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Monday, July 21, 2025

Lord of the Flies removed from Ottawa school board curriculum

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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The popular novel Lord of the Flies by English novelist William Golding has been removed from the English curriculum of all Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) schools. 

According to a report by the OCDSB’s Committee on Equity, the book was removed from the curriculum following an article written by a student activist in a local paper on how educators need to “stop favouring white authors” like Golding and the playwright William Shakespeare. 

“Referencing The Lord of the Flies, (the student who wrote the article) noted that she does not need to learn more about White, male supremacy, which tells the story of a group of boys in a hierarchical order who fight for power and degrade one another,” the committee report explains. 

“(The article) led to the removal of ‘The Lord of the Flies’ from the OCDSB English curriculum.” 

Despite being removed from the curriculum, OCDSB Communications Coordinator Darcy Knoll told True North following the deadline given that the book “can still be taught” in schools and remains “an option of study.”

“Educators exercise judgement in determining which resources to use with a specific group of students at a particular time. Educators take into account the interests and lived experiences of students, and whether perspectives included in texts are meaningful and relevant, and the degree to which the resources meet the objectives of a course of study,” Knoll wrote in an emailed statement.

“Additionally, educators think of potential harm that can be created through use of particular texts and thoughtfully reflect on all these areas prior to text selection. Is this the best text to use? Are there alternatives? How do I ensure student voice?”

Lord of the Flies is a common staple in Ontario English classrooms, appearing in the curriculum of elementary schools and secondary schools across the province for generations.

While interpretations of the novel vary, a central theme in the work is a critique of power structures and societal inequalities. 

The book removal is the latest in a wave of censorship by school boards intent on ridding their curriculum of “colonial” or “white-centered” influences.

As recently reported by Radio-Canada, the Ontario Providence Catholic School Board recently destroyed approximately 5,000 children’s books that allegedly stereotyped Indigenous people. The school board dubbed the literal book burnings as a “flame purification” ceremony. 

The book burning was presented to the students in a video about burying “the ashes of racism, discrimination and stereotypes in the hope that we will grow up in an inclusive country where all can live in prosperity and security.” 

“It is a gesture of reconciliation with the First Nations, and a gesture of openness towards the other communities present in the school and our society,” a spokesperson for the School Board told Radio-Canada. 

No mention of Afghanistan or other foreign affairs issues in Leaders’ Debate topics list

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A recently released theme list of the upcoming English Leaders’ Debate completely left out any mention of Afghanistan, the two Michaels or other pressing foreign affairs matters. 

According to a press release which details the topics to be mentioned during the debate, foreign affairs is suspiciously missing from the mix. 

The only listed topics to be included in the debate are affordability, climate, COVID recovery, leadership and accountability and reconciliation.

“These topics were chosen based in part on the 20,201 responses to a questionnaire that was published on the websites of Debate Broadcast Group partners, including APTN News, CBC News, CTV News, and Global News,” writes the release. 

The September 9th debate will be moderated by Angus Reid Institute President Shachi Kurl and CBC’s Rosemary Barton, APTN News’ Melissa Ridgen, CTV News’ Evan Solomon and Global News’ Mercedes Stephenson. 

Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau has dodged questions pertaining to his government’s handling of the Afghanistan crisis repeatedly in recent weeks. 

Trudeau was criticized for his late entrance in the evacuation efforts and the failure of leaving an unknown number of Canadians and Afghan interpreters behind. 

“We were calling for action to get people out, to work with our allies. We’ve been demanding this for months and, in some cases, years. The Trudeau government has failed to act and they have abandoned people on the ground in Afghanistan,” Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole said about the Liberal government’s evacuation plan.

When questioned on whether his government had acted fast enough by reporters last month, Trudeau deflected questions on the matter. 

Instead of accepting responsibility for the matter, Trudeau chided the performance of the 2015 Stephen Harper government during the Syrian refugee crisis. 

“We’re hearing reports about Canadian citizens in Afghanistan who feel particularly abandoned by your government. Will you prioritize getting them out of Afghanistan now that resources are becoming scarcer and it’s becoming so much harder now over refugee applications?” asked CTV reporter Glen McGregor. 

“I think a lot of Canadians can’t help but reflect on this situation in this election when we are pledging to welcome tens of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing terrible violence to what we lived through in 2015, when the Conservative government at the time was not stepping up to welcome Syrian refugees,” said Trudeau.

Ontario Minor Hockey Association to require participants to be fully vaccinated

By
Jonathan Bradley
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The Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) will be mandating all eligible participants involved in minor hockey to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 by Oct. 31, according to a press release issued by the organization on Friday. 

The president at the OMHA Bob Hill said in a press release that the organization will be mandating COVID-19 vaccines to protect participants.  

“Our priority is getting our kids back to hockey this fall in as safe a manner as possible,” said Hill. “By taking an approach to control all that we can with mandatory vaccinations for all participants, along with continuing social distancing guidelines, we feel this is the best way forward to ensure a successful return to play this season and that we all benefit from what hockey has to offer.”

This vaccination policy will apply to players born in 2009 or earlier, team officials, game officials, association officials, OMHA officials, volunteers and instructors. The policy does not apply to players born in 2010 or later or to spectators. People will be required to show documentation to prove they are vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Despite the fact that COVID-19 poses a lower risk to children compared to adults, the Canadian government has authorized the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine for youth aged 12 and older. 

In a recent report by Public Health Ontario, the government agency revealed that more than half of all people sent to the hospital with vaccine-related heart issues were youth under the age of 25.

The OMHA said they do not want children in Ontario to miss any more hockey this coming season. A study from the OMHA suggested 83% of families mentioned their children playing hockey reduced feelings of isolation and benefited their mental health. 

The OMHA will grant accommodations to people who are unable to be vaccinated for substantiated medical reasons or for other protected grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code. Any people who are granted accommodations must undergo regular COVID-19 testing and have to provide evidence of a negative test taken no more than 24 hours prior to participating.

The Ontario government said in a press release on Wednesday that it will be implementing vaccine passports effective Sept. 22. Facilities used for sports and fitness activities and personal fitness training are included in the vaccine passport system, but not those for youth recreational sports. 

Canadian university professors call for an end to vaccine mandates on campus

By
Caitlin Rose Morgante
-

A group of Canadian university professors have banded together and submitted open letters to the presidents of Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo, urging the administrations to repeal their vaccine mandates.

The letters express “deep concerns with the present COVID-19 vaccination and testing policies at (the) universities.” 

One of the letters, sent Aug. 26, was signed by 32 parents, professors, students and staff, while the other, sent Sept. 1, was signed by three Wilfrid Laurier professors and one professor from the University of Waterloo.

In the latter letter, professors Daniel Smilek, David Haskell, William McNally and Nikolai Kovalec lay out five key with the mandates: discrimination, rights violations, lack of scientific evidence, coercion and informed consent.

The letter alleges that the vaccine mandate “blatantly violates the universities’ commitments to equity, inclusivity and diversity” by dividing the community into two groups, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.

The authors claim that certain ethnic and religious groups are less likely to be vaccinated and that the mandate “will systematically discriminate against these already disadvantaged groups.”

As first reported by True North, statistics provided by Health Canada confirm that black and Indigenous Canadians experience the highest rates of vaccine hesitancy in Canada.

The authors also cite the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees a “right to security of the person.” 

“Up until now, this activity that our universities are engaged in was against the law. Canada’s own Privacy Commissioner, Daniel Therrien, just a few months ago made it clear that the Privacy Act ensures citizens cannot be compelled to disclose personal medical information to access public services. This is another example of Canadians’ rights being incrementally removed. We must stand against it,” said Haskell, a Laurier professor and signatory to the letter.

McNally, a finance professor at Laurier, believes the vaccine mandates set a dangerous precedent.

“I’m fully vaccinated myself, but this is no longer just about public health when a government or institution forces people to publicly provide proof of social conformity,” he said. “What’s the next idea you’ll be asked to conform to on pain of exclusion? This is a very dangerous precedent and it’s completely removed from the path of liberal democracy.”

Smilek, a Waterloo professor, said the mandates are not rooted in science, noting that because vaccinated people can still transmit COVID-19, limiting testing to one group amounts to “discriminating.”

In a statement to True North, the University of Waterloo said it respects the right of its faculty members to express an opinion, but cautioned against statements that “misrepresent.”

“The academic freedom of our community members to express their views is essential to the scholarly mission of the University. Academic freedom comes with responsibilities to base research on an honest search for truth, to meet ethical and professional standards, and to not misrepresent expertise,” said a university spokesperson.

The university said its approach is based on direction from the Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health, supported by Ontario’s chief medical officer.

At present, just a week after launching the proof system for the entire community, more than 22,000 university members have supplied proof of vaccination; 97% of that number are fully vaccinated.

MALCOLM: How Trudeau is losing the support of voters

By
Candice Malcolm
-

Some Canadians really, really, really dislike Justin Trudeau.

We have seen this anger manifest in large protests — sometimes ugly, vulgar and unruly — across the country at Trudeau’s campaign events.

When people hear that Trudeau is in town, many show up to give him a piece of their mind. The anti-Trudeau protests, however, are not the only evidence of the turning of the tides.

An Angus Reid poll from late August told us that “Trudeau (is) now the most unfavourably viewed major party leader in the country.”

“The Liberal leader is now the most intensely disliked among his major party challengers, with fully two-in-five (41%) saying they view him ‘very unfavourably.’”

A fraction of the country has long viewed Trudeau as a smug, entitled, self-righteous, and condescending politician who doesn’t practice what he preaches.

Despite his long list of offences — multiple ethical lapses, groping allegations, racism, corruption, economic illiteracy and pitting Canadians against one another — Trudeau somehow managed to remain the “sunny ways” candidate to enough Canadians to eke out a minority government in the 2019 election.

But this is no longer 2019, and more and more Canadians are seeing Trudeau in a different light.

Trudeau can no longer rely on puff pieces from cultural influencers abroad as he did in 2015 — his history of wearing racist “blackface” makeup, firing confident women and failing to hold his male colleagues to account amid sexual abuse allegations makes him persona non grata to the avant-garde left. Fake-emoting and over dramatic speeches no longer fool them.

And, Trudeau can no longer base his political identity on being the anti-Trump as he did in 2019. Trump is long gone, and so too is the imperative to contrast America’s boorish President with our own progressive leader.

In 2021, we’re left with just Justin — and even Canadians who once supported Trudeau are now looking elsewhere.

I spent the week in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia and I must admit I was surprised by the conversations I had with former Liberal voters on the West Coast.

“I’ve had enough of his smarmy ways,” said a retired government employee and former Trudeau voter. She told me she is considering a vote for the NDP just to get rid of Trudeau.

Another former Liberal voter — a stay-at-home mother who identifies as an environmentalist and of the political left — told me she will be voting for O’Toole’s Conservatives this time around.

She opposed the lockdowns, opposes forced vaccinations and supports the ideas of People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier, however, she said she will be voting Conservative because they have a better shot at winning in her riding.

If Trudeau loses voters like these, then it’s all over for the Liberals.

My anecdotal conversations with former Liberal voters was also reflected in the same Angus Reid poll previously mentioned. The poll found that Trudeau is losing support with every age group and gender demographic in the country.

This is very troubling for Team Trudeau because he is particularly bleeding support among women — the most important voting block for Liberals and considered Trudeau’s “staunchest supporters.”

Perhaps this is why The Hill Times reported that the reception at the doors for Liberal campaigners has been “a lot worse” than it was in 2019.

In Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel The Sun Also Rises, a character named Mike is asked, “How did you go bankrupt?” Mike answered: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

This is turning out to be the story of the 2021 federal election.

How did Trudeau lose the support of Canadians? Gradually, over the course of six years of growing anger over scandal, mismanagement and arrogance, then suddenly, during a 36-day election campaign Trudeau triggered himself, for selfish purposes, without realizing his own unpopularity.

LEVY: The government’s mismanaged and glitch-filled COVID response system

By
Sue-Ann Levy
-

Toronto lawyer Lois Winstock was fully vaccinated and had a negative COVID test when she visited her daughter in Charlotte, N.C. a week ago.

The same was true for her lawyer husband, Ian Kirby.

In other words, they were considered exempted international travellers not subject to a hotel or a 14-day at-home quarantine according to the revised Aug. 9 federal edict for Canadian travellers.

But after returning from the trip, they were harassed with letters from both the federal and provincial governments advising them they need to quarantine for 14 days.

The threatening form letters to her husband have stopped but Winstock continued to get them all week.

The Sept. 3 missive from the government of Canada demands that she quarantine for 14 days and “complete symptom reporting” on a daily basis.

The day before the email was much more threatening, warning her to QUARANTINE (in capital letters) for a minimum of 14 days in accordance with the instructions given to her by a screening officer and to RESPOND (in capital letters) to calls or visits from screening or peace officers.

“Violating any instructions … could lead to a ticket of up to $5,000, six months in prison and fines of up to $750,000,” the federal email says.

If Winstock dares to break her mandatory quarantine, resulting in death of or bodily harm to another person, the email says she could face a fine of up to $1-million or imprisonment up to three years, or both. 

A companion e-mail from the Ontario health ministry also spells out what she must do during her 14-day quarantine, which includes avoiding contact with other people and having a “separate bedroom” from those who did not travel with her.

In an interview, Winstock called it nothing short of “harassment and intimidation” for no apparent reason.

“While announcing that the border is now open for Canadians who fulfill the requisite requirements, we are nevertheless being threatened with fines and jail by the Trudeau government if we do not do something we are supposedly not required to do,” she said.

She notes that fulfilling the government’s requirements included getting expedited PCR tests in Charlotte within 72 hours of their departure at US $190 each, in which both were negative.

Winstock says she and her husband staggered their trip over two weekends to ensure someone was home to care for their 15-year-old dachshund Heidi.

When her husband returned from the first weekend and before she even left, they both got emails from Health Canada telling them they needed to quarantine for 14 days or face huge fines.

When she returned to Pearson airport this past week, having filled out the ArriveCAN app while in Charlotte, she said she was waved through by a border security officer after reviewing her vaccination certificate and passport. She was told she was “fine.”

When the threatening emails started coming, both Winstock and Kirby called Health Canada more than once and was informed that there was a glitch in the system, that “a lot of Canadians are getting these emails” and to just “ignore” the calls and emails.

As of Saturday, the calls and emails continue. Winstock says this is having a “detrimental effect on her hypertension.”

I contacted Health Canada media relations, whose officials simply sent me the links to the new federal edicts on who needs to quarantine. They completely ignored my questions about the apparent glitches in the system.

Winstock says she’s a lawyer of 40 years who can easily navigate the government system. But what about travellers who aren’t able to, she asks.

“Why can’t the federal government even implement a tracking system that is based on actual policy guidelines and not continue to confuse, fully and frighten Canadians with misinformation and threats,” she asks.

She wonders how the heck Trudeau’s government can assist the provinces with instituting COVID vaccine passports if they can’t even get this right.

“He can’t get his own house in order,” she said. “This is a reflection of the total mismanagement of (Justin) Trudeau’s government of the entire pandemic.”

Canada’s anti-child COVID policies are not the norm

By
Anthony Furey
-

Around the world, kids are not required to wear masks when they’re in school. Meanwhile, in Ontario, when kids return to school in the fall, masks will be mandatory.

And while the UK government has said the vaccine may not be safe for children between the ages of 12-15, in Canada, some people are pushing for kids of all ages to get vaccinated.

Anthony Furey says Canada needs to do a better job of putting our youth first.

Thousands protest vaccine passports in Montreal

By
Harrison Faulkner
-

The rain didn’t stop thousands of Quebecers from taking to the streets on Sunday to protest against the Quebec government’s implementation of a vaccine passport system.

Holding signs that read “No to Medical Discrimination,” “Stop COVID Vaccine Propaganda” and “My Body, My Choice,” the protesters demanded an end to the province’s vaccine passports.

Quebec’s vaccine passport system, imposed Sept. 1, requires anyone in the province to show proof of vaccination to access businesses and events deemed “non-essential.”

According to Montreal Blog, the protest was organized by the Facebook group Québec Pro Choix and several mobilization groups from all over Quebec participated.

People’s Party Candidate for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount David Freiheit, a popular YouTuber under the name Viva Frei, estimated there were more than 50,000 protesters.

“The protest spanned kilometres. Tens of thousands of people peacefully protesting [and] expressing themselves … with the discontent of the government with what has turned into a fundamentally undemocratic country,” Freiheit said in a video posted to Twitter.

Opposition parties in Quebec have denounced Quebec Premier François Legault’s decision to implement the vaccine passport without a debate in the legislature.

“I don’t want certain people – whom I won’t name – to come explain that there’s a conspiracy, it’s not good to be vaccinated, that in the end, we’re putting a microchip in people’s arms to follow what they’re doing, stories like that. I don’t think we need that in Quebec,” said Legault when asked why there has been no debate on the issue.

Monsef’s popularity drops in her riding, following “our brothers, the Taliban” comment

By
Caitlin Rose Morgante
-

Liberal candidate Maryam Monsef has experienced a dramatic decline in popularity since her recent blunder when she referred to the terrorist organization the Taliban as “our brothers.”

A Mainstreet Research poll conducted September 1 asked voters in the riding of Peterborough—Kawartha which party they’d vote for if the election were held today. 27.3% selected Monsef while Conservative candidate Michelle Ferreri was chosen by 39.7% of respondents.

Monsef was previously elected in 2016 with 43.8% of the vote and in 2019 with 39.3%.

In a press conference in August, Monsef said, “I want to take this opportunity to speak to our brothers, the Taliban. We call on you to ensure the safe and secure passage of any individuals in Afghanistan out of the country.”

Monsef attempted to do damage control by clarifying that she “doesn’t support the Taliban” and that her “brothers” reference was cultural. “In terms of the terminology, if you go to masjid across the country, Muslims refer to each other as brothers and sisters,” Monsef said. 

Throughout her political career, Monsef has publicly discussed her personal story as a refugee from Afghanistan. Monsef has claimed she fled Taliban violence in Afghanistan with her mother and brother when she was 11. 

“My dad was killed, caught in a crossfire. My uncle was taken from his dormitory one night for speaking up against what was happening politically, never to be seen or heard from again,” she told Global News at the time.

Since the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, there have been several reports that the terrorist organization is torturing and beating women. There are also reports that the Taliban are executing opponents to their regime.

FACT CHECK: Fearmongering Liberal attack ad full of misleading claims about O’Toole

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A recent Liberal Party attack ad released this weekend contained several false claims about Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole.

The ad, which was shared by the party’s official Twitter account, misled Canadians on three of O’Toole’s actual positions and instead relied on misrepresenting O’Toole’s views to provoke fear. 

In the video, the Liberals present three misleading claims about the Conservative leader. The claims are that Erin O’Toole wants to make Canada’s healthcare private and for-profit, that the Conservatives want to push anti-abortion laws and that O’Toole denies climate change. 

Each of these claims is verifiably false and a misrepresentation of O’Toole’s actual stated positions. 

Healthcare

On healthcare, O’Toole has repeatedly stressed the importance of Canada’s universal healthcare system. For some time now, the Liberals have been floating a heavily edited video of the Conservative leader discussing private healthcare options for Canadians. 

Despite the fact that Twitter flagged the clip, which was posted by Liberal Party Candidate Chrystia Freeland, as “manipulated media” the Liberals have continued to use the doctored clip as evidence that O’Toole secretly wants to make all healthcare private in Canada.

In reality, O’Toole stressed the necessity of Canada’s universal healthcare system while also supporting private alternatives for certain treatments. 

“We need to ensure universal access remains paramount,” O’Toole said in an omitted portion of the video. 

Abortion

With regard to O’Toole’s position on abortion, the Conservative Party leader has repeatedly expressed pro-choice views which are backed by his voting record. 

“Let me be perfectly clear. As a pro-choice leader of this party, I will make sure that we defend the rights of women to make the choice for themselves with respect to their own health. We will make sure abortion services are available from one ocean to the other,” O’Toole reiterated his pro-choice position in August. 

Climate Change

As for O’Toole’s views on climate change, the Conservative Party leader has been adamant that those running for the party support his platform including its extensive climate change policies. 

Since becoming leader of the party, O’Toole has pledged to maintain a carbon tax in partnership with Canada’s provinces and has pledged to meet the Paris agreement targets. 

“Canada must not ignore the reality of climate change,” said O’Toole in April.  

“It is already impacting our ecosystems, hurting our communities, and damaging our infrastructure. Canada’s Conservatives will meet our Paris climate commitment and reduce emissions by 2030 to fight climate change and protect our environment. But we won’t do it on the backs of working Canadians or by hurting our economy.”

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