Europe Archives - Canuck Law

November 27, 2024November 28, 2024

Free Speech In Canada Apparently Worth Just $16,000 (Haverbeck V. Waugh)

A week ago, Ursula Haverbeck died. She was the 96 year old German woman who had gone to prison for publicly denying the Holocaust. While the major media coverage about her is overwhelmingly negative, she chose to stand for her beliefs. It’s really rare to see something like that these days.

Kevin Waugh, a “Conservative” Member of Parliament in Canada, introduced Bill C-250 back in 2022. This would put people in prison for up to 2 years for Holocaust denial. Far from being condemned, his actions were publicly lauded.

Leah Gazan, of the New Democratic Party, introduced Bill C-413 in October 2024. It was heavily modeled on Bill C-250, and would imprison people for up to 2 years for Residential School “denialism”.

At all levels of government in this country, politicians work to strip away freedom of speech under the guise of “fighting hatred”. This cuts across party lines, and isn’t limited to just a few. It also seems that outside influences appear to be guiding these efforts.

According to records from Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Waugh, and his wife, Ann, received a trip in 2018 worth $16,244.42 to Israel. This kind of travel is promoted as “fostering professional/cultural understanding, and meeting counterparts”.

Yes, this was just $16,000. The breakdown is as follows:

Transportation: $7,503.50
Accommodation: $2,928.84
Other: $5,812.09

This was sponsored by CIJA, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. It’s essentially the Canadian equivalent of AIPAC. Previously, the Canada-Israel Committee organized such annual trips, and their roster is full of prominent names. Believe it or not, this sort of thing isn’t illegal at all. In fact, it appears that Members of Parliament from all parties take part in it. By comparison, Trudeau ended up getting fined for his vacation with Aga Khan.

Waugh met with CIJA on February 15th, 2022. He had introduced Bill C-250 just days earlier, on February 9th. He’d probably deny the connection, but this is extremely unlikely to be any sort of coincidence. The Bill was ultimately abandoned when the substance was embedded into a Budget Bill.

Waugh takes a free trip to Israel in 2018. A few years later, he does the bidding of CIJA to introduce criminal penalties to Holocaust denial. Coincidence?

While it’s certainly true that Canadian politicians accept paid travel to other countries, none appear to even come close to the scale that occurs with Israel.

Germany lost a woman who was willing to go to prison for her beliefs. By contrast, Canadian politicians are implementing similar laws here in return for a free vacation. These people are nothing alike.

Yves-François Blanchet (Bill C-367) and Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Bill C-373) of the Bloc Québécois get honourable mentions for their work in eroding religious freedoms.

Maxime “The U.N. needs to shut up” Bernier has been completely silent on these issues, despite reinventing himself as a populist and free speech champion in 2018.

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	DeBellefeuille, Claude	BQ	2007	$8,661.12
2	Dykstra, Rick	CPC	2007	$8,602.30 (USD)
3	Godin, Yvon	NDP	2007	$4,094.83 (USD)
4	Pearson, Glen	LPC	2007	$8,728.18
5	Savage, Michael	LPC	2007	$5,612.54
6	Simard, Raymond	LPC	2007	$8,188.00 (USD)
7	Smith, Joy	CPC	2007	$8,661.12
8	Stoffer, Peter	NDP	2007	$8,728.18
9	Sweet, David	CPC	2007	$7,374.72 (USD)
10	Van Kesteren, Dave	CPC	2007	$8,728.18
11	Warkentin, Chris	CPC	2007	$7,973.54

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Allison, Dean	CPC	2008	$9,411.00
2	Bennett, Carolyn	LPC	2008	$7,961.00
3	Breitkreuz, Garry	CPC	2008	$7,963.00
4	Brunelle, Paule	BQ	2008	$7,961.00
5	Crête, Paul	BQ	2008	$10,944.00
6	Dhaliwal, Sukh	LPC	2008	$8,758
7	Duceppe, Gilles	BQ	2008	$17,577.56
8	Goodyear, Gary	CPC	2008	$10,944.00
9	Guimond, Michel	BQ	2008	$8,728.18
10	Ignatieff, Michael	LPC	2008	$8,602.30
11	Kramp, Daryl	CPC	2008	$9,446.00
12	Lunney, James	CPC	2008	$7,961.00
13	Martin, Pat	LPC	2008	$7,961.00
14	McCallum, John	LPC	2008	$10,944.00
15	Ménard, Serge	BQ	2008	$7,971.00
16	Mulcair, Thomas	NDP	2008	$7,963.00
17	Nash, Peggy	NDP	2008	$9,411.00
18	Neville, Anita	LPC	2008	$7,961.00
19	Redman, Karen	LPC	2008	$11,785
20	Roy, Jean-Yves	BQ	2008	$7.961.00
21	Silva, Mario	LPC	2008	$7,992.33
22	Sweet, David	CPC	2008	$7,961.00
23	Wasylycia-Leis, Judy	NDP	2008	$7,961.00

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Brown, Gord	CPC	2009	$6,440.00
2	Cannan, Ron	CPC	2009	$9,446.00
3	Coderre, Denis	LPC	2009	$10,239.22
4	Cotler, Irwin	LPC	2009	$1,439.30
5	Dechert, Bob	CPC	2009	$3,983.00
6	Desnoyers, Luc	BQ	2009	$5,520.00
7	Devolin, Barry	CPC	2009	$9,446.00
8	Garneau, Mar	LPC	2009	$7,843.00
9	Glover, Shelly	CPC	2009	$7,843.66
10	Hoback, Randy	CPC	2009	$7,493.62
11	Hoeppner, Candice	CPC	2009	$7,843.00
12	Holland, Mark	LPC	2009	$9,446.00
13	Laforest, Jean-Yves	BQ	2009	$9,086.22
14	Lemieux, Pierre	CPC	2009	$7,493.62
15	Marston, Wayne	NDP	2009	$7,493.62
16	Mendes, Alexandra	LPC	2009	$7,253.64
17	Oliphant, Robert	LPC	2009	$10,602.00
18	Rae, Bob	LPC	2009	$3,804.80
19	Uppal, Tim	CPC	2009	$7,843.00

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Block, Kelly	CPC	2010	$8,451.30
2	Del Mastro, Dean	CPC	2010	$7,956.22
3	Duncan, John	CPC	2010	$6,435.34
4	Fast, Ed	CPC	2010	$9,006.68
5	Laforest, Jean-Yves	BQ	2010	$9,086.22
6	Paillé, Daniel	BQ	2010	$7,904.51
7	Rathgeber, Brent	CPC	2010	$9,078.16
8	Saxton, Andrew	CPC	2010	$8,684.01
9	Simms, Scott	LPC	2010	$8,770.68
10	Thibeault, Glenn	NDP	2010	$8,906.68
11	Watson, Jeff	CPC	2010	$9,586.18

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Adler, Mark	CPC	2011	$5,920.31
2	Bezan, James	CPC	2011	$10,781.52
3	Brison, Scott	LPC	2011	$8,820.48
4	Cotler, Irwin	LPC	2011	$5,700.00
5	Cuzner, Rodger	LPC	2011	$9,397.33
6	Foote, Judy	LPC	2011	$5,030.08
7	LeBlanc, Dominic	LPC	2011	$14,680.00
8	Miller, Larry	CPC	2011	$10,525.04
9	Murray, Joyce	LPC	2011	$8,580.00
10	Ravignat, Mathieu	NDP	2011	$7,281.39
11	Shipley, Bev	CPC	2011	$5,370.04

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Ambler, Stella	CPC	2012	$10,238.84
2	Blanchette-Lamothe, Lysane	NDP	2012	$9,209.84
3	Caron, Guy	NDP	2012	$8,226.84
4	Chisholm, Robert	NDP	2012	$10,016.28
5	Cleary, Ryan	NDP	2012	$6,030.00
6	Davies, Don	NDP	2012	$10,677.68
7	James, Roxanne	CPC	2012	$7,059.14
8	Lapointe, François	NDP	2012	$11,740.46
9	Larose, Jean-François	NDP	2012	$9,031.84
10	Lunney, James	CPC	2012	$3,992
11	Nicholls, Jamie	NDP	2012	$7,808.28
12	Papillon, Annick	NDP	2012	$9,031.84
13	Rafferty, John	NDP	2012	$10,161.68
14	Trottier, Bernard	CPC	2012	$9,856.28
15	Williamson, John	CPC	2012	$9,961.96
16	Young, Terence	CPC	2012	$10,389.22

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Aspin, Jay	CPC	2013	$11,165.60
2	Bateman, Joyce	CPC	2013	$7,915.48
3	Bruinooge, Rod	CPC	2013	$9,937.98
4	Clarke, Rob	CPC	2013	$11,165.60
5	Easter, Wayne	LPC	2013	$9,786.96
6	Lamoureux, Kevin	LPC	2013	$10,053.40
7	Lunney, James	CPC	2013	$5,032.71
8	Menegakis, Costas	CPC	2013	$10,490.70
9	Michaud, Élaine	NDP	2013	$8,185.48
10	Scott, Craig	NDP	2013	$10,892.92
11	Young, Wai	CPC	2013	$12,683.80

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Bélanger, Mauril	LPC	2014	$9,537.50
2	Bennett, Carolyn	LPC	2014	$3,981.61
3	Byrne, Gerry	LPC	2014	$12,580.74
4	Falk, Ted	CPC	2014	$12,450.71
5	Hoback, Randy	CPC	2014	$5,092.21
6	Jones, Yvonne	LPC	2014	$11,935
7	Morin, Isabelle	NDP	2014	$9,782.96
8	Opitz, Ted	CPC	2014	$5,026.24
9	Sandhu, Jasbir	NDP	2014	$14,679.57
10	Sweet, David	CPC	2014	$4,915.36
11	Wilks, David	CPC	2014	$8,608.12

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Lunney, James	INDEPENDENT	2015	$3,285.89

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Albas, Dan	CPC	2016	$12,750
2	Blaney, Steven	CPC	2016	$5,616.78
3	Di Iorio, Nicola	LPC	2016	$6,930.36
4	Dubé, Matthew	NDP	2016	$12,342.24
5	Fillmore, Andy	LPC	2016	$10,294.97
6	Fuhr, Stephen	LPC	2016	$11,207.65
7	Garrison, Randall	NDP	2016	$7,800.22
8	Genuis, Garnett	CPC	2016	$12,650.80
9	Gladu, Marilyn	CPC	2016	$9,394.06
10	Godin, Joël	CPC	2016	$11,929.56
11	Grewal, Ra	LPC	2016	$9,391.15
12	Lefebvre, Paul	LPC	2016	$10,236.50
13	Levitt, Michael	LPC	2016	$9,393.35
14	Longfield, Lloyd	LPC	2016	$11,379.11
15	Mendicino, Marco	LPC	2016	$6,714.00
16	O’Regan, Seamus	LPC	2016	$11,186.79
17	Raitt, Lisa	CPC	2016	$8,643.72
18	Rankin, Murray	NDP	2016	$9,495.06
19	Rayes, Alain	CPC	2016	$10,705.65
20	Rempel, Michelle	CPC	2016	$6,296.13
21	Richards, Blake	CPC	2016	$7,880.54
22	Rioux, Jean	LPC	2016	$11,137.02
23	Ruimy, Dan	LPC	2016	$6,841.14
24	Sorbara, Francesco	LPC	2016	$10,350

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Brosseau, Ruth Ellen	NDP	2017	$11,705.62
2	Calkins, Blaine	CPC	2017	$11,492.23
3	Dhillon, Anju	LPC	2017	$9,550.21
4	Hardcastle, Cheryl	NPD	2017	$9,522.18
5	Harder, Rachael	CPC	2017	$7,410.21
6	Maloney, James	LPC	2017	$14,116.86
7	McCauley, Kelly	CPC	2017	$12,724/81
8	Nuttall, Alexander	CPC	2017	$10,423.31
9	O’Connell, Jennifer	LPC	2017	$11,375.14
10	Romanado, Sherry	LPC	2017	$11,840.21
11	Rusnak, Don	LPC	2017	$14,013.00
12	Sarai, Randeep	LPC	2017	$11,806.43
13	Schulte, Deborah	LPC	2017	$15,238.90
14	Zimmer, Bob	CPC	2017	$12,437.04

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Amos, William	LPC	2018	$11,245.24
2	Brosseau, Ruth Ellen	NDP	2018	$2977.22
3	Fergus, Greg	LPC	2018	$8,696.85
4	Kusie, Stephanie	CPC	2018	$13,390.91
5	McLeod, Cathy	CPC	2018	$7,721.70
6	Ng, Mary	LPC	2018	$7,355.84
7	Oliver, John	LPC	2018	$7,197.11
8	O’Toole, Erin	CPC	2018	$7,884,47
9	Schmale, Jamie	CPC	2018	$7,286.99
10	Sikand, Gagan	LPC	2018	$7,150.00
11	Stubbs, Shannon	CPC	2018	$14,212.93
12	Sweet, David	CPC	2018	$1,116.22
13	Vandal, Dan	LPC	2018	$9,282.93
14	Waugh, Kevin	CPC	2018	$16,244.42

Palestinian Authority and the Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec

(2018) Brosseau, Ruth Ellen
(2018) Boulerice, Alexandre
(2018) Caron, Guy
(2018) Casey, Bill
(2018) Chen, Shaun
(2018) Davies, Don
(2018) Genuis, Garnett
(2018) Johns, Gord
(2018) Mathyssen, Irene
(2018) McDonald, Ken
(2018) Ouellette, Robert-Falcon
(2018) Stetski, Wayne
(2018) Tabbara, Marwan
(2018) Tan, Geng

International Democratic Union (IDU)

(2018) Tony Clement

Foreign Affairs Department, The Knesset, Jerusalem

(2018) Sweet, David

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Lapointe, Linda	LPC	2019	$13,552.80

March Of Dimes

(2019) Barlow, John
(2019) Damoff, Pam
(2019) May, Bryan

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Aldag, John	LPC	2022	$16,695.62
2	Barrett, Michael	CPC	2022	$16,209.30
3	Dancho, Raquel	CPC	2022	$13,313.79
4	Duncan, Eric	CPC	2022	$10,528.25
5	Jeneroux, Matt	CPC	2022	$11,453.80
6	Kelly, Pat	CPC	2022	$10,760.73
7	Lattanzio, Patricia	LPC	2022	$16,903.70

NUMBER	NAME	PARTY	YEAR	VALUE
1	Aitchison, Scott	CPC	2023	$13,994.14
2	Berthold, Luc	CPC	2023	$10,227.60
3	Blanchette-Joncas, Maxime	BQ	2023	$7,524.88
4	Blois, Kody	LPC	2023	$23,930.48
5	Bradford, Valerie	LPC	2023	$14,007.89
6	Chambers, Adam	CPC	2023	$18,950.85
7	Champoux, Martin	BQ	2023	$18,246.85
8	Chahal, Harnirjodh (George)	LPC	2023	$23,744.00
9	Chen, Shaun	LPC	2023	$11,563.58
10	Findlay, Kerry-Lynne	CPC	2023	$23,883.00
11	Fortin, Rhéal	BQ	2023	$18,846.85
12	Goodridge, Laila	CPC	2023	$18,446.20
13	Hallan, Jasraj Singh	CPC	2023	$23,017.04
14	Hepfner, Lisa	LPC	2023	$18,644.15
15	Housefather, Anthony	LPC	2023	$10,866.91
16	Kramp-Neuman, Shelby	CPC	2023	$11,728.58
17	Lapointe, Viviane	LPC	2023	$7,636.23
18	Martel, Richard	CPC	2023	$10,894.04
19	Paul-Hus, Pierre	CPC	2023	$17,233.40
20	Rempel Garner, Michelle	CPC	2023	$12,252.48
21	Scheer, Andrew	CPC	2023	$18,446.20
22	Schiefke, Peter	LPC	2023	$11,316.78

KEVIN WAUGH, CPC MP:
(1) https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/c-250
(2) https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/kevin-waugh(89084)
(3) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/cmmLgPblcVw?comlogId=521753
(4) https://lobbycanada.gc.ca/app/secure/ocl/lrs/do/vwRg?cno=111&regId=917368&blnk=1
(5) https://www.conservative.ca/mp-waugh-introduces-legislation-to-prohibit-holocaust-denial/
(6) https://archive.ph/fCnNn

January 24, 2023January 24, 2023

M.E.P. Christine Anderson: Cashing In On The Freedom Movement

Last year, Christine Anderson, a Member of the European Parliament for Germany, made headlines by publicly criticizing Trudeau as a dictator. While she was hailed in Canada as a freedom champion, it’s worth asking if there was something more self-serving in this condemnation.

Specifically, a Canadian speaking tour is now in the works, with the possibility of expanding to more locations. At the time of writing this, there are events scheduled for: (a) Calgary; (b) Toronto; (c) Whitby; and (d) Montreal. A merchandise line has also been started up, primarily selling T-shirts. Where have we seen this sort of thing before?

Granted this AfD (Alternative fur Deutschland) politician is likely more eloquent than the typical huckster who’s been making their way across Canada over the last 3 years. Still, one can’t help but see this as an opportunistic way to cash in on anti-Trudeau sentiments.

Sponsorship costs:

Bronze sponsor: $1,000
Silver sponsor: $5,000
Gold sponsor: $10,000 to $20,000

In addition to selling merchandise, this Canadian tour is also asking for sponsors to help offset costs. There are 3 tiers of sponsorship listed, along with the required amounts.

One of the major sponsors listed is the Children’s Health Defense Canada. As covered before, they are a Plaintiff in a lawsuit in Ontario that’s been sitting idle for nearly 2 years. Interesting connection.

Yes, the criticisms of Trudeau being a dictator and having no respect for Canadians is true. Few would dispute that. So, why is a speaking tour and merchandise line necessary to prove that point? And isn’t a T-shirt line with your own face more than a little narcissistic?

Is there also a book deal in the works?

Tickets to attend shows can cost hundreds of dollars each. Therefore, one has to ask what this German politician has to say that would justify such a fee. Even if it were a more reasonable amount, why would anyone be giving money for this?

Yes, Trudeau has little to no respect for Canadians. True, he has trampled on everyone’s civil rights in the last few years. While this cannot be justified, it’s not exactly news either.

What can be said that locals haven’t already said or written hundreds of times before? Seems like a way to milk celebrity status.

(1) https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/european-members-parliament-attact-trudeau-1.6397579
(2) https://wwcadtour.com/
(3) https://wwcadtour.com/shop/
(4) https://wwcadtour.com/bio/
(5) https://wwcadtour.com/tour/

January 5, 2023

Digital Citizen Contribution Program: Grants Continuing Into 2022

More recent payouts from the Digital Citizen Contribution Program are now available on the Government of Canada website. These are subsidies to promote certain viewpoints and ideologies deemed to be favourable.

Of course, the Digital Democracy Project and the Media Literacy Week are still ongoing. The D.D.P is expected to cost $2.5-million over four years, while the M.L.W. another $225,000 over three years,

As an aside, UNESCO seems to have taken note of Canada’s Digital Citizen Initiative, and dedicated a page to covering it. That’s interesting.

The listings for latest grants include:

NAME	YEAR	AMOUNT
Alex Wilner and Casey Babb	Aug. 10, 2020	$9,900.00
Alperin, Juan P.	Apr. 1, 2020	$20,000.00
Apathy Is Boring Project	Apr 1, 2022	$50,000.00
Asian Environmental Association – HUA Foundation	Apr. 1, 2020	$64,660.00
BILAL Community & Family Centre	Aug. 15, 2020	$40,000.00
Calgary Animated Objects Society	Aug. 1, 2020	$40,000.00
Centre for Democracy and Development	Oct. 22, 2018	$49,420.00
The Centre For Israel And Jewish Affairs	Sep. 1, 2020	$38,000.00
Côté, Catherine	Mar. 22, 2020	$8,000.00
Chun, Wendy H.K.	Apr. 1, 2020	$20,000.00
CIVIX	Nov. 15, 2018	$23,000.00
CIVIX	Apr 1, 2022	$1,000,000.00
Colasante, Tyler	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Concordia University	Oct. 1, 2020	$39,270.00
Concordia University	Aug 1, 2021	$90,536.00
Concordia University	Apr 30, 2022	$50,000.00
Conflict And Resilience Research Institute	Apr 1, 2022	$47,500.00
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, David Jones	Dec. 17, 2019	$49,916.00
David Morin, Marie-Ève Carignan	Dec. 4, 2020	$44,838.00
Digital Public Square	Mar. 1, 2020	$679,176.00
Digital Public Square	May 1, 2022	$999,970.00
Disinfowatch	Apr 4, 2022	$49,800.00
Evans, Jennifer V.	Apr. 1, 2020	$20,000.00
Evidence For Democracy	May 1, 2022	$47,500.00
Fleerackers, Alice L.	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Gingras, Marie-Pier	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Grisdale, Sean E.	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Historica Canada	Jun 1, 2022	$50,000.00
Hodson, Jaigris N.	Apr. 1, 2020	$20,000.00
Indigenous Culture And Media Innovations	Aug 1, 2021	$100,000.00
Institute For Canadian Citizenship	Mar. 24, 2020	$490,880.00
Institute For Democracy, Media & Culture	Jul. 27, 2020	$35,750.00
Institute On Governance	Oct. 1, 2020	$100,000.00
International Republican Institute	Mar. 15, 2019	$2,973,531.00
Internews Network	Mar. 19, 2020	$3,172,323.00
Institut Canadien De Recherche Sur Les Minorités Linguistiques	Aug 2, 2021	$100,000.00
IRIS Communications	Oct. 1, 2020	$99,500.00
JHR – Journalists for Human Rights	Jun. 1, 2019	$250,691.00
JHR – Journalists for Human Rights	Jul. 14, 2020	$1,479,856.00
Ketchum, Alexandra D.	Mar. 22, 2020	$23,455.00
Kingdom Acts Foundation	Sep. 1, 2020	$70,500.00
Lavigne, Mathieu	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Lennox, Rebecca	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Les 3 Sex/The 3 Sex	Aug 30, 2021	$100,000.00
Macewan University	Nov. 1, 2020	$69,000.00
Mack, Amy C.	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Magazines Canada	May 15, 2019	$63,000.00
Manchester Metropolitan University	Feb. 1, 2020	$214,837.00
Matthews, Kyle	Apr. 20, 2020	$33,377.00
McLevey, John V.P.	Apr. 1, 2020	$20,000.00
Mediasmarts	Apr 1, 2022	$50,000.00
Moisse, Katie	Mar. 22, 2020	$13,417.00
Nathalie Furrer	Aug. 10, 2020	$10,000.00
Nelson, Kim A.	Mar. 22, 2020	$24,498.00
Neubauer, Robert J.	Jan. 1, 2020	$10,000.00
Org. For Economic Co-Operation/Development	Oct 15, 2021	$40,000.00
PeaceGeeks Society	Nov. 11, 2015	$46,200.00
Pennycook, Gordon R.	Apr. 1, 2020	$20,000.00
QuantSpark Foundation	Feb. 26, 2020	$1,155,622.00
Royal Institution For The Advancement Of Learning	Jul 1, 2022	$50,000.00
Rupantar	Oct. 28, 2018	$24,996.00
Ruslan Stefanov, Director,	Jul. 3, 2018	$15,000.00
Ryerson University	Apr. 1, 2019	$290,250.00
Ryerson University	Jan. 1, 2020	$225,300.00
Ryerson University	Sep. 18, 2020	$97,407.00
Ryerson University	May 1, 2022	$50,000.00
Science North	Sep. 1, 2020	$40,000.00
Simon Fraser University	Jan. 19, 2019	$28,750.00
Simon Fraser University – Int’l Cybercrime Research	Oct. 1, 2020	$96,600.00
Taylor, Emily	Jan. 1, 2020	$33,250.00
Trybun	Jan. 21, 2019	$7,114.00
Universite De Montreal Faculte Des Sciences	Sep 1, 2021	$92,000.00
University Of Alberta	Jul 1, 2021	$99,948.00
University Of Toronto	Sep 1, 2021	$58,728.00
University Of Waterloo	Jul 2, 2021	$100,000.00
Young, Hilary A.N.	Apr. 1, 2020	$20,000.00
York University	Nov. 1, 2020	$99,956.00

Note: since this list was originally used, it seems a few of the names have been reclassified (as to whether they are part of the DCCP). Nonetheless, these are all still projects that were funded by public tax dollars. Now, what areas are being funded?

(a) First research projects call for proposals (closed November 1, 2019)
This call for proposals sought projects that met at least 1 of the following priorities:

-research projects, where activities have a positive domestic impact on Canada or Canadians, and include primary research, such as surveys, interviews, field experiments, or lab-based experiments, as well as secondary research such as literature reviews and meta-analyses; production and analysis of datasets; and creation of tools such as software programs to support research
-evaluation projects, where activities will seek to evaluate the impact of existing Canadian or international programming and research addressing disinformation and other online harms

(b) Second research projects call for proposals (closed on September 18, 2020)
This call for proposals sought projects that met at least 1 of the following priorities, with a maximum funding ask of $100,000/project:

-projects that aim to map/predict the next issues and/or types of online disinformation and other related harms that Canada and/or Canadians might face, how they could be tackled, and by whom
-projects that aim to help better understand the impact of disinformation and related harms on diverse and marginalized communities in Canada, with a gender-based analysis lens
-projects that aim to understand the societal factors and psychological characteristics that motivate individuals to take up the call for online and offline disinformation related activities
-projects that aim to understand the impacts of a lack of exposure to diverse content online, including understanding how users access reliable news and information in Canada, as well as the impacts of algorithmic systems on the content users are exposed to and consume on online platforms

(c) Third research projects call for proposals (closed on May 28, 2021)
This call for proposals sought projects that met at least 1 of the following priorities, and under this call, successful recipients received funding up to $100,000:

-projects that aims to understand the role of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and other system-level factors on mainstream and fringe online platforms as they pertain to the spread, uptake, and impacts of disinformation and related harms, including on user behaviour and content consumption, and their potential uses towards a diverse and healthy information ecosystem;
-projects that aims to understand the domestic and transnational spread, evolution, and impacts of online disinformation and related harms through and on diaspora, Indigenous, and non-English primary language communities in Canada using a GBA+ lens, including impacts on societal outcomes; or
-projects that aims to evaluate existing Canadian or international research and programming related to online disinformation and their effectiveness in furthering positive societal outcomes, such as citizen resilience, social inclusion, media literacy, and participation and trust in democratic processes.

(d) Special COVID-19 calls (closed July 31, 2020)
The Digital Citizen Contribution launched 2 special COVID-19 calls for proposals. The first call provided up to $3.5 million in funding to amplify the efforts of 10 organizations supporting citizens to think critically about the health information they find online, to identify mis- and disinformation, and limit the impact of racist and/or misleading social media posts relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The second call also aimed to amplify the efforts of organizations supporting citizens to think critically about the health information they find online, to identify mis- and disinformation, and limit the impact of racist and/or misleading social media posts relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. This call provided time-limited financial assistance to 24 projects of up to $40,000 per project.

(e) Special Ukraine Crisis Call (closed on April 1, 2022)
In the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this special call is aimed to address the growing spread of harmful misinformation and disinformation. The special targeted call was launched to fund initiatives that help people identify misinformation and disinformation online.

As the pandemic continues into its third year and the Russian invasion of Ukraine now threatens democracies around the world, we need to do more to counter the growing spread of harmful misinformation and disinformation. Today, the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced the launch of a special, targeted call for proposals totalling $2.5 million to fund initiatives that help people identify misinformation and disinformation online.

Through the Government’s Digital Citizen Initiative (DCI), Canadians can respond and help in the global efforts to counter misinformation and disinformation. The DCI supports democracy and social cohesion in Canada by building citizen resilience against misinformation and disinformation, and building partnerships to support a healthy digital information society.

Of course, there’s no mention that the authorities themselves routinely engage in misinformation and outright deception.

Not only are mainstream outlets controlled and funded by Government, but these grants make it difficult to trust anyone. Even independents may be suspect if they are dependent on money from interested parties.

(1) https://search.open.canada.ca/grants/
(2) https://search.open.canada.ca/grants/?sort=agreement_start_date+desc&page=2&search_text=%22digital+citizen+contribution+program%22
(3) https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2022/03/government-of-canada-reinforces-support-to-organizations-to-help-counter-harmful-disinformation.html
(4) https://ppforum.ca/articles/digital-democracy-project-to-examine-online-disinformation/
(5) https://mediasmarts.ca/media-literacy-week
(6) https://en.unesco.org/creativity/policy-monitoring-platform/digital-citizen-initiative
(7) https://canucklaw.ca/digital-citizen-contribution-program/
(8) https://canucklaw.ca/digital-citizen-contribution-program-next-round-of-grants/
(9) https://canucklaw.ca/digital-citizen-contribution-program-the-paris-call/

April 2, 2021October 6, 2021

Journalism Trust Initiative; Trusted News Initiative; Project Origin; The Trust Project

Having an open, independent and free media is essential to any functioning society. However, that is not the case here. Groups like the “Journalism Trust Initiative” sounds like something that might have been concocted in the Soviet Union. But no, it’s operational within the free world.

1. Important Links

(1) https://jti-rsf.org/en/
(2) https://jti-rsf.org/en/about
(3) RSF Sues Facebook, Claims Too LITTLE Censorship
(4) https://archive.is/A6847
(5) https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2020/trusted-news-initiative-vaccine-disinformation
(6) https://www.originproject.info/
(7) https://id2020.org/
(8) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdTTl-C4PTM
(9) https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/fake‐news‐complicated
(10) https://contentauthenticity.org
(11) https://www.partnershiponai.org
(12) https://www.partnershiponai.org/ai‐and‐media‐integrity‐steering‐committee
(13) https://www.wired.com/story/deepfakes‐getting‐better‐theyre‐easy‐spot
(14) https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.07886
(15) https://thetrustproject.org/
(16) https://thetrustproject.org/#indicators
(17) https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2015/today-in-media-history-in-1947-the-press-reported-on-the-hutchins-commission-report/
(18) https://www.cbc.ca/news/editorsblog/editor-blog-trust-1.5936535
(19) https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/impact-and-accountability/local-news-directory

2. “News Trust” Groups To Investigate

There is something Orwellian or dystopian about organizations that have to stress so frequently that they are trustworthy sources. These are groups which are supposed to be doing this in journalism.

Journalism Trust Initiative
1. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
2. European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
3. Agence France Presse (AFP)
Trusted News Initiative
Project Origin
1. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
2. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
3. Radio-Canada
4. Microsoft
5. New York Times
The Trust Project
1. Sally Lehrman
2. Microsoft Defending Democracy Program
3. The Peg and Rick Young Foundation
4. the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
5. Trustworthy Journalism Initiative of Craig Newmark Philanthropies
6. Bing
7. Facebook
8. Google

Who can forget the Q-Anon saying to “trust the plan”? After all, there was supposed to be some secret army ready to take out the Deep State, and put all of the pedophiles in jail. Also, “Operation Trust” was a scheme in the 1920s to keep the Communists in power in the Soviet Union, by letting people think there was a plot already underway.

This may seem crazy, but perhaps these “trust” groups operate in much the same way, and to achieve essentially the same purpose of deflating resistance to the current power structure.

There is another thread that runs through these NGOs. They all oppose what they call “misinformation” surrounding legitimate questions of this “pandemic”. Each one supports the official narrative.

3. Who’s Behind Journalism Trust Initiative

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in partnership with:
European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
Agence France Presse (AFP)

Reporters Without Borders, the European Broadcasting Union, and Agence France Presse are the 3 main groups behind the Journalism Trust Initiative. That being said, their organization has grown considerably since the founding in 1985.

Here is a list of selected participants in the development stage of the JTI Standard included, in alphabetical order. Note: these names came directly from their website.

All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK, Russia)
Associated Press (USA)
Association of Taiwanese Journalists (Taiwan)
Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM, Italy)
BBC (UK)
City University of New York (CUNY, USA)
Civil (USA)
Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa, Germany)
Ethical Journalism Network (EJN)
European Association for the Co-ordination of Consumer Representation in Standardisation (ANEC)
Facebook (USA)
Fondation Hirondelle (Switzerland)
Free Press Unlimited (FPU, the Netherlands)
Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland)
Global Disinformation Index (GDI)
Google (USA)
The Independent Monitor for the Press (IMPRESS, UK)
Internews (UK)
Journalists Association of South Korea (JAK, South Korea)
NewsGuard (USA)
Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK, Norway)
RTL Group (Luxembourg)
Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ, USA)
Swiss Press Council (Switzerland)
Tagesspiegel (Germany)
Tamedia (Switzerland)
Thomson Foundation (UK)
TT Nyhetsbyrån (Sweden)
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Some of these names should immediately stand out, such as Facebook, Google and UNESCO. Yes, 3 of the most powerful organizations are involved in this. As for the 3 behind JTI:

(a) Founded in 1985, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) became one of the world’s leading NGOs in the defence and promotion of freedom of information. RSF is registered in France as a non- profit organization based in Paris, with consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF). Our foreign sections, bureaux in ten cities, and a network of correspondents in 130 countries….

(b) The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is the world’s foremost alliance of public service media (PSM). Our mission is to make PSM indispensable. We represent 117 media organizations in 56 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and have an additional 34 Associates in Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas. Our Members operate nearly 2,000 television and radio channels alongside numerous online platforms….

(c) Founded in 1835, Agence France-Presse (AFP) is the third largest international news agency in the world delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world, from conflicts to politics, economics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology.

That is how they describe themselves. While there is nothing wrong with people in the industry collaborating, the concern comes when viewpoint diversity is stifled. Legitimate debate and contrary points of view can simply be disregarded.

We live in an era of the grand de-enlightenment.
.
On the Internet, algorithms tend to amplify the extremes – sensationalism, rumours, hate and falsehoods. Opinion and beliefs trump facts. The rule-makers in big-tech are not accountable to anyone. The rules of the game are in- transparent and change all the time.
.
On this rocky, tilting and ever turning playing field, journalism is unfairly disadvantaged, losing reputation, reach and revenues – which renders it even less competitive.
.
That logic needs to be reversed. Democracy dies without a fact-based discourse.

Everything in this section sounds entirely reasonable, and valid. The internet does tend to promote fake news and sensationalized nonsense over real journalism. And true, democracy is dead without a fact based discourse. However, what this group finds acceptable does not match with many others.

4. RSF Sues Facebook, Too LITTLE Censoring

This Complaint, filed in France, should terrify people. Reporters Without Borders is upset that Facebook isn’t doing enough to censor so-called misinformation on its platform. To repeat: the allegation is that Facebook SHOULD DO MORE to censor people spreading different views on the so-called pandemic.

Facebook has been notorious for its revised Terms of Service, and deplatforming, but that apparently wasn’t enough. RSF is taking action against a member of its own group.

Note: the Complaint itself doesn’t seem to be posted. RSF has been contacted for a copy of it.

For an example of how extensively Facebook already censors, consider this: Kevin Chan of Facebook Canada bragged to Canadian politicians that over 16 million pieces of “misinformation” had already been removed. But that apparently isn’t good enough.

5. Trusted News Initiative (TNI)

The Trusted News Initiative (TNI) was set up last year to protect audiences and users from disinformation, particularly around moments of jeopardy, such as elections. The TNI complements existing programmes partners have in place.
.
The partners currently within the TNI are: AP, AFP; BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Facebook, Financial Times, First Draft, Google/YouTube, The Hindu, Microsoft , Reuters, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Twitter, The Washington Post.
.
The TNI cooperative framework has been jointly developed amongst partners, and relates to only the most serious disinformation, which threatens life or the integrity of the electoral process. This is entirely separate from and does not in any way affect the editorial stance of any partner organisation.

At least we’re getting some honesty here. The Trusted News Initiative was set up primarily to counter “misinformation” of a serious nature. It specifically cites elections and this “pandemic”.

Although not explicitly stated, having these groups band together in such a way would be quite effective at censoring legitimate information. Of course, it would always be passed of as an emergency.

A cynic might wonder if Trump intentionally went on about election conspiracy theories in order to help justify the collusion of these “independent” media outlets. Perhaps this is reaching, but it would explain a lot.

Interestingly, although not surprisingly, Facebook and Google are both part of the Trusted News Initiative.

6. Project Origin — Microsoft A Partner

Project Origin was established to provide a platform for collaboration and discussion among a set of partners on the creation and adoption of a new media provenance tracking process, aimed initially at news and information content. At scale, this process could encompass traditional publishing (electronic and print), information technology, social media and consumer software. We are planning for a multiparty stakeholder, cross-organisational collaboration around combating disinformation.

Positive authentication of the provenance of legitimate news stories will help by making it easier to identify manipulated and synthetic audiovisual content. The Origin process is conceptually designed to work with text, video, images and audio content.

The Origin collaborators have agreed to develop a framework for an engineering approach, initially focusing on video, images, and audio. We hope this work could be helpful in developing a global standard for establishing content integrity.

CBC/Radio-Canada, the British Broadcasting Corporation and Microsoft are working together with what is called “Project Origin“. The stated goal is to be able to find the origin and background of news that is making its way onto public domains.

Never mind that Microsoft is heavily involved in ID2020, or that the BBC receives regular financing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Forget about Gates’ ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Surely, this organization is about promoting truth and accuracy in media.

Project Origin offers a more technical way of finding the sources, such as tracing the image, or similar word patterns, or seeing where else it has been published. Consider it a form of cyber-sleuthing for content flagged as “misinformation”.

Media Provenance Countering Synthetic Media

SOURCES:
1. C. Wardle, “Fake news. It’s complicated”, First Draft, Feb. 2017. Available at:
https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/fake‐news‐complicated.
2. “Setting the industry standard for digital content attribution”, The Content Authenticity Initiative, 2019.
Available at: https://contentauthenticity.org.
3. The Partnership on AI. Available at: https://www.partnershiponai.org.
4. “AI and Media Integrity Steering Committee”, The Partnership on AI, 2019. Available at:
https://www.partnershiponai.org/ai‐and‐media‐integrity‐steering‐committee.
5. G. Barber, “Deepfakes Are Getting Better”, WIRED Magazine, May 2019. Available at
https://www.wired.com/story/deepfakes‐getting‐better‐theyre‐easy‐spot.
6. “News Provenance Project”, New York Times, 2018. Available at:
https://www.newsprovenanceproject.com/resources.
7. P. England et. al., “AMP: Authentication of Media via Provenance”, arXiv:2001.07886, Jan. 2020.
Available at https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.07886.
8. M Russinovich e.t al., “CCF: A Framework for Building Confidential Verifiable Replicated Services”,
Microsoft Research Technical Report MSR‐TR‐2019‐16, Apr. 2019. Available at
https://www.microsoft.com/en‐us/research/publication/ccf‐a‐framework‐for‐building‐confidential‐verifiable‐replicated‐services.

Project Origin does post a research paper going into extensive detail about how such a system may be organized. It would incorporate AI into it, flagging content deemed suspicious. How the metadata is actually used is explained in considerable deta in video as well.

7. The Trust Project, Social Media Grouping

The Trust Project is an organization of some 200 media outlets which conform to certain preset standards of journalism. The propagation and promotion of the their work across social media in influenced by Bing, Facebook and Google. Among the Canadian members are:

CBC
CTV
Globe & Mail
The Canadian Press
Toronto Star

The Trust Project does have its 8 Trust Indicators listings, and they are quite good. The problem is that these organizations don’t practice what they preach in terms of differing views. Specifically, contradictory information on this “pandemic” narrative are censored, and otherwise smeared as conspiracy theories.

At least on paper, there is nothing objectionable about this NGO. The issues arise when their behaviour in practice is considered.

The Trust Project references the 1947 Hitchens Commission to base this on. The report claims that democracy is in danger if there isn’t a free media, and that control in the hands of too few people is a danger. Instead of reading this as a warning, it appears to have become a roadmap, given how much media collusion we now have.

These trust groups function like a modern day Mockingbird Media. It really is one group that controls nearly everything.

8. CBC’s Efforts To “Rebuild Trust”

About a month ago, CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, published an article that stated trust in it was waning. It emphasized that efforts were being undertaken to rebuild that trust, and went into significant detail.

CBC News is a member of the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), an effort to establish globally recognized standards of trustworthiness in news, led by Journalists without Borders, the European Broadcasting Union and Agence France-Presse. As part of a recent pilot, we submitted a 70-page questionnaire on our practices for an independent review and hope to share the results in the near future.

CBC/Radio-Canada has been a member of the Trusted News Initiative (TNI) since its inception in 2019. The TNI brings together global news organizations and tech platforms to combat disinformation. It created a real-time, early warning system to flag serious disinformation that may pose a threat to life or the integrity of the electoral process. It has been activated for the general elections in the U.K., Taiwan, Myanmar and the U.S., as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. The TNI will host a Trust in News conference later this month.

CBC/Radio-Canada has joined with the BBC, the New York Times and Microsoft in support of an effort to develop Project Origin, an open standard for confirming the authenticity of content from trusted sources to fight “deep fake” video news generated by artificial intelligence. This is a new application of established technology to digitally verify the authenticity of our news content when it appears on other online platforms.

CBC News is part of the Trust Project, an international partnership with tech and media companies to increase transparency and accuracy in online news. CBC policies on transparent labels, corrections, bylines and links to our JSP on our digital pages have become a model for other partners in the project.

While there are some legitimate steps in the article that CBC can take, it seems strange to partner up with so many other groups, such as the ones listed above. It takes away from the independence (or even the illusion of independence), to be so tightly interwoven with these “trust” groups.

CBC does have its own “directory” of trusted news groups, which seems Orwellian. Part of Canadians’ tax dollars are going towards creating a database of outlets that will not stray from permitted narratives.

9. Media, Social Media, Influence And Subsidies

CBC claims it wants to improve the trust it has among Canadians. However, it doesn’t raise any eyebrows when something like this happens: Dominic LeBlanc openly suggesting passing laws to combat “misinformation”. Since there is ideological alignment, this chilling statement goes largely unchallenged.

It seems that outlets like CBC wish to “appear” to be trustworthy, but have no interest in conducting themselves in ways that genuinely foster trust. How bad is the media bias?

(1) Unifor, Media, In Bed With Gov’t, $595M
(2) True North Canada A Fake Charity, Subsidized By Public
(3) Government Subsidizes Postmedia To Ensure Positive Coverage
(4) Aberdeen Publishing Takes Handouts, Ignores Real Issues
(5) More Periodicals Taking Grants, Parroting Gov’t Narrative
(6) Subsidized Fact-Check Outlets Run By Political Operatives
(7) Groups Funded By Tax Dollars To Combat “Misinformation”
(8) Even More Subsidies Canadian Outlets Are Dependent On
(9) DisinfoWatch Has Ties To Atlas Network/Koch, Liberal Party
(10) Media, Banks, CU, Getting CDA Emergency Wage Subsidies
(11) Advertising And Marketing In Promoting “Pandemic” Narrative
(12) NSERC/SSHRC/CIHR Grants In “Confidence”; Mandatory Vaxx
(13) Bill C-10; Open Collusion Between Ottawa, Social Media
(14) Facebook; Kevin Chan; Peter Donolo; Rachel Curran; Erin O’Toole

The unfortunate reality is that there are many legitimate reasons to not trust the media in Canada, and elsewhere. Coming together in these groups does little to conceal the lack of genuine interest in journalism. While it’s true that professionals so have to sell to make a living, it shouldn’t come at the expense of their integrity.

February 16, 2021December 11, 2024

Hypocrisy In Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations

Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention

59 countries endorses the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations. This was designed to prevent the rights of foreign nationals from being abused for political reasons. However, there are some issues to address.

1. Declaration Sounds Fine On The Surface

https://twitter.com/JosepBorrellF/status/1361332231378243588

The arbitrary arrest or detention of foreign nationals to compel action or to exercise leverage over a foreign government is contrary to international law, undermines international relations, and has a negative impact on foreign nationals traveling, working and living abroad. Foreign nationals abroad are susceptible to arbitrary arrest and detention or sentencing by governments seeking to compel action from other States. The purpose of this Declaration is to enhance international cooperation and end the practice of arbitrary arrest, detention or sentencing to exercise leverage over foreign governments.

Recognising a pressing need for an international response to the prevalence of these practices, and guided by international law and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations:

1. We reaffirm that arbitrary arrests and detentions are contrary to international human rights law and instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international and regional human rights instruments;

2. We express grave concern about the use of arbitrary arrest or detention by States to exercise leverage over foreign governments, contrary to international law;

3. We are deeply concerned that arbitrary arrest, detention, or sentencing to exercise leverage over foreign governments undermines the development of friendly relations and cooperation between States, international travel, trade and commerce, and the obligation to settle international disputes by peaceful means;

4. We are alarmed by the abuse of State authority, including judicial authority, to arbitrarily arrest, detain or sentence individuals to exercise leverage over foreign governments. We call on States to respect their obligations related to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal;

5. We urge all States to refrain from arbitrary arrest, detention, or sentencing to exercise leverage over foreign governments in the context of State-to-State relations;

6. We reaffirm the fundamental importance of the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, respect for human rights, and respect for the obligation to provide consular access in accordance with international law, including the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and other applicable international instruments;

7. We call upon States to take concrete steps to prevent and put an end to harsh conditions in detention, denial of access to counsel, and torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of individuals arbitrarily arrested, detained or sentenced to exercise leverage over foreign governments. We reaffirm the urgent need to provide these individuals with an effective remedy consistent with international human rights law, and call for their immediate release;

8. We stand in solidarity with States whose nationals* have been arbitrarily arrested, detained or sentenced by other States seeking to exercise leverage over them and acknowledge the need to work collaboratively to address this issue of mutual concern at the international level.

This Declaration remains open to endorsement.
.
(*) Including dual nationals in accordance with endorsing countries’ laws on nationality.

On the surface, there is nothing wrong with any of this. People’s rights shouldn’t be denied or abused in order to make some geopolitical power play. The text of the treaty sounds fine. However, there are some problems that need to be addressed.

Of course, how would such a treaty be enforced? Who and where would it be enforced? Could a country simply withdraw and go about business as usual? How could anyone scrutinize or investigate possible violations?

2. China Is The Elephant In The Room

There seems to be no mention of China, who has been holding 2 Canadians as prisoners for years. This of course, refers to Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. This happened in retaliation for Canada arresting a Huawei executive. Also, what about the mass arrests and persecutions of religious minorities that China has long been accused of committing?

What is really the purpose of this Declaration? Is it to send a message? Is it to appear virtuous? Of course, appearing virtuous is not the same thing as being virtuous. It can’t be for ideological reasons, given the following issue:

3. Arbitrary Detention In So-Called Pandemic

For any of these countries to be taken seriously, what about the human rights abuses that are going on domestically against their own citizens? Is it okay, or less wrong, when it’s done locally? Do any of these sound familiar?

Forced quarantine detentions
Forced curfews
Forced stay-at-home orders
Forced closures of businesses
Forced closures of religious services
Forced masks on adults
Forced masks on children
Forced nasal rape for bogus tests
Peaceful assembly banned
Banning free speech as “misinformation”
Arrests for violating any of the above

While these 59 countries are crowing about how virtuous they are, many have implemented some or all of the above measures. Of course, this is done in the name of “public safety”. Are they not stripping their own people’s rights in order to implement political agendas? Shouldn’t human rights be applied universally, not just when travelling abroad?

Although it’s still just a proposal, public officials in Canada have openly suggested the idea of passing laws to ban what they call “misinformation”. Of course, this refers to people who will research and expose their lies.

January 14, 2021October 16, 2022

CCS #22: European Environmental Agency Relies On UNIPCC For Its Climate Change Data

The following exchange came from a reader who has had dealings with the EEA, or European Environmental Agency. In short, the EEA doesn’t prove climate change is real. Instead, it relies on the United Nations to provide such data.

1. Email Exchange Between Researcher And EEA

An interesting discovery. The EEA doesn’t actually do anything to prove that climate change exists as its advertised. Instead, it relies on the UN to TELL THEM that it happens.

2. Debunking The Climate Change Scam

The entire climate change industry, (and yes, it is an industry) is a hoax perpetrated by the people in power, run by international bankers. Plenty has also been covered on the climate scam, the propaganda machine in action, and some of the court documents in Canada. Carbon taxes are just a small part of the picture, and conservatives are intentionally sabotaging their court cases.

Category: Europe

Free Speech In Canada Apparently Worth Just $16,000 (Haverbeck V. Waugh)