Free Republic

CALGARY — A white supremacist group that is offering to help pay the rent of new members as part of its "relocation program - destination Calgary" has raised the ire of the city's mayor. "The Aryan Guard is always seeking new brothers and sisters, if you are interested in relocating to our Calgary area, we will pay the damage deposit for your residence," a local member of Aryan Guard has posted on stormfront.org, a chat group that promotes "white pride." "We believe that through fortifying our current locations with more White Nationlists [sic] we can spread the world more efficiently...

In front of me stand 120 marijuana plants whose thick bushy leaves cover the strong stems. John explains nonchalantly that this is just a small growing operation, or grow-ops. Every two to three months, John harvests 8lbs, worth about $20,000. Inspector Brian Cantera of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) believes that John's small grow-op is one of 20,000 to be found in residential houses around the province. That figure excludes the larger grow-ops in industrial locations, not to mention the huge dope farms that are scattered around British Columbia's vast interior. The striking aspect of BC's marijuana trade is...

Waldo - Some 150 anarchists from throughout the United States and Canada descended on a strip of private land this week in this Sheboygan County village for four days of workshops, including some focused on strategizing for demonstrations at the upcoming Democratic and Republican national conventions. The 2008 CrimethInc. Convergence was the sixth annual communal campout organized by CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective, an international underground network that since the mid-1990s has published widely read anarchist texts such as "Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook." The group also has drawn the attention of FBI agents trying to infiltrate the protest movement. At...

A Canadian boy was rescued after being kidnapped, hidden in a car's trunk and forced into an oil drum, officials said. The abduction took place when a man grabbed the 8-year-old boy off a street Tuesday in the Canadian province of Quebec, the Gazette, Montreal reported Thursday. A witness called authorities and other people gave information to police as the abductor drove around Levis with the boy, the newspaper said. One onlooker said they saw the boy in the trunk while stopped at a traffic light, and another said they saw the man remove the boy from the car and...

A US soldier who deserted to Canada and sought refugee status for opposing the war in Iraq has been extradited to the United States, officials said, in Canada's first such case since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "I can confirm that he has been expelled from Canada and returned to his country of origin," Shakila Manzoor, a spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency (ASFC) said. US citizen Robin Long, 25, fled to Canada in 2005 and demanded refugee status, claiming he would suffer irreparable harm if he were sent back to the United States. He also argued that he...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 15 (Reuters) - Canada deported on Tuesday the first of some 200 Americans who deserted the U.S. military and sought refugee status to protest against the Iraq War. Robin Long, 25, was removed a day after a Federal Court judge in Vancouver rejected his claim that he would suffer irreparable harm if returned to the United States. He fled across the border in 2005 as his army tank unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq. The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed Long's removal, but declined to give other details, citing privacy laws. Long's refugee claim had...

Chaim Shmuel Golubchuk, a"h, has gone to his Eternal reward. But the issues that pitted his children Percy Golubchuk and Miriam Geller against Grace General Hospital in Winnipeg over the last seven months will long be with us. After being informed by their father's doctors that they intended to end his life by removing his ventilation and feeding tube, the Golubchuk children sought an injunction against the hospital. They argued that their father would adamantly oppose any attempt to shorten his life, which is forbidden by Jewish law. After the entry of a temporary injunction, the hospital pursued an aggressive...

Even in Quebec the public is split about 50-50 on the Green Shift plan, and if you can't fool Quebecers with an environmental plan that screws Alberta, who can you fool?.....

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Canada is a cultural dichotomy. We are a collection of very singular and – dare I say? – distinct peoples who have very little in common, yet are feebly tied together through pseudo-patriotic themes such as beer commercials and donut shops. Confederation, that wonderfully impossible concept of complete and total Canadian national unity, has never worked and never will. One trip to a different part of the country proves that unequivocally. That is what became apparent to me during my camping venture in British Columbia.....

Maclean's magazine, Canada's Newsweek, was brought before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for running an excerpt from Mark Steyn's book America Alone. The California websites introduced as evidence were FreeRepublic and Catholic Answers. The claim was that their discussion boards proved that Maclean's inspire hate-speech toward Muslims. The Washington Times reports: "Numerous Canadians and Americans following the hearing denounced the case as absurd and that it is a threat to free speech that a provincial tribunal is asserting jurisdiction over the writings of a best-selling author residing in New Hampshire, based upon an out-of-province complainant offended by the response...

VANCOUVER -- Americans cherish their constitutional right to keep and bear arms, even when they come to Canada. Canada Border Services Agency officers regularly discover smuggled guns destined for the Canadian criminal underworld, but most firearms they turn up belong to otherwise law-abiding Americans, according to agency intelligence summaries. "Most of the firearms seized by CBSA at the land ports of entry are the personal firearms of legitimate U.S. travellers who neglected - intentionally or not - to declare their personal firearms," says the agency's strategic intelligence analysis division in an undated report covering the period from 2004 to 2006....

“Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don’t give it any value.” Investigator for the Canadian Human Rights Commission Scientology, the new age "religion" founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has a new opponent, scores of anonymous protesters across the web who have aptly named themselves, Anonymous. Anonymous, with its legions of cyber-warriors, has been busy exposing Scientology's murky past and the inner workings of the "Church", and its practice of "fair gaming". Damian DeWitt, a member of Anonymous, makes some great points about the "prosecution" of Free Speech by Canada's largest oxymoron, the Human...

Media AdvisoryOur fallen soldier returns homeLFCA MA 08-008 - July 8, 2008OTTAWA, Ont. — Our fallen soldier, Private Colin William Wilmot, 24, of 1 Field Ambulance, based out of Edmonton, Alberta is scheduled to return home to Canada tomorrow. Where: 8 Wing Trenton, Canadian Forces Base Trenton, Ontario. When: Wednesday, July 9, 2:00 p.m. What: Media are invited to view the arrival; however, no interviews will be given. Present to pay their respects at tomorrow's repatriation ceremony will be the Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and other dignitaries. Pte...

It's the sort of sight that too often makes Canadian politicians go weak in the spine: ethnic voters rallying for a parochial, unsavory cause. Over the weekend, thousands of Tamil Canadians gathered in a Toronto park to denounce Ottawa's decision to outlaw the World Tamil Movement (WTM), which the RCMP believes is nothing but a fundraising front for the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lankan-based terrorist group that has been outlawed in Canada since 2006. Even by the standards of terrorist insurgencies, the Tigers are a brutal organization -- a creepy cult-like outfit that habitually engages in massacres of civilians, and...

It's long been a Google tradition, a wink to Canucks: A Canada Day version of the website's logo, illustrated with Maple Leaves, a loon and even a beaver. But yesterday? Nothing but the usual primary-coloured letters. Asked for comment about the snub, a spokesperson offered little comfort in an e-mail. "We enjoy celebrating holidays at Google and are sorry we missed one that's special to you. As you may imagine, it's difficult for us to choose which events to celebrate on our site. We have a long list of holidays that we'd like to celebrate in the future. We have...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

SWANTON, Vt. -- The U.S. Border Patrol says an agent shot at three suspects after being assaulted near the Vermont-Quebec border early today.The agency said the officer was interviewing the three who were on foot at about 2:15 a.m. when he was assaulted. The agent fired two shots.A male and female suspect are in custody. The third suspect, a male, escaped back into Canada.The Border Patrol said it doesn't know if the missing suspect was armed or if he was wounded.Border Patrol Spokesman Mark Henry said the agent was on routine patrol when he spotted the suspects. The suspects knocked...

TORONTO (Reuters) - The number of vehicles imported into Canada from the United States in 2008 is well on pace to break last year's record high, according to data compiled by the North American Automobile Trade Association. Canadians imported 151,169 vehicles as of June 30, more than double the amount for the same period a year earlier, and fast approaching the 189,738 vehicles imported throughout 2007.

Parents seek to stop candy throwing at parades Some British Columbia in are trying to end the practice of throwing candy from floats during parades.   DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — Some British Columbia in are trying to end the practice of throwing candy from floats during parades.The campaign in Dawson Creek is the latest effort by people concerned about children bolting into the parade to scoop up the sweets. Efforts to end candy tossing have been adopted in Kamloops, Prince George and Fort St. John.A Fort St. John town council member and parade marshal, Larry Evans, says float drivers...

A Canadian court has ordered the country's refugee board to re-examine an American deserter's rejected attempt for asylum in Canada.The court ruled that the board made mistakes when it turned down Joshua Key's claim for asylum. Mr Key served in Iraq in 2003 before deserting to Canada with his family while on leave in the US. The ruling could affect scores of other US soldiers sheltering in Canada who have refused to fight in Iraq. Possible deportations Joshua Key served in Iraq as a US combat engineer in Iraq in 2003. He claims that he witnessed several cases of abusive...

CALGARY, July 2, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community will unveil Canada's largest Mosque Complex and a stunning architectural landmark in Calgary on Saturday, July 5th, 2008. With a total area of approximately 48,000 sq. ft. the new Mosque will be a symbol of peace and social harmony. The Head of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, His Holiness Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad will inaugurate the new mosque. The Prime Minister, Stephen Harper - Leader of National Liberal Party, Stephene Dion - His Worship Dave Bronconnier, Mayor of Calgary, together with other senior community and political figures and the...

In a nation where around 25% of the citizens categorize themselves as ‘French’, and a province where that number is drastically lower than that, we find ourselves now force-fed a different language and a different culture. And people wonder why I am an Alberta separatist.

Since deserting his unit in Iraq and fleeing to Canada two years ago, Corey Glass has become the poster boy of the war resisters movement. Thursday in Toronto, supporters are planning to protest his scheduled deportation back to the United States. Corey Glass, 25, who deserted the U.S. Army while his unit was in Iraq and fled to Canada has become a cause celebre there. The American's impending deportation has led to protests and a parliamentary resolution. (ABC News Photo Illustration)But it turns out Glass has had little reason to be on the lam, ABC News has learned. Unknown to...

OTTAWA, JULY 2, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Canada's highest civilian honor has been "debased," the archbishop of Toronto said after the government named abortionist Dr. Henry Morgentaler as an appointee to the Order of Canada. "A community's worth is measured by the way it treats the most vulnerable," Archbishop Thomas Collins wrote Tuesday in a statement, "and no one is more vulnerable than in the first nine months of life's journey." The appointments were announced on Canada Day, which this year marked the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec. According to the press released issued by the governor general's office, Morgentaler...

The Enemy Within Cross posted from Radarsite From an original article at Canada.com http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=9f21ec5a-e493-4885-bb14-47551110a297David Harris, Citizen Special Published: Thursday, June 26, 2008 If terrorism suspect Momin Khawaja, now on trial in Ottawa, is as guilty as Crown prosecutors say, it'll be time to settle an important question: Was Mr. Khawaja a "Naji man"? Amid trial allegations, court details and defence objections, significant questions arise about Mr. Khawaja's status as a consultant to the Department of Foreign Affairs at about the time of his arrest. Prosecutors claim the software contractor used his perch inside the department to send streams of E-mails...

Canada's economy was the envy of the world in the 1970s, ranking third. Now it has fallen to 11th place, behind leader Ireland. And on a per capita basis, individuals in the United States, which ranks seventh, earn $6,400 a year more on average than Canadians. Canada has been able to do as well as it has over the years mostly due to its abundant natural resource riches and proximity to the world's richest and largest market, the report says.

To be an American is to be the best. Every American believes this. Their sports champions are not U.S. champions, they're world champions. Their corporations aren't the largest in the States, they're the largest on the planet. Their armies don't defend just America, they defend freedom. Like the perpetual little brother, Canadians have always lived in the shadow of our American neighbours. We mock them for their uncultured ways, their brash talk and their insularity, but it's always been the thin laughter of the insecure. After all, says University of Lethbridge sociologist Reginald Bibby, a leading tracker of social trends,...

Recently, on a return flight from Washington D.C., I found myself sharing the plane with Jim Flaherty. It gives me no pleasure to approve of anything Jim Flaherty does – he has always seemed to me like a classic big little man who shouldn't be trusted to run a used car lot never mind the finances of a country. Still, I want to give him his due: the man who determines how much tax you and I pay, and how precisely the government goes about spending it, was flying economy. And when our flight landed, he waited in line to...

Police in Toronto, Canada concluded that the 16-year-old-Pakistani girl Aqsa Parvez, was murdered by her father... and her brother, for refusing to wear the hijab or veil as is the custom for women in traditional Muslim households. "Instead of getting angry at the father and brother who are accused of planning the murder by luring the runaway teenager back to her home, leaders of the conservative and orthodox Muslim community made excuses." we found few other Muslim leaders willing to slam the father, mother, sister and brother, who either joined hands in killing the young girl, or sat passively as...

How are thing? I mean, really – how are things going for you? I’ve been hearing some…well, disturbing things lately and I just wanted to touch base and see if you were okay.....

TORONTO - The Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed a complaint filed by the Canadian Islamic Congress against Maclean's magazine. The Congress claimed an article written by Mark Steyn, entitled "The Future Belongs to Islam" and posted on the Maclean's website in October 2006, made a number of statements and assertions that were likely to expose Muslims to hatred or contempt. In its ruling, posted on Maclean's website, the commission acknowledges "the writing is polemical, colourful and emphatic, and was obviously calculated to excite discussion and even offend certain readers, Muslim and non-Muslim alike." But the commission also says that,...

A new poll suggests Canadians would prefer to vote for Barack Obama rather cast a ballot for their own political leaders, while 45 per cent of Americans envy Canada's health care system. The bi-national survey, conducted by the Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, showed that here in Canada, Obama was more admired than Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- or any other national leader. "Some would read (the results) as an indictment of our political leaders," the Strategic Counsel's Peter Donolo told CTV.ca. "Others would say it's an acknowledgement of the phenomenal nature of Obama's appeal. He...

<p>A Canadian stand-up comedian will face a human rights tribunal hearing after a woman complained she and her friends faced a "tirade of homophobic and sexist comments" while attending one of his shows.</p> <p>In a decision released this week, the B. C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled there is enough evidence to hear the case of Vancouver woman Lorna Pardy against Toronto comedian Guy Earle. Zesty's Restaurant in Vancouver, where the May 22, 2007, show took place, has also been named in the complaint.</p>

Events in the U.S. and Toronto highlight differences between our two countries on firearms. As Toronto city council bans shooting clubs within city limits, the U.S. Supreme Court issues a ruling validating private gun ownership as constitutionally protected , overruling a restrictive D.C. law banning handguns. Canadians have an interesting relationship with guns. Canada is home to millions of firearms and our level of gun ownership of 22% is close to France and Sweden, yet we speak about them with terror and pretend guns are something only Americans own. Our association of America with guns runs deep. Torontonians speak scornfully...

As this presidential campaign continues, the candidates' comments about health care will continue to include stories of their own experiences and anecdotes of people across the country: the uninsured woman in Ohio, the diabetic in Detroit, the overworked doctor in Orlando, to name a few. But no one will mention Claude Castonguay — perhaps not surprising because this statesman isn't an American and hasn't held office in over three decades.

 Human rights complaint over comic's lesbian remarksUpdated Thu. Jun. 26 2008 11:13 PM ETCTV.ca News StaffA Toronto comedian facing a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal hearing says offensive comments he made to two Vancouver lesbians were simply an attempt to stop them from heckling him on stage."I don't hate anybody based on their sexual orientation, or whatever, but I do hate hecklers and sometimes I get a little vehement," Guy Earle says in a radio interview posted on YouTube.Earle said he was hosting a weekly open-mic night in a restaurant on March 22, 2007 when the two women moved up...

Energy Policy: The U.S. is beset by hostile petro-states determined to drive up oil and ream our economy. No matter to Barack Obama. He's drawn a new bead on . . . Canada, our best supplier. His arrogance will cost us.It was the second time Obama tried to cast our friendly northern neighbor as some sort of problem. On Wednesday, he indicated that Canada's prized Alberta oil-sands extractions were "dirty" and his energy adviser called it an "open question" as to whether oil-sands production, already 47% of Canada's output, would be used to resolve $4 a gallon gas at the...

As this presidential campaign continues, the candidates' comments about health care will continue to include stories of their own experiences and anecdotes of people across the country: the uninsured woman in Ohio, the diabetic in Detroit, the overworked doctor in Orlando, to name a few.But no one will mention Claude Castonguay — perhaps not surprising because this statesman isn't an American and hasn't held office in over three decades. Castonguay's evolving view of Canadian health care, however, should weigh heavily on how the candidates think about the issue in this country. Back in the 1960s, Castonguay chaired a Canadian government...

Banning handguns is all the rage. Mayor David Miller's push for a national ban has been joined by other Canadian big-city mayors. Yet, dissatisfied with progress at the national level, Miller successfully asked city council this week to approve measures to further discourage gun ownership in Toronto, such as shutting down city-owned gun ranges. While it may seem obvious to many people that banning handguns will save lives and cut crime, the experience in the United States suggests differently. Two major U. S. cities -- Washington, D.C., and Chicago --have tried banning handguns. (The U. S. Supreme Court is soon...

“We sent a clear message to the West regarding the red lines that should not be crossed.” That sounds like the statement of a victor in a war, dictating terms to the vanquished. And it may well be: free speech is under attack in Canada – the prosecution of Macleans Magazine and author Mark Steyn – and in the United States as well by Islamic governments and groups whose goal is to end free speech when it is aimed at exposing the truth about Islamic terrorism and its roots. Their goal is positively Orwellian. Replace “Big Brother” with the “Organization...

US and Canadian intelligence agencies warned Thursday that Hizbullah attacks on Jewish targets around the world could be imminent. ABC News quoted intelligence officials as saying that Hizbullah had activated sleeper cells in Canada, and that top terror operatives had left Lebanon for the US, Canada and Africa. According to the officials, Hizbullah wants to avenge February's assassination of its operations head Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, for which the Shi'ite group holds Israel accountable. Israel has repeatedly denied the allegation. There was no reliable intelligence regarding the possible targets of such an attack, the sources told ABC News, adding, however,...

Cardinal Marc Ouellet faced a daunting task when he became archbishop of Quebec, Canada, in 2003.The province of Quebec, once thoroughly Catholic, with roots in the rich history of French missionaries, had become thoroughly secularized. The 49th International Eucharistic Congress was held in his city June 15-22, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Quebec’s founding, with hopes that it would provide a way to rekindle the spark of faith there. The cardinal, who is also primate of Canada and was once a missionary in Colombia, took advantage of the opportunity. He set out on a program of pastoral renewal centered...

With the rising tide of anti-Jewish hostility in Europe getting so much attention in recent months, it is somewhat surprising that an equally worrisome trend across the Atlantic has gone largely unnoticed -- mounting anti-Semitism in Canada. With 360,000 Jews, Canada is home to the fifth largest Jewish community outside of Israel, and America's northern neighbor has long prided itself for its tolerance, openness, and freedom. But that legacy is now under assault amid a spate of recent, and deeply troubling, incidents. Over the past 12 months, there have been more than 300 anti-Semitic incidents in Canada, or nearly one...

Election: Going to Canada to show appreciation doesn't seem an obvious way to win a U.S. election. But based on the fury it drew from Democrats, maybe John McCain was on to something.The Republican front-runner made an unusual trip to Ottawa, Canada, on Friday to extol the benefits of free trade with our largest trading partner. It was a gutsy way to get attention — and an obvious way to show statesmanship, given that Canada sold the U.S. $560 billion in goods and services in 2007. Not everyone agrees. Canada in fact has been stunned to find itself at the...

Evidence of ancient farming found By Jeff Nagel - Burnaby NewsLeader June 20, 2008 A 3,600-year-old native village site uncovered during road work for the new Golden Ears Bridge is being hailed as a globally significant find that suggests aboriginal people here were CanadaÂ’s first recorded farmers. The ancient discovery has electrified archaeologists who say it may help reverse long-held notions of pre-contact natives as hunter-gatherers who didnÂ’t actively garden or otherwise manage the landscape. It also shines a new spotlight on the accelerating loss of First Nations heritage sites in the Lower Mainland to make way for new highways,...

According to some journalists, freedom of speech is in peril in Canada. And human rights commissions are "kangaroo courts." Nothing could be further from the truth. Only genuine misunderstanding or deliberate distortion can explain the media's mostly one-sided discourse on the case of Maclean's before the federal, as well as the Ontario and British Columbia, human rights commissions. The group that filed the complaint against the magazine argued that a series of articles, especially a 4,800-word piece portraying Muslims as a menace to the West, may have constituted hate speech. Canada has followed a different path on free speech than...

Alberta's energy prominence makes it a terror target, conference toldJoel Kom, Canwest News Service Published: Friday, June 20, 2008 CALGARY -- Alberta's emergence as an energy superpower already has made it a target for international Islamic terrorists, but the province's growing oil and gas wealth could also help breed homegrown terrorism, law enforcement officials and advisers said Thursday. After opening an anti-terrorism conference in Calgary for security professionals in government and law enforcement, city police Chief Rick Hanson said it's not just extremism from abroad that has to be on the radar. "The risk of homegrown local terrorists, in the...

Residents of Kelowna, B.C. are outraged about the anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on the walls of a local Jewish centre. "It seems like an ignorant, mindless thing to do," resident Eddie Sanchez told CTV British Columbia on Saturday. "It's sad, it's very sad that it happens in our community," added Connie Sprague. Police in Kelowna say the vandals struck the Okanagan Jewish Community Centre sometime between Friday night and early Saturday morning. The vandals sprayed Nazi swastikas and hateful slogans on the walls. They also struck a local elementary school and some vehicles in the area. Police say they have no...

Racism among Winnipeg police is the reason Matthew Dumas was shot and killed by a cop, the victim's family charged yesterday following a two-week inquest into the death 31/2 years ago. Jessica Dumas, a sister of the 18-year-old aboriginal man who was shot while wielding a screwdriver on a North End street, joined her mother, First Nations officials and a University of Manitoba sociology professor in slamming city police for what they claimed is a practice of "racial profiling" of suspects. "Matthew shouldn't have been killed," Jessica Dumas told reporters at the Southern Chiefs Organization's offices after the completion of...

QUEBEC CITY (CNS) -- Nearly 25,000 Catholics from around the world poured through the narrow streets of Quebec City, accompanying the Eucharist in an outpouring of religious fervor absent from this city for at least half a century. The June 19 procession was one of the highlights of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress June 15-22. The Eucharist, held in an oversized modern monstrance, was driven through the streets on a platform pulled by a truck. Riding with the monstrance were Slovakian Cardinal Jozef Tomko, Pope Benedict XVI's representative to the congress; Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet; and Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr of...