Category: Social Media

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Subversion In The Courts: SOGI Activists Implementing Their Agenda By Stealth

According to the publication: Canadian Lawyer, working tirelessly to upend tradition and social norms is worthy of an honourable mention. Never mind the consequences of that work.

An interesting point about the struggle for “equal” rights. The more victories you achieve, only the less and less important issues remain. Here, “Morgane” Oger goes on CBC to talk about removing references involving gender from BC Courts. Yes, that’s where we are. Keep in mind, this person wanted to establish a doxing website, took a Christian to the cleaners for telling the truth, and got Vancouver Rape Relief defunded for not admitting men. Yes, Oger felt the need to push for an ideology at the expense of women.

As bad as Oger is, we need to look at the bigger picture: the SOGI agenda is being implemented into the Courts, with the deliberate aim of corrupting them. The institutional rot is not limited to a few activists seeking attention. Oger is a symptom of a much larger problem.

LEADER. EDUCATOR. ADVOCATE.
The CBA Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Community Section (SOGIC) aims to:
-Address the needs and concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and two-spirited members within the CBA
–Provide a forum for the exchange of information, ideas and action on legal issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity
-Encourage lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and two-spirited lawyers to actively participate in the CBA’s work
-Develop and provide continuing legal education and other professional development programs on legal issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity
-Develop member services relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and two-spirited CBA members
.
OUR WORK
SOGIC is a founding member of the International Lesbian and Gay Law Association. We liaise with lesbian and gay law groups in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel, among others. Our members frequently attend the Nstrong>National Lesbian and Gay Law Association’s (NLGLA) Lavender Law conferences. The NLGLA is affiliated with the American Bar Association.

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has its own SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) section within it. Far from being limited, it has Provincial and International partners. Specifically, they list the U.S., U.K. and Israel.

This is far more coordinated than some activists and sympathetic media. The major goal is to get SOGI policies implemented into law. These are people trying to circumvent the legislative process.

One such person is Barbara Findlay, who refuses to spell her name with capital letters as an act of defiance. This spelling wasn’t for any real reason, just to cause friction. The publisher, Canadian Lawyer, did an article which lists several accomplishments she had over the years.

  • Changing definition of marriage
  • Putting 2 women on a birth certificate (2 mothers)
  • Forcing centers to host gay “weddings”
  • Forcing rape centers to accept tran-volunteers
  • Getting sex change surgery for inmates
  • Putting biologically male inmates in women’s prisons

Recently, Findlay was successful in getting a B.C. father‘s rights removed, as he tried to prevent his daughter from transitioning into a boy. Never mind the high regret and suicide rate among trans-children. The agenda had to go ahead.

Forcing the Knights of Columbus Center to host a lesbian “wedding” is an interesting one. Remember: the main rallying cry when changing the definition of marriage was that it wouldn’t impose on others. Turns out, that was a lie. There was every intention of imposing — later on.

Findlay and Oger line up ideologically when it comes to Vancouver Rape Relief. Findlay tried to force it to accept trans-volunteers, and Oger got it defunded for only accepting biological women as victims.

The society also notes that findlay founded the CBABC Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Community (SOGIC) section and co-founded the CBA National SOGIC federation. In BC, SOGIC is now a community of over 215 LGBTQ2SI+ lawyers, law students and judges.

Findlay isn’t just a bystander. She founded the BC Branch of SOGI lawyers, and co-founded the National Federation. She has been involved in establishing the infrastructure.

The Canadian Bar Association also has an overtly anti-white agenda. They explicitly ask Trudeau to put more “BIPOC” (black, indigenous, people of colour), members onto the bench. Apparently whites can’t be trusted to understand the lived experience of others, especially when non-whites have such high crime rates.

The CBA has also written the Government on a variety of issues, including: conversion therapy, gay blood donation ban, banning intersex surgery decisions by parents, etc… This reads like it was written by EGALE or some other gay rights group.

C. A specific online hate remedy [Page 8]
.
While existing remedies not specifically addressed to the internet – section 12 of the CHRA, for instance – may be available to address online hate, we recommend adding a remedy specific to the internet. This would remove uncertainty and avoid litigation about the meaning of more generic legislation. It could also serve as a warning with an educational and preventive purpose. The government should not miss this opportunity.
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A revised civil remedy needs to be directed not only against inciters, but also against publishers, including internet platforms. Internet providers should not have civil immunity for the material on their platforms.
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Rather than removing liability of internet providers from individual defamation suits, we recommend that the Tribunal have legislated power to make legally binding orders on internet providers.
.
The repealed section 13 of the CHRA excluded internet providers from its ambit:
(3) For the purposes of this section, no owner or operator of a telecommunication undertaking communicates or causes to be communicated any matter described in subsection (1) by reason only that the facilities of a telecommunication undertaking owned or operated by that person are used by other persons for the transmission of
that matter.
.
A re-enacted section 13 should expressly say the exact opposite: when an internet provider allows a person to use their services, the provider is communicating what the person posts on the provider’s platform.

The CBA explicitly supports hate speech laws. Typically, lawyers argue that people should have more freedoms and more rights. But here, they are quite okay with stripping away those rights, and putting the screws to internet providers, in the name of fighting hate.

Now, calling for less whites to be put on benches should be seen as an act of hate speech, right? No, there are a few groups it’s perfectly legal to discriminate against.

If the CBA were truly committed to open and honest discussion on controversial topics, that point of view may be understood. However, it functions as an activist group.

These are the people who have infiltrated our legal system, and are covertly (and not covertly) trying to remake society. Equality for all is a great talking point, but that isn’t really the goal.

It’s true that CBA-SOGIC may not speak for all members, and likely doesn’t, but they act as if they do.

Oger Discusses Stripping “Gendered Language” From BC Courts
https://canucklaw.ca/morgane-oger-foundation-wants-to-be-another-doxxing-site/
https://canucklaw.ca/morgane-oger-further-weaponizes-human-rights-codes-55k-ruling/
https://morganeoger.ca/2020/02/20/vancouver-rape-relief-failure-to-meet-vancouver-criteria-for-program-funding-shows-pressing-need-to-update-approach/

https://www.cba.org/Sexual-Orientation-and-Gender-Identity-Community/
Canadian Lawyer Mag On Barbara Findlay
https://www.canlii.org/en/bc/2019bcsc254/2019bcsc254
https://canucklaw.ca/bc-supreme-court-rules-parents-cant-stop-kids-from-getting-sex-changes/
Canadian Bar Association Put More Non Whites On Benches
Canadian Bar Association Trudeau Should Change Laws
Canadian Bar Association Hate Speech Laws

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Canada 2020, “Independent” Liberal Think Tank; Recovery Summit; Guilbeault Interview On Internet Regulation

Canada 2020 calls itself Canada’s leading, independent progressive think-tank. Keep the term “independent” in mind, as it will become important later on.

In the following sections, the group identifies as an active member of the Global Progress network, with a goal to build a community of progressive ideas and people that will move and shape governments. So, it is independent, or part of a network?

From the onset, there issues with this group, especially when the members are looked up. But who is running Canada 2020? From their own profiles:

  • Thomas (Tom) Pitfield is Co-Founder of Canada 2020, Canada’s leading, independent, progressive think-tank. Prior to his appointment, Tom served as the Chief Digital Strategist for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal election campaign, as well as his campaign for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. Previously, Tom served as Senior Policy Advisor to the Leader of the Government in the Senate, the Honourable Jack Austin. He also worked in China for the Canada Chinese Business Council and as a business strategy consultant, specializing in Corporate Governance, for IBM Canada. After co-founding IBM’s Toronto Innovation Center, he worked as Policy Advisor to the Director of IBM’s Business Partner Channel.
  • Jennifer Walsh was previously a Professor in International Relations at the University of Oxford, and co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict. In 2013, she was appointed by the UN Secretary General to serve as his Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect. Prof. Welsh sits on the editorial boards of the journals Global Responsibility to Protect and Ethics and International Affairs, as well as the editorial board for the Cambridge University Press BISA series in International Relations. She has also served as a consultant to the Government of Canada on international policy, and acts as a frequent commentator in Canadian media on foreign policy and international relations.
  • From 2014-18, Anna Gainey served as President of the Liberal Party of Canada. Her leadership was key to growing and empowering grassroots organizing and innovative campaign technologies, which contributed to the election of the first Liberal majority government in 15 years. After Canada’s 2015 election, Anna led the transformation to open up and modernize the party – including by eliminating all membership fees and redrafting the party’s constitution to better suit 21st century organizing and campaigns. She has also been a leading Canadian advocate in support of more women’s participation and leadership in our democracy, government, and economy. Anna is the founder of the Gainey Foundation, which provides funding for environmental and arts education programs for youth, and has been the Executive Director since 2008. She continues to sit on the national board of directors of the Liberal Party of Canada as Past President, as well as on the Board of WarChild Canada, Pointe-à-Callière Museum and the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation.
  • Matt Browne is a Visiting Fellow at American Progress, working on building trans-Atlantic and international progressive networks and studying trans-Atlantic policy issues. Previously, Matt was director of public affairs in APCO Worldwide’s London office, where he ran the company’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa government relations practice. Matt is also the former director of Policy Network—the international network founded by Tony Blair, Gerhard Schroeder, Goran Persson, and Giuliano Amato—and remains a member of the organization’s governing board and advisory council. During his time at Policy Network, Matt worked closely with a host of progressive leaders, prime ministers’ and presidents’ offices across the globe, and international organizations such as the U.N. and WTO. Matt also ran the international press operation for New Labour’s general election campaigns in 2001 and 2005.
  • Mira Ahmad is Canada 2020’s Director of Communications and Operations. Mira has over six years of experience working as a political strategist and activist. She has served as the President of the Young Liberals of Canada, and currently sits on the Liberal Party of Canada’s National Board of Directors as Vice President. Mira has provided strategic advice and managed campaigns for a number of candidates running for federal office. She has worked for the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation, a non-profit educational and leadership development organization in Montreal, as well as Data Sciences, a data analytics and digital marketing firm. Mira has a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Concordia University. She has long been active in a number of volunteer causes and leadership initiatives, including the Climate Reality Project Canada, the Austrian Leadership Program and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada.
  • Kate [Graham] is an active community member and volunteer. She served as the Chair of the Pillar Nonprofit Network Board of Directors, on the Executive of the ReForest London Board of Directors, and as a volunteer for numerous community organizations. She was named one of London’s Top 20 Under 40 in 2015. Kate has also dabbled in politics herself, including running in the 2018 Provincial Election in Ontario.

Far from being “independent” as their website claims, Canada 2020 is run by partisan hacks of the Liberal Party of Canada. They are insiders masquerading as a non-partisan group.

And who is funding Canada 2020? At the bottom of their website, the major donors are listed. Some interesting ones include: Facebook, Mastercard, Power Corporation and Shopify. Maclean’s did a great piece a few years back on the myriad of connections.

Recovery Project Build Back Better Agenda
Recovery Project Build Back Better Report

In September 2020, Canada 2020 and Global Progress hosted the Recovery Summit, with a goal to “Build Back Better” (the globalist catch phrase). It would also involve remaking society environmentally, socially, and financially. In short, there was an opportunity for a RESET.

In the early days of the pandemic, Canada 2020, Global Progress, and the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD) at the University of Ottawa launched The Recovery Project, an initiative designed to start conversations around social and economic recovery from COVID-19. Built on a foundation of evidence, sustained effort and common purpose, The Recovery Project aims to provide resources, insight and analysis for what comes next.
.
The Recovery Project brings together a large swath of people from a variety of different fields (business, academia, government, and more) to discuss five key themes in the context of recovery: Shared Prosperity, Democratic and Institutions, Sustainability, Global Public Health and Inclusive Societies. These conversations are presented to The Recovery Project’s audience by way of livestream broadcasts, podcasts, research and analysis. The Recovery Project has convened leading international and domestic voices to share ideas on how to achieve global and lasting recovery from the pandemic. Notable contributors include former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Irish President Mary Robinson, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee David Miliband, Dutch Labour Party leader Lodewijk Asscher, CEO of New America, Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt, and Canadian Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan.

Shared Prosperity ==> Communism
Democratic Institutions ==> World Government
Sustainability ==> Eco-Gods Reign Supreme
Global Public Health –> Medical Tyranny
Inclusive Societies ==> Forced Multiculturalism

Not only is Canada 2020 run by Liberals, but they will by consulting with other Liberals in how to advance their agenda. Strange that “Conservatives” are silent on all of this.

On March 31, 2021, this NGO posted a video which included an interview with Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault. The topic was around a proposed Bill to protect against online harms. While idea itself sounds well meaning, the details of implementation are still vague, and that’s troubling.

The full video with Canada 2020 is here, and should be watched in full. None of the clips are of people being taken out of context.

Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault admits that Canadians weren’t consulted in the content of this bill, and he’s okay with that. Instead, he points to foreign governments and NGOs with their own agendas as the source material. Strange that the people who would be most impacted aren’t able to submit their concerns.

Under the proposed legislation, the Regulator would be able to tell social media companies what kind of content can be taken down, and in fact order certain things removed. Given the prospect of heavy fines, it seems very unlikely that any outlet will put up a fuss. After all, the users aren’t paying for the service.

Guilbeault mentions that he finds the Australian model the most attractive. The bureaucrat in charge would have the power to enter into agreements with NGOs and social media companies. So while the legislation itself may not be too bad, it’s implementation is open to interpretation.

A positive moment here: Guilbeault admits that adding “misinformation” into things that get blocked would be tricky, and open up all kinds of free speech considerations. That said he brags about using public money to fund groups to promote government talking points. That is already happening here, here, and here. In fact, subsidies are rampant in Canadian media. So while not directly banning certain ideas, he supports funding opposition to those ideas.

Is this group, Canada 2020, really pulling at least some of the strings of the Trudeau Government? At least as far as online freedoms, Guilbeault saw no need to consult with actual Canadians. He would rather get input from non-governmental organizations.

https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/inside-the-progressive-think-tank-that-really-runs-canada/
https://canada2020.ca/people/thomas-pitfield/
https://canada2020.ca/people/jennifer-welsh/
https://canada2020.ca/people/anna-gainey/
https://canada2020.ca/people/matt-browne/
https://canada2020.ca/people/mira-ahmad/
https://canada2020.ca/people/kate-graham/
https://recoveryproject.ca/the-recovery-summit/
https://recoveryproject.ca/about/
Misinformation Counters Run By Political Operatives
Grants Given To Groups Fighting “Misinformation”
Ottawa Colluding With Facebook On Permitted Content

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Facebook Officials Meetings With Canadian Parliament: Still Pretty Cozy

Does nothing seem off about this? Facebook meeting with Parliament to discuss what revenue sharing and terms of service will be allowed? Or Kevin Chan and Rachel Curran both working in the Government previously?

1. Important Links

Parliamentary Hearing Information
January 29 Parliamentary Meeting (English)
March 29 Parliamentary Hearing (English)
Bill C-10: Changes To Broadcasting Act (Review)
Bill C-11: Digital Charter Implementation Act (Review)
Journalism Trust Initiatives, Related Groups (Review)

2. Facebook Far Too Connected To Politics

As outlined previously, Facebook Canada is far too intertwined with major politicians in Canada. This includes both Liberals and Conservatives, and lots of background is provided here. How there be any real independence?

3. Video Clips From Parliamentary Hearings

March 29, 2021 (Meeting 22)
Facebook Inc.

  • Kevin Chan, Global Director and Head of Public Policy, Facebook Canada
  • Marc Dinsdale, Head, Media Partnerships, Facebook Canada
  • Rachel Curran, Policy Manager, Facebook Canada

January 29, 2021 (Meeting 12)
Department of Canadian Heritage

  • Hélène Laurendeau, Deputy Minister
  • Jean-Stéphen Piché, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Cultural Affairs

Facebook Inc.

  • Kevin Chan, Global Director and Head of Public Policy, Facebook Canada
  • Marc Dinsdale, Head, Media Partnerships, Facebook Canada
  • Rachel Curran, Policy Manager, Facebook Canada

House of Commons

  • Hon. Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage

Bit of a sidenote: Marc Dinsdale worked for Rogers Communications and Bell Media prior to getting involved with Facebook. Very interesting.

Guess we will have to see what changes result from all of this. However, it doesn’t appear that the participants are free speech absolutists in the slightest. So what exactly will they deem as worthy to scrub from the internet?

4. Hearings For Bill C-10 Ongoing

Worth a reminder: the hearings for Bill C-10 are going on at the same time. This has the power to drastically alter the media landscape in Canada. That Bill has cleared Second Reading and is being studied. A followup will need to be done just on this Bill.

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TSCE #9(I): “Mr. Girl”, Pedo Defending Cuties Film Gets YouTube Channel Restored

Free speech and open discourse are generally extremely beneficial to society. However, the selective censoring of that on platforms like YouTube raise some serious questions. Here, YouTube and Twitter don’t seem to have an issue with disturbing content.

1. “Mr. Girl”, Max Karson, Defends Cuties

The first video is Max Karson (a.k.a. “Mr. Girl”) appearing on the Kill Stream with Ethan Ralph. Ralph frequently hosts discussion on topics like pornography, so this isn’t just a one-off. Karson then made his “Cuties” video the next day. While scrubbed from YouTube, it’s still on his site. Several people made great reviews of it, including Adonis Paul and Brittany Venti.

2. Most Likely Sincere, Not Trolling

The suggestion had been made several times that Karson was trolling, that this whole thing was an act either for attention, or to generate views. While that is possible, the tone and overall content comes across as someone who is serious about this content. While satire and comedy (even raunchy stuff) should be protected as free speech, this doesn’t look like that at all.

3. Karson’s YouTube Channel Gets Restored

Even though the Cuties video was taken from the YouTube channel, it is still available — in full — on the website, https://maxkarson.com/. There’s also a disgusting “apology” video posted. Additionally, Karson is still able to receive donations via Square Space and Patreon.

There wouldn’t be as much of an issue if there were uniform standards, either for or against free speech absolutism. However, there seem to be double standards, depending on the subject.

Again, if this was some strange version of satire or parody, what exactly is the punch line? How does this result in humour or comedy?

YouTube has no problems with removing content that contradicts the Covid-19 narrative. Guess we have to draw the line somewhere. Canuck Law is just one of many accounts who have been threatened with the loss of their channel over that.

Worth pointing out: Twitter is currently being sued for (allegedly) not removing illegal material involving minors on its website. That is still ongoing in Court.

4. Trafficking, Smuggling, Child Exploitation

Serious issues like smuggling or trafficking are routinely avoided in public discourse. Also important are the links between open borders and human smuggling; between ideology and exploitation; between tolerance and exploitation; between abortion and organ trafficking; or between censorship and complicity. Mainstream media will also never get into the organizations who are pushing these agendas, nor the complicit politicians. These topics don’t exist in isolation, and are interconnected.

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NordStar Capital; Torstar Corp; Metroland Media Group; More Subsidies & “Pandemic Bucks”

A recent tip: outlets like Niagara This Week are openly posting that some of their content is funded by the Government of Canada. While creepy, at least this bit of transparency is better than nothing. However, it turns out the rabbit hole goes much deeper.

1. Important Links

https://www.nordstarcapital.ca/
https://www.nordstarcapital.ca/execteam
https://www.nordstarcapital.ca/jordan
https://www.nordstarcapital.ca/paul
https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/05/27/who-are-torstars-new-owners.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/torstar-sale-nordstar-capital-1.5586033
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Peterson
https://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/aboutus/governanceandstaff/boardofdirectors
https://metroland.com/newspapers
https://archive.is/YjJfm
https://search.open.canada.ca/en/gc/

2. Nordstar Capital Bought Torstar

In May 2020, Nordstar Capital purchased Torstar, a media conglomerate. Torstar itself owned Metroland Media Group, which had some 80 publications primarily in Southern Ontario. When a company with so many titles to its name is sold, it makes for big news.

NordStar Capital, an entity created for the purchase and controlled by Bitove and Rivett, has entered into an agreement to acquire all of Torstar in a deal worth $60 million, after raising its original $52-million bid to counter a surprise offer from Canadian Modern Media Holdings, controlled by tech entrepreneur Matthew Proud and finance industry veteran Neil Selfe. The deal is expected to be finalized early this week.

A curious piece of information. Nordstar isn’t some established firm that wants to grow bigger. Instead, this corporation was created specifically for the purpose of buying Torstar. It explains why there is nothing of substance on Nordstar’s website.

Jordan Bitove helped launch the Toronto Raptors basketball team, and was part of the ownership consortium that built the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre). He also helped orchestrate Toronto’s 2008 Olympics bid, and currently sits on the Board of Trustees for SickKids Foundation. Previously, he was a Board Member of TIFF, the Toronto International Film Festival,

Paul Rivett was President at Fairfax Financial, a global insurance holdings and value investing company, where he worked for nearly two decades. He now serves on the boards of GreenFirst Forest Products and Blue Ant Media. He used to on many boards, including as Vice-Chair of Fairfax Africa.

Now nothing about this is strange on its own. However, a number of connections arise that raise questions about what is really going on.

Bitove sits as a Director of the Sick Kids Foundation, as do many connected people. One is Walied Soliman, Chief of Staff for Conservative Party of Canada Leader, Erin O’Toole. Sick Kids gets significant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and O’Toole is a supporter of vaccines and lockdowns.

David Peterson, the former Premier of Ontario, helped found the Toronto Raptors with Bitove. Peterson was also part of Rogers Communications, which was once headed by now Toronto Mayor (and former Ontario Conservative Leader) John Tory. Both Bitove and Peterson helped push for a 2008 bid for the Olympics to be held in Toronto. He was nominated to head the 2015 Pan Am Games by then Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne. He has also backed some interesting politicians such as: Michael Ignatieff, who now works for Open Society; and Brian Mulroney, now a Director for Blackstone.

Peterson’s family is still very connected to Liberal politics, both Federally, and in Ontario.

John Tory, the Toronto Mayor, is a strong proponent of reduced freedoms, and martial law in the City. Of course, it’s all done in the name of safety.

The Ontario Liberals seem quite content to allow “Conservative” Doug Ford to destroy Ontario with his martial law measures. In fact, they often whine that he isn’t strict enough.

There is more of course, but this should provide a good sample. It’s interesting, although not surprising, that none of these outlets owned here are too skeptical of these “pandemic measures”, and do little research on the topic.

3. Torstar/Metroland Media Group Empire

To get into specifics, just how large is this Metroland conglomerate? How many publications is it really responsible for? From their own website:

  • Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser
  • Alliston Herald
  • Almaguin News
  • Ancaster News
  • Arnprior Chronicle-Guide
  • Barrie Advance
  • Bracebridge Examiner
  • Bradford West Gwillimbury Topic
  • Brampton Guardian
  • Brighton Independent
  • Brock Citizen
  • Burlington Post
  • Caledon Enterprise
  • Cambridge Times
  • Carleton Place-Almonte Canadian Gazette
  • Clarington This Week
  • Collingwood Connection
  • Dundas Star News
  • East Gwillimbury Express
  • Erin Advocate
  • Etobicoke Guardian
  • Flamborough Review
  • Georgetown-Acton Independent & Free Press
  • Georgina Advocate
  • Glanbrook Gazette
  • Gravenhurst Banner
  • Grimsby Lincoln News
  • Guelph Mercury Tribune
  • Hamilton Mountain News
  • Huntsville Forester
  • Innisfil Journal
  • Kawartha Lakes This Week
  • Kemptville Advance
  • King Connection
  • Markham Economist & Sun
  • Midland Penetanguishene Mirror
  • Milton Canadian Champion
  • Mississauga News
  • The Muskokan
  • MuskokaRegion.com
  • New Hamburg Independent
  • Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner
  • Niagara This Week
  • Northumberland News
  • North York Mirror
  • Oakville Beaver
  • Orangeville Banner
  • Orillia Today
  • Oshawa/Whitby This Week
  • Parry Sound Beacon Star
  • Parry Sound North Star
  • Perth Courier
  • Peterborough This Week
  • Port Perry Star
  • Renfrew Mercury
  • Richmond Hill/Thornhill Liberal
  • The Sachem
  • Scarborough Mirror
  • Smiths Falls Record News
  • Stoney Creek News
  • Stouffville Sun-Tribune
  • Uxbridge Times-Journal
  • Vaughan Citizen
  • Wasaga/Stayner Sun
  • Waterloo Chronicle
  • Waterloo Region Record

Torstar owns all of this, plus the Toronto Star. So much for having variety in the media in Southern Ontario. Dozens of outlets, appearing to be independent, are all controlled by Metroland Media Group, which itself is owned by Torstar. And now, it’s all part of a corporation called Nordstar Capital, created just for this purchase.

4. Subsidies For Metroland Media Group

GROUP DATE AMOUNT
Almaguin News Sep. 4, 2015 $38,664
Almaguin News Jun. 1, 2016 $40,209
Almaguin News Jul. 4, 2017 $44,123
Almaguin News Apr. 1, 2018 $44,728
Arthur Enterprise News Sep. 4, 2015 $7,287
Arthur Enterprise News Jun. 1, 2016 $6,218
Arthur Enterprise News Jul. 4, 2017 $6,412
The Confederate (Mount Forest) Sep. 4, 2015 $30,932
The Confederate (Mount Forest) Jun. 1, 2016 $31,285
The Confederate (Mount Forest) Jul. 4, 2017 $30,157
The Erin Advocate Sep. 4, 2015 $24,837
The Erin Advocate Jun. 1, 2016 $23,578
The Erin Advocate Jul. 4, 2017 $22,045
Exeter Times Sep. 4, 2015 $40,275
Exeter Times Jun. 1, 2016 $43,428
Exeter Times Jul. 4, 2017 $42,593
Listowel Banner Jun. 1, 2016 $39,562
Listowel Banner Jul. 4, 2017 $41,847
Listowel Banner Apr. 1, 2018 $39,300
Meaford Express Jun. 1, 2016 $19,468
Meaford Express Jul. 4, 2017 $17,520
The Minto Express Jun. 1, 2016 $12,288
The Minto Express Jul. 4, 2017 $12,409
New Hamburg Independent Sep. 4, 2015 $35,937
New Hamburg Independent Jun. 1, 2016 $36,894
New Hamburg Independent Jul. 4, 2017 $38,313
New Hamburg Independent Apr. 1, 2018 $35,263
Parry Sound North Star Sep. 4, 2015 $38,082
Parry Sound North Star Jun. 1, 2016 $38,108
Parry Sound North Star Jul. 4, 2017 $41,409
Parry Sound North Star Apr. 1, 2018 $39,686
St. Mary’s Journal Argus Sep. 4, 2015 $28,932
St. Mary’s Journal Argus Jun. 1, 2016 $29,879
St. Mary’s Journal Argus Jul. 4, 2017 $29,948
Walkerton-Herald Times Jun. 1, 2016 $26,762
Walkerton-Herald Times Jul. 4, 2017 $27,105
Walkerton-Herald Times Apr. 1, 2018 $26,657
Wingham Advance Times Jun. 1, 2016 $21,574.
Wingham Advance Times Jul. 4, 2017 $21,562
Wingham Advance Times Apr. 1, 2018 $19,125

This is not exhaustive, but should be a good representation of the kinds of grants received. Overall, they date back to 2010.

Interestingly, Niagara This Week doesn’t appear anywhere when searching for the Government subsidies. However, since there is that disclaimer in the newspaper, it’s logical to assume that they are getting money from some other channel. Given the new subsidies that are currently available, the sources simply shifted.

Since Torstar can apply for new subsidies effective 2019, there is no need for its numerous publications to apply in a piecemeal fashion.

5. The Media Is Not Loyal To The Public

Truth is essential in society, but the situation in Canada is worse than people imagine. In Canada (and elsewhere), the mainstream media, periodicals, and fact-checkers are subsidized, though they deny it. Post Media controls most outlets in Canada, and many “independents” have ties to Koch/Atlas. Real investigative journalism is needed, and some pointers are provided.

OTHER MEDIA SUBSIDIES
(1) Unifor, Media, In Bed With Gov’t, $595M Subsidies
(2) True North Canada A Fake Charity, Subsidized By Public
(3) Government Subsidizes Postmedia To Ensure Positive Coverage
(4) Postmedia Subsidies/Connections, Lack Of Real Journalism
(5) Aberdeen Publishing Takes Handouts, Ignores Real Issues
(6) More Periodicals Taking Grants, Parroting Gov’t Narrative
(7) Subsidized Fact-Check Outlets Run By Political Operatives
(8) Groups Funded By Tax Dollars To Combat “Misinformation”
(9) Even More Subsidies Canadian Outlets Are Dependent On
(10) Media, Banks, CU, CDA Emergency Wage Subsidies (CEWS)
(11) Advertising And Marketing In Promoting “Pandemic” Narrative
(12) NSERC/SSHRC/CIHR Grants In “Confidence”; Mandatory Vaxx

CONTROLLED OPPOSITION MEDIA
(1) Conservative Inc. Media Avoids Hard Questions On “Pandemic”
(2) Global Canada Wants Lockdowns, Lilley Omit Gates Funding
(3) The “Debate” With Brian Lilley, Anthony Furey
(4) DisinfoWatch Has Ties To Atlas Network/Koch, Liberal Party
(5) Media, Facebook, Google, Tech Collusion To Create “Trust” Networks

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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.