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Saturday, June 28, 2025

Less than half the funds set aside to compensate Ottawa businesses for convoy claimed

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-
Darrin Calcutt

Money the federal government earmarked to compensate Ottawa businesses purportedly affected by the Freedom Convoy went largely unclaimed. 

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, a cabinet briefing note titled Support For Businesses In Ottawa And Windsor Impacted By Demonstrations details how over half of the $20 million budgeted for compensation was not used. 

“Up to 1,900 businesses in Ottawa could potentially receive support,” the note explained. 

“Ottawa received a total of 1,561 applications and as of June 8 had approved 1,127 applications amounting to approximately $8.6 million in federal support.”

In total, only 43% of the fund was accessed by local businesses. 

The $20 million fund was first announced in February as law enforcement officials cracked down on protesters in Ottawa. 

Small businesses were able to receive non-repayable contributions of up to $10,000 for costs.

“Our local businesses have shown incredible resilience throughout the pandemic, and especially during the past weeks, which have been incredibly difficult,” said Liberal Treasury Board President Mona Fortier at the time. 

“Many downtown Ottawa businesses have been forced to close their doors or have seen a significant decrease in business, which has resulted in loss of revenue.”

As exclusively reported by True North, the City of Ottawa revealed in a report that it has “no plan” to recover an estimated $37 million in its costs, largely for law enforcement, from Freedom Convoy organizers. 

“The costs of the occupation were borne by the Ottawa Police Service,” the report stated. 

“As the federal government has undertaken to make the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Police Service Board whole in this regard, there is no plan to try and recover those amounts from the convoy organizers, appreciating also that there is no legal authority in the municipality to do so.”

Canadian Taxpayer Federation says Trudeau carbon tax rebates won’t offset the cost

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-
Source: YouTube

As the Trudeau government sends out carbon tax rebate payments to people living in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba Friday, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) says the rebates won’t offset the cost – leaving people worse off. 

The Liberals claimed 80% of households living in the four provinces would receive more money from rebates than they paid for in carbon taxes, however, data from the nonpartisan Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) says otherwise, according to the CTF.

“The PBO’s data shows those numbers are magic math,” said the CTF.

According to the PBO, the total price of the carbon tax for the average Alberta household in 2022 will be $2,004, while the federal rebate is set to be $1,333. Meaning, the tax will cost the average Alberta household $671.

Meanwhile, the carbon tax will cost the average Saskatchewan household $390, Ontario household $360 and Manitoba household $299.

These figures are expected to rise over the decade, costing the average household in the four provinces over a thousand dollars come 2030. 

The tax will cost Alberta households $2,282 in 2030, while Saskatchewan households will pay $1,464, Ontario households $1,461 and Manitoba households $1,145.

It is estimated that the carbon tax will cost Albertan households a total of $13,041 between 2022 and 2030, while costing Saskatchewanian households $8,091, Ontarian households $8,059 and Manitoban households $6,439.

Trudeau’s carbon pricing scheme was announced in 2018 after several Canadian provinces elected Conservative governments who pledged to scrap provincial carbon taxes. The federal “price on pollution” came into effect on April 1, 2019.

The tax was initially supposed to be raised annually until it reached $50 per tonne in 2022. However, the Trudeau government announced in 2020 it would continue raising its carbon tax until it reaches $170 per tonne by 2030.

In addition, an analysis published by the Canadian Press says the second carbon tax could increase gas prices by 13 cents per liter by 2030, costing Canadian households up to $301.

Some Canadian premiers recently urged Trudeau to suspend his carbon tax amid high gas prices.

“Now is not the time to be further increasing energy costs for Canadians,” wrote Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson in a joint letter in March.  

Premier Kenney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have also suspended their province’s  gas tax to provide relief to residents.

However, the Trudeau government is opting to continue charging Canadians its carbon tax, despite other countries giving their citizens gas tax holidays.

BC on track to break opioid overdose records again

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A new report by British Columbia’s Coroners Service reveals that the province is on track to break another record when it comes to overdose deaths due to illicit drugs. 

Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe urged drug users to take precautions due to the existence of fentanyl and other extremely potent substances in the drug supply.

“After a catastrophic 2021, I am saddened to report that we are, once again, on pace to lose a record number of our community members in 2022,” wrote Lapointe in a statement. 

“I strongly urge those purchasing illicit substances to take every available precaution to protect yourself. Please start with a small amount of the drug, and make sure someone is present who can provide naloxone and call for emergency assistance if you experience a negative effect.”

In May, 195 British Columbians died as a result of a drug overdose – representing a 20% increase when compared to last year. 

BC also broke the record for the number of deaths in the first five months of the year. Between January and May, at least 940 people died from drug toxicity. 

“Every life lost to illicit drugs in our province is a preventable tragedy,” said Lapointe. 

Coroners found that 91% of all drug samples have turned up positive for fentanyl or other substances.

In response to the opioid crisis, the Liberal government announced in May that it would allow British Columbians to be exempt from criminal drug possession laws. 

The move will effectively decriminalize possessing hard drugs and narcotics in the province beginning in 2023. 

“For far too long, this wave of loss has been a reality in British Columbia and across the country,” said Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett. 

“Today, we take the first steps in the much needed bold action and significant policy change.”

Alberta NDP promoted MLA one month after he breached provincial vaccine records

By
Rachel Parker
-

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley promoted former NDP MLA Thomas Dang to the party’s Democracy and Ethics critic role, even while the Official Opposition was aware he hacked the provincial Covid-19 vaccine records one month earlier, True North has learned.

Dang was charged in June under the province’s Health Information Act for illegally attempting to access private information contained in the Alberta Health vaccine portal in September 2021. He faces a fine of $200,000 if convicted.

Dang has said he accessed the site to test vulnerabilities on the newly launched Alberta Health vaccine portal, and upon finding one — and uncovering a woman’s healthcare number in the process — he informed NDP chief of staff Jeremy Nolais and NDP director of communications Benjamin Alldritt, court documents show. 

He was promoted to the critic portfolio one month later, in October, until he left the party to sit as an Independent MLA once the RCMP began investigating his actions in December.

“The fact Rachel Notley promoted Thomas Dang to be her democracy and ethics critic just one month after her office knew about his nefarious and illegal hacking tells you everything about how brazenly unethical the NDP has become under her watch,” United Conservative Party chief government whip Brad Rutherford said in a statement to True North. 

“We’ve seen it for years now – the Notley NDP will say and do anything for a vote, while holding themselves to no standards whatsoever.”

In September, a constituent contacted Dang with concerns about potential vulnerabilities on the vaccine portal. Dang used Premier Jason Kenney’s birth date and vaccination dates, which are publicly available, to crack the site’s privacy safeguards.

Between Sept. 19 and 23, Dang’s computer program made 1.78 million queries using Kenney’s personal information. Dang admitted to RCMP the queries were randomly generated guesses aimed at revealing the premier’s health care number.

Court documents first unsealed by the CBC refer to Dang’s attempts as a “brute force attack.”

On Sept. 23, Dang successfully uncovered a women’s health-care number using Kenney’s birthdate. The information belonged to a woman sharing the premier’s date of birth and vaccine month.

Dang ran two subsequent manual tests to verify. Court documents say he then notified Nolais and Alldritt, who sent an email to Alberta Health communications director Steve Buick.

Alldritt didn’t say Dang was the informant, but referred to the MLA as a “party.”

“It’s possible that this is a prank, but their tone seems genuinely concerned. Hopefully the dept can look into this ASAP,” he said in an email, according to the CBC.

One month later, Dang was given a critic title.

Alldritt declined to comment when contacted by True North on Wednesday, other than to say, “Unfortunately we don’t have dealings with True North.”

The RCMP was initially pursuing criminal charges against Dang, but those have been dropped. Dang has said he wants to return to the NDP caucus.

Dang did not immediately respond for comment from True North on Thursday.

More unvaccinated MLB players refuse to play against Blue Jays

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

More Major League Baseball players are refusing to play against the Blue Jays due to Canada’s Covid-19 vaccine requirements.

According to ESPN, the Kansas City Royals revealed that almost half of their roster will be absent for an upcoming four-game series in Toronto.

10 unvaccinated players will stay behind including Andrew Benintendi, Whit Merrifield, M.J. Melendez, DH Hunter Dozier, Brad Keller, Brady Singer, Michael A. Taylor, Kyle Isbel, Dylan Coleman and Cam Gallagher. 

In a statement, team president of baseball operations Dayton Moore said that the Royals support the personal decisions of players. 

“At the end of the day, it’s their choice. It’s what they decide to do. And we’ve always been an organization that promotes and encourages individual choices. Unfortunately, some of this affects the team,” said Moore. 

“We’re disappointed in some of that, but we realize it’s part of the game and part of the world we live in. We’re just really looking forward to providing these players an opportunity who are getting a chance to play in Toronto.”

Team manager Mike Matheny also said he supports players who decided to remain behind. 

“It’s an individual choice. The organization’s done a real good job bringing in professionals and experts to talk guys through tough conversations and then put it in their hands to make the decisions they believe is best for them and their families,” said Matheny.

The Royals will have to pull players from its Triple-A and Double-A affiliates to fill the spots of missing players. 

“Now what it presents is an opportunity for some young guys to step in who wouldn’t normally be here,” said Matheny. 

“It will affect what we’re doing rotation-wise and that will be another question that we’ll have to answer later. I’m excited about some guys coming in and getting a chance.”

31-year-old Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto also recently announced he would be staying behind due to Canada’s vaccination rules. 

“I’m a healthy 31-year-old professional athlete,” said Realmuto. “I’m not going to let Canada tell me what I do and don’t put in my body.”

Trudeau called ‘traitor’ by so-called “admirers” in Alberta

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

Did you hear? The prime minister Dear Leader was mobbed by a group of so-called “admirers” while he was in Calgary for the Stampede! …At least that’s what the legacy media was telling Canadians. In reality, Trudeau was jeered and called a “traitor” and “communist” by protesters. Nice try, legacy media!

Plus, Canada’s sports teams have an advantage thanks to the Trudeau government’s draconian Covid rules as American athletes refuse to comply with the Trudeau government’s vaccine mandates.

And the winner of this week’s Ratio of the Week goes to Canada’s foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly! In response to the protests in Sri Lanka, Joly claims the Trudeau government will not tolerate violence against protesters or journalists – kind of like when the Trudeau government invoked the Emergencies Act to violently crack down on the Freedom Convoy.

Tune into Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner!

Canadians should brace for tough winter: Bank of Canada governor

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The governor of the Bank of Canada is telling Canadians to brace for further economic stress this winter and further skyrocketing prices.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Tim Macklem made the remarks to reporters after announcing another rate increase to 2.5% on Wednesday.

“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.”

Wednesday’s one-percent rate hike was the sharpest increase the Bank has seen in over 24 years. 

Macklem was grilled by reporters over past failed predictions. In 2020, the Bank told Canadians that inflation would “remain less than two percent.” 

“We’ve done our best. We expect interest rates will need to rise further to cool demand and bring inflation back to target,” said Macklem.

Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre has blamed Macklem for playing into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s spending habits. 

While campaigning to become leader Poilievre pledged to fire Macklem and appoint a new governor to the Bank. 

“I would replace him with a new governor who would reinstate our low-inflation mandate, protect the purchasing power of our dollar, and honour the working people who earned those dollars,” said Poilievre. 

Soon after Poilievre’s remarks, deputy governor Paul Beaudry admitted that the Bank should be “held accountable” for being unable to keep inflation within targets. 

“The aspect that we should be held accountable is exactly right,” said Beaudry.

“Right now we completely understand that lots of Canadians can be frustrated at the situation. It’s difficult for a lot of people. And we haven’t managed to keep inflation at our target, so it’s appropriate people are asking us questions. 

Trudeau government resumes mandatory random testing for air travel

By
Andrew Kozak
-

Despite the ongoing massive delays at Canada’s airports, the Trudeau government is resuming mandatory random testing for those entering Canada as of July 19, 2022. 

According to a statement Thursday by Health Canada, fully vaccinated travellers who have been vaccinated for at least 14 days prior to arriving in Canada may be required to produce a negative Covid test. Testing will be completed outside of airports either in an in-person appointment or self swab test. 

Travellers who are not fully vaccinated must continue to test on Day 1 and Day 8 of their 14 day quarantine unless they are exempt.

Mandatory random testing continues at land border points of entry.

“We need to keep border testing measures in place because that is how we track importation of the Covid-19 virus, and of new variants of concern. We will keep adapting our border measures to balance the need to protect Canadians while supporting our economic recovery.” said Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos.

Air travellers who are fully vaccinated and selected for mandatory random testing can expect an email notification within 15 minutes of completing their customs declaration. 

Unvaccinated travellers can complete their tests by virtual appointment or in-person at select pharmacies while respecting their quarantine requirements. 

“As demand for travel increases across the world, today’s announcement marks an important step in our progress to streamline testing processes outside our airports while preventing the further spread of Covid-19,” said Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra. “The Government of Canada will continue to protect travellers and employees and ensure our transportation system is safe, reliable, and resilient for the long term.”

All travellers must continue to use the ArriveCAN app in order to provide the mandatory travel information within 72 hours before their arrival in Canada. 

If a traveller’s arrival test is positive, they must go into isolation for 10 days from the date of the test. 10 days is the federal standard and travellers must be isolated during this time even if the requirement is shorter in their own province.

The program was originally paused on June 11 in order to aid massive delays experienced at airports.

In recent weeks, travellers have reported delayed flights, cancelled flights  and long lines at Canada’s airports. As reported by the Daily Hive, 54% of outbound flights from Toronto Pearson international airport were delayed Monday, making it the airport with the most delayed flights in the world. 

Other Canadian airports including Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau international airport and Vancouver’s international airport have also been experiencing delays.

A Leger poll conducted between July 8 and 10 with the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) published in the Canadian Press saw 53% of Canadians concerned about the delays plaguing airports, including cancelled flights and long lines.

43% of Canadians blame staffing shortages at airports and 25% blamed staffing shortages experienced by airlines. 18% blamed the delays on the Covid-19 restrictions still in place at airports.

The poll also found that 18% of Canadians have significantly modified their summer travel plans due to airport delays, as well as issues with obtaining passports.

Over 60% of Canadians say Trudeau is divisive, many want him to resign

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
-

The majority of Canadians say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a divisive leader and many want him to resign, according to a new Postmedia-Leger poll.

“His personal popularity with NDP and Green voters is poor, which leads one to question his ability to win another election, certainly difficult to see him ever winning a majority,” Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns told Postmedia.

As reported by the National Post, the poll saw 32% of respondents say they strongly disapprove of Trudeau’s performance, and 23% say they somewhat disapprove, for a total disapproval rating of 55%.

Almost half of those surveyed (49%) want Trudeau to resign as Liberal Party leader before the next election, while 30% want him to stay on.

Over 60% find Trudeau divisive, agreeing that he “often favours certain groups and regions of the country over others, which has created national unity issues.”

Forty-four percent of respondents believe Canada has become a worse place to live, work and raise a family under Trudeau’s leadership, while only 17% said Canada has become a better place. 

Trudeau is the least popular in British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with 60% of people in those provinces saying they dislike him. He is also disliked by 58% of those in Alberta and Quebec. 

Meanwhile, only 7% said they strongly approve of Trudeau’s performance as prime minister. Thirty-three percent said they somewhat approved of the prime minister, for a total approval rating of 40%.

Sixteen percent of respondents say the prime minister’s greatest accomplishment was the legalization of marijuana, while only 15% said it was his pandemic management.

Seventeen percent of people surveyed said issues with Trudeau’s integrity were his biggest deception as Prime Minister. Trudeau has been embroiled in multiple scandals including the Aga Khan, SNC Lavalin and WE charity controversies.

Trudeau is currently entangled in yet another scandal amid allegations that the Trudeau government used the Nova Scotia mass shooting to implement its gun control measures.

Respondents also named Trudeau’s broken promises (11%) and the invocation of the Emergencies Act to crack down on peaceful Freedom Convoy demonstrations (6%) as some of their biggest disappointments.

Trudeau was elected in 2015 after running a campaign of optimism. 

“We beat fear with hope. We beat cynicism with hard work. We beat negative, divisive politics with a positive vision that brings Canadians together,” said Trudeau in 2015.

However, things have since changed. In the 2021 election, despite winning, Trudeau became the prime minister with the smallest share of overall electoral support in Canadian history. The Liberal leader won only 32.3% of the popular vote, meaning 67.8% of Canadians did not vote for Trudeau. 

Throughout the pandemic, the Prime Minister demonized and vilified Canadians who had chosen not to get vaccinated or disclose their vaccine status, referring to them as racist and misogynistic.

Trudeau now often faces freedom protests in Ottawa and when he travels across the country. He has previously called Freedom Convoy supporters a “small fringe minority” who hold “unacceptable views” as well as “tinfoil hats.”

Despite the unfavourable polling numbers, Trudeau could stay in power without facing an election until October 2025, due to a coalition with Jagmeet Singh and the New Democratic Party. 

Healthcare workers “most likely” to be vaxx hesitant during early pandemic: study

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

An article published in the peer-reviewed periodical of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) states that healthcare workers were among the “most likely” to express vaccine hesitancy at the beginning of the pandemic. 

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the report is based on a survey of 15,000 people across Canada. 

“Healthcare workers were among those who were most likely to express vaccine hesitancy early in the pandemic,” wrote CMAJ. 

The medical periodical also went on to address the termination of healthcare workers who refused to get the Covid-19 shot.

“Organizations seem to be walking a tightrope between encouraging vaccination and protecting vaccine refusers,” it said. 

“The Ontario Nurses’ Association, for example, urges healthcare employers ‘not to rely solely on vaccination to prevent the spread of Covid-19’ and ‘supports education and addressing vaccine hesitancy, not penalizing and terminating nurses when we need them most.’”

The report was based on a study by Leger Marketing published in the British Medical Journal and it relied on data collected in 2020. 

“We identified two important groups of individuals at greater risk of being vaccine hesitant: essential and healthcare workers,” said the survey. 

“Evidence of greater hesitancy among essential and healthcare workers was both surprising and a cause for concern given they are the individuals most likely to be exposed, and expose others, to Covid-19. However our results do seem to be line with U.S. data.”

“Our finding of high vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers is consistent with other studies both within and outside of Canada,” it continued. 

Several unvaccinated healthcare worker groups who were suspended and put on leave due to mandates have taken public health officials and their employers to court. 16 unvaccinated healthcare workers banded together recently to file a lawsuit against the Manitoba government and public health officials claiming that their Charter rights were violated.

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