The Ontario government has flip-flopped on vaccine passports, announcing last week vaccination will soon be required for anyone wishing to go to a gym, dine out at a restaurant, or partake in a number of other aspects of civil society. Canadian Constitution Foundation litigation director Christine Van Geyn says the move is clearly unconstitutional. She joined The Andrew Lawton Show to explain.
Let’s talk about incidental COVID hospitalizations
A lot of people in Canada are concerned about unvaccinated people getting infected with COVID-19 and filling up the hospitals. Some people are even floating the idea of yet another lockdown.
However, many health experts believe the number of incidental hospitalizations will increase in the fall – this means people who test positive for COVID but aren’t suffering from the virus. Why isn’t this being discussed?
Anthony explains in his latest video.
Quebec Conservative candidate says Erin O’Toole’s plan allows provinces to succeed
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has made a point of laying out a detailed plan for Quebecers, though he’s faced criticism from voters in other provinces for seemingly focusing on the one province. Two-term Conservative MP from Quebec Pierre Paul-Hus told True North’s Andrew Lawton his party’s plan allows any province, including those in the west, to look out for their needs with federal government support.
Youth made up over half of Ontario’s vaccine-related heart problems: report
A recent report by Public Health Ontario (PHO) reveals that more than half of all people sent to the hospital with vaccine-related heart issues were youth under the age of 25.
According to the PHO, as of August 7, 2021, 106 Ontario youths were found to have myocarditis or pericarditis as a result of an mRNA vaccination.
When broken down even further, 31 of the cases were in children and teens aged 12 to 17. Meanwhile, 75 cases of heart issues were noted in those aged between 18 to 24.
The data also shows that a vast majority (80%) of the hospital visits were by males.
Overall, the province saw 202 admissions to the emergency room from all age groups after receiving a vaccine.
For the 25-39 age bracket, 54 people were admitted to the hospital. Meanwhile, 44 people over the age of 40 reported visiting the emergency room after getting a vaccine.
“The reporting rate of myocarditis/pericarditis was higher following the second dose of mRNA vaccine than after the first, particularly for those receiving the Moderna vaccine as the second dose of the series (regardless of the product for the first dose),” the report claims.
Additionally, the PHO found that heart inflammation for those between 18 to 24 who received the Moderna vaccine was seven times higher than those who received the Pfizer vaccine.
“COVID-19 vaccines continue to be recommended and are highly effective at preventing symptomatic infection and severe outcomes from COVID-19 disease, which is also associated with a risk of myocarditis,” writes the report.
According to official data, 83% of Ontarians over the age of 12 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. When it comes to full vaccination, a total of 77% of people in the province have received their second dose.
Gun advocates hit back at Liberal attacks on Erin O’Toole’s gun plan
Firearms advocates are calling out the Liberals for stoking fear and misinformation as they take aim at Erin O’Toole’s approach to firearms ownership.
“Desperation is causing the Liberals to do and say awful things,” said Tracey Wilson, vice-president of public relations for the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights.
During the TVA debate Thursday night and in the days since, the Liberals have been accusing O’Toole of pursuing American-style gun access and planning to legalize “assault weapons.”
Liberal candidate Bill Blair said O’Toole has “an allegiance to the gun lobby,” which he cast as “proxies to the NRA in the U.S.”
This couldn’t be further from the truth, according to Wilson.
“We’re a group of RCMP vetted gun owners who want fair and effective legislation for gun owners, and legitimate work to reduce actual crime,” she said.
Blair said in a statement Friday that O’Toole lied to Canadians by promising to maintain the ban on assault rifles during the French leaders’ debate on Thursday.
“Canadians overwhelmingly support strong gun control measures in our society,” said Blair. “Erin O’Toole doesn’t.”
In fact, O’Toole was referring to the 1977 ban on genuine assault rifles, those capable of shooting multiple rounds of ammunition with a single trigger pull. The Conservative platform vows to repeal Bill C-71 and Liberals’ May 2020 order-in-council prohibiting more than 1,500 types of hunting and sport shooting firearms the Liberals say are “assault rifles.”
The Conservatives say they would also update firearms legislation by introducing a simplified classification system for guns to avoid arbitrary reclassifications.
The Liberal government’s May 2020 order-in-council set a two year amnesty period for the newly prohibited firearms, by which point Canadians must either sell the guns back to the government or have them disabled. The amnesty expires in eight months, though the government’s promised buyback program still has not been rolled out.
Wilson said the Liberals support restricting legal gun owners because it is fast and easy, and convinces low information voters that action has been taken against gun crime. She claimed a ban on semi-automatic firearms will not improve public safety.
The Conservatives have committed to tackle gun crime by going after gun smugglers, as well as cracking down on bulk purchases of firearms, amending provisions of the Criminal Code on unauthorized importing, and supporting specialized enforcement against illegal firearms.
O’Toole said he would not repeal the ban on assault rifles on Friday. He accused the Liberals of trying to import the divisive U.S. debate about gun rights into Canada.
According to Wilson, firearms have a rich history in Canada, and ownership of them need not come at the expense of public safety.
“Guns have been a part of Canada since before Confederation,” she said. “I want to live in a country governed by people with legitimate interest in reducing crime, holding criminals responsible for their actions and trust in the good.”
Are vaccine passports suppressing participation in civic life?
A handful of provinces have introduced COVID-19 vaccine passports in the midst of a federal election, which means unvaccinated individuals could be prevented from fully engaging in our democracy.
True North fellow Lindsay Shepherd has gathered some examples of how we already see this happening.
Lisa Raitt says Conservative breakthrough in Atlantic Canada is possible
Former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt says the ballot issues for Atlantic Canadians are healthcare and affordability. True North’s Andrew Lawton caught up with her in North Sydney, Nova Scotia to discuss whether the Maritimes could go blue, and what would be needed to make it happen.
FACT CHECK: Media outlets falsely claimed O’Toole wants to keep Liberal gun ban
Several media outlets gave the false impression that Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole wants to maintain the Liberal government’s sweeping firearms ban.
The claim was spread by both the Canadian Press and Global News following several statements made by O’Toole during Thursday night’s French-language leader’s debate which were taken out of context.
“We will maintain the ban on assault weapons. And we will make sure that we work with police and we work to make sure there’s a transparent process to keep people safe and to make sure that we tackle rising gun violence,” said O’Toole.
In response, the media interpreted O’Toole’s statements as claiming support for the Liberal order in council which banned 1,500 types of rifles — used for hunting and sport shooting — from being owned by law-abiding Canadians.
However, O’Toole has always been unequivocal about planning to repeal this order in council. In reality, O’Toole was referencing maintaining a ban on actual assault weapons, which has been in effect since 1977.
According to the federal 1977 Criminal Law Amendment Act, fully automatic weapons and sawed-off shotguns and rifles are banned from possession by everyone in Canada except the police and military.
“We will start by repealing C-71 and the May 2020 Order in Council and conducting a review of the Firearms Act with participation by law enforcement, firearms owners, manufacturers, and members of the public,” the Conservative platform claims.
“We will then update legislation by introducing a simplified classification system and codifying it in law so that it is clear what types of firearms fit into each category and classification decisions can be made quickly, and with the public and firearms owners having confidence that they are not arbitrary.”
Additionally, when O’Toole was confronted by Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau on whether he would maintain the gun ban, O’Toole replied in the negative saying that this was “not the case.”
Despite this, both outlets published articles with misleading titles like “Erin O’Toole promises to keep Liberal assault rifle ban, directly contradicting his own platform” and “Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole vows to keep Liberal ban on assault-style firearms.”
Blair falsely claims 2013 cuts led to hundreds of organized crime investigations ending
During a Friday afternoon press conference, Liberal Candidate Bill Blair made the misleading claim that due to budget cuts by the former Conservative government, police had to shut down investigation into organized crime in 2013.
Blair made the statement while fielding questions from reporters on the Liberal government’s performance on crime.
.@CBCRaffy points out to Blair that homicides dropped during Stephen Harper’s time and office and have increased while Liberals have been in power.
— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) September 3, 2021
Blair says Harper pulled police funding in 2013, which shut down organized crime investigations (this is begging for a fact check).
“Homicides in Canada fell by 8% during the years Stephen Harper was in power and since your government came in, they started climbing up again. Last year there were 22% more homicides in Canada than when your government came into office, this is all according to Statistics Canada. So given this track record why would Canadian voters expect to be safer under a Liberal government?” asked CBC reporter Raffy Boudjikanian.
Blair provided no evidence to support his claims. pic.twitter.com/FEcWix3hxv
— True North (@TrueNorthCentre) September 3, 2021
“In 2013 an extraordinary thing happened and frankly Mr. Harper and the Conservative government, which Mr. O’Toole was a member of that cabinet, pulled the rug out from underneath the police at that time and withdrew funding, literally hundreds of millions of dollars from the RCMP and border services officers,” said Blair.
“You know, I appreciate they were trying to balance the budget but frankly they made a terrible mistake, a tragic mistake, so we saw hundreds of organized crime investigations ending because the resources were no longer available. They shut down the thirteen integrated proceeds of crimes units that were in place across the country doing really important work holding organized crime to account. They basically got out of the business to save money.”
Blair provided no evidence to support his claims.
According to Public Safety Canada’s 2013-2014 progress report, Blair’s claim that “hundreds of organized crime investigations” were shut down is not accurate.
In reality, Public Safety Canada reported that it had exceeded and met performance targets for 2013 when it comes to combating serious and organized crime as well as detecting and investigating capital market fraud.
Additionally, Statistics Canada data on crime rates reveals that in 2013, the Crime Severity Index for all provinces and territories, except for Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador, actually decreased nationwide.
“The CSI in Canada’s largest provinces, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia fell in 2013 and as a result, these provinces recorded their lowest CSIs since 1998, when data for the CSI were first calculated,” wrote Statistics Canada.
The following year, in 2014, the Conservative government also boosted funding to the RCMP to combat organized crime with $91.7 million set aside in that year’s federal budget to be put towards tobacco trafficking units.
Trudeau blames Harper for Liberal inaction on gay blood ban
While fielding questions from reporters on Friday, Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau blamed former prime minister Stephen Harper for being the reason behind his government’s inability to lift a blood ban on gay men.
“We have said consistently, back since 2015 that the ban on blood donation, on giving blood from men who have sex with men, was unacceptable, discriminatory and wrong. We made a commitment in 2015 to lift it and we turned to Independent Blood Services Canada and said: ‘You need to get rid of that.’ They said we had all our research and funding cut by the previous Conservative government so we don’t have the data on which to make that decision,” claimed Trudeau.
Trudeau also indicated that he expects Independent Blood Services Canada to lift the ban soon should the Liberals form government in 2021.
The latest comment is the fourth time Trudeau has evoked Harper while on the campaign trail. Harper has not been in power since Trudeau was elected to a majority government in 2015.
Earlier this week, the Liberal leader referenced Harper while at a campaign stop in Ottawa.
“The idea of… going back to greenhouse gas emissions… the idea of going back to Mr. Harper, even when we transcended that with other measures, it makes no sense,” said Trudeau in French.
Prior to that, Trudeau took another shot at Harper on August 30, 2021, while in Granby, Quebec.
“Today’s economy, tomorrow’s economy needs us to fight climate change. Canada lost 10 years under the Conservative Party who wants to go back to the old Harper years objectives and goals,” Trudeau told a crowd of supporters.
The Liberal leader made a similar claim in August, at the height of the Afghanistan crisis.
When asked by reporters whether his government was doing enough to evacuate Canadians and Afghan asylum seekers from the country, Trudeau brought up Harper’s handling of the 2015 Syrian crisis.
“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,” claimed Trudeau.