True North is excited to announce that True North founder and editor-in-chief Candice Malcolm will moderate the first debate of the Conservative Party of Canada Leadership race on May 5th in Ottawa.
Malcolm will moderate alongside radio host, author and lawyer Jamil Jivani, at the debate, which kicks off the annual Canada Strong and Free Network (formerly known as the Manning Centre) conference in Ottawa May 5-7.
True North viewers are invited to attend the debate and the conference, and can receive a 15% discount while buying tickets using the discount code TNMFRIEND22.
On today’s episode of the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by Troy Lanigan, President of the Canada Strong and Free Network and long-time small-c conservative activist and leader. They discuss the state of conservatism in Canada, its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, and how to get our country back on track.
Patrick Brown’s campaign team is saying his views were misrepresented after Brown told a Montreal-based outlet serving Muslim Canadians that Palestinian refugees deserved the same help from Canada as Ukrainians.
In an interview with the Arabic-language outlet Sada al-Mashrek last weekend, the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership candidate and Brampton mayor said that Canada should do more to aid Palestinian, Afghanistani and Yemeni refugees, just as it has done for Ukrainian refugees.
“If we can help refugees in Ukraine, why can’t we help in Yemen?” said Brown. “If we can help refugees in Ukraine so quickly, which I fully support given the Russian invasion we should also be able to help with refugees from Palestine, Yemen, and Afghanistan.”
Last month after clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians at the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Brown tweeted that he was “deeply troubled by the violence occurring in Jerusalem.”
Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada said that “(i)t is disingenuous to compare the situation in Ukraine to the riots at the Al Aqsa mosque. Israel will continue to defend itself from terrorist incitement, just as Ukraine will continue to defend itself from Russian military aggression.”
Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said he was concerned with “disturbing comments attributed to Mr. Brown” from the interview.
When asked about what he would do to help Palestinians have their land back, Brown advocated for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine recognizing “Palestine’s right to exist and Israel’s right to exist.”
Brown also said that he would not move the Canadian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if he were elected prime minister. Former Conservative leaders Erin O’Toole and Andrew Scheer both promised to move the embassy if they were elected.
“Every country has the right to choose what its capital should be, and Israel has chosen Jerusalem,” Brown said in his interview with Sada al-Mashrek.
Continuing, Brown said, “Canada should be a peacekeeper – far too often I feel that Canada is simply replicating the position of Washington DC and Donald Trump.” He added, “I hope that we can have an independent, thoughtful Canadian foreign policy that focuses on peace in the Middle East.”
On Monday, Brown’s team said that the published interview transcript was not an accurate portrayal of his views. When asked to clarify his stance, Brown’s team doubled down by suggesting that his views “were not accurately represented in the article.”
Brown, who is seeking the CPC leadership, said that “(t)he leader sets the position, and if you elect a leader who’s a friend to the community, you change the position. I continue to believe there are more people in the party and around the country who share my belief in an inclusive Conservatism.”
Brown also took the opportunity to take shots at rival CPC leadership contender Pierre Poilievre.
“If you want to change the conservative party to be one that stands with the community, you have to join the party,” he said. “You have a choice between a far-right Trump-like conservative and one that is a friend to the community.”
He also accused Poilievre of supporting Quebec’s Bill 21, which bans public workers from wearing religious symbols.
“This is a battle for the soul of the Conservative Party,” Brown said. “Pierre supports Bill 21 and had a press conference on banning the niqab. He actively supports Rebel Media, which is a hate-website against Muslims.”
Poilievre has called Bill 21 “wrong,” adding that “(i)f anyone proposed it federally, my government would not allow it to pass. I respect Quebec’s right to make its own laws, but hope the province repeals the bill.”
“The Muslim community have a choice,” Brown concluded. “They can sit on the sidelines and allow an Islamaphobic candidate to win the leadership or they can participate and make sure that a friend to the community wins.”
The new CPC leader will be determined by a mail-in vote on Sept. 10.
A leaked draft of a United States Supreme Court decision suggests America’s top court is set to overturn Roe v Wade, which affirmed abortion as a “fundamental” right. While the legal situation and political climate surrounding abortion in the United States are vastly different than in Canada, Justin Trudeau and Patty Hajdu have waded into it condemning the decision. Does this matter to Canadians? Should it? Author and pro-life activist Jonathon Van Maren joins the show to discuss. Also, the freedom movement continues with the Rolling Thunder convoy arriving in Ottawa this past weekend.
Another woke Ontario school board is pushing sexuality onto children, with a Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) climate survey asking Grade 7 and 8 students whether they are queer, fluid, pansexual, questioning or bisexual.
The voluntary survey, sent out the first week of April, also asks the 12 and 13-year-old students to pick from eight different gender identities including transgender, non-binary, fluid, boy or girl.
The survey allows students to pick from 10 sexual categories, 33 ethnic/cultural origins, eight race categories and 34 possible spoken languages.
The survey was more than enough to get at least one mom steamed.
The mother, who spoke to True North on condition of anonymity, says it’s not just her. She said there are kids in her daughter’s school who aren’t very comfortable with survey questions related to gender and sexuality.
“I’m not okay with it,” she said.
The mom says the questions are not just “beyond inappropriate” but none of the school’s or board’s business. She says an employer would never be able to ask such questions.
These kinds of issues are not just one-day topics but run continuously through the board’s pedagogy, she says.
In fact about six months ago she said her daughter was called to the principal’s office after someone overheard her mention – quite innocently in the schoolyard – that she thought a certain celebrity was gay.
She was informed she needed to use the “G-word” instead.
“I am not making this up,” the mom said. “She was not using it (the word gay) in a derogatory way.”
While she said she recognizes it is important that confused students or those experiencing racism have “somewhere to go,” she can’t understand the “hyper focus” on these issues.
She said her daughter tells her she just wants to go to school and learn and that she finds it kind of “annoying” that these issues keep coming up.
The SCDSB survey is just the latest example of the woke war on childhood currently being waged by school boards across Ontario. Gender and sexuality is only one of its wings – another is anti-racism as put forward by critical race theory (CRT), which seeks to instill children with senses of guilt or entitlement on the basis of skin colour.
The Simcoe County school board has also put out a resource called “Embedding Anti-Racism and Equity into your teaching: 30 Step Self-Directed Journey – created by board employee Teresa Lau and others.
The staff resource contains 30 tasks for teachers to follow to embed anti-racism and equity into their teaching.
It includes such gems as explaining why the “B” in Black and “I” in Indigenous are capitalized while the “w” in white is not – a definition of privilege and criticism of the ego-driven white saviours we see in such Hollywood movies as The Help.
The resource advises staff not to use the “n” word even when it is contained in literary texts they may be studying.
It also invites staff to check their own privilege using a multi-coloured “wheel of power,” and it discusses dominant (white males) vs. non-dominant groups.
The resource manual also suggests that staff add 30 books to their classroom library to talk to students about racism and 13 read-aloud books by black authors.
Step 20 of the 30-step program uses a pyramid of white supremacy to teach educators how to “decenter whiteness” in the curriculum. By Step 25, teachers are told they should be ready to identify and build a culturally responsive classroom and school.
At the end, the resource advises teachers to “prioritize self-care” since anti-racism work is “hard work.”
The resource, developed a year ago, was posted on Twitter as a reminder the last week of April – until the SCDSB equity team realized it was getting considerable attention above and beyond the board woke educators.
The tweet was subsequently deleted.
The Simcoe mom says educators make her feel like she’s nuts for being a concerned parent and questioning the board’s almost obsessive focus on gender and critical race ideologies.
It is, of course, her right to question that focus, but there’s more to it than that.
The fact that the board’s equity team tried to hide all evidence of what they’re doing suggests that this topsy turvy view of what kids should be learning would not hold up in the court of public opinion.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party earned the support of many centre-right voters in the 2018 election. However, during the pandemic, the Quebec government imposed some of the harshest restrictions in the world, including a curfew and a mask mandate that continues to be in effect today.
True North’s Elie Cantin-Nantel asked attendees of a Pierre Poilievre Rally in Gatineau, QC for their thoughts on Legault’s performance ahead of the Quebec election in October 2022.
The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has finalized its list of leadership candidates, and three contenders have not made the cut.
The six verified candidates who made it onto the ballot are Parry Sound—Muskoka MP Scott Aitchison, Ontario MPP Roman Baber, Brampton mayor and former Ontario PC Party leader Patrick Brown, former Quebec Liberal premier Jean Charest, Haldimand—Norfolk MP Leslyn Lewis and Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre.
Meanwhile, B.C. consultant Grant Abraham, Saskatchewan businessman Joseph Bourgault and Toronto lawyer Joel Etienne were all disqualified from the race.
Leadership candidates had to raise $300,000 and obtain 500 signatures from members who live in 30 different ridings by 5:00pm ET on Apr. 29 in order to be a verified candidate and appear on the ballot.
In a statement obtained by CBC News, CPC executive director Wayne Benson said that decisions to disqualify candidates were “based on the requirements set out under the rules, not any prospective candidate’s political beliefs.”
“Any prospective candidate who did not meet the requirements was informed of this fact and the reason or reasons why they did not meet the requirements set out under the rules,” added Benson.
Etienne told the network he gave the party the needed paperwork ahead of the deadline imposed by the party’s Leadership Election Organizing Committee. Etienne also said in a statement that he is “preparing a formal protest.”
In an update, Abraham’s campaign said he is asking for “a detailed justification of their decision.”
“As valued supporters of our campaign for Truth. Transparency and Real Conversations, we will give you updates as we question the ruling and seek to understand more,” wrote his campaign.
Bourgault said on social media that the party told him he did not have the required $300,000 registration fee and compliance deposit, despite having submitted $367,453 ahead of the deadline.
Verified leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis addressed the disqualifications in a tweet, where she called on the CPC to reinstate Abraham, Bourgault and Etienne.
“We want a fair race. I’m not afraid of a hard fight, and the Conservative party is not one that should be cancelling legitimate contestants,” wrote Lewis.
We want a fair race. I'm not afraid of a hard fight, and the Conservative party is not one that should be cancelling legitimate contestants. @CPC_HQ should let them run. https://t.co/b6NckCQCAZ
The 2020 CPC leadership race came under scrutiny after socially conservative candidates Richard Decarie and Jim Karahalios were disqualified. Karahalios had sued the party to get back onto the ballot and won, before being disqualified again.
The CPC will host two official leadership debates in May – one in Edmonton and one in Montreal. The new leader will be announced on Sept. 10 following mail-in voting.
The Trudeau government has tabled Bill C-18, the Online News Act, to ensure media outlets in Canada receive “fair compensation” from tech giants. Part of this legislation includes designating certain media outlets as government-approved media – “Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization.”
Why is the government trying to dictate what Canadians see on the news and forcing big tech to subsidize media outlets in Canada?
On this episode of The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by True North’s Andrew Lawton to discuss the government’s latest attempt to save the dying legacy media, similar legislation in other countries and the Trudeau government’s cozy relationship with the legacy media.
Over the weekend, thousands of Canadian “freedom fighters” gathered in Ottawa for the Rolling Thunder bike convoy.
While most public health restrictions have been lifted in Canada, many Canadians are still unable to live their lives freely because of heavy-handed government mandates. Many of the protesters at this weekend’s events are demanding their freedoms back.
True North’s Elie Cantin-Nantel was on the ground and asked demonstrators what they were trying to accomplish and why they came back to Ottawa.
A “May Day” anti-capitalism protest in Montreal turned violent Sunday, with one man arrested for assault with a weapon against a police officer.
Montreal Police spokesperson Veronique Comtois said the protest included seven acts of mischief and four armed assaults on police officers.
Another police spokesperson, Manuel Couture said that the protest began at Place du Canada and that “within minutes,” protesters began using smoke bombs and committing acts of mischief.
Police reportedly ordered officers to use chemical irritants to force the crowd to disperse.
As a result of the demonstrations, windows of commercial buildings were shattered, graffiti spray-painted and vehicles damaged. A Twitter video shows protesters throwing rocks at the windows of the Desjardins building.
The protest was reportedly organized by a group called “The Convergence of Anti-Capitalist Struggles” (CLAC in French).
The organization “aims to disseminate information relating to the abolition of the police and prisons.”
Little coverage of the protest appeared on legacy media.
In contrast with the scenes in Montreal, the Rolling Thunder motorcycle convoy took place in Ottawa this weekend to protest continuing COVID-19 restrictions in Canada.
True North’s Elie Cantin-Nantel was on the ground.
Despite the peaceful demonstration, Ottawa police were armed with batons and other riot gear. A joint force included officers from the Ontario Provincial Police and RCMP before protesters arrived on Friday. Ten arrests had been made as of Sunday afternoon in Ottawa.
Ottawa mayor Jim Watson said that residents are “fed up with these kinds of events coming into our city.”
On Friday night, Ottawa Police were seen armed with riot weaponry.
Another event in Toronto on Saturday saw a ‘Free Palestine’ protest marched through the downtown core.
Chants included, “Down with Zionism!” and “Israel is a terror state!”
A video posted to YouTube shows demonstrators marching through Toronto.
Organized Jew hatred on the downtown streets of Toronto. Done illegally without a permit.Thanks to Mayor John Tory and council for enabling this … If it was directed at a Muslim or black group the perpetrators would be arrested without question. https://t.co/RRffLPPLbF
It comes on the heels of another anti-Israel event last week. The rally saw multiple chants and actions that contained hateful anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist and anti-Israel sentiments.
This included the cheering of recent rocket attacks against Israel by Lebanon, which attendees praised with shouts of “Allahu Akbar!”
No arrests were made at either event.
Before the Rolling Thunder convoy reached Ottawa, Ottawa Police interim chief Steve Bell had warned that incidents involving hate would result in charges.
The Rolling Thunder motorcycle convoy in Ottawa has concluded, with Saturday and Sunday going relatively smoothly, despite some dramatic incidents.
Motorcycles were able to make their way to the city’s downtown, despite the rally’s initial plans having been jeopardized after the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) said it would create “vehicle exclusion zones” to restrict “vehicle-based or supported protests.”
Saturday started with the bikers taking part in the motorcycle rally meeting in the parking lot of the St Laurent Shopping Centre, located in Ottawa’s East End.
At 10:00 AM, a large group of people assembled at the National War Memorial for a memorial service hosted by the volunteer organization Veterans for Freedom. Rolling Thunder organizer and veteran Neil Sheard (also known as “Brother Neil”) addressed the crowd.
There were also other speeches and testimony from veterans, as well as prayers and bagpipes.
The memorial service was followed by the scheduled Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally itself, which was facilitated by police. OPS allowed groups of 75 bikes to follow a designated route (which was changed for safety reasons) towards the city’s downtown. There was a total of four rounds of bikes.
Supporters cheered the bikers from the roadside as they passed by on Laurier and Elgin Streets, making a loop. OPS say an estimated 350 motorcycles took part.
On Saturday afternoon, demonstrators gathered for the second planned Freedom Fighters Canada rally on Parliament Hill. Some of them were making hot dogs on a grill, a sight familiar to those who attended the Freedom Convoy.
A number of people gave speeches, including Adopt-a-Trucker founder Chris Garrah, who said that his bank account had been frozen for 39 days following the Freedom Convoy. There were also some musicians who performed freedom-themed songs.
A few counter-protesters were present at the Parliament Hill rally, with some showing their opposition to controversial speaker Christopher Saccoccia (commonly known as Chris Sky). Saccoccia previously denied that six million Jews died in the Holocaust, and court documents allege he threatened to kill elected officials.
Another organizer tells the counter-protesters that there's no use trying to point out the things Sky has said in the past: "We love the man, we know who he is!"
Other counter-protesters were present in downtown Ottawa throughout Saturday, including some in front of the National Arts Centre and the Prime Minister’s office. There was also an individual holding a sign that referred to the demonstrators as “Vanilla ISIS.”
Getting the otherside for our @RebelNewsOnline viewers from the counter protesters against the pro-freedom veterans rally.
They say other countries are preventing the unvaccinated from flying not just Canada.
After the speeches on Parliament Hill wrapped up, participants marched through the capital, going down Bank Street, Gladstone Avenue and up Elgin Street in Ottawa’s Centretown neighbourhood. At one point during this march, protesters were reportedly egged from above.
— The Real Andy Lee Show (@RealAndyLeeShow) April 30, 2022
Police entered the apartment from which the eggs were reportedly being thrown. Police also arrested a driver who drove past a checkpoint, breaking his car windows to remove him from the vehicle.
Individual drove this vehicle past barricade. Stopped by police vehicles. Windows broken by police to remove driver. Alberta plates. pic.twitter.com/RnyxM70SQZ
According to police, the man breached conditions imposed on him during the Freedom Convoy, and now faces several charges.
Police arrested a total of 10 people this weekend during the demonstrations, seven of whom were on Friday and three on Saturday. Bylaw officers also handed out multiple tickets and towed vehicles, including some that took part in the convoy blocking Rideau Street Friday.
Overall, police presence in downtown Ottawa was extremely heavy throughout the weekend, with OPS getting support from the OPP, RCMP and municipal forces including the Toronto Police Service and the York Regional Police.
As the sun set on Sunday, the crowds – as well as police presence – began to dwindle, making the night quieter than the lively ones of the Freedom Convoy.
Police presence at Parliament has dwindled, Freedom supporters are hanging out as the rally wraps up for the night. pic.twitter.com/DtDLxz4MVY
— Efron Monsanto 🇨🇦🚜🚛🏍 (@realmonsanto) May 1, 2022
Rolling Thunder Ottawa programming ended with a special church service at the Ottawa City Bikers Church – which was vandalised prior to the service taking place. Police are investigating the incident as hate-motivated mischief.
At Capital City Bikers Church where someone have spray painted “No haven for fascism”
Despite the vandalism, the service saw full capacity attendance with an overflow room downstairs.
Rolling Thunder is the biggest freedom event to take place in Ottawa since the Freedom Convoy. Unlike the original convoy, which stayed in Ottawa for three weeks, Rolling Thunder Ottawa wrapped up on Sunday.
A message on Rolling Thunder Ottawa’s website reads “(s)ee you next time!”
The original Freedom Convoy was forcibly removed on Feb. 17-20 after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14 – it was the first time in Canadian history that the act had been used.
