UKRAINIAN MILITARY OSCARS

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry shared a series of posts mocking Russian forces and promoting its military on social media on Tuesday night in what was called the "Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Oscars 2022," following the 94th Academy Awards ceremony on Monday.

Seven videos selected by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry highlighted important aspects of the war, likely both from the operational and psychological warfare perspectives.

WRAPPED IN HIS GREEN CAPE, TRUDEAU IGNORES THE WORLD

    Rex Murphy:  Amazing as it is, as inflation insidiously crawls across the land, skyrocketing gasoline prices freeze the blood (with a federal carbon tax increase set to hit on April Fool’s Day), as the economy is stifled by debt, supply chains rattle or crumble, and the country crawls out of the devastation of the COVID clampdowns, the Trudeau-Singh coalition government has announced its most determined climate agenda for Canada ever.

In Vancouver on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, back-stopped by his non-present partner, Jagmeet Singh, leader of the Liberal-merged NDP, announced the new, improved, let-us-save-the-world-by-killing-Alberta-and-the-oil-industry climate plan.

Lord, I wish I had been there. This was a Plains of Abraham moment in front of some of the finest shops in the whole country.

CONVOY ATTENDEE'S STORIES DO NOT ADD UP

 It’s been more than a month since the Freedom Convoy packed up and left Ottawa. Even so, the convoy and its organizers are still facing attacks by the media. Last week, CBC and CTV ran stories about a man who said he lost his life savings because of the convoy. The stories featured Martin Joseph Anglehart, who said he spent $13,000 on fuel and e-transfers for truckers in Ottawa. In the days since the stories were published, Anglehart has said he was taken out of context, and other convoy attendees have disputed aspects of Anglehart’s account. He joins The Andrew Lawton Show to tell his side of the story and respond to the accusations.

A SLAP ON THE WRIST FOR GENERAL VANCE

Gen. Jonathan Vance, the country’s former chief of the defense staff, pleaded guilty on Wednesday morning to one count of obstruction of justice laid against him.

The charge came after military police launched an investigation following allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

According to court documents filed last year, military police alleged that between Feb. 1 and Feb. 3, Vance “did willfully attempt to obstruct the course of justice in a judicial proceeding by repeatedly contacting Mrs K.B. by phone and attempting to persuade her to make false statements about their past relationship to the Canadians Forces National Investigation Service, contrary to section 139(1) of the Criminal Code.”

LIBERALS LOOK TO FUTURE-PROOF CARBON PRICE

 The federal government is looking to "future proof" the carbon price against political decisions to cancel or lower it down the road.

That could include legislation to enshrine the carbon price and its upward trajectory into law. Or it could mean signing contracts with investors guaranteeing compensation if the carbon price doesn't go up as promised, negatively affecting their investment.

The promise is made in the new emissions reduction report tabled Tuesday by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, which says carbon pricing is the "cornerstone" of Canada's climate action plan.

INDIVIDUALS OF CHILD-BEARING POTENTIAL

 Male cancer patients and those having X-rays and MRI scans are being asked if they could be expecting after the government removed the word “female” from the law governing the medical procedures and replaced it with “individuals.”

The Walton Centre National Health Service Foundation Trust, in Liverpool, now asks “ALL patients under the age of 60, regardless of how you may identify your gender.”

The Daily Telegraph understands that it is among a handful of trusts to have implemented the policy for men and women undergoing procedures that involve radiotherapy and could harm an unborn baby.

LIBERALS' FOOLISH F-35 FOLLIES

 Those who watch government carefully, or even casually, often find themselves wondering “What were they thinking?” Or whether they were. So take the F-35… please.

Now that the Liberals suddenly discovered they’re going to buy this thing after all, and their CF-18 stopgap purchase was fiscal and military folly, commentators are having fun throwing Trudeau’s indignant 2015 campaign rhetoric back at them. Not just his categorical “We will not buy the F-35 Fighter jet” but his sunny sneer that the Tories “were particularly, and some might say unreasonably or unhealthily, attached to the F-35 aircraft.”

From the people who brought you “Islamophobia” the psychological low blow is not surprising. What is surprising is how much of a conditioned reflex rather than an actual thought process it was. Part of the issue with the F-35 in Liberal minds, or somewhere more primitive in their nervous systems, seems to have been that it was American. So they accused the Conservatives of an “unhealthy” fixation on the United States.

TRUDEAU'S PATTERN OF INCONSISTENCY & DELUSION

 Sometimes, you just have to shake your head.

Justin Trudeau, the prime minister until 2025 and possibly beyond, runs a government that excels at being predictably inconsistent, transparently delusional, occasionally devious and excessively obsessed with the latest shiny object.

Think not? Let me count the ways leading to Tuesday’s latest grand delusion.

FEMALE NAVY OFFICERS QUIT

 Two senior female officers say they are leaving the military because the commander of Canada's Atlantic fleet refused to hold three key subordinates to account for mismanaging and attempting to cover up a sexual misconduct case, CBC News has learned. 

Lt.-Cmdr. Nicole Dugas said she's ending her 12-year navy career after losing all trust in Rear-Admiral Brian Santarpia and the entire institution.

"It would have been easier to simply continue to endure the sexual misconduct and the sexual harassment rather than to report and and go through that," said Dugas. "If you're not holding people accountable from that top level, nothing is ever going to change.

A DETERMINED IGNORANCE

 Rex Murphy:  I find myself unable to make a determination, and it would be of most aid and relief if the wise and collected minds of National Post readers were to offer their help and judgment. Between two great follies, which is the sillier? That is my question. And let me go right to it.

I do not know which is more foolish: Earth Hour? Or, a female Supreme Court nominee who professes to not knowing what a woman is.

The answer to the latter question has been clear and untroubling to the mind of every toddler since the brighter of our progenitors scampered down from the trees and gave some thought to life on the plains. Even so far back that we were aeons away from the alphabet, and had not yet made up our minds about the wheel, darling two-year-old Neanderthals had settled the question of which of the two hulks by the fire was “Mommy,” and which one was “Daddy.”

ONTARIO LIBERALS' MASKLESS CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

 Ontario Liberals took to social media on Saturday to celebrate their de facto campaign launch in the ballroom of a downtown Toronto hotel. There were many photos of many smiling Liberals, all eager and determined to help leader Steven Del Duca show Premier Doug Ford the door. Surprisingly, however, very few of the Liberal faces were masked. Some who reacted online were downright outraged. Others, including this correspondent, were just confused.

Asking those in attendance to mask up would have been such an easy way to highlight a key distinction that the Liberals obviously want voters to perceive: They are the party that Follows the Science, while Ford’s Progressive Conservatives care only about pleasing their knuckle-dragging science-hating base. The Liberals very much want you to notice all the medical types they have recruited as candidates: geriatrician Nathan Stall, ER physician Adil Shamji and registered nurses Marjan Kasirlou and Tyler Watt. And yet … hardly any masks.

THE SELF-IMPORTANT CLAIMS OF MINISTER JOLY

Liberal Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly has told a parliamentary committee that her mandate includes wartime information operations like battling propaganda online, despite her directives including no such role.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, Joly made the comments during a meeting of the Commons foreign affairs committee. They came in response to a question by Liberal MP Randeep Sarai on how Canada was fighting Russian disinformation online as it pertains to the invasion of Ukraine.

“We’ve banned Russia Today and Sputnik on the broadcasting side. We’ve pushed digital platforms to also ban them but we need to do more,” said Joly. “My mandate as foreign minister is really to counter propaganda online.”

ONTARIO AND FEDS INK 13.2B CHILD CARE DEAL

The province of Ontario and the federal government have signed a $13.2-billion agreement to lower the cost of child care in the province to an average of $10 a day by September 2025.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the joint announcement during a press conference in Brampton, Ont., on Monday.

The $13.2 billion will be delivered over six years, with an additional year of funding of at least $2.9 billion.

KEEPING THE LITTLE PEOPLE DOWN

 Celebrities and other concerned souls have signed a letter in support of the David Suzuki Foundation’s campaign to stop the much-needed highway.

Suzuki, and his foundation, are based in Vancouver, but he isn’t above jet-setting or sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. He also likes to own several homes, like some of the well-known signatories to this letter, which is odd because the foundation opposes policies that would encourage residential construction around Toronto.

Toronto is growing, more people move here every year, but people like author Margaret Atwood and singer Chantal Kreviazuk are endorsing a no-growth policy by opposing the highway because they now lead comfortable lives.

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ALBERTA PUBLIC INQUIRY

The main objective of the  Alberta Public Inquiry into Anti-Alberta Energy Campaigns was to examine foreign funding of anti-Alberta energy campaigns. The inquiry revealed significant investments by foreign organizations, as well as various levels of government, into Canadian not-for-profit and charitable organizations. In 2018 alone, foreign funding of Canadian charities amounted to $2.4 billion!

Surprisingly, this finding did not attract nearly as much attention from the media or politicians as the alleged foreign funding of the recent Freedom Convoy.

I also found significant and growing contributions by the federal government and various provincial governments to charitable organizations, which also ought to be a source of concern for Canadians and for which governments should be held accountable.

NEW COAST GUARD SHIPS HAVE MAJOR PARTS FAILURES

The Canadian Coast Guard says it is closely monitoring problems affecting components on all three of its new offshore fisheries science vessels.

Two different components — a propulsion shaft tube and valves controlling seawater intake — have needed repair or replacement on coast guard ships John Franklin, Jacques Cartier and John Cabot.

The "class-wide" problems included corrosion, premature wear or mislabelling.

 The ships have a one-year warranty after delivery.

A PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATION

COVID-19 has magically disappeared.

After more than two years of non-stop bombardment with Covid “news”, there has been none at all in mainstream headlines for over a week. The media giveth and the media taketh away.

Through the immaculate erasure of the ‘Covid Crisis,’ those responsible for these harms are attempting to make us forget what they did to us, our families, and the permanent damage they caused to society.

LEADERS ARE LYING, BUT IT'S FOR OUR OWN GOOD

 Neil Oliver: The way our leaders are going about things reminds me of the behaviour of toddlers.

MEANINGLESS 21ST CENTURY APOLOGIES

   Why is it so hard for the Leftie woke mob to understand that there isn't a single Briton alive today who was part of the slave trade or who is responsible for the crimes of dead slave traders? Yet we're constantly being asked to apologize for them and to self-flagellate because they once existed. We're told by Leftie elitists and the young - who have been brainwashed by them - that we must tear down monuments, deface buildings, completely erase our history if it in any way was connected to the slave trade.

   Well, newsflash – everything 300-400 years ago was. Not just in Britain but in most of Europe – Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Denmark. And ditto the rest of the world, including Africa which in 2021 is still the world’s epicentre of modern day slavery.
   What’s the point of 21st-century apologies for crimes which ended in the 19th century? They mean nothing. They achieve nothing. It’s just empty gesture politics from people with their own political agendas.
  Yes, every one of us accepts that slavery was utterly repugnant. But we don’t hear much about the fact that Britain was one of the world leaders in its abolition. Because that doesn’t suit the Woke narrative.

FREEDOM CONVOY II SLOW ROLLS THROUGH OTTAWA

   Unlike the convoy that recently occupied downtown streets, Saturday’s was a muted affair — at least from the vehicles — with organizers stressing to participants to refrain from blowing their horns, as per instructions from Ottawa police. The slow-rolling convoy additionally did not stop, except for obvious traffic reasons, as it continued on to Vankleek Hill and Highway 417.

    But the support from the sidewalk demonstrators was loud and clear, with chants of “liberté,” “freedom” and “no more mandates” amplified by bullhorns and augmented by John Lennon’s Imagine and Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down on a portable sound system, as well as whistles and shouts of thanks and approval. Flags representing Quebec, Canada, Ontario, Alberta, the United States and the Mohawk nation were waved, as were signs and banners bearing such slogans as “We Are All Essential,” “We the Fringe,” “Make Canada Free Again” and “Mandate Freedom.”

GUILBEAULT BLUNDERS ON GREEN ENERGY

 Germany provides a textbook example of why Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault’s ideological opposition to nuclear power is not in the best interests of Canadian energy security.

Germany’s abandonment of nuclear power over the past decade and pursuit of wind and solar power as an alternative forced it to burn more coal for energy – the most carbon intensive fossil fuel – and made it overly dependent on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin for 40% of its natural gas imports.

Former German chancellor Angela Merkel started shutting down Germany’s nuclear plants in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, a blunder Canada should not repeat.

JUSTIN'S FANTASY: THE CAPED TRUDEAU SAVED DEMOCRACY

  Rex Murphy: It is a brazen thing to go to other countries like some John the Baptist for the democracies, shortly after having trampled all over the rights of those involved in a largely peaceful democratic protest.
    Let me make a plain, direct statement: The trucker protest was not an attempted coup. It was not a rebellion. It was not an assault on Canada’s democracy. It was none of those things.
   The convoy protest was strong and present, but it was unthreatening and largely non-violent. It was superbly Canadian. It should not be slandered.
   And it surely should not be used as some sort of example of anti-democratic forces by the leader of the country in which it took place. Most especially when he goes about the world delivering passionate defenses of the idea of democracy itself.

JUSTIN & JAGMEET IN AGREEMENT RE DEFENSE SPENDING

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his caucus would be against the federal government moving to increase its defense spending to hit NATO’s target of two per cent of GDP, calling the request from the international military alliance “arbitrary.”

“The pressure that's being applied right now is to get to two per cent. We think that that's an arbitrary number, and we don't support that number,” said Singh in an interview on CTV’s Question Period.

Canada is currently spending approximately 1.39 per cent of its GDP on defense. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pledge, which all members collectively agreed to in 2014, was to increase their military spending to at least two per cent of national gross domestic product within the next decade.

WHO REJECTS TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT FUNDED COVID JAB

 The World Health Organization has rejected the first Canadian-made COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, despite its approval by Health Canada on Feb. 24.

Known as Covifenz, the vaccine was developed by Medicago, a biotechnology company based in Quebec City that uses — unlike mRNA technology — a plant host to make virus-like particles that help the body’s immune system make antibodies.

In 2020, the Trudeau government invested $173-million in Medicago’s development of the home-grown vaccine and a production facility in Quebec City. It also contracted to buy 20 million doses.

At issue is a 21 percent shareholder in Medicago: Philip Morris, the biggest tobacco company in the world.

ONTARIO'S SUNSHINE LIST

 Executives at Ontario Power Generation made up the top four highest-paid public employees in the province in 2021

The province’s annual “sunshine list” of public sector workers who are paid more than $100,000 a year was released Friday with more than 240,000 names.

For the second year in a row, Kenneth Hartwick, president and CEO of the electricity Crown corporation, was top of the list with a reported salary of $1,628,246.

LECTURING TRUDEAU GETS SCHOOLED

   Mislav Kolakusic, a Croatian member of the European Parliament (MEP) continued, “Many of us, including myself, are willing to risk our own freedom and our own lives. Unfortunately, today, there are those among us who trample on these fundamental values.”
   Croatians are all too familiar with authoritarian rule in the modern age.
   Speaking directly to Trudeau, he added, “Canada, once a symbol of the modern world, has become a symbol of civil rights violations under your quasi-liberal boot in recent months. We watched how you trample women with horses, how you block the bank accounts of single parents so that they can’t even pay their children’s education and medicine, that they can’t pay utilities, mortgages for their homes.”
   Romanian MEP Cristian Terhes issued a statement announcing his decision not to attend Trudeau’s speech. It was just as brutal as Kolakusic’s comments: “You can’t come and teach democracy lessons to Putin from the European Parliament when you trample with horse hooves your own citizens who are demanding that their fundamental rights be respected.”

STAGGERING CASUALITIES HAVE RUSSIA IN DIRE STRAITS

   A NATO official said Wednesday that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since the invasion was launched in late February. That has been compared to the Battle of Iwo Jima, at which 6,852 U.S. troops were killed in five weeks in some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II. A Russian media outlet offered a similar number Tuesday when it said that almost 10,000 Russian troops had been killed, but it later pulled that report, saying that it had been hacked.
   The same NATO official said that there have been up to 40,000 Russian casualties, which includes those who were wounded, taken prisoner, or killed. If true, that would constitute a fifth of the total troops deployed into Ukraine, which was around 190,000.
   At least six Russian generals and dozens of military officers have been killed, Ukraine has said. These deaths are particularly disastrous for Russia, as there are in many cases simply no replacements who can step up to take on these specialized roles, leaving troops scattered and without qualified authority. Many of these deaths were among colonels, who play an outsized role in organizing on-the-ground action, with one foreign diplomat describing them as “the backbone of the Russian army.”

PINOCCHIO GUILBEAULT'S CLAIMS RE CARBON TAXES

As recently as yesterday at the Commons environment committee, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault spread the untrue claim that most Canadians got more money back from the carbon tax program than they paid into it.

“As you know according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer eight out of ten households are better off with carbon pricing,” said Guilbeault. “It is true the richest among us in Canada do not benefit from rebates but eight out of ten households are better off.”

Guilbeault’s claim is contrary to what budget analysts reported when they stated that the carbon tax had a “negative economic impact” for taxpayers.

PUTIN'S REGIME UNDER THREAT

 Never since the collapse of the Soviet Union has there been such fervid rumour and counter-rumour in the Kremlin. A circular firing squad is forming, with everyone pointing their guns at each other.

And when conscripts start returning from the Ukraine front, bringing with them horror stories of the war, the political temperature will only rise.

Right now, most ordinary people in Russia believe the state TV version, that a successful military operation is underway to oust a neo-Nazi cabal in Kyiv and prevent ethnic cleansing or even nuclear genocide against Russians in Ukraine.

When that lie is exposed, the people might start to turn against the man at the top. How his cronies respond to that will determine Putin’s fate. 

TRACK MARKS ON THE COLONEL

 A Russian soldier reportedly drove over his colonel with a tank — while two other service members were caught venting about strongman Vladimir Putin’s “bulls—” invasion of Ukraine amid reports of heavy losses.

The Russian soldier who was behind the wheel of the tank “blamed the commander of the group, Col. Yury Medvedev, for the deaths of his friends,” Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsimbalyuk said on Facebook.

“Having waited for the right moment, during battle, he ran over the commander with a tank as he stood next to him, injuring both his legs,” he wrote, the Daily Beast reported.

MORE DELAYS IN FIGHTER JET COMPETITION

 Federal procurement officials won’t say when Canada will take the next step in the years-long process of selecting a new fighter jet.

The federal government announced in December that it had narrowed its search for a replacement of the military’s aging CF-18s to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 and the Swedish Saab Gripen.

The government said at that time a decision would be made in short order on whether the government would engage in another round of negotiations with the two companies, or select a winner outright.

Yet nearly four months later, no announcement has been forthcoming, leading to concerns about even further delays in replacing Canada’s CF-18s at a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underscored the importance of modern military capabilities.

PROTECTING QUEBEC

 The federal government has tabled legislation to ensure Quebec does not lose a seat when Canada's electoral map is redrawn.

It presented a bill Thursday to protect Quebec's voice in Parliament after it faced losing a seat in an upcoming redistribution based on population.

Because Quebec’s population has declined, it stood to lose an MP in the upcoming redistribution of seats, while other provinces with growing populations, including Alberta, would gain MPs. The last time a province lost a seat in a redistribution was in 1966.

TRUMP SUES CLINTON & OTHER DEMOCRATS

  Former United States president Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and several other democrats, claiming that they tried to rig the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
   The lawsuit, filed Thursday, also claims they falsely accused Trump of colluding with Russia. Trump defeated Clinton in the 2016 election to become president.

   “Acting in concert, the Defendants maliciously conspired to weave a false narrative that their Republican opponent, Donald J. Trump, was colluding with a hostile foreign sovereignty,” the former president alleged in the lawsuit filed in a federal court in Florida.

EUROPEAN MPs DENOUNCE TRUDEAU

The attacks against Trudeau continued when German MEP Christine Anderson took the floor.

“A prime minister who openly admires the Chinese basic dictatorship, who tramples on fundamental rights by persecuting and criminalizing his own citizens as terrorists just because they dared to stand up to his perverted concept of democracy should not be allowed to speak in this house at all,” she said.

She ended her speech by telling Trudeau he was a “disgrace for any democracy” and “Please spare us your presence.”

DICHTER: SUCCESS IN OTTAWA JUST THE START

Despite totaling his car, shattering his ankle on an icy Ottawa sidewalk and having his bank accounts frozen for seven days, one of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy has said it was all a smashing success.

In a sit-down interview with True North this week, Benjamin Dichter said the three-week-long protest had pressured our political leaders to end the COVID mandates.

“We 100% moved the needle,” Dichter said. “People are now starting to see how far our politicians have gone off the cliff… some people are starting to wake up.”

BLASTING $500 INFLATION CHEQUES IN QUEBEC

 Groups representing businesses and the most vulnerable agreed on one thing Wednesday: $500 cheques promised by the province to ease the strain of inflation will only provide temporary relief to those most in need.

In tabling its budget Tuesday, the CAQ government has pledged to make a one-time $500 cheque per adult with a net income of $100,000 or less. That amounts to $3.2 billion in payouts to roughly 6.4 million Quebecers.

Saray Ortiz Torres, a community organizer with the housing and anti-poverty advocacy group Project Genesis, said the $500 cheques will be a big help for those with lower means because it will help defray rising rents and food costs. However, it is a one-time payout that does nothing to help the systemic problems that cause poverty and the lack of affordable housing.

LIBERALS PI$$ING AWAY TAXPAYERS' MONEY

Taxpayers forked over $600,000 to social media influencers last year for them to sing the praises of the Liberal government.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the House of Commons revealed that various ministries had hired media personalities to compliment the government on social media.

The payments were billed as “partnerships with social creators” and totalled $610,900 in 2021. The figures were originally requested by Conservative MP Warren Steinley.

DIAS ACCEPTED $50K "INCENTIVE"

 Former national president Jerry Dias accepted $50,000 from a supplier of COVID-19 rapid test kits that he promoted to employers of Unifor members, several of whom purchased those test kits, Unifor alleged Wednesday.

After an internal investigation, Unifor national secretary-treasurer Lana Payne said Dias stands charged with violating the code of ethics and democratic practices of the Unifor constitution.

“What you’re about to hear will be distressing, but I remind you all that no one member is above our constitution, not the highest ranking elected officers, no one,” Payne said. “We are all equal under that constitution.”

NOBLE LEFT-WING ENDS ALWAYS JUSTIFY ODIOUS MEANS

For the last five years, the Left—defined as the fusion of the mainstream media, Silicon Valley, the radical new Democratic Party, and the vestigial Hillary Clinton machine—has crafted all sorts of conspiracies to destroy their perceived conservative enemies.

Their method has focused on one major projection: alleging conspiracy on the part of others, which is a kind of confirmation of their own conspiracies to destroy their opponents in general, and Donald Trump in particular.

Now they have been caught admitting to such nefariousness. Apparently, they still are exuberant about their slick shamelessness and simply can’t keep quiet. Or they believe radically changed conditions, such as the implosion of the Biden Administration, prompt necessary admissions.

ONTARIANS TO PAY FOR PROVINCIAL TOW TRUCKS

 OTTAWA — Ontarians could soon find their driver’s licences and vehicle registration revoked for participating in illegal blockades.

And those vehicles could also find themselves being hauled away by provincially owned tow trucks, preventing future issues with blockade removals hampered by reluctant towing operators.

The National Post has learned Ontario’s PC government will introduce new measures at Queen’s Park on Monday, meant to prevent a repeat of last month’s freedom convoy blockades.  

PUTIN FEARS A COUP

 The real threat to Putin comes from the siloviki, a Russian word used loosely to describe Russia’s security and military elite. These are people like Nikolai Patrushev, currently the secretary of the Russian security council, and Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), as well as other current and former senior security officials.

The siloviki are formidable. These are the men who tried to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny; when that failed, they had him imprisoned, seemingly indefinitely. The heads of the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU, planned and executed the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal using a Russian military-grade nerve agent. Other siloviki planned the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, lacing his tea with polonium in a London hotel. Putin, who reportedly approved these operations personally, is only too familiar with the capabilities of the security elite.

RUSSIAN AIRSTRIKES CONTINUE IN MARIUPOL, UKRAINE

 LVIV/KYIV — Intense Russian airstrikes were turning Mariupol into the “ashes of a dead land” as street fighting raged on Tuesday, a day after the key Ukrainian port city rejected Moscow’s demand to surrender.

Russia’s RIA news agency said Russian forces and Russian-backed separatists had taken about half of the city, citing a separatist leader.

The governor of Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said street fighting was taking place there and civilians as well as Ukrainian troops were coming under Russian fire.

The plight of civilians in Mariupol, normally home to 400,000 people, grew ever more desperate. Hundreds of thousands are believed to be trapped inside buildings, with no access to food, water, power or heat.

OTTAWA ARSONIST NOT PART OF FREEDOM CONVOY

Ottawa detectives now say the Freedom Convoy was not connected to the February alleged arson attempt in an apartment building in that city.

At the time, as a story in Blacklock’s Reporter states, several spokespersons and media outlets connected the crime to the Freedom Convoy, which had dug in about five blocks away.

Politicians who voted to invoke the Emergencies Act pointed to the incident as proof truckers were violent and lawless.  Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson blamed truckers.

TRUDEAU & SINGH: SELF-SERVING OPPORTUNISTS

Canadians’ sense of malaise and unease at the current state of affairs is captured by a February poll. The Proof Strategies CanTrust Index, an annual survey of trust found a 10 per cent drop in trust in government between January 2021 and January 2022. In addition, aggregate trust in NGOs, business, media, and government has been trending down for the last five years and now stands at only 34 per cent. Supporters of all political parties have become less trustful over the years, although trust remains highest among those who identified as Liberal supporters.

The survey was conducted before the recent Freedom Convoy and the government’s crackdown using the Emergencies Act, which polarized Canadians as never before. Equally polarizing is sure to be the decision on March 21 of an official agreement between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party intended to keep the minority government afloat with outside support until its mandate expires in 2025. Coming in the wake of an impending committee inquiry into the government’s unprecedented use of emergency powers, the deal between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh reeks of opportunism.

With Singh’s support, Trudeau’s government will now sail through what could have been difficult hearings on their use of — and possible misuse of — government power. Meanwhile, the NDP gets offered a grab bag of vague promises that relate to some of their most populist left wing proposals, such as universal pharmacare and dental care, maybe for the first time in modern history seen as the pillars of socialist ideology by any left wing political party in the democratic world.

TO THOSE OF YOU NEW TO PUBLIC TRANSIT

 9. Some seating tips:

(a) In the seat closest to the bus driver, there will be a woman. She will always be there. She will always be talking to the bus driver. You should never sit next to this woman unless you want to hear a detailed description of the colonoscopy her second cousin in Winnipeg had to undergo.

(b) If you are a man over the age of 30, do yourself a favour: Do not chat up the attractive twenty-something sitting opposite you. Her rent is outrageous, she’s enrolled in fine arts rather than medicine and her boyfriend won’t commit. Her life is hard enough already. All she wants is to be left alone. To her, you are a dirty old man, and inside her head her eyes are rolling.

NO END IN SIGHT FOR FEDERAL COVID RESTRICTIONS

 OTTAWA – As provinces across the country lift mask and vaccine mandates, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos refused to provide a date or a target for when the federal government would do the same.

Duclos appeared at the Commons health committee Monday and was asked repeatedly by Conservative MPs when mandates would be lifted. MP Michael Barrett asked Duclos why the federal government couldn’t lay out a plan for ending mandates when provinces have made that move.

“What different information does the federal government have that is causing it to not provide dates, or a plan that will see federal COVID mandates lifted?” Barrett asked.

THE PANDEMIC MANAGERIAL STATE

As more and more credible data come to light, it is evident that the COVID-19 mandates were ill-advised and the protocols put in place nothing short of administrative bungling, assuming they were not facets of what has been called a “plandemic.” A new Lancet study shows that “excess mortality” caused by COVID policies such as lockdowns tripled the number of COVID deaths. Dr. Douglas W. Allen’s ground-breaking cost/benefit analysis at Simon Fraser University equally demonstrates that pandemic policy was “based on unrealistic assumptions” and “creat[ed] more harm than good.” The information is now out there and readily available to any interested person.

LYING SPIES

 They are the supposed nonpartisan group of top spies looking out for the best interest of the nation.

But the 51 former “intelligence” officials who cast doubt on The Post’s Hunter Biden laptop stories in a public letter really were just desperate to get Joe Biden elected president. And more than a year later, even after their Deep State sabotage has been shown again and again to be a lie, they refuse to own up to how they undermined an election.

The officials, including CNN pundit and professional fabricator James Clapper — a man who was nearly charged for perjury for lying to Congress — signed a letter saying that the laptop “has the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”

UKRAINE'S BOOD SOAKED-HISTORY

Ukrainians are fighting and dying. They have learned to do both from history, the best but most bitter of teachers.

They are fighting and surviving. History has taught them that, too.

 Six years ago, to teach Canadians about the brave witness of Ukrainians during the Maidan “revolution of dignity,” I invited the head of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv, to Kingston, Ont., to address our annual St. John Fisher Dinner. He accepted, but was represented by Borys Gudziak, the president of the post-independence Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, and then the Ukrainian Catholic bishop in Paris. Archbishop Gudziak is now the senior Ukrainian Catholic metropolitan bishop in the United States.

He told us the story of Ukraine in the 20th century; a story of death and resurrection. He spoke as a Christian disciple, to be sure, but also as a Ukrainian patriot. He came to bear witness that even in the bleakest situations, hope and courage are possible. Necessary, actually. Ukraine bore witness to this.

OVERREACH OF HAMILTON SCHOOL BOARD: KEEP THE MASK

 TORONTO — As students in Canada’s most populous province return to mask-free classes after two years on Monday, one Ontario school board is facing backlash for defying the province’s decision to drop masks, potentially setting the stage for a clash on a contentious pandemic issue.

The mask mandate and other pandemic measures have become a lightning rod in Canada for an anti-government movement, sparking a three-week protest in capital Ottawa last month.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) voted against removing the mask mandate and proposed keeping students and teachers masked until April 15 to protect the medically vulnerable.

The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) also opposes removing the mandate. Ontario Teachers Federation and Hamilton-Wentworth Elementary Teachers’ Local did not responded to a request for comments.

NDP VERSION OF AN INDEPENDENT REVIEW

 VICTORIA — The New Democrats marked the second anniversary of the pandemic by launching what they characterized as an “independent review of the government’s operational response.”

But the review, announced Wednesday, was more notable for what it won’t be allowed to do.

From the NDP cabinet-approved terms of reference: “The scope of the review excludes an assessment of economic recovery and public policy decisions made by government to deal with the consequences of the pandemic.”

AUSTRALIAN WATCHDOG SUES FACEBOOK/META

Reuters reports that the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has filed a lawsuit against Facebook alleging that the social media giant failed to prevent scammers from using its platform to promote fake ads to unsuspecting users.

The advertisements regularly endorsed cryptocurrency or money-making schemes and featured famous Australians to fool users. The lawsuit filed in the Federal Court alleges that Facebook  “aided and abetted or was knowingly concerned in false or misleading conduct and representations by the advertisers.”

ACCC chair Rod Sims stated: “The essence of our case is that Meta is responsible for these ads that it publishes on its platform. It is alleged that Meta was aware … scam ads were being displayed on Facebook but did not take sufficient steps to address the issue.

DISPUTING LIBERAL LIES ABOUT THE FREEDOM CONVOY

Several key pieces of testimony have poked holes in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s justification for using the Emergencies Act to quash peaceful freedom convoy protestors in February.

Throughout the protests, the Liberals and legacy media made a number of claims about the convoy ranging from extremist involvement, foreign funding and millionaires bankrolling the movement. To date, all of these claims have been called into question by law enforcement officials and fundraising executives.

TRUDEAU'S MAGIC PLANS TO SAVE THE PLANET

Testifying at the Commons natural resources committee this week, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault confessed “it is premature to estimate economic impacts” of closing down Canada’s energy sector, beginning with a hard cap on emissions for the oil and gas sector, announced by Trudeau at a UN enviro conference in Glasgow last year.

How can any responsible government be plotting the gradual closure of over 12% of our economy without first calculating the economic pain of their moves?

 The Macdonald-Laurier Institute think tank also reported this week that the Liberals’ push to allow only electric vehicles to be sold in Canada as of 2035 (whether e-vehicles are suited to our climate and distances, or not) is the most expensive and least effective emissions-reduction strategy around.

CANADA-THE GREAT CONVENER OF THE GREAT RESET

    Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly gave us a glimpse into the mindset of the Trudeau government last week when she described Canada’s role in international affairs as a convener of meetings. “We’re a middle-sized power and what we’re good at is convening and making sure that diplomacy is happening and convincing other countries to do more,” Joly said on CTV’s Power Play.
    This interpretation of Canada’s role in the international order is consistent with the Trudeau government’s perception of itself as the Great Convener of meetings in the Great Reset — when the world will embrace green energy, emerging triumphantly from the pandemic, inflation, a global energy crisis and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
    This shouldn’t be surprising given Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s perception of his job, as described by then conflict of interest commissioner Mary Dawson when she ruled in 2017 that he broke four sections of the Conflict of Interest Act by accepting free vacations on the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas.

PANDEMIC HIRING BOOM

     The Trudeau administration spent so much money during the first year of the pandemic that it was easy to lose track of the profound growth taking place in the size of the federal government’s workforce.
    Employment across the country jumped more than six per cent year over year to 319,600 for all departments and agencies, according to data compiled by Treasury Board. That’s an increase of nearly 20,000 between the first three months of 2020 and the same period last year.
    Last year’s increase was more than double the average annual employment gains posted by federal government workers between 2015 and 2020, covering years the Liberals have been in power. The financial impact was significant: The federal government’s total payroll reached nearly $60 billion in fiscal 2021, up $4.4 billion from the previous year, according to the public accounts.

CP RAIL WORKERS WALK OFF JOB

    CP Rail trains have ground to a halt across the country after thousands of workers walked off the job early Sunday morning.
    The strike involving nearly 30,000 engineers, conductors and other train employees took effect at 1 a.m. ET, after both the company and the workers' union dug in their heels over a long-simmering contract dispute.

    The work stoppage threatens supply lines already struggling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
   Roughly 45 Canadian industry groups said Thursday that any disruption would hinder Canada's freight capacity and hurt the broader economy as it grapples with inflation, product shortages, rising fuel costs and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

PUTIN IS SURELY TREMBLING OVER CANADA'S "CONVENING" POWER

   Rex Murphy:  When the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in lieu of any increased Canadian presence in the alarming crisis in Ukraine, makes a boast of Canada’s “convening power,” it is to wonder, perhaps even mandatory to ask, is Mélanie Joly serious? As bombs rain down, cities are pulverized, all canons of international behaviour outraged, we brag of a power to “convene?”

    Our “convening” power? Which, mildly paraphrased, comes down to our, Canada’s, gift at calling meetings! What is this country — a conference management firm?
    Is this what the dreamers of 1867 saw as our future? A dominion that when the world was in peril, and wars were brewing, nations under siege and invasion, the mighty provinces of the Canadian Confederation, under the taut umbrella of their woke national government, would hail the world …. “Hey, guys, Let’s have a meeting. The Convening Power has spoken.”

ALBERTA HEALTH CARE WORKERS RETURN TO WORK WITH HEAVY HEARTS

A paramedic back to work after Alberta Health Services (AHS) dropped its vaccine requirement for existing workers last week is calling the situation “a victory with losses.” King is a primary care paramedic serving communities east of Edmonton. After ten years on the job, she was forced onto unpaid leave in December after refusing to comply with the AHS vaccine mandate and having her religious exemption request denied.

“We’ve forced Alberta Health Services to admit that what they were doing was not only ridiculous but wrong,” Kate King told True North. “But for people trying to get into AHS, they still have to get the shot or give up on their profession.”

“I have a friend who said that when she was let go in December, it was a hostile environment – absolutely hostile. She was seen as the enemy, the person who was trying to kill the world, everything else. She got death threats, and everything else was brutal.”

“Now, coming back, no one wants to talk about it. It’s like an abusive relationship. Everyone’s walking on eggshells, and no one wants to talk about it. I don’t know if as time goes on anything changes.”

TRUDEAU'S DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS EMBARRASS US ALL

 Canada’s diplomatic mission has resorted to immature online trolling of the Russian. Rather than hold the Trudeau government accountable, the legacy media cheer on these embarrassing efforts.

It’s Fake News Friday on the Candice Malcolm Show, and Candice is joined by True North journalist Harrison Faulkner to discuss the biggest fake news of the week.

EUROPE'S GREEN ENERGY POLICIES BOUGHT RUSSIA'S WAR MACHINE

     Even if you think Russia has some legitimate grievances, this war thing is not good. M’kay? It’s a horrible waste of life and property, and it will hardly just be the civilians of Ukraine and Russia paying a steep economic price. But it would never have happened if Russia couldn’t afford the world’s third-largest military — with only the 11th-largest GDP. Where is it getting the hard currency to oil that war machine (pun intended)? It’s essentially fossil fuel exports to our NATO allies, and especially the largest of them, Germany. And yes, even some exports to the United States.    

   Russia is the world’s second-largest fossil fuels producer, behind only the United States. But America consumes most of its fossil fuels itself, with more than double Russia’s population and much greater use per capita. In terms of exports, for petroleum Russian ranks second worldwide, for gas first, and for coal third. And it looks even better against the competition when you consider that even as the U.S. exports a lot of oil and gas, it imports a lot as well.

WHILE CANADA DOES NOTHING

  General Rick Hillier:  If platitudes were air defense missiles, praise was anti-tank rockets, applause was fighters, and wishes and prayers were weapons, after this week’s address to Canada’s Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would have been able to plan his country’s victory parade over Russia. Sadly, what was on display Tuesday was Canada’s unrelenting drive to provide Zelenskyy and Ukraine with complete assistance short of real help. A close friend, who believes in prayer, says that if you actually do something to give wings to that prayer you can achieve something greater. President Zelenskyy has given us an opening, a chance to put wings on our prayers for Ukraine, to achieve something greater.
    I had the privilege to be in the gallery at Parliament during President Zelenskyy’s address to, not just a joint session of Parliament, but indeed, all of Canada. I was much less privileged to be there for the words, fanfare and self-congratulations when our own elected politicians spoke.
   I was inspired by Zelenskyy, and embarrassed for my country.

$75M FOR 5 YEARS OF COVID JAB INJURY CLAIMS

A federal program to compensate families of Canadians who have suffered injuries or deaths from COVID-19 vaccines is budgeted to run at least five years, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“A total of $75 million in funding has been earmarked for the first five years of the program,” said a memo from Health Canada. “The overall cost of the program is dependent on the volume of claims and compensation awarded over time.”

Health Canada confirmed that their adverse reaction reports include 306 deaths, 123 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, 78 miscarriages, 57 acute kidney injuries and 47 heart attacks. The most common serious side effect was myocarditis, affecting 1,886 people.

LIBERALS ADMIT GUN BAN INCLUDES HUNTING & SPORTING RIFLES

The Trudeau government has finally confessed that its now-delayed gun ban on so-called “military style assault weapons” also applies to hunting and sporting rifles.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Trudeau government’s 2020 firearms prohibition was so sweeping that sustenance and hunting firearms were also included.

An Analysis Statement to cabinet acknowledged this aspect of the ban despite prior insistence that it only applied to guns “designed to kill people.”

TOO COMFORTABLE WITH STATE OF EMERGENCY POWERS

QUEBEC — The Quebec government’s bill aimed at ending the state of health emergency in the province appears to do no such thing, the province’s opposition parties said Thursday.

 On Wednesday, Health Minister Christian Dube tabled Bill 28, which is aimed at ending the exceptional powers that have been granted to the government since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020.

But rather than calming matters, the bill was roundly criticized by opposition parties in Quebec City, who took aim at the fact that measures still in place when the state of emergency is lifted will remain until Dec. 31.

FORD'S STRATEGY FOR RE-ELECTION: SUPPORT TRUDEAU

   Ontario Premier Doug Ford has decided his best chance of re-election in June is to cozy up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rather than anyone in the federal Conservative leadership race.
   On Wednesday, Ford appeared with Trudeau as they jointly announced an investment of $131.6 million each by the Ontario and federal governments in Honda Canada’s $1.4 billion project to retool its Alliston, Ont. plant to produce hybrid electric vehicles.
   During that event, Ford said his Progressive Conservative government, the last provincial holdout, is “very, very close” to a deal with Trudeau’s Liberals to make childcare more affordable for Ontario families, with an announcement coming “very, very soon.”
   On Tuesday, by contrast, Ford said neither he nor his PC caucus at Queen’s Park will endorse any of the candidates in the federal Conservative leadership race.

SCOC GIVES NOD TO CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST RCMP

The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected the federal government's attempt to stop a massive class-action lawsuit against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from going ahead.

The two lead plaintiffs, veteran RCMP members Geoffrey Greenwood and Todd Gray, allege "systemic negligence" in how the national police force has handled bullying and harassment allegations.

A Federal Court judge certified their lawsuit — which is seeking more than $1.1 billion — as a class action in 2020. Last fall, another judge dismissed the Crown's arguments seeking to de-certify the class-action claim.

WHINING BANKERS COULD HAVE REFUSED

   OTTAWA — The voice of Canadian credit unions says their members watched people make significant withdrawals after the federal government vowed a financial crackdown on the so-called "freedom convoy."
   The government's use of the emergency powers in February included allowing financial institutions to freeze the accounts of those involved in the protests that occupied streets in downtown Ottawa and blocked key border crossings.
  But a House of Commons committee was told Thursday that the government was less than clear about the intended targets shortly after the financial measures were announced.
  The government also granted a level of latitude to institutions that contributed to the confusion, MPs have been told.

RUSSIA CLOSE TO DEFAULTING ON THEIR DEBT

ON WEDNESDAY, Russia owes a $117million (£89million) payment on its debts, but as sanctions bite, this is looking exceedingly unlikely to be able to happen. A look at history tells us what might happen next.
Last week, the World Bank’s chief economist, Carmen Reinhart, warned that Russia was “mightily close” to defaulting on their debt. The next instalment of payments on two dollar-denominated bonds is due on Wednesday, March 16, though a 30-day grace period will follow, meaning the worst of the fallout might not be seen for another month – but when it does, analysts are warning of a knock-on effect that will ricochet around the globe.

INFLATION RATE AT 30-YEAR HIGH

 OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate climbed to 5.7 per cent in February, its highest level since August 1991 and the second straight month over 5 per cent.

Helping to drive the increase in February were higher gasoline prices that were up 32.3 per cent compared with February 2021 and 6.9 per cent from a month earlier.

Statistics Canada says that excluding gasoline prices, the headline inflation rate would have been 4.7 per cent in February.

TRUDEAU HAS PERFECTED THE ART OF NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS

   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on a recent visit to Europe to reassure allies of Canada‘s enduring commitment (such as it is) to western security, met with the Queen, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The various leaders took questions from the press. And many of my Canadian colleagues on the trip noted, ever-so tactfully, that their European colleagues were baffled by our prime minister’s habit of not answering questions.
   Oh. They noticed that, huh?
   It’s not that the prime minister isn’t available to the press. He is. Especially during the pandemic, Trudeau made frequent appearances before assembled reporters. And he also certainly makes himself available on a fairly regular basis during question period in the House of Commons. So what’s the problem?
   Well, you may have noted an extremely careful choice of words above: he replies to questions; he doesn’t answer them. This isn’t an accident. It’s not like he doesn’t understand the question or doesn’t know the answer. It’s that this prime minister, and his government more generally, has pushed the concept of message discipline beyond anything we’ve previously seen.

DEFENSE MINISTER JOLY SELLS MILITARY SHORT

 Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is selling Canada’s military short, according to former generals who expressed surprise at comments she made this week.

On Tuesday, Joly said Canada will continue working with international partners in helping protect Ukraine through aid and diplomacy, but suggested that was the limit of our capabilities.

“Canada is not a nuclear power, it is not a military power,” she told CTV Power Play host Evan Solomon. “We’re a middle-sized power and what we’re good at is convening and making sure that diplomacy is happening, and meanwhile convincing other countries to do more.”

Retired Maj.-Gen. David Fraser did not share the minister’s assessment.  “As a proud Canadian, I think we are far more than what she says we are,” he said.  “I think the 40,000 Canadians that served in Afghanistan, the 158 soldiers who were killed over there and their families might have something more to say than what our minister is saying.”

MICHIGAN PLAYING GAMES OVER LINE 5 PIPELINE

 Business leaders from the United States and Canada are again wading into the fray over Line 5, accusing the state of Michigan of dragging its heels to ensure the controversial cross-border pipeline remains in a state of legal limbo even as both countries contend with a looming energy crisis. 

In a new joint amicus brief, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, its U.S. counterpart and chambers in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin reiterate their concern that shutting down the Enbridge Inc. pipeline would have "tremendous negative consequences" on both sides of the border. 

"Such a shutdown would constrain an already disrupted energy supply, an especially problematic development given recent decisions related to importation of petroleum products from Russia," reads the brief, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press. 

CHALLENGING GOVERNMENT SURVEILLANCE ON PRIVATE LAND

   Represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ), a national libertarian law firm and legal advocacy group, Pitch Pine and Punxsutawney are suing the Pennsylvania Game Commission, claiming game wardens possess “virtually unchecked power to enter private land to search for evidence of potential state hunting offenses.” The Pitch Pine and Punxsutawney complaint, filed Dec. 16, 2021, contends Pennsylvania game wardens, sans warrant or probable cause, often “roam for hours” and “spy on” private land in search of hunting violations. The wardens’ behavior, the lawsuit states, is a direct violation of Pennsylvania’s state constitution, which in Article 1, Section 8, explicitly protects “persons, houses, papers, and possessions.” (16 states have constitutions protecting “persons, houses, papers, and possessions” instead of the 4th Amendment’s “persons, houses, papers, and effects.”)
    “I’m an old-school veteran, as was my father and grandfather, and we all followed the law. I’ve got friends as police officers and my son is studying criminology right now in college,” Mikesell says. “How in the world did America get to the place where local police officers or state police or FBI agents have to get warrants and probable cause, yet a game warden can have free reign on private land?”
   “We’re literally dealing with game wardens hiding on our land to catch guys committing some kind of infraction,” Mikesell exclaims. “I wonder if they’re using game cameras on our own private land to watch and monitor us; I have deep suspicions.”

WOMAN OF THE YEAR NOMINEE

USA Today has been slammed by conservative political commentator Candice Owens for the outlet's decision to include Pennsylvania's former Health Secretary Rachel Levine among the nominees for 2022 Woman of the Year Award. Levine, a trans woman, now serves as Assistant Secretary of Health in the Biden Administration.

USA Today has come under severe criticism after it named Lavine as one of the nominees for its 2022 Women of the Year award. This included Owens who openly blasted Levine's nomination.

"What's a woman? I'm confused. I don't know what a woman is anymore. It is funny and pointedly ridiculous. It gets back to what I always say about progressives which is that they're always so progressive that they're actually just regressive, right?" Owens slammed USA Today's decision on Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News on Tuesday night.

TRUDEAU & FREELAND'S FAR-RIGHT UKRANIAN CONTACT

   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland met with the co-founder of a far-right fascist party in Ukraine, which was styled off of Hilter’s Nazi Party, True North has learned.
   Andriy Parubiy served as the equivalent of the legislative speaker of Ukrainian Parliament from 2016 to 2019, and during that time he personally met with Trudeau and Freeland several times.

  Earlier in his career, Parubiy was an influential member of Ukraine’s far-right neo-Nazi movement. In 1991, he co-founded the Nazi-styled Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU) – a party focused on “racial nationalism” that even adopted the Nazi Wolfsangel symbol as its logo.

WOKE LIBERALS MOVE TO DICTATE WHAT IS NEWS

   You already know about the Trudeau government’s proposed legislation to give government-appointed bureaucrats the authority to pull down webpages that are legal but “inappropriate,” without first seeking permission from a judge.
   But you may not have heard that the Trudeau government’s Heritage department gave nearly $3 million to the Policy Forum, headed by former Toronto Star vice-president Edward Greenspon.
   The purpose of the tax-funded grant? To identify “reliable” reporters and coach them on the nature and forms of misinformation and how to report on it during an election.
   This is the most frightening initiative I have seen in a very long time, especially when paired with Liberal efforts to regulate Internet content and to have senior bureaucrats monitor election messaging for political incorrectness (which was done in the 2019 general election).

THE NEW DOGMAS INFECTING OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM

Rex Murphy:  Churches imposed dogmas. They threatened those who rejected their dogmas with an eternity of hellfire. Accept or be damned. The freethinkers of the last century and a half were as one when they called for an end to the superstitious hold of religion, the elimination of all doctrines and an end to the rule of dogma.

   The dream was for an end to the regulation of thought, allowing freedom of thought and belief for all individuals. Dream on. The dogmas of religion may no longer hold force, but in our new and splendid 21st century, they have been replaced with the dogmas of political correctness, social justice and of the trinity of diversity, inclusion and equity.
   The threat of papal excommunication no longer keeps monarch or peasant awake. But offend the new doctrines and dogmas — say an offensive word, defy identity politics, cast a person with the “wrong” skin colour for a role in a movie, get caught reading Dr. Seuss in public, fail to applaud any of the insisted upon truths of woke scripture — and punishment quickly follows.

HOLLOW WORDS & SYMBOLIC COURAGE FOR ZELENSKYY

 Justin Trudeau praised Volodymyr Zelenskyy for defending the values that he called “the pillars of democracy” – freedom, human rights, justice, truth and international order.

Unfortunately, Canada is more like a buttress than a pillar when it comes to propping up democracy — it doesn’t carry much weight and what it does bear is done from a safe distance.

Trudeau welcomed the Ukrainian president to “our House” and offered hollow words about our “unwavering and steadfast support.”

But that support does waver when it comes to providing the aid that Zelenskyy is seeking — modern anti-tank weapons, surface-to-air missiles and fighter jets — mainly because we don’t have any that are fit for purpose.

FREELAND PRESSURES LEGACY MEDIA TO CHANGE CRITICAL STORIES

  The legacy media in Canada is every bit as dishonest and corrupted as you and I suspect. Last month when True North broke the story of Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland holding a Nazi banner at a Ukrainian rally in Toronto, a handful of legacy media reporters picked up our scoop.

    Interestingly, a few hours later, iPolitics issued a “correction” and changed the tone of the story to reflect the legacy media groupthink. Blame should not be aimed at the powerful woman holding the Nazi banner, it should be aimed at those talking about it!
   This caused the reporter who wrote the original story, Rachel Emmanuel, to resign out of principle. She now writes for the independent outlet the Western Standard, and she wrote an opinion column describing the ordeal.
   Today on the Candice Malcolm Show, Candice is joined by Rachel Emmanuel, who recounts the story and talks about the fundamental problems facing the media and why trust in journalists is at an all time low.