Tag Archives: Andrew Scheer

The Liberals Contemplate A New Law to Outlaw “Misinformation” About Coronavirus

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The Liberals Contemplate A New Law to Outlaw “Misinformation” About Coronavirus

The Canadian Association for Free Expression has warned from the beginning of the Coronavirus hysteria that governments would use this as an opportunity for a power grab and to curtain civil liberties.

We’ve seen people heavily fined for walking their dog in a park or kicking a soccer ball to their child in a park.

Now, the power mad elite is contemplating a law to gag discussion of the Coronavirus crisis, if the discussion contradicts the government’s party line. CBC (April 15, 2020) reports: “The federal government is considering introducing legislation to make it an offence to knowingly spread misinformation that could harm people, says Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc. He said he has discussed the matter already with other cabinet ministers, including Justice Minister David Lametti. If the government decides to follow through, he said, it could take a while to draft legislation.”

Needless to say the NDP is supportive of restricting free speech. “

NDP MP Charlie Angus said he would support legislation to fight online misinformation.

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and it is about protecting the public,” he said.

“This is not a question of freedom of speech. This is a question of people who are actually actively working to spread disinformation, whether it’s through troll bot farms, whether [it’s] state operators or whether it’s really conspiracy theorist cranks who seem to get their kicks out of creating havoc.”

To his credit Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has spoken out strongly against this totalitarian power grab. “

“We’re concerned when this government starts talking about free speech issues,” Scheer told reporters at a news conference Thursday. “They’ve got a terrible history over the past few years of proposing ideas that would infringe upon free speech.”

“Any time this government starts talking about regulating what people can say and not say, we start off the conversation with a great deal of healthy skepticism,” Scheer added, pointing out that the government has changed its pandemic messaging on travel restrictions and the use of masks.”

Mr. Scheer is hinting at the fact the Sinophile government has spread a good deal of false news itself. Faithfully parroting the Red Chinese propaganda line, they early denounced any calls for a travel ban or restrictions on visitors from Red China and pooh poohed the usefulness of face masks.

__________________

Federal government open to new law to fight pandemic misinformation

It’s one of several measures the government is considering to counter fake news about the virus online

Elizabeth Thompson · CBC News · Posted: Apr 15, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc’s cabinet mandate letter gave him responsibility for fighting online disinformation. (Jessica Rubinger/CBC News)

The federal government is considering introducing legislation to make it an offence to knowingly spread misinformation that could harm people, says Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc.

LeBlanc told CBC News he is interested in British MP Damian Collins’s call for laws to punish those responsible for spreading dangerous misinformation online about the COVID-19 pandemic.

LeBlanc said he has discussed the matter already with other cabinet ministers, including Justice Minister David Lametti. If the government decides to follow through, he said, it could take a while to draft legislation.

“Legislatures and Parliaments are meeting scarcely because of the current context of the pandemic, so it’s not a quick solution, but it’s certainly something that we would be open [to] as a government,” said LeBlanc.

NDP MP Charlie Angus said he would support legislation to fight online misinformation.

‘Cranks … creating havoc’

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and it is about protecting the public,” he said.

“This is not a question of freedom of speech. This is a question of people who are actually actively working to spread disinformation, whether it’s through troll bot farms, whether [it’s] state operators or whether it’s really conspiracy theorist cranks who seem to get their kicks out of creating havoc.”

Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer criticized the idea of using legislation to curb misinformation.

“We’re concerned when this government starts talking about free speech issues,” Scheer told reporters at a news conference Thursday. “They’ve got a terrible history over the past few years of proposing ideas that would infringe upon free speech.”

“Any time this government starts talking about regulating what people can say and not say, we start off the conversation with a great deal of healthy skepticism,” Scheer added, pointing out that the government has changed its pandemic messaging on travel restrictions and the use of masks.

The comments come as governments around the world struggle to curb dangerous misinformation and disinformation circulating about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Collins, who chaired an international committee on big data, privacy and democracy in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, said at the outset of the pandemic that much of the misinformation and disinformation in circulation was promoting fake cures for COVID-19 or offering tips on how to avoid catching it.

British MP Damian Collins is calling for new laws to make it an offence to knowingly spread misinformation that can harm people. (Stephanie Jenzer/CBC)

More recently, said Collins, the misinformation has shifted to conspiracy theories about what triggered the pandemic — claims that it was cooked up in a lab, for example. A conspiracy theory claiming the disease is caused by 5G wireless signals prompted attacks on wireless towers in the U.K.

The British government has set up a rapid response team to correct false information circulating online. Collins has launched a fact-checking site called Infotagion, along with Angus and Liberal MP Nate Erskine-Smith, among others.

‘Maliciously’ spreading lies

Collins is calling for legislation to combat online disinformation, perhaps modelled on Germany’s laws governing online hate speech or France’s legislation countering disinformation during election campaigns.

“It’s such a serious public emergency that I think for someone to knowingly, willingly and at scale and maliciously spread this content should be an offence,” he said.

“And equally for the tech companies, if it is highlighted to [them] that someone is doing this and they don’t act against them doing it, then it should be an offence for them to have failed to act — they would have failed in their duty of care.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government set up an elaborate system to watch out for attempts to disrupt last year’s federal election through disinformation, including a committee that brought together several departments and a special group chaired by the clerk of the Privy Council to sound the alarm.

Opportunistic criminals

The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) has been monitoring what’s happening online during the pandemic, and has helped to remove fake sites set up by cybercriminals.

“Opportunistic cyber threat actors are attempting to take advantage of Canadians’ heightened levels of concern and legitimate fears around COVID-19,” said CSE spokesperson Ryan Foreman. “They are trying to spread misinformation and scam Canadians out of their money or private data.

“COVID-19 has presented cybercriminals and fraudsters with an effective lure to encourage victims to visit fake web sites, open email attachments and click on text message links. These emails typically impersonate health organizations, and can even pretend to be from the government of Canada.”

Health Canada has the lead on monitoring for misinformation. For example, it is sending compliance letters to companies it finds making false or questionable claims about COVID-19.

“It’s really the Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Canada that have been, amongst other things, identifying as best as possible some of the more flagrant examples of misinformation, disinformation,” said LeBlanc.

Last week, the Canadian Heritage department announced $3 million in grants to eight groups across the country to combat “false and misleading COVID-19 information.”

LeBlanc admits that while the government’s previous work leading up to the election made Canadians more aware of online misinformation and disinformation, the structures that it set up were designed with an election campaign in mind.

“I think governments around the world were caught, to some extent, by surprise in terms of the rapidity by which the pandemic spread,” LeBlanc said, adding that the online misinformation emerged as quickly as the pandemic itself.

“So governments in Canada, and I say governments plural … were forced to stand up very quickly a bunch of measures. I think we’ve done, comparatively, in Canada very well.”

Angus said the speed of COVID-19’s spread left the government without a game plan. Now, he said, it should set up a team to fight misinformation about the virus.

“I think it would be reasonable to enact with the RCMP, with our security officials and some public officials, a team to monitor disinformation and have the power to shut it down so it does not interfere with the efforts of our frontline medical workers,” said Angus.

“We need to be taking all measures right now because we don’t know how long we’re going to be in this crisis.”

With files from Katie Nicholson and Jason Ho.

Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca

SHOCK: Andrew Scheer has Rebel News reporter David Menzies arrested, handcuffed at campaign event

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SHOCK: Andrew Scheer has Rebel News reporter David Menzies arrested, handcuffed at campaign event

 

 

I cannot believe it.

We sent David “The Menzoid” Menzies to report from an Andrew Scheer campaign event. Like we normally do.

CBC journalists were welcomed. But David was kicked out.

They actually sent police to throw him out.

 

They said David wasn’t “accredited”. Really? David’s been an accredited journalist for 30 years — he’s covered hundreds of political events from parties of every stripe.

Why would Scheer kick out David, but welcome the CBC — who despise the Conservatives?

None of this makes sense.

Anyways, David left the property. He went to the public sidewalk. He started filming a video about being kicked out. And then he was swarmed by police.

And this time, they arrested him and handcuffed him.

Why did they do that?

Who ordered them to do that?

He as on the sidewalk.

He’s a man in his fifties with two artificial hips. He’s not a screaming Antifa thug; he’s not a trespasser.

They handcuffed him. Why? To humiliate him?

They finally took off his cuffs and he called me. But then more police came and took away his phone. I immediately called a lawyer. Within an hour, the police let him go, without any charges.

But their point was made: don’t you dare try to ask questions of our political elites. Or the police will arrest you.

Well, point not taken.

I can tell you one thing: today’s outrageous treatment of David Menzies will not stop us from doing our jobs.

I’ll be candid, we’re more used to Justin Trudeau banning us — and Rachel Notley before she was fired by voters. It says more about them than it does about us. Actually it does say something about us: we ask questions that politicians would rather not be asked.

Can you please help us? We need your help.

There are three things you can do:

1. Tell your local conservative candidate that this is nuts.

It’s a Trudeau move, not a conservative move. Ask your Conservative candidate if they think it’s wise to have police arrest the only conservative-leaning video company in Canada. Frankly, no reporter of any stripe should be arrested. This is Canada.

2. Second, sign our petition to Andrew Scheer at LetUsReport.com.

It’s just what it sounds like. Let Us Report — just like Scheer lets the CBC report. We need to show him that Canadians — especially Conservatives — believe in free speech and freedom of the press. Maybe he’s been hanging out in Ottawa too long to remember that.

3. Please help us keep on reporting, no matter who kicks us out.

I just got off the phone with David, and I’ve told him to keep asking Andrew Scheer questions. Not gotcha questions, but real questions — the kind the CBC would never ask him. Questions like these:

• Justin Trudeau’s campaign platform calls for new political censorship of the Internet. Do you support or oppose this?
• If elected, would you end the $600 million newspaper bail-out?
• If elected, would you privatize the CBC?
• What do you think the optimum number of immigrants is each year for Canada?
• …and so many more.

Those aren’t trick questions. They’re questions any conservative should answer. But they’re questions that only Rebel News would ask. I mean, can you really see a CBC journalist pressing Scheer about ending the bail-out?

My goal as the publisher of Rebel News is to do journalism — to tell the other side of the story. Most of the time, that means asking accountability questions of the Liberals, NDP and Greens, because the mainstream media never does.

We lean conservative here at Rebel News, and we wear our heart on our sleeves — we want Trudeau gone. I just wrote the best-selling book called The Libranos: What the media won’t tell you about Justin Trudeau’s corruption. I think it’s clear what I stand for.

But that doesn’t mean we’re going to let Scheer become like Trudeau. Having police arrest David Menzies was a Trudeau move, not a move any conservative should be proud of. Actually it’s worse — I’ve never actually seen Trudeau have someone arrested, have you?

You can help us at LetUsReport.com. Sign our petition to Scheer to let us report. And then you can click on the link on that page to see all of our campaign plans and our budget there. We’re spending thousands of dollars flying David and our other journalists around the country, covering political events.

Andrew Scheer might think he’s at war with us, but we’re not at war with him. We just want to be able to do our job — and we will, whether he likes it or not.

So help us out — visit LetUsReport.com to sign the petition to Scheer. And if you want us to keep on going, and if you want Scheer to stop acting like Trudeau, you can chip in a few bucks, too. Please click here to help us out.

Thanks.

Let’s remind Andrew Scheer: he’s trying to replace Trudeau, not become him.

Yours truly,

Ezra Levant

P.S. Please sign our petition at LetUsReport.com. I always worried about a government crackdown on our free speech. I just never thought it would come from the Conservative Party.

Terrible Decision By Conservatives To Remove Salim Mansur Creates New Opening For Bernier

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Terrible Decision By Conservatives To Remove Salim Mansur Creates New Opening For Bernier

NewsSpencerFernando23

Surrendering to pressure from the Liberal elites will only encourage more pressure. They can never be appeased.

Salim Mansur is a devout Canadian Muslim who has courageously spoke out against radical Islamism.

Mansur is a highly-respected professor, and has even been invited by Conservatives to testify on Parliament Hill about the threat of radical Islamism.

Mansur won the nomination to be the Conservative candidate in the riding of London North-Centre.

However, the Conservative Party has since disqualified him from running – without even letting party members in the area decide.

“I’m disappointed with CPC disallowing my candidacy, yet hopeful conservatives will persevere. I’ll have more to say about this & my role in 2019 election. Thanks to all for love & support. This setback won’t derail me to help rescue our Canada from Islamism & Globalism.”

He was told in an email that his candidacy was ‘disallowed.’

According to a report by Andrew Lawton for the True North Centre, “No reason was provided in the email, but Mansur told me in a brief interview that Conservative leader Andrew Scheer’s campaign manager, Hamish Marshall, advised him last week of the party’s concerns with Mansur’s past writing and public speaking on Islamism and the politics of radical Muslims, which Marshall said will likely be portrayed by Liberals and others as Islamophobic, and become disruptive to the party’s national campaign.”

If that is the reason, it’s a disgrace.

The whole point of being a leader is having the ability to persuade people and push back against falsehoods. So, if the Liberals call Mansur ‘Islamophobic’ (which is obviously absurd considering that Mansur is himself Muslim), then Scheer should simply push back and say “Mansur is a proud Canadian-Muslim who is fighting against extremism and terrorism.”

Then, Scheer should put Trudeau on the defensive by saying “Justin Trudeau must answer for his association with people like Joshua Boyle, Trudeau must answer for his plan to let ISIS terrorists back into our country, and Trudeau must explain why the Liberals are attacking a courageous Canadian Muslim instead of fighting against the anti-LGBT, anti-women agenda of radical Islamists.”

It would be so easy to put the Liberals on the defensive and stand up for Mansur.

But instead, the Conservatives simply booted him.

It’s weakness, and that weakness will only encourage more attacks from the Liberals.

As Cosmin Dzsurdzsa wrote in the Post Millennial, “The Conservatives will be accused of Islamophobia either way. There really is no way around it. In fact, the Liberals will likely pull out their full arsenal of phobias to fling at Conservatives. This decision won’t mitigate the persistence or the frequency of such smears. It should be clear from the recent elections in Alberta and before that in Ontario, that the left will invent reasons to accuse their opponents of all sorts of vile things if they can’t find any readily available. For the CPC to think that this might save them a headache is just naivete or self-delusion.”

This move sends a dangerous message to brave Canadian Muslims who are speaking out against extremism. If even Canada’s top Conservative party won’t stand up for them, then who will?

It’s demoralizing for the Conservative Base, and it’s a massive mistake.

It also creates an opening for People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier.

While Bernier has been struggling in the polls as his party gets off the ground, the Conservatives’ rejection of Mansur plays exactly into what he’s been saying about some Conservatives being far too willing to bow down to Liberal-style political correctness.

Here’s what Bernier said on Twitter:

“The Tories have rejected the candidacy of highly respected Prof. @SalimMansurLNC, a critic of islamism, for fear of being called islamophobic by Liberals. Can you trust Andrew Scheer to defend Canadian values? Is he willing to do *anything* to gain power?”

There will certainly be some justifiably-angry Conservatives who will consider the People’s Party more now because of the brutal error of getting rid of Mansur.

The Conservatives under Scheer have gotten many things right, particularly their willingness to confront Communist China, build up our military, and reverse Trudeau’s destructive and unity-destroying economic policies.

That said, their lack of toughness and fear of attacks led them to meekly surrender to the Liberals and remove Mansur and that mistake could cost them votes at Election time.

Canada needs people like Salim Mansur in our political leadership.

As a result, the decision must be reversed, and the Conservatives need to adopt the attitude of simply focusing all their attacks and attention on Trudeau’s pathetic and dangerous failures, rather than surrendering to the sickness of political correctness.

Spencer Fernando

NO DISSIDENTS ALLOWED IN CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS

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NO DISSIDENTS ALLOWED IN CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS

Back when he was seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party, Andrew Scheer said he’d cut federal funding to any university that did not actively promote and defend free speech on campus. Bully for him! We applauded him, We noted how tyrannical Justin Trudeau is with his caucus. No dissent on abortion is allowed. All elected Liberals must bark the pro-abortion line or be expelled from the caucus or denied a nomination. No wonder Trudeau is such an admirer, like his father before bhim, of Red China,

 
Sadly, it didn’t take Andrew Scheer long to change his tune.  Lynn Beyak is a feisty senator from Northern Ontario. Last year she begged to dissent from the “residential schools were racist hell holes” politically correct line. That’s part of the Indians good, Whites bad, party line where any Indian shortcomings are blamed on White people, colonialism or Jacques Cartier. She pointed out that many of the poorly paid teachers who tried to give Indian youngsters an education were well meaning and did much good. For that, she was roundly denounced and her own party kicked her off the Aboriginal Affairs Committee.
 
However, Beyak received many letters from Canadians with on-the-ground experience who knew that the Ottawa White guilt narrative was largely nonsense. She did what so seldom happens: She gave Canadians a voice. She published their letters on her website.
 
Andrew Scheer demanded that she take one of those letters down. She refused. And now she’s out of the caucus.
The National Post (January 4, 2018) picks up the story: “ Sen. Lynn Beyak, who famously declared “some good” came out of Canada’s residential schools, was removed from the Conservative Party caucus after refusing to remove a “racist” comment from her website, Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer said Thursday . Scheer said in a statement that he had learned on Tuesday that Beyak had posted approximately 100 letters from Canadians in support of her position on residential schools to her Parliamentary website. He said the vast majority of letters focused on the history of residential schools, while others contained comments about Indigenous Canadians in general. The Conservative leader said he had asked Beyak to remove one of the letters that suggested Indigenous People want to get things for “no effort” and she refused, resulting in her removal from caucus. ‘Promoting this comment is offensive and unacceptable for a Conservative Parliamentarian. To suggest that Indigenous Canadians are lazy compared to other Canadians, is simply racist,’ he said.” What’s “racist” about that? The only valid question is whether it’s true or not. While there are many hardworking Indians, for whatever reason, anyone with Northern experience knows there are also many Indians with a poor work ethic. The point is: The comment is an OPINION. It’s debatable. It should not be banned..
One reason this country’s political elite of ALL parties is so out of touch with Canadians is there is a whole range of issues that cannot be mentioned. Suggest that the residential schools were an imperfect but well meaning attempt to bring a Stone Age people into the modern work and it’s: “You shut up!” Suggest that there may be something wrong with an immigration policy which will replace, ethnically cleanse, Canada’s European founding/settler people by 2050, if it’s not changed quickly, and again it’s: “You shut up!”
But Scheer was almost a moderate beside the Red Guard vehemence of NDP MP Charlie Angus who wants the Prime Minister to find a way to kick her out of the Senate. In “tolerant” Canada, some views just cannot be tolerated by the virtue signallers of political correctness: “Sen. Lynn Beyak — newly turfed from the Conservative caucus — is fundamentally unfit to represent the Canadian people, NDP MP Charlie Angus said Friday as he urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use his influence to get her removed from the upper chamber once and for all. In a letter to Trudeau following Beyak’s ouster late Thursday, Angus asks the prime minister to reach out to the independent and Liberal members of the Senate, among others, to convince them to ‘use the tools of the Senate’ to finally put an end to what he calls an “egregious abuse of public office.” (CANADIAN PRESS, Januaryy 5, 2018)’ .
So, giving voice to a politically incorrect OPINION is “an egregious abuse of public office” and anti-democratic!
 

Sen. Lynn Beyak booted from Conservative caucus over ’racist’ post on website

Andrew Scheer said in a statement that he asked Beyak to remove a ‘racist’ letter from her Parliamentary website regarding Indigenous people and she refused

Sen. Lynn BeyakHandout

LEADERSHIP: Scheer Condemns Arson & Pro-ISIS Graffiti Sprayed On Trinity Baptist Church While Trudeau Remains Silent

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LEADERSHIP: Scheer Condemns Arson & Pro-ISIS Graffiti Sprayed On Trinity Baptist Church While Trudeau Remains Silent

NEWSSPENCERFERNANDO6

While Trudeau remains silent on this hatred towards a Canadian faith community, Andrew Scheer shows leadership by speaking out against it.

As I reported on Friday, the Trinity Baptist Church on Burlington, Ontario was set on fire, and then defaced with pro-ISIS graffiti.

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

DR @Media371

“ISIS” spray painted in 3 spots around Appleby Line church. Overnight fire is considered suspicious, investigation ongoing.

Twitter Ads info and privacy

As I said at the time, “While our political elites have been busy talking about events around the world, there has been disturbingly little attention or condemnation of what appears to be an ISIS-inspired arson of a Canadian house of worship. Such attacks on places of faith need to be condemned, whether they happen at a Church, Synagogue, Mosque, Temple, or other place of religious worship.”

So far, Justin Trudeau has shamefully remained silent, which is a total failure of leadership on his part.2

By contrast, Andrew Scheer has now spoken out against the hateful arson and graffiti:

The Disgraceful Payoff to Killer Khadr & Trudeau Invokes the Phoney Charter

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The Disgraceful Payoff to Killer Khadr & Trudeau Invokes the Phoney Charter

Oh please Mr Trudeau, just do it, don’t insult us with your rationalizations about how the Charter protects us all “EVEN WHEN IT’S UNCOMFORTABLE”.  That wonderful charter you speak about didn’t protect Ernst Zundel back in the days when a powerful lobby (more powerful than our charter) wanted his head or Brad Love jailed on many occasions for writing letters to our privileged politicians or James Sears who puts out a satirical newspaper, loved by many but hated by the powerful few who can lobby the Government to have his postal rights taken away.  The charter didn’t work for them, nor has it helped the many many, many more Canadians who who have lost jobs and been pauperized for simply disagreeing with the party line.  Your smiley face may impress many but hypocrisy is an ugly thing. — Lynda Mortl

On Khadr, Trudeau says Charter protects all Canadians ‘even when it is uncomfortable’

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee received $10.5M this week, sources tell CBC News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians “even when it is uncomfortable,” responding to a question about his government’s apology and controversial payout to former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr.

“The Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians, every one of us, even when it is uncomfortable. This is not about the details or merits of the Khadr case. When the government violates any Canadian’s Charter rights we all end up paying for it,” he told reporters in Hamburg, where he’s wrapping up the G20 summit.

Khadr — who has been branded a terrorist by some and a child soldier subjected to torture by others — received a $10.5-million cheque Wednesday, sources told CBC News

Trudeau has been travelling all week with stops in Ireland and Scotland, before flying to Germany for the global leaders’ summit. Meanwhile, the Khadr payout has dominated headlines back home.

Khadr Payout Interview 20170707Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, 30, is seen in Mississauga, Ont., on Thursday, July 6, 2017. The federal government has paid Khadr $10.5 million and apologized to him for violating his rights during his long ordeal after capture by American forces in Afghanistan in July 2002. (Colin Perkel/Canadian Press)

News of the settlement first leaked late Monday night, but it took until Friday for the government to officially confirm that a settlement had been reached — and Ottawa refused to disclose the amount.

“It is not about previous behaviour on the battlefield in Afghanistan; it is about the acts and other decisions the Canadian government took against Mr. Khadr after he was captured and detained,” Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Friday. “Those facts are not in dispute and there is no doubt about how the Supreme Court views them. The government of Canada offended the most basic standards.”

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said it was “disgusting” for the government to concoct a “secret deal” and hand over millions to a convicted terrorist.

“This payout is a slap in the face to men and women in uniform who face incredible danger every day to keep us safe,” he said Friday.

Scheer said he believes the Harper government’s decision to repatriate Khadr in 2012 was a sufficient response to the Supreme Court’s ruling that Khadr’s rights were violated.

‘Restores a little bit my reputation’

In an interview with CBC News’ Rosemary Barton, the Canadian-born Khadr, 30, said he hopes the settlement will help restore his reputation.

“I think it restores a little bit my reputation here in Canada, and I think that’s the biggest thing for me,” he said.

Khadr was 15 when he was captured by U.S. troops following the confrontation at a suspected al-Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002.

Suspected of throwing the grenade that killed U.S. Sgt. Christopher Speer, he was taken to Guantanamo and ultimately charged with war crimes by a military commission.

In 2010, he pleaded guilty to charges that included murder and was sentenced to eight years plus the time he had already spent in custody. He returned to Canada two years later to serve the remainder of his sentence and was released in May 2015 pending an appeal of his guilty plea, which he said was made under duress.

Tory Leadership Candidate Andrew Scheer Promises: No Free Speech on Campus = No Federal Money

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Tory Leadership Candidate Andrew Scheer Promises: No Free Speech on Campus = No Federal Money

Did you ever think you’d see a day when the government had to press universities to promote and protect free speech?

Well, here we are.

Inline image 1

We are hearing countless stories of universities being complicit in shutting down free speech. Stories like U of T Prof Jordan Peterson under attack for wanting to use traditional gender pronouns, a pro-life group at Wilfrid Laurier having a prior-approved demonstration shut down or of a student newspaper at McGill which refuses to print pro-Israel articles.

Freedom of speech is under attack on our campuses. More and more, the establishment of safe spaces, forbidden topics and the banning of speakers and campus clubs, are making our colleges and universities no-go zones for open dialogue.

Academic inquiry on our campuses should apply not only to professors but to students. It’s not just course-work that defines a post-secondary education, it’s people discussing and developing ideas.

On our campuses today, though, there are small but powerful special interest groups bent on imposing their own brand of political correctness. We cannot surrender our basic rights to them.

Something must be done.

That’s why as Prime Minister I will ensure that only post-secondary institutions which actively promote and protect free speech will be eligible for federal grants.

That’s right.

If public universities fail to protect this most basic right, they will lose the ability to apply for federal funding like NSERC, CIHR, and Canada Research Chair grants.

Free speech is important. That’s why I voted against C-16 and against M-103. As Prime Minister, I will ensure that free speech is always protected.

I’d love to hear what you think about the leadership race and which issues matter the most to you. Take the short survey by clicking below:
sbdc-survey-button.jpg

Thanks in advance,

Andrew Scheer, MP