaign’s connections to the WEF.
Poilievre’s photo was once featured on the WEF’s website, leading to accusations that the Carleton MP was a supporter of the international organization.
Further, Poilievre’s campaign chair John Baird’s photo is currently featured on the WEF’s website.
Lewis said she believes Poilievre’s claim that he doesn’t know how his picture got on the website. However, she urged members to reach out to the Poilievre campaign to find out if Baird is still associated with the WEF.
“For the record, I am not aware of any Conservative that is a part of the WEF. Mr. Poilievre has stated that he does not know how his picture got on the website, and I have no information that would cause me to disbelieve him,” Lewis wrote.
“As for Mr. Baird, I’ve met him on a few occasions and he seems to be a decent man. I would suggest reaching out directly to Mr. Poilievre’s campaign to find out if Mr. Baird is still associated with the WEF.”
In May, Poilievre promised that his government would boycott the WEF.
“I have made it clear that my ministers in my government will be banned from participating in the World Economic Forum,” the Carleton MP said at a May 23 campaign event.
“Work for Canada,” he said. “If you want to go to Davos, to that conference, make it a one-way ticket. But you can’t be part of our government and working for a policy agenda that is against the interests of our people.”
Legacy media journalists soft-balled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday after he called for a “real reckoning” within Hockey Canada as the organization faces a series of sexual assault scandals.
The scandal stems from an allegation by a woman who said that she was sexually assaulted by a group of eight players in 2018.
Reporters online and present at the press conference in Nova Scotia refused to challenge the prime minister over past sexual harassment allegations made against him and those within his own government.
“We need to see Hockey Canada demonstrating a level of transparency, accountability (and) understanding of the situation they’re faced with,” said Trudeau.
“There needs to be a real reckoning with what we saw from that organization, and the wilful blindness to something that other organizations have been faced with — struggled with — but made good decisions around. As opposed to what Hockey Canada has been doing.”
Despite the fact that the press conference carried on for another ten minutes, no reporter challenged Trudeau on what he has done to address his own government’s lack of accountability when it comes to sexual harassment allegations.
On social media, the conservative advocacy group Canada Proud challenged Global News reporter Rachel Gilmore over the media ignoring the Liberal government’s own handling of scandals.
“Did you ask him how he squares this condemnation with his own handling of sexual harassment in his party and the Government of Canada? Or nah?,” tweeted Canada Proud.
Did you ask him how he squares this condemnation with his own handling of sexual harassment in his party and the Government of Canada? Or nah?
Allegations that Trudeau groped an unwilling female reporter while at a music festival resurfaced in 2018. At the time, the prime minister deflected the accusation saying that the woman involved might have experienced the situation differently.
“Over the past weeks, since this news resurfaced, I’ve been reflecting, we’ve all been reflecting, on past behaviours,” said Trudeau.
“And as I’ve said, I’m confident I didn’t act inappropriately, but I think the essence of this is people can experience interactions differently and part of the lesson we need to learn in this moment of collective awakening … people in many cases, women, experience interactions in professional contexts and other contexts differently than men.
Recently the Liberals faced public outcry after it was revealed that the party allowed candidates accused of sexual harassment to run under the Liberal banner. In 2021, Trudeau refused to condemn former Liberal MP Raj Saini after he was accused of six years worth of sexual harassment by young female staffers and let him run in his riding anyways.
Similarly, the Liberals fielded Independent MP Kevin Vuong to run for the party despite being previously charged with sexual assault. Although Vuong was listed as a Liberal Party candidate on the ballot, he now sits as an Independent MP after being removed from the party’s caucus.
Several Liberal MPs and staff have faced sexual harassment accusations under Trudeau’s leadership, including former Liberal MP Kent Hehr, former PMO director of operations Claude-Éric Gagné, former Liberal MP Darshan Kang and former Liberal MPs Massimo Pacetti and Scott Andrews.
The Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Elementary summer school program was advertised as an opportunity for young students to brush up on their literacy and numeracy skills.
But parents would no doubt be surprised to learn that at least one school – Lynnwood Heights Junior Public School – young kids are being forced to learn about “white privilege” and racism.
There are probably more teachers at the 36 schools with TDSB summer school programs involved in this weird social science experiment.
But one woke teacher – who identifies as she/her/hers – was emboldened enough by her wokeness to tweet about her own efforts to indoctrinate her Grade 3 class.
Elementary school teacher Vanessa Lau proudly tweeted Wednesday that her class has really grown since their first lesson on racism, segregation and the lack of growing representation in Hollywood.
The Gr 3s have grown so much from our 1st lesson on race & where skin colour comes from. They've had a lot to share as we discussed difficult topics like racism, discrimination, segregation, & lack of/growing representation in Hollywood, politics, etc. @lynnwood_tdsb@TDSB_ConEdpic.twitter.com/m58MrgxJQg
I’m not sure what representation she believes is needed in Hollywood, or whether LaLa Land should serve as any kind of standard.
Suk Wu, a TDSB vice-principal who also identifies by the pronouns she/her/elle, subsequently lauded Lau for the “poignant” equity work she is doing with her students.
Such incredible and poignant equity work you are doing with your Summer School Ss, @mslau_ 👍❤️💻
Held from July 4-29, the full and half-day classes for Grades K-8 are in essence supposed to be improving numeracy and literacy. A handful of schools also list “social justice” and “anti-black racism” as part of their summer school curriculum but most do not.
Lynnwood Heights only mentions numeracy and literacy, and promises that students will be challenged to improve their reading, writing, oral literacy and problem-solving skills.
There is no mention of racism or equity in the proposed curriculum.
But that appears not to have prevented Lau from her indoctrination efforts – suggesting that without parental oversight the woke teachers are taking it upon themselves to sabotage the curriculum in favour of what they feel kids should be learning.
At one time, that was a case for discipline. Now it is celebrated.
This summer school, we have been focusing on equity and anti-racism. I am impressed with how incredibly engaged the Gr 3s have been in our discussions and their thought-provoking questions and comments. Take a look at some of their responses below ⬇️ @lynnwood_tdsb@TDSB_ConEdpic.twitter.com/sUghMhbxiX
Let’s not forget this is the school board run by black activist Colleen Russell-Rawlins, a proponent of Critical Race Theory.
She appears to have gone out of her way to dumb down the curriculum, remove any kind of standards for those seeking to enter specialized arts and sports and to provide special tutoring, coaching and other incentives for black students only.
I would venture to guess that under Russell-Rawlins, woke teachers like Lau will likely be on the promotion fast track.
This is yet more proof that parents have to wake up and pay attention to what woke teachers are doing to their kids.
I have said it before but it bears repeating: Public school is not meant to be a social experiment.
By allowing this without censure TDSB and other school boards are failing Ontario students.
Many Albertans are avoiding hospital emergency rooms due to increasing wait times and declining services.
A new survey by ThinkHQ Public Affairs found that 84% of Albertans said wait times were too long. Of those, 54% described the amount of time it takes to be seen by an emergency physician as “very long.”
Another 71% found that hospital timeliness has also declined since 2018.
“The waits are too long and overcrowding is getting worse and worse. We know that, and now we have some definitive evidence from the patients’ perspective as well that it’s also true,” said Alberta Medical Association president of emergency medicine Dr. Paul Parks.
“A lot of people are avoiding emergency departments because of really long waits. … It’s very concerning wait times and increasing pressures on the system would make patients not seek care.”
The poll surveyed 4,398 albertans through an online poll. Had the poll been drawn from a random sample the margin of error would have been +/- 1.5% or 19 times out of 20.
Albertans were split on the decline of quality with 49% of those polled saying that quality of care has declined in the last four years.
46% also said that they visited an emergency room in the last five years because they we’re left without any other choice.
“If almost half of (respondents) felt like they had absolutely no access to care anywhere other than the ED when they would have liked to seek care elsewhere, that’s a massive problem we have to address,” said Parks.
Researchers also found that Albertans in rural areas had higher rates of emergency room visits due to a lack of primary care.
“There’s no question that as soon as you get out of the bigger, major centres, there are lots of communities now that are struggling to have any health-care whatsoever,” said Parks.
It was recently revealed that in 2021, a judge thwarted the deportation of a South Sudanese man who is now charged with a weekend Ottawa second-degree.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, Yohanna David Chol was charged in relation to the shooting of 36-year-old old Vuyo Kashe last week and he held prior convictions which led to him being found a present danger to the public by authorities.
Chol, who is not a Canadian citizen, is a refugee who first arrived in Canada in 2003. Since then Chol has accrued a list of criminal offences leading to the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to strip him of his permanent resident status.
His criminal record includes assault, drug trafficking and obstructing a peace officer.
Authorities have attempted to have Chol deported from Canada for some time now and in Nov. 2021, he was finally scheduled to be removed from the country the following month. Prior appeals with the ministry by Chol citing his mental health issues in South Sudan went unanswered.
After taking the case to a federal court last year, Justice Sébastien Grammond ruled that Chol could remain in Canada pending further consideration of his case citing his mental health status and the state of prisons in South Sudan.
“In light of the evidence reviewed above,” Grammond wrote, “I have no difficulty finding that Mr. Chol’s removal to South Sudan would expose him to irreparable harm.”
According to Grammond’s decision, although Chol continued to pose a threat to public safety, his rights needed to be considered also.
“(Removal) must be balanced by the need to ensure that foreign nationals not be removed to countries where they are at risk of inhumane treatment or death,” wrote Grammond.
“The public interest is not served by short-circuiting the safeguards aimed at ensuring everyone’s right to life, liberty and security of the person. The removal officer unreasonably failed to take into consideration evidence of a risk of death or inhumane treatment.”
Chol is currently in custody and awaiting a court appearance on Aug. 4. Chol’s lawyer Ayesha Kumararatne – who was instrumental in thwarting his deporation – refused to comment when contacted by the Ottawa Citizen.
Saturday’s annual general meeting did not bring unity – or clarity – for members of the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta (WIPA).
Depending who you ask, members either elected a new party board and voted to reinstate former leader Paul Hinman, or the party’s existing board — who removed Hinman — will continue to bar Hinman from the party, was forced to adjourn the meeting early, and will retain their positions for another year.
The membership gathered in Red Deer, where they unanimously voted to remove the provincial Board of Governors “for the way they’ve been behaving,” Hinman said.
“I was reinstated as leader with unanimous consent from the floor,” he told True North on Saturday night.
Last month, the board voted to suspend Hinman’s membership for at least 18 months and boot him as party leader after claiming he breached the party’s code of conduct.
The board appointed Calgary engineer Jeevan Singh Mangat to lead in the interim.
Hinman was elected as the WIPA leader in July 2020. He ran and lost in the March 15 Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche byelection won by Brian Jean, now a United Conservative Party leadership candidate.
According to a report submitted to WIPA’s board of governors from Provincial Nomination Committee Chair Gurcharan Garcha on June 20, Hinman did not follow Elections Alberta rules, party rules and nomination guidelines in the race. Campaign funds went to an honorarium for Hinman, which the report said is “highly irregular.”
As Hinman is not a member in good standing, he wasn’t welcome at the AGM, board president Rick Northey told True North ahead of Saturday’s meeting.
Following the AGM, Northey said Hinman “barged” into the meeting and refused to leave.
“So we adjourned the AGM. (Hinman) then took the stage and his supporters are having their own meeting now,” he said in a message to True North on Saturday afternoon.
Northey also said “no real business” was conducted because Hinman’s supporters did “contentious” points of order for four hours.
“We didn’t even agree to an agenda,” he said. “The board election to fill vacancies was not able to proceed. So the remaining board members will continue on.”
Ten board positions were supposed to be filled at the AGM. The 20 board members are on a two-year term, so half shuffle out every year, thereby retaining some institutional memory and receiving some fresh ideas.
Hinman said the board never made a proper adjournment of the AGM. They made one amongst themselves and then walked out “in disgust,” he said.
“Nobody in the room heard,” he said. “We were in recess.”
After the board left, Hinman said a motion of no confidence in the board passed.
“And we carried on and we held our nominations and voted and did everything that we’re supposed to do by the books and we got it all on video,” he said.
Hinman said 150 people stayed after the board members left and voted to reinstate him.
Northey said there were 140 members physically present at the AGM and another 75 online.
Of those “about 40” were Hinman supporters, Northey said.
Asked if this means the party will split, Northey said, “When (Hinman’s) friends realized they failed, they won’t have any reason to stay.”
Ottawa’s plan to cap oil and gas sector emissions by almost 40% by the end of this decade is falling on deaf ears in Alberta where the sector is already working to reduce emissions.
In March, the federal government’s Emissions Reduction Plan suggested cutting 110 million tonnes by 2030 – a 46% cut from 2019 levels.
Even NDP leader Rachel Notley, who implemented a carbon tax and phased out all of Alberta’s coal-fired power plants while Premier, said the target is “beyond ambitious, it’s a fantasy.”
“There are practical realities in terms of how long it takes to put in place the kinds of efforts that would result in the emissions reductions that are part of that target,” Notley said on March 29.
On Monday, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault outlined two proposals to reach the targets; either an industry-specific cap-and-trade system or a modified carbon pricing system to set a ceiling for emissions from the oil and gas sector.
The oil and gas industry accounts for roughly one-quarter of Canada’s total emissions — 179 million tonnes in 2020.
The first proposed option involves a new cap-and-trade system on the oil and gas sector to divide total emissions among companies. Each company would receive an individual allowance purchased through an auction.
Oil and gas companies that don’t buy enough allowances to cover their emissions must purchase allowance credits from companies that bought extra.
The second option would modify the industrial carbon price already applied to the sector and ensure emissions fall by limiting trading of carbon credits within the sector.
Currently, companies can reduce their carbon tax by buying credits from companies that produce less than their emissions limit. The modified plan would allow them only to buy credits from other oil and gas companies, not other industries.
Alberta already has a limit on oil sands emissions and six of the biggest oilsands companies are targeting net zero by 2050.
Guilbeault’s paper is “yet another example of a lesson Ottawa refuses to learn,” said Alberta Environment Minister Whitney Issik and Energy Minister Sonya Savage. The only way to cut emissions and keep life affordable is to work with the provinces to create environmental policies, the pair said in a statement.
“The federal government cannot act unilaterally to meet their emissions targets,” they wrote.
“Alberta is fully prepared to engage in meaningful and productive discussions with the federal government on ways we can reduce emissions – yet we have not been given that chance. Less than two weeks ago, energy ministers from the federal government, provinces and territories gathered together, yet Ottawa did not seek our input or share this paper.”
Issik and Savage also said Alberta won’t accept any plan from Ottawa that interferes with the province’s constitutional right to develop its resources.
In May, the Alberta Court of Appeal sided with Alberta on this issue when it ruled the federal Bill C-69, the Impact Assessment Act — dubbed by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney as the “No More Pipelines Bill” — was unconstitutional. The Court said C-69 presented a “clear and present danger” to Canada’s constitutional order.
United Conservaitve Party leadership candidate Danielle Smith has taken it one step further. At campaign stops across the province, she joked that C-69 should be called the “no more building anything in Alberta again without federal approval bill.”
In response to interference from Ottawa, she pitched the Alberta Sovereignty Act as her first bill, if elected Premier. If passed, the legislation would see Alberta refuse to enforce federal legislation deemed harmful to the province.
Critics of Smith have accused her of flirting with a constitutional crisis, but she said the feds are already responsible for one because they blocked Alberta’s constitutionally-protected right to develop its own resources.
“We have a constitutional reckoning coming,” she told 260 supporters in Stony Plain on Tuesday.
Ottawa will accept input on the two proposals until September 30 and Guilbeault aims to unveil the final plan early in 2023.
