Government unable to say if criminals are participating in gun confiscation program

The federal government says it cannot provide basic information about who is participating in its firearm confiscation compensation scheme, including whether any participants have criminal records or how many are members of the military, RCMP, federal public service or Indigenous communities.

The admission came in response to an Order Paper Question submitted by Conservative MP Alex Ruff, who asked for a breakdown of participants in the federal government’s so-called Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program.

Ruff sought information on how many registered participants had criminal records, how many held restricted firearms licences, how many were first-time versus renewed licence holders, and how many participants were members of the Canadian Armed Forces, RCMP, veterans or federal public servants. He also asked how many participants were Indigenous and licensed under the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada Adaptations Regulations.

In its response, Public Safety Canada said the information is “not systematically tracked in a centralized database” and that producing a comprehensive answer would require a manual review that could not be completed within the time allotted for responding to parliamentary questions. Officials warned that attempting to do so could result in “incomplete and misleading information.”

The department used the same explanation when asked whether any participants in the compensation program had criminal records and when asked how many participants were members of the military, RCMP, veterans or federal public service.

The RCMP provided a similar response, stating that the information requested is split between Public Safety Canada’s compensation program and the Canadian Firearms Program’s licensing records. The force said producing a complete answer would require collecting data from Public Safety Canada and cross-referencing it with the Canadian Firearms Information System, a process it said could not be completed within the allotted time.

The RCMP also said it could not provide figures on how many participants were Indigenous firearm owners because the required information is not maintained in a single centralized database and would require extensive cross-referencing of records.

The response raises questions about the government’s ability to track who is participating in a program that is expected to cost taxpayers billions of dollars. Despite requiring participants to register firearms for compensation, federal officials say they are unable to readily determine whether participants have criminal records, belong to law enforcement agencies, serve in the military, are veterans, or qualify under Indigenous firearms licensing provisions.

The government’s response was tabled on May 29 by the Public Safety Minister’s office through Parliamentary Secretary Jacques Ramsay.

Keep reading

Canadian MS NOW Host Says He Feels “Deep Unease” About Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary Because of Racism, Says America “Never Fully Reckoned With Slavery”

MS NOW’s Ali Velshi, during a recent segment, gave an insane take on America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, insinuating that Americans should have “conflicting feelings” about celebrating the Fourth of July this year because of slavery. 

Velshi, a Kenyan-born Canadian citizen who just got his US citizenship in 2015, felt the need to lecture Americans about “racial dynamics” and attack our history.

“Anniversaries are imperfect records of the thing which is being celebrated,” the America-hating foreigner.

“In America’s case, anniversaries often gloss over the racial dynamics underlying much of America’s history and politics, issues that remain unsolved because America has never actually fully reckoned with its racist past and its original founding sin of slavery.”

Velshi went on to tell viewers of the failing news network that he feels “deep unease” celebrating “our so-called democracy,” because of… “unresolved racial politics.”

“omen and black Americans have seen their rights taken away. The Voting Rights Act has effectively been gutted. A number of states are continuing to gerrymander their congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections, with the explicit effect of taking away political power on black Americans,” he continued.

“If you’ve got conflicting feelings about America’s upcoming anniversary, like you want to celebrate the ideals that America strives for, which are noble and should be celebrated, but lament the state of the country, you’re not alone. At least I’m with you on this.”

Keep reading

CBC report failed to inform readers that “tribunal” on residential schools is symbolic

The CBC is standing by its reporting on a self-described human rights tribunal that is “indicting” the Canadian government for alleged abuses and “genocide” in the residential school system, despite failing to note that the group’s lead prosecutor has a suspended law licence and that the organization has no legal authority in Canada.

The article, written by CBC reporter Joy SpearChief-Morris, profiles an activist group known as the “Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal” and its “trial” of Canada’s residential school system.

The report states that “seven international judges” would be “hearing evidence” during the proceeding as part of an investigation into missing Indigenous children and alleged “unmarked burials” associated with residential schools.

The hearing comes five years after the reported discovery of potential unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. On May 27, 2021, the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation announced that a preliminary investigation had identified what were believed to be the remains of 215 children who attended the school.

Keep reading

Canadian Man Who Sold Deadly Chemicals Online Pleads Guilty To Aiding Suicide of 14 People – Escapes Prosecution for Other 112 Deaths in the UK

The culture of death is spreading fast through Canada.

We have been reporting here in TGP since December 2023 about the deadly case of a Canadian citizen arrested for selling legal but deadly chemicals online, resulting in the suicide deaths of 14 people.

Kenneth Law pleaded guilty on Friday to aiding these 14 people to take their own lives, avoiding a high-profile murder trial.

Reuters reported:

“Wearing tan pants, a white shirt and dark suit jacket, Kenneth Law, ​60, was emotionless as he entered the pleas on Friday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ​in Newmarket, Ontario, north of Toronto.

He was facing 14 counts each of first-degree murder and ⁠counseling or aiding suicide related to 14 Ontario residents, aged 16 to 36, who died by suicide.

Prosecutor Peter ​Westgate told Justice Michelle Fuerst that prosecutors would ask that the murder charges be withdrawn after he is sentenced ​at a later date.”

Keep reading

Five years after the ‘unmarked graves’ claim, Canada still has no bodies — but plenty of demands for silence

The fifth anniversary of the claim that the remains of 215 Indian residential school students had been discovered at Kamloops, BC, has come and gone. Despite the fact that millions of dollars have been spent, and not one body has been found, there have been no apologies from those who made the claim. Quite the contrary, Canada’s Indian chiefs are now demanding the criminal prosecution of anyone who even questions the claim. As they see it, anyone disputing their claim — or even claiming that former residential school students had positive experiences at the schools — should be found guilty of “residential school denialism,” and severely sanctioned — even jailed.

Ottawa appears to be ready to oblige. Bill C-413 would make me a criminal for writing this article — and perhaps you for reading it and passing it on.

But if they get their way, they had better build a very big jail. And they will have to be prepared to throw many former residential school students in that jail. Because it is not hard to find positive residential school experiences described by former students.

Here is an example of a man heaping praise on his residential school and the dedicated people there who gave him a first-class education. According to him, if not for the years he spent at his residential school, he would have died as a drunk on skid row, like so many of his reserve friends. Instead, he went on to become a successful lawyer. He credited the 14 years he spent at a residential school for making that success possible. 

That fellow is Wilton Littlechild, who happens to be one of the three Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Commissioners. He certainly changed his tune later, but for most of his life, he and his family considered themselves very fortunate for his education at the school. Every year, the family and community held a picnic at their rural home, with the chiefs in attendance, to honour the teachers and staff who gave their son and friends the education so many Indians didn’t receive.

Littleton shared this revelation during a 2011 interview with University of New Brunswick students and at a TRC hearing. You can read the full interview at Speak Truth to Power Canada. 

Will Mr. Littlechild be jailed for making these comments about his overwhelmingly positive experience at his residential school?

And while we are on the subject of TRC commissioners, here is what the late Commissioner Murray Sinclair had to say about residential schools.

“While the TRC heard many experiences of unspeakable abuse, we have been heartened by testimonies which affirm the dedication and compassion of committed educators who sought to nurture the children in their care. These experiences must also be heard.”

Would Sinclair have been prosecuted for that?

Sinclair’s grandmother — the grandmother who raised him, and who Sinclair credited for his success — received her education at a residential school. Would the chiefs have her jailed for repeatedly declaring how lucky she had been to have had a residential school education?

Then there is the famous Indian playwright and musician, Tomson Highway, who wrote a book about his experiences at the Guy Hill Residential School near The Pas, Manitoba. He described his experience there as overwhelmingly positive.

Keep reading

Fidel Castro’s Daughter Asked Whether Justin Trudeau Is Actually Her Brother — Gives VERY Telling Response 

The daughter of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is doing little to quell rumors that Justin Trudeau is her biological half-brother.

Speculation has abounded for years that the former Canadian Prime Minister is the biological son of Castro because of their younger resemblance and the close relationship his mother was said to have had with him.

During NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich Tonight, Castro’s exiled daughter, Alina Fernandez, was brought on to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Cuba and the potential threat of military action.

However, Pavlich ended the conversation by asking about the possible Trudeau connection.

“For years, we’ve heard rumors that Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister of Canada, could be your half-brother. What do you think about it?” she said.

“The only thing I can say is that his mother used to visit the country very often,” Fernandez responded with a wry smile.

“Well, that may be a tell then,” Pavlich responded.  “I guess that’s a half-answer.”

“Yes,” said Fernandez.

“Do you plan to call him and maybe find out?” Pavlich followed up.

“No, no,” Fernandez said. “If he wants, he’s welcome but I won’t, I won’t. I think he keeps that to himself, and you have to respect that.”

Keep reading

Canada Moves to Destroy Encryption – Demands Backdoor Access to ALL Available Data

Canada is walking into extremely dangerous territory and most people do not understand the implications because governments always package surveillance laws as “public safety.” That is how this begins every single time historically. They sell fear first, then quietly expand state power behind the scenes while claiming only criminals should worry.

Now even Apple, Google, Meta, Signal, privacy experts, cybersecurity professionals, and members of the U.S. Congress are warning that Canada’s Bill C-22 could force technology companies to weaken encryption and build government access mechanisms directly into their systems.

People need to understand what encryption actually is. Encryption is not some toy used only by criminals. Encryption protects bank accounts, corporate systems, private medical data, government communications, journalists, dissidents, businesses, lawyers, and ordinary citizens. Every time you use secure banking, send a private message, or protect sensitive data online, encryption is standing between you and cybercriminals.

The government always frames these laws as targeting terrorists, child exploitation, organized crime, or national security threats. But the mechanism itself never stays limited. Once governments establish the legal right to force “lawful access” into encrypted systems, the infrastructure for surveillance already exists. The temptation to expand those powers becomes overwhelming.

Apple warned directly that Bill C-22 could allow Canada to “force companies to break encryption by inserting backdoors into their products.” Meta warned the bill could require companies to “break, weaken, or circumvent encryption” and potentially install government spyware capabilities directly into systems. Signal reportedly stated it would rather leave Canada entirely than compromise its encryption promises.

Keep reading

Doctor who approved assisted suicide for man in Tim Hortons’ parking lot gets 6 months’ probation

A Canadian doctor has been given only a minor reprimand after assessing a man for euthanasia outside of a Tim Hortons and then driving the man to the place where his state-sanctioned death with fatal injections took place.

Ontario doctor James MacLean was given six months’ probation by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) for two infractions related to assisted suicide or so-called “MAiD” (Medical Assistance in Dying), as it’s known. MacLean had to appear before the committee to get a verbal “caution” of his conduct.

In one case, MacLean did not give the drug that paralyzes a person’s body muscles during an assisted suicide procedure. The person started to breathe after the doctor left the person’s residence, despite MacLean declaring the person dead.

The other case involved a man, Thomas Dillon, outside Tim Hortons. Dillon suffered from Crohn’s disease, and his death was flagged by the Ontario coroner’s “MAiD” death review, according to reports.

The CPSO said that a nurse practitioner first assessed the man after he asked for assisted suicide and was then seen by MacLean outside of a Tim Hortons parking lot. Dillon was approved for assisted suicide under Track 2, or when a death is not reasonably foreseeable but the person suffers from an allegedly “grievous and irremediable” medical condition.

The CPSO found that MacLean’s coffee shop meeting with this man was “concerning” and that “sensitive MAiD-related matters” should have been discussed in a professional setting instead.

“Based on the Respondent’s own account, other locations were not meaningfully explored at the time,” noted the panel.

“In the Committee’s view, this reflected a lack of the level of formality and care expected when assessing requests for MAiD.”

Additionally, the CPSO was concerned with the “quantity and nature” of the text messages between MacLean and Dillon, which showed remarks about the man’s family not approving of assisted suicide.

Both complaints were made against MacLean in 2024, with the CPSO concluding that MacLean “did not meet the standard of practice of the profession” and that he “displayed a lack of judgment.”

Keep reading

Canada’s government debt projected to hit $2.44 trillion, nearly double since 2007: Fraser Institute

Canada’s combined federal and provincial government debt is projected to nearly double from pre-2008 financial crisis levels, reaching an estimated $2.44 trillion, according to a new report from the Fraser Institute.

The report, titled The Growing Debt Burden for Canadians: 2025 Edition, says combined government net debt has ballooned from roughly $1.21 trillion in 2007/08 to more than $2.3 trillion today, with debt continuing to climb. 

Researchers warn that the debt load is growing faster than the economy itself. The combined federal-provincial debt-to-GDP ratio has risen from 53.2 percent in 2007/08 to nearly 75 percent.

“Government debt — federally and in most provinces — has grown substantially over the past 17 years,” said Fraser Institute fiscal studies director Jake Fuss, co-author of the report. 

The report measures “net debt,” meaning total government liabilities minus financial assets held by governments. The study argues that persistent deficits today will translate into higher taxes and higher debt servicing costs in the future. 

Debt interest payments are already becoming a major expense. Another Fraser Institute study estimates federal and provincial governments will spend a combined $92.5 billion on debt interest payments in 2024/25 alone. 

On a per-person basis, the combined debt burden varies widely across the country. Alberta has the lowest combined debt per person at roughly $40,939, while Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest at nearly $68,861 per resident. Quebec and Ontario also rank among the most indebted provinces per capita.

The Fraser Institute describes itself as an independent, non-partisan public policy think tank.

Keep reading

75% of Blairmore residents want a coal mine — so why are outside activists allowed to block it?

The people of Blairmore already had their say. They want the coal mine.

While celebrity activists from outside the region push for a province-wide referendum to stop a proposed coal mine in Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass, locals in Blairmore voted nearly 75 percent in favour of the project. But apparently, that democratic result only counts if the “right” people vote the “right” way.

On tonight’s episode of The Gunn Show, longtime energy advocate and Oil Sands Strong founder Robbie Picard talks about his work amplifying the voices of the people who actually live in the region and stand to benefit from the jobs, investment and economic activity tied to the proposed mine.

Instead, the debate has been hijacked by celebrity opposition campaigns led by musicians like Corb Lund and George Canyon, whose province-wide citizen initiative petition seeks to override the wishes of the local community through a referendum driven largely by outside activists.

Picard argues this fight is about more than coal. It’s about whether rural Albertans still have the right to shape their own economic future without being steamrolled by urban activists, celebrities and political pressure groups who parachute in for the headlines and leave locals to deal with the consequences.

If “local voices matter” is more than just a slogan, why are the people of Blairmore being ignored after already voting overwhelmingly in favour of the project?

And why is Alberta’s resource economy subjected to veto campaigns, while the communities that depend on these projects are treated like their opinions don’t count?

Robbie Picard joins me to discuss the growing backlash from rural Albertans who are tired of being talked down to by people who don’t live there, don’t work there and won’t suffer the economic fallout if these projects are killed.

Keep reading