TrueNorthCentre

The LGBT advocacy group Egale Canada is calling on the CRTC to ban Fox News from Canadian airways, citing a segment Fox host Tucker Carlson did on his show on what Carlson characterized as the trans movement's targeting of Christians. True North's Andrew Lawton says these calls will get worse when C-11 passes and the CRTC isn't just governing TV and radio stations, but also online content. Also, a group of renegade Ontario lawyers is running in the Law Society of Ontario's bencher elections to push back against the organization's political overreach. Lawyer Lisa Bildy joins the show to explain why it matters not just to lawyers, but everyone. Plus, Justin Trudeau gives the worst financial advice ever.

As Canadians grapple with rising food prices, the NDP has decided to go to war against grocery store profits. According to a recent survey, a small number of Canadians, 4.5 per cent, think a government-run grocery store Crown Corporation is the answer. True North's Andrew Lawton says this would be a great way to bring the efficiency of the passport office to grocery shopping. Also, Steven Guilbeault says Canadians should shut up about inflation because climate change is a bigger deal. Plus, Ontario's NDP want to ban protests at drag shows.

The Mass Casualty Commission has finally released its report on a Nova Scotia denturist's 2020 killing spree that claimed 22 lives. Among its many recommendations, the report calls on government declare gender-based violence an "epidemic," to "promote healthy masculinities," to ban virtually all semi-automatic firearms, and to limit the amount of ammunition a person can own. True North's Andrew Lawton discusses some of the biggest red flags in the report. Plus, an interview with Conservative leader Candice Bergen, dolphin news out of Dildo, Newfoundland, and a new format for Fake News Friday.

Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland have tabled their latest budget, replete with so much spending the projected deficit is $40.1 billion – $10 billion higher than what they promised in the fall. Included in the budget are hikes to air travel fees, a tax credit for "clean electricity manufacturing," and a one-time "grocery rebate" for lower income Canadians. Dalhousie food policy professor Sylvain Charlebois joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to talk about whether this is the antidote for food inflation. Also, UN scientists have issued their "final warning" on climate change, saying that only swift and drastic action can save the world from global warming. Researcher and journalist Donna Laframboise joins the show to fact check the IPCC.

It’s a special live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show from Ottawa at the Canada Strong and Free Conference! On today’s show, Andrew is hosting a panel with a diverse group of individuals to discuss the rising trend of cancel culture in Canada. Far too often, Canadians from all walks of life are being targeted and cancelled for simply having the “wrong opinion.” What can be done to address this alarming trend? How can we combat cancel culture? Joining Andrew on the show today are Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, lawyer Kathryn Marshall, and Conservative Values Tomorrow’s Leam Dunn and Noah Jarvis. Tune into a live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show!

Volkswagen has chosen St. Thomas, Ontario as the site of its first North American electric vehicle battery plant. The federal and provincial governments haven't said what they had to pay to make this deal happen, though the Financial Times reported that Volkswagen put plans for a European battery plant on hold because the company claimed it could get $15 billion in subsidies for a North American plant. Macdonald-Laurier Institute senior fellow Philip Cross joins The Andrew Lawton Show to talk about this latest round of corporate welfare. Also, the Conservative party has disqualified a nomination candidate for the upcoming Oxford by-election. Pro-life political advocacy group RightNow says Gerrit Van Dorland was targeted because of his pro-life beliefs. Scott Hayward of RightNow weighs in on The Andrew Lawton Show.

The United States, United Kingdom and Australia are proceeding with their trilateral AUKUS security alliance, with countering China's growing influence at the top of the agenda. AUKUS represents three of the Five Eyes partners, with Canada and New Zealand kept on the sidelines. True North's Andrew Lawton says this is because other countries simply don't take Canada seriously. Also, Calgary City Councillors are debating a bylaw to ban protesters they don't like. Constitutional lawyer Christine Van Geyn joins The Andrew Lawton Show to explain why it won't fly.

The Alberta government has tabled a provincial firearms bill that will allow the province to decide how federal firearms laws are administered within Alberta. The bill could block municipal police agencies from confiscating firearms like those the government has recently prohibited. Alberta Chief Firearms Officer Teri Bryant joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to explain how the Alberta Firearms Act will work. Also, Justin Trudeau has announced two probes into Chinese interference in Canadian elections, just a few days after people who were raising concerns about Chinese interference in Canadian elections were racist.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre says that Liberals have “deep ties” to China and that a public inquiry is needed to find out what exactly Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knew about Beijing’s election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections. Watch Poilievre’s exclusive sit down interview with True North’s Andrew Lawton. Plus, from two doses to three, to one every few months, the Canadian government has been fairly unrelenting in its quest to get everyone in the country vaccinated and boosted. On Friday, the Public Health Agency of Canada quietly amended its guidance to no longer recommend boosters for healthy Canadians under 65, at least for now. Is this a real course correction? Yes and no, as True North’s Andrew Lawton explains. Tune into a live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show.

Through Bill C-18, the Trudeau government trying to force technology companies to pay news media companies for using their content. Except news companies willingly use tech platforms to share and promote their content. In response to Bill C-18, Google is trying out ways to limit access to news content, similar to what Facebook and other companies did to protest a similar law in Australia. Former CRTC vice-chair Peter Menzies joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to discuss. Plus, Trudeau's national security advisor has testified that the prime minister was briefed multiple times on Chinese interference into Canadian elections, despite downplaying such briefings.

The China election interference story has only grown, with Justin Trudeau now accusing critics and CSIS of racism for raising concerns about a foreign power meddling in Canada's democracy. In this live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, Andrew discusses the scandal with Patricia Adams of Probe International. Also, in just a few weeks, Canada's conservative movement will be meeting in Ottawa for the Canada Strong and Free Networking Conference. CSFN president Jamil Jivani joins for a preview of what we can expect.

We know that China ran a sophisticated operation in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections to influence the results. In the most recent election, the Chinese Communist Party specifically wanted the Liberals to return to power, and Canadian intelligence officials knew. In spite of this, the Liberals have downplayed the extent of the interference, with Justin Trudeau saying today we should be more concerned about the Conservatives undermining democracy. Conservative member of parliament Michael Cooper joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to discuss. Also, a Milton man has been charged with second-degree murder after shooting someone who was trying to rob his house at gunpoint. Criminal lawyer Sam Goldstein joins the show to discuss the case.

At an NBA game in Utah, Canadian singer Jully Black changed the lyrics to O Canada, singing "our home on native land" instead of "our home and native land" to make a statement about Indigenous peoples. Since then, Black has been praised by the media and activists, prompting her to double down by claiming she sang the "facts." True North's Andrew Lawton says the ordeal demonstrates politicization is only okay if you have the "right" beliefs. Also, with the Public Order Emergency Commission's final report published, civil liberties advocates are saying it's still possible for there to be some accountability for the government's use of the Emergencies Act. Canadian Constitution Foundation litigation director Christine Van Geyn joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to talk about the report and next steps.

The Public Order Emergency Commission has found that Justin Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act to react to the Freedom Convoy was appropriate. Commissioner Paul Rouleau also defended the freezing of protesters' bank accounts and the conscription of tow truck drivers. In this live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, True North's Andrew Lawton breaks down the report and brings in guests to offer their reaction and analysis.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Brenda Lucki is retiring from her post next month in what she called today a "personal decision." Lucki has been accused of interfering in the RCMP's investigation into the Nova Scotia killing spree to support the Liberals' gun control plans and she was unable to address key details during her testimony before last year's Public Order Emergency Commission, which releases its final report next week. True North's Andrew Lawton says Lucki's quiet exit means a lack of accountability for her shortcomings on the job. Also, a new book by Marco Navarro-Genie and Barry Cooper casts a light on the "moral panic" that took hold of Canada over the Covid era. They join The Andrew Lawton Show live to talk about "Canada's Covid: The Story of a Pandemic Moral Panic," which is available on Amazon in its extended form.

It’s been one year since Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act to break up the peaceful Freedom Convoy protest underway on the streets in front of Parliament Hill. The move was unprecedented and extreme, but numerous polls have shown that a majority of Canadians supported it. Next week, the Public Order Emergency Commission will release its report examining the circumstances that led to the declaration. What are your thoughts about the convoy and the Emergencies Act one year later? True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in with his own and reads some of your questions and comments in this live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show.

CBC chief executive officer Catherine Tait has said in an effort to "stay relevant," Canada's state broadcaster will be pivoting away from traditional radio and television broadcasts and adopting a streaming model. Except she offered no concrete plans for such a transition and said it won't happen within the next decade. In the same interview, Tait took aim at Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre's pledge to defund CBC, accusing him of "CBC bashing" and taking aim at the belief that CBC is a "mouthpiece for the Liberal government." True North's Andrew Lawton says CBC can't stay relevant when it is already irrelevant to most Canadians, who have to keep footing the bill for a service they don't use. Also, Justin Trudeau is giving provinces $46 billion more in healthcare transfers over the next decade, which premiers aren't happy with but are taking anyway. Former Ontario Medical Association president Dr. Shawn Whatley joins the show to discuss whether this money could be the cure for what's ailing Canadian healthcare.

The question of whether Canada is broken has become a contentious political debate between Pierre Poilievre and Justin Trudeau. Poilievre has continued to point out the brokenness of Canada, which Trudeau claims is not just wrong, but offensive. True North's Andrew Lawton says you have to be delusional to not see the system breakdowns taking place across the country, though he doesn't think any politician can fix it. Also, former member of parliament Stella Ambler has launched a new watchdog group, Municipal Watch, which takes aim at costly and wasteful policies being pushed by municipal governments. She joins The Andrew Lawton Show to talk about the local battlegrounds of Canadian politics.

The World Economic Forum's 2023 annual meeting in Davos just wrapped up, with thousands of political, business and media elites descending on the Swiss alps to talk about "transitioning" away from oil and gas, eliminating carbon emissions, and adopting aggressive environmental policies – while all the limos and private jets lingered nearby. True North was in Davos covering the official programme and what was taking place on the sidelines. In this special edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, Andrew shares some footage from Davos and tackles the bigger picture issues that emerged during the conference.

True North's Andrew Lawton is once again live from Davos on day three of the World Economic Forum's 2023 annual meeting. Today, Andrew was given the cold shoulder by John Kerry, Tony Blair, and Chrystia Freeland. Freeland refused to answer whether her position with WEF puts her in a conflict of interest as a cabinet minister. But the day in Davos brought other developments, such as the Moderna CEO blaming public debate for low vaccination rates and an oil and gas CEO calling for higher carbon prices around the world. Andrew goes through the highlights from the last couple of days in Davos and weaves it together with the bigger picture in this live edition of The Andrew Lawton Show.

For the first time ever, The Andrew Lawton Show is live from Davos. True North's Andrew Lawton is in the Swiss mountain village reporting on the World Economic Forum annual meeting. He's already encountered Klaus Schwab, four presidents and prime ministers, and countless other global elites who claim they're here to find solutions to the world's problems through "cooperation." In this special edition of the show, Andrew talks about what he's seen on the ground in Davos, and also takes some of your questions about the summit.

The theme of this year's World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos is "cooperation in a fragmented world." The WEF says there are numerous crises unfolding, and world leaders need to gather together "in the spirit of improving the state of the world." True North's Andrew Lawton will be on the ground in Davos reporting on the meeting, which WEF founder Klaus Schwab says will have "unprecedented" attendance from world leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, and Trade Minister Mary Ng. In this episode, Andrew gives a primer on why covering the WEF matters, and what True North viewers can expect next week. Also, Duncan Crawford of the PEI Wildlife Federation joins the show to talk about the federal government's gun grab pilot project in Prince Edward Island.

Ottawa's police chief has said he will not allow a repeat of the Freedom Convoy as several people involved in the original trucker-led protest earlier this year say they want to return to Ottawa in February. Do you think it's possible to replicate the Convoy – and should people even try? True North's Andrew Lawton, author of a #1 bestseller about the convoy, shares his thoughts. Plus, the City of Oshawa has fined a woman for giving the homeless food and necessities on the weekend. Ashley Wickett joins The Andrew Lawton Show live to explain what happened.

From Bill C-11 to the redefinition of "hate speech" to a plan to ban online "harmful content," the Liberals are firing on all cylinders to regulate and restrict internet freedom. Elon Musk tweeted this morning that it sounds like Justin Trudeau is trying to "muzzle" Canadians. True North's Andrew Lawton says Canadians need to pay attention, as C-11 is just the tip of the iceberg. OpenMedia.org campaigns director Matt Hatfield joins the show to share his thoughts

Since taking over Twitter, Elon Musk has released troves of files documenting how Twitter personnel worked behind the scenes to suppress the New York Post's story about Hunter Biden's laptop, shadowban conservative accounts, and ultimately ban Donald Trump from the platform. True North's Andrew Lawton says Elon Musk's commitment to free speech warrants a stand against Justin Trudeau's efforts to regulate and censor the internet. Also, what yesterday's Liberal by-election win means for the Conservatives and Canadian Federation of Independent Business president Dan Kelly on why EI and CPP increases need to be put on hold.