‘Difficult and challenging': Consultations on Red Dress Alert pilot project underway
A report into a proposed alert for missing Indigenous women has been released, showing the benefits and challenges an alert would have.
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CTV News
20 minutes ago
- CTV News
Trump and Musk to speak Friday after alliance descends into public feud, Politico reports
A war of words is beginning to emerge between U.S. President Trump and Elon Musk following the billionaire's White House exit. Joy Malbon has the details. WASHINGTON -- White House aides scheduled a call between Donald Trump and Elon Musk for Friday, Politico reported, after a huge public spat that saw threats fly over government contracts and ended with the world's richest man suggesting the U.S. president should be impeached. The reported call could ease the feuding after an extraordinary day of hostilities - largely conducted over social media - that marked a stark end to a close alliance. Shares in Musk's Tesla closed down over 14 per cent on Thursday, losing about US$150 billion in market value in the largest single-day decline in value in its history. In pre-market European trading on Friday they pared some of those losses, rising 5% after the Politico report that the two men were scheduled to speak. Musk had bankrolled a large part of Trump's presidential campaign and was then brought as one of the president's most visible advisers, heading up a sweeping and controversial effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending. The verbal punches erupted on Thursday after Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office and the pair then traded barbs on their social media platforms: Trump's Truth Social and Musk's X. The falling-out had begun brewing days ago when Musk, who left his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency a week ago, denounced Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill. The president initially stayed quiet while Musk campaigned to torpedo the bill, saying it would add too much to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. Trump broke his silence on Thursday, telling reporters he was 'very disappointed' in Musk. 'Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore,' Trump said. As Trump spoke, Musk responded on X. 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election,' wrote Musk, who spent nearly $300 million backing Trump and other Republicans in last year's election. In another post, Musk asserted that Trump's signature import tariffs would push the U.S. into a recession later this year. 'The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,' Trump posted. Minutes after the closing bell, Musk replied, 'Yes,' to a post on X saying Trump should be impeached, something that would be highly unlikely given Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of Congress. Musk's businesses also include rocket company and government contractor SpaceX and its satellite unit Starlink. Musk, whose space business plays a critical role in the U.S. government's space program, said that as a result of Trump's threats he would begin decommissioning SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. Dragon is the only U.S. spacecraft capable of sending astronauts to the International Space Station. Late on Thursday, Musk backed off the threat. In another sign of a possible detente to come, Musk subsequently wrote: 'You're not wrong,' in response to billionaire investor Bill Ackman saying Trump and Musk should make peace. Punching back Trump and Musk are both political fighters with a penchant for using social media to attack their perceived enemies, and many observers had predicted a falling-out. Musk hit at the heart of Trump's agenda earlier this week when he targeted what Trump has named his 'big, beautiful bill,' calling it a 'disgusting abomination' that would deepen the federal deficit. His attacks amplified a rift within the Republican Party that could threaten the bill's prospects in the Senate. Nonpartisan analysts say Trump's bill could add $2.4 trillion to $5 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion in debt. A prolonged feud between the pair could make it harder for Republicans to keep control of Congress in next year's midterm elections if it leads to a loss of Musk's campaign spending or erodes support for Trump in Silicon Valley. 'Elon really was a significant portion of the ground game this last cycle,' said a Republican strategist with ties to Musk and the Trump administration who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. 'If he sits out the midterms, that worries me.' On Tuesday, Musk posted that 'in November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.' Musk had already said he planned to curtail his political spending in the future. Musk's increasing focus on politics provoked widespread protests at Tesla sites, driving down sales while investors fretted that Musk's attention was too divided. By Nandita Bose and Andrea Shalal, Reuters Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Joey Roulette and Jarrett Renshaw; Writing by Costas Pitas, Joseph Ax and Charlie Devereux; Editing by Don Durfee, Michael Perry and Frances Kerry
National Post
27 minutes ago
- National Post
Mia Hughes: Canadian Medical Association wants to force Alberta to ignore science on gender care
Article content The entire field is built upon research out of the Netherlands that has been shown to be methodologically flawed, and the diagnosis of gender dysphoria is shaped by political lobbying intended to reduce stigma and distress. Article content What's more, the Canadian Pediatric Society bases its recommendations on the field's standards of care which are set by the discredited World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). In a recently withdrawn legal challenge to Alabama's youth gender medicine ban, WPATH was forced to disclose over two million internal emails that revealed the organization blocked independent systematic reviews that showed low-quality evidence, consulted 'social justice lawyers' when drafting its medical guidelines, and, at the Biden administration's request, removed almost all lower age limits from its adolescent chapter to avoid undermining state-level legal battles. Article content Reimer also stated, without irony, that medical decisions should be based on 'the best science.' Yet the best science — specifically the systematic reviews from Sweden, Finland, England, and a team of researchers in Canada — has all concluded the evidence base for paediatric medical transition is of very low certainty. Alberta's Bill 26 reflects that consensus. The CMA's position contradicts it. Article content This isn't the first legal challenge to Alberta's legislation. Late last year, Egale Canada — originally a gay rights charity that expanded into trans advocacy in the early 2000s — teamed up with the Skipping Stone Foundation and five families to contest the law. That move is surprising given early research conducted by leading figures in gender medicine, Psychologist/Sexologist Kenneth Zucker and Psychiatrist Susan Bradley, found that most children with early-onset gender dysphoria would grow up to be gay or lesbian if left untreated, and same-sex attracted teens are overrepresented in the adolescent patients who began flooding gender clinics in the 2010s and among detransitioners. That a gay rights group would back medical interventions that have the potential to sterilize homosexual adolescents is a tragic reversal of purpose. Article content In an interview, Dr. Jake Donaldson, one of three Alberta doctors who filed the challenge alongside the CMA, inadvertently highlighted the questionable rationale for these extreme medical interventions. He believes that puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones help gender-distressed youth blend in better as members of the opposite sex, which makes them 'safer and happier.' But even if that were true — and there is no high-quality evidence to suggest that it is — this approach only offers a superficial, short-term fix that ignores the deeper psychological struggles of these youth. And it can come at such immense long-term cost in the form of sterility, sexual dysfunction, and lifelong medical dependence. Article content 'Medicine is a calling,' explained the CMA president in her statement. 'Doctors pursue it because they are compelled to care for and promote the well-being of patients.' Article content Yet noble intentions are no safeguard against harm. History is littered with medical scandals. At the centre of each one, there were well-intentioned doctors who left a trail of devastation in their quest to help patients. The doctors who prescribed thalidomide didn't do so with the intention of causing major birth defects; the obstetricians who sent expectant mothers for prenatal X-rays didn't deliberately set out to cause childhood leukemia, and Walter Freeman famously believed his prefrontal lobotomies were a humane alternative to the deplorable conditions in insane asylums. Article content At this point, there is little doubt that paediatric gender medicine is destined to take its place in history alongside these medical catastrophes. Therefore, Alberta is not acting unreasonably; it is acting responsibly. By restricting unproven and irreversible treatments for minors, the province has commendably joined a global wave of governments re-asserting evidence and ethical principles in the face of medical groupthink. It is the CMA — not the Alberta government — that must reckon with its conscience. Article content Mia Hughes specializes in researching pediatric gender medicine, psychiatric epidemics, social contagion and the intersection of trans rights and women's rights. She is the author of ' The WPATH Files,' a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, and director of Genspect Canada. Article content
CBC
34 minutes ago
- CBC
Hope Air Day in Sault St. Marie to raise awareness about medical charity
Social Sharing The national Hope Air organization is marking Hope Air Day in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday, to raise awareness about the medical service that it provides to people who need to travel for health reasons. The charity offers free travel and accommodations for low income patients who need medical care, but can't afford or access that care close to home. CEO Mark Rubinstein said Hope Air has been "bridging the distance between home and hospital for thousands of families in need." "Low income families, even with the Northern Health Travel Grant, can't afford the significant airline costs, hotel costs, ground transportation costs, that can be thousands and thousands of dollars for patients who are travelling multiple times throughout the year, and that's the gap that Hope Air fills," Rubinstein told CBC News. "Over the last 12 months we would have supported well over 1,100 medical trips and that includes flights, hotels, meals and ground transportation. That actually works out to be over 3,600 travel arrangements when you take the sum of all of those program supports that supports people living in over 85 communities across Ontario including Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Red Lake and North Bay." We're really unable to meet the unmet demand where so many more people would avail themselves of Hope Air services. Rubinstein said the charity is funded through a hybrid model of public and private sector funding. "In almost every province across the country, we would receive some government funding and then that would be supplemented by generous donors, corporations, individuals, foundations. "And it's the combination of those two funding sources that allows us to make sure that everyone who needs help travelling north-south, no matter which province you're talking about, can receive that help." In Ontario Hope Air is primarily funded through private sector donations, receiving no direct government funding, Rubinstein said. "Because of that, we're really unable to meet the unmet demand where so many more people would avail themselves of Hope Air services if there was secure funding made available to allow us to support them," he said. The Hope Air CEO said with appropriate funding the charity would be able to go from 3,600 travel arrangements to well over 8,000, adding that "the reason why we have not been able to really promote the service and make as many people aware of the service who should know about it is because our funding is limited." "Our government acknowledges the unique healthcare challenges faced by residents in northern and rural communities. That is why Ontario is one of the only jurisdictions to provide residents in the Northern parts of the province with reimbursement for costs incurred when having to travel outside of their community for specialized medical care. Conversations ongoing to work with Hope Air, province says A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the ministry has been in contact with Hope Air. "Our conversations and work with Hope Air are not over and we will continue to work together on a path forward that will ensure all Ontarians can access the care they need when they need it, no matter where they live," press secretary Ema Popovic wrote in an email to CBC News. Popovic said through the Northern Health Travel Grant (NHTG) the government supports more than 66,000 people each year to access the specialized care they need. "Last year, we announced we are investing an additional $45 million in the NHTG to expand and improve services, such as increasing reimbursement amounts and simplifying the application and submission form," Popovic said. "The NHTG program also partners with several third-party agencies, including Hope Air, that can advance funds to northern Ontarians eligible for funding under the NHTG." 'A load of stress off families' Becca Pariseau's son, Max, was diagnosed with hearing loss at birth and was a candidate for cochlear implants, which had to be done in Toronto. Pariseau is from Saulte Ste. Marie and said she heard about Hope Air through SickKids Hospital, Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. "It was amazing for me. I didn't know there was anything like that until we needed to use it," she said. "It's amazing what they can do to help families, because for us it would have been very hard financially to travel back and forth and so them helping with the flights and also hotel accommodations, food vouchers, Uber vouchers, everything is just so helpful and takes such a load of stress off families to be able to have that support. "I'd love to thank them and just say that I appreciate everything that they do for us and other families, and I'm very grateful to them for all the help we've been given and that we still need in the future because we'll be taking trips still every six months until [Max is] older," Pariseau added. Ed Johnston was getting ready to retire when he first learned about Hope Air at an aviation event held at Buttonville Municipal Airport. "I joined the organization, like, the following week and became a volunteer pilot a few months later," Johnston told CBC Sudbury. He said Hope Air provides travel access through airports where the major airlines don't fly, adding "it's a pretty cool thing." "I've been to some pretty northern remote airports," Johnston said, adding that the real reason he's volunteering is "to help other people." "So, when I heard about Hope Air and what they're doing for patients, it was kind of a natural thing just to step up to the plate and want to help," he said. "I'm passionate about aviation and I'm passionate about using aviation for the greater Air has given me inspiration, I love the organization, I love the people at the organization, wonderful people to work with. They've given me a mission, something to do with my time … and it's just about helping others," Johnston added. Johnston, who has flown approximately 11 flights so far, said his youngest passenger was a one-month-old with her mom and grandma on board. His oldest was an 86-year-old who flew to Toronto for a shoulder replacement.
