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Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Bonnie Henry says to expect COVID restrictions to return before she even drops them

By
Harley Sims
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Even before holdout province British Columbia has committed to dropping its vaccine passport and mask mandates, B.C.’s chief health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry is announcing that people should be prepared to see COVID restrictions return in the fall.

“There’s still a lot of this virus circulating around the globe so there will inevitably be changes and surprises we will need to adapt to,” Henry said during a COVID update on Tuesday.

“We will have continued uncertainty as we move through the summer. We hopefully will be in a good place for the next few months because of the immunity that we have, and where we are, to be able to relieve some of the pressure of some of these measures that are in place,” she said.

“But we need to be prepared for immunity to wane again and for us to have new approaches and adapt depending on what we see come the fall.”

Henry also said that B.C. would support businesses keeping masking and vaccine passports after the restrictions are lifted – whenever that happens.

“I absolutely will support businesses continuing to protect their workers,” Henry added. “There are not tools that we abandoned. They are things that helped us, that worked.”

Despite relaxing some capacity restrictions last week, B.C. remains the only province in Canada that has not committed to dropping its vaccine passport or to fully reopening. In January, Henry extended the passport system to June 30.

Henry added on Tuesday that the province was considering relaxing more restrictions before the March 14-25 break but that it would depend on hospital numbers.

“We’ve talked about the importance of doing this prior to spring break, and that is something we’ve committed to,” she said. “We are in a transition period, but we will take it slowly and sustainably as we move into the next little part.”

Despite Henry’s continuing emphasis on hospital numbers – which are now at their lowest point since the beginning of January –  Henry admitted last month that up to 60% of COVID “hospitalizations” aren’t actually because of COVID, but are based on “incidental” infections.

The same week that Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and PEI announced they were dropping their COVID restrictions, B.C. committed to expanding its vaccine mandate to all remaining healthcare workers in the province, including those in private practices.

Last week, B.C. also began firing healthcare workers put on leave over vaccine mandates in the fall, even as provinces from Alberta to Nova Scotia have welcomed back unvaccinated workers or entered into discussions to do so.

B.C. Public Service employees put on leave on Nov. 22 are also expected to be fired within the next two weeks, although a group has since filed a court petition to halt vaccine terminations.

Henry’s comments came even as a new survey by the Canadian Mental Health Association’s B.C. division showed that most British Columbians were worried that COVID-19 would never end.

The study reported that stress over the last two years of the ongoing pandemic were contributing to a significant and long-term drop in Canadians’ mental health, with up to 57% reporting a decline and almost one third (29%) reporting feelings of anger.

The province reported Tuesday that 93.6% (4,048,659) of all eligible adults in B.C. had received one COVID shot, 91.2% (3,942,697) a second and 57.7% (2,497,606) a third.

In Jan. 2021, Henry had announced that a target vaccination threshold for COVID-19 herd immunity was around 70%.

Henry’s contract with B.C. pays $384,316 a year. For the year ended March 31, 2021, the province’s sunshine list shows she received $342,292 plus $9,758 expenses.

The fog of war takes over Ukraine

By
Candice Malcolm
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The war between Russia and Ukraine is being played out across social media feeds and news headlines. The battle is as much about influencing public opinion and winning over hearts and minds as it is about gaining territory.

Over the past few days, Canadians have been inundated with propaganda from both sides.

Is what you see on Twitter and Facebook accurate and real?

On today’s episode of The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice cuts through the propaganda and does a deep dive on what’s really going on in Ukraine.

She exposes the absurd double standard of Chrystia Freeland holding a Ukrainian banner that represents a Nazi movement, and the legacy media’s refusal to cover this story.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

Thousands of Canadians volunteering to fight for Ukraine

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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True North has learned that thousands of Canadians are volunteering to travel to Ukraine to fight against Russia as part of the country’s International Legion of Territorial Defence.

The Honorary Consulate of Ukraine in Vancouver Mir Huculak has told True North that they have been flooded with requests from both men and women hoping to fight overseas. 

“(I’ve received) thousands of requests, at least 150 today. People want to help; people want to fight for justice,” Huculak said on Tuesday. 

“A lot of people, including some women, want to go and help fight in Ukraine.”

Huculak said that those with an interest in joining the volunteer foreign legion are being directed to contact the Embassy of Ukraine to Canada in Ottawa, which is likely also being inundated with potential volunteers. 

On Sunday, beleaguered Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky signed a decree lifting international visa requirements for any foreigner willing to join the legion. 

“Foreigners willing to defend Ukraine and world order as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, I invite you to contact foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine in your respective countries. Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too,” tweeted Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday. 

Last week, Hucalak joined fellow B.C. Consular Corps members for a solidarity photo in Vancouver in support of Ukraine. 

Currently, Russian forces are descending on major population centres in Ukraine, including the nation’s capital Kiev, after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to launch an invasion of the Eastern European state. 

Study shows Canada’s high pandemic spending achieved low results

By
Jonathan Bradley
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Canadian government spending on the COVID-19 pandemic came in fifth among industrialized countries but did not achieve comparably high health care and economic outcomes, according to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF). 

“More tax dollars spent on the pandemic didn’t mean better health or economic results,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano on Tuesday. “It’s time for Canadian governments to rein in the borrowing and stop racking up debt.”

The CTF’s report compared all G20 countries using International Monetary Fund data on COVID-19 related government expenditures from 2021. 

The report showed no clear relationship between high levels of government spending on the pandemic and better health and economic outcomes. 

The report revealed that Canada was the fifth largest spender, with pandemic spending totalling 15.9% of GDP. 

Despite this spending, the report showed Canada had ranked eighth in preventing deaths, with 81 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people. It also revealed that Canada placed 12th in economic activity, seeing a GDP growth rate of -5.3 in 2020. 

The report claimed that the South Korean government spent less than the G20 average on the pandemic but had the third lowest deaths and third best economic outcomes in 2020. 

“Instead of prioritizing spending, Ottawa wants to spend more money on everything forever,” said Terrazzano. “The federal government should bring spending back to pre-pandemic levels, which were already all-time highs, and work toward balancing the budget.”

The Canadian government’s fall economic statement in 2020 projected that Canada’s national deficit would hit $381.6 billion by the end of the year, while the federal debt would reach $1.4 trillion by March 2021. 

“This is the most severe challenge our country has faced since the Second World War,” said finance minister Chrystia Freeland in a speech to the House of Commons. “Canadians should know that their federal government will be there to help them get through it, come what may.”

The economic statement revealed that the government planned on spending between 3-4% of Canada’s GDP between 2021 and 2024 to try to reboot the Canadian economy. 

Covid restrictions are lifting, but a lot still remain

By
Andrew Lawton
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As of today, the mask mandates in Alberta and Saskatchewan have been lifted, as well as Ontario’s vaccine passport requirement for restaurants and gyms. Despite this and other moves towards lifting restrictions in numerous provinces, several Covid measures still remain in place, notably the federal government’s vaccine mandate for air travellers and several public sector employee vaccine requirements.

True North’s Andrew Lawton says it’s important to not get caught up in “reopening fever” with so many restrictions and mandates still around. Canadian Federation of Independent Business president Dan Kelly explains how businesses are adapting. Also, even without a federal “emergency,” Freedom Convoy donations are still being frozen.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE ANDREW LAWTON SHOW

First Nations mothers fighting $35,000 in fines for going to buy groceries, diapers

By
Harley Sims
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A group of Manitoba mothers is awaiting a tribunal’s decision after appealing $35,000 worth of tickets they received for travelling to buy groceries and diapers during a stay-at-home COVID order in January.

Kattey Hart, a mother of four in Nelson House, Manitoba told True North that she and seven other women made the decision to travel to Thompson an hour away on Jan. 20 to buy much-needed essentials including baby food, infant supplements and milk.

The women live in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN), about 670 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Hart said the grocery store in the NCN was closed and that the community’s paid grocery delivery system was far behind schedule.

Hart said they were originally given permission to leave the community to go to Thompson but that they were stopped on the return home. 

There was a confrontation involving First Nations Safety Officers and RCMP that eventually saw the women let through.

Seven of them were subsequently given $5000 tickets each for violating the stay-at-home order, which specifies “no travel except medical emergency.”

“When I seen that the ticket was $5,000, I thought the ticket was outrageous and crazy,” said Hart. “I’m not paying for this – I’ll put it in a frame and tell my grandkids a story of how I took a stand to put food in the cupboards and fridge.”

Hart told True North that the group appealed the tickets to the NCN.

On Feb. 7, Hart received a notice from Bonnie M. Linklater, NCN’s executive director of Justice & Public Safety, saying that her appeal had been received and that it had been “forwarded to the Peacekeepers Tribunal for further consideration.”

Hart says she then heard nothing until Monday when she received an email from Linklater saying she “would receive a notice of meeting when the Peacekeepers have completed a review of the Situation.”

“This is the first time I ever heard of them,” Hart told True North. “No one’s giving us answers – we mothers have been trying to contact the leaders and the Justice office here, and this is all we got. We were told to wait for the peacekeepers tribunal and not that they have one. I’m hoping we can get answers.”

According to an NCN news release on Feb. 25 – two weeks after Hart first received her notice of appeal –  the Peacekeepers Tribunal is a brand-new initiative that was brought about to mark the 2022 Aboriginal Justice Day.

“To mark the day, NCN has implemented Peacekeeping programs, laws and a tribunal of their own to ensure safety of Citizens in the future… NCN is honoured to have the newly appointed Peacekeepers Tribunal: Jimmy Hunter Spence, Carol Prince, Agnes Spence, Curtis McDonald and Justice Linklater.”

In 2018, the NCN became the first Manitoba First Nation to adopt its own constitution.

An outline of the tribunal’s duties and jurisdiction can be found on a job posting. They range from deciding whether to uphold a removal of an NCN’s members “benefits, eviction or banishment” to ruling on whether “an NCN Citizen who was convicted of an indictable offence for murder, manslaughter or a sexual assault of any nature should be allowed to run for Chief or Councillor.”

“The Peacekeepers Tribunal shall have the authority to determine any constitutional questions that arise in matters before the Tribunal.”

Hart said she and the other women will do what they have to in order to dispute the tickets, saying the $5000 fines are grossly unfair, especially considering their children’s needs.

Marcel Moody, chief of NCN, told the CBC in early February that the $5000 fines were a group decision of the band’s leadership, adding that he would like to see them reduced.

“We’re not there to starve people, you know. Children especially,” said Moody. “Everything will be taken into consideration and we will go through a fair process.”

At the time, Moody said he had hoped to resolve the situation within the week.

These comments came after Moody issued a social media notice on Jan. 20 calling the women’s shopping trip for diapers and baby food “cowardly, stupid stunts.”

“Very few of our children are vaccinated. We must protect our children,” Moody wrote. “…For two years we have tried to put in place reasonable rules to prevent people from getting sick and dying.”

Since first speaking out about the fines in early February, some of the women say they have experienced vandalism of their homes and vehicles and that such a thing never happened before they had questioned the NCN leadership and council.  

“We don’t want any more publicity, although we do want justice,” said one of the mothers anonymously. “I would like to see them nullify these fines.”

True North reached out to NCN Councillor Jackie Walker, who holds the justice and community safety portfolio, but did not receive a response by time of publication.

Feds planning to ban Russian state news but not Chinese outlets

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Federal regulators have not committed to removing Chinese state propaganda from Canadian airwaves even as they prepare to ban the television channel Russia Today (RT). 

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, MPs at the Commons heritage committee voted on Monday to require the Canadian Radio Television Commission (CRTC) to prevent “state-controlled broadcasters” from airing in Canada. 

The motion, which was put forward by Liberal MP Yvan Baker, called on cabinet to “issue an order of general application directing the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission to a new broadcasting policy that would remove state-controlled broadcasters that spread disinformation and propaganda from the CRTC’s list of non-Canadian programming services and stations authorized for distribution, effectively removing Russia Today from Canadian airwaves.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not confirm whether the CRTC should apply the directive to other state media like China’s Xinhua News Agency. 

“Will you be pushing for action on disinformation from networks in other countries?” asked a reporter. 

“I think it’s a good question and one we should absolutely and are indeed reflecting on,” said Trudeau.

When pressed on whether the CRTC would apply the prohibition to other outlets, the regulatory body did not comment. 

Currently, Chinese state outlets such as Beijing TV, Zhejiang International Channel and China Central Television are free to broadcast in Canada. 

Rogers, Bell and Shaw have already stated that RT will no longer be broadcast on their platforms. 

“The remaining big distributor which is Vidéotron in the Québec market does not carry RT. There are a number of smaller distributors where the situation is a little less clear,” associate assistant deputy minister of heritage Owen Ripley told the committee. 

In January, it was revealed that the Parliamentary Press Gallery met in secret to debate whether Xinhua would be granted continued membership and access to the House of Commons. 

In response, the Independent Press Gallery of Canada condemned the meeting and called for an immediate rejection of Xinhua’s application. 

Freeland caught holding pro-Nazi banner at Ukraine protest

By
Candice Malcolm
-

Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland was photographed on Sunday with a scarf promoting a far-right Ukrainian Nationalist movement linked to Neo-Nazis and extremism. 

Remarkably, Freeland (or more likely, a member of her staff) posted the photo to her own official social media accounts, apparently ignorant of the radical far-right movement the scarf represents. 

Freeland posted the photo, which also shows Toronto Mayor John Tory, to her Twitter and Instagram accounts on Monday morning. These posts were deleted, without any comment or acknowledgement of why they were taken down. 

She reposted the same message on Twitter by mid-morning on Monday, but with a new photo where the scarf had been removed. 

The red and black flag has historically represented the Bandera movement in Ukraine. Stepan Bandera was a Nationalist Ukrainian politician during the Second World War who is accused of war crimes and leading atrocities against Jewish and Polish people. 

He is an incredibly polarizing political figure in Ukraine, as some view him a national hero who fought for Ukrainian independence. 

Bandera helped create the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (UPA), an organization that legacy media reports have described as being “far-right” and “extremist” and who have been characterized as “Neo-Nazis.”

In April 2021, Euro News described Bandera and the UPA as Nazi-collaborators and war criminals. 

“Bandera, Shukhevych, and the UPA are controversial for several reasons. Critics point to the mass killings of up to 100,000 Jews and Poles and the fact that UPA cooperated with Nazi Germany at the beginning of WW2 until it became clear that Nazi Germany wouldn’t recognize Ukrainian independence.”

Chrystia Freeland describes herself as a Ukrainian-Canadian and has recently begun speaking and sharing posts in Ukrainian. She presents herself as a politically savvy international player who is incredibly well-versed in Ukrainian politics and culture. 

It begs the question of why she would be willing to be in a photo, and then personally post it, with a flag representing a militant insurgency group and the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi-linked far-right. 

In a 2017 iPolitics profile on Freeland becoming Canada’s top diplomat, the Bandera movement was specifically mentioned. It quoted a powerful Russian figure accusing Canada of crafting policy “inspired by pro-Bandera lobbyists.”

“Some voices close to the Kremlin will predictably disparage Freeland’s appointment. In addition to being a critic of the current Russian government, she is also of Ukrainian heritage; some Russian voices like to accuse Canada’s government of being in thrall to a powerful Ukrainian diaspora. (In 2015, a spokesman for the Russian government-owned oil company Rosneft claimed that Canadian sanctions against Russia’s energy sector were inspired by ‘pro-Bandera’ lobbyists. Stepan Bandera was an anti-Soviet Ukrainian partisan who was allied with Nazi Germany for some time during the Second World War.)”

It also doesn’t help that “Freeland’s granddad was, indeed, a Nazi collaborator” in Ukraine, as reported by the Ottawa Citizen. He was the chief editor of a Nazi propaganda newspaper during the Second World War. 

The Globe and Mail reported that Freeland’s office denied that her grandfather was a Nazi collaborator, but later reported that Freeland had known about her family history for decades. 

This all creates two major problems for Freeland and the Liberals. 

The first is the tremendous double standard at play. Just weeks ago, Trudeau and his allies in the legacy media relentlessly smeared the Trucker Convoy as “Nazis” because of one still-unidentified provocateur who crashed the protest before quickly disappearing. 

Trudeau infamously accused a Conservative MP of Jewish heritage of standing with “people who wave swastikas.” 

They smeared an entire group by a single despicable flag spotted near the protest.

In the case of Freeland at the Ukrainian rally in Toronto, she wasn’t simply spotted at the same rally as a Nazi. She was literally holding the flag. 

The second major problem this presents for Freeland and the Liberals is that they are opening themselves to smears and propaganda from the Putin regime. 

When Putin announced his invasion into Ukraine, the justification he provided, in part, was to “De-Nazify” the country. Putin’s war efforts rely on propaganda presenting the Ukrainian government and its allies in the West (like Freeland) as supporting an extremist, far-right Nazi movement. 

When a prominent Western leader is photographed with a banner that represents the Neo-Nazi movement, she is naively playing into Putin’s hands. 

Freeland can scrub her own social media to her heart’s content, but her photo holding the red and black banner is making the rounds on social media and is being used on other news sites, including NPR.  

This is a significant misstep by Freeland. Let’s see if anyone in the media notices or reports on it. 

LEVY: Toronto teachers given time off to read anti-racist picture books

By
Sue-Ann Levy
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Parents attending a council meeting at a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) middle school last week were told that staff would be given paid time off over three days to  learn how to teach using anti-racist resources and picture books.

The minutes for the D.A. Morrison Middle School council were obtained by True North before being posted online.

After the requisite land acknowledgement message, a teacher informed members of the council that fellow teachers would take the “release time” to improve their use of anti-racism material.

“The focus (is) for teachers to consciously choose and use equitable, culturally relevant and responsive resources in our classrooms,” the meeting’s minutes indicate.

TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird said during the time out of the class, the teachers watched a professional learning workshop that would help them to pick the inclusive picture books.

The minutes also show that many of the school’s staff had already been given additional dollars to buy books that better focus on “BIPOC” realities (Black, Indigenous and Peoples of Colour). 

“The goal is to make classroom libraries more equity-focussed and/or culturally relevant to the realities of students,” the minutes say.

The presenting teacher also indicated that representatives in each class were leading “equity mantras” that focus on not putting down one other or making jokes based on race, gender and sexual orientation.

The same teacher also reported that in honour of African Heritage Month, there had been ongoing virtual African drumming and “Reggaecise” with Kevin Carrington for two weeks.

According to his website, Carrington is “The Voice” for any occasion, who has done announcing on CBC and CityNews, among other platforms.

D.A. Morrison principal Marc Mullan indicated that Carrington had been retained by the TDSB for Black History Month.

There was also a discussion about acquiring resources from the “Get Real Movement” – the same group of mostly LGBT and trans-activists that recently did gender inclusivity workshops for Forest Hill Public School Grade 4-8 students. 

Parents heard that some D.A. Morrison staff were using virtual resources from the Aga Khan Educational Foundation of Canada – described as a free online platform for “development practitioners,” including educators – working to “create a better world.” 

School councils were originally supposed to allow parents to provide input into all manner of school business, but other than a question on “Reggaecise,” not one concern was addressed about the school’s prioritizing virtue-signalling activities over teaching the basics needed to succeed in high school and beyond.

There was certainly no criticism of the three-day release time for teachers to study anti-racist picture books. I suspect D.A. Morrison is just another example of the crazy woke activities occurring in schools across the board.

The TDSB’s education director, Colleen Russell-Rawlins, seems to have made anti-black racism her priority – with some gender inclusivity thrown in for good measure – just as she did at the Peel District School Board.

It doesn’t take a great leap of faith to surmise that parents who attended that meeting last week were afraid to speak up about the nonsense they heard out of fears they’d be branded racist, Islamophobic, transphobic and homophobic.

And there’s no doubt in my mind that some of these educators pushing their woke mantras would target the kids of parents who criticize such activities –  even as they did in Waterloo last month.

It’s a sad statement, but it’s a reality of the times.

Trudeau’s public safety minister claims truckers were rapists

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Liberal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino has alleged that Ottawa convoy protesters threatened Ottawa residents with rape, despite a lack of charges and evidence.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Mendicino made the claim during his testimony to the Commons public safety committee on the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act.

“There were Ottawans who were subjected to intimidation, harassment, threats of rape,” said Mendicino during his defense of the government’s implementation of the never-before-used emergency legislation.

No member of the Freedom Convoy protest is facing charges for sexual assault. When pressed to provide evidence for his claims, Mendicino failed to produce any. 

“My question to you is very pointed: If that allegation did not result in a criminal charge, will you undertake to provide this committee with proof of the allegation?” asked Conservative MP Larry Brock. 

“The absence of criminal charges doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen,” Mendicino replied. 

Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revoked the Emergencies Act last week, a federal inquiry into its use is expected to begin within 60 days. 

“The enactment of the Emergencies Act was an effective tool to not only deal directly with the leaders of the blockade here in Ottawa but also as a deterrent effect,” Assistant RCMP Commissioner Dennis Daley told parliamentarians. 

According to Daley, the Act allowed the federal police force to scare those “primarily outside of Ottawa” from further protesting COVID-19 measures. 

“I think the government used the crisis for political reasons,” said Bloc Quebecois MP Kristina Michaud. “It’s not enough to say it was useful. You must prove it was necessary and indispensable. I don’t want to minimize what has been said about the occupation, but someone in a hot tub in the middle of Wellington Street doesn’t seem to be a national security threat.”

Mendicino’s allegations about the freedom convoy protesters as rapists come a month after Trudeau first referred to the truckers heading towards Ottawa as “extremists” with “unacceptable views.”

Three days after the convoy had arrived in the nation’s capital, Trudeau emerged from the secure location to which he had fled to declare that demonstrators had disgusted the country.

“Over the past few days, Canadians were shocked and frankly disgusted by the behaviour displayed by some people protesting in our nation’s capital,” he said on Jan. 31. “I want to be very clear – we are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless. We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags; we won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonour the memory of our Veterans.”

Ottawa police violently cracked down on the Ottawa protests on Feb. 18-20, followed by Trudeau’s revocation of the Emergencies Act three days later.

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