True North’s Lindsay Shepherd reports from a rally in Hope, BC at Rolly’s, a local restaurant that has had their business license suspended for six months because they are refusing to comply with the province’s vaccine passport program.
Though BC requires all table service restaurants to ask patrons for proof of COVID-19 vaccination, Rolly’s has taken the stance that they will not discriminate against customers based on vaccination status.
Despite being fined every day they have remained open since October 7, Rolly’s is not backing down.
Thousands of unvaccinated federal government employees are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to abandon his mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
A petition shared by the 3,200 member-strong Facebook group “Feds For Freedom” cites the Department of Health’s legal stance that making vaccination compulsory is unlawful, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“This vaccine mandate is unconstitutional. It is in the interest of every single person employed by the federal government to have their rights, guaranteed by the Canadian Charter, respected unconditionally,” the petition claims.
“It is unacceptable that the government believes it can force a medical procedure on anyone without considering alternatives. Discriminating against an individual who has partaken, or not, in a medical procedure is in direct contrast with the rights guaranteed.”
The petition cites the fact that alternatives like daily testing can continue to guarantee the safety of the workplace from COVID-19.
“There is absolutely no evidence that frequent or daily testing is less safe than a mandatory vaccine. For the government to impose a vaccine with minimal exemptions, it is for the government to prove beyond reasonable doubt it is superior to all other forms of accommodation.”
Earlier this month, Trudeau revealed that all public servants including those working in federally-regulated industries like airlines will be required to be vaccinated by the end of October or face being put on unpaid leave.
While making the announcement, Trudeau did not mention the fact that vaccine hesitancy rates were highest among black and Indigenous Canadians, many of which make up the public sector.
Statistics Canada numbers reveal that black Canadians reported some of the lowest willingness to take a COVID-19 vaccine (56.6%). According to 2020 data, black Canadians made up 3.5% of the federal workforce.
While an official leadership review won’t take place until next year, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole will face a challenging time in the weeks and months ahead.
O’Toole will need to win the support of the Conservative base and Conservative caucus in order to stay on as leader of the party.
There is growing skepticism — frankly, it’s looking more like flat-out mistrust — when it comes to how the public views the way both the media and government talk about COVID-19, and one tragic story out of Alberta shows us why.
Last week Alberta’s top doctor, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, provided her routine update on the COVID situation and noted a terribly sad case of a 14-year-old boy who died with COVID. She stressed that the boy’s complex pre-existing medical conditions “played a significant role” in his death.
Much of the media were quick to sensationalize the story, with several outlets running headlines stating that Alberta had its youngest ever COVID victim while burying the important context that COVID was not the primary cause of death.
The CBC went even further , and included harsh criticism against Hinshaw for noting the context about comorbidities.
The story quoted Dr. Joe Vipond, a fierce critic of the Alberta government, who is also an NDP donor, who was apparently angry that Dr. Hinshaw would include the nuanced information about the boy’s death.
“I heard a caveat that there were comorbidities. In my mind, there are no comorbidities that matter in this instance. A 14-year-old is a 14-year-old. And, for the record, if I were to pass away tomorrow I would be listed as a 52-year-old with comorbidities,” he was quoted saying.
The issue of reporting comorbidities is a thorny one indeed. My colleague, Sun oped editor Anthony Furey, last year accurately reported that the majority of COVID deaths in Alberta occurred among patients with multiple pre-existing medical conditions like chronic heart failure and dementia.
His factual reporting was supported by both Alberta and Stats Canada data, but regardless, many cried foul. CBC even ran a headline accusing an MP of “spreading misinformation about COVID deaths in Alberta” simply because she shared Furey’s work.
(CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler later apologized , saying the CBC piece was “flawed” and that Furey’s data and reporting was accurate. “CBC failed to meet standards,” he wrote).
Of course, context matters and we should always welcome more information.
While the likes of Vipond were angry at Dr. Hinshaw for providing too much information to the public, the 14-year-old boy’s family sent out their own messages to the public.
“The 14-year-old (in) the article is my brother. He died from stage 4 brain cancer, not COVID. This is fake news. He was diagnosed in January 2021, and hospitalized in August. Two days before his death he was tested for COVID and it turned out positive,” wrote Simone Spitzer on her personal Facebook page.
Another sister, Justine, had a similar message.
“This is my brother and he had stage 4 brain cancer for nine months, not COVID. This is fake news. This is incorrect, there is not even 1% truth. This is disgusting!”
Following these statements, Dr. Hinshaw corrected the record and apologized to the family: “The pain of losing a child is terrible enough without having that loss compounded by a public debate about the circumstances. I’m sorry if the way I spoke about that death made your grief worse.”
She noted that the province includes all deaths where COVID is suspected as either a primary or secondary cause of death. In this case, COVID was initially thought to be a secondary cause of death, but upon further review it was determined that COVID was not a contributing factor.
Dr. Hinshaw made a mistake, and two days later, she acknowledged it and apologized. Meanwhile, the likes of Vipond and the CBC continue to sensationalize and fear-monger about COVID at all costs. This also sows mistrust, and they should also consider offering an apology to the Spitzer family, and indeed all Canadians.
Home sales across Canada went up by 0.9% between August and September 2021, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).
This change marked the first month-over-month increase since March.
The chair of the CREA Cliff Stevenson said in a press release that it was the second-highest ever September sales figure by a sizable margin.
“September provided another month’s worth of evidence from all across Canada that housing market conditions are stabilizing near current levels,” said Stevenson.
“In some ways, that comes as a relief given the volatility of the last year-and-a-half, but the issue is that demand/supply conditions are stabilizing in a place that very few people are happy about.”
The actual number of transactions in September was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis, with the record for that month set last year.
The number of newly listed homes fell by 1.6% in September compared to August, as gains in parts of Quebec were overwhelmed by declines in Lower Mainland, BC, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Calgary.
The national average home price was $686,650 in September, up 13.9% from the same month last year. Sales in Greater Vancouver and the GTA influenced the national average home price, but excluding them from the calculation cuts the average by $146,000.
As housing prices continue to increase in urban centres, Atlantic Canada has emerged as a popular destination for Canadians during COVID-19. The Royal Bank of Canada said that net migration to Atlantic Canada was higher in the first and second quarters of 2021 than in 2019 and 2020 combined.
During the 2021 Canadian election, the Liberals promised to build and revitalize an additional 250,000 homes over four years to address supply issues, which the Liberals claim would lead to lower prices.
While Canadians struggle with a higher cost of living, the unpopular idea of a home sales tax became an issue during the election. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said throughout the election that his government would not implement a home sales tax, but the Conservatives argued he could not be trusted.
The Liberal candidate for New Brunswick Southwest Jason Hickey admitted that the party may tax home sales if Trudeau is re-elected.
“But of course, anyone selling their primary residence, if you do make money on that, unfortunately you will have to pay tax on that,” said Hickey in a video posted by the Conservatives. “I wouldn’t agree to that either, but it’s what we have to do.”
It’s been months since Toronto Police finally broke up the illegal tent cities at Alexandra Park and Lamport stadium, but many similar encampments have since been erected around Toronto.
True North contributor Sue-Ann Levy reports from Dufferin Grove park and speaks to local police officers for an update on the situation.
Dr. Julie Ponesse (Former professor of ethics), Benjamin Gabbay (Graduate Student, University of Toronto), Allison Pejovic (Lawyer, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms) and Dr. Steven Pelech (Professor, University of British Columbia) discuss the legal and ethical implications of vaccine mandates at Canadian post-secondary institutions, as well as how these mandates affect the on-campus experience for students and faculty.
This panel was held by Civitas Canada in partnership with True North.
In Ontario, the Toronto Maple Leafs can fill their arena with thousands of fans but capacity limits are still applied to restaurants. What is going on here? How does that make sense?
For many Canadians, this isn’t even surprising anymore. This is just another instance of the government forgetting about the little guy.
Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said on Thursday that the provincial government will no longer report COVID-related deaths in individuals under the age of 18 after falsely claiming earlier this week that a 14-year-old boy died from COVID-19.
In reality, the boy died from brain cancer which was revealed after family members spoke out online about the misleading claims regarding his death.
“I first want to apologize to the family of the 14-year-old whose death I spoke about on Tuesday. The pain of losing a child is terrible enough without having that loss compounded by a public debate about circumstances,” said Hinshaw.
“I’m sorry if the way that I spoke about that death made your grief worse.”
Alberta will now only report on COVID-related fatalities in youth under 18 after a formal review has been conducted, and Hinshaw also pledged to review adult deaths if the circumstances are unclear before making an announcement.
“After a death is reported, if there is uncertainty, it is reviewed to validate our information,” said Hinshaw.
“While the initial report of the death of the 14-year-old included COVID as a secondary cause, we have now received additional information that indicates COVID was not a cause.”
The 14-year-old boy – who has since been identified as Nathanael Spitzer – died on October 7, 2021 due to an inoperable tumour.
“It was a high-grade glioma and the doctors, they didn’t even give him the nine months. They didn’t give us an exact number but they really suggested that five months, six months, maybe,” Jonatan Spitzer, Nathanael’s brother, told CTV News.
“Basically, the whole nine months he was fighting for cancer, and then two days before his death, it was just a COVID case. We just want to get the story straight,” said Nathanael’s sister, Simone Spitzer.
A prominent BC Liberal MLA and leadership candidate sent a letter to the party’s Leadership Election Organizing Committee on Thursday encouraging them to accept the candidacy of prospective opponent Aaron Gunn.
The letter came shortly after another opponent and MLA Michael Lee advocated for Gunn, a conservative pundit who announced a bid to lead the BC Liberals last weekend, to be disqualified for so-called “intolerant views.”
“(The party) needs to change so as to re-establish ourselves as a big tent party which welcomes ideas from across the political spectrum, and as the choice of British Columbians to form the next government,” wrote Ross in the letter.
“To that end, I encourage you, the members of the Leadership Election Organizing Committee, to approve all candidates who meet the qualifications our party has set out, including the current applicant, Aaron Gunn, should he meet those qualifications.”
Earlier today I sent this letter to the BC Liberal Party's Leadership Election Organizing Committee… pic.twitter.com/bGkVzfDgX1
In a separate statement posted by Lee on social media Thursday, Lee called on other candidates to “affirm inclusive values (and) join me in calling for (Gunn’s) candidacy to be rejected.”
As exclusively reported by True North, Gunn hit back at Lee accusing the MLA of “regurgitating NDP talking points,” a reference to an NDP press release attempting to smear Gunn prior to his leadership announcement earlier this month. The NDP issued a similar statement to criticize Lee’s candidacy.
Additionally, Gunn claimed in a tweet that Lee had previously told him he was excited for his entry to the leadership race.
“As noted in my Tweet, Michael is exemplifying the worst aspects of politics. He is the classic politician who says one thing and does another, and people are sick of this behaviour,” Gunn told True North.
Later in his own letter, Ross made it clear that the statement was not an endorsement of Gunn and that he trusted the party to judge wisely.
“I am running for BC Liberal leader because I believe I can deliver the change our party needs to beat the NDP in 2024, so this letter should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any candidacy other than my own.”
