The Ontario government proposed legislation that would ban medical school seats from going to international students to make room for students in Canada. This follows the Trudeau government reducing its immigration targets after allowing a record amount of migrants into the country.
Plus, almost one in two small businesses reported crime or safety-related issues in 2024, marking a sharp increase from the previous year.
And most parents are left confused by a year-old change to how grades are represented on report cards in British Columbia.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Lindsay Shepherd and Isaac Lamoureux!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Anthony Furey was previously the managing editor and a columnist for True North.
With exactly one week to go until the municipal by-election and ahead in the polls, Anthony Furey is running hard in Don Valley West with the Liberal machine in hot pursuit.
The celebrated former Toronto Sun and True North columnist and editor registered for Toronto city council on July 22 and started canvassing on July 24. With the exception of two statutory holidays, he’s been out in this suburban Toronto riding — which stretches from the Don River in the south to Hwy 401 in the north —every day.
The riding was held provincially for nearly 20 years by Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne — until her policies decimated the party in the 2018 election — and municipally by Jaye Robinson, a centrist who lost her battle with cancer in May of this year.
Furey said he’s heard repeatedly at the doors “frustration with the state of City Hall and city politics.”
He said residents “know their money is being wasted,” especially when they see traffic and safety getting far worse.
Everyone he talks to is against the renaming of Yonge-Dundas Square (to Sankofa Square), yet three-quarters of council voted for this $12-million exercise.
He said that shows how “backward the priorities are at City Hall.”
”They are not listening to the people,” he said.
He adds that people don’t understand why it’s taking three years to do a repair on the Gardiner Expressway.
He said voters are very “receptive” to his message about his practical common sense solutions.
”No one is being held to account … Instead, they keep getting raises and failing upwards.”
He adds that no bike lanes will be added in DVW under his watch.
Furey has also had to deal with smears from Progress Toronto, a third party group headed by anti-Israel activists and helped elect Mayor Olivia Chow.
On Saturday, they stuck an amateurish flyer in the doors of residents with Anthony Furey signs claiming that “Furey’s in it for himself.”
A number of Furey signs have been yanked out as well.
Speaking of failing upwards, Furey is being chased by a Liberal machine backing his key opponent, Rachel Chernos-Lin, who is on leave as chairman of the Toronto District School Board.
Chernos-Lin has been a disaster as chairman. While purporting to be Jewish (although non-practicing) and supportive of the community in this ward, she sat back and did nothing while DEI and Critical Race Theory infiltrated the board and anti-Semitism escalated in the board’s schools.
Under her leadership, anti-Semitic incidents have increased 300% since last Oct. 7 and she voted against a move by trustee Weidong Pei (who she has tried to cancel repeatedly) to keep geopolitical protests out of the classroom.
She also voted in favour of a move to include anti-Palestinian racism in the board’s hate policies, even though there is no data to show it is a problem on the board.
Members of the Save Our Schools in the TDSB say that APR includes anything and everything that disputes that Palestine exists and the “Palestinian narrative” even if anti-Semitic.
Under her watch, the board’s EQAO results have declined even further this year.
But long-time trustee Shelley Laskin, who has endorsed Chernos-Lin, claims there have been anti-Semitic smears made against her and that her preferred candidate sat on the Jewish Heritage Committee at the board.
Laskin, along with two community advocates, one of them long-time Liberal backroom insider Howard Brown, issued a statement Monday contending she will fight against anti-Semitism on council:
Still, former premier and leftist Kathleen Wynne has been working overtime to smear Furey, even placing robocalls to select residents.
Her wife Jane Rounthwaite, a Liberal consultant, runs the Chernos-Lin campaign.
Wynne has repeatedly told anyone who will listen that Furey is “Islamophobic, anti-trans and a bigot” — contentions replicated in a September hit piece by Ben Spurr of the leftist Toronto Star.
She also described True North as “very anti-woke, anti-trans and anti-gay.”
Well, you could knock me over with a feather, seeing as I — a gay woman— have been writing for True North for the past three years!
For his part, Furey says Wynne “should be ashamed of herself for her lies and smear tactics.”
”Kathleen Wynne has dragged this campaign into the gutter… she owes me an apology and she owes the residents of Toronto an apology,” said Furey.
“Kathleen Wynne, Josh Matlow and others know that if I get into City Hall I will bring common sense change and accountability measures … Why are they so afraid of that?”
They’re afraid that Furey might expose the rot that I continually brought to light as a Toronto Sun columnist — now far worse under Chow, a mayor who has allowed our streets and parks to turn into a violent mess of Jew haters and drug addicts.
I have known and worked with Anthony for more than 10 years, both at the Toronto Sun and at True North.
He is diligent, conscientious, smart, extremely decent, centred and in no way anti-gay, transphobic or Islamophobic.
The fact that Wynne, who virtually destroyed Ontario under her tenure, has made so defamatory comments about him speaks more to her lack of character than anything about him.
Furey says his team is “energized and mobilized” and have been told by many in the ward that the attacks by Wynne and Progress Toronto have turned them off Chernos-Lin and caused them to focus on him.
”They look me up and say, hey this is a reasonable guy,” he said.
A sizable minority of Canadian adults are living without a primary care provider, according to a recent report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
The CIHI report released on Thursday found that 5.4 million adults are currently without one, primarily younger adults, aged 18 to 34.
“A recent survey of 10 high-income countries found that Canada lags in access to primary care, with the lowest percentage of adults age 18 and older having access to a regular care provider,” reads the report.
“Canadians also face greater difficulty getting same-day, next-day, evening or weekend appointments compared with people in the other countries surveyed.”
Seniors aged 65 and older are more likely to have regular access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, according to the data.
“The most affluent 20% of Canadians were slightly more likely to have a regular health care provider (84%) compared with the 20% with the lowest incomes (80%),” reads the report,” it continued.
The CIHI report measures the baseline of health priorities that have been agreed upon by both the provincial and federal levels of government.
Federal health minister Mark Holland announced the agency will begin releasing its report annually to tabulate progress across the country.
These priorities also include reducing patient wait times for mental health and substance-use counselling, recruiting additional healthcare workers, tackling surgical wait times and expanding the use of electronic health information.
According to the report, the backlog of surgical appointments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to decrease, with the number of surgeries being performed returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Each healthcare funding agreement signed between the provinces and territories with the federal government comes with targets for how many doctors and nurses are needed for each workforce, noted Holland.
The CIHI also intends to start collecting data to track progress on two more health goals going forward; improving cultural safety for Indigenous patients and ensuring seniors can age with dignity.
Indigenous and rural communities are affected most by the primary care shortage.
This would mean a “sustained effort” in recruiting doctors and nurse practitioners from different jurisdictions” to be choosing health careers and really seeing far more people serving their own communities,” said Holland.
Source: Rehabilitation center for young people with adjustment difficulties in Cité-des-Prairies
Quebec’s social services minister has launched an “external investigation” following sexual misconduct allegations involving nine educators at a juvenile correctional facility in Montreal in a case the minister said was “beyond disturbing.”
As first reported by La Presse, following reports of an inappropriate relationship between a minor and an educator in mid-August, an investigation into the Cité-des-Prairies Youth Rehabilitation Centre found nine educators who allegedly committed sexual misconduct with at least five minors in their care.
The facility houses young people, primarily minors, involved in the most severe crimes, such as drug dealing, murder, possession of firearms and pimping.
Some of the cases involved allegations of full sexual relations with the minors, including one educator who became pregnant with one of the minors and gave birth.
According to the article La Press, Another educator is suspected of being pregnant with a 15-year-old boy from the rehabilitation centre. A third educator was allegedly caught kissing one of the minors in her care, and a fourth had reportedly been caught in a bathroom in the dark with a teenager as well.
“The revelations in theLa Presse article are more than disturbing. I immediately took the necessary measures. An external investigation is currently underway as well as a police investigation to shed light on all the facts,” Carmant Lionel, the QC social services minister said on X.
“We will never tolerate situations of this kind. Abusing vulnerable young people is a criminal act and is subject to prosecution and conviction. Everything will be done to guarantee the protection and safety of the young people under our responsibility.”
Les révélations de l’article de @LP_LaPresse sont plus que troublantes. J’ai immédiatement pris les mesures nécessaires. Une enquête externe est présentement en cours ainsi qu’une enquête policière pour faire la lumière sur tous les faits. Jamais nous ne tolérerons des situations… pic.twitter.com/IeouszHKRB
A spokesperson from the Montreal police told True North that they were unable to provide further information or even confirm that an investigation was underway.
“For reasons of confidentiality, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) never confirms, with rare exceptions, that an individual or legal entity has filed a complaint or is the subject of a complaint,” the spokesperson said. “The same applies to investigations, so as not to hinder their progress.”
The Cité-des-Prairies Youth Rehabilitation Centre did not respond to True North’s request to comment.
All across Canada preemptive obituaries are being written for the Carbon Tax. (I’ve written one myself.) And for good reason. The closer we get to the full implementation of Justin Trudeau’s carbon tax, the harder regular people are being hit in the wallet. The tax has helped make it more expensive to feed and clothe our families, to heat our homes, and to gas up our cars. It has been a direct assault on the Canadian standard of living.
The fact that the Trudeau Liberals are behind the Carbon Tax is central to their collapsing poll numbers. And Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has capitalized on its unpopularity by pledging to “Axe the Tax” every chance he gets. Chances are that pledge will carry his party into the majority, whenever we get around to having an election.
That said, we must be careful because the Carbon Tax is just one part of Trudeau’s Net-Zero program. It would be a catastrophic blunder for the Conservatives, upon entering government, to repeal only the Carbon Tax and leave the rest of the Liberals’ green agenda in place. Doing so would jeopardize Poilievre’s ability to make life in Canada more affordable.
There are a whole raft of policies on this file which a Poilievre government should quickly repeal. Here are a few which ought to be at the top of the list:
Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR)
Trudeau’s Clean Fuel Regulations (CFR), which I’ve nicknamed the Second Carbon Tax, are designed to reduce the carbon intensity of fuels like gasoline and diesel by blending increased amounts of ethanol into those fuels, making them less efficient while potentially contributing to engine corrosion and other problems. Plus, it’s estimated that the CFR will raise gasoline prices between six and seventeen cents a litre by 2030. Which is to say, we’ll be paying more for fuel and getting less out of it.
And, like the original Carbon Tax, the cost of the CFR is felt beyond the pumps, with estimates suggesting it will increase household energy costs by between 2.2 and 6.5 percent a year, while also significantly constricting the growth of our economy. These regulations ought to be scrapped entirely.
Emissions Caps
As I’ve written elsewhere, the Trudeau government’s proposed Emissions Cap, which targets our nation’s oil and gas sector, “would make Canada the only country in the world which willingly and purposefully stifles its single largest revenue stream.” Oil and gas is our “golden goose,” according to a study by Jack Mintz and Philip Cross, but the Trudeau government is proposing a cap on that sector’s carbon emissions, which a recent Deloitte report found “would lead to a 10% decrease in Alberta’s oil production and a 16% decrease in conventional natural gas production.” That translates to an estimated decline of real GDP in Alberta of $191 billion, and of $91 billion in the rest of Canada.
This is madness, and that’s before we even touch on the fact that it will have no discernable impact on global carbon emissions. It merely ensures that the world’s energy needs will be met by less environmentally responsible nations like Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.
Electric Vehicle Mandates and Subsidies
Among the most reckless policies enacted by this government is Trudeau’s Electric Vehicle (EV) mandate, which bans the sale of new gas-and-diesel driven cars and trucks by 2035. I’ll say that again – in just under a decade, every new car and truck sold in Canada will have to be electric! This despite the fact that electric vehicles are notoriously bad at holding their charge in cold weather, one of our country’s trademarks.
And that’s assuming you can find a place to charge them. Natural Resources Canada estimates that we will need roughly 450,000 public charging stations by 2035 to make this EV transition at all realistic. At the moment we have about 28,000.
Plus, the wholesale adoption of EVs across Canada would put a tremendous strain on our electrical grid, especially at a time when the environmentalists have been pushing for a nationwide transition to less reliable methods of generating electricity, like wind and solar.
And then there’s the billions in subsidies which support the mandate. Federal and provincial taxpayer dollars are being thrown at automotive companies to underwrite their producing a product which taxpayers will then be forced to buy. It’s an outrageous example of double dipping.
Poilievre seems to understand this. He has called the EV mandate “a tax on the poor,” because of the elevated cost of an EV, compared to traditional vehicles, and he’s slammed the subsidies as bad deals for Canada.
Even so, when Trudeau has accused Poilievre of wanting to cancel the subsidies, Poilievre has tended to pivot to discussing the “generational” opportunity Canada has to start producing the minerals necessary for EV batteries, if only the Liberals would speed up the approval process for new mines.
That’s all well and good, except that the entire EV industry is built on subsidies and mandates. And even with those, countries around the world are finding that demand for EVs is much softer than anticipated. Some “generational” opportunity for Canada, to become a key link in the supply chain for a product that no one wants! Much better to change course, scrap the mandates and subsidies, and see if the industry can stand on its own two feet. Once consumers have shown that they’re willing to buy EVs, then we can talk.
And Many More…
Of course, repealing these policies is just scratching the surface. I could easily have written about the problems with Bill C-69, the so-called “no new pipelines bill;” Bill C-48, the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act which significantly reduces Canada’s ability to export our natural resources; or Bill C-59, which bans businesses from touting the environmental positives of their work if it doesn’t meet a government-approved standard.
The fact of the matter is, Canadians need a government that will not just pull down the low-hanging fruit of the Carbon Tax, but to “axe” the numerous Net-Zero policies, enacted by Trudeau’s and his environmentalist allies over the past nine years, which are making all of our lives more expensive.
Pierre Poilievre has his work cut out for him. Let’s all hope that he turns out to be the man we need him to be. We can’t afford anything less.
An Ontario man had his assisted suicide request approved after experiencing physical decline from what was labelled as post-COVID-19 “vaccination syndrome.” The case is an anomaly and the term remains up for debate.
The man, identified as “Mr. A,” had his request heard by multiple specialists who could not come to a consensus on whether his condition met the criteria of being “irremediable,” in other words, incurable.
Mr. A’s case was cited among others in a series of reports published by a 16-member review committee tasked with overseeing the government assisted suicide program earlier this year at the behest of Ontario’s Chief Coroner’s Office.
According to the reports, Mr. A was enduring “suffering and functional decline” after receiving three vaccinations for SARS-CoV-2.
His condition included depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and personality disorders, “while navigating his physical symptoms,” he was admitted to hospital multiple times, once involuntarily, with thoughts of suicide.
While his assessors could not arrive at a consensus, they “opined that the most reasonable diagnosis for Mr. A’s clinical presentation (severe functional decline) was a post-vaccine syndrome, in keeping with chronic fatigue syndrome.”
While assisted suicide was first legalized in 2016, only adults with incurable physical illnesses were included under the program’s requirements until March 2021 when Parliament passed an updated version of the law in the wake of a Superior Court of Quebec decision ruling that the mental illness provision was unconstitutional.
However, some members of the review panel questioned whether Mr. A’s mental illness should have made him ineligible, especially with a condition “previously unrecognized in medicine.”
Cases like Mr. A’s would file under the track two section of the assisted suicide program, which has been the subject of much debate. Under track two, patients whose natural deaths aren’t reasonably foreseeable but who also suffer from an intolerable condition may apply for an assisted death.
A coalition of disability rights organizations launched a Charter challenge against the federal government in Ontario’s Superior Court over track two last month.
The group filed a notice of application to challenge track two, which the group alleges has resulted in premature deaths.
Track two says that patients whose natural deaths aren’t reasonably foreseeable but who also suffer from an intolerable condition may apply for an assisted death.
Whereas, track one only includes assisted suicide applications from patients whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable.
The group argues that track two is an “abandonment” of those that they represent.
According to the death committee review, “only a small number of MAID (medical assistance in dying) deaths in Ontario have identified concerns,” and the deaths selected “are chosen for the ability to generate discussion, thought and considerations for practice improvement
A separate case discussed in the reports involved a man in his late 40s who suffered from severe ulcers and several mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, narcissistic personality disorder, bipolar disorder and chronic thoughts of suicide.
He had attempted suicide once before receiving assisted suicide.
Another case involved an unemployed man in his 40s with inflammatory bowel disease who was dependent on his family for housing and financial support.
He suffered from opioid addiction and alcoholism but was not offered addiction treatment following a psychiatric assessment but was instead offered assisted suicide.
After being provided information on euthanasia, his assisted suicide provider then personally drove the man to the location of his euthanization, which according to the report, multiple death review committee members believed to be a violation of professional boundaries akin to “hastening a person towards death.”
Other members viewed the provider’s actions as “helpful and compassionate.”
Further details on these cases cannot be made public due to confidentiality and respect for the families.
According to their report, “only a small number of MAID deaths in Ontario have identified concerns,” and the deaths selected “are chosen for the ability to generate discussion, thought and considerations for practice improvement.”
“These cases and the reports from the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario confirm what disability advocates and other critics have been saying for years: MAiD is disproportionately affecting the most marginalized,” Rebecca Vachon, Health Program Director at Cardus, a non-partisan think tank, told True North.
“This should prompt provincial and federal authorities to enact stronger monitoring and accountability mechanisms and, most importantly, to prioritize the care and supports that allow Canadians to live well and flourish, especially when facing difficult and complex medical conditions.”
Taiwan may be a small island nation, for instance, Ontario is 30 times larger than Taiwan in terms of land area, but Taiwan plays a crucial role in the global landscape. Taiwan has established itself as a highly developed economy with vibrant multiparty democracy. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, Taiwan has been recognized as Asia’s most democratic country.
Imagine a country so crucial that nearly 50 percent of global container shipping passes through the Strait of Taiwan daily, transporting goods including advanced chips vital for sectors such as automotive, electronics, and artificial intelligence. Taiwan, also with its advanced policing capabilities and commitment to combatting disinformation, is well-equipped to contribute critical intelligence to global law enforcement efforts.
However, Taiwan’s exclusion from the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) presents a significant gap in our global security framework. This exclusion undermines international efforts to address pressing issues such as cybercrime, human trafficking, and cross-border fraud.
By welcoming Taiwan into INTERPOL, Canada and other nations could leverage Taiwan’s expertise in foreign interference, anti-disinformation, human trafficking, telecom fraud, and cybercrime. Taiwan’s law enforcement agencies have demonstrated their capability in dismantling fraud syndicates and tracking money laundering operations effectively. For instance, this year Taiwan’s successful cooperation with the U.S. led to the dismantling of telecom fraud networks operating across Taiwan, the U.S. and Cambodia targeting Taiwanese and Chinese in the U.S. and Canada, intercepting over 1.26 million fraudulent calls daily.
This collaboration highlights Taiwan’s technical expertise and its commitment to global security. As cybercrime and transnational fraud continue to rise, integrating Taiwan’s law enforcement agencies into international crime-fighting mechanisms is essential for the global community.
In light of this, Canada and other like-minded countries are urged to advocate for Taiwan on the international stage and support its bid for observer status at the 92nd INTERPOL General Assembly in Glasgow, United Kingdom. By taking this action, you can enable Taiwan to participate in INTERPOL meetings, access the I-24/7 global police communications system, and benefit from INTERPOL training programs.
Currently, the status quo benefits China by blocking Taiwan’s recognition and inclusion, while also facilitating criminal activity. This situation is detrimental not only to Taiwanese law enforcement but, more importantly, to global security. It is crucial for countries worldwide to unite in order to protect their citizens.
Jin-Ling Chen is the Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Toronto.
The Trudeau government has granted Canada Post the ability to transport and store prohibited firearms with the aim to have the Crown corporation assist the Liberals in their gun buyback program.
According to an Order in Council dated Oct. 16, Canada Post will be permitted to remove prohibited assault-style firearms from safes at firearms retailers for their transportation and ultimately their disposal.
Under Ottawa’s so-called buyback program, over 1,500 models of firearms were banned by Order in Council, with the government initially granting amnesty to gun owners until May 1, 2022, a date which has since been extended to October 2025.
The mass ban resulted in weapons retailers being left on the hook with excess inventory and having to store the firearms securely until collection.
However, the program has already cost the federal government $42 million without any confiscations and certain estimates projecting the total cost of the program will surpass $1 billion.
“Once the program launches, the updated shipping regulations will make the affected firearms and devices mailable matter and will temporarily permit businesses taking part in the program to ship firearms or devices via post,” said a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, in a statement on Friday.
While LeBlanc had initially said that collection would begin this fall, the individual buyback program for people who own prohibited weapons won’t start until next year.
Canada Post said it is prepared to take part in the first phase of the buyback program involving weapons retailers in a recent statement.
However, the Crown corporation maintains that it will not be participating in phase two of the program, which involves individual gun owners.
Canada Post cited worries about potential conflicts between staff and gun owners who are frustrated with the confiscation of something they purchased and owned legally.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised the implementation of a buyback program in both the 2019 and 2021 elections. The deadline has been extended twice.
The Liberals now hope to finalize the program before the next general election, scheduled for October 2025.
Federal officials said that Canada Post would be the “least costly” and “most efficient” avenue to recover banned weapons.
At the upcoming UCP AGM in November, there is a strong desire from UCP members for the government to double down its support for parental rights by implementing additional policies in the classroom. Will Smith listen to UCP members if these resolutions pass?
Joining The Alberta Roundup today is Richard Dur, the Executive Director of Prolife Alberta and a seasoned campaigner in Alberta. Richard discusses why Smith should support for pro-life policies and if Smith will have enough support to continue her mandate as leader.
Tune into The Alberta Roundup with Isaac Lamoureux!
Almost one in two small businesses reported crime or safety-related issues in 2024, marking a sharp increase from the previous year.
A report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business reveals that 45% of small businesses faced incidents like vandalism, theft, and drug paraphernalia which affected not only their operations but also the mental well-being of employers and workers.
The CFIB reported that the incidents are impacting business finances and safety, with owners incurring a median cost of $5,000 over the past three years for repairs and crime prevention.
However, 68% of business owners avoid filing insurance claims, fearing hikes in already steep premiums. Additionally, only 33% of businesses reported being happy with police responses to reported crimes, and many feel their concerns are falling on deaf ears, as minor incidents are often deemed too small for urgent attention.
“Some security measures, while helpful and necessary, may come at a steep price, deter customer foot traffic and, as a result, lead to lower revenues,” said report co-author SeoRhin Yoo.
“Many businesses are already operating on thin profit margins, so just one crime incident could be make-or-break-for a small business owner.”
The CFIB report notes that businesses have adapted their operations in response to crime. About 50% have implemented safety measures that alter customer access, like locking doors or requiring appointments, and 67% resorted to spending money on more security.
However, these measures have also made it more challenging for customers to access stores, potentially reducing foot traffic and revenue.
The CFIB has called on governments to act, urging increased funding for security initiatives and efforts to address root causes such as affordable housing, mental health, and addiction support.
Additionally, 79% of business owners want more transparency in how public safety funds are allocated, expressing frustration that their tax dollars are not leading to improved community safety.
The report calls this surge in crime a “nightmare on Main Street,” pointing to the emotional toll on business owners and employees alike.
