fbpx
Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Largest drug lab in Canadian history busted by RCMP near Kamloops, B.C.

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: X

British Columbia RCMP officers busted what they are calling the “largest and most sophisticated” drug-production laboratory in Canadian history.

Federal investigators discovered a “super lab” being operated by an international organized crime network.

The illicit facility was located in Falkland, a rural community east of Kamloops, B.C.

According to Mounties, the facility could produce several kilograms of methamphetamine, fentanyl and MDMA weekly.

“The precursor chemicals, in combination with the finished fentanyl products seized at this location, could have amounted to 95 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, which have been prevented from entering Canadian communities and markets abroad,” David Teboul, an assistant commissioner with the federal RCMP in the Pacific region, told reporters in Surrey on Thursday. 

Co-ordinated raids were conducted on the Falkland property along with several associated properties located in Surrey B.C. last week, resulting in the seizure of an estimated 390 kilograms of methamphetamine, 54 kilograms of fentanyl, 35 kilograms of cocaine and 15 kilograms of MDMA.

In addition to the narcotics, dozens of weapons were also recovered from the Surrey locations, including 89 firearms.

A .50-calibre machine gun was among the firearms seized, along with 45 handguns, 21 AR-15-style rifles and submachine guns, “many of which were loaded and ready for use,” said Teboul.

One arrest has been made in connection with the drug lab and its Surrey properties, with Gaganpreet Randhawa being “considered the main suspect” in the investigation. 

He is currently in custody facing multiple drug and weapons charges and is scheduled to appear in Surrey provincial court on Nov. 14.

“As you know, Mexican cartels don’t have their headquarters in Canada, so they’re at times out of reach of Canadian law enforcement,” said Teboul, responding to a question about why more suspects have yet to be taken into custody.

“I think it’s time for our justice system to catch up to the reality of the danger of these drugs,” he said, adding that they are working with authorities in Mexico on the investigation.

According to police, the super lab is suspected to be connected to another recent seizure that led to over 30 tonnes of methamphetamine precursors recovered earlier this month in Enderby, just 40 kilometres east of Falkland.

While no charges have been laid in that seizure, police said the chemicals were likely destined for one or more super labs busted last week. 

“British Columbia is in a particularly unique, if not precarious, position because of our geography,” said Teboul.

B.C.’s extensive coastline of marine ports and its shared international border with three U.S. states – Washington, Idaho and Montana, provide ample opportunities for the importation of chemicals used to create industrial quantities of illicit drugs.

During Thursday’s press conference, Teboul would not specify which organized crime groups authorities believed to be behind the super labs, whether it be Mexican cartels or domestic motorcycle gangs like the Hell’s Angels. 

“This is transnational organized crime, and the allegiances within transnational organized criminals are very fluid,” said Teboul. 

“This is all about making money. These are individuals that operate by way of convenience and opportunities, and they’re not necessarily associated to one particular group that wears funny patches on their backs or these kinds of things.”

However, the assistant commissioner said the criminals involved in operations of this scale are “highly motivated and highly sophisticated,” adding that they will create alliances among other groups when opportunities and money present themselves.

Investigators said that the Falkland lab alone had enough chemical precursors on site to continue producing drugs for months without having to restock its supplies.

RCMP Insp. Jillian Wellard called the Falkland lab the largest fentanyl and methamphetamine facility ever discovered by Canadian law enforcement.

“This is undoubtedly a major blow to the transnational organized crime groups involved, and a great step towards ensuring the safety of Canadians, and the international community,” said Wellard in a statement on Thursday. 

The RCMP estimates it will cost at least half a million to remediate the Falkland lab site, however, that estimate is expected to increase, noted Teboul.

Off the Record | What is Jagmeet Singh so afraid of?

By
Kris Sims
-
Source: Facebook

Despite pulling out of the coalition agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, Jagmeet Singh says he will continue to prop up the government and will not trigger an early election. What is he so afraid of? It’s becoming increasingly clear that it’s not only the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois that want an election, Canadians do too.

Plus, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation revealed that dozens of federal departments have launched podcasts at the expense of taxpayers. Once salary expenses are factored in, these podcasts that nobody listens to have cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

And Joe Biden called Trump supporters “garbage.” Did Biden just help seal a win for the Republicans? We make our predictions for the US election!

Tune into Off the Record with guest host Kris Sims, Isaac Lamoureux and Noah Jarvis!

“Grave Error” co-editor challenges NDP MP over “incitement of hate” accusation

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
-
Source: X

After an NDP MP who wants to criminalize “residential school denialism” alleged the book “Grave Error” was an “incitement of hate” concerning residential schools, co-author Tom Flanagan has challenged the MP to a debate on the book’s merits.

NDP MP Leah Gazan, the author of the residential school denialism bill, made the accusation while speaking to reporters during a press conference on Thursday alongside the government’s special interlocutor on residential schools, Kimberly Murray, and former residential school students. 

Murray released her final report Tuesday, which recommended much of what Gazan’s Bill C-413 proposes to enact into law, including the criminalization of anyone who questions the residential school system narrative.

When asked what sorts of things would be criminalized by the bill, Gazan mentioned Tom Flanagan by name and referenced “his book” Grave Error: How the Media Misled US (And the Truth About Residential Schools).

“(Bill C-413) is about the willful condoning of Indigenous hate by condoning, downplaying, denying or justifying what happened in the residential school. It’s not about people talking around the kitchen table,” Gazan said. “But I would point to you folks like Tom Flanagan, who are doing willful mass promotion and disinformation of facts around well-documented historical facts in his book, as examples of that mass dissemination of hate.”

In an interview with True North, Flanagan, a former political science professor and member of the Indian Residential School Research Group, responded to the allegations and challenged Gazan to debate him on the book’s specific findings.

“People who want to outlaw speech generally don’t feel confident in their arguments and know that they would have trouble refuting what others have said,” he said.

He said it’s impossible to respond to such general accusations of “disinformation” and “spreading hate” when not a single claim made by the book’s 18 authors has been identified as sources of the supposed “disinformation.” He noted that the book’s 18 authors, who range from professors of various disciplines to lawyers and journalists, are “used to dealing with facts” and that the book is “heavily footnoted” with over 800 sources listed. 

“So let her point out where she thinks we’ve misinterpreted or overlooked a source,” he said. “You can’t have any kind of rational argument until you get down to specifics.”

He said the book has been criticized in very general terms by people such as Gazan or Indigenous activists but has largely been ignored rather than scrutinized by academic critics.

Flanagan is open to “any form” of debate, whether it’s live over Zoom or a public written exchange between Flanagan or the book’s other authors and Gazan, as long as both sides can present arguments and allow the other side a chance to respond. He says the audience can decide which arguments are most persuasive.

While speaking to reporters at the conference, Gazan said the presence of burial sites near residential schools was enough evidence to prove the school’s administrators were killing students.

“The historical record is clear,” Gazan said. “The purpose of residential schools was to kill the Indian in the child. No school should have grave sites around it. I don’t know any public schools across the country that have grave sites around it.”

Flanagan said the comparison was an “apples to pineapples” comparison.

“In most cases, students came from far away. There were enormous health problems in the late 19th and early 20th century; students died from illnesses. We know that in some cases, it wasn’t possible to send the body back for burial in the home reserve,” he said. 

He said that many, not all, of the schools, were established next to church cemeteries, and some of the students’ burials would have been interned in those parish grave sites. He said there were often practical reasons, such as the inability to travel to the student’s remote reserve, especially in the winter.

Flanagan said Murray’s report and Gazan’s comments imply the schools were execution sites with cemeteries present for convenience. Instead, he argued the sites were “accommodations to the conditions of the age.” One former residential school student during the conference claimed, however, that the reason many of the kids died from disease was because of a lack of access to medical care.

Gazan also said she “couldn’t think of anything more violent” than denying the claims of genocide from the stories of residential school students who she dubbed “living historical records.” Flanagan dismissed the statement, saying the conflation of words and actions was a “classic” manoeuver from left-wingers to outlaw speech with which they disagree.

The Daily Brief | Singh will continue propping up Trudeau gov

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-
Source: X

Despite claims by NDP Leader Jagmet Singh that he does not support the Trudeau government, his party will continue to prop up the government and will refuse to support attempts to trigger an early election.

Plus, newly re-elected British Columbia Premier David Eby has been attempting to court some BC Conservative MLAs to become the next Speaker.

And Liberal cabinet ministers are opposed to a Liberal party caucus vote via secret ballot on whether or not members support Justin Trudeau as their leader, while backbenchers say it’s the only way forward for an increasingly divided party.

Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and William McBeath!

LEVY: Good riddance to Ontario’s bike lanes! 

By
Sue-Ann Levy
-
Source: Facebook

One of the most powerful lobbies at City Hall are the helmet heads.

The city’s diehard cyclists are entitled, single-minded, tenacious and have a deep-seated hate for drivers.

They have regularly packed any meetings that are disguised as consultations for new bike lanes, though the decisions are already made by the leftist transportation czarina Barbara Gray and her cycling bureaucrats.

They try to bully politicians and other community residents who dare speak up against more lanes.

The war on the car is a reality in Toronto.

You only have to look at the stats.

The total kilometres of bike lanes have doubled in the three years since I wrote about them in the Toronto Sun.

Back in 2021, there were 335 km of bikeways – 240 km of bike lanes, 82 km of cycle tracks and 13 km of contraflow lanes.

According to a city spokesman this week, there are now 678.6 km of bikeways in Toronto.

I believe several of the bike lanes that have taken over major thoroughfares are unnecessary.

Yet it does not surprise the cyclepath lobby has reacted hysterically to Premier Doug Ford’s  Reducing Gridlock Saving You Time Act.

That new law intends to monitor the epidemic of bike lanes in Ontario and to even rip out lanes, including three very contentious routes in Toronto: University Ave., Bloor St. and Yonge St.

The move will be “dangerous” for everyone, and will “increase congestion,” according to the cyclepaths and their acolytes in the left-wing media.

The bike lane obsessed – who never have any concern for spending on anything – also claim it will “waste tax money.” That one is absolutely hypocritical and absurd.

I write this as someone who bikes regularly around town – taking my new Micro e-bike to assignments and to do errands.

I do it for exercise and convenience, as I absolutely hate trying to find parking or negotiating gridlock downtown.

Admittedly, the bike lanes make me feel safer BUT I often see no one on the lanes I use other than the odd food delivery person.

There are plenty of alternative side streets.

There are also no controls over those riding electric bikes (powered by motors) that should not be in the lanes. They whiz by at a high rate of speed, making the separated lines extremely unsafe to regular riders like myself.

It’s like the Wild West.

Both Yonge St. and University Ave. bike lanes were built by taking out a lane of traffic causing non-stop back-ups and congestion. 

I see it all the time.

In my Eglinton Ave. neighbourhood, the new lanes – which also took out a lane of traffic in both directions – have created a kind of gridlock I’ve never seen before.

Emergency vehicles regularly have a difficult time negotiating through such gridlock.

It is virtually impossible to drop off seniors in walkers to doctors and other appointments.

The endless uncoordinated construction on so many Toronto streets doesn’t help matters either.

I believe that the cycling lobby won’t be happy until bikes lanes tie up every major street. 

It is not about what is practical. It’s about forcing an ideology down everyone’s throats.

Realistically, there is no need for bike lanes on so many major streets — such as hospital row on University Ave. — considering there are ample alternatives.

I haven’t even mentioned the fact that we are in a four-season city — meaning commuting by bike is appealing to most only from April to November (the latter month, dependent on how cold it becomes).

In other words, only the diehard cyclist uses the lanes in the winter months.

The city’s own figures support this thesis, although I don’t find them particularly reliable.

The city’s media people told me that on average 2,200 cyclists use the lanes on Sherbourne on a average summer day (June, July, August) and 4,100 on Bloor at Markham St. That dwindles down to 1,700 daily on Bloor St at Oakmount  in Toronto’s High Park.

City stats show that those volumes dwindle down to 34% of the summer numbers during December, January and February and as low as 23% at Bloor and Oakmount (391 daily).

Predictably, they don’t have numbers for the other two contentious bikeways: University Ave. and Yonge St. — probably because they are so low they don’t want people to know.

The bike lane issue is really low-hanging fruit for the provincial Conservatives.

I wish they paid as much attention to the woke nutters in their education ministry and at many Ontario school boards.

Still I have no issue with Ford trying to get a grip on congestion in Toronto.

It certainly won’t happen under the watch of Marxist Olivia Chow, or the radical leftists from Progress Toronto and other activist organizations that prop her up.

Cars and trucks are dirty words for these socialists.

I guess we shouldn’t tell them that vehicles deliver their favourite soy milk and organic coffees to shops they frequent — and often park in bike lanes while they do their deliveries.

Heaven forbid they should find that out.

Quebec pauses two major immigration programs 

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: Facebook

The Quebec government announced a moratorium on two of its major immigration programs, citing a need for the province to “better regulate” the arrival of newcomers.

Premier François Legault placed a temporary freeze on two key programs which offer a Quebec Selection Certificate on Wednesday which allows immigrants to eventually apply for permanent residency in Canada.

Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-Francois Roberge said the province will no longer accept new applications for the Regular Skilled Workers Program.

It also put a freeze on the Quebec Experience Program for recent graduates, effective Thursday.

Both programs will remain suspended until June 30, 2025. 

“A scenario for reducing permanent immigration will also be seriously studied by the government,” wrote Roberge in a post to X. “Our objective is clear: we want to equip ourselves with the necessary means to better regulate immigration in Quebec.”

The Legault government said the new measures will also affect “the volume of admissions” for next year.

“We’re taking action for 2025 but we are also making sure we have all the room for the maneuver for planning,” Roberge told reporters at the National Assembly on Thursday.

News of the two programs being frozen comes on the heels of the Quebec government granting itself additional powers after introducing legislation earlier this month to reduce the number of international students. 

The bill was part of a larger effort to decrease the number of non-permanent residents entering the province, which saw a major jump to 600,000 from 300,000 in the last two years. 

Quebec also reduced the number of temporary foreign workers for low-wage jobs in Montreal, enacting a six-month suspension last month. 

“We’re putting a lot of pressure since almost a year on Justin Trudeau to reduce the 420,000 temporary immigrants controlled by the federal government,” said Legault during a September press conference.

The province has been at odds with the Trudeau government over immigration several times this year, demanding more authority over who can settle in Quebec. 

Legault called on Ottawa to forcibly relocate asylum seekers to other parts of the country and told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cut its two federal immigration programs by 50% “as soon as possible.”

“I would say that at least the last six, eight, ten months, we have been asking that, and so far they haven’t taken any major action. So it’s about time they make a move because even Quebecers suffer regarding housing, regarding services,” said Legault last month. 

“It puts a lot of pressure on French, especially on the island of Montreal.” 

The Liberals announced it would scale back immigration levels to 365,000 people a year by 2027 last week in response to a growing sentiment that the Trudeau government has let in far more people than Canada can handle.

However, Roberge thinks more still needs to be done. 

“We think they should go further but they did move on that matter,” said Roberge, referring to Ottawa’s recent announcement.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller responded to Roberge on Thursday, saying that while it’s Quebec’s right to manage its two provincial immigration streams, the Legault government has yet to provide the federal government with a full plan for immigration.

“I welcome the pedagogical exercise they say they will do next year, but it’s still incomplete,” said Miller.

“We’ve been saying for months to Mr. Legault to give us a plan to reduce temporary residents that he’s been clamouring for and we haven’t seen his share of it.”

Ratio’d | Why is nobody talking about this?

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

A sitting MP and a journalist just accused a cabinet minister of being an unwitting conspirator for the Chinese Communist Party and the legacy media press is refusing to report on this story. Independent MP Kevin Vuong and journalist Sam Cooper have accused not only Mary Ng of being involved in a foreign interference scheme but also Liberal MP Parm Bains, former Senator Victor Oh and current Senator Yuen Pau Woo.

It’s time to release the names of the alleged traitors in Parliament. Let them defend themselves and let Canadians see the truth.

Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner!

17-year-old dead after shoot-out with police in Aurora, Ont.

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-

A 17-year-old has been killed following a shoot-out with four police officers who were responding to an ongoing break-and-enter in Aurora, prompting an investigation by Ontario’s special investigations unit. 

According to the SIU, the incident occurred outside a residence on Downey Circle, located near St. John’s Sideroad and Bayview Avenue, just before 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening.

Police received a report of a break-in in the area from an individual around 7:45 p.m.

“Soon after officers arrived at the scene from York Regional Police, there was an exchange of gunfire between the 17-year-old male and four police officers,” said SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon on Thursday.

The SIU reported that the teen was hit with gun shots multiple times before being pronounced dead at the scene.

There was also a police officer who was taken to the hospital after sustaining multiple minor injuries.  

“The male was struck multiple times and pronounced deceased at the scene. One officer suffered minor injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment,” she said, however, Hudon did not provide the specific location of the gunfight.

The SIU has not yet confirmed if the teen in question was local to the area.

“We have a number of witnesses to keep interviewing,” Hudon told reporters.

Additionally, the investigations unit has not yet been able to confirm who made the break-and-enter call to the police. 

“We are in the early hours of the investigation and there is a lot to still determine,” she said.

However, the four officers involved in the shoot-out have been identified as well as five witness officers.

A large police presence remained in the area for several hours following the shooting and both the SIU and York police are requesting for information or video from the public that could assist in the investigation. 

Five SIU investigators and three forensic investigators have been assigned to the case.  

The SIU is an agency which is at an arm’s length from police that is called to investigate situations involving police and the death of an individual, a serious injury, or allegations of sexual assault.

Those with information can contact Canadian Crime Stoppers Association’s toll-free number is 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). You can also submit a tip online.

BC Conservative MLAs rejecting David Eby’s pleas for Speaker nomination

By
Clayton DeMaine, True North Wire
-
Source: X

BC Conservative MLAs have rejected every attempt by newly re-elected British Columbia Premier David Eby to court BC Conservative MLAs for the Speaker position.

Eby has had the BC NDP contact several opposition MLAs so he could maintain his slim majority government.

Multiple BC Conservatives have declared that they will not accept the role of speaker of the legislature, which would allow the BC NDP government to retain its majority.

Following the BC Election, The NDP secured a slim majority and now holds 47 legislative seats, just making the 47-seat threshold for a majority government. The BC Conservatives currently hold 44 seats.

The problem for Eby is that the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia needs to elect a Speaker, and if it comes from his party, he would lose majority status. The Speaker does not vote except in a tie-breaking scenario.

Elected members of the legislature need to put their own names forward to apply for the role, making the recently re-elected Eby government’s search for a new Speaker all the more difficult.

The BC Green Party secured two seats. If it offered one of its candidates, the Greens would lose official party status in the legislature.

When asked about any potential deals the Greens would make with the BC NDP, a spokesperson for the party, JoJo Beattie, confirmed with True North that conversations were “ongoing” and had nothing else to add.

During a press conference following the results, Eby said he would work with any opposition members who share his values, particularly by electing a Speaker from one of those parties.

“I know we’ve got some great candidates (for Speaker) on our bench,” Eby said. “I’m sure the Greens would be able to put forward a good Speaker, maybe the Conservatives. We’re not ruling anything out.”

After conceding the election to Eby, Rustad told reporters that he was aware of Eby “calling around” his newly elected MLAs, asking for them to take on the role of Speaker. However, Rustad said he was not considering supporting it “at this stage.”

“If David Eby wanted to call me and say that he wants to move forward with significant parts of our agenda, maybe there’s something that we could be talking about,” Rustad said. “But at this stage, I would not be looking at offering one of our members to be speaker, to support the agenda that he ran on.”

Rustad’s candidate for Richmond-Bridgeport, Teresa Wat, who won a seat for the BC Conservatives, publicly declined the role on X Wednesday.

“I’m humbled by the thought of being considered for Speaker of the House, but I want to be clear my commitment is to my constituents and colleagues in the Conservative Party of British Columbia,” she said. “I will not be putting my name forward for the role.”

Wat is one of several victorious BC Conservative candidates who have rejected Eby’ pleas that they put their name forward for the role.

Ian Paton, the BC Conservative MLA for Delta South, was among the first to announce that he had been approached and was declining to seek the position.

“I am truly honoured to have my name mentioned in discussions regarding the role of the Speaker. However, I want to clarify that I am not interested in pursuing this position,” Paton said on X. “I am truly honoured to have my name mentioned in discussions regarding the role of the Speaker. However, I want to clarify that I am not interested in pursuing this position.”

Members of opposition parties have held the role before. Following the 2017 election, when the NDP formed a minority government with support from the Greens, Abbotsford South Liberal MLA Darryl Plecas was elected speaker.

The role does come with some additional financial perks. Speakers of the House are entitled to $59,766.37 in addition to the $119,532.72 in annual basic compensation each MLA receives.

According to the CHEK News’ Rob Shaw, BC Conservative MLAs Peter Milobar, Trevor Halford, and Elenore Sturko declined the role after being approached.

Eby hasn’t set a timeline for the legislature’s return, saying he will wait for Elections BC to complete judicial recounts of two close ridings before making the decision.

Singh will not support attempts by CPC and Bloc to trigger early election

By
Quinn Patrick, True North Wire
-
Source: X

Despite claims by NDP Leader Jagmet Singh that he does not support the Trudeau government, his party will continue to prop up the government and will refuse to support attempts to trigger an early election. 

Singh said his party would not aid the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois in trying to topple the Liberal government, telling reporters on Wednesday, “I’m not going to play their games.”

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said he is now willing to cooperate with the Conservatives in a non-confidence vote on Tuesday but the two parties do not have enough MPs alone to trigger an election.

They will still need the help of the NDP to secure a successful non-confidence vote. 

“I will not let Pierre Poilievre, the ‘king cut,’ or the Bloc call the shots,” said Singh Wednesday. “We’ll look at any bill that comes forward, any motion that comes forward, and if it’s going to help people with these difficult times, we’ll look at that.”

However, Singh insists that he doesn’t support the Trudeau government and that his party is ready for an election campaign at any time. 

The NDP leader said that he would only cooperate in taking down the Liberals if he felt it would help Canadians. 

The Conservatives have already introduced two non-confidence motions since Parliament has returned for its fall sitting but both failed as a result of the NDP and Bloc not supporting them. 

Following the second non-confidence motion, Blanchet told reporters that he would use his party’s position within the minority government to benefit Quebec, by pushing through Bill C-319, which would hike Old Age Security payouts by 10% for seniors between the ages of 65 and 74. 

The other, Bill C-282, would exclude altering supply management in the dairy, poultry, and eggs sectors from any future international trade deals.

“What we are proposing is good for retired persons in Quebec but also in Canada. It’s good for milk, eggs and poultry producers in Quebec but also in Canada. That’s good for everybody,” said Blanchet in September.

Upon introducing the two pieces of legislation, Blanchet also gave the Trudeau government a deadline to pass it last month.

The Bloc gave the Liberals an ultimatum to have the legislation passed or force an election before Christmas if the government did not agree before the deadline, which expired on Tuesday. 

Blanchet told the Liberals they are now in serious danger of falling in the next non-confidence vote.

However, the Liberals will manage to survive until the next scheduled federal election, slated for October 25 next year, as long as the NDP continues to prop them up. 

1...868788...1,460Page 87 of 1,460

Related stories

© 2025 True North | Privacy Policy