Rob Breakenridge: Government secrecy taking hold in Alberta
The first request for responses from the pension survey was sent off to the government by Postmedia in September 2023. Subsequent requests were filed in the ensuing months, but those produced either completely redacted records or no records at all. Late last year, Alberta's Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) began a review into how the government responded to those requests.
Last week, the government finally relented and provided Postmedia reporter Matthew Black with the results of the pension plan engagement survey. For the record, the survey showed 63 per cent opposition to leaving the Canada Pension Plan, with only 10 per cent expressing support for the idea of a new, separate Alberta Pension Plan.
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Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
AGAR: The lunacy of being penalized for defending rights of women
Nobody expects the Canadian Inquisition. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account A British Columbia nurse has been suspended and fined nearly $94,000 for what a disciplinary panel said were 'discriminatory and derogatory statements' about transgender people. Postmedia reported, citing a Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms release, that Amy Hamm, who is also a columnist for the National Post , was penalized for 'her statements defending the right of women to access female-only spaces.' What did she say that was so terrible that her life needed to be destroyed? I will get to that, but what difference does it make? It should not be — cannot be — the law in Canada that we can only say what some totalitarian, narrow-minded official approves of. I couldn't care less if anyone was offended by what she said. Be offended. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. I am often offended by what people say, but you might recall that I stood up for the free speech and employment rights of an emergency worker for uneducated comments about the Middle East. What she said was not only offensive, but it also wasn't true. But she didn't call for violence and didn't slander or libel an individual. If Israel wants to sue her for saying they lure children in Gaza with food and then shoot them, we'll see how that goes. Hamm had worked in health care for more than 13 years and had been promoted to be a nurse educator. She said she is fighting against what she described as a 'fringe' movement of activists influencing official positions on transgender rights and access to gender-affirming care. 'It's a movement that is infringing on the rights of women and pushing institutions to adopt what are false and delusional beliefs,' she said. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The CBC reported on the horror of Hamm by saying she frequently refers to transgender women as 'men' in social media posts, videos and podcasts, implying they pose a danger to cisgender women and children. Well, they are men. They are only women to people who cannot define a woman. It may be impolite to hector a trans individual who never did anything to harm us and to refuse to use pronouns preferred by the individual, but impolite is not illegal. Or it didn't used to be. Let me help them out. A woman is an adult female human being. Remember Mama Bear and Papa Bear? They had Baby Bear. They knew what was what. As for whether trans women are a danger to what are referred to as cis women — and children — that should be open for debate. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. I think trans women competing in women's and girls' sports is not only unfair, but it can also be dangerous. RECOMMENDED VIDEO In a basketball game between the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell in Massachusetts and KIPP Academy in Lynn, Mass., a trans-identified 6-foot male player with facial hair, playing for the KIPP Academy girls basketball team, injured multiple players and eventually forced the Lowell school to forfeit. In a now-widely circulated video, the player in question is seen wrestling the ball away from one of the girls, causing her to hit the ground, where she clutches her back in pain. North Carolina volleyball player Payton McNabb suffered a serious injury after a trans-identified male player spiked a ball at her head and rendered her unconscious. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 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Yes, trans women can be — not necessarily in all cases, of course — a danger to women and girls. Hamm testified Friday that she became aware of the college's investigation in 2021 after she co-sponsored the posting of a billboard on Hastings St. in Vancouver saying: 'I (heart) J.K. Rowling.' The billboard was in support of the Harry Potter author, who has made public comments that, the CBC writes, have been criticized as anti-trans by LGBTQ groups and other advocates. Rowling's comments, I would point out to the CBC, have also been lauded as accurate and in defence of women's safety and rights. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Hamm has referred to the disciplinary proceedings as a 'witch trial' and suggested the college 'would love for me to suicide myself.' She told the panel she is particularly concerned about transgender women having access to women-only spaces, including prisons and change rooms. She pointed to examples like Madilyn Harks, a transgender woman with a history of sexually assaulting young girls who has been housed in women's correctional facilities. Harks, 36, was convicted three times for sexual assaults against girls under the age of eight, Peel Regional Police said, adding the young victims have included neighbours and a fellow member of a church congregation. 'It makes me extremely, extremely angry and it feels as though people don't seem to care what happens to these women,' Hamm said of female inmates. She said she completely rejects the concept of gender identity, calling it 'anti-scientific, metaphysical nonsense.' You may completely disagree with Hamm. You have a right to say so and to voice your opinion. Does it not then follow that she has the same rights? Hamm faces a $94,000 fine and her career as a nurse is in jeopardy. I never expected the Canadian Inquisition. But here we are. Read More Canada Columnists Sunshine Girls Columnists Toronto & GTA
Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
U.S. trade and tariffs on agenda as Ford meets with Carney
Published Aug 18, 2025 • 1 minute read Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford hold a press conference after the first ministers' meeting at TCU Place on Monday, June 2, 2025. Photo by Michelle Berg / Postmedia OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford are sitting down together in Ottawa this morning, where trade with the U.S. is high on the agenda. Carney says the pair plan to talk about the steel and auto sectors, which have been hit hard by U.S. tariffs, as well as housing and the economy. Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc also arrived on Parliament Hill this morning. Carney says LeBlanc is set to provide an update about the status of trade talks with the Americans. Ford is in Ottawa today for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, which runs until Wednesday. Ford has said he plans to urge the prime minister to lower taxes to stimulate the economy in the face of American tariffs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Columnists Sunshine Girls World Toronto & GTA Columnists
Toronto Sun
4 days ago
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: Stick a fork in ‘Elbows Up'
Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised about $1.2 billion in loan guarantees, grants and contributions for Canadian sawmills. Photo by Darren Makowichuk / DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia 'Elbows Up' hasn't been Prime Minister Mark Carney's approach to dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs ever since he won the April election and it's time to consign the phrase to the dustbin of history. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account While Carney advocated dollar-for-dollar tariffs against the U.S. during the Liberal leadership race, he quickly jettisoned the idea on becoming prime minister. That was logical given that Canada would lose a dollar-for-dollar trade war because the U.S. economy is ten times the size of ours. A Leger/Postmedia poll released last week found public support for the 'Elbows Up' approach to trade relations with the U.S. — that the Liberals originally promoted — has plummeted. Six months ago, it was at 73%. Now it's down to 45%, close to a statistical tie with 41% who say Canadian negotiators should take a more measured approach and focus on getting a deal with Trump, even if it means some tariffs on Canadian goods remain. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. That's similar to Carney's path on the issue — posing initially as a trade warrior who would meet Trump dollar-for-dollar on the field of battle and get a deal eliminating all the Trump tariffs. That was always a double-edged sword because Canadian counter-tariffs on imported U.S. goods are paid by Canadians in higher consumer prices. Carney's position has changed significantly since then. First, his government removed counter-tariffs it had initially imposed on many imported American goods that Canadian companies needed to continue operating. He scrapped the Liberals' digital services tax within days of Trump demanding it. Then he lowered expectations, saying a deal with Trump could include some U.S. tariffs. Carney also put out the word that Canada's position was that no deal with the U.S. was better than a bad deal. What it all means is that some of the tariffs Trump has already imposed on us could become permanent, leading up to renegotiating the entire Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade that comes up for renewal next year. Trump agreed to that deal during his first term, praising it at the time as 'the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law … the best agreement we've ever made.' Crime Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays Canada Sunshine Girls
