The CRA is quietly operating a pilot project to roll out automatic tax filings on behalf of Canadians. They say this is because Canadians are “missing out on benefits” but everyone and their mother knows that’s not true. This is a cash grab and a power grab rolled into one.
The CRA has proven time and time again that they are incapable of doing their job despite having over 60,000 bureaucrats. If they can’t do their existing jobs, they can’t be tasked with filing taxes on behalf of Canadians.
On the latest episode of The Faulkner Show, Harrison is joined by Franco Terrazzano, the Federal Director of the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation.
Following an investigation into Bedford Elementary School in Montreal, Quebec, 11 teachers have been suspended for “introducing Islamist religious concepts” into school contrary to the province’s secular requirements, which resulted in reports of neglect and abuse.
Quebec Education Minister Bernard Drainville announced the suspension of the 11 teachers involved in the investigation on Tuesday and called for a mandatory audit of three additional schools suspected of having similar issues.
A 90-page report by the Ministry of Education said a “dominant clan” of teachers had been operating there since 2016-2017 and allegedly created a “toxic environment” of “fear and intimidation” ever since.
Drainville said he believes other teachers did not come forward earlier out of fear of reprisal.
The investigation report on Bedford Elementary School mentions that the teachers, primarily of North African descent, were influenced by a local mosque.
The report accuses the teachers of using intimidation, physical and psychological violence, and humiliation techniques against the students. The teachers allegedly dismissed autism and learning disabilities as non-existent, calling students with such disabilities “lazy.”
Gender-based segregation was also reported. Teachers allegedly banned girls from playing soccer while the boys were allowed to.
There were reports that when one student collapsed in class, instead of calling for medical attention, the teacher began to pray for the student rather than assist them. The report also claims that the school provided no “effective mechanism” to evaluate teachers’ on-the-job competency. Auditors’ efforts to observe the learning environment were rejected.
Another ministry report said the overall level of competency of the teachers was “worrying” and that the report showed learning gaps in several subjects such as oral communication, science and technology, ethics and religious culture, and sex education.
At the National Assembly of Quebec Wednesday, Drainville forwarded a motion to hold an inquiry into the group of 11 teachers, for the province to denounce the alleged abuse at the school, to affirm the importance of defending equality between men and women, and the secular nature of the state in all its public institutions.
Premier Francois Legault said he was shocked that Islamic religious concepts were being introduced into the public elementary school and that science was being denied and of the allegations overall.
“Our first concern must be the children. As a government, our first responsibility is to clean up this school and protect the children,” Legault said in a statement posted on X. “There’s something very disturbing in this case, this attempt by a group of teachers to introduce Islamist religious concepts into a public school. In Quebec, we decided a long time ago to take religion out of public schools. We’ll never go back on that decision.”
He said between the Minister of Education and the Minister of Secularism, the government is taking the necessary steps to “correct the situation.”
“We need all Quebecers to denounce these situations without fear of intimidation,” he said. “The whole of Quebec must defend the choice of secularism in our public institutions. Let’s not be afraid.”
Bonjour tout le monde,
Comme beaucoup d’entre vous, j’ai été très choqué de ce qui s’est passé à l’école Bedford. Qu’on introduise des concepts religieux dans une école publique, qu’on refuse la science pour aider nos enfants, que des enseignants forment un clan et menacent…
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet blamed Ottawa and Canadian multiculturalism for the idealogy that led to the abuses occurring.
“Why is a clear truth not stated? The National Assembly of Quebec and the broad Quebec consensus want a neutral and secular state and institutions,” Blanchet said on X.
He said a minority of “certain religious communities” want to make public schools into “ultra-conservative” religious schools with intimidating, sometimes violent and often sexist values.
“The activist minority feeds on Canadian multiculturalism and the tacit support of the federal parties and Ottawa to infiltrate the teaching community in certain Montreal schools,” he said. “Ottawa’s attitude encourages them to do so.”
Blanchet said multiculturalism, federal opposition to Quebec secularism laws, and the refusal to remove religion from protected classes in matters of hate speech are “seen as adversaries of the way of life collectively desired in Quebec.”
Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that Canada would scale back immigration levels to 365,000 people a year by 2027 in response to a growing sentiment that the Trudeau government has let in far more people than Canada can handle.
“These changes will make immigration work for our country so that everyone has access to the quality jobs, homes and supports they need to thrive. We have listened to Canadians, and we will continue to protect the integrity of our system and grow our population responsibly,” said Miller in a statement on Thursday.
“Today’s announcement is the next step in our plan to address the evolving immigration needs of our country. While it’s clear our economy needs newcomers, we see the pressures facing our country, and we must adapt our policies accordingly.”
The 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan projects Canada’s population to decline by 0.2% over the next two years before returning to a population growth of 0.8% in 2027.
The number of permanent residents will be reduced from 500,000 to 395,000 next year and then to 380,000 in 2026, before reaching a target of 365,000 in 2027.
Sergio Karas, a specialist in immigration law agrees, he told True North that while this reduction is necessary given the housing crisis and the current state of the economy, he still believes that number should be further reduced.
“As usual, the Trudeau government is doing it wrong,” said Karas.
“The total number should be reduced to the 2015 levels of approximately 300,000 because the federal government inflated the number exponentially in the last nine years, but more important are the categories where the reduction should be applied. Not all applicants have the same ability to adapt, job security, language skills, and expertise required to ensure economic growth.”
Immigration accounted for nearly 98% of Canada’s population growth last year, 60% of which were temporary residents.
Karas believes that the government should focus on “reining in the categories that have grown out of control and are the most problematic from the point of view of fraud and economic cost: there are still too many international students in colleges taking useless courses, and too many refugee claimants making questionable claims just to remain in Canada.”
According to Karas, who is also co-chair of the American Bar Association’s immigration and naturalization committee, those categories are consuming a great deal of processing resources and having the most significant impact on affordable housing.
The IRCC said that “reducing the amount of immigrants will help to alleviate some pressure in the housing market, with the housing supply gap expected to decrease by approximately 670,000 units by the end of 2027.”
“The government should screen international students more rigorously and grant visas only to those with highly marketable degrees in universities, insist on higher official language scores, and prohibit the payment of commissions to recruiting agents who operate overseas,” he said.
In addition to clamping down on international student program abuses, Karas suggested tightening measures to reduce refugee claims back to the country’s historical levels, which he believes would make it “much harder to game the system.”
“They should also eliminate all ad-hoc temporary programs for specific countries such as Gaza, Afghanistan, Haiti, Ukraine, and Sudan, as they are costly to operate, raise security concerns, and drain resources from other programs,” said Karas.
He took issue with the government’s drastic reduction in economic categories, instead arguing that it would be better to slash the parents and grandparents categories.
“It is an albatross around our neck, it offers no economic benefit, and places significant strain on the healthcare system,” he said. “Applicants have either no or marginal income, little or no language ability, and are not of working age.”
Liberal MPs emerged from their latest caucus meeting steadfast in their support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau only a day after a petition to oust the Liberal Party of Canada leader was leaked to the media.
Plus, the Trudeau government plans to roll out a “colonialism” apology tour, beginning with the wildfire-ravaged Jasper National Park.
And police unions across Canada blast Trudeau for misleading Canadians on the handgun freeze,
Tune into The Daily Brief with Lindsay Shepherd and Isaac Lamoureux!
Toronto police have arrested two individuals alleging they wore medical masks to conceal their identity while taking part in anti-Israel demonstrations preventing employees from entering their places of work.
According to a Toronto Police Services news release, police arrested 38-year-old Faisal Ibrahim on Friday, alleging he and other demonstrators entered a private business in the Eglinton Avenue East and Yonge Street area in March and prevented workers from entering the business while wearing a medical mask to conceal their identities.
Police said an employee left the area out of fear for her safety.
Ibrahim faces charges of mischief, interference of property and disguising himself with intent to do so.
He is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice on Wednesday Dec. 11, 2024.
Also, in connection with the same demonstration, police arrested 38-year-old Rachelle Friesen at the end of September, who was accused of participating with Ibrahim.
According to a TPS media release, Friesen is also accused of entering a Scotia Bank Award ceremony to interrupt the event at the Four Seasons Hotel on Nov. 13, 2023, in the Yorkville Avenue and Bay Street area.
Police allege she and other demonstrators accessed the private event using forged documents. The demonstrators jumped on the stage, interrupting the awards, before being escorted off-premise.
The Anti-Israel Boycott Divest Sanctions movement lists Scotia Bank as a contributor to the state of Israel. Along with Scotia Bank the BDS list includes Starbucks, a business in Eglington Avenue East and Young Street that connected the two suspects.
Friesen has written for the left-wing activist group Community Peacekeepers Team and the group has condemned the arrest of Friesen, whom they said was arrested while trying to leave the country on Sept. 30, 2024.
Police charged Friesen with two counts of alleged mischief to obstruct, interrupt, or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment, or operation of the property and one count of allegedly disguising herself with intent to commit one of those acts.
Friesen appeared in bail court at the Ontario Court of Justice on Oct. 1, though the OCJ did not respond to True North’s request to learn if she had been granted bail.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw noted the arrest when he announced an increase in security for Jewish neighbourhoods and a hard approach against protestors ahead of the one-year marking of Oct. 7.
CPT said statements made by Demkiw were “defamatory,” claiming he made it sound as if Friesen was fleeing the country when they said she was just visiting a colleague in the US.
In light of the two arrests, Demkiw posted on X to remind Torontonians that arrests could happen after committing an offence.
“While demonstrations may end, investigations into criminal activity continue and we pursue all leads to hold individuals accountable,” he said. “Over the last year we have made 80 demonstration-related arrests and laid 124 charges. Arrests can happen at any time after an offence.”
Police are asking anyone with information about the two incidents to contact police at 416-808-3500, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.
Professional regulators in Alberta may soon have less control over censoring employees’ and members’ personal opinions and beliefs.
A joint announcement from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Mickey Amery has come in response to growing concerns that professional bodies have been overstepping their boundaries by restricting free speech and requiring compulsory training unrelated to professional duties.
Smith said that Albertans value free speech and the right to freely express their beliefs without government or professional regulators censoring them.
“A diversity of opinions and beliefs is one of the hallmarks of a free, healthy, and democratic society,” said Smith. “Many of the greatest ideas and advancements in history started out as non-conventional and controversial ideas that became popular in mainstream only after brave women and men were able to convince their fellow citizens of their value.”
Amery said that troubling trends have been seen worldwide where governments and governing bodies believe they should be the arbiters of truth and determine what constitutes misinformation and dictate speech restrictions for anyone who disagrees.
Smith said that this has happened in Canada, too, where professional colleges and other regulating bodies have exerted authority beyond their mandate by regulating the personal beliefs and political opinions of doctors, lawyers, psychologists, and other professionals.
“What a doctor or lawyer believes or says about politics is not a reflection of their competency to practice medicine or law,” said Smith.
Amery shared four such examples seen in Canada, including a Saskatchewan nurse facing a $26,000 fine for criticizing care her grandfather received, and a doctor complaining about a church changing communion protocol because of Covid, which resulted in her regulator cautioning her.
The Justice Minister also said that the Law Society of Ontario has created a statement of principles, forcing their lawyers to state their commitment to numerous ideological values and principles that the regulator deems appropriate.
The same burdensome, long, and expensive process of professionals facing investigation or discipline due to their political or policy opinions outside of their professional practice has been happening in Alberta, according to Amery.
But not anymore. Smith promised that George Orwell’s 1984 will remain fictional as amendments are introduced to the Alberta Bill of Rights to ensure professional regulators stay within their mandates.
However, before the new regulations are implemented, the government of Alberta will be gathering input from regulated professionals and regulatory bodies.
Alberta is home to 189 regulated professions across 12 ministries. The province will be working with 118 such professions across 11 government ministries. Professions that are not self-regulating or have no regulatory body are not involved in the review.
Amery told True North that despite his and Smith’s video and press release making no mention of examples of censure during Covid, some of the aforementioned 118 professional bodies are in the healthcare industry.
“We expect the review to be a comprehensive engagement process that may include instances of professionals who faced complaints during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Amery.
Police unions across Canada are refuting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest claim that the Liberal government’s handgun freeze has enhanced public safety.
Trudeau celebrated two years since introducing the handgun freeze on Monday, claiming that the policy has ended the purchase, sale and transfer of handguns in Canada.
“We choose your safety over the gun lobby — every time,” he said.
However, the post quickly resulted in a flurry of responses from police unions and gun experts, calling out Trudeau for misleading Canadians.
For example, the Toronto Police Association said that “criminals did not get your message,” highlighting that the communities policed by union members have seen a 45% increase in shootings and a 62% increase in gun-related homicides compared to last year.
“What difference does your handgun ban make when 85% of guns seized by our members can be sourced to the United States?” asked the association. “Your statement is out of touch and offensive to the victims of crime and police officers everywhere. Whatever you think you’ve done to improve community safety, has not worked.”
Edmonton’s police chief previously warned that the handgun ban could increase trafficking.
In a record gun bust, Peel Regional Police reported that 97% of seized firearms were smuggled from the United States.
Former police officer and Conservative candidate Ron Chhinzer said that in his entire career, neither he nor a colleague had seized a lawfully owned firearm from a criminal.
Previous data released by the Toronto Police Service highlighted that shootings had increased by almost 70%, and deaths from gun crime were more than doubled.
Following the Toronto Police Association’s reply to Trudeau, which had accrued nearly two million views by Wednesday, other unions decided to join in.
“The federal handgun freeze fails to address the real issue: the surge of illegal firearms coming across our borders and ending up in the hands of violent criminals,” wrote the SPU.
The Vancouver Police Union said that Trudeau must not be aware of the “ongoing gang war” in British Columbia, putting their members and the public at risk daily.
“Where do you think their guns are still coming from and what has he done to stop them?” the union asked.
The Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights joined in on blasting Trudeau, highlighting the hypocrisy that a ban on lawful handgun owners could somehow make Canadians safer from criminals with illegally smuggled firearms.
“A ridiculous and demonstrably untrue statement easily refuted by police,” wrote the CCFR. “Facts don’t lie, but our PM does.”
Tracey Wilson, the CCFR’s Vice President of Public Relations, told True North that Trudeau made a fool of himself with his post on X. She added that Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety Jennifer O’Connell made an even more ludicrous statement yesterday: that Conservatives were “using gun lobby talking points,” only to be rebuked by the TPA’s post to X.
“It’s no surprise she may be confused, as law enforcement and the CCFR have been unified in our position that the majority of firearm-related violence is being committed by unlicensed criminals with illegal guns,” said Wilson. “The government’s own data support this.”
Wilson said that instead of attacking legal firearm owners, the Liberals should focus on securing Canada’s borders against smuggling, hefty sentences for violent and repeat offenders, and investments into law enforcement and community programs.
“The results are in, and the Liberals’ record on public safety speaks for itself — it’s been a tragic and bloody failure,” she said.
Today on Rachel and the Republic, Rachel Parker breaks down the latest in the U.S. election cycle. Rachel takes a look at U.S. Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump campaign and explains why he stands to win as it currently stands.
Rachel also explains why Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ decision to skip an annual charity dinner was one of the campaign’s biggest gaffes so far.
Liberal MPs emerged from their latest caucus meeting steadfast in their support for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau only a day after a petition to oust the Liberal Party of Canada leader was leaked to the media.
Several MPs, when asked about the fate of their leader and how the caucus meeting went, echoed that they remained united against Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and signalled that Trudeau had no intention of backing out of the fight.
“What’s important is that we’re united now. We’re united in our desire to serve Canadians and win the next election,” the Innovation, Science and Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said. “It’s like a dinner table. At the end of the dinner, we all need to come on and relent this focus on serving Canadians and winning the next election.”
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he was happy that caucus members had aired their grievances privately.
“We still have some stuff to sort out, but I think it was a great conversation. People were honest and weren’t doing it as a sort of whisper campaign so I’m actually quite proud,” Miller told reporters after leaving the meeting.
The Liberal MP for Beaches–East York, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, said the party needs to turn their “knives outwards and not inwards.”
“We need to focus on the most important thing, which is getting things done here in Parliament and taking the fight to Pierre Poilievre because he’s a disaster for this country,” he said. “(the next election’s) going to be a choice between Pierre Poilievre and probably Justin Trudeau, but the Liberal leader, and that’s going to be a very important choice for getting to make in terms of the direction of the country.”
Some Liberal members who are unhappy with Trudeau have asked him to make way for a new leader and for a confidence vote to be held by the party and caucus so a new leader could be chosen before June 2025.
A petition to the current president of the LPC, Sachit Mehra, and the chair of the National Caucus, Brenda Shanahan, leaked to the Toronto Star Tuesday, spearheaded by the former president of the LPC, Alfred Apps, says Trudeau has to go to address the current threats to the party’s “very survival.”
“Those threats include growing hostility to our leader, coupled with the failure of our current policy platform to attract and inspire support from Canadians, especially young Canadians, and the need to modernize and rebuild our Party’s infrastructure and organization,” the petition said.
“We believe in the need for a strong Canadian political party that is truly ‘liberal’ — a party whose policy platform is socially progressive, fiscally responsible and, above all, forward-looking.”
The petition “formally requested” that the National Executive and National Caucus meet separately to address the Liberal party’s poor polling numbers through a confidence vote, recent by-election defeats in St Paul’s and LaSalle Emard ridings, and change leadership.”
The letter asks that the results of each confidence vote be reported to Trudeau, and if he decides to resign, he should do so “as quickly as possible” so the party can elect a new leader no later than June 1, 2025.
“If the leader chooses to remain in office, it is critical that he make a statement to the Party addressing his support for the urgent need to both rebuild the Party, from coast-to-coast-to-coast, modernize its online platform for national fundraising, consultation, communication, and training purposes, and proceed with concrete policy platform renewal initiatives to be concluded no later than July 31, 2025,” the petition said.
The LPC membership petition leaked after news of a letter, which has been reported but has yet to be seen by the public. At least 20 Liberal MPs’ signatures also called for the Prime Minister’s resignation.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Mark Holland questioned the existence of the letter in Ottawa.
“I haven’t seen the letter. I guess they know my opinion on it, so I didn’t get a copy of it. But I think these conversations around how we deal with the difficult times that we’re in, and how we try to find answers and how we try to lead are totally appropriate,” Health Minister Mark Holland said to reporters ahead of the caucus meeting on Tuesday.
He affirmed his support for Trudeau and said electing a “new magical leader” wouldn’t be like using a “magic wand” to fix all the parties’ problems.
Despite the Liberal government boasting about creating jobs, a recent study has found that the bulk of that increase is tied to the growth of the public sector and government jobs.
The Fraser Institute conducted a series of analyses on regaining employment since the COVID-19 pandemic began and in the years since finding that while the public sector has ballooned the private sector has not seen similar growth.
Canada’s economy saw the most rapid period of job loss in history due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the employment rate falling from 62.3% in 2019 to 58.1% in 2020.
While the country’s employment rate has largely recovered to pre-pandemic levels in recent years, returning to 62.1% in 2023. It was primarily driven by “growth in government employment rather than growth in the private sector.”
Researchers found that from 2019-2023, private sector jobs saw an uptick of only 3.6%, while public sector employment grew by 13%.
“We find that the COVID recession and economic recovery fundamentally differ from any past slowdown in the extent to which job creation has been fueled by government hiring,” reads the report. “While the rate of growth in private and total employment has been comparable to several past periods, the rate of government job growth has been uniquely rapid.”
Of the 1,049,700 net jobs created in Canada from 2019 to 2023, 490,000 (46.7%) were created in the public sector. The institute also views the country’s economic recovery being driven by government job growth “historically unusual.”
“We compare the current economic environment to five past economic recessions and slowdowns and find that none of those recoveries were nearly as reliant on job creation in the government sector,” it said.
The research firm also compared Canada’s current recession and recovery to that of the United States, which provided sharply differing results.
“In the United States, the private sector has generated a large majority of all new jobs in recent years and the rate of net job creation in the private sector has been nearly identical to that in the government sector,” it said.
“It shows that total employment in the United States increased by 3,498,000 during this period. Of that, 562,000 (16%) were created in the government sector. The rate of job creation in the government sector of the United States was 2.7% during this period, slightly above the private sector rate of 2.1%.”
Additionally, the institute found that despite Canada’s rapidly growing population, the private sector has seen minimal job creation, noting that a previous study it conducted found that “the rate of job creation in the government sector outstripped job creation by the private sector in all ten provinces.”
The data concluded that the government’s share of “total employment has risen to its highest level since the fiscal consolidations of the 1990s” and that similar results cannot be found south of the border.
Statistics Canada also released data this week which found that an average of 54.4 hours were lost per 1,000 employees in the public sector last year, compared with 9.4 in the private sector.
“Since the late 1990s, employees in the public sector have been generally more likely to lose hours due to labour disputes,” reads the Statistics Canada report.
