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Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Calgary doctor calls for more restrictions, says it’s “impossible to vaccinate our way out of the pandemic”

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
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A Calgary doctor who led protests against the Alberta government’s decision to lift most public health measures recently said that it would be “impossible to vaccinate our way out of the pandemic.”

Dr. Joe Vipond made the comments during a COVID-19 livestream hosted by the group Protect Our Province Alberta while discussing the spread of the Delta variant. According to Dr. Vipond, the solution to combating the Delta variant is to institute more restrictions.

“If I can opine a bit on some of the causes of this situation, it seems that our policymakers have put all their eggs in the vaccination baskets. It was basically, we have enough vaccinated population that we no longer need to do any of the other mitigation measures,” Dr. Vipond claimed. 

“And most of the smart scientists on COVID that I follow would suggest that because Delta is so infectious that it is impossible to vaccinate our way out of this pandemic, that we really do need those other simple mitigation measures. And the ones I would point out would be mask mandates. Thank you, Edmonton,” he continued. 

“Restriction of mass gatherings like weddings and funerals through this wave. We need to consider closing indoor dining temporarily, indoor drinking temporarily.”

True North reached out to Dr. Vipond to give him an opportunity to clarify his remarks but did not receive a response by the deadline given. 

McKenzie Kibler, who is the Issues Manager for the Alberta Minister of Health, told True North in an emailed statement that the COVID 0 approach Dr. Vipond is advocating for has been unsuccessful in curbing cases elsewhere. 

“Vaccines work, full stop. They protect us, our families, and the wider community, and they are the only way out of the pandemic. Dr. Vipond’s recommendations are based on aiming for “COVID 0”, an approach that hasn’t worked for other jurisdictions, including some that are now seeing cases ramp up among the unvaccinated,” said Kibler. 

“We continue to have confidence in Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and the advice she provides. Municipalities and other institutions have always been able to adopt their own measures, including mask mandates. While we will continue to monitor the situation, our current health measures remain in place, including requiring masks for health care and transit workers.”

As exclusively reported by True North earlier this month, Dr. Vipond was revealed to be an extensive donor to the Alberta NDP. Records show that Dr. Vipond has donated nearly $20,000 to that party since 2014.

When confronted with the donations, Dr. Vipond denied having a conflict of interest and maintained that he had no ties to the NDP other than the said contributions. 

Despite his extensive support for the NDP, legacy media outlets such as Global News and CTV News continue to cite him as an expert without disclosing those ties.

Following Alberta’s decision to curb quarantine requirements, Dr. Vipond called for the resignation of Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw. 


To date, 78% of Alberta’s eligible population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 69.8% have been fully vaccinated.

Recently, the Alberta government rolled out a third vaccine booster dose for specific segments of the population such as seniors in long-term care facilities and immunocompromised people.

Alberta deficit plummets, province set to lead Canada in economic growth

By
Caitlin Rose Morgante
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Alberta’s economy is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year thanks to surging oil prices filling up government coffers with higher than expected resource royalties. 

A fiscal update released Tuesday by Alberta finance minister Travis Toews projects the province’s deficit will be slashed by more than half, with Alberta set to lead Canada in economic growth in 2021.

The Alberta government is now forecasting a deficit of $7.8 billion at the end of the 2022 fiscal year—$10.5 billion lower than Budget 2021 estimates.

Alberta’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to rebound to 6.7% in 2021, outperforming the previous estimate by close to 2%. By next year, the province’s GDP is expected to return to 2014 levels before Alberta’s economy was battered by low commodity prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The update states that this surge in revenue and economic growth can be attributed to “global oil prices strengthening faster than expected, job creation lowering unemployment, and increased energy and non-energy exports, such as lumber and chemical products.”

Despite the good news contained in today’s update, there are still challenges ahead for Alberta’s beleaguered economy. The unemployment rate remains stubbornly high at 8.5% and the province’s debt is still expected to top more than $100 billion this year. Debt servicing costs are also expected to climb to $2.6 billion for the year.

The update warns that “the rate of change in the economic outlook and government revenue once again displays the volatility faced by Alberta, the need for economic diversification, and for caution in fiscal planning.”

The Alberta government has committed to returning to balanced budgets once the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.

Alberta Institute President Peter McCaffrey told True North that “it is great news for Alberta that oil prices are increasing again, but that is not something that the provincial government controls.”

“Albertans need a government that will cut spending, not increase spending slightly slower than in the past,” McCaffrey said.

Opinion of Trudeau tanking, latest poll shows increasing voter dissatisfaction

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

A new poll by Leger released on Tuesday reveals a sharp decline in support for Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau. 

As Canadians near the halfway point of the 2021 election campaign, more and more people are expressing dissatisfaction with Trudeau and the Liberals.

Leger found that over the past week, 41% of Canadians reported that their opinion of the Liberal leader has deteriorated. Additionally, 56% of Canadians expressed that they were dissatisfied with the Liberal government.

The growing dissatisfaction shows an increase of 5% since Leger’s last survey on August 17, 2021. 

According to Leger, the survey was conducted only from August 27, 2021 to August 30, 2021. A total of 2,005 Canadians responded to the poll. A similar probability sample would have a margin of error of ±2.18%, 19 times out of 20.

With regard to federal voting intentions, the Liberals have been steadily falling behind the leading Conservatives despite having a clear advantage prior to the election being call. 

The Leger poll reports that the Conservatives are currently 4-points ahead of the Liberals. When it comes to federal voting intentions, 34% of Canadians say they would most likely vote for a Conservative candidate, while 30% of Canadians said the same about the Liberals. 

Meanwhile, the NDP are currently sitting behind the Liberals at 24%, with the Bloc Quebecois at 7%. Additionally, the People’s Party of Canada is currently polling at 3% while the Green Party sits at 2%. 

“The Conservatives need significantly more votes than the Liberals, if they wish to form government,” said Leger Executive Vice-President Christian Bourque. 

“But it’s possible: not only are they are making a breakthrough in Atlantic Canada, but they also have at least 20% of the share of vote in Quebec and are within striking distance of the Liberals in Ontario. Another concern for the incumbent liberals is the strength of the NDP in Ontario and BC, which could cost them seats in both provinces.”

Last week, a Mainstreet Research poll had the Conservatives at 37% while the Liberals were sitting at 31% of the vote. 

U of T professor suggests Conservatives are promoting Nazism

By
Jonathan Bradley
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A professor at the University of Toronto alleged in a tweet on Sunday that the Conservative Party of Canada is dog-whistling to Nazis. 

David Fisman, an epidemiology professor at U of T, said in a tweet that the Conservatives were promoting Nazism because a tweet the party sent about Canada’s Recovery Plan had the words secure the future for your children and contained 14 words. 

“Now they’ve added ‘secure the future for your children’ and they’ve got the slogan at exactly 14 words,” said Fisman. “So creepy.” 

Fisman put #dogwhistle near the end of the tweet, and he linked to a Wikipedia page about the Fourteen Words. The Fourteen Words is code word for the Nazi slogan “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”

The Conservative tweet that Fisman was referencing featured a photo of Conservative leader Erin O’Toole meeting with Canadians of different ethnic origins, including an Asian man and Indian woman.  

Last week, the U of T professor announced that he was resigning from Ontario’s COVID-19 Science and Modeling table. 

“I find myself increasingly uncomfortable with the degree to which political considerations appear to be driving outputs from the table, or at least the degree to which these outputs are shared in a transparent manner with the public,” he said. “I have been in the uncomfortable position of repeatedly dissenting publically from table guidance, though with the advantage of hindsight I remain comfortable with my positions on the relevant issues.”

His decision to resign was praised by the legacy media for being neutral and non-partisan.

A week later, many Canadians criticized him for suggesting the Conservatives were promoting Nazism, pointing out its absurdity and the clear partisan behaviour exhibited by a person who was once praised for being neutral. 

The associate editor at Quillette Jonathan Kay said Fisman was a “unhinged whack job.”

“When Fisman quit Ontario’s COVID-19 science table a week ago, it was played big in the media…the #1 story on CBC in fact,” said Kay. “So its (sic) interesting that one hour ago, Fisman outed himself as an unhinged whack job who believes Erin O’Toole is sending coded Nazi messages to Canadians.” 

Columnist at the National Post Rupa Subramanya mocked Fisman by pointing out that there were fourteen words in a tweet the Liberal Party of Canada sent about improving access to family doctors and the health care system 

“Counted fourteen words,” said Subramanya. “Creepy.” 

Fisman could not be reached for further comment in time for publication. 

Does Erin O’Toole have a pathway to victory?

By
Candice Malcolm
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The latest polls show the Conservatives are in the lead, but is this enough to form government? Does Erin O’Toole have a pathway to victory?

On today’s episode of The Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by True North’s in-house pollster Hamish Marshall to go over the top federal ridings Canadians should be watching this election. Which seats does O’Toole need to pick up in order to become prime minister? Which seats would cause panic for the Liberal campaign if they lost them? Are we witnessing another orange wave for the NDP?

Tune into The Candice Malcolm Show to find out.

Check out our analysis of the top federal ridings to watch this election.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE CANDICE MALCOLM SHOW

Trudeau allows candidate to run for re-election, despite sexual harassment allegations

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau refused to condemn one of his candidates who is facing six years worth of sexual harassment allegations from several young female staffers. 

Trudeau stood by Kitchener Centre candidate Raj Saini’s re-election effort during a campaign stop in Kanata, Ont. on Tuesday.

“Mr. Saini has shared the processes. There have been rigorous processes undertaken that he has shared the details of. We know that it is extremely important to take any allegation seriously, which we certainly have, and we always will because everyone deserves a safe workplace,” claimed Trudeau.

According to CBC News, seven sources have corroborated four different incidents where Saini is alleged to have made unwanted sexual advances and inappropriate comments towards female staffers. Saini has denied the allegations. 

One of the cases made its way into the Canadian Human Rights Commission last year. The staffer who filed the complaint has since expressed distress that the Liberal Party is choosing to field Saini as a candidate. 

According to the unnamed employee, Saini’s alleged sexual harassment was so severe that she attempted to take her own life in his office in March 2020. 

“That’s pretty devastating to me, knowing what I have gone through and that I’ve raised concerns over the last more than year and a half. It’s disturbing to me… It’s also concerning to me that it could continue to happen to other people,” the anonymous staffer told CBC News. 

Complaints against Saini’s behaviour go back to a Liberal holiday party in December 2015. Four female staffers at the event told senior Liberal officials that Saini, alongside disgraced former Liberal MP Marwan Tabbara, was acting inappropriately with young women at the party. 

Tabbara was arrested on April 9, 2020, for an unrelated incident. He has since been charged with assault, one count of break and enter to commit an indictable offence and one count of criminal harassment.  He was never ejected from Trudeau’s caucus but resigned voluntarily.

The Liberal Party has since claimed that it has “no record or knowledge” of the incident taking place. 

Meanwhile, former Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Cole Harbour-Dartmouth Troy Myers was forced to withdraw from the campaign by the party after claims surfaced that he had allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in October 2019.

For years, Trudeau has maintained that he has a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment despite the fact that he himself has been accused of groping a female reporter in 2000 while attending a music festival.

When the story became public, Trudeau claimed at the time that the female reporter had “experienced things differently.” 

A number of other Liberal MPs have faced sexual harassment accusations including former Liberal MP Kent Hehr, former PMO director of operations Claude-Éric Gagné, former Liberal MP Darshan Kang and former Liberal MPs Massimo Pacetti and Scott Andrews. 

Trudeau once said he believed women who come forward with allegations of sexual assault must be supported and believed.

“When women speak up it is our duty to listen to them and believe them,”  said Trudeau in 2018.

Trudeau evokes Harper government yet again at Ottawa campaign stop

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau evoked former prime minister Stephen Harper once again on Tuesday while fielding questions from reporters at a campaign stop in Ottawa. 

Trudeau made the statement in response to a question on his pandemic performance and falsely claimed that Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole wanted to create a “two-tier” healthcare system. 

“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. To go back with a two-tier healthcare system as has been proposed by Mr. O’Toole would be ridiculous,” Trudeau said in French.

On August 23, 2021, Trudeau defended a manipulated video posted by Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland which claimed that Trudeau wanted to bring “for-profit” healthcare to Canada.

The social media platform Twitter immediately flagged Freeland’s video shortly after it was posted and tagged it with a “manipulated media” disclaimer. Despite full versions of the video emerging online showing that a crucial part of the interview was edited, Trudeau maintained that the Liberals had posted it “in its entirety.” 

This is the third time in about a week that Trudeau has blamed the Harper government with regard to various issues. 

Just yesterday, Trudeau made a similar comparison 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. Some young people who are voting for the first time and who just do not remember the Harper era. Well, since 2015 we have been working hard to catch up but we cannot waste any minutes especially over the next four years,” said Trudeau.

Prior to that incident, Trudeau also resorted to referencing Harper’s handling of the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis when asked by a reporter whether his government effectively handled the Afghanistan evacuations. 

Canada calls for “gendered” approach to combatting terrorism in UN submission

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

In a recent submission to the United Nations Security Council, the Canadian government advocated for a “gendered and intersectional” approach to preventing terrorism and violent extremism. 

Canada made the submission on July 28, 2021 during an informal meeting of the Council on “preventing terrorism and violent extremism through tackling gender stereotypes, masculinities, and structural gender inequality.”  

“As speakers have noted, gender stereotypes, masculinities, femininities, and gendered inequalities have long been exploited by violent extremist and terrorist groups to their own ends,” claimed the submission. 

“It is imperative that we continue working together to raise awareness of this phenomenon and advance comprehensive gender-responsive approaches to more effectively and sustainably counter terrorism and prevent and counter violent extremism.” 

Last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau lost a coveted seat on the Security Council to Ireland and Norway, after years of advocacy. In total, the failed bid cost Canadian taxpayers approximately $8.6 million.

According to a press release on the terrorism summit, the meeting was organized by Mexico and others. 

“The aims of the meeting were to consider how a focus on masculinities could facilitate a more comprehensive gender approach by the Security Council; identify persistent challenges posed by terrorist individuals and groups exploiting gender to further their objectives; and identify recommendations and lessons learned in that regard,” the meeting description reads. 

In its own submission, Canada argued that the UN “must ensure that gender is not conflated with men. Men also have gender and violent extremists and terrorists expertly manipulate and exploit these gendered realities too.” 

“Our collective counter-terrorism response is strengthened through recognition of these gendered realities. As such, we must continue to demonstrate the utility and necessity of looking at issues from a gendered and intersectional perspective and using this information to guide our approaches,” the submission reads.  

Canada made the submission alongside states with human rights abuses, including the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Niger.

London councillor decries “extreme political actions” such as vaccine mandates, passports

By
Cosmin Dzsurdzsa
-

London city councillor Michael van Holst wants council to seek legal advice on the need for public health measures, such as vaccine mandates and vaccine passports, which he claims are extreme.

During a Monday meeting of London’s Corporate Services Committee, van Holst’s submission referred to the “sometimes corrupt” pharmaceutical industry and whether or not they have influenced the public’s perception around COVID-19. 

“The goal of this communication is to argue that the need for vaccines has been exaggerated and does not warrant the imposition of extreme measures that could place our corporation in jeopardy of infringing unlawfully on protected rights. Because of this risk, I will also request legal opinions and that those be shared publicly,” writes van Holst. 

Van Holst’s motion does not provide extensive evidence for his claims regarding vaccines but does cite “aggressive marketing of vaccines” and past alleged criminal behaviour by pharmaceutical companies like the opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. 

“The industry also had a lot to lose if an inexpensive treatment was found to cure the disease or (worse for them) the fear of it. I suspect this was the reason that the treatment alternative and its proponents suffered heavy personal attacks and deplatforming under the COVID narrative,” wrote van Holst. 

Among the legal questions van Holst seeks answers to include whether London could be sued for instituting a mandate, whether the city could be held liable for vaccine harms or deaths and other issues. 

Van Holst’s motion comes at a time where numerous Ontario municipalities including Toronto are implementing vaccine mandates for public workers and other sectors. 

The City of London is set to implement its own staff vaccination policy which is set to come into effect on September 29, 2021. 

Those employed by the city will be required to provide proof of vaccination status unless they have a medical exemption or other reasons for not getting vaccinated based on the Ontario Human Rights Code. 

Those with written attestation will be required to submit to regular testing and provide negative test results. Additionally, those who are not vaccinated and are not exempt will also need to do the testing ontop of having to complete a COVID-19 vaccination education session. 

Some Canadians really, really, really hate Justin Trudeau

By
Candice Malcolm
-

The Trudeau government is the most divisive government in Canadian history – it’s no wonder so many Canadians are angry with Justin Trudeau.

Protesters confronting politicians is nothing new in Canadian politics. This happens to every politician, every party and during every election, but this didn’t stop the legacy media from defending Trudeau and making him look like some kind of hero.

The Trudeau Liberals have routinely denigrated Canadians they disagree with, used hateful language to describe their political opponents and pitted Canadians against one another. Canadians have every right to protest regardless of what the CBC and legacy media say.

Tune into The Candice Malcolm Show. 

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