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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Five times Justin Trudeau has ruled Canada by decree

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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In recent weeks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has repeatedly lauded the merits of democracy despite the fact that his governing record shows a repeat pattern of ruling by decree and bypassing the House of Commons. 

Most recently, Trudeau’s comments have come within the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just last week, while travelling through Europe, Trudeau affirmed his commitment to standing up for democracies everywhere.

“As Russia continues its unwarranted and unjustifiable attacks on Ukraine, Canada is standing united with our European allies in supporting Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, as well as democracy and human rights everywhere,” said Trudeau. 

A few days later while in Germany, Trudeau also stated that democracy has always been stronger than authoritarianism.

“Vladimir Putin is undoubtedly a threat to Ukrainians, and to people outside their borders. Even as we are clear-eyed about the challenges he presents, we mustn’t despair,” Trudeau told the Munich Security Conference. “Democracy is always stronger than authoritarianism.”

Although Trudeau preaches democracy abroad, the Liberal government has shown few qualms about using less-than-democratic methods and technicalities to get its way. These include orders in council, public health mandates and the prime minister’s unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act. 

True North has compiled a number of occasions Trudeau and the Liberals have ruled by decree instead of following the democratic process.

Pressuring the Attorney General to interfere in the justice system

In 2019 it was revealed that the prime minister and senior members of his staff and cabinet worked to pressure former justice minister and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould into interfering in the criminal proceedings against SNC-Lavalin. 

Trudeau and his officials were found to have attempted on several occasions to pressure Wilson-Raybould into offering the company a deferred prosecution agreement. 

Although Trudeau originally denied the allegation, an investigation by Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion found that the prime minister had broken conflict of interest laws by attempting to politically interfere in the case. 

As a result of the scandal, Wilson-Raybould and former cabinet minister Jane Philpott were expelled from the Liberal caucus. 

Evading debate on the gun ban by using an Order in Council

Despite record opposition to the Liberal government’s plans to ban the possession of a swathe of firearms by law-abiding gun owners, Trudeau skirted the usual legislative process by issuing an order in council. 

Through the order in council – which effectively made over 1,500 kinds of guns illegal – Trudeau was able to bypass debate in the House of Commons as well as any study of the proposed bill. Many law enforcement officials also spoke out against the effectiveness of the gun ban, but the Liberals did it anyway. 

COVID-19 public health mandates 

Although not the only politician to use public health orders and mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic, Trudeau has – unlike the premiers – refused to offer a timeline for lifting the federal restrictions that continue to affect  Canadians from coast to coast. 

Using a public health emergency, Trudeau has barred unvaccinated Canadians from boarding planes or trains domestically and internationally. Canada is the only nation in the world to have taken such drastic steps. 

Trudeau also used public health orders to fire unvaccinated public sector workers employed by the federal government or working in federally-regulated industries. Additionally, the Liberals ordered the Canadian Armed Forces to implement a similar mandate whereby unvaccinated soldiers including Afghan war vets faced dishonourable releases from their service.  

Invoking the Emergencies Act to quash protestors

Trudeau’s unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act to quash peaceful freedom convoy protesters in Ottawa in February was his latest example of ruling over Canadians by decree. 

Trudeau invoked the act on Feb. 14 and did not seek parliamentary approval for the measure until after a joint police force had ended the Ottawa demonstrations. The government also assumed powers to have the accounts of convoy protesters and donors frozen. 

Civil liberties groups and critics have called the move unjustified and a dangerous precedent that could see other legitimate protests declared illegal. 

Currently, Parliament is conducting an inquiry into Trudeau’s use of emergency powers and whether they were warranted or a breach of the act’s scope. 

Proroguing parliament

In 2020, the prime minister shut down parliament as it was investigating his dealings with WE Charity. Trudeau prorogued parliament at the height of the scandal after it was revealed that members of his family had received half a million dollars for speaking engagements before the Liberal government awarded the charity a sole-sourced federal contract.

The prorogation not only disrupted ethics committee investigations but also undermined Canada’s ability to investigate China’s ongoing human rights abuses via the committee on Canada-China relations.

Trudeau is still blaming law-abiding gun owners for crimes they had nothing to do with

By
Andrew Lawton
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The amnesty period for guns the Liberal government prohibited in May of 2020 was supposed to expire in less than six weeks, but this week the government extended it to October 2023. While this means gun owners are allowed to hold onto their legally-owned property for another 18 months, it also proves the Liberals are doing up their firearms policy on the back of a napkin. Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights executive director Rod Giltaca joined The Andrew Lawton Show to discuss.

Watch the full episode of The Andrew Lawton Show.

Healthcare workers “going back with heavy hearts” after Alberta drops vax mandate

By
Harley Sims
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A paramedic back to work after Alberta Health Services (AHS) dropped its vaccine requirement for existing workers last week is calling the situation “a victory with losses.”

“We’ve forced Alberta Health Services to admit that what they were doing was not only ridiculous but wrong,” Kate King told True North. “But for people trying to get into AHS, they still have to get the shot or give up on their profession.”

King is a primary care paramedic serving communities east of Edmonton. After ten years on the job, she was forced onto unpaid leave in December after refusing to comply with the AHS vaccine mandate and having her religious exemption request denied.

The Alberta government announced on Mar. 8 that it was scrapping the rule requiring existing healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID. The requirement still applies to people hoping to work for AHS going forward.

Alberta health minister Jason Copping said the decision comes as Alberta enters the “tail end” of the Omicron wave and that the province is in a “very different situation” from when it had enacted the policy.

King said that while everyone she knows is happy to be going back to work, they’re also deeply affected by how the matter was handled. She said she doesn’t “need her pound of flesh back” but knows others who are having a much harder time letting go of the injustice.

In December, King launched the Alberta Boot Project to raise awareness of the human toll of the vaccine mandate’s job losses. The campaign’s displays have laid out more than 700 pairs of shoes and boots with posters and signs from frontline workers who had been put on leave without pay for refusing to comply with vaccination policies.

The project will have a final display on April 9, after which the boots will be donated to charity.

Many of the people affected by the mandates felt gutted and humiliated, King told True North. Healthcare is who you are, she said, and people are now questioning that purpose in life based on how they were treated.   

“They hate that all of this wrong has happened and it’s not dealt with,” she said.

“I have a friend who said that when she was let go in December, it was a hostile environment – absolutely hostile. She was seen as the enemy, the person who was trying to kill the world, everything else. She got death threats, and everything else was brutal.”

“Now, coming back, no one wants to talk about it. It’s like an abusive relationship. Everyone’s walking on eggshells, and no one wants to talk about it. I don’t know if as time goes on anything changes.”

Kate King launched the Alberta Boot Project to raise awareness of the human toll of the vaccine mandate’s job losses.

King was eventually able to return to work in January by opting for testing every 48 hours at her own expense – a policy AHS only began to offer two weeks after forcing her off the job.

“They realized it was the stupidest thing they could have done, losing thousands of healthcare workers,” King said. “So they said in 14 days, we’re going to let all you guys come back, but you’ll have strict testing requirements.”

She added that the remote location of her work and her 96-hour shifts made it almost impossible to comply with the testing, which cost her $80 a week and others up to $120. Now that the vaccine mandate and testing requirements have both been dropped, King called the situation “a victory with losses.”

“We’re going back with heavy hearts,” she said. “I know a ton of people who just up and left. They said, ‘you know what? I can’t ever work for Alberta Health Services again. After how they’ve treated me, I’m so disheartened. I’m going to get into a new profession or move to the States or whatever else.’”

King said that the freedom convoy had played a huge role in raising awareness as well as putting pressure on politicians to enact change.

“It’s very isolating to be harassed and expelled from your workplace and just kind of burrow into your little hole and not know what happens next,” she said. “So, what the convoy did was kind of flushed everybody out of hiding, and gave them something to stand for.”

Alberta NDP health critic David Shepherd has called dropping the vaccine mandate the wrong decision, saying, “the UCP continues to be beholden to an extremist fringe, including the people who participated in the dangerous and illegal blockade at Coutts.”

Asked what she would say to someone who opposed her right to bodily autonomy, King emphasized the freedom and responsibility of making one’s own choices.

“The government will tell you right now that everyone had a choice,” she said. “But when there’s coercion involved, and when that choice is given to you at the threat of losing your access to transportation and employment and medical procedures, and access to your family and everything else, it’s no longer a choice.”

“It becomes blackmail.”

Conservative MP calls for leadership candidates to promote pro-life policies

By
Jonathan Bradley
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Conservative MP Arnold Viersen has started a petition demanding Conservative leadership candidates advocate for pro-life beliefs and positions. 

“As a pro-life member of Parliament who speaks regularly on life issues, I want to make sure that the leadership candidates bring forward policies and debate ideas around life in the womb, parliament, freedoms and end of life care,” said Viersen in a statement on Thursday. 

Viersen said that there are five ways Conservative leadership candidates can promote pro-life ideas. 

He said the first is by adopting policies that save lives. These policies, he said, could be restrictions on abortions, measures supporting low-income pregnant women to help them choose life and methods to raise awareness about adoption. 

The second way, Viersen said, is by expecting every Conservative leadership candidate to commit to ending the attacks on freedom of expression and association toward pro-life people and organizations. He added that “prolife people should have the freedom to express their points of view, and everyone should have the freedom to hear what prolife people have to say.”

Viersen said that MPs should be free to express their opinions, vote their consciences and put forward private members bills they find important. 

He said Canadian democracy is stronger “when all opinions can be heard, not just the opinions that advisors in the leader’s office find convenient.” 

Viersen continued by saying that the next Conservative leader needs to respect provincial jurisdiction – unlike the Liberals, he said, who have penalized and pressured provinces for their approaches to abortion. 

The fifth way Conservative leadership candidates can support pro-life policies, he said, is by promising to enact the safeguards the Conservatives proposed in the 2021 Canadian election and additional ideas to protect people “beyond the womb.” This involves stances against euthanasia and assisted suicide, which oppose what Viersen said were pro-life people’s beliefs in protecting life from conception to natural death. 

As for what the Conservative leadership candidates themselves have stated on these issues, Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis has said that she wants to increase funding for pregnancy care centres and ban sex-selective abortion. 

“I have a lot of friends who are pro-choice, and there are a number of issues that when we sit down and talk, we agree on,” said Lewis in an interview on the Andrew Lawton Show on True North on Tuesday. “I like to ask people, ‘what do you believe on the issue?’ and find commonalities.” 

Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre, who was adopted at birth, told Lawton on Mar. 11 that while he is personally pro-choice, he also believes in freedom. 

“My policies will recognize that freedom,” said Poilievre. “What I will propose are ways we can help women who want and have chosen to put up their child for adoption.” 

Ontario marks two years of “two weeks to flatten the curve”

By
Elie Cantin-Nantel
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Thursday marked the second anniversary of the Ontario government first introducing restrictions aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19.

Premier Doug Ford first declared a provincial state of emergency on Mar. 17, 2020, with an order that banned gatherings of over 50 people and closed multiple businesses and services. 

The businesses shut by Ford’s first lockdown order included restaurants and bars, facilities providing indoor recreational programs, all theatres and all concert venues. The order also closed private schools, licensed child care centres and public libraries. 

The order was initially meant to last for two weeks, in line with the infamous slogan “two weeks to flatten the curve” used by doctors, politicians and the media to reassure Canadians that lockdowns were intended to be brief and temporary.

However, the order was extended beyond two weeks. 

The Ford government also expanded the lockdown on Mar. 24, 2020 by ordering the closure of all workplaces it deemed “non-essential.”

Ontario remained in lockdown for much of spring 2020 and only began slowly reopening businesses on May 16. Indoor facilities including gyms and cinemas only reopened on Jul. 31 2020 in Toronto and Peel region.

Ontario has since endured three more province-wide lockdowns, including the latest one in Jan. 2022 in response to the Omicron wave. This is in addition to multiple targeted regional closures. 

The number and scope of these closures make the province of almost 15 million people one of the most locked down jurisdictions in North America.

In this time, Ontarians have also witnessed what some have described as assaults on civil liberties. 

One of the first notable incidents involved the Aylmer Church of God in Apr. 2020. 

With places of worship ordered shut, the church opted to hold drive-in services in its parking lot. Although outdoors, the activity was deemed illegal under the government’s emergency order, and police considered charging the church.

The Ontario government later amended its emergency order to allow for drive-in services. 

An example of where civil disobedience was met with force occurred in Toronto during the city’s second lockdown in Nov. 2020, where Adam Skelly opened his restaurant Adamsons BBQ.

Skelly’s act of noncompliance drew huge crowds of customers and lasted for three  days. On the third day, however, Toronto Police hammered down by surrounding the building with officers and using riot horses. Police also arrested Skelly. 

It should be noted that American big-box stores including Walmart and Costco were allowed to remain open during the lockdown, while small retail businesses and restaurants were required to close.

Protests were also restricted during Ontario’s numerous lockdowns, and those who organised protests that did not comply were charged. 

MPP Randy Hillier was ticketed in Nov. 2020 for holding a “Pots and Pans Protest” against Ford’s lockdowns in front of the Ontario Legislature.

Arguably the most controversial of the Ford government’s lockdown policies came on Apr. 16, 2021, however, when the province opted to close outdoor recreational sites including playgrounds, ban outdoor gatherings entirely and limit interprovincial travel. 

Ford also had police enforce a stay-at-home order he had imposed earlier in the month.

Ontario’s Solicitor General Sylvia Jones told Ontarians that the government had made “the deliberate decision to temporarily enhance police officers’ authority for the duration of the stay-at-home order.”

“Police will have the authority to require any individual who is not in a place of residence to first provide their purpose for not being at home, and provide their home address” she said. 

Jones added that police would “also have the authority to stop a vehicle to inquire about an individual’s reason for leaving their residence.”

The announcement was met with fierce backlash from all sides of the political spectrum, as well as from police departments who said they would not participate in the enforcement of the order.

Ford ended up abandoning the controversial scheme one day later, as well as reversing course on the closure of playgrounds, which had been widely criticised by health experts.

While Thursday marked two years of provincial government restrictions, Ontario will lift its mask mandate for most settings next Monday, and all remaining COVID measures on Apr. 27.

Ford is also up for re-election this year, with a provincial election campaign expected to start in the coming weeks. 

The vote is set to take place on Jun. 2.

Justin Trudeau extends gun buyback by 18 months (feat. Rod Giltaca)

By
Andrew Lawton
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Justin Trudeau’s government has kicked back the deadline for its firearm amnesty to October 2023, 18 months after it was originally set to lapse in just under six weeks. True North’s Andrew Lawton says this proves Trudeau’s 2020 gun ban was drawn up on the back of a napkin with no thought about implementation – and no evidence to back up its necessity. Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights CEO Rod Giltaca joins to discuss. Also, it’s the two year anniversary of “two weeks to flatten the curve,” and many Covid restrictions are still in place – especially for the unvaccinated.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

Liberals admit their “military style” gun ban includes hunting and sporting rifles

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The Trudeau government has finally confessed that its now-delayed gun ban on so-called “military style assault weapons” also applies to hunting and sporting rifles.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Trudeau government’s 2020 firearms prohibition was so sweeping that sustenance and hunting firearms were also included. 

An Analysis Statement to cabinet acknowledged this aspect of the ban despite prior insistence that it only applied to guns “designed to kill people.” 

“Stakeholders raised concerns the Amnesty Order did not allow for the transportation of firearms that were previously non-restricted and used for sustenance hunting or to exercise a right under section 35 of the Constitution Act for maintenance purposes, for example for repair or sighting in preparation for hunting,” the notice claimed. 

When announcing the order in 2020, Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said that it would outlaw guns that had “no place in a civil society.” 

“They were designed not for hunting and sporting purposes which is the lawful use of a firearm in Canada but rather for individuals to kill other individuals,” claimed Blair. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau evaded debate in the House of Commons when announcing the ban on 1,500 different kinds of guns by using an order in council. 

Law-abiding gun owners had until Apr. 30 of this year to surrender their guns to police for a buy-back scheme that could cost taxpayers an estimated $6.7 billion according to estimates by the Fraser Institute. 

However, Blair announced this week that the buyback date has been extended until Oct. 30, 2023. 

“In order to allow further time to come into compliance with the law the amended Amnesty Order extends the expiry date,” ministerial staff wrote in a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement. 

After the Liberals announced the order, Conservatives accused the federal government of misleading Canadians.

“You and I both know there is no such thing as military assault weapons in this country. They have been banned for 40 years,” said Conservative MP Glen Motz in 2020. “To misguide and mislead Canadians is disingenuous on your part.” 

“We are not misleading anyone,” Blair replied.

Additionally, Conservative MP Blain Calkins stated that the ban was so wide that it applied to historical and heritage pieces such as Vancouver’s Nine O’Clock Gun.

“Every cannon in Canada, every heritage piece that might be in a museum, every heritage piece that might be in a collection is now a prohibited firearm,” said Calkins. 

Feds prepare $75 million for “first five years” of COVID vaccine injury claims

By
Jonathan Bradley
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A federal program to compensate families of Canadians who have suffered injuries or deaths from COVID-19 vaccines is budgeted to run at least five years, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. 

“A total of $75 million in funding has been earmarked for the first five years of the program,” said a memo from Health Canada. “The overall cost of the program is dependent on the volume of claims and compensation awarded over time.”

Injury from vaccination was rare but not unprecedented, it added.

The memo said that expenses available under the Vaccine Injury Support Program include administration costs and financial supports for eligible applicants.

About 32.4 million Canadians have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine. 

Health Canada senior medical advisor Dr. Supirya Sharma said in December that the long-term effects of the vaccines were unknown. 

“The benefits outweigh the potential risks, but it is still a drug and still a vaccine and there are potential risks even if they’re rare,” said Sharma. “That’s why we continue to monitor it.”

Health Canada confirmed that their adverse reaction reports include 306 deaths, 123 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, 78 miscarriages, 57 acute kidney injuries and 47 heart attacks. The most common serious side effect was myocarditis, affecting 1,886 people. 

High rates of myocarditis prompted the National Advisory Committee on Immunization to issue an update recommendation in December, stating males aged 12 to 29 years old should not take the Moderna vaccine. The recommendation said that reports of myocarditis typically involved 27-year-old men. 

The health department also said it is unsure how many compensation claims are expected under the Vaccine Injury Support Program. 

Funeral expenses, said the memo, will be covered. 

“Eligible individuals may receive income replacement indemnities, injury indemnities, death benefits, coverage for funeral expenses and reimbursement of eligible costs such as otherwise uncovered medical expenses,” it said. 

Management of the program was contracted to Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting Group. 

The Vaccine Injury Support Program began accepting applications in June 2021. 

“Only vaccines that are proven to be safe, effective and of high quality are approved for use in Canada,” said Health Canada. “As with all vaccines and any medication, there’s a chance that there will be a serious side effect.” 

Equity is the opposite of equality, and it has no place in our schools (Ft. Barbara Kay)

By
Candice Malcolm
-

Today on the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by journalist and columnist Barbara Kay to discuss Ontario’s Bill 67 – which seeks to steep the education system in a radical leftist ideology.

Bill 67 focuses on Critical Race Theory, contending that Canada is a white supremacist society and the only way to make things more fair is through so called “anti-racist” discrimination.

According to Barbara, this explicitly racist ideology will punish and divide all students while fomenting hate and resentment amongst various groups.

The worst part of all is that this bill was introduced by Doug Ford’s Conservative government and even originally endorsed by an independent conservative MPP.

This demonstrates the broader problem – that the bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It sounds innocuous and reasonable, but the opposite is true. Canadians need to pay more attention and get more involved to ensure that racist divisions aren’t imposed into our schools.
Candice and Barbara also talk about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and how he’s managed to stay in power for so long.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

Nearly 8 in 10 Canadians want to increase oil and natural gas production: poll

By
Noah Jarvis
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With fuel prices breaking records around the world due to the Russia-Ukraine war, a new poll has found that 78% of Canadians support increasing the amount of oil and natural gas Canada develops and exports, in order to replace the Russian supply.

According to a survey commissioned by Secondstreet.org between Mar. 11-13, only 10% of respondents believed that Canada should not be ramping up production. 

When asked whether they supported lifting Quebec’s ban on the production of natural gas, 67% of Canadians supported lifting the ban, with 65% of Quebecers agreeing. 

Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) and NATO aligned-nations including Canada have imposed major economic sanctions on Russia’s oil and natural gas industries. 

Russia’s economy is heavily reliant on its energy sector, with approximately 43% of the government’s revenues coming from the oil and natural gas sectors. Russia is the third-largest producer of oil and the second-largest producer of natural gas. 

However, the sanctions against Russia mean a large portion of the world’s oil and natural gas is now inaccessible.

The European Union (EU) has a heavy reliance on Russian fossil fuels, as 41% of the EU’s oil and 27% of their natural gas is supplied by Russia. From July 2021 to December 2021 7.4% of the crude oil the United States imported was from Russia. 

Canada has spent $3.6 billion on Russian oil from 2012 to 2021.

The price of fuel has been steadily increasing over the course of the pandemic, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and economic sanctions against Russia exacerbating its effects. 

The Trudeau government’s anti-energy policies in recent years have worsened the problem. Between 2014 and 2020, 17 major private-sector oil and gas projects totalling more than $206 billion have been delayed or rejected by the feds. 

At COP26, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau supported a global carbon tax and pledged to cap Canada’s oil and natural gas sector’s emissions. 

Trudeau also implemented a Canada-wide carbon tax in 2018, with the rate of the tax set to increase from $40/tonne to $50/tonne in Apr. 1. 

The rise in gas prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the measures to throttle the Russian economy have many pressing for Canada to meet the needs of the world market.

Canada has the third-largest oil reserves of any nation. 

Rising gas prices are also sure to contribute to rising inflation, which has been spurred on by government expenditures, loose policy from the Bank of Canada, and supply chain failures. 

As of Mar. 16, the average price of gasoline in Canada is up to $1.759 per litre, with cities including Vancouver getting to over $2.00 per litre.

The poll was conducted by Leger for Secondstreet.org and involved 1515 respondents 18 and older who were part of Leger’s online LEO (Leger Opinion) panel. For comparison purposes, a survey of this size would have a margin of error of +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20.

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