And while Trudeau was in Europe diving into the dangers of disinformation, his top national security adviser was in Ottawa delivering a high-profile warning about how it’s feeding into domestic extremism in Canada.
Canada
Canadians fighting proposed condo development at Juno Beach D-Day site
A group of Canadians is organizing to stop a proposed condo development at Juno Beach in France, the site of the D-Day landing that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Canadian soldiers.
“It was a remarkable battle and the examples of fearlessness and courage and bravery just were outstanding,” said Cindy Clegg, a spokesperson for the group Save Juno Beach.
“And now to think that there are condos going up right next to [the beach], where people can go on holidays and hoot and holler and play their radios loud on this battlefield just made me sick to my stomach.”
‘We’re effectively a border state with Russia’: Defending Canada’s far-north called key to protecting sovereignty
Canada needs to look north if it is to make serious efforts to defend its sovereignty, say analysts.
Observers are praising comments made Thursday by Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre, who made clear his plans to bolster Canada’s presence in the arctic.
“The far-north is a key area of concern,” Eyre said during Thursday’s keynote talk at the 90th Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence — explaining Canada’s northern flanks are also NATO’s northern flanks.
Here’s how the Freedom Convoy changed Canada for the better
As the political science continues to evolve and the world moves on from the “pandemic,” all eyes are now on Ukraine and Russia.
For a month, the most engaging phenomenon in recent Canadian history took place on the streets of Ottawa. All eyes were on the frozen streets in front of Parliament as thousands of trucks and tens of thousands of patriots descended on Trudeau’s stronghold to demand an end to the nonsense.
Canada’s Real Prime Minister?
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland furnishes an interesting case study in an apparently contradictory dynamic of incompetence and competence. As a high-ranking minister, she is clearly incompetent, having, for example, nearly deep-sixed our NAFTA treaty talks with Donald Trump. Her insistence on the inclusion of “progressive” policies, such as gender equality, labor union safeguards, a chapter dedicated to indigenous peoples, and favored environmental standards only ensured that Canada got the short end of the renewed accord. Her attempt to enact Liberal policy was politically inept.
Federal department gave money to magazine publishing pandemic misinformation
As the federal government was promising to tackle harmful false claims about the pandemic spreading online, it was giving thousands of dollars to a magazine spreading vaccine misinformation — including unsubstantiated claims that COVID-19 vaccines could cause cancer in children.
Rex Murphy: Canada’s big banks have much to answer for after blindly following Trudeau’s emergency orders
Did any single bank president, floating on a stream of magnificently swollen income and bonuses, attempt to resist or test the edict from the Trudeau government? Did they go to court to test the legality of the move?
Did the great presidents of Canadian banks meet, on Zoom or in person, to discuss whether their institutions had become craven puppets of whatever comes out of the Prime Minister’s Office when Justin Trudeau sees a democratic protest he doesn’t like, or wishes to strike out at an inconvenient display of democratic spine?
CBC admits running fake news about Freedom Convoy
The CBC has publicly retracted a news story about the trucker Freedom Convoy that erroneously claimed that support for the protests had largely come from foreigners.
Cowards and Leaders
Russia’s invasion revealed big differences in how politicians deal with threats.
The president of Ukraine, when offered evacuation, said, “I need ammunition, not a ride.” He’s a leader.
By contrast, in Canada a few weeks before, when truckers staged a protest against COVID-19 rules, the cowardly Prime Minister Justin Trudeau felt so threatened by the peaceful protesters that he went to “a secret location.” Then he invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act.
Canada: Muslim groups ask feds to intervene on behalf of questionable Egyptian refugees in Vancouver
… Dozens of Muslim Canadian organizations are now urging the sympathetic Trudeau government and the “president of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to intervene on behalf of Egyptian refugee claimants in Vancouver,” who are deemed security risks due to their MB links. The argument of the Muslim groups manifests complete disregard for Canadian national security. Since the MB groups are not listed as “terrorist entities,” these groups expect Canada to turn a blind eye to all rational concerns and risks, and give these entities a big welcome.
Minister in charge of CBC applauds legacy media’s convoy coverage
While speaking, Rodriguez also promised that there was more the Liberal government could do to “support” the legacy news.
“I think there are even more things we should be able to do. We’re looking into that in the context of supporting the whole ecosystem,” said Rodriguez.
Canadians support actions against Russia over Ukraine, but have economic concerns: poll
… The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found strong support for Canada’s sanctions on Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, and sections of the Russian economy including the oil sector. Eight in 10 Canadians surveyed said they would support even more sanctions.
And although less than half of Canadians who answered the poll said they are prepared to pay more for gas because of those sanctions, 73 per cent said doing nothing will encourage Russia to take further military action elsewhere.
Leaders of truck convoy protests sought to overthrow government, national security adviser says
“The occupation of Ottawa was dug in. They had supply chains. They had organization. They had funding coming in from across Canada but also other countries,” Ms. Thomas said. “The people who organized that protest – and there were several factions … there is no doubt – came to overthrow the government.”
COVID-19 pandemic has brought out the worst in people, pulled Canadians further apart, survey suggests
Two years of living through the COVID-19 pandemic has left Canadians in a dour mood, with the majority saying the ordeal has significantly disrupted their lives, pulled Canadians further apart, brought out the worst in people and weakened their compassion for one another.
GiveSendGo refunding convoy donations after government attempts seizure
“The Canadian government has criminalized the receiving of funds from the Canadian trucker campaigns and now are trying to seize the funds to redistribute. In order to protect our Givers and the intended purposes of their gifts, funds not already transferred to the recipients from the ‘Freedom Trucker Convoy’ campaign will be refunded,” GiveSendGo wrote.