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Saturday, June 28, 2025

Poilievre proposes Billy Bishop Airport expansion, allowing passenger jets

By
Noah Jarvis
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Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre has proposed reviving an expansion of Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport to accommodate passenger jets, an initiative the Trudeau government scrapped upon their initial election in 2015.

The initial proposal from Porter Airlines asked the federal government and the City of Toronto for permission to extend the airport’s runway by 168 meters in both directions and allow the use of Bombardier CS100 jets. 

Currently, jet planes are forbidden to fly out of Billy Bishop. However, turboprop planes are permitted to fly out of Billy Bishop, which can only accommodate short-distance flights.

In a press release, Poilievre says if he is elected prime minister, he will direct his minister of transportation to encourage Porter Airlines to re-table the proposal and encourage the Toronto city council as well as the Toronto Port Authority to approve the bid.

Poilievre claims that the airport would be able to accommodate an additional 2 million passengers per year while creating more jobs and tax revenue. 

“This project would increase competition, shorten commute times, reduce gridlock, create 2000 paycheques, and inject $55 million in tax revenue,” said Poilievre.

With Canada’s airports in a state of disarray, particularly at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, the Poilievre campaign asserts that an expansion of Billy Bishop can help to alleviate the chaos.

“Travel at Pearson is a mess right now”, said Poilievre. 

“There could have been way more flights out of Billy Bishop airport in downtown Toronto, meaning more competition and more choice, but the dreadful gatekeepers wouldn’t let it happen. I will reverse Trudeau’s decision to side with them and allow jets to fly in and out of Billy Bishop airport to give people back control of their lives.”

In 2015, the Trudeau government scrapped the proposal as the tripartite agreement between the federal government, City of Toronto, and Toronto Port Authority cannot be revisited if one party refuses to amend the agreement. 

“Of course, Trudeau sided with the gatekeepers who fought tooth and nail to stop it,” said Poilievre 

“Let’s expand Billy Bishop Airport and open competition in a country where the sky’s the limit.”

With Canadians are experiencing some of the worst airport delays in the world, the Trudeau government has done little to mitigate the stress at Canada’s airports.

The Trudeau government created a cabinet committee to deliberate the delays, but the disorder at Canada’s airports has not improved, and it is not clear what the committee has done to help.

The Trudeau government initially waived the policy of randomly testing travellers arriving at Canadian airports, though the government reinstated the policy on July 19. 

Eight of nine UCP candidates meet the deadline to run

By
Rachel Parker
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United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidates had until 5 p.m. on Wednesday to have their chance at becoming Alberta’s next premier, and eight of nine contestants vying for the top job made it across the first checkpoint.

All applicants were required to hand in 1,000 signatures from the province’s five regions and the first $75,000 of the $175,000 contest fee. 

Calgary businessman Jon Horsman announced he was pulling from the race less than an hour ahead of the deadline.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Horsman said his campaign was “on track” to meet the deadline, but he decided to withdraw because it is a “very crowded leadership race.”

“Having one more (candidate) does not serve the purpose of why I decided to run — which was to contribute to the success of the conservative movement in Alberta by growing the moderate and inclusive base for the party,” Horsman wrote.

“As I stand down today, I stand ready to move forward with the UCP through future opportunities.”

Submitted applications do not necessarily mean candidates have been approved to run in the upcoming election. The party first ensures that all signatures are from registered UCP members. Then, contestants are interviewed by the Leadership Election Committee (LEC). Once these processes are completed, the LEC will greenlight a candidate.

Travis Toews, Danielle Smith and Brian Jean were all approved as official candidates ahead of Wednesday’s cutoff. Toews was approved nearly two weeks ago, Smith was approved Monday night and Jean was approved Tuesday.

A poll in June showed Smith and Jean tied as the frontrunners, with Toews polling about ten points behind. Smith submitted her nomination package with 4,500 signatures and the entire contest fee. 

Jean was the second candidate to pay the full contest fee up-front. His campaign collected well over 2,000 signatures, his campaign told True North.

Candidates were helping one another collect signatures ahead of the deadline. Jean posted on Twitter about some contestants who still needed support, and Smith hosted rival Raj Sherman at her campaign event on Tuesday night, which drew in about 260 people.

UCP MLA and former Transportation minister Rajan Sawhney submitted 1,500 signatures and the deposit on Thursday. On Tuesday, she tweeted the party has verified that she has enough signatures. 

Independent MLA Todd Loewen submitted his package on Friday. Loewen was a member of the UCP caucus until he was removed last year after calling for Premier Jason Kenney’s resignation during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He collected around 2,500 signatures and his interview with the LEC is this week, his campaign said.

UCP MLA and former Children’s Services minister Rebecca Shulz submitted her application with the party on Tuesday, as did UCP MLA Leela Aheer.

The party verified Aheer’s signatures already and she’ll likely have her interview this weekend, her campaign told True North. 

Sherman, the former Alberta Liberal Party leader, handed his package in just five minutes before the deadline. He was active on Twitter throughout the day, letting supporters know he still needed more signatures in some regions. 

The party already disqualified Sherman from running. He was not a UCP member for six months prior to the contest, as the rules require, and he was not granted an exemption. Sherman decided to file his application anyway and he said he hopes his campaign will show the party he wants to be taken seriously as a candidate. 

Bill Rock, the Mayor for Amisk, a town which lies about two hours southeast of Edmonton, was briefly in the race. He pulled out last week, citing an inability to raise the funds. 

Candidates have to submit another $50,000 by July 29 and the last $50,000 by August 12, which is also the last day Albertans can purchase UCP memberships to vote in the contest.

UCP members will elect a new leader and Premier on October 6.

Finance Minister Jason Nixon says Smith’s Sovereignty Act is ‘problematic’

By
Rachel Parker
-

Finance Minister Jason Nixon says United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidate Danielle Smith’s Alberta Sovereignty Act is “problematic” and would be unlikely to be adopted by the Alberta Legislature. 

Smith said the Act, which would see Alberta refuse to enforce federal legislation deemed harmful to the province, would be her first proposed bill if elected Premier.

But the proposal won’t be adopted — and the number one way to upset Albertans is to overpromise and underdeliver, Nixon said. 

“Going around and telling Albertans that you can accomplish something that you can’t accomplish is very problematic long-term for our party,” Nixon told reporters on Wednesday. “I’d rather see (candidates) under-promise and over-deliver.”

The Sovereignty Act is unlikely to pass the legislature because MLAs wouldn’t support a bill which calls for the “breaking of the law,” Nixon said. 

“The way that I’ve seen it proposed one would not have any impact and would certainly be problematic from a legislative perspective.” 

The Act is the product of the Free Alberta Strategy Group, of which co-founder Rob Anderson recently took a leave to serve as Smith’s campaign chair. 

Critics of the proposal, including many in the legacy media, have accused the leadership frontrunner of flirting with a constitutional crisis since she first voiced her support for the Act. 

At a campaign event on Tuesday evening, Smith said Ottawa already created a constitutional crisis when it blocked Alberta’s constitutionally-protected right to develop its own resources. 

“We have a constitutional reckoning coming,” she said.

In an emailed statement to True North, Smith rejected Nixon’s claims and saidthe Alberta Sovereignty Act would empower the Legislature to refuse enforcement of any specific Federal Government law or policy that violates Alberta’s provincial rights under s.92 of the Constitution or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of Albertans, once passed.

“The Act will only be invoked after a free vote of all MLAs in the Legislature has been held on whether and how the Alberta Sovereignty Act shall be used to oppose the specific Federal law in question,” Smith wrote.

Smith said an example could be if the feds mandated that all children under 12 receive a Covid vaccine to attend school or participate in sports. The Alberta Legislature would have a free vote on whether it will allow its health and educational agencies to enforce the mandate in Alberta.

“My guess is such a vote would pass with a healthy margin,” Smith wrote.

Nixon also said Alberta must “walk and chew gum” when working with Ottawa on federal-provincial relations. As an elected official “your words have impact” and the wrong words can block investment and cost Albertans their livelihoods, he continued. 

“I haven’t spoken to Mrs. Smith,” Nixon said. “But you have to bring legislation to the legislature that is legal.” 

Nixon was shuffled into the Finance portfolio from Environment shortly after Travis Toews resigned from the position to run in the leadership contest, as is custom.

Nixon recently introduced Toews at a campaign event. He said Toews is the best candidate to lead the UCP, but said this was not an official endorsement. 

45% of Canadians support providing doctor-assisted suicide to the mentally ill: poll

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Nearly half of Canadians want those suffering with serious mental illness to have the option to undergo medically induced assisted suicide.

According to a Leger poll commissioned by Postmedia, 45% of Canadians supported extending doctor-assisted suicide to adults who are seriously mentally ill. 

Recent changes to law will first come into effect in March 2024 which legally permits individuals diagnosed with a mental illness to be approved for assisted suicide. 

When it comes to extending assisted suicide to those under the age of 18, a whopping 51% said they would support it as long as the minor displays 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.’”

Poll results also found that about 40% of people supported doctor-assisted suicide for a terminally ill minor even if “the child was incapable of voicing their opinion on the decision.”

“If I’m a policy maker looking at this data, I would interpret it as, ‘OK, it’s possible that we could create some rules that would enable a seriously mentally ill individual to access MAID (medical assistance in dying). But we must put in some framework, we have to put in some criteria, in order for the public to feel more comfortable with this kind of policy.’,” said Enns. 

1,501 Canadians were included in the online survey from Jun. 30 to Jul. 3. A similar poll with a random sample would have a margin of error of +/- 2.5% or 19 times out of 20. 

With support from the Bloc Quebecois, the Liberal government adopted a Senate recommendation in March 2021 to allow doctor-assisted suicide for those with severe mental illnesses.

“Under the Liberal government’s amendment, medically assisted death will automatically be expanded to cover those with mental illness in 24 months,” said Conservative justice critic Rob Moore said.

“At a time where Canadians often struggle to access mental health services, it sends a dire message — that the lives of those struggling with mental illness are not valued by this government.”

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.”

Canadian history rooted in colonialism and slavery: Department of Justice

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A new report by the Department of Justice paints Canadian history as a hotbed of slavery and colonialism.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the document titled Black Youth And The Criminal Justice System explores the development of “anti-black racism” in Canada. 

“Anti-Black racism is rooted in Canada’s history, in its experiences with colonialism, slavery, segregation and restrictive immigration practices,” wrote staff.

“Slavery was practiced for more than 200 years in the colonies that became Canada.”

The report did not elaborate on the fact that Canada never legalized slavery and the country’s founders were not slaveholders. 

“The oppressed status of Black people persisted long after slavery was abolished. For example Canada’s first prime minister John A. Macdonald rationalized keeping the death penalty based on the supposed danger that Black men posed to White women. Similarly in 1911 Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier signed an Order In Council prohibiting Black immigration,” wrote staff.

“This history set the stage for the experiences of subsequent generations of Black Canadians and more recent Black newcomers by laying the foundation of anti-Black racism that persists to this day.”

Historically, Upper Canada abolished slavery 74 years before Confederation, and in 1834 the United Kingdom abolished slavery throughout its overseas colonies. 

Other claims that Canada’s history was colonialist and racist have led to the review of thousands of historical plaques at parks across the country.

“All plaques will need to be reviewed by the historians and most likely go through vetting,” wrote Parks Canada employees in 2020. 

Historical figures including Toronto journalist Goldwin Smith, former superintendent of Indian Affairs Duncan Campbell Scott and Dr. Helen MacMurchy were all determined to be problematic and due for replacement. 

Trudeau seen maskless on BC train while enforcing mask mandate on commercial trains

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a maskless appearance on a British Columbia train Monday while his government continues to mandate masks for commercial trains in Canada.

All passengers aged six and older who travel on federally regulated trains such as Via Rail are required to wear a mask at all times – except when eating, drinking or taking oral medication.

Despite his government’s own rules, during a visit to the central Okanagan region this week, Trudeau ditched his mask on the Kettle Valley Railway.

In a short video posted to Twitter, the maskless Prime Minister can be seen on board the train shaking hands and taking selfies with passengers.

It should be noted that tourist trains are not federally regulated and therefore, the government’s mask mandate does not apply. However, the Prime Minister still faced backlash for his hypocrisy.

Conservative Party health critic Michael Barrett said that “Trudeau is demonstrating it’s safe to not wear a mask on transportation like trains and planes.” He called on Trudeau to end his remaining mandates.

Meanwhile, others pointed out inconsistencies with the Prime Minister’s mask use. Trudeau wore a medical mask while visiting a Scarborough church days before his maskless train appearance.

This is not the first time Trudeau has been called out for his mask hypocrisy. He has also been seen ditching his mask while travelling overseas, including in October 2021 when he partied in the Netherlands with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

At the time, all of Canada was under strict Covid mandates and restrictions, despite the country having a high vaccination rate.

The Canadian government is one of few in the western world that still mandates masks on trains. Other nations including the United States, England and France have opted to let passengers make their own choices when it comes to masking.

Trudeau’s transport minister Omar Alghabra has however doubled down on mandatory masking several times.

“Masks are an effective way of reducing transmission, especially in areas with restricted space, such as on board planes, trains or cruise ships,” said Alghabra on June 14.

Despite Alghabra’s push for continued masking, provinces have removed mask mandates for transit, meaning that passengers on commuter trains are not required to wear masks.

Trudeau is campaigning while inflation hits another record high

By
Andrew Lawton
-

The latest inflation numbers reveal a hike higher than any other in the past 39 years in Canada. Consumers and businesses are struggling with the rising cost of everything, including government-added costs like the carbon tax. True North’s Andrew Lawton says that while Canadians are struggling to keep up, Justin Trudeau is campaigning.

Also, Andrew responds to the news that Indigo is refusing to carry his book “The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks that Shook the World” on its shelves. Plus, Conservative leadership candidate Roman Baber joins the show live to talk about his newly unveiled platform.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

Canadian NBA All-Star Andrew Wiggins regrets getting the Covid-19 vaccine

By
Noah Jarvis
-

Canadian NBA All-Star Andrew Wiggins says he regrets taking the Covid-19 vaccine after feeling like he was forced to do so by the NBA.

In an interview with Fansided, Wiggins said that despite having a career year, becoming an NBA All-Star and winning the NBA Championship, he still regrets getting vaccinated for Covid-19.

“I still wish I didn’t get it, to be honest with you, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do,” said Wiggins.

“For my body, I just don’t like putting all that stuff in my body, so I didn’t like that, and I didn’t like that it wasn’t my choice. I didn’t like that it was either get this or don’t play.”

Some NBA teams began to introduce a strict vaccine requirement for the 2021-2022 NBA season in order to adhere to public health rules implemented by many North American cities and states. 

The Golden State Warriors, based in Oakland, California, required Warriors players to get vaccinated to play with the team, with non-compliance being met with a $350,000 fine for each game missed.

If Wiggins chose to remain unvaccinated, he would have had to miss all games in Oakland, amounting to half of the season, as well as any games taking place in cities with similar rules like New York and Toronto.

A practicing Christian, Wiggins applied for a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate, but the NBA denied his request.

The Canadian NBA all-star ultimately decided to get vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson one-dose vaccine.

Last season, Wiggins became an All-Star game starter and played an important role in the Warriors winning the 2022 NBA Championship. 

Despite the harsh Covid-19 vaccine rules for NBA players, a few players decided to remain unvaccinated in spite of the consequences.

NBA superstar Kyrie Irving missed most of the 2022 NBA season as the Brooklyn Nets had a mandatory vaccine policy due to New York City having some of the strictest Covid-19 measures in the US. As a result, Irving was initially not even allowed to play in away games until the team began to struggle, forcing the Nets’ management to let Irving play.

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine and remained sidelined for the entire 2022 NBA season.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Matisse Thybulle remained unvaccinated but was allowed to play in most games due to Philadelphia not having Covid restrictions similar to New York or Oakland.

However, Thybulle could not participate in NBA Playoff games against the Toronto Raptors in Canada because of the Trudeau government’s mandatory vaccination policy to enter Canada.

Catholic nurse had right to Covid shot exemption: Ontario arbitrator

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

An Ontario arbitrator ruled that a Catholic nurse fired by Public Health Sudbury for not getting vaccinated had the right to an exemption.

The ruling was one of the first legal pronouncements on the issue of religious exemptions to Covid-19 vaccines, as reported by the National Post.

The nurse is a member of the Latin Mass Catholic community and had requested to be exempted from the city’s vaccine mandate, alleging that the vaccine had links to aborted preborn children.

She was, however, denied that exemption by Public Health Sudbury and was placed on unpaid leave.

It should be noted that Pope Francis previously said that Catholics should get Covid vaccines, even if they were developed using fetal cell lines.

Covid vaccines do not contain fetal cells and abortions were not performed to make the shots, according to ImmunizeBC. However, some vaccines are created using fetal cells, including Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

Meanwhile, fetal cells were used in the early stages of research and development for the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.

The Latin Mass segment of the Catholic Church adheres to strict religious beliefs that include opposing abortion and contraception. The church doesn’t forbid its members from taking the Covid vaccine, but also does not require it. 

Arbitrator Robert Herman stated that given the unnamed nurse holds a sincere belief that has a sufficient connection to her creed, “to get vaccinated would interfere with the exercise of her faith and her relationship with the divine.”

The arbitrator cited the 2004 Syndicat Northcrest c. Amselem Supreme Court decision, where it had ruled that in order for something to be considered religious discrimination, there has to be a connection or “nexus” to the person’s religious faith as well as a sincerity in that person’s beliefs.

Herman did say there were inconsistencies in the nurse’s testimony, but he found it was “unlikely” that she “fabricated or simply ‘latched’ on to a creed-based claim for an exemption in order to avoid getting vaccinated.”

Hence, Herman ruled that the nurse was entitled to receive an exemption based on the provisions in the Ontario Human Rights Code.

He also said that the nurse had been “prima facie discriminated” when her employer denied the requested exemption.

Herman did not, however, provide a judgement on whether the nurse should be allowed to return to work or provided with compensation.

While many workplace vaccine mandates have ended, a number of those impacted by the policies missed multiple months’ worth of pay. 

Canada’s inflation rate rises to a 39-year high of 8.1%

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

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

In its report, Statistics Canada attributed higher gas prices as a key contributor to inflation last month, with prices rising 6.2% on the month and 55% on the year. Food and shelter costs continue to increase, but at a slower rate: the price for food rose 0.1%, and shelter costs went up 0.4%.

“On a year-over-year basis, consumers paid 54.6% more for gasoline in June following a 48.0% increase in May, contributing the most to headline consumer inflation,” said Statistics Canada. 

“Prices at the pump rose 6.2% month over month in June, following a 12.0% increase in May. Gas prices largely followed crude oil prices, which peaked in the first week of June with higher global demand amid the easing of COVID-19 public health restrictions in China, the largest importer of crude oil.”

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.

According to BNN Bloomberg, the increase in the consumer price index was lower than expected, as many by economists were anticipating increases of approximately 8.4% annually. 

However, the record-high inflation rate will continue to put pressure on the Bank of Canada (BoC) to aggressively raise interest rates.

Earlier this month, the BoC announced it was hiking interest rates to 2.5%, a 100 basis point increase – the largest one-time increase since 1998.

“With the economy clearly in excess demand, inflation high and broadening, and more businesses and consumers expecting high inflation to persist for longer, the Governing Council decided to front-load the path to higher interest rates by raising the policy rate by 100 basis points today,” wrote the Bank of Canada in a news release. 

The governor of the BoC warned 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,” Tiff Macklem said.

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

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