Tag: canada

‘QAnon queen’ moves cult to remote town and threatens locals with ‘publicly broadcast executions’

The Canadian town of Richmound, Saskatchewan, has been reeling ever since Romana Didulo — the self-proclaimed true Queen of Canada who leads a following of people who believe her claim — took up residence in an abandoned school, Vice News reported.

The cult, which has been linked to QAnon, has a contentious relationship with the townspeople after a failed effort to get the group out.

The cult sent threatening cease and desist letters to multiple town officials that warned “failure to Cease and Desist, IMMEDIATELY, from your Rothchild/CCP based communistic, unfair, demoralizing, and immoral activities and behaviors while “serving the (We the People)” and “before the (We the People)” under the present Natural Law WILL surely bring forth judgment upon yourselves and if found guilty of ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ or ‘Treason’ you WILL face publicly broadcast executions upon yourselves, and underserved devastation upon your children, grandchildren and families.”

“One specific thing that was said was that our kids, grandkids, and school would watch the executions,’ Richmound Mayor Brad Miller told Vice News. “This is offside. These threats should be taken seriously, there is no room for error here!”

From Vice News: “Didulo is a cult figure who grew out of the QAnon movement. What separates her from many of her similar conspiracy leaders is she was able to take her online following offline. Since early 2022 Didulo has been on the road traveling the country and meeting her followers in towns across Canada. She’s accompanied by a die-hard group of followers who follow her bidding and, according to former members of the cult who spoke to VICE News, are abused in a myriad of ways by Didulo.”

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Canada apologizes for honoring another veteran from unit that fought with Nazis

Canada’s governor general apologized Tuesday afternoon for awarding one of the country’s highest honors to a Ukrainian immigrant who served in the same Nazi unit during World War II as the 98-year-old who was honored last month in the Canadian Parliament, an incident which sparked international outrage.

The statement from the governor general —  the representative of the British monarchy in Canada — concerned Peter Savaryn, who served as chancellor of the University of Alberta from 1982 to 1986 and in 1987 was appointed to the Order of Canada. The award is akin to the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom, and is considered the second-highest distinction for Canadians, topped only by the Order of Merit available to all citizens of the British Commonwealth. 

Responding to an inquiry from the Forward, the statement from Governor General Mary Simon expressed “deep regret” about Savaryn’s appointment. A spokesperson said the office is also now reviewing two other honors it gave Savaryn: the Golden Jubilee (awarded in 2002) and Diamond Jubilee (awarded in 2012) medals.  

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Canadian Govt Funds $5,000 Bonuses for Employers to Hire Anyone Other Than Straight White Men

A new Canadian government-funded program is offering $5,000 bonuses to British Columbia construction companies to hire apprentices who identify as anything other than a straight white male.

From Western Investor, “B.C. employers get $5,000 more if apprentices ‘self-identify’ “:

B.C. construction companies which hire trade apprentices who self-identify as other than a straight, white male with no disability will receive double a new government incentive, pushing it to $10,000 for the first year of employment.

The $10 million Apprenticeship Services program, being offered by the B.C. Construction Association (BCCA) and announced September 27, provides cash incentives to small and medium-sized construction employers who hire and register first-year apprentices in up to 39 Red Seal trades.

Funding for what the BCCA calls the “most far-reaching construction trade apprenticeship drive ever undertaken in British Columbia” is under the federal government’s Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy, which launched in September 2022.

Since then the project has issued financial incentives for the hiring and registering of 1,329 apprentices and sent payments to more than 700 employers.

The BCCA will pay employers $5,000 for each first-year apprentice they register in any eligible Red Seal trades. However, if an applicant self-identifies as a woman, person with disabilities, Indigenous, racialized Canadian or from the 2SLGBTQI+ community, the incentive doubles to $10,000.

[…] So far, 51 per cent of the project apprentices have declared themselves to be a member of one of an “equity deserving group,” according to a BCCA release.

This takes “train your replacement” to a whole new level!

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Canada Issues Further Blow To Free Speech, Forces Even Podcast Platforms To Register With The Government

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has just revealed new draconian regulations, requiring all digital platforms that transmit audio or visual content and meet a certain earnings benchmark to register with the government agency before the end of November.

This new set of rules symbolizes a further restriction on free speech and an encroachment on the principle of internet openness, turning the digital world into an area under government watch.

Under these newly released regulations, a myriad of online platforms – from streaming services to social media and even subscription-based television – will be brought under governmental umbrella if they meet a revenue threshold in Canada.

Traditional radio stations and podcast services that live-stream online will not escape from the regulatory requirement either. However, platforms generating “less than $10 million in annual broadcasting revenues in Canada,” along with video games and audiobook services, will not be subjected to this rule.

This new policy unveiled by CRTC is a part of the agency’s implementation of the controversial Online Streaming Act that also forces private online media companies such as Netflix to financially contribute to Canadian content.

The legislation, also known as Bill C-11, sparked a heated debate when it suggested that user-generated content would come under the control of CRTC. Although the authorities reassured that content managed primarily by social media creators would be spared, the remaining part of the digital world is beginning to feel a heavy governmental hand.

To fulfill the new obligation, the platforms are required to provide the CRTC with their personal information, including their name, address, and contact details. Online broadcasting services offered by these organizations should be exposed to the regulator for inspection as well.

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Hundreds of trans teens under 18 have had breasts removed in Canada, new data show

As tensions rise over the medical care of trans children, a new analysis shows hundreds of adolescents in Canada have undergone female-to-male “top surgery” — double mastectomies  — over the past five years.

Hospitalizations and day surgery visits for bilateral mastectomies for gender reassignment surgery have risen sharply, from 536 in 2018-19, to 985 in fiscal 2022-23, according to data compiled for National Post by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Of the 4,071 visits in total involving gender-affirming mastectomies or breast reductions reported since 2018, 602 involved youth 18 and under.

Of those, 303 involved teens 17 and younger. The youngest age was 14.

The numbers tell only part of the story. The CIHI data exclude Quebec hospitals as well as surgeries performed in private clinics like the McLean Clinic in Mississauga, which describes its surgeons as “industry pioneers” for top surgery — mastectomies and breast reductions in those assigned female at birth, and breast augmentation for those born male transitioning to female.

One specialist in transgender health issues said that, when applying for OHIP funding for people seeking top surgery, “50 to 70 per cent will go to McLean.”

Female-to-male chest surgery involves removing the breasts to achieve a flatter, more masculinized torso, to better align the person’s physical body with their gender identity and reduce gender dysphoria, defined as the persistent distress that can accompany the incongruence between the gender one identifies with and one’s gender at birth.

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Liberal government called on to release still-secret documents on Nazi war criminals living in Canada

A Jewish advocacy group is calling on the Liberal government to release a still-secret 40-year-old report and other documents containing details about alleged Nazi war criminals living in Canada.

The federal government has withheld a second part of a 1986 government commission report about Nazis who settled in Canada. In addition, it has heavily censored another 1986 report examining how Nazis were able to get into Canada. More than 600 pages of that document, obtained by this newspaper and other organizations through the Access to Information law, have been censored.

David Matas, the honorary counsel for B’nai Brith, said the Jewish advocacy organization was also pushing for the release of RCMP and Department of Justice files on alleged Nazi war criminals in Canada. “We’ve run up against a brick wall,” he said of the government’s decision to continue withholding the records.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday that the government could take another look at whether the records should be released. “Canada has a really dark history with Nazis in Canada,” Miller said as he headed into the weekly Liberal caucus meeting.

“There was a point in our history where it was easier to get in as a Nazi than it was as a Jewish person. I think that’s a history we have to reconcile.”

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Canada’s honoring of Nazi vet exposes Ottawa’s longstanding Ukraine policy

By celebrating a Waffen-SS volunteer as a “hero,” Canada’s Liberal Party highlighted a longstanding policy that has seen Ottawa train fascist militants in Ukraine while welcoming in thousands of post-war Nazi SS veterans.

Canada’s second most powerful official, Chrystia Freeland, is the granddaughter of one of Nazi Germany’s top Ukrainian propagandists.

In the Spring of 1943, Yaroslav Hunka was a fresh-faced soldier in the 14th Grenadier Division of the Waffen-SS Galicia when his division received a visit from the architect of Nazi Germany’s genocidal policies, Heinrich Himmler. Having presided over the battalion’s formation, Himmler was visibly proud of the Ukrainians who had volunteered to support the Third Reich’s efforts.

80 years later, the Speaker of Canada’s parliament, Anthony Rota, also beamed with pride after inviting Hunka to a reception for Volodymyr Zelensky, where the Ukrainian president lobbied for more arms and financial assistance for his country’s war against Russia.

“We have in the chamber today Ukrainian war veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today even at his age of 98,” Rota declared during the September 22 parliamentary event in Ottawa.

“His name is Yaroslav Hunka but I am very proud to say he is from North Bay and from my riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming. He is a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service,” Rota continued.

Gales of applause erupted through the crowd, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Zelensky, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Chief of Defense Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre and leaders of all Canadian parties rose from their seats to applaud Hunka’s wartime service.

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Canada’s Speaker Resigns After Honoring Nazi Now-Wanted For Extradition By Polish Minister

The Speaker of Canada’s House of Commons, Anthony Rota, has resigned after leading Parliament in praising a Ukrainian man who moved to Canada after fighting for a Nazi unit.

“I must step down as your Speaker,” Rota said, adding “I reiterate my profound regret.“

Still no opinion on the matter from the ADL… Weird!

Developing…

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A high ranking Polish government official is pressing for Warsaw to begin an extradition request for Yaroslav Hunka, the 98-year-old Ukrainian Canadian who served the Nazi SS Galizien formation in WWII. Hunka was hailed as a “Ukrainian hero” and a “Canadian hero” by Justin Trudea’s government days ago, receiving a standing ovation in the House of Commons also as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky looked on and cheered.

Polish Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek announced on Tuesday he has “taken steps” to initiate the extradition of Hunka to Poland for possible war crimes.

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Apologies in Canada for Honoring Ukrainian Nazi

A top Canadian lawmaker apologized on Sunday for honoring Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian man who fought for a notorious Nazi military unit during World War II.

Anthony Rota, speaker of Canada’s House of Commons and a member of the Liberal Party, hailed Hunka during a ceremony late last week as “a Ukrainian hero” and “a Canadian hero” who fought for “Ukrainian independence against the Russians” and “continues to support the troops today.”

Canadian lawmakers in attendance gave Hunka a standing ovation, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — who had just delivered a speech to the House of Commons — “raised a fist during the applause,” NBC News reported.

Rota’s description of Hunka — who fought in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Nazi SS — sparked outrage, with the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies saying in a statement that “the fact that a veteran who served in a Nazi military unit was invited to and given a standing ovation in Parliament is shocking.”

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Nazi-linked veteran received ovation during Zelenskyy’s Canada visit

A ranking Canadian parliamentarian is apologizing to Jewish communities around the world for a blunder during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit that led to lawmakers honoring a veteran accused of belonging to a Nazi division in WWII.

It followed demands by Canadian Jewish organizations Sunday for an apology after it was revealed members of Parliament across party lines awarded a 98-year-old veteran on Friday with a standing ovation shortly after Zelenskyy addressed Canada’s House of Commons.

Yaroslav Hunka stood and appeared to salute from the public gallery when he was recognized by House Speaker Anthony Rota, who introduced Hunka as a Canadian-Ukrainian war hero from his political district.

“We have here in the chamber today a Ukrainian-Canadian veteran from the Second World War who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians and continues to support the troops today, even at his age of 98,” Rota said Friday, followed by a lengthy round of applause and a wave by Zelenskyy. “He’s a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, and we thank him for all his service. Thank you.”

Jewish advocacy groups the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and B’nai Brith Canada condemned his honoring as disturbing and “beyond outrageous” because he fought with the First Ukrainian Division — also known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, which served under command of the Nazis.

Jewish news website The Forward reported that Hunka wrote blog posts describing his time in the unit on a Ukrainian-language website run by an association of the unit’s veterans, called “Combatant News.”

In a statement late Sunday afternoon, Rota said he recently became “aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision” to recognize Hunka. He said he takes full responsibility for the seismic gaffe.

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