Canada's Greens fail to qualify for leaders' debate

Canada's Green Party failed to nominate enough candidates to qualify for the national leaders' debates, but were invited anyway - until the Commission reversed itself and disinvited them on the day of the first debate.

Party leaders invited to debate: (l to r) Yves-Francois Blanchet, Bloc Quebecois; Jagmeet Singh, New Democratic; 

Mark Carney, Liberal; Pierre Poilievre, Conservative. Jonathan Pedneault, Green. Yahoo News.

What’s the Controversy About Debates Commission Inviting Green Party? | Epoch Times | Lee Harding: 

April, 15, 2025 - "The leader of the Bloc Québécois is questioning why the Green Party can participate in a national televised debate even though the party falls short of qualifying criteria set by Canada’s Leaders’ Debates Commission. 'I have nothing against the Green Party, but if the rules disqualify it, how can we explain why it’s invited to the debate? The main effect is to reduce the speaking time of others,' Yves-François Blanchet wrote in a social media post in French on April 13.

"The commission did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times. A spokesperson for the commission told the CBC it had 'made its decision with respect to which political parties met the debate participation criteria 27 days before election day'....

"Parties must meet two of three criteria to be invited to the debates: Having a sitting MP who’s been elected as a member of that party; having at least four percent national support in opinion polls; and running candidates in at least 90 per cent of all 343 ridings, which amount to 309.

"The commission, an independent body, invited the Greens to participate in the debate, saying the party had met the first and third criteria. However, that invitation was sent a week before the April 7 deadline for parties to submit their final list of candidates. The Green Party had submitted names for candidates in all ridings, on which the commission based its decision.... However, Elections Canada only lists 232 Green candidates, for just 68 percent of all ridings. 

"Nevertheless, Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault will participate in the French debate on April 16 and the English debate on April 17. At a press conference on April 14, Pedneault said, 'it simply benefits Canadian democracy to have the Greens at the table and have as many voices to debate the future of our country.' Pedneault also said People’s Party of Canada [PPC] Leader Maxime Bernier should be included. 'The PPC should be at the table because those are issues and views that Canadians actually hold,' Pedneault said. The Green Party is polling around two percent and the PPC one percent.

"Bernier said on social media that he received his first indication that he would not participate in the debate when Radio Canada TV host Celine Galipeau called Bernier in French 'a leader who will not be at the debate.' In a March 25 press release, Bernier said, 'How is it possible that Ms. Galipeau know[s] this already? I think I have the answer. Radio-Canada/CBC will produce the debates, so they’re talking to the Commission, and I presume everybody there already knows that I won’t be invited'....

"Bernier added that under the 2021 rules he would automatically have been invited because the PPC received almost 5 percent of the vote in the last election, alleging the commission 'changed the rules only to exclude us.' In 2021, the commission decided a party could participate in debates if it met one of three criteria: a sitting MP in the House elected as a member of that party, candidates in the previous election received at least four percent of total valid votes cast, and polls taken five days after the election is called found the party had a national support level of at least four percent.... The PPC was left out of the 2021 debates, as it had earned just 1.62 per cent of the popular vote in 2019, did not elect an MP, and had an average level of 3.27 percent support in polls prior to the 2021 election. However, the party earned 840,993 votes for 4.94 per cent support in the 2021 election....

"The inclusion of the Greens in the French debate ensures Liberal Leader Mark Carney will be involved. Carney announced March 25 he would not participate in an additional French debate, to be broadcast on TVA, because of the Green Party’s absence. As a result, the TVA debate was cancelled."

Read more: https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/whats-the-controversy-about-debates-commission-inviting-green-party-5842129

Update: Green Party booted from leaders' debates due to lack of candidates | National Post | Rahim  Mohammed:

April 16, 2025 - "The commission overseeing the federal leaders’ debates has disinvited the Green party from the proceedings in a surprise last-minute ruling. The Leaders’ Debates Commission said in a Wednesday morning press release explaining the decision that the Greens aren’t running enough candidates to be a factor in the election.... The Green Party hadn’t named candidates in more than 100 of the 343 federal ridings in play, as of this week, putting it well below the 90 per cent threshold.... 

"Pedneault said last week that the candidate shortfall was due, in part, to a 'strategic decision' not to run Green candidates in ridings where the Conservatives were running strong, so as not to split the progressive vote. Green party officials had alternatively pointed the finger at Elections Canada, accusing returning officers of being slow to verify nomination signatures submitted by local candidates."

Read more: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/green-party-booted-from-leaders-debate

Don't rely on us or anyone, says CBC ombudsman

Addressing the question of biased CBC coverage during the Covid pandemic, CBC ombudsman Jack Nagler has told Canadian viewers not to rely on its coverage: "Even if CBC were perfect, it is unwise to rely on any single news source if you want to be fully informed."

CBC ombudsman admits it’s ‘unwise’ to rely on network for the full story | Western Standard | Jen Hodgson:

January 5. 2025 - "It is unwise for Canadians viewers to rely on the state broadcaster 'if you want to be fully informed,' CBC Ombudsman Jack Nagler said in his final report before retiring. Nagler, who served in his role for 34 years, in his final report as Ombudsman faulted the CBC as 'too timid' in failing to acknowledge differing points of view in its news coverage, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

"Nagler’s term as Ombudsman ended December 31. His comments were in response to viewer complaints of one-sided CBC News coverage of the pandemic including uncritical treatment of vaccine mandates.

"'Even if CBC were perfect it is unwise to rely on any single news source if you want to be fully informed,' wrote Nagler. 'This is part of the problem that has been created in recent years as many of us have slipped into "news silos" or "information bubbles" or whatever other jargon you want to use. We aren’t hearing enough information that conflicts with our pre-existing views, and when we do, too often we reject it out of hand.... Read widely. Watch widely. Listen widely. And don’t assume any source, even CBC News, is going to tell you everything you need to know'....

"The CBC from the onset of the pandemic had a duty to 'make sure the public got consistent information' in dealing with a crisis, wrote Nagler. 'As time went on it’s perfectly fair to argue the CBC and other media should also have been more willing to report on perspectives that fell outside the consensus view of public health officials, not because those officials were wrong, but because there was an erosion of consensus among the public.... Those developments were interesting stories and could have received more attention than they did.

"'If I were writing as a media critic rather than Ombudsman I might say that CBC was too timid about giving exposure to some of the sentiments in Canadian society during the height of the pandemic,' wrote Nagler. 'That does not mean it was wrong to give credence to experts.'

"The Ombudsman in his final report quoted Nancy Waugh, CBC manager of journalistic standards, as suggesting a requirement for balanced news coverage should not be taken literally in all cases. 'CBC policy acknowledges that how widely held a particular point of view is should also be taken into account,' wrote Waugh. 'In other words, fringe notions however fervently held by individuals are not afforded the same time and attention as mainstream views.'"

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/cbc-ombudsman-admits-its-unwise-to-rely-on-network-for-the-full-story/60863 

Conservative creators hit with copyright claims

The state-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has been accused of targeting conservative online political content creators with questionable copyright claims.  

CBC issues "bogus" copyright claims against conservative content creators | Western Standard | James Snell:

December 19, 2024 - "The CBC, financed to the tune of around $1.4 billion by taxpayers, has imposed potentially 'bogus' copyright claims on political content creators. The Pleb Report, Northern Perspective, This Guys Garage, PortuguesePai, Made Great Canadian Media, and Unacceptable Fringe have been challenged by the national broadcaster.... 

"'The CBC is so desperate for money, they are now attacking content creators for their monetization,' said the creator of Youtube channel PortuguesePai. 'I've been personally dealing with this for over a month, and it's kind of been a little sporadic here and there — they'll hit me with a claim every so often, and I usually am able to deal with it and get it off my channel. However today, as I was finishing work, I got hit with back to back copyright claims on (my) latest two videos'....

"In response to the copyright claims, one critic said, 'They've been doing this to conservatives for years.' The CBC has also challenged commentator Brian Lilley with copyright claims related to Youtube videos....

"'So, basically the government's public news agency is now doing pseudo social media policing,' said another angry critic.... 'Fight it tooth and nail.'

"Another X user responded, 'CBC is owned by all Canadian taxpayers and should have no claims to copyright infringement laws if used by Canadian taxpayers. They do not own the content. The Canadian taxpayers own the content.'"

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/canadian/cbc-issues-bogus-copyright-claims-against-conservative-content-creators/60664

CBC has unleashed a WAR on Content Creators. Lets FIGHT back | PortuguesePai | December 19, 2024:

The CBC and local journalism

"There may be a role for public policy to support local journalism. That’s the subject of a worthy policy debate. But however one comes down on the question the CBC isn’t the answer."

CBC logo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

The CBC went all in on identity politics. That will be its downfall | The Hub | Sean Speer:

August 10, 2024 - "As the CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corp.] faces growing scrutiny, including for a new round of executive bonuses in spite of major layoffs, its proponents continue to hang onto the argument that the public broadcaster is still needed to fill the gaps caused by the decline of local news across the country....

"The recent failure of SaltWire in Nova Scotia and the declining value of Corus local radio and television stations reinforce that it’s highly challenging to generate a sustainable return by producing news for local markets. But ... the CBC doesn’t really provide the type of news that most people ostensibly have in mind when they make such an argument. Public interest local journalism would in theory cover basic civic news like city hall, local sports, or community activities. The CBC’s provincial and local coverage is decidedly not focused on these topics.

"A case in point is an article published this week on the CBC Newfoundland webpage about a local trans man who unexpectedly gave birth to a baby. Whatever one thinks about the story it’s hard to argue that it reflects broad public interest journalism. The article itself indicates that the individual’s chance of conceiving a child was 1.8 percent. The nature of their experience — particularly in St. John’s — is even more atypical. It’s highly niche content that is neither representative of the broad-based local experience nor informative of major national or international developments for a local audience....

"The decline in local news isn’t a new issue.... The CBC had plenty of time to reorient itself as a key part of the government’s response to these developments.... In a parallel universe, the public broadcaster could have reconfigured its staff and other resources beyond the 40 or so communities (which mostly comprise provincial capitals and key population centres) in which it’s currently present. It could have gone much further than last year’s addition of 14 journalists in communities like Cranbrook, Lethbridge, and Kingston to establish itself as a major player in secondary and rural communities across the country. It could have dedicated a greater share of its local coverage to public interest journalism and away from its overemphasis on identity politics."

"If the CBC had pursued these changes in the face of the decline of local news, it would have renewed its public broadcasting mission for today’s media environment and made it far more difficult for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives to campaign on the pledge to defund it. Its failure to be responsive to the evolving local media landscape has undermined its strongest argument for continuing to exist.

"There may be a role for public policy to support local journalism. That’s the subject of a worthy policy debate. But however one comes down on the question the CBC isn’t the answer. The CBC doesn’t do public interest local journalism anymore. It does identity politics. And that will ultimately be its downfall."

Read more: https://thehub.ca/2024/08/10/the-weekly-wrap-the-cbcs-days-are-numbered-and-it-has-no-one-to-blame-but-itself/

CBC gave out $25M in raises & bonuses in 2023

During 2023 Canada's state broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC), warned of a $125 million deficit, announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce, was bailed out with an extra $95 million from the Liberal government – and (it turns out) also handed out more than $25 million in raises and bonuses. 

CBC hands out $15 million in bonuses despite laying off hundreds of staff | Western Standard | Western Standard News Services:

March 12, 2024 - "According to access-to-information records obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF), the CBC distributed a staggering $14.9 million in bonuses throughout 2023. This revelation has drawn sharp criticism, particularly in light of the broadcaster's announcement just weeks before Christmas, 2023 that it planned to lay off hundreds of employees. Since 2015, the CBC has issued a total of $114 million in bonuses.

"'CBC President Catherine Tait is wrong to hand out bonuses while announcing hundreds of job losses and begging the government for more taxpayer cash,' said Franco Terrazzano, CTF [Canadian Taxpayers Federation] Federal Director, condemning the actions of CBC leadership. Terrazzano further urged Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge to intervene and halt the distribution of bonuses in the face of ongoing layoffs.

"The disclosure indicates that 1,143 CBC staffers received bonuses in 2023, with costs to taxpayers totaling nearly $15 million. However, this number could potentially rise, as the data provided is current only up to October 26, 2023....

"Tait defended the bonuses, citing them as a crucial component of the total compensation package for non-union staff. Tait's remarks came during her appearance before a parliamentary committee in January 2024, where she faced questioning on executive bonuses and the planned workforce reductions.

"Further scrutiny revealed additional financial expenditures at the CBC, including $11.5 million in raises for the 2023/24 fiscal year, benefiting 6,575 employees, representing 87% of its workforce. These raises, obtained through separate access-to-information records, bring the total sum of pay raises since 2015 to $97 million. Moreover, data indicates that the number of CBC staffers earning six-figure salaries has surged by 231% since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assumed office in 2015.

"Despite Tait's assertions of 'chronic underfunding,' the federal government recently announced a substantial increase in funding for the CBC, totaling $96.1 million. This boost brings the broadcaster's taxpayer funding for the 2024/25 fiscal year to $1.4 billion....

"Tait's annual pay, which includes salary, bonus, and other benefits, falls between $472,900 and $623,900, according to CBC's senior management compensation summary."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/cbc-hands-out-15-million-in-bonuses-despite-laying-off-hundreds-of-staff/53043

CBC paying out millions in bonuses while laying off staff | True North | March 12, 2024:

How "impartial and independent" is CBC?

CBC’s recent spat with Twitter over a 'government funded media' label has many Canadians paying attention to the broadcaster’s political bias.

Seven times the CBC showed they were anything but “impartial and independent” | True North - - Cosmin Dzsurdzsa

April 21, 2023 - "CBC’s recent spat with Twitter over a 'government funded media' label [see video] has many Canadians paying attention to the broadcaster’s political bias. True North has compiled seven times the CBC’s bias against conservative politicians and causes was on full display in recent years.

• A prime example of the state broadcaster’s left-wing bias and attempt to silence its critics on the right was when the CBC decided to sue the Conservative Party during the 2019 election. The CBC alleged that the party’s use of excerpts from its programs infringed on the so-called ‘moral rights’ of two of its employees.... Two years ago, a federal court dismissed the CBC’s frivolous lawsuit. Federal Court Justice Michael Phelan ruled that the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) did not violate CBC’s copyright when it used excerpts from the broadcaster’s footage in an online ad and tweets.... 'There was no evidence presented that a broadcaster’s segment disclosed in a partisan setting reflected adversely on the broadcaster,' ruled Phelan....
• "In Jan. 2022, ... [d]uring a Power & Politics segment, a CBC anchor baselessly suggested that Russia was involved in organizing the Freedom Convoy.... 'Given Canada’s support of Ukraine in this current crisis with Russia, I don’t know if it is far-fetched to ask, but there is concern that Russian actors could be continuing to fuel things as this protest grows, perhaps even instigating it from the outside?' asked Nil Köksal.... [T]he CBC Ombudsman called out their bias saying ... 'It was not clear to viewers whether anyone was offering evidence that Russia was involved in the convoy – or why they would have such a concern. Asking the question in this way left room for people to surmise that CBC believed such evidence existed\....
• "The CBC gave more coverage to American Democrat vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris as the “first woman of colour to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket” thanthey did the Canadian Conservative leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis – despite Lewis being the first black woman to run to lead the party. According to a True North review of articles from the time, Harris received 500% more headlines from the CBC mentioning her name than Lewis.... By law, the CBC is required to 'be predominantly and distinctively Canadian, reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions.'
• "Also during the 2020 Conservative leadership race, the CBC was caught ... selectively editing candidate Erin O’Toole’s comments on defunding the public broadcaster. During the interview on CBC’s The House, guest host David Cochrane asked O’Toole about his plan to defund the outlet. His response and the question were entirely removed from the interview that was broadcast across Canada despite not removing any other portion of the interview.... [T]he CBC claimed they edited that part of the interview 'for time'.... 
• "At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the CBC failed to report on important conflicts of interest when it came to the push for vaccination of 5-11-year-olds. The CBC and other media outlets have failed to disclose nearly $2 million in funding from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals received by pediatrician Dr. Jim Kellner who was cited as an expert in articles by the broadcaster.... A search on the outlet’s website turned up Kellner’s name over 41 times.... 
• "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the drastic measure of triggering the Emergencies Act to quash the Freedom Convoy last year based on misleading and biased analysis from the CBC.... 'The importance of this measure is highlighted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s recent reporting about the crowdfunding website, GiveSendGo.com, which indicated that the majority of the donations to the protests were made by donors outside of Canada,' claimed evidence submitted by the federal government. Testimony by GiveSendGo executives and debunked CBC’s claims that a majority of the donations came from outside of Canada, saying that 63% of the donations were from Canadian sources....
• "CBC News’ political bias came through most recently when it refused to retract its story that accuses Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s office of meddling with Crown prosecutors over Coutts border blockades cases. Although it printed the story based on anonymous sources and emails it had not seen, the CBC has stuck by the article, risking a lawsuit with Smith. Not only has Smith called the article “defamatory,” [but] its ...claims were debunked by the civil service and Crown prosecutors."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2023/04/21/seven-times-the-cbcs-bias-was-on-full-display/

Twitter removes 'government-funded media' tags, blue checks , CBC News, April 22, 2023:

CBC president picks fight with Opposition Leader

CBC president Catherine Tait has publicly attacked Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre (who claims the state broadcaster is politically biased, and has pledged to defund it), accusing him of 'CBC-bashing' just to raise funds.

CBC president bashes Poilievre for making people hate the network | Western Standard - Jonathan Bradley 

February 7, 2023 - "CBC President Catherine Tait denounced Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre for inciting attacks on the news outlet. 'There’s a lot of CBC bashing going on — somewhat stoked by the leader of the Opposition,' said Tait in a Tuesday interview with the Globe and Mail. 'I think they feel CBC is a mouthpiece for the Liberal government.' Poilievre said in March [2022] at his Axe the Carbon Tax Rally in Ottawa he would defund the CBC, which received thunderous applause.... 

"Tait hit back at the Conservative campaign to defund the CBC, saying it's a tactic to solicit donations. The Conservatives set up a fundraising initiative which says they will save people $1 billion by defunding the CBC, so they should send in $20. The CBC received about $1.2 billion from the Canadian government in 2022, which was two-thirds of its funding. 

"Tait said it's working with the same budget as 30 years ago. It did linear television and radio 30 years ago. Now it does those two mediums, CBC Gem, streaming radio, and digital platforms. She said it has 'completely tripled our output, yet we’re doing it with less money'.... Tait said it is the one broadcaster in the system which has the obligation to serve all Canadians. She added rural audiences might be limited to their television, so it is not going to abandon them."
Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/cbc-president-bashes-poilievre-for-making-people-hate-the-network/article_0421c88e-a70b-11ed-a237-338919707b33.html

To delight of Conservatives, CBC’s president bad mouths Poilievre | Toronto Sun - Lorrie Goldstein:

February 8, 2023 - "Within hours of Tait accusing Poilievre of 'CBC bashing,' inciting attacks on the public broadcaster and calling his campaign to defund the CBC a fundraising slogan (which it is, along with an election promise), the Conservatives were out with a fundraising email giving Poilievre’s response.... 'The President and CEO of Trudeau’s $1.2 billion propaganda arm, the CBC, is now openly attacking me. They’re not even pretending to be unbiased.' 

"No doubt the CBC’s supporters agreed with what [Tait] said and no doubt similar views are expressed in CBC boardrooms and newsrooms every day. But for the CBC president and CEO to say it explicitly, in public, is manna from heaven for the Conservatives. They aren’t trying to convince people who support the CBC to change their minds. They’re re-enforcing the perception of bias that many Conservative supporters have about the CBC, now using its most senior executive to do so.

"Asked later by a CBC reporter whether she was concerned her comments about Poilievre would undermine working journalists at the CBC by pitting the public broadcaster against one political party, Tait said she wasn’t because she’s not a journalist (which is obvious) but the CEO. As the CEO, Tait said, she has a responsibility to communicate to Canadians, including politicians, the value of the public broadcaste.... The problem is, she walked into what a newspaper publisher rightly described to me years ago as, 'six minutes of satisfaction, followed by six miles of bad road,' in this case for CBC journalists, particularly on Parliament Hill.

"While many Canadians — present company included — believe the state-funded broadcaster is culturally more sympathetic to Liberal policies than Conservative ones (just as Postmedia, the company I work for, is the reverse) it’s also true that CBC journalists have done many investigations and produced many series and articles critical of the Trudeau government, exposing things the Liberals didn’t want the public to know. If Tait wanted to defend the CBC from allegations of pro-Liberal bias, she could have highlighted many examples, instead of attacking Poilievre.

"But, as she says, she’s not a journalist. She’s a CBC executive heading a government-funded corporation that at times makes bone-headed moves such as suing the Conservative Party 11 days before the 2019 federal election, alleging copyright infringement for using some short CBC news clips in an online political ad and tweets. Anyone who understands the defence of 'fair dealing' for copyright infringement knew the CBC would lose, which it did, while re-enforcing the perception of anti-Conservative bias."
Read more: https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/goldstein-to-delight-of-conservatives-cbcs-president-bad-mouths-poilievre

CBC breaks news of Mountie's offline website

Canada's state-funded news outlet, CBC, has decided to turn an internal RCMP investigation into a Mountie's offline website and erased YouTube channel into a national news story.  

B.C. Mountie's anti-Trudeau website raises concerns about discriminatory views within the RCMP | CBC News - Brady Strachan:

January 11, 2023 - "RCMP are investigating after a police officer in Trail, B.C., launched a satirical, political website called the Church of Trudeau mocking the Prime Minister and funding of Indigenous and LGBTQ+ communities. (churchoftrudeau.org)

A B.C. Mountie's anti-Trudeau website is causing waves in a small West Kootenay community and raising concerns about political bias among the ranks of the RCMP. The Church of Trudeau website was online last November and early December and featured theatrical performances by a man dressed up as multiple characters in what appears to be satirical political commentary about the Prime Minister and what the site referred to as 'left-wing Liberal ideologies.' CBC News has confirmed the identity of the man in photos and videos on the website as Trail, B.C., RCMP officer Brent Lord through a source familiar with the website and its contents. The RCMP says it is aware of the site and the matter is under review. 

"In one of four videos CBC News has obtained, Lord plays the role of a character he calls Father B, and professes to be 'the High Prophet of the Church of Trudeau" as he explains what the website is about, stating, "our religion teaches the importance of socialism, of cancelling everyone that offends anyone, of being woke and highly emotional.' A YouTube channel associated with the site that was scrubbed of content in December once stated, 'our goal is to convert sinful conservatives who belong to a fringe minority with unacceptable views into entitled socialist liberals just like us.' Lord does not mention his job as a Mountie....

"The website's contents and the views expressed by the officer are concerning, according to Trail Mayor Colleen Jones, who said she has had 'multiple conversations with the Trail RCMP detachment commander about it. 'It's definitely not anything a community wants,' Jones said.... 

"To Kash Heed, a former West Vancouver police chief and former solicitor general and minister of public safety, the political nature of the website is not in line with the standard of conduct expected of a police officer. 'The RCMP should be investigating this as a code of conduct breach for this particular member,' he said.... Heed likened the officer's political statements in the videos to cases last year of police officers expressing support for the Freedom Convoy movement and donating money to the organizers, which resulted in the officers being charged with misconduct and in one case demoted for their actions."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/anti-trudeau-website-rcmp-trail-b-c-1.6684902

State media CBC decides BC Mountie’s anti-Trudeau website is 'discriminatory' | Western Standard - David Krayden 

January 12, 2023 - "If you needed more reasons to stop funding the CBC to the tune of $1.6 billion a year, look no further than how the state media covered the story of the RCMP member from Trail, B.C. who was running an anti-Trudeau website in his spare time. The line between opinion and news is not just blurred at Mother CBC, it is invisible.

"The website isn’t even active anymore but you can find it on the Internet Archive. 'His gospel explains why belonging to a fringe minority with unacceptable views is not tolerable and how Conservatives are always trying to deceive Canadians with silly words such as government debt, scandals, inflation, and other such nonsense,' reads the website. Do we have a problem here? Well, the CBC does. It ran a 'news' story under the headline of “B.C. Mountie's anti-Trudeau website raises concerns about discriminatory views within the RCMP.” 

"So now it’s discriminatory to oppose Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policies? This is a satirical website to boot. But Liberals and progressives never have any sense of humour when they're the target of the jokes.... 

"Lord also cites Trudeau’s latest LGBTQ initiative, noting '$35 million in new project funding support aimed at addressing specific barriers to 2SLGBTQ+ equality. Now I'm not as smart as Justin Trudeau so I don't really understand what that means, but it sounds really good and if Justin Trudeau has implemented it then it really makes sense.... I trust you Justin, I trust.' This must be one of the 'marginalized communities' the CBC fears is being maligned by the website. It really is time to stop pretending LGBTQ people are in anyway marginalized in a society where the gay lifestyle is celebrated in print, television and film. Homosexual men and lesbian women on average make more money than their heterosexual counterparts and I have never been able to locate the 'gay community' on the map anyway. They don’t all vote Liberal and most would tell the federal government they don’t need to be funded as some kind of needy group. 

"CBC also found a former BC solicitor general/public safety minister and West Vancouver police chief to comment on the story. Kash Heed must also be a member of Thought Police because his words are truly Orwellian. 'We need to make sure we're hiring the right people and we have the policies, discipline and supervision in place to detect these types of behaviours and deal with them in a swift fashion.' Uh huh. We can’t have people thinking for themselves. 

"Do you think for a moment if this RCMP officer were sponsoring a pro-Trudeau website that lauded the government's immigration "policies and identity politics that the CBC would be fretting so? No, of course not."

Read more: https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/krayden-state-media-cbc-decides-bc-mountie-s-anti-trudeau-website-is-discriminatory/article_ddc804de-9286-11ed-b162-3bd2ce660b66.html

Critics' hysteria helped Freedom Convoy

Canada’s ‘Freedom Convoy’ was on a path to nowhere — until its critics overplayed their hand | Foundation against Intolerance and Racism - Jonathan Kay:

Maksim Sokolov  Freedom Convoy protesters, Ottawa, Feb. 12, 2022. CC BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons.

February 12, 2020 - "I can always tell when Canadian political news gets exciting, because these are the rare moments when foreign media outlets email me for commentary.... I’ve been asked for comment on Canadian truckers’ “freedom convoy” by the Washington Post, a Spanish-language radio network, and even a podcast based in Hanoi. Certainly, The New York Times has taken notice, grimly warning its readership of the 'far-right activists' embracing the truckers’ cause.

"There is certainly a grain of truth to the Times’ description. The convoy was originally conceived as a way to fight back against government rules mandating the vaccination of cross-border truckers. But some of the organizers were populist radicals, and there have been sporadic sightings of extreme right-wing symbols at the protests (even if the paucity of these embarrassing outliers seems to have disappointed the left-of-center pundits and politicians who were primed to treat the convoy’s arrival in Ottawa as Canada’s version of the January 6th Capitol riot).

"As I wrote in the National Post, there was no real reason to think this kind of disruptive stunt was going to be a successful act of protest. In early days, many of us associated the whole project with anti-vaccine activism (even if, technically, this was about mandates, not vaccination itself), a highly unpopular cause in Canada.... My own perspective in late January was pretty typical of most urbanites, I think: I live in a Toronto neighborhood where people get antsy if someone so much as double-parks a minivan for more than 10 minutes. I can’t imagine how much my neighbors and I would be freaking out if a whole truck convoy were lining our streets honking their horns. And so it didn’t surprise me when an early national poll showed that most Canadians didn’t have much time for the convoy.

"But something interesting happened.... Progressive critics of the convoy badly overplayed their hand, and their own divisive rhetoric became a story in itself. Social media has played a huge role in this: The depiction of the protestors as uniformly malevolent actors (and even white supremacists) has been deeply undercut by viral images of joyous and multicultural protest parties. Moreover, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s refusal to meet with the protestors (due to what he calls their 'hateful rhetoric') has earned him a clear (if implicit) public rebuke from an MP within his own party.... 

"On Tuesday [February 10], Liberal MP Joël Lightbound said, 'it’s time to stop dividing Canadians, to stop pitting one part of the population against another. I can’t help but notice with regret that both tone and the policies of my government changed drastically on the eve and during the last election campaign. From a positive and unifying approach, a decision was made to wedge to divide, and to stigmatize.' While Lightbound also threw in abundant denunciations of the radicalism evinced by some protestors, he also pointedly noted that some of their specific grievances — he named 'the vaccine requirement for truckers' explicitly — weren’t exactly crazy: 'If we forget about the demonstrations, and we forget about the convoy for just a second, and look at that policy for what it is. This is a policy that now goes against the World Health Organization’s recommendation and for which no epidemiological studies and projections have been provided.'

"We are witnessing what I believe is a significant inflection point in Canada’s political timeline — though I offer no predictions for what will become of it. Just a few months ago, when fear of Omicron ran hot, and the fight against COVID was still seen as a matter of great urgency, the freedom convoy wouldn’t have had a chance in the Canadian court of public opinion. But things have changed a lot since December, and provincial governments are starting to dismantle their lockdown measures without waiting for Trudeau’s blessing. As a result, the political taint associated with vaccine skepticism — which has, until now, throttled the forces of populist agitation on the Canadian right — has ebbed. Even many vaccinated-and-boosted centrist Canadians (I’d put myself in that category) are eager to get on with post-pandemic life, and don’t have much time for the hectoring of double-masked puritans who denounce all strong political dissent as emanating from (in Trudeau’s words) 'misogynists and racists'....

There are other signs that change is in the air, too.... Even the leadership of the CBC, which typically lumbers along obliviously in its own hyper-progressive taxpayer-bankrolled media silo, now seems somewhat dumbstruck by its inability to shape the country’s political narrative. In a February 8 essay, CBC News editor-in-chief Brodie Fenlon rightly denounced the harassment that some of his colleagues are now facing from angry viewers and listeners, while also channeling incredulity that there are those who 'harbor a deep and growing distrust of news organizations like ours.' This lack of institutional self-awareness is quite stunning. And if the blistering replies that his article elicited are any guide, even many Canadian leftists are becoming alienated by legacy media cliques that now operate as little more than relay stations for increasingly dubious orthodoxies about race, sex, and politics.

"The wild card here is the Conservative Party of Canada, which vies with the Liberals for power every time a federal election is called. Its affable leader, Erin O’Toole, fell victim to an internal revolt.... O’Toole had spent the last previous two years steering the Conservatives on a respectable center-right course, studiously avoiding any posture that the Canadian media might be able to seize upon as evidence of Trumpism. In part thanks to the convoy’s disruptive effect on Canada’s normally placid political order, it seems doubtful that his leadership replacement will find this kind of risk-averse strategy to be viable. No matter how Canadians feel about the convoy, there’s no doubt that these truckers have made their mark on the political direction of their country."

Read more: https://fairforall.substack.com/p/canadas-freedom-convoy?s=r 

CBC retracts 2nd false story on Freedom Convoy

CBC deletes story falsely claiming foreign money behind Freedom Convoy | Post Millennial - Angelo Isidoru:

Image: Post-Millennial, 2022

March 11, 2022 - "CBC has pulled a second false story about the Freedom Convoy, according to Blacklock's Reporter. The story in question claimed foreigners played a role in the protest....

"[T]he claim was made on a radio broadcast of The World This Hour, self-described as 'Canada's most trusted audio newscast.' According to the Western Standard, the network released a statement on the matter. 'On February 10 in a report about the protest convoy CBC Radio's The World This Hour incorrectly said GoFundMe ended a fundraiser for the protesters over questionable donations to the group.' No explanation was given in CBC's statement.

"The network claimed to have completed an analysis of Freedom Convoy donations and concluded there were suspicious donations from foreigners. CBC then ran multiple headlines of this false story. 'Convoy Protest Received Hundreds Of Donations That Appeared To Be From Abroad,' a February headline read. 'In recent days, questions have emerged about how the protesters raised so much money so quickly and where it came from' ... the article read. 'An analysis of GoFundMe donations by CBC News has revealed at least one-third of them had been made by donors who chose to remain anonymous or who listed names that were obviously fictitious or political commentary.'

"Both false stories were by Elizabeth Thompson, a CBC reporter who has a history of speaking against the truckers. This was the case at a Parliamentary Press Gallery event on February 15. 'Personally I felt a little uncomfortable because there were all these guys roaming around the street,' said Thompson.

"GoFundMe executives testified at the Commons public safety committee on March 3 and confirmed only a small minority of donations were from outside Canada. 'Our records show 88% of donated funds originated in Canada,' said Juan Benitez, president of GoFundMe. 

"Furthermore, Canada's top anti-terror financing regulator said the convoy donations were entirely innocuous. 'There were people around the world who were fed up with COVID and were upset and saw the demonstrations,' Barry McKillop, deputy director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre [FINTRAC], testified on February 24 at the Commons finance committee. 'I believe they just wanted to support the cause.'

"This is the second time CBC has been forced to pull a false story. On February 3, the network corrected an earlier television story suggesting Russians were behind the Freedom Convoy. The claim of Russian involvement came from Power And Politics host Nil Koksal, who claimed: 'there is concern that Russian actors could be continuing to fuel things as this protest grows or perhaps even instigating it from the outside.' The claim was entirely false and the network was forced to correct itself."

Read more: https://thepostmillennial.com/cbc-deletes-story-falsely-claiming-foreign-money-behind-freedom-convoy

Coronavirus testing failure in Canada, too

The country doesn't have enough testing capacity, and might never get it | CBC News - Kelly Crowe:

April 9, 2020 - "'We're ready, we're prepared.' Those were the confident words from Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health in a news briefing [January 25]. The province already had a 'specific and reliable' coronavirus test that could deliver results in 24 hours.... 'Folks, it will still be business as normal,' said Peter Donnelly, head of Public Health Ontario, at the same briefing. Through the unforgiving lens of hindsight, they could not have been more wrong....

"One week after the province closed schools, shops and prohibited large gatherings [on March 17] many labs were overwhelmed. By the first weekend, Ontario had a backlog of more than 7,200 tests. B.C. also reported a backlog, as did Alberta, Quebec and Manitoba. Almost immediately, provinces began restricting who could be tested — limiting it to front-line health-care workers, people with severe symptoms and those who work with vulnerable groups.

"Over the past week, the backlogs have cleared, but restrictions on testing still remain in most parts of Canada. And ... testing will continue to be limited, even in Ontario which has just announced it will soon be able to test 19,000 people a day.... 'Even when we're at 19,000 tests a day we're not going to be able to test everybody and that would be the same in every other jurisdiction,' said Vanessa Allen, chief of medical microbiology at Public Health Ontario, the government agency responsible for provincial labs....

"Media reports on Tuesday [April 7] revealed that Ontario's testing rate was dropping to just over 2,500 per day, but the province said it could run about 13,000. Why isn't Ontario testing more?

"The Ministry of Health had the accounting firm KPMG organize all the labs in the province that are capable of microbial testing. That includes 10 hospital networks, six public health labs and three private lab networks. Added up, they can do 13,000 tests per day, and expect to reach 19,000 in three weeks. But that extra capacity was created suddenly, which means there weren't enough patient samples waiting to be tested, because there are still testing restrictions in place....

"One consequence of the low level of testing across Canada is that no one has a clear idea how big the epidemic is in this country ... said Ashleigh Tuite, an epidemiologist with the University of Toronto. The low rate is frustrating Tuite and other epidemiologists who are trying to create models of the disease, which politicians are using to support their decisions.... Right now, the reliability of the models is affected by the under-reporting of cases. 'Until we have a consistent amount of testing in the population I think it's hard for me to say that I have confidence in those projections,' said Tuite."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/coronavirus-covid19-testing-canada-1.5527219

Conservatives secretly funded project to 'destroy' People's Party, CBC reports

Kinsella consulting firm worked to 'seek and destroy' Bernier's PPC party, documents say | CBC News - Jeff Yates, Kaleigh Rogers, Andrea Bellemare:

October 19, 2019 - "Warren Kinsella's Daisy Group consulting firm was behind a social media campaign to put the People's Party of Canada (PPC) on the defensive and keep leader Maxime Bernier out of the federal leaders' debates, according to documents provided to CBC News. The documents outline the work done by several employees of Daisy on behalf of an unnamed client. A source with knowledge of the project told CBC News that client was the Conservative Party of Canada....

"According to a source with knowledge of the project, who spoke to CBC News on condition they not be named, the objective of the plan, dubbed 'Project Cactus,' was to make the Conservative Party look more attractive to voters by highlighting PPC candidates' and supporters' xenophobic statements on social media.

"Repeatedly asked to confirm or explain his party's involvement during a campaign event in Toronto on Saturday, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer refused to answer. 'As a rule, we never make comments on vendors that we may or may not have engaged with,' he said repeatedly....

"Documents seen by CBC News outline a plan to 'seek and destroy' the PPC and prevent Bernier from getting into the leaders' debates. The project was designed with three phases, according to the documents. The first involved research and branding in March and April. The second was identified as a 'launch phase' known as "seek and destroy," running from April 16 through to June 30.... The third phase, to run 'July 1st 2019 to TBD' was called the 'full steam ahead phase,' where the team would 'push Maxime Bernier and the PCC off their messages — forcing them, instead, to defend instances of hate speech and sympathy for racism.'

"Portions of a WhatsApp Chatroom set up by Daisy for Project Cactus and shared with CBC News show Daisy employees workshopping tweets critical of PPC candidates or supporters before asking Kinsella's approval. The tweets were then published on STAMP Out Hate, a Twitter account set up April 24 for an existing anti-racism nonprofit run by Daisy...

"In the documents seen by CBC News, drafted prior to the launch, STAMP is described as a screen for the project and its client. 'Daisy will create an arm's-length organization that cannot be linked to the client or any participating organization ... to shine a light on the prejudice and hate that is associated with the PPC,' a Daisy consultant writes....

"The STAMP Out Hate account lambasted the PPC, its candidates and its supporters right up until June 29, a day before new election rules regarding third-party advertisers came into effect. The account has since stopped attacking Bernier's party but has continued to tweet anti-racist messages. There is no indication whether any further work was done after June 29."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/project-cactus-maxime-bernier-1.5327555
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People's Party organizing in Saskatchewan

Maxime Bernier's People's Party of Canada gaining support in Sask. | CBC News - Chelsea Laskowski:

October 25, 2018 - "Maxime Bernier's Saskatchewan supporters say they're well on the way to hitting their leader's big goal for 2018.

"When Bernier filed the Elections Canada paperwork seeking official party status for his new People's Party of Canada in early October, he told reporters he wants to set up associations for his new People's Party of Canada in all of the country's 338 federal ridings. It was a big ask for a party that just got its name in September, only a month after Bernier shocked conservatives across Canada by announcing he'd be leaving the party to create his own....

"Saskatchewan already has nine out of 14 set up, including one in each of the six combined ridings in Saskatoon and Regina. Efforts are underway [in] all of the remaining ridings. Rural areas are lagging behind, according to Ethan Erkiletian, who has been key in forming PPC riding associations in the province. All ridings are pending registration under Elections Canada.

"The party claims to have signed up more than 22,477 members nationally but told CBC it won't be sharing regional membership statistics until November at the earliest. South Saskatchewan PPC field organizer Nigel Sharp said Regina's biggest riding association has nearly 100 members right now.

"With Bernier's headquarters in Gatineau, QC housing only four paid PPC staffers, the heavy lifting — and credit for membership growth — lands on the shoulders of Bernier's loyal supporters, most of whom supported his failed Conservative leadership bid....

"For now, Saskatoon-University remains the core. 'That's where our groundswell of support is up here. All of this, remember, is quite spontaneous and quite self-actualized. So as we've seen support spring up it's really just completely self-motivated,' Erkiletian said....

"Bernier would like to drop immigration levels down to Harper era numbers, around 90,000 less than current projections for 2020.... Erkiletian said people online have called him everything from xenophobe to a white supremacist. 'When you do draw yourself into the public debate people will resort to these tactics, especially if you are part of a movement such as Maxime Bernier's which is trying to speak openly and honestly about issues of contention,' he said....

"Erkiletian said he's just received a letter from Elections Canada to confirm that he is a party member. It takes 250 confirmed members to officially be declared a party. For now, members are willingly taking on expenses like booking meeting rooms and travel with no promise of being reimbursed until the party is official."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/sask-peoples-party-canada-bernier-1.4877562
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95 years of cannabis prohibition over in Canada

The NSLC has sold marijuana to its very first customer | CBC News:

October 17, 2018 - "A Halifax massage therapist was the first person in Nova Scotia to legally buy recreational marijuana, picking up some rolling papers and pot at a Halifax store Wednesday morning as Canadians finally discovered what legalization looks like after 95 years of prohibition.

"Alicia Wright was handpicked by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. to be the first person to buy legal weed at the Clyde Street location before the official opening. She jumped the queue ahead of the handful of people lined up since around 7 a.m....

"NSLC stores selling marijuana opened at 10 a.m.... By 5 p.m., NSLC reported it sold $393,000 worth of cannabis....

"Musician Ashley MacIsaac lined up outside Cape Breton's only NSLC store selling pot starting at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. He was joined by a Glace Bay man shortly after midnight and a few more people Wednesday morning.

"Shortly before 7 a.m., there were just a few people lined up waiting for the province's only cannabis exclusive NSLC location on Clyde Street. Joseph Brown was first in line.

"'I think it's ... a historical moment.... It's like a crack in ... the puritanical ideals of like the past ... [w]here ... you're going to tell an adult what they can and can't put in their body,' he said....

"As the sun rose at the Joseph Howe Drive location in Halifax, Daniel Moore and his friend were the first two people in line. 'I'm here for this historic day in Canada. It's very exciting,' he said....

"In Nova Scotia, legal cannabis can be purchased at 12 locations, or online through the NSLC's website using a cannabis card.... [U]nder provincial legislation, Nova Scotians aren't currently allowed to order recreational pot from online retailers out of province.

"The Liberal government first announced its marijuana legalization plan on April 20, 2016. The Senate passed the contentious legislation on June 19 to legalize cannabis Oct. 17, several months after the government's initial target date."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/legalized-pot-is-here-nova-scotia-1.4864884
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See also: Thoughts on Canada's cannabis legalization

CBC ties Bernier to Kochs in 'smear job' interview

Maxime Bernier is furious after being interviewed by the CBC — and he may have a point | The Kingston Whig-Standard - Stuart Thomson:

September 25, 2018 - "After a CBC interview aired Sunday, Maxime Bernier’s Twitter account launched into an angry rant, accusing host Wendy Mesley of a 'smear job' ... arguing that Mesley fabricated a story 'about a libertarian conspiracy funded by US billionaires, and implies with her repeated questions about it that I violate Canadian electoral laws.' Mesley pushed back on the same platform, saying she never made that claim....

"But ... how strong are his connections to the two libertarian American billionaires Charles and David Koch?

"The Koch brothers are two American oil-and-gas billionaires who have become renowned in the last decade for massive donations to free-market think tanks and right-wing politicians. Just like people on the right describe George Soros as the mastermind of all nefarious activity on the left ... the Kochs are the scary billionaires on the right....

"Bernier once worked at the Montreal Economic Institute, one of the nearly 500 think tanks partnered with the Atlas Network, which is heavily funded by the Koch brothers....

"Mesley asked Bernier if he would accept help for his new party from the Koch brothers or the Atlas Network. Bernier explained that Canadian election laws prevent him from accepting money from American billionaires....

"'Later in the interview, Mesley asked Bernier what he would do 'if the Koch brothers call you?' 'I don’t know why you are asking that question,' Bernier responded.

"Twelve of Mesley’s 17 questions or follow-ups are about the Koch brothers or libertarianism.

"It’s hard to make an argument that Bernier’s 13-year-old connection to a think tank that was partly funded by a network of think tanks that is partly funded by the Koch brothers is relevant to the average Canadian....

"CBC producers may have been influenced by an investigation by the left-leaning investigative news site The Intercept, which demonstrated the influence of the Atlas Network on Latin American politics. That movement, which is working in opposition to leftist populism, is distinct from the Trump-style right wing populism that is also sweeping across Europe, which has nationalist and authoritarian overtones. Koch-linked think tanks warily keep an eye on right and left-wing authoritarianism, which they see as a threat to economic freedom....

"Although the CBC interview goes to great lengths to tie Bernier to the Koch brothers ... Bernier’s most controversial policy position — decrying increasing levels of immigration — is at odds with the Kochs.... For Bernier, who has always been stridently libertarian, his immigration position is a diversion from his ideological playbook. It could be a major shift in his thinking or simply political opportunism. And if the CBC gets him back for an interview, that would be a good question to ask."

Read more: https://www.thewhig.com/news/politics/maxime-bernier-is-furious-after-being-interviewed-by-the-cbc-and-he-may-have-a-point/wcm/e52125f5-2a68-4f7a-a135-7f57d76f245a
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LP of Canada to vote on merger, Moen tells CBC

Libertarians considering a merger with Bernier's People's Party | CBC News - Catherine Cullen:

September 17, 2018 - "Tim Moen may not like the name of Maxime Bernier's new party ('a bit too left-wing for me'). He may not think the former Conservative minister's policies are daring enough ('milquetoast libertarian' is how he described them). But the leader of the Libertarian Party of Canada is still considering a merger with Bernier's new political venture.

"'If party membership votes to merge [with The People's Party of Canada], I look forward to standing as a candidate and preaching the gospel of liberty in a principled manner like I've always done,' Moen told party supporters in a recent video.

"A spokesperson for Bernier's People's Party said 'merger' might not be quite the right word for what's being discussed — it could be something of a takeover of the Libertarian party structure by Bernier....

"Bernier is continuing the process of gathering signatures and completing the other steps required to obtain official party status, said his spokesperson Martin Masse.

"However, Masse said Elections Canada rules require a party to run a candidate in a by-election before that party can start handing out tax receipts to donors. By taking over the Libertarian Party and renaming it, he said, Bernier's venture might be able to take a shortcut to that lucrative step. But Masse said the new party isn't counting on the Libertarians....

"Moen acknowledged that there are many policy areas where Libertarian members would like to go farther than Bernier. Many Libertarians believe in legalizing all recreational drugs, for example — an idea in which Bernier has shown no interest.

"Historically, Moen said, Libertarians also have favoured fairly open borders and distrust letting government handle immigration issues. Bernier has said he wants to decrease immigration levels and argues Canadians need to talk about how to maintain Canadian values against the alleged effects of immigration.

"The merger could still be worthwhile, said Moen.... 'The biggest thing is that we see some level of commitment to restraining government and the principles of liberty that we think Canada and Western Civilization is founded on,' he said."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bernier-libertarian-party-merger-1.4827241
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Bernier quits 'morally corrupt' Conservative Party (video)

MP Maxime Bernier quits 'morally corrupt' Conservatives, plans to start new party | CBC News - Catharine Tunney:

August 23, 2018 - "Divisive Quebec MP Maxime Bernier made a scorched-earth exit from the Conservatives today, while announcing plans to start his own federal party. Bernier, who represents the riding of Beauce, made the announcement Thursday in Ottawa as the party's policy convention kicks off in Halifax.

"'I have come to realize over the past year that this party is too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed,' he said.... 'I know for a fact that many in the caucus privately oppose supply management, but buying votes in a few key ridings is more important than defending the interests of Canadians.'

"Bernier said he plans to talk to Elections Canada on Friday and his goal is to head a party that runs candidates in all of Canada's 338 federal ridings."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bernier-statement-conserative-1.4795894
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Use opioids, not cannabis, Ontario government tells injured workers

Injured workers in Ontario advised to seek opioids instead of cannabis | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly - A.J. Herrington, High Times:

July 14, 2018 - "Injured workers in Ontario, Canada who wish to treat their conditions with cannabis are being forced to use opiates instead. According to the CBC, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is refusing to cover cannabis for patients licensed to use medical marijuana.

"Some private insurers in Canada began offering coverage for medicinal marijuana in health plans last year. And earlier this year, Sun Life Financial became the first major Canadian insurance company to pay for medical cannabis.

"David Newberry, an attorney with the Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic in Toronto, said that the WSIB often denies workers’ claims for cannabis coverage. Instead, the insurer pays for far more dangerous drugs. '“You often end up with these absurd scenarios where the WSIB is happy to pay for opiates and antidepressants that are not effective, that the worker does not want to take,' Newberry said.

"Maurice Sagle, 60, is a former carpenter who was injured in a workplace accident that left him with a compressed spine, several crushed discs, and a ruptured leg muscle. The opiates that doctors prescribed caused side effects including depression that left him homebound ... he felt that he was becoming addicted....

"Sagle decided that a strain of cannabis high in CBD and low in THC might help his condition. He consulted with his doctor and obtained his license for medical marijuana. Cannabis relieved his chronic pain without making him high.... But when Sagle filed a claim to cover his medicine, the WSIB refused.

"'They said they don’t recognize this and they sent me a paper saying no, they wouldn’t cover it,' he said. The insurer would, however, continue to pay for thousands of dollars worth of opioids.... Sagle is currently appealing the WSIB decision, an expensive process that can take as long as two years.

"Christine Arnott of the Ontario WSIB said the insurer is concerned with opioid addiction and is working to address the situation. 'We are focused on limiting exposure to the harms associated with opioid use and lowering risk of addiction. So far we have reduced the number of WSIB drug claims for opioids by 47 percent. We treat requests for coverage of medical marijuana on a case-by-case basis,' Arnott said.... And, she noted, the WSIB is 'always looking at the evolving scientific evidence around the effectiveness of pain management and updat[ing] our approach accordingly.'"

Read more: https://www.straight.com/cannabis/1102796/injured-workers-ontario-advised-seek-opioids-instead-cannabis
'via Blog this'

Parliament passes cannabis legalization — but ...

Canadians can't light up yet, justice minister warns after 'historic' bill to legalize pot passes | CBC News - John Paul Tasker & Kathleen Harris:

June 20, 2018 - "The Senate has passed a contentious bill to legalize pot — but Canadians won't be allowed to legally light up for several weeks yet, to give provinces time to set up a retail regime, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould warned today.

"Last night, senators passed C-45, the federal government's bill to legalize recreational marijuana, with a 52-29 vote and two abstentions.

"The bill stipulates the law does not come into force until a date is fixed by an order of the governor-in-council — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet. The government has long said there will be a buffer of eight to 12 weeks between the bill's passage and full legalization....

"'Cannabis for non-medical use is not legal yet. The law still remains the law,' Wilson-Raybould said during a news conference on Parliament Hill. 'The date that cannabis will become legal will be announced soon. Until then, I urge all Canadians to continue to follow the existing law until the Cannabis Act comes into force'....

"The government initially floated July 1 as the date for retail sales to begin but the timeline was pushed back as senators debated the bill at length. Under the current timeline, legalization is most likely to occur sometime in September.

"Until the bill receives royal assent — the last procedural step of the legislative process — it will be illegal to transport cannabis....

"When asked Wednesday if the government was considering pardons for Canadians convicted of marijuana-related offences, Wilson-Raybould said such a question was 'premature.'

'I think, as has already been stated, the law remains in effect until it's repealed and replaced through Bill [C-45] and quite frankly any discussion of those records can't take place until that process is complete,' she said....

"Quebec, Manitoba and Nunavut want to ban home cultivation. Today, Wilson-Raybould said the bill provides a 'framework' and that it's not the federal government's intention to challenge provincial laws. She noted that a resident could challenge any province that moves to ban home-growing, though."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cannabis-pot-legalization-bill-1.4713839"
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Student group Turning Point comes to Canada

Canadian offshoot of U.S. libertarian campus group says it provides needed counterpoint to liberal bias | CBC News - Raffy Boudjikanian:

May 22, 2018 - "Some U.S. academics are warning their Canadian counterparts to be wary of a U.S. libertarian group that has recently set up a chapter on the campus of Simon Fraser University, but its proponents say it provides a much-needed counterpoint to the increasingly liberal bias of academia.

"Turning Point USA describes itself as a 'student movement for free markets and limited government' whose mission it is to educate students through 'non-partisan debate, dialogue, and discussion.'

"But it has courted controversy in the U.S. on account of some of its tactics. These include disseminating a "professor watch list" of university teachers whom the group considers to be spreading "leftist propaganda" in the classroom; staging provocative stunts mocking campus "safe spaces" and free speech zones; and hosting polarizing figures of the far right, such as Milo Yiannopoulos.

"'They will videotape you. They will perhaps have people in your classroom to take a class to ask certain questions, to get a video clip that they can send to ... their own news website,' said Matthew Boedy, assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of North Georgia....

"Those who started the Canadian offshoot say it takes no cues from its American counterpart. 'They have not told us what do. They just kind of let us do as we please,' said Wayd Miller, the national chair.... Miller said Turning Point Canada receives no money from its U.S. counterpart and is entirely self-funded.

"For now, Turning Point Canada is registered as a club at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., but Miller said the group has plans to expand to several Ontario campuses in the fall, including McMaster University in Hamilton and Ryerson University in Toronto.... Miller said each campus chapter of Turning Point Canada will be free to do as it pleases....

"Turning Point Canada appears to have a tangential connection to the federal Conservative Party by way of one of its co-founders, Charlie Beldman, who currently works as a member's assistant at the Ottawa office of Tory Leader Andrew Scheer.... When asked about Beldman's involvement, Miller said, "Charlie hasn't had anything to do with us since he started his job with the Conservatives [last summer]'....

"The president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers ... said the arrival of Turning Point in Canada caught his attention primarily because of the professor watch list in the U.S. 'That's an attack on academic freedom," he said of the watch list.... We don't have a problem with controversial speakers.... That's how the academy grows, with vigorous debate.'"

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/turning-point-canada-scheer-1.4658239
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