U.S. senator Josh Hawley wants Canada on religious freedom watch list over pastor COVID-19 arrests
Bob Weber The Canadian Press Published 2 days ago Updated 2 days ago Comments Text Size % buffered 00:00
Supporters gather outside court as Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church appears in court after he was arrested for holding Sunday services in violation of COVID-19 rules, in Stony Plain, Alta., on Feb. 24, 2021. JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
A U.S. senator has asked that Canada be investigated for violating religious freedom over the arrests of Alberta pastors accused of flouting COVID-19 restrictions.
In a letter released Thursday, Missouri Republican Josh Hawley asked his country’s Commission on International Religious Freedom to consider putting Canada on its special watch list.
“I am troubled that our Canadian neighbours are effectively being forced to gather in secret, undisclosed locations to exercise their basic freedom to worship,” Mr. Hawley wrote.
“Frankly, I would expect this sort of religious crackdown in Communist China, not in a prominent western nation like Canada.”
Mr. Hawley refers in his letter to the arrests of Alberta pastors James Coates and Tim Stephens.
Mr. Coates spent a month in the Edmonton Remand Centre after he violated a bail condition not to hold church services that officials said were ignoring COVID-19 measures on capacity limits, physical distancing and masking. He was released March 22 after pleading guilty and was fined $1,500.
Mr. Coates, who is a pastor at GraceLife Church in Spruce Grove, has argued provincial regulations meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 infringed on his and his congregants’ constitutional right to freedom of religion and peaceful assembly.
Earlier this month, a judge ruled his religious freedoms under the Charter were not violated.
Mr. Stephens remains in remand after being arrested last week following repeated public complaints over an outdoor service that officials say broke public-health orders. Calgary police and Alberta Health Services allege that Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church chose to keep holding services without respecting orders on physical distancing and capacity limits, even after his church had been twice ordered closed.
Litigation director Jay Cameron of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which is representing Mr. Stephens, has accused Alberta Health Services in a statement of being “engaged in an intentional act of public deception and abuse of authority in arresting pastor Stephens and others.”
Political Prisoner Dr. James Sears Begins His Third Week in Jail, Pending Appeal
TORONTO. June 27, 2021. Political prisoner Dr. James Sears sentenced to the maximum, a year in prison, for violating Canada’s notorious “hate law”, Sec. 319 of the Criminal Code remains on hold in the South Toronto Detention Centre.
His appeal of his 2019 conviction was denied in a June 14 ruling. The editor of the satirical tabloid YOUR WAR NEWS immediately sought leave from the Ontario Court of Appeals and bail, pending the appeal. He was finally able to get word to his supporters today. A combination of COVID fearfulness and the sclerotic nature of Ontario’s justice system at the best of times has kept the brilliant writer and medical doctor behind prison bars.
A judge will render his decision by Zoom. The judge must read over the materials filed and decide whether there is any merit to his application for leave. If he decides there is, Dr. Sears will be released on bail.
He is in good spirits and is hopeful.
In January, 2019, Judge Richard Blouin found Dr. Sears and his co-accused Leroy St. Germaine of “wilfully promoting” hatred against privileged groups, namely, Jews and women in his satire.
Amnesty International considers a person a “prisoner of conscience” or political prisoner if they are punished or jailed solely for the non-violent expression of their political, religious or cultural views.
Shamefully, speakers such as PPC leader Maxime Bernier and Ontario MPP Randy Hillier were issued tickets by the Peterborough cops for… well, um, that’s a very good question. Last time we checked, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly were still enshrined rights in Canada — even during a pandemic. Heck, just ask the Peterborough police, whose members took a knee at this very same square last summer in solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
Yes, it’s all so very confusing, isn’t it?
And get this: several weeks after the Peterborough anti-lockdown event, I was served with a summons at my personal residence. Which is odd, given that I was not an organizer nor a speaker nor even an attendee. I was just there as a journalist covering the proceedings, and again, last time I checked, freedom of the press was still a thing in Canada — even during a pandemic.
But things went from odd to downright bat-shite surreal when I was later served disclosure, where the “evidence” of my crimes was duly noted. Which is to say, Staff Sgt. Dan Maclean noted that I had been spotted “shaking hands” and — wait for it — “laughing” on several occasions. Heck, Staff Sgt. Maclean even provided photographic evidence of my hand-shaking and laughing crimes against humanity. He even submitted my driving abstract.
Did you know, folks, that back in 1981 I was nabbed for doing 60 km/h in a 50 km/h zone? Oh, the humanity!
In any event, we thought we would drop by to check out the filming of a Murdoch Mysteries episode in Peterborough.
Alas, given that this is a CBC show, I’ve never seen a single episode, but I’m told that it takes place in Toronto in the 1890s. Ah, the 1890s! A time when shops were actually open in good ol’ Hogtown and a patron could enter such shops without having to don a face-diaper.
Anyway, we have it on good authority that the script called for some of the actors to actually shake hands. And laugh. And we certainly saw outbursts of laughter by the crew members on site — along with a few raised middle fingers aimed at me and my cameraman, Syd. All of which is very odd, given that Murdoch Mysteries is a CBC production, which means Syd and I and millions of other Canadians are involuntarily funding this show via our tax dollars. So, when you think of it, we are actually stakeholders, not interlopers. But I digress…
In any event, we felt it was our civic duty to reimagine ourselves as a couple of COVID-Karens and rat out this production to the cops. I mean, hand-shaking? Laughing? That’s super-spreader stuff according to the Peterborough Police Service, isn’t it?
But alas, the Peterborough cops would not come to the set to issue tickets or even investigate. Gee, maybe they’re fans of Murdoch Mysteries? It is a show about law enforcement, after all…
Bottom line: yet again, when it comes to COVID crimes, it would appear that it is one law for thee, one law for me.
Golly, just where is Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto Constabulary when you really need him?
The discovery of human remains at the site of a former residential school has set off a firestorm that has already resulted in demands for another national inquiry, and massively expensive forensic and excavation projects. But maybe we should take a pause, and ask some questions.
The Kamloops Indian Residential School operated as a residential school from 1890 to 1969. Its peak enrolment was around 500 in the 1950s. Although there has understandably been an outpouring of sympathy, it is not clear at this point how many of the bodies detected were residential students. It’s also not clear that there was even anything sinister about the discovery.
In fact, it is shocking that many people seem quite willing to accept slanderous conspiracy theories about teachers and priests murdering, and secretly burying, hundreds of children. There are many forgotten cemeteries in Canada. It is far more likely that the deaths simply reflected the sad reality of life back then. We should take a look at the history.
Tuberculosis was a major killer, and it didn’t spare children. From 1890 until the 1950s it was responsible for many child deaths. Influenza was also a particularly deadly disease for indigenous people. The 1918 Spanish flu killed a disproportionate number of indigenous people, but even ordinary influenza was particularly deadly for them. Other diseases that have all but disappeared now, like Whooping Cough, Meningitis and Measles, routinely took yesterday’s children.
Disease took many from every demographic, but indigenous people suffered most. They died mainly in their home communities, where the Grim Reaper was always close by. Infected children entered residential schools, and infected others. Many died.
In our comfortable times we forget how hard life was a hundred and more years ago – Dickens’ world of chimney sweeps, and the Poor House. Stories are now being written about Canada’s “Home Children”, for example. These were mainly English orphans, and children from poor homes, who were taken from their parents and sent by themselves to Canada. Little children – some as young as seven – would arrive with cardboard signs around their necks advertising their free labour.
Boys would be taken by farmers and used as labour, in return for their keep. The girls would be used as domestic workers. Some received good treatment – some were treated very badly. Many died alone and forgotten. It is a coincidence that the number of “Home Children” roughly equaled the total number of children who attended residential schools – 150,000.
The Home Children are one example only of the sadness that was part of the lives of all poor children who had the misfortune to be born in those times. Indigenous children suffered more than most. This historical snippet in no way mitigates the importance of the Kamloops discovery. But we should consider the harshness of previous times, before letting emotion overtake good sense.
The dead should be appropriately honoured, but we should be mindful that some opportunists will exploit these dead children for financial and political gain. The residential school story has now been exhaustively told. Canadians have heard it – and we get it. We have sympathized, and billions of dollars have been paid by people, most of whom weren’t alive then, to people who mostly weren’t either.
Brian Giesbrecht, retired judge, is a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
C.L.E.A.R. Kelowna rally this Saturday, June 26th @ Stuart Park, 12 Noon.
Many of us never would have thought we would be in this situation a year later. But it is safe to say that without all of our opposition, in all their varied forms in the Province, we would be in a much worse situation than we are today. For that, all the thousands of true freedom believers, deserve credit for their sacrifices. Our rallies will continue this weekend and we urge everyone to come out. It will likely be our first real hot weekend, we will have water available at the C.L.E.A.R. table.
Thank you so much to all our cherished speakers, volunteers and freedom activists who came out to our MEGA Rally this past Saturday. Many of you expressed your appreciation for the wonderful presentations by each speaker. These speakers are truly inspiring to everyone who absolutely refuses to bow to government tyranny, and falsified COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
With the B.C. Government extending the emergency order in place from July 1, now to July 6, we have further proof that these government politicians and health officials cannot even be trusted to keep their word. This time, the stated reasons were: “…to allow staff to take the necessary actions to keep British Columbians safe and manage immediate concerns and COVID-19 outbreaks.” What these actions are of course, were not specified. More reasons will be falsified this fall to provide them with justification for further or extending restrictions on our rights and freedoms.
WE LOVE YOU CANADA celebration on July 1st in Kelowna!
Starting at 12:00 – 10:00 p.m. in Kelowna at City Park (at the beach by the bridge). A full day of exciting speakers, musicians, entertainment and activities for all. Hosted by Art Lucier, Kyle Delfing, and Mitch Murphy.
Featured Speakers: Kyle Delfing, PPC David Lindsay, CLEAR Ted Kuntz, VCC Chris Elston, aka Billboard Chris Kari Simpson 300k.ca
Thank you to those who responded to and joined Arlene at Costco this week. It may not be the Nuremberg trials but Better Business Standard (with the help of David Lindsay) will be assisting in the filing of several human rights complaints.
World Wide Rally will be on July 24th, 2021
Bettina, our local representative for Canada, will provide speakers and further details. Stay tuned!
June 26, 2021 Freedom Rallies Kelowna 12:00 – 2:30 p.m. Stuart Park
Vernon 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Polson Park, at the Fountain Potluck Picnic 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. Kamloops 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. Riverside Park Cranbrook 12:00 pm At the Elephant Speakers: Doris Reimer & Katherine Kowalchuk (Lawyers4Truth)
Thank you to those who contacted us to volunteer for C.L.E.A.R.
There are still spots to fill so if you would like to work for the good guys and like what you have seen so far, please share your talents and gifts with us. We need some hi level tech skills, graphic designers, security, and more. Thank you for your support and consideration. Please contact David directly at clear2012@pm.me
THE LATEST VICTIM OF CANCEL CULTURE: Monsignor Owen Keenan Said Residential Schools Did Much Good & is Now Under Fire from the Anti-Catholics & the Woke
Social Sharing
Clips of last Sunday’s controversial sermon widely criticized on social media
Samantha Beattie · CBC News · Posted: Jun 24, 2021 5:00 AM ET | Last Updated: June 24
Rev. Owen Keenan, a Roman Catholic priest in Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto, gives daily mass at the Merciful Redeemer Parish on June 15, 2021. He is under fire for comments about residential schools he made in a recent sermon. (Merciful Redeemer Parish/YouTube)
A Mississauga, Ont., priest is under fire after a sermon referencing the “good done” by the Roman Catholic Church in residential schools, saying some might go so far as to even thank it.
During his sermon at the Merciful Redeemer Parish last Sunday, Monsignor Owen Keenan referenced the Kamloops, B.C., residential school where the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation reported it had discovered the preliminary remains of more than 200 children in unmarked graves in May.
“Two-thirds of the country is blaming the church, which we love, for the tragedies that occurred there,” he said on a video originally posted to the church’s YouTube page but since deleted. Clips of his sermon continue to circulate on social media.
“I presume the same number would thank the church for the good done in those schools, but of course, that question was never asked and we are not allowed to even say that good was done there. I await to see what comes to my inbox.”
‘Extremely harmful to reconciliation’
A clip of Keenan’s comments sparked outrage on social media, with one person tweeting that the priest’s comments were “really disgusting” and that “the Church is not the victim.” https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1407034853208563719&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2Ftoronto%2Fmississauga-pastor-catholic-church-residential-schools-1.6077248&sessionId=6d223c00a2342d68bbddc4c179704f7fb0073c3e&siteScreenName=cbc&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, a practising Catholic, said she was “extremely disappointed” by her pastor’s comments about residential schools.
Reading from a prepared statement at a news conference Thursday, the mayor called Keenan’s homily “deeply insensitive to Indigenous Canadians, particularly at a time when Indigenous communities are in pain as they unearth more mass graves at the sites of former residential schools.”
“His comments show a fundamental misunderstanding of one of the core tragedies of the residential school system in Canada,” she said. “The children were forcibly separated from their parents.”
Crombie said how Canada’s history has been taught obscures the truth behind what really happened: The federal government and many churches, including the Catholic Church, operated these schools for close to 150 years, committing atrocities and silencing voices forever.
“No apology from the federal government or the church will be enough to undo the havoc that was wreaked through these institutions,” Crombie said. “But an apology is where we must start. It’s a basic and it’s a fundamental foundation to our reconciliation.”
Dr. Suzanne Shoush, who is Indigenous, works for the Catholic-run health network Unity Health Toronto. She is demanding the Pope apologize for the church’s role in residential schools. She said comments like those made by Keenan are damaging to reconciliation and exemplify why Catholic leaders need to intervene.
“This is part of the reason why we keep pushing to have a formal asking of forgiveness to Indigenous people in Canada from the Pope himself,” she said.
“It’s really critical that it comes from the leadership so that we stop having these incredibly ignorant and harmful comments coming from across the church. I think that what we’re seeing is extremely harmful to reconciliation.”
An undated photo of Kamloops residential school students and a priest. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation)
Keenan also said in his sermon that while the church should apologize for its participation in the “ill-devised government project,” it should also wait to find out who was buried at the Kamloops site and why before “rendering ultimate judgment.”
During a mass on June 6, Keenan said the discovery was “very sad” and a symbol of the “ongoing tragedy” of government policies against Indigenous people, but also that:
“We don’t know how those children died. We don’t know, we can’t know, if they would’ve died if they stayed at home.”
While he called for prayers and reconciliation, he also said, “Many people had very positive experiences of residential schools. Many people received health care and education and joyful experiences.
“They weren’t universally awful. But there’s still no place for the horrors that are alleged to have occurred there.”
Residential school survivors have shared horrific accounts of abuse, starvation and neglect, and difficulties getting documents from the Catholic Church, which ran the majority of the schools. The final 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins by stating that what took place at residential schools “can be best described as ‘cultural genocide.'”
“The church actively sought to exercise exclusive control over the welfare of these children and therefore are exclusively responsible for the conditions which these children lived in,” Shoush said.
In a statement to CBC News Wednesday, Keenan defended his comments, saying that he was trying to help his congregation struggling with negative news about the church.
“I am deeply sorry, embarrassed, ashamed and shocked at the revelations of abuse, destruction and harm done in residential schools across this country,” he said in the statement. “I in no way condone the system … As a Catholic and a priest, I wish I could say ‘I’m sorry’ to everyone who suffered harm.”
The Archdiocese of Toronto said in a statement it’s been in contact with Keenan “to convey the deep pain and anger” some felt. He has “pledged to fully educate himself” about the history of residential schools.
“We apologize to anyone offended by his remarks,” the archdiocese said.
Pastor criticizes Pride flags at schools
In the same sermon, Keenan criticized Catholic schools for flying Pride flags this month, saying the church had hoped they’d show “courage” by displaying a cross or sacred heart instead. He described the Pride flag as “the standard of contemporary sexual licence” that’s replacing Catholic symbols.
Keenan did not respond to questions from CBC News about his comments toward the LGBTQ community.
Crombie said she told Keenan his comments have no place in the city of Mississauga.
Priest under fire after sermon on the ‘good done’ by Catholic Church on residential schools
Clips of last Sunday’s controversial sermon widely criticized on social media
Samantha Beattie · CBC News · Posted: Jun 24, 2021 5:00 AM ET | Last Updated: June 24
Rev. Owen Keenan, a Roman Catholic priest in Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto, gives daily mass at the Merciful Redeemer Parish on June 15, 2021. He is under fire for comments about residential schools he made in a recent sermon. (Merciful Redeemer Parish/YouTube)
A Mississauga, Ont., priest is under fire after a sermon referencing the “good done” by the Roman Catholic Church in residential schools, saying some might go so far as to even thank it.
During his sermon at the Merciful Redeemer Parish last Sunday, Monsignor Owen Keenan referenced the Kamloops, B.C., residential school where the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation reported it had discovered the preliminary remains of more than 200 children in unmarked graves in May.
“Two-thirds of the country is blaming the church, which we love, for the tragedies that occurred there,” he said on a video originally posted to the church’s YouTube page but since deleted. Clips of his sermon continue to circulate on social media.
“I presume the same number would thank the church for the good done in those schools, but of course, that question was never asked and we are not allowed to even say that good was done there. I await to see what comes to my inbox.”
‘Extremely harmful to reconciliation’
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, a practising Catholic, said she was “extremely disappointed” by her pastor’s comments about residential schools.
Reading from a prepared statement at a news conference Thursday, the mayor called Keenan’s homily “deeply insensitive to Indigenous Canadians, particularly at a time when Indigenous communities are in pain as they unearth more mass graves at the sites of former residential schools.”
“His comments show a fundamental misunderstanding of one of the core tragedies of the residential school system in Canada,” she said. “The children were forcibly separated from their parents.”
Crombie said how Canada’s history has been taught obscures the truth behind what really happened: The federal government and many churches, including the Catholic Church, operated these schools for close to 150 years, committing atrocities and silencing voices forever.
“No apology from the federal government or the church will be enough to undo the havoc that was wreaked through these institutions,” Crombie said. “But an apology is where we must start. It’s a basic and it’s a fundamental foundation to our reconciliation.”
Dr. Suzanne Shoush, who is Indigenous, works for the Catholic-run health network Unity Health Toronto. She is demanding the Pope apologize for the church’s role in residential schools. She said comments like those made by Keenan are damaging to reconciliation and exemplify why Catholic leaders need to intervene.
“This is part of the reason why we keep pushing to have a formal asking of forgiveness to Indigenous people in Canada from the Pope himself,” she said.
“It’s really critical that it comes from the leadership so that we stop having these incredibly ignorant and harmful comments coming from across the church. I think that what we’re seeing is extremely harmful to reconciliation.”
An undated photo of Kamloops residential school students and a priest. (National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation)
Keenan also said in his sermon that while the church should apologize for its participation in the “ill-devised government project,” it should also wait to find out who was buried at the Kamloops site and why before “rendering ultimate judgment.”
During a mass on June 6, Keenan said the discovery was “very sad” and a symbol of the “ongoing tragedy” of government policies against Indigenous people, but also that:
“We don’t know how those children died. We don’t know, we can’t know, if they would’ve died if they stayed at home.”
While he called for prayers and reconciliation, he also said, “Many people had very positive experiences of residential schools. Many people received health care and education and joyful experiences.
“They weren’t universally awful. But there’s still no place for the horrors that are alleged to have occurred there.”
Residential school survivors have shared horrific accounts of abuse, starvation and neglect, and difficulties getting documents from the Catholic Church, which ran the majority of the schools. The final 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission begins by stating that what took place at residential schools “can be best described as ‘cultural genocide.'”
“The church actively sought to exercise exclusive control over the welfare of these children and therefore are exclusively responsible for the conditions which these children lived in,” Shoush said.
In a statement to CBC News Wednesday, Keenan defended his comments, saying that he was trying to help his congregation struggling with negative news about the church.
“I am deeply sorry, embarrassed, ashamed and shocked at the revelations of abuse, destruction and harm done in residential schools across this country,” he said in the statement. “I in no way condone the system … As a Catholic and a priest, I wish I could say ‘I’m sorry’ to everyone who suffered harm.”
The Archdiocese of Toronto said in a statement it’s been in contact with Keenan “to convey the deep pain and anger” some felt. He has “pledged to fully educate himself” about the history of residential schools.
“We apologize to anyone offended by his remarks,” the archdiocese said.
Pastor criticizes Pride flags at schools
In the same sermon, Keenan criticized Catholic schools for flying Pride flags this month, saying the church had hoped they’d show “courage” by displaying a cross or sacred heart instead. He described the Pride flag as “the standard of contemporary sexual licence” that’s replacing Catholic symbols.
Keenan did not respond to questions from CBC News about his comments toward the LGBTQ community.
Crombie said she told Keenan his comments have no place in the city of Mississauga.
“He expressed his shame and remorse,” she said.
Keith Baybayon says schools help make LGBTQ students feel more included and safe by flying the Pride flag. (Jared Thomas/CBC)
LGBTQ activist Keith Baybayon, who is also a student trustee with the Toronto Catholic District School Board, said members of the Catholic Church have ramped up these kinds of comments as more Ontario school boards agree to fly Pride flags every June. The flag holds a special meaning of inclusion for the LGBTQ community that the cross doesn’t, he said.
“Flying the Pride flag can really express solidarity that the school boards have with their LGBTQ students and staff, ensuring that they belong, their voices are heard,” Baybayon said.
“We’re not taking away the cross. We’re not taking away the sacred heart. They’re all going up there to ensure that every single person is represented in our board.”
oard.”
Support Monsignor Owen Keenan’s right to free speech. Mississauga’s Merciful Redeemer Parish. Email: Pastor@mercifulredeemer.orgAddress: 2775 Erin Centre Blvd, Mississauga, ON L5M 5W2Phone: 1 (905) 812-0030
The Liberals plan to release a new bill targeting online hate speech before the House of Commons breaks for the Summer.
According to the National Post, Justice Minister David Lametti plans to table a bill that will “amend the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act and to make related amendments to another Act (hate propaganda, hate crimes and hate speech).”
It is not immediately clear if the legislation will include regulation of internet content or only cover types of hate speech which the government consulted on last year.
The proposal comes as the Liberals try to pass the controversial internet regulation bill, C-10, which has been attacked for limiting free speech online.
Speaking at the Banff World Media Festival, Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault hinted at the forthcoming legislation, going so far as to admit the bill will be divisive.
“Now, this is going to be controversial. People think that C-10 was controversial. Wait till we table this legislation,” he said. https://www.youtube.com/embed/pXtqCRpelxw?feature=oembed
Lametti’s bill has the potential of reviving an extremely controversial former law — Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Section 13 was heavily criticized for going beyond hate speech, effectively prohibiting speech online that was perceived as offensive. At the time, the section was widely condemned by civil rights groups.
Section 13 was repealed in 2013 thanks to a private member bill from a Conservative MP, but Lametti’s parliamentary secretary, Arif Virani, confirmed that the Liberals are examining the section to see if any of it should be returned to. https://www.youtube.com/embed/h0RY7403WoU?feature=oembed
True North fellow and free speech expert Lindsay Shepherd says government hate speech laws inevitably end up censoring legitimate free speech which some find offensive, adding that social media platforms already censor dissenting opinions.
“It all goes back to this: we don’t want the government defining online hate, because it will inevitably cast too wide of a net. We know that a Reddit forum for gender critical feminism was banned. A pro-life news site called LifeSiteNews had their YouTube channel banned. Rebel News was kicked off of PayPal,” she said.
“This shows us that if the views you’re expressing fall outside the liberal-progressive orthodoxy, you can and will be shut out — and with a return of section 13 or some other similar online hate speech law, Canadians who express non-politically correct opinions could potentially face fines or legal trouble.”
In 2019, Shepherd testified at the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on regulation of hate speech online. https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bgk6gC_nG7o?feature=oembed
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There are much better explanations for the 200+ deaths at Kamloops Indian Residential School. One very important explanation is that Canada had an alarming Child Mortality Rate.
Another explanation is that the Spanish flu which was rampant in the town of Kamloops had spread to the Kamloops Indian Residential School. According to a news article published last week (Mid June 2021 in “Kamloops This Week”), the Spanish Flu had by 1918 infiltrated the small town of Kamloops (which had about 4,000 people in 1918).
There are much better explanations for the deaths at Indian Residential Schools” (Photo of Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops Above) Over the last two weeks of June, 2021, Canadian radio and television have been going hysterical over the discovery of 200+ bodies of Indian children at Kamloops Indian Residential School. As any sane person can see, the hysteria is completely uninformed. Almost all of the “explanations” given by the hysterical media imply that the children were murdered by Catholic supervisors at the residential school. Where is the evidence for this? There is none. The overwhelming point is that the accusation is blatantly defamatory and that it has already led to the burning down of two Catholic churches in southern B.C. and vandalism of Catholic churches in other locations.
Who are the defamers ? Obviously, it is Canada’s media, particularly the CBC. We offer four much more logical explanations for the deaths: One explanation is that, for a number of reasons, all of Canada had an alarming Child Mortality Rate at the time of residential schools. In other words, non-Indian children died in very high numbers all across Canada. Most of those children are now buried in Christian cemeteries (Catholic and other denominations). If skeptics want to unearth bodies to prove that point, they can go to non-Indian children’s graves all across Canada. There are at least tens of thousands of children’s bodies that could be unearthed. What about going after the churches that the parents and children attended? What about blaming God for all of the deaths? Do hysterical Canadians want to blame the churches that stand beside the non-Indian children’s graves for the children’s deaths? That child mortality rate was very high in the early 1800’s, and remained high into the early 1900’s. Some of those reasons are biological and some are immigration-related.
fact, even in 1915, BEFORE the so-called “Spanish Flu epidemic” began, 27% of the population died in Canada as young children. One can assume, that this number was even higher amongst the Indian population. (See statista.com) A second explanation is that the Spanish flu was entrenched in the town of Kamloops and had almost certainly spread to the Kamloops Indian Residential School. According to a news article published last week (Mid June 2021 in “Kamloops This Week”), the Spanish Flu had by 1918 infiltrated the small town of Kamloops (which had about 4,000 people in 1918).
A third explanation is that Canada’s lazy, biased media, particularly the hysterical pot-headed CBC, has suppressed important facts and created a false “reality” which many Canadians have been deceived and socially pressured into accepting. In fact, many Canadians have been convinced that looking for more believable explanations is wrong. That false reality fits with the CBC and private media’s perverted mission to portray Canada’s 400+ year-history as a time of endless crimes. As any sensible Canadian with experience with COVID 19 would have concluded by now, it probably would have taken only minimal contact between someone from the town of Kamloops and someone from the Indian Residential School to start an explosive outbreak of Spanish flu at the Residential School. The following sentence from a 1918 Kamloops Standard-Sentinel article summarizes the wide effect of the Spanish Flu on the town of Kamloops : “Most homes in Kamloops had at least one case of Spanish Flu and, in some cases, entire families were laid up.” A fourth explanation for the 200+ graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School is that the 1890 epidemic of Asiatic/Russian flu and later epidemics probably had had similar effects on the town and on the Kamloops Indian Residential School. In other words, the Asiatic/Russian flu had probably killed a significant number of children at the Indian Residential School. It is also quite likely that in all the epidemics, the supervisors at the Indian Residential School were overwhelmed by the epidemics and had to resort to rushed burials to control the spread of the diseases. In fact, a 1918 article that is cited in the “Kamloops This Week” newspaper article of last week supports that idea. That article states that both Municipal and Provincial authorities had been literally “overwhelmed” by the Spanish flu. As hard as it is to believe, in the past few weeks, not one of the media has even mentioned these four very important and much more believable explanations for the 200+ graves at the school.
The overall point we want to make about the reporting on the discovery of 200+ bodies at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, is that Canada’s media are extremely biased, lazy and irresponsible. All are clamouring for an apology from the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis. If anyone should be apologizing to Canadians, it should be the loutish Canadian media. After all, Canada’s federal government gave our private media hundreds of millions of Canadian taxpayer money in subsidies in the past two years to keep them afloat. Shouldn’t Canadians expect some sense of responsibility in return? Apparently, the subsidized media don’t think so. Therefore, to re-set its collective brain, it would be appropriate now for Canadians to start a class action suit to recover the hundreds of millions in subsidies.
Let’s be blunt: For its irresponsibility in the past two weeks alone, Canada’s private media and their perverted CBC counterparts, both deserve to be thrown out on the street. As for the CBC, which continues to receive close to $2 Billion per year in subsidies from Canadian taxpayers, it has terminal cultural cancer. In its reporting on the Kamloops incident, it has completely betrayed its founding duty to protect Canada’s majority population. It deserves the utmost contempt of all Canadians. All CBC employees should have long ago had their life-support terminated. In fact, long ago, Ottawa should have converted CBC buildings to manure storage. As a food-generating measure, the manure could have been distributed to urban residents who wanted to fertilize their gardens. CBC staff should have been forced to fill bags with manure. After all, they have been filling the “news” bags with manure for years. In fact, filling bags with manure would be the first productive work that most of these people had ever done in their lives. Also, storing manure in CBC buildings would would have also be a much more useful, appropriate and superior use of the CBC’s building space. As for Canada’s private media, many of them have long created their own financial problems as a result of also betraying the trust of the public. In other words, many Canadians have lost confidence in their reporting and regard them as mere hacks. Like the CBC, they have spent most of their time trying to convert Canada’s population to extremely media-biased views rather than telling the truth. For details on what happened in Kamloops in 1918 when the Spanish flu hit Kamloops, read the following: https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/news/a-look-at-kamloops-during-the-spanish-flu-of-1918-1.24107151 For other very relevant information which you will not find out from the CBC and other Canadian media, see this material that The Canadian Encyclopedia has published on epidemics in Canada: Epidemics in Canada | The Canadian Encyclopedia “Experts believe that five influenza pandemics have affected Canada since Confederation: 1890, 1918, 1957, 1968 and 2009. “The influenza pandemic commonly known as the Spanish flu developed at the end of the First World War. Its origins are debated. The first outbreaks of the disease occurred in the spring of 1918. The infection traveled back and forth between Europe and North America on the ships carrying troops fighting in the First World War. These troops then introduced the disease into Asia and Africa. The Spanish flu eventually killed about 50 million people worldwide (although estimates range from 20 to 100 million). In Canada, about 50,000 people died, and all parts of the country were affected. The timing of this flu’s development was critical to the eventual success of the virus because there were many people traveling from one part of the world to another. The 1918 flu is widely recognized as the most devastating pandemic in history.
“The name “Spanish flu” emerged as the result of media censorship by the military in Allied countries during the war. These countries suppressed the reporting of the viral infection and death of soldiers. However, in Spain, which was neutral during the First World War, the media widely reported the high incidence of death from the illness. The name of the virus became associated with Spain as a result. “It was not until 1933 that researchers isolated human influenza viruses. This is one of the first steps in the development of a vaccine that can be used to prevent the disease. “Canada was hit hard by the illness, from cities to the most remote communities.
More than 3,000 people died in Montreal alone, while Toronto lost about 1,600 to the disease. More than 8,700 people died in Ontario. There were 4,000 deaths in Alberta and 5,000 in Saskatchewan. Indigenous communities were hit particularly hard. At the time, the Department of Indian Affairs reported 3,700 deaths out of a total population of 106,000. Entire Haida settlements on the western coast of British Columbia were lost to the disease. “Most Canadian communities adopted measures designed to contain the spread of the virus. In Alberta, people were required to wear face masks in public. In Regina, people could be fined for public coughing or sneezing. In Winnipeg, people could be fined 50 dollars for spitting in the streets and all public gatherings were banned. Canada first established the Department of Health in 1919 in response to Spanish flu.”
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