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Saturday, July 5, 2025

Edmonton to teach kindergarteners “anti-racism” curriculum

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) has passed a motion to embed “anti-racism” into the kindergarten-to-grade 6 curriculum. 

According to a Dec. 14 agenda published by the Board of Trustees of Edmonton School Division One Kingsway, a motion by Trustee Julie Kusiek was passed on the matter. 

The motion calls on “the Edmonton Public Schools Board of Trustees (to) affirm advocacy for … anti-racism to be embedded within the K-6 curriculum.” 

According to the board’s website, “anti-racism” means “direct action to acknowledge where privilege exists, raise awareness, advocate for change, and challenge beliefs (such as prejudice, bias and stereotypes) at the personal and institutional level to create and implement action to fight racism for individuals and within an organization, workforce or group.”

“Racism can be perpetuated at the individual, institutional and systemic level and is rooted in historical oppression, white supremacy, and colonialism. Proactive action is required to create anti-racist environments.” 

In the recent past, “anti-racism” has become a lucrative field in its own right, with both public and private institutions adopting anti-racist bureaucracies and programs. 

Anti-racist thought is predicated on the left-wing idea that Western societies are systemically racist, that white people have inherent privileges and that colonial systems need to be dismantled in order to achieve equity. 

Critics of anti-racism and its associated pedagogical lenses – which include critical race theory –  have accused its advocates of endorsing a veiled form of racism under the guise of social justice. 

As exclusively reported by True North, Liberal MP Janica Atwin recently advocated in the House of Commons for Canadian kids to study “critical race theory” upon returning to school. 

“I want Canadian kids to feel good about going back to school and about planning their futures,” Atwin said.” We need them to study engineering, science, sustainable agriculture and critical race theory. We need them to embrace their role in the transition that is under way. I want them to trust in their government and feel comfort in our demonstrated actions.”

While education is a provincial jurisdiction, many school boards including the Toronto District School Board have already implemented critical-race-theory-based policies. 

“School boards in the GTA, many run by woke activists, are already trying to indoctrinate kids as young as kindergarten with this very dangerous CRT philosophy, which is divisive and racist in its selectivity,” said True North columnist Sue-Ann Levy. 

Three Canadian universities cancel in-person exams because of COVID-19

By
Jonathan Bradley
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A growing number of universities across Canada have discontinued in-person exams due to rising COVID-19 cases among students. 

These include Queen’s University in Ontario, the University of Victoria in British Columbia and St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.

Queen’s University announced on Sunday that “(a)ll remaining in-person exams scheduled for the remainder of the examination period to Dec. 22 will be changed to an alternative delivery format wherever possible. Should an alternative delivery not be possible, then exams will be rescheduled in the new year.”

Queen’s students were told they would be contacted by their departments with more details. The announcement did not apply to online exams, which will “proceed as planned.” 

Exams scheduled for Dec. 13 and 14 would be rescheduled for a later date to provide faculty with time to change to a different format. 

Queen’s announcement included a recommendation from Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington (KFL&A) Public Health that all students should be tested for COVID-19 before leaving for the winter break “(d)ue to the prevalence of the Omicron variant.” 

Other Canadian universities have taken a similar approach. 

The University of Victoria (UVic) has also cancelled all in-person exams because of increasing COVID-19 cases on campus.

UVic said it made this decision based on advice from public health officials who are concerned about a “new trend” in COVID-19 cases. 

As with Queen’s, Uvic students will be writing exams online or in another format, and  professors will be contacting students about how their exams will be held. 

St. Francis Xavier University cancelled in-person exams because of a Nova-Scotia-wide COVID-19 outbreak as of Friday. 

All contacts close to this outbreak, regardless of vaccine status, have been told to self-isolate until receiving a negative test. 

“For clarity, public health reiterated that in-person exams are safe; however, this new provincewide change will almost assuredly increase the number of students required to isolate and test, affecting their ability to attend an in-person exam,” said St. FX vice-president, academic and provost Timothy Hynes. “Staff and faculty are likely to be impacted as well.”

National Defence warns of career consequences for unvaccinated CAF members

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

The Department of National Defence (DND) has confirmed that unvaccinated members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who have not received exemptions or accommodations for the COVID-19 vaccine could face serious consequences for their careers. 

According to a DND spokesperson, the vaccination mandate that went into effect in October applies to all CAF members “whether they telework or not,” and that those who do not comply with the order could be “subject to remedial measures and other potential administrative action.”

“Additionally, a Canadian Armed Forces member’s unvaccinated status may have additional consequential career implications, including loss of opportunities contributing to promotion, which are outside of Canadian Armed Forces control,” the DND spokesperson told True North. 

“Examples may include the inability to attend career courses, deployments, domestic and international exercises, and OUTCAN (outside-of-Canada) postings owing to domestic and international travel restrictions and other nations’ entry requirements.”

True North was shown an unclassified National Defence document by a source who wishes to remain anonymous. The document outlines the treatments to which unvaccinated men and women in uniform are currently being subject. 

It notes that unvaccinated CAF members “will not be granted voluntary release of (leave without pay) or (exemption from duty and training) to avoid administrative action related to this directive.” 

As exclusively reported by True North in November, unvaccinated soldiers could ultimately be facing an “unsuitable for further service” release from the CAF which would remain on their military record.

The unclassified document also states that the deadline for CAF members to submit a voluntary release from their service – which would not bear the same consequences as the “unsuitable for further service” release – was the very same day that the vaccination directive was given by the acting Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). 

“Any request for Voluntary Release initiated by non-compliant members prior to 8 OCT 21 (date the CDS Directive was issued) may proceed,” the document reads. “Any requests from non-compliant members after that date will not be accepted, and those members will be subject to the administrative action process outlined in this order.”

This essentially means that unvaccinated CAF members have no way out of their service other than being subject to a disciplinary administrative process. 

According to DND, that process includes being issued a “Recorder Warning” for conduct and a three-month monitoring period. The CAF can also cut this three-month period short after “seven days of non-compliance (i.e. have not booked a vaccination appointment)” after which “it will be considered a repeat of the deficiency.” This means the remaining two months and three weeks would be cancelled. 

“As for those who suggest this is a punitive approach, the Canadian Armed Forces is an organization predicated on teamwork and keeping Canadians safe,” a DND spokesperson told True North. 

“Members of the Canadian Armed Forces have a duty to maintain their operational readiness and preserve their ability to serve Canadians at home and support our Allies and partners abroad.”

According to the DND, 94% of eligible CAF members are fully vaccinated as of Dec. 10. Additionally, a recent amendment to the directive has extended the period for exemption requests from the vaccine policy to December 18, 2021.

Those who are seeking exemptions and accommodations will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. 

Many Canadians don’t ask or care about vaccination status of family and friends

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

More than a third of Canadians are not bothered by family members or friends being unvaccinated, a new poll shows. 

The new Leger survey commissioned by the Association for Canadian Studies (ACS) reveals that nearly 40% of the population knows somebody on a personal level who remains unvaccinated.

The majority of that segment, numbering in at 70%, have stopped discussing the issue with them. 

Broken down even further, 35% say that being unvaccinated “is not an issue” and that they are fine with the personal choices of their relatives and peers. Meanwhile, 50% stated that they have simply stopped trying to persuade the unvaccinated to get the COVID-19 shot.

“It’s better to take a softer approach,” ACS CEO Jack Jedwab told the Canadian Press. “There’s not tremendous value in taking a hardline approach.”

The survey was conducted between Dec. 3 and Dec. 5 and included 1,500 Canadians.

Regionally, Canadians from Saskatchewan and Manitoba scored the highest when it comes to having unvaccinated relatives or friends. 

Those from Atlantic Canada were most likely to terminate relationships over vaccination status, while Canadians from Quebec were more likely to try to persuade their peers to get the vaccine. 

Residents from the Prairies were the most likely to answer that “it’s fine” for their friends and family to remain unvaccinated. 

As of Dec. 13, government data shows that over 76% of Canadians have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Based on current population estimates, this means that nearly 10 million Canadians remain unvaccinated. 

Unvaccinated Canadians face a number of restrictions including not being able to board a plane or a train. As exclusively reported by True North, there are only nine other countries with more restrictive COVID-19 measures than Canada. Authoritarian regimes such as China, Russia and Iran were all found to have more permissive social and medical policies.

True North’s Investigative Reporting EXPOSES Critical Race Theory in Canada

By
Candice Malcolm
-

If it weren’t for independent media and outlets like True North, Canadians — and specifically Canadian parents — would have little idea about the racist and radical far-left ideology that is being pushed in our schools.

Canadians have the right to know, and True North has been on the front lines in reporting these poisonous practices over the past year.

Today on The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by True North journalist Sue-Ann Levy. The two of them discuss Levy’s original reporting since joining True North earlier this year, and they look ahead at what is on the horizon in 2022.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

Poilievre calls for Trudeau to cancel all Jan. 1 tax increases

By
Jonathan Bradley
-

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to take action in the upcoming economic update to cancel tax increases and counter inflation, said Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre at a press conference on Sunday. 

“Inflation is always the result of too many dollars chasing too few goods,” said Poilievre. “And thus it is here again with Trudeau’s inflation tax.” 

Poilievre said the Canadian government needs to cancel all tax increases that are scheduled for Jan. 1. Among these are payroll taxes and the carbon tax. 

Poilievre argued that increases to the payroll tax would punish workers for working and employers for hiring. There are currently one million jobs in Canada that remain unfilled. 

He went on to say that increases to payroll taxes demonstrate the irony of Trudeau’s economy by paying people not to work and punishing them when they do. 

Poilievre added that the carbon tax should not go up because people are struggling to fuel their cars and heat their homes and that the government needs to phase out the deficits that are fuelling inflation. 

He stated that Trudeau needs to cancel the $100 billion in spending that he plans to add to pre-existing budgets, end all permanent new programs and bring spending back to pre-COVID-19 levels. 

Poilievre said the temporary additional funding was necessary during lockdowns, but now spending has to go back to normal, and deficits need to drop to zero. 

“Conservatives demand a clear plan to eliminate the inflationary deficits that are driving up the cost of living,” he said. “Our demands are very simple: less tax, less deficits, less inflation, more paycheques.”

Canada’s inflation rate hit an 18-year high of 4.7% in October, according to Statistics Canada. 

This inflation rate is the highest the country has seen since February 2003. 

Statistics Canada also reported that all eight categories of goods tracked by the department have been affected by rising costs. 

Denise Batters defiant after national council rules petition against O’Toole invalid

By
Jonathan Bradley
-

Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Senator Denise Batters fired back at her party’s leadership on Sunday, saying the CPC national council must listen to its members and force Erin O’Toole to face an early leadership review.

Batters made the statement after receiving an email from CPC president Robert Batherson the same day. The letter stated that the national council had found Batters’s petition for an early leadership review to be “invalid.”

Batters launched the petition in November, calling for O’Toole to face a leadership review in six months rather than at the 2023 Conservative convention. 

According to Batters, Batherson’s email provided no justification for the ruling other than a brief reference to his original statement. 

“Once again, Mr. Batherson’s response to the serious concerns of our party’s members is dismissive and perfunctory,” she said. 

Batherson had said in his original statement that it was wrong of Batters to launch the petition. 

“The question you are proposing to ask in a referendum does not adhere to the constitution of the Conservative Party of Canada,” he said. “Your petition is not in order as it does not adhere to sections 7, 10, and 12 of the constitution.” 

Batherson claimed that under Article 10.8 of the constitution, a leadership selection process could be launched when the leader dies or retires, resigns or more than 50% of votes cast at a national convention are for replacing the leader. 

Batherson said in a statement emailed to True North on Sunday that the national council had decided to reject Batters’s petition after a review by the legal affairs committee and with guidance provided by the party’s lawyers. 

“National council has a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the constitution,” Batherson said. “The specific vote of national council will be communicated as part of the national council minutes, in accordance with Article 8.9 of the constitution.”  

Batherson said O’Toole neither voted on the matter nor was present for discussions. 

Former CPC national councilor Marilyn Elliott had sent the council a letter on Dec. 3 that argued Batters’s petition was valid. 

Batherson said in response to Elliott’s letter that the national council considers any concerns brought forward, but that they have to follow the constitution. He added the Conservatives are not holding a leadership review for O’Toole in the next six months as the petition demanded because the constitution states that national conventions where members can vote on a leader are held every two years. 

Batters said Batherson’s email leaves too many questions unanswered. 

“Less than one month after my petition at membersvote.ca was launched, already more than 7,100 supporters have signed it,” she said. “We will continue these efforts to ensure our members have their say not only on Mr. O’Toole’s leadership, but also on the future direction of our party.” 

The Conservative constitution states a referendum on any matter can be held if 5% of party members in five provinces sign a petition requesting the party to poll the membership on the topic. 

Batters blamed O’Toole for the Conservatives losing the last election, claiming he “flip-flopped on policies core to (the) party within the same week, the same day, and even within the same sentence.” 

O’Toole kicked Batters out of the national caucus the following day. 

Critical race theory is in Canada – and here’s what’s wrong with it

By
Candice Malcolm
-

What do you call someone who says we should judge people based on their skin colour and that we should devise laws and rules that treat people differently based on their race? 

We used to call these people “racists.” But in 2021, they call themselves “anti-racists” and if you disagree with them, then they call you a racist. 

This, in a nutshell, is Critical Race Theory (CRT) — the latest fad on the left that is popping up all over the country.

As reported by True North’s Sue Ann Levy (long-time Sun columnist who recently retired and began writing for True North, that is) an Ontario public sector union will soon vote on whether to give black employees two extra days off per year. 

Likewise, the Halton School Board recently implemented “weighted voting” — where non-white members’ votes count for more than their white colleagues. And Ottawa schools are debating no longer signing “O Canada” because some believe the song represents racism. 

These are all instances of CRT creeping into our society. But it gets worse. The ideology behind these initiatives is now being taught to children. 

Levy also reported that the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board will be teaching a new “anti-racist” lesson plan to kids starting in Kindergarten. 

The program — called “Learn.Disrupt.Rebuild” — demands that teachers “bring race into the conversation” and teach them that racism is a defining part of our society. 

They teach trendy leftists concepts like “white privilege” and “white fragility” and they tell children that Canada was built to “serve the interests of white people.”

This is a core belief held by those pushing CRT. They reject the idea that Canada and other Western liberal democracies were built on principles like justice, peace, freedom and equality, and instead insist they were built on concepts like racism, colonialism and White Supremacy. They argue that our systems and institutions are so steeped in racism that they must be torn down and rebuilt on the basis of equity – the idea that different people need different levels of support based on the colour of their skin.

I spoke to one of the foremost critics of CRT, a Brampton-based independent writer and scholar named Samuel Sey. Sey runs the website www.SlowToWrite.com where he has thoughtful essays exposing and dissecting this ideology.

Sey was a recent guest on my podcast, and he explained that “equity is borrowed from the Marxist concept of equality of outcome.”

“In fact, when we hear the term ‘woke’ which is associated with Critical Race Theory, it’s really a modern version of class consciousness, where the oppressed become conscious of their oppression — that’s really what it means to be woke.” 

“With Critical Race Theory, what they believe is that all non-white people are oppressed, therefore they want to make all non-white people ‘woke’ or conscious of their oppression and to advocate to change all our our system and institutions,” said Sey. 

“They reject these good systems — the ones that I, as an immigrant, left my country with my mum to come to Canada to be privileged to be a part of — these free and impartial systems that we have in Canada. They want to abolish all of that,” he said. 

Sey has a different perspective. He told me that 200 years ago, some of his ancestors were captured in Africa and sold into slavery in the New World. They crossed the Atlantic as prisoners on slaves ships. 

Two hundred years later, Sey and his mother “willingly, happily” chose to cross the same Atlantic ocean “to come to this great country.”

“That’s progress,” he said. But added that CRT ignores real progress and instead teaches that “Canada is racist, Canada has always been racist and Canada will always be racist.”

“That’s wrong,” he told me, and encouraged people to reject this racist way of thinking.

Majority of Canadians are ready to live with COVID-19

By
Anthony Furey
-

In the face of all the fear-mongering about the omicron variant, a new poll reveals Canadians just aren’t all that COVID concerned anymore. They’re ready to move on.

According to Maru Public Opinion, the majority of Canadians aren’t going to stay home more and aren’t cancelling their travel plans.

Anthony Furey discusses in his latest video.

LEVY: Nooobody was like Mayor Mel Lastman

By
Sue-Ann Levy
-

Always flamboyant, forever committed to his beloved city’s success and never forgetful of the constituents who helped make him the politician he was, a true Toronto legend has left us.

Megacity Mel Lastman, Mayor Mel  – or as I like to call him, Melski – passed away from heart failure at the age of 88 on Saturday.

Among the tributes that flowed in his honour Sunday, the themes were consistent. During his more than 30 years in politics, he was dedicated to improving both North York and post-amalgamation Toronto, a mentor to many and a true retail politician who loved helping his constituents and loved getting things done.

I got to know Mayor Mel in early 1998 when I was sent to City Hall as the new post-amalgamation columnist for the Toronto Sun. Of the four mayors I ended up covering over my 20 years there, none was as colourful, was more devoted to putting Toronto on the map or better understood the political big picture than Mayor Mel.

He never forgot his humble working-class beginnings before building up a chain of furniture stores – reflected in part by his determination to give residents of the newly minted megacity a 0% tax increase for the first three years.

Winning as the first mayor of the megacity in a hard-fought race against Toronto’s socialist mayor Barbara Hall was easy in comparison to knitting six different cities with six different cultures and the egos of six different mayors together.

In a retrospective done to mark the 20th anniversary of the megacity in 2018, those politicians involved in the early days – and Mayor Mel himself – admitted to me it was a “huge challenge,” especially since the new city started with no structure whatsoever.

As mayor of North York, he’d not only developed the downtown but also gave his constituents such perks as twice-weekly garbage pickups – services the cash-poor and debt-ridden downtown Toronto was never able to provide because its politicians were too involved in funding socialist pet projects.

But Mayor Mel knew it was important to have smart and insightful people around him to steer the ship, including his loyal deputy mayor Case Ootes and his chiefs of staff, Rod Phillips (now Ontario Minister of Long-Term Care) and Alan Slobodsky, who tragically passed away in 2016 from pancreatic cancer.

He was also adept at making the left on council feel as much a part of the political process as the right, without pandering to their agendas.

At times, the Mel-o-dramas heightened the chaos–craziness I remember with fondness. There was the time during the 2002 SARs outbreak when Megacity Mel went on CNN, irate with travel advisories not to come to Toronto, and asked the interviewer, “who was the WHO (to presume to criticize his beloved city)?”

He had a close encounter with a member of the Hell’s Angel which was caught on camera. Worried that the yet-to-be-harmonized snow clearing services couldn’t handle the deluge of snowstorms in the winter of 1999, he called in the Canadian Army to help. 

But ever-insightful about what he needed to do to bring the city together, he opted to march in his first Gay Pride parade in June of 1998, admitting to me afterwards he had incredible fun.

Always the salesman, nooobody since has come up with such wacky ideas to sell Toronto as Mayor Mel. There was the infamous Toronto Outdoor Art Moose-eum in 2000, which lined the city’s streets with about 400-500 moose. He also created an Official Toronto Millennium Coin – a $5 coin that featured the Toronto skyline on the front and Mel’s head on the back (with all proceeds going to charity).

Long after he’d retired from politics in 2003, Mayor Mel came out to canvas with me in September 2009 when I ran for Conservative MPP in St. Paul’s. Wherever we went that day, he was approached by adoring fans who wanted to tell him how much they appreciated his devotion to the city. A few days after we canvassed together, he contacted me with another idea for a campaign press event on the HST.

He was just that kind of mensch.

Melski will be sorely missed.

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