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Sunday, July 13, 2025

University of Waterloo bars unvaxxed high school students from tournament

By
Noah Jarvis
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Two Ontario high school students who have chosen not to get COVID shots have been banned from competing at a tournament hosted by the University of Waterloo, with two vaccinated students set to take their place.

In an interview with True North, Josiah and Chloe-Ann Kranenburg said they were informed they would be unable to compete in their school regional tournament on Apr. 20 because the university is sticking to its vaccination policy despite the government lifting vaccine passports on Mar. 1.

The Kranenburgs, who are siblings, attend Brantford Collegiate Institute and Vocational School and compete in badminton mixed doubles. Their school district’s regional tournament, held by the Central West Ontario Secondary Schools Association (CWOSSA), is hosted by the University of Waterloo.

Josiah said it was his coach who broke the news, first telling him on Mar. 29 that he would need to be vaccinated to compete, and then telling him later in the week that a vaccinated player would replace him.

Chloe-Ann told True North that she’d first heard word of the problem in the change room from her badminton partner.

Asked whether his coach and the administration were working to help the siblings’ situation, Josiah stated that “(h)e did the best that I think he could have done.”

“The coaches really couldn’t do much,” Chloe-Ann added.

They added that a CWOSSA organizer had tried to help as well.

Neither of the Kranenburgs’ coaches wanted to be named, and neither CWOSSA nor the University of Waterloo replied to True North’s request for comment.

True North was, however, able to obtain correspondence from the University of Waterloo sent in regard to the issue.

“Acting on advice from public health experts, instructions from government as well as legislation, and rooted in various relevant University policies, the University of Waterloo requires all students, employees and visitors to provide proof of being vaccinated against COVID-19 in any indoor facility such as Columbia Icefield gym or the Field House,” the correspondence reads.

“This proof of vaccination requirement remains in place until May 1, 2022 as part of the overall health and safety requirements of the University and in recognition of the continuing role of vaccination as a key defence in the ongoing management of COVID-19.”

The University of Waterloo has a track record of harsh vaccination policies, recently firing 49 employees for being unvaccinated.

The Kranenburgs said they had chosen not to get the COVID shots because they’d wanted to wait. Ontario schools have not required students to be vaccinated to attend.

“At the beginning, we weren’t sure about it, so we decided to wait and see if it was safe and effective,” Josiah said. “It’s been about a year since then, and we looked back, and we realized it probably was a good choice to not have gotten the vaccine.”

Chloe-Ann recounts social pressure to get vaccinated.

“My friends just kept asking me if I was vaccinated, and I kept saying no, and they just kept asking ‘why not’,” she said.

At the time this article was published, the badminton tournament remains at the University of Waterloo and the Kranenburgs have not been granted an exemption.

The brother and sister have requested that anyone who wants to help them can send an email to Waterloo’s community relations department ([email protected]).

Quebec university denounced for excluding white men in job posting

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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A job posting at Quebec City’s Laval University closed to able-bodied white men has been denounced by politicians across the political spectrum.

According to the Canadian Press, the controversial job post for a Canada Research Chair in the university’s biology department was put out back in September.

Laval University stated that it had “defined its equity, diversity and inclusion action plan to increase the representation of women, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities and visible minorities in the positions of Canada Research Chair (CRC) holders.”

It added that “in order to meet these commitments, only candidates with the required qualifications AND having self-identified as a member of at least one of these four under-represented groups will be selected in this process.”

The university claimed it “can’t accept other types of candidate profiles while representation targets are not met, in accordance with the CRC program.”

Despite having been issued months ago, the posting only received attention recently, after comedian Guy Nantel shared it on social media on Mar. 28.

On Twitter, Nantel asked the university leaders, “when a young, non-disabled white male applies to study with you, do you advise him in advance that he will be excluded from various benefits because of his appearance, regardless of his qualifications?”

The discriminatory job posting has since received backlash from political figures of different levels of government and most political parties.

Provincially, the job posting was denounced by multiple Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) cabinet ministers, including deputy premier Genevieve Guilbault, who said that “the criteria for Canada Research Chairs that exclude qualified people in universities goes too far.”

“Encouraging the hiring or awarding of research funds for under-represented groups with equal qualifications, yes, but explicitly excluding competent people because they’re not part of a visible minority or they’re men is overblown for the Quebec government.” added Guilbault.

The posting was also opposed by Quebec Liberal Party leader Dominique Anglade and Parti Quebecois (PQ) leader Paul Pierre Plamondon.

Anglade said that “excluding candidates, I don’t think it’s the right approach,” while Plamondon said that the posting was “completely unacceptable.”

“We hire certain candidates, with a certain profile, to be evaluated on the merits of their competencies,” added Plamondon.

Parliamentary leader for the left-wing democratic socialist Quebec Solidaire (QS) party Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois reacted differently, saying that “it’s important to have targets for diversity representation and minorities in public institutions.”

However he added that there “are more progressive ways” to meet these targets.

Federally, Laval University’s controversial job posting received criticism from some Liberal MPs. 

Liberal MPs include Anthony Housefather and Joel Lightbound. Lightbound made headlines earlier this year after he called out Trudeau’s COVID-19 policies amid historic Freedom Convoy demonstrations. 

Housefather said that “excluding people like that is going too far, maybe.” while Lightbound stated that while he believes inclusion should be favoured, the priority should be merit. 

When asked about the conditions of research chair positions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he “thinks that it is important to have a scientific community that is a reflection of Canada, of Quebecers.”

True North reached out to Conservative leader Candice Bergen for her thoughts on the controversy.

Bergen’s office provided a statement from Quebec Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus that states, “we believe that nobody should be excluded from research chair positions because of who they are.”

PPC leader Maxime Bernier also spoke with True North on the matter, saying “this controversy at Laval University is just the tip of the iceberg of the many federal programs that divide Canadians on the basis of race, gender and other characteristics.”

The controversy at Laval University can be attributed to the Canada Research Chair program, which uses a quota system to enforce diversity. According to the National Post, Universities that do not meet the program’s diversity quotas laid out for each “identity category” by 2029 risk being stripped of funding for positions.

The Bloc Quebecois (BQ) sought unanimous consent in the House of Commons on Apr. 6, calling for the recognition “that inclusion and diversity must be encouraged within our institutions; that exclusion is not a method of inclusion; and that this House call on the government to revise the federal criteria for research chairs to prevent exclusion in job postings.”

The motion was denied unanimous consent, with opposition coming from Liberal and NDP MPs.

This is not the first time that a Canadian university has been accused of discrimination against white people.

In 2018, Dalhousie University in Halifax received criticism after it restricted its opening for a  senior position to “racially visible” candidates, meaning that white people would not be considered. 

It should be noted that able-bodied white men are still able to apply to Laval University’s Canada Research Chair – their application would not be considered, however.

Canadian Forces veteran James Topp marches into Saskatchewan

By
Harley Sims
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Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) veteran James Topp made it to the Land of Living Skies this weekend, hitting the middlemost province of his protest march from Vancouver to Ottawa and putting a third of his 4293km trek behind him.

Topp reached the Saskatchewan border on Saturday, the forty-ninth day since departing from the Terry Fox Memorial at B.C. Place on Feb. 20. The soldier of 28 years commemorated the milestone on social media with a picture of his watch showing that he had made the 54km stretch from Medicine Hat, Alberta in 11 hours.

“We’ve got two Canadian provinces on our backs now,” Topp announced to his crew and a small crowd of supporters. “And we’re heading east. See you in Ontario.”

At the time this article was published, Topp was 25km from the village of Tompkins.

During his two-week march across southern Alberta, Topp also took a break to drive up to Calgary on Apr. 2 to speak to a freedom rally.

When asked why he had decided to load up a rucksack and walk more than four thousand kilometres across the country, he explained to the crowd that the Freedom Convoy had made him realize his gratitude toward the working people of Canada.

“I was inspired by a group of folks who went to Ottawa to make their voices heard,” he said, “and I was also inspired by how they took a stand and traveled there, and I would have liked to have joined them there except I can’t fly. So, I found another way to get there.”

(Topp was referring to the Trudeau government’s ongoing pandemic travel restrictions, which bar unvaccinated Canadians from boarding planes and trains in their own country).

Topp reached the Saskatchewan border on Saturday, the forty-ninth day since departing from the Terry Fox Memorial at B.C. Place on Feb. 20. The soldier of 28 years commemorated the milestone on social media with a picture of his watch showing that he had made the 52km stretch from Medicine Hat, Alberta in 11 hours.

Having lost both his jobs to vaccine mandates – one as a reservist with the CAF and the other as a civilian employee with the RCMP – Topp put government coercion and COVID shots at the centre of his protest.   

“So that’s why I’m doing this,” he said. “I’m going there to protest. I’m going to speak on behalf of those who have also lost their jobs, lost their employment. I’m going there to speak on behalf of those who have been injured.”

“I’m going there to speak on behalf of those who got their arms twisted behind their back under this negative construct – this false construct of choice and consequences – and had to accept a procedure they wouldn’t otherwise have so they can keep their jobs.”

The weekend also saw Topp switch over from Highway 3 back to the TransCanada Highway for the first time since leaving B.C.’s Lower Mainland. Topp had followed Highway 3 – also known as the Crowsnest Highway – for more than 1100 km from Hope B.C. to Medicine Hat, where it ends. At one time, the Crowsnest was the only highway between the two provinces, and it was closed during winters.

Topp’s following has grown rapidly over the past fifty days, with frequent daily updates posted to his social media channels – including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – as well as a live GPS on his website Canadamarches.ca showing his progress at all times.

Topp expects to reach Ottawa some time in June. Volunteers who wish to offer route support are encouraged to contact his channels’ administrators.

Feds asked to investigate Canadian companies’ ties to slave labour

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A human rights coalition is asking a federal body to investigate 14 Canadian companies accused of selling products made with forced labour in China. 

Twenty-eight advocacy groups filed a complaint on Sunday with the Canadian Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise, which is tasked with looking into allegations of human-rights abuses by Canadian corporations operating abroad.

Its mandate includes investigating businesses in the mining, petroleum and garment industry. The companies named in the complaint were Costco Canada, Gap Canada Inc., Hugo Boss Canada Inc., Nike Canada, Ralph Lauren Canada LP, Zara Canada Inc., Diesel Canada Inc., Guess? Canada Corporation, Levi Strauss & Co Canada Inc., Walmart Canada Corp., Lululemon Canada, Amazon Canada, Dynasty Gold Corp. and GobiMin Inc. 

The 28 groups involved in the complaint include the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, the Toronto Association for Democracy in China and the Canadian Council of Imams, among others. 

A 2020 study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute was cited by the group as evidence that 27 factories used by various corporations were using forced labour. Several companies including Guess and Levi Strauss have denied allegations that they were using the factories in their supply chains. 

“We’ve made it clear to all our suppliers globally that we cannot accept any materials, including cotton, produced using forced labour or managed by entities implicated in forced labour, and we continue to review on an ongoing basis all supplier relationships to determine if any supplier or their sub-suppliers or subsidiaries have any links to forced labour or human trafficking,” said Levi Strauss & Co. chief sustainability officer Jeffrey Hogue.

In 2018, Ottawa pledged to bar imports of goods made with forced labour as part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. 

Over the weekend, the Federal Court rejected a separate bid for a general ban on the import of all goods from the Xinjiang region of China, where millions of Uyghurs are said to be incarcerated in forced labour camps. 

The case by the Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need called on the court to overturn a decision by the Canada Border Services Agency that claimed they had no authority to enforce such a ban. 

The ban would have prohibited all goods that were mined, manufactured or produced using forced labour. 

Vancouver weighs tax hike to restore police budget after defunding in 2020

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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Vancouver is considering raising property taxes on residents to restore $5.7 million in funding to the municipal police force after councillors gave in to demands to defund the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) in 2020. 

Last month, British Columbia’s provincial government overturned the city’s police budget and demanded that Vancouver restore millions in funding to the VPD, citing a lack of police officers to deal with violent crime and to ensure public safety. 

“The shortfall had a direct impact on the number of police officers the VPD was able to hire to meet the city’s complex policing needs,” said VPD Chief Adam Palmer. “Vancouver has been gripped by an abundance of public safety challenges, including the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict, a surge in violent street crime, nearly 1,000 protests, concerning levels of hate crime, and a growing number of people who tell us they just don’t feel as safe as they used to.”

Despite the province’s demand, the city is now saying it doesn’t have the money to allocate to refunding the police because they already planned Vancouver’s 2022 budget. Instead of tapping into existing resources, city council wants to hike property taxes on residents and businesses by 0.6% to pay for their error in defunding the VPD. 

A report before council proposes the General Purposes Tax Levy instead of taking the funds from the City’s General Revenue Stabilization Reserve. 

“Because the final 2022 property tax rates have not yet been finalized, Council also has the option to amend the 2022 operating budget and fund the expenditure by increasing the property tax levy,” staff wrote. “As public safety costs are funded almost exclusively from property taxes, an increase to the VPD budget of $5.7 million would be equivalent to a property tax increase of approximately 0.6% or a corresponding reduction to other budgeted expenses.” 

On the heels of Black Lives Matter protests which gripped cities across Canada in 2020, Vancouver city council voted to cut the budget of the Vancouver Police Board by the aforementioned amount. That year they also voted to reject a funding increase of $6.4 million.

At the time, five city councillors including Christine Boyle and Pete Fry called for the VPD’s budget to be cut by 1%. As exclusively reported by True North, Fry called for Vancouver to shift towards a “decolonial and anti-racist” community policing model earlier this year. 

A motion by Fry called for council to “direct staff to develop within the strategy a pilot community-based crisis management program of public information education, and engagement that … is informed by destigmatized, decolonial and anti-racist practice.”

Nothing “modest” about Trudeau’s ongoing spending spree (Ft. Franco Terrazzano)

By
Candice Malcolm
-

The Liberal government once again broke the bank with a taxpayer-funded spending spree which they ironically call a “budget.”

This year, Canadians saw Trudeau introduce $56 billion in new spending, with an annual deficit of $52 billion and total debt reaching $1.2 trillion – or about $31,000 for every man, woman and child in Canada. 

Without a hint of irony, Trudeau’s loyal band of government-funded journalists told Canadians this budget was “modest”, “prudent” and even “conservative.”

Today on the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by Canadian Taxpayer Federation boss Franco Terrazzano to refute Liberal talking points and explain just how reckless and ruinous this fiscal roadmap will be for all Canadians.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

Trudeau says “protests should always be legal” at stop in Victoria

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

At a press conference in Victoria, British Columbia on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau praised the right of Canadians to protest, saying he encourages people to express their disagreements with the government.

Trudeau made the comment in response to a question from reporters following an announcement highlighting the Liberal government’s 2022 budget spending on electric vehicles and infrastructure.  

“There’s an expectation that there will be protesters this afternoon at City Hall,” a reporter asked. “The mask mandates and vaccine mandates are essentially over, and yet there remains this cultural divide, if you will call it. What would you say to those protesters today?” asked the reporter. 

“First of all, I don’t know if this is a good thing but I can’t remember a trip to Victoria City Hall in which there weren’t a few people expressing their concerns about some issue or other,” said Trudeau “It’s really important that Canadians continue to be able to come out and express their views, express their disagreements with (the) government.” 

“Protests should always be legal. They should be legal in a safe and responsible way and that’s exactly what we’re going to encourage. “I’m looking forward to seeing what’s on people’s minds as I go to meet the mayor and see people at City Hall.” 

Prior to Trudeau’s arrival, Victoria’s Police Department (VicPD) installed a number of CCTV cameras throughout the city’s downtown to ensure the prime minister’s safety. 

“We are deploying these temporarily placed, monitored cameras in public spaces in accordance with BC and national privacy legislation,” announced VicPD. “Temporary signs are posted to ensure that those in the area are aware.”

Trudeau’s comments were in stark contrast to how he treated Freedom Convoy protesters in Ottawa this February.

In response to demonstrations against COVID-19 mandates by truckers, the Liberal government declared the protests illegal. Soon after, Trudeau invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act to empower a militarized police response against the demonstrators and to have banks freeze their assets for attending the protest. 

Despite claims by the legacy media, several mandates continue to remain in place, including a travel ban on unvaccinated Canadians. People who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can’t board a train or plane domestically and internationally. 

Trudeau has been dogged by protesters not only in Canada but abroad as well. While visiting London, UK last month, a group of freedom protesters waited outside of 10 Downing Street to protest the prime minister’s presence. 

Trudeau reportedly used an alternate entrance to avoid the demonstrations.

Cryptocurrencies are on everybody’s mind, but what are they?

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have made a splash in recent popular discourse, but what exactly are they? 

Whether it’s Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre announcing that he wants to make Canada the “Blockchain capital of the world” or the Liberal government cracking down on cryptocurrency donations to the Freedom Convoy, many Canadians have been left bewildered and confused by the new lingo. 

It’s more important than ever to be up to date with new financial technologies and innovations as the world opens up towards digital forms of currency. 

True North’s crypto explainer series will help you navigate the cryptocurrency discourse by defining frequently used terms in the clearest way possible.

What is a cryptocurrency?

At its foundation, a cryptocurrency is any digital or virtual currency that uses encryption to ensure that a transaction is secure – making it impossible to double-spend or counterfeit. Encryption is state-of-the-art coding that uses mathematical ciphers to secure and encode data so that it can’t be accessed by malicious actors. 

This means that a third-party financial institution like a bank is not required for the conducting  of financial transactions because the verification process is built into the programmatic code of the currency itself. 

At their core, cryptocurrencies rely on a “peer-to-peer” system which allows anybody, anywhere in the world to send and receive assets. This makes them “decentralized,” or totally outside of the control of governments or financial institutions. Some have raised legitimate concerns that this makes it easier for criminals to conduct black market business outside of the law.

In comparison, normal transactions such as debit or credit card purchases are relayed through a bank which verifies that the transaction is legitimate, making it a centralized financial process. 

This is why many libertarian and freedom-oriented politicians, thinkers and investors have praised the virtues of cryptocurrencies – because they give people control over their own money. Some economists have even floated cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin as an alternative to gold and a way to hedge against inflation experienced by fiat currency due to the overprinting of money. 

All cryptocurrencies exist on a digital ledger called a “blockchain.” Essentially, it is an immutable unalterable record of every single transaction or asset in a business network. 

What can I do with crypto?

You can do a lot of things with cryptocurrencies. As with traditional currency you can purchase cryptocurrencies from exchanges – however, beware that the value of any given cryptocurrency is subject to quick and drastic change. Investors have branded cryptocurrencies as a “high risk” investment for this very reason.

Within the cryptocurrency community, this price fluctuation has led to many memes and associated lingo in online communities such as “hodl” (an alternative spelling of “hold”) – a term meant to indicate when a long-term investor refuses to sell a currency despite its volatility. 

Upon purchasing a cryptocurrency from an exchange or from another venue, the currency is stored in a digital wallet. Once it is there, you can spend it, transfer it, invest it, put it into savings or sell it. The possibilities are virtually limitless, and different cryptocurrency brokerages and exchanges offer varying financial services. In some cases, some services offer cryptocurrencies for free in the form of an “airdrop.” 

Cryptocurrencies don’t only have to be used online; they can also be spent in the real world. Many businesses in Canada now allow patrons to purchase goods or services using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Some companies have even opted to pay some of their employees using cryptocurrencies. 

Today there are thousands of different cryptocurrencies, each with their own unique characteristics and features. Due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies, anybody with some technical knowledge and know-how can create their own cryptocurrency. If you make your own, however, don’t expect it to show up on an exchange right away unless it achieves significant interest or use by many people. 

Civil liberties group challenging Nova Scotia’s ban on COVID protests

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) is taking the Nova Scotia government to court over an order that banned protests against lockdowns and public health restrictions.

The civil liberties group is before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal today to appeal a court order that granted the provincial government the power to prevent a protest from occurring during a wave of COVID.

In May 2021, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge granted the provincial government an injunction to stop Canadians from protesting. 

According to Justice Scott Norton, the injunction also prohibited organizers from promoting rallies on social media and allowed authorities to arrest anyone who fails to follow the ruling.

The injunction was eventually rescinded when the government decided it was no longer needed.

This is the second time the CCLA has attempted to appeal the court order. In June 2021, Justice James Chipman refused to hear the challenge and ruled that a challenge to the original court order was unnecessary because the injunction had been lifted.

Despite the injunction being lifted, the CCLA says it is taking the Nova Scotia government to court to protect the rights of Canadians to protest.

According to a True North Freedom Score, Nova Scotia was one of the most locked down provinces in Canada when taking into account business closures, school openings, in-person dining and nearly a dozen other variables.

Based on the report, Nova Scotia and Manitoba received the lowest Freedom Score of -8, while Ontario followed closely behind with a score of -6. 

While locking Nova Scotians down, the government has made several attempts to shut down protests related to COVID.

During the Freedom Convoy when truckers from across Canada made their way to Ottawa to protest lockdowns and mandates, Nova Scotia made it illegal to gather alongside the interprovincial highway in support of the truckers.

Under the“Highway Blockade Ban” put in place on Jan. 28, fines for breaking the law “per incident” can reach $10,000 for individuals and $100,000 for corporations.

Less than a week later on Feb. 4, the province extended the ban to all roads, streets and highways.

Government research shows majority of Canadians worry pandemic will never end

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

Even as vaccine passports and masks mandates are lifted across the country, most Canadians say they don’t think the pandemic will ever end, according to in-house research by the Department of Health.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Department of Health conducted a study titled, Covid-19 Tracking Survey On Canadians’ Views, to gauge the public’s “perceptions, knowledge and behaviour relating to Covid.”

According to the study, 60% of Canadians said they were worried “that we will never really end the pandemic.” 62% of respondents were among Canadians under the age of 35. Only 22% of respondents believe they will return to pre-pandemic times. 

The study revealed that many Canadians were unable to overcome the fears associated with the virus and public health restrictions.

Over half of respondents (55%) indicated that they were worried about the post-pandemic. When asked what worried them – 55% said “being in crowded places” and 45% said “not knowing if those around me are vaccinated.” 

Canadians have been subjected to some of the strictest lockdowns in the world.

According to the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 Government Response Stringency Index, Canada is the tenth most restrictive country in the world when it comes to overall government COVID-19 measures.

According to the study, Canada’s score sat at 69.91, making it more restrictive than countries such as Iran (61.57), Russia (60.65) and China (59.72).

While governmments enforced strict public health measures, legacy media outlets in Canada have been criticized for promoting fear about COVID.

In Jul. 2021, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney took aim at the legacy media’s COVID coverage.

“As Dr. Hinshaw has said, we are moving from a pandemic to an endemic state of COVID-19. We have seen our numbers come down dramatically in Alberta. We should salute that,” Kenney said.

“Let me be blunt. I think it’s time for [the] media to stop promoting fear when it comes to COVID-19 and to start actually looking at where we’re at with huge vaccine protection.”

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