Why is it illegal to protest outside a hospital, but not illegal to block highways, pipelines and forestry projects?
Why is the radical left allowed to wreak havoc on the economy, stop critical infrastructure and block blue collar and First Nations workers from accessing their job sites? Why are radical environmentalists allowed to break the law with impunity?
On today’s episode of The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by British Columbia independent journalist and aspiring politician Aaron Gunn to talk about the total absence of common sense in today’s politics.
China is currently manipulating Canadian media using foreign interference tactics, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned.
The warning stems from a briefing CSIS Director David Vigneault had with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few months ago. The intelligence agency cautioned that interference by foreign powers in Canada’s affairs has become “more sophisticated, frequent, and insidious.”
According to briefing memos obtained by the CBC, Chinese-Canadian media outlets are a prime target for communist China’s propaganda.
“In particular, PRC media influence activities in Canada have become normalized,” the memo states.
“Chinese-language media outlets operating in Canada and members of the Chinese-Canadian community are primary targets of PRC-directed foreign influenced activities.”
The buck doesn’t stop at diaspora media, however. CSIS spokesperson John Townsend warned that China’s foreign influence operations have also targeted legacy media outlets to spread coverage favourable to Xi Jinping’s authoritarian regime.
“Mainstream news outlets, as well as community sources, may also be targeted by foreign states who attempt to shape public opinion, debate, and covertly influence participation in the democratic process,” Townsend told the CBC.
“Considering Canada’s rich multicultural makeup, foreign states may try to leverage or coerce individuals within communities to help influence to their benefit what is being reported by Canadian media outlets.”
The latest target of a foreign interference campaign was former Steveston–Richmond East Conservative MP Kenny Chiu, who faced a targeted misinformation operation during the 2021 federal election.
Various Chinese-language outlets and social media groups on the popular app WeChat falsely painted Chiu and the Conservatives as being anti-Chinese.
In reality, the Conservative Party has taken a hard line against human rights abuses perpetrated by the communist Chinese regime against the country’s Uighur and Turkestani minorities.
“If that’s the normal behaviour, then we should really become concerned,” said Chiue.
“I just felt, first of all, very sad. I feel ridiculous. I feel sad because some of my fellow Canadians of Chinese descent, why would they even believe in this information?”
Chiu narrowly lost the election to Liberal candidate Parm Bains.
Toronto’s Jewish advocacy groups are speaking out against a report calling for Toronto District School Board (TDSB) trustee Alexandra Lulka to be reprimanded publicly.
The report and its recommendation came after Lulka spoke out on Twitter against a series of anti-Israel manuals produced by a TDSB equity employee.
The fifty-page report was released Friday and penned by integrity commissioner Suzanne Craig. Craig concedes that while some of the materials in the manuals can be considered anti-Semitic, Lulka erred in that she failed to note the books’ “positive educational value.”
An outside investigator – hired by Craig in July and characterized as “independent” – also claimed that Lulka’s Twitter statement perpetuated several harmful and recurring “stereotypes” about Palestinians and/or Muslims.
Lulka never mentioned either group in the May 23 statement.
Lulka was also called out for retweeting one of my exclusive stories on the manuals, which were sent to an opt-in list of teachers by self-described “gay Latine transformer” and equity employee Javier DaVila.
I myself combed through both manuals in May and did not find much positive in either of them. Besides recommending a documentary and a book about a terrorist, children’s books that characterize Israelis as thieves and murderers and giving advice on how to teach students about the hateful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, the rest of the content is thoroughly biased against Israel.
DaVila attempted to offset the inflammatory nature of the manuals by including input from fringe group Independent Jewish Voices.
Ontario MPP Gila Martow, who has created a Working Group Against Jew Hatred, said it’s not enough that the TDSB has allowed anti-Semitism to fester in its schools. They have also engaged in a “brazen attempt” to “criminalize” Jewish community supporters such as Lulka for calling out racism.
Noah Shack of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) says Lulka is subjected to a double standard for being expected to highlight positive elements in the very manuals that have anti-Semitic materials.
“All too often a double standard has been applied when it comes to anti-Semitism within the TDSB and the impact of Jew-hatred is erased or excused,” he said.
Michael Mostyn, CEO of B’nai Brith, called the TDSB report a “brazen attack on the rights of every Canadian Jew” as well as deeply “legally flawed” which raises an “apprehension of bias.”
Craig points out in her report that some of DaVila’s materials “could reasonably be seen as contributing to anti-Semitism” and that “even one article with anti-Semitic materials” is too many for Canada’s largest school board.
Bizarrely, Craig went on to conclude that Lulka is nevertheless worthy of censure because she should have been “clearer that the majority of the materials were educational and not problematic.”
The investigator behind the report was Morgan Sim of Parker Sim LLP, whom Craig cited. Sim was hired to look into whether Lulka’s tweet had shown discrimination against Muslims and Palestinians, and whether the author of the manuals had been subject to harassment.
Asked how Sim was selected, TDSB spokesman Ryan Bird said it was based on her human rights “experience and expertise,” particularly with respect to municipal law.
A review of Sim’s personal Twitter page revealed some troubling positions, however. Besides supporting defunding the police and approving of anti-Israel tweets posted during the May conflict, she also “liked” tweets promoting a violent rally on May 15 at Nathan Phillips Square which saw several Jews cornered and beaten by pro-Palestinian supporters.
Craig refused to provide the cost of Sim’s investigation, saying it would be contained in an annual report to the board sometime next year.
Bird confirmed that no other trustees have been censured or the subject of an integrity report during the current term.
The report will be considered at the TDSB’s regular board meeting Wednesday.
After two elections in which the People’s Party of Canada won no seats, 95.6% of PPC members voted to keep Maxime Bernier at the helm of the party. Bernier joined True North’s The Andrew Lawton Show to discuss the results and the PPC’s plans moving forward.
A report by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) warns against the use of the Moderna vaccine for boys and men between the ages of 12 and 29 due to the risk of heart inflammation.
In Canada, over four million people have already received a shot of the Moderna vaccine.
As first revealed by Blacklock’s Reporter, NACI stated in an Updated Recommendation that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is preferred over the Moderna shot due to data on myocarditis/pericarditis coming out of countries like Israel.
The reported rates of myocarditis among males aged 18 to 29 after the second vaccine dose were 15.9 per 100,000 for the Moderna vaccine and 2.6 per 100,000 for the Pfizer,” the NACI wrote.
This amounts to a risk of myocarditis six times higher for Moderna. The report also states that “(i)ndividuals aged 12 to 29 years who have already received the Moderna 100mcg vaccine do not need to be concerned, as the risk of myocarditis/pericarditis with this vaccine is rare and events usually occur within a week following vaccination.”
According to the Public Health Agency (PHAC), there have been 1,376 reported cases of myocarditis, most often in 27-year-old males.
“For individuals aged 12 to 29 receiving a COVID-19 vaccine primary series the use of Pfizer-BioNtech is preferred to Moderna to start or continue.”
NACI also stated that the affected group should wait eight weeks between Pfizer doses to lower the risk of cardiac inflammation.
“A longer interval between doses is associated with higher vaccine effectiveness and potentially lowers risk of myocarditis,” the Committee wrote.
They added that the risk of recurrence of myocarditis following additional (third and more) doses of COVID-19 vaccines was unknown. “Very few cases of revaccination in these individuals have been described in published studies” their report read.
On recovery rates, the Committee cited US data that shows that those who did experience heart inflammation recovered in 91% of cases after three months.
To date, PHAC has reported 27,747 “adverse events” of Canada’s 30.2 million COVID-19 vaccinations, 6,443 of which were considered to be serious.
Public health officials in Windsor, Ont., will once again be putting in place restrictions to “address (a) surge” in pre-holiday cases of COVID-19, according to a press release on Sunday.
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) has identified social gatherings as “an area of significant concern” regarding COVID-19 transmission.
WECHU Medical Officer of Health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai said interventions are necessary to prevent cases from becoming higher..
“We are very worried that we are already seeing this surge of cases in advance of the holiday season and its associated social gatherings,” said Nesathurai. “Immediate action needs to be taken by all residents to address the known sources of transmission which are social gatherings, both in homes and in the community.”
These restrictions include limiting gatherings to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. There will be added measures for wedding receptions, funerals and religious services.
Total occupancy for bars and restaurants will be limited to 50%. This includes strict mask mandates in public settings.
WECHU CEO Nicole Dupuis said with the recent surge in cases, the region needs to respond to contain the spread of COVID-19.
“These additional measures are necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community,” said Dupuis. “We will continue to review regularly and adjust based on our local data.”
The WECHU said that these measures will come into effect on Friday.
Restrictions were implemented on indoor social gatherings in residences within Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (KFL&A) region on Nov. 27.
KFL&A’s order mandates that no person can attend or host an indoor social gathering in a residence with more than 10 people.
Hosts have also been required to keep a list of names and contact information when having social gatherings. They are expected to give KFL&A Public Health this information within 24 hours if it is requested for contact tracing.
Vancouver public school officials have placed restrictions on a Catholic students club, requiring its members to have “general discussions” rather than share their faith with fellow students.
Grade 11 Eric Hamber Secondary School student Timothy Que founded the Catholic Club last month. The restrictions were imposed soon after B.C. Catholic – an online publication – ran a story on the club on Nov. 15.
Que said he learned that people had contacted the Vancouver School Board (VSB) to complain about the club.
“It’s disappointing,” Que told the B.C. Catholic. “All I really wanted to do is to just teach Catholic teachings.”
He said the officials’ order means the Catholic Club will have to limit its weekly meetings to socializing and general discussion about Catholicism.
Que had originally said that the purpose of the Catholic Club was “to help people get holier and teach the teachings of the Catholic Church.”.
Former VSB chair Patti Bacchus tweeted about the story on Nov. 17.
“I’m pretty sure this does not comply with the B.C. School Act or district policy,” said Bacchus.
The VSB said in a statement emailed to True North on Monday that on all matters regarding religion, the district is guided by the School Act.
Section 76 of the act states all schools “must be conducted on strictly secular and non-sectarian principles.” The act goes on to say that while proper morals are expected, “no religious dogma or creed is to be taught in a school.”
In terms of allowing “general discussions,” the VSB also referred to its Administrative Procedure 207, Conduct Related to Sectarian and Non-Sectarian Principles, which “provides for the thoughtful exploration of religious values and beliefs in the context of learning, and permits voluntarily attended activities which inform, but do not recruit or indoctrinate students, outside of regular instructional hours.”
The VSB said that while clubs that proselytize are prohibited, it complies with the British Columbia Human Rights Code not to discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion.
Que said he expected some reaction to the founding of the club, but “it’s been kind of crazy.” He said a school administrator visited the club who told them that its members “weren’t allowed to evangelize.”
Que’s priest at Holy Name of Jesus Parish Father Rodney Nootebos told the B.C. Catholic that he was disappointed to learn of the restrictions. Nootebos said it seems “ridiculous” to place restrictions on a Catholic club when other ones related to an ideology – such as LGBTQ+ – are allowed.
“And yet you cannot have a club that is devoted to something that is precious and integral to many peoples’ daily life,” Nootebos said. “I think it’s an absurdity and very sad.”
Students at Eric Hamber formed 68 clubs in the 2019-2020 school year. These clubs include issue-oriented clubs such as Project Poverty, LGBTQ+ Art, Environmental, Diversity and Animal Compassion.
Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School, which is nearby, has a Jewish Cultural Club.
The VSB requires all secondary schools to support students in forming gay or gay-straight alliance clubs.
Major legacy media outlets – including CBC News, Global News, CTV News, the Globe and Mail and others – failed to disclose the Pfizer Pharmaceuticals funding a prominent BC pediatrician had received for various research studies, while at the same time citing him as an expert on COVID-19 vaccines and child vaccination.
Dr. Manish Sadarangani is a pediatric infectious disease physician and director of the BC Children’s Hospital’s Vaccine Evaluation Centre.
According to various citations, Dr. Sadarangani’s research has benefited from “investigator-initiated research grants” from Pfizer – one of the leading COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers.
Dr. Sadarangani’s Pfizer funding ties were most recently named in a research study published in the journal Vaccine on October 8, 2021. The study involved Canadian parents’ perceptions of COVID-19 vaccination. Its declaration of competing interests states that Dr. Sadarangani “has been an investigator on projects funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi-Pasteur, Seqirus, Symvivo and VBI Vaccines.”
“All funds have been paid to his institute, and he has not received any personal payments,” the declaration notes. Similar statements are made in other disclosures regarding Dr. Sadarangani’s funding.
Other places where Dr. Sadarangani’s research funding from Pfizer is mentioned include a 2016 article of his own which was published on the Conversation, a 2018 BCCDC presentation by Dr. Sadarangani and a 2018 study in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society “potential conflicts of interest” section.
True North reached out to Dr. Sadarangani but did not receive a response by deadline.
The most recent appearance by Dr. Sadarangani was in an October 7, 2021 article by CTV News on child COVID-19 research.
“We’ve got about 1,500 (subjects), so we’re still looking for around another 1,000 people, and we ideally really want to get these in as soon as possible, but definitely before the vaccine program extends to this pediatric age group,” Dr. Sadrangani is quoted as saying.
In November, Health Canada authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for use on children between the ages of five and 11.
Even in articles that mention Pfizer vaccines directly, Dr. Sadarangani’s Pfizer research grants are not disclosed.
“Some vaccines do need a bit more because they need a bit more to stimulate their immune systems than adults do. And some vaccines, they need a bit less,” Sadarangani said regarding vaccine dosing for kids in a CBC News article.
According to search results, Dr. Sadarangani’s name in reference to COVID-19 turns up at least eight times in CTV News, seven times in Global News, three times in CBC News and three times in the Globe and Mail, all without disclosing the Pfizer grants.
True North asked all of these media outlets why the Pfizer grants were not disclosed in their reports, but only the CBC responded by publication time.
CBC’s Head of Public Affairs Chuck Thompson told True North that Dr. Sadarangani is among “various subject matter experts” the outlet has used to help readers make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He is a pediatric infectious disease specialist who is currently leading research that is testing children across B.C. for COVID-19 antibodies to understand asymptomatic infections and better estimate the true infection rate among younger people,” said Thompson.
“Dr. Sadarangani’s commentary does not promote Pfizer nor has he received any personal payments from them. The research money was given to institutions.”
Many of the same outlets have cited other experts funded by Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers such as AstraZeneca, also without disclosing their funding in the recent past. As exclusively reported by True North, major national media outlets such as CTV News, CBC, Global News, the Toronto Star, and the Globe and Mail did not reveal that prominent University of Calgary Professor and pediatrician Dr. Jim Kellner has received nearly $2 million in funding from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals since 2014 while pushing child vaccination. The latest spate of Pfizer funding for Dr. Kellner’s research is worth $787,004 and is allocated until the year 2022.
All the major political parties in Canada used to talk a good game about protecting our ancient liberties.
The Liberals used to boast to frequently remind us that THEY are the party of the Charter, and they therefore guard it more fiercely than their political opponents. The Conservatives used to hold up freedom as their top moral value. Free markets, freedom of speech, religious freedoms – these used to be core conservative values. Even the NDP was once the party of civil liberties.
But in the era of all powerful public health officials and heavy-handed health edicts, champions of our rights and freedoms are few and far between.
On today’s episode of The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by True North’s newest journalist, Dr. Harley Sims. They talk about the importance of being vigilant to protect our civil liberties and what Harley will be doing at True North.
Canadians could see ballooning grocery prices for the “foreseeable future,” a federal agricultural bank is warning.
Farm Credit Canada made the prediction in their Quarterly Economic And Financial Market Update, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
The bank named the supply chain crisis and labour shortages as two reasons for growing prices.
“We believe food inflation will remain elevated for the foreseeable future,” stated the report. “As supply chain disruptions and labour challenges ease and the supply of agricultural commodities rebounds we should record lower food inflation. The difficult question is around the timeline associated with a return to average inflationary pressures.”
Farm Credit noted that agricultural producers are facing inflationary rates well above the current Consumer Price Index average of 4.7%.
“Food manufacturers have passed on a net price increase of over 8.1 percent year over year through three quarters of the year, and manufacturing margins are now estimated to be back to 2019 levels,” analysts wrote.
“Food inflation has been rising in response to higher input costs and labour challenges. Challenging crop conditions in large portions of North America and Central Asia have contributed to tighter supplies and higher commodity prices.”
Instead of dealing with the inflation crisis, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be imposing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate on transport truck drivers which is predicted to cause further supply shortages across the country.
Last week, truckers associations from Canada and the US raised the alarm that such mandates could plunge the state of supply chains into deeper disarray.
“We know that there already is disruption in the supply chain; this is going to intensify it,” said President and Chief Executive of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) Stephen Laskowksi.
Similarly, American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear warned that a mandate imposed by US President Joe Biden could be devastating for the economy.
“Given the nature of our industry and makeup of our workforce, (it) could have devastating impacts on the supply chain and the economy,” Spear said.
Certain grocery goods like oranges are up as high as 17%, while the price of chicken has shot up 28% and butter has spiked by 42% according to Statistics Canada’s latest economic snapshot.
