Free Republic

I have always understood and sympathized with the argument for assisted suicide for people facing terminal disease near the end of life. I think hospice care is the appropriate path, but most people can at least understand the impulse to ease the path for a suffering loved one. But I have also feared that the slippery slope would lead us to this point: assisted suicide for anyone at any time for any reason. And, eventually, outright medical murder, as happens in some Nordic countries where doctors sometimes decide for patients without consent. Canada is at the second stage after legalizing...

'Dignity and right to self-determination' outweigh parent's concerns, judge saysA Calgary judge has issued a ruling that clears the way for a 27-year-old woman to receive medical assistance in dying (MAID) despite her father's attempts through the courts to prevent that from happening. A publication ban protects the identities of the parties and the medical professionals. CBC News will identify the daughter as M.V. and the father as W.V. While Justice Colin Feasby acknowledged the "profound grief" that W.V. would suffer with the death of his child, he ruled the loss of M.V.'s autonomy was more important. "M.V.'s dignity and...

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly’s announcement Tuesday that Ottawa will halt arms sales to Israel made headlines worldwide. Israel’s supporters predictably blasted the decision, while pro-Palestinian progressives libelously accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza hailed it. The decision also undoubtedly put a smile on the faces of the hate marchers who have taken to Canada’s streets since October 7, threatening and intimidating Jews as they call for a “free Palestine” “From the river to the sea.” It also surely came as a sorely needed piece of good news to Hamas leaders holed up in their tunnels far underground as they...

Australians made $746 million in digital payments in 2018—that number soared to $93 billion in 2022.. A new all-in-one mobile app will offer what its developers claim is Australia’s first end-to-end digital banking platform for the country’s 2.4 million businesses with fewer than 10 employees. The announcement comes a day after Bankwest announced that it is closing 45 of its branches and transitioning the remaining 15 to Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) branches, going digital-only by October 2024. Bankwest is a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank, which trades on the Australian Stock Exchange. ... The new app, called Business+, was...

One scarcely knows where to begin in documenting the errors, scandals, and misadventures of Justin Trudeau’s Liberal regime. The problem is, one scarcely knows where to end. The outrages just keep on coming. Advertisement Trudeau has come in for much caustic criticism of late, as a growing number of ordinary citizens and the independent media have expressed their justified suspicion and resentment of an overbearing and increasingly despotic administration. The issues at stake are features, not bugs. The list of noxious measures, lapses, and deeds that tarnish Trudeau’s record include: 1. the selling-out of Canada’s national identity 2. the daunting...

One of my mentors was a cousin by marriage who was a biophysicist, prominent too - he was terraforming Mars with NASA when he died. He and his wife Jane were founding professors at York University. Jane had travelled by bus to Idi Amin’s Uganda to research her doctorate from the London School of Economics, proceeded to a law degree, and he ended his career as head of the Royal Society. God gave me my terrifying parents, but he also gave me Bob and Jane and I would fall on them periodically, sleep in his basement study, lined with tribal...

Canada ranked last in access to primary health care in a survey of 10 high-income countries released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information on Thursday. Eighty-six per cent of Canadians aged 18 and older said they had a doctor or a place they usually go for medical care in the 2023 survey by the Commonwealth Fund. That's down from 93 per cent of those surveyed in 2016 — and means that an estimated four million Canadian adults did not have access to primary care last year, the study said. The percentage of people who had access to primary care...

In a major push to seize control of the public’s financial freedom, Canada is radicalizing its banking system by linking citizens’ bank accounts to a tyrannical social credit score.The Canadian banking system will soon be transformed by a so-called “open banking” framework.Proponents are framing this as a more “inclusive” way for banks to easily share information and access user data.However, the move will merge social standings with banking to provide governments and unelected bureaucrats with complete control over our finances.The organization Open Banking Excellence (OBE), a World Bank partner that originated in the UK, boasts that it will incorporate social...

There's some serious political drama unfolding up north in Canada. It's all eyes on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government as a no-confidence vote is looming large on the horizon, set for March 21st. Now, the mainstream media might be downplaying it as a joke, but there's a twist in the tale that could shake things up. Rumor has it that tomorrow, the Bloc Québécois might just throw a curveball by siding with the conservatives in this crucial vote. Trudeau's grip on power is looking increasingly shaky, especially with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre leading the charge. Poilievre isn't mincing words -...

Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the northern U.S. border have jumped from 916 in fiscal year 2021 to 10,021 in fiscal 2023.. HIGHGATE, Vt.—At dawn or dusk, Kristy Brow used to enjoy alone time walking in the woods on her 21-acre property in Highgate, Vermont, a small rural town near the U.S.–Canada border. Lately, however, she’s cautious—she’s worried about potential encounters with illegal immigrants along the remote logging trail. “I don’t go out by myself anymore—especially at night,” said Mrs. Brow, who runs a dog obedience business from her home. “It’s unsettling. You can’t feel relaxed anymore,” she...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberals are trailing badly in the polls, on Friday said he thought about quitting his “crazy job” every day but insisted he would stay in office until the next election. That vote must be held by October 2025 and recent surveys of public opinion show the Liberals would be crushed by the right-of-center Conservatives. Pollsters say voters are tiring of Trudeau, who first took office in November 2015.

Free speech advocates around the world railed against a new Canadian law that could demand a life sentence for adults who violate speech laws on social media. Introduced last month, the Online Harms Act, or Bill C-63, would empower judges to imprison adults for life if they post views supportive of genocide. The bill would increase the maximum penalty for advocating genocide from five years to life imprisonment and from two years to five years, on indictment, for the willful promotion of hatred. Advocates of the bill say it will make online platforms safer. However, critics called the law "totalitarian"...

In the face of an alarming rise in car thefts, Toronto Police Service (TPS) Constable Marco Ricciardi has offered a controversial tip to residents: leave car keys in the front door to avoid violent home invasions. During a community safety meeting in Etobicoke, Constable Ricciardi addressed the issue, stating, “To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your fobs at your front door because they’re breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else.” In short, don’t make it hard for thieves to steal your car. This is what an unarmed society looks...

Currently, only platforms with user numbers above a certain threshold, to be set out through regulation, will be covered by the billPeople blocked from posting hate speech on social media might migrate to smaller platforms not covered by Canada’s new online harms bill, minority advocates warn. Richard Marceau, general counsel at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said he supported the bill as a way to combat hate speech. But he was concerned that if the bill only included the big platforms it would not deal with “people kicked off them or active on smaller platforms.” What to know...

A proposed law in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Canada will reportedly allow judges to throw adults in jail for life if they advocate for genocide online.Fox News reported Thursday that the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) would permit life sentences. The article also said, “The law would also allow a provincial judge to impose house arrest and a fine if there were reasonable grounds to believe a defendant ‘will commit’ an offense.”After Justice Minister Arif Virani introduced the bill, he said that in his role as a father, he was frightened of the dangers children might encounter online.Virani also said...

Acclaimed author Margaret Atwood has warned that the federal government’s online harms bill is “Orwellian” and its definitions of punishable hate speech are vague and could invite abuse, such as unwarranted complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Ms. Atwood said she has been the frequent target of “hate speech, online vilification, lies, threats and doxxing” and is “no fan of this kind of online behaviour.” But, in an e-mail exchange with The Globe and Mail, she said she is “also no fan of unsupervised authority acting under vague laws, without any oversight.” On Friday, she posted on X her...

She also shared tips on how she looks after her emotional well-being. 'I think we need more playfulness in this world. We should be very wary of ... adults who can’t play anymore'Sophie Grégoire Trudeau said women “shouldn’t expect the minimum” in what is being interpreted as a “veiled swipe” at Justin Trudeau by international media. Grégoire Trudeau has been making media appearances ahead of the publication of her debut book, Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other, which will be released on April 23, 2024. In Abu Dhabi, she was at the Forbes and Know Your Value’s annual 30/50...

A Canadian law that aims to make social media platforms safer is getting flak for what some decry as government overreach. Introduced late last month, the Online Harms Act, or Bill C-63, would allow judges to imprison adults for life if they advocate for genocide. The law would also allow a provincial judge to impose house arrest and a fine if there were reasonable grounds to believe a defendant “will commit” an offense – a provision Wall Street Journal columnist Michael Taube likened to the 2002 film, The Minority Report. Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, has criticized the...

Canadians got their first rude awakening about the limits to their constitutional freedoms during the Freedom Convoy protests in February of 2022, when, in a crackdown on truckers objecting to draconian Covid restrictions, the Trudeau government invoked the Emergencies Act, allowing authorities to jail organizers and seize their bank accounts. Sweeping “online safety” legislation in Canada proposed Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government threatening penalties up to life imprisonment for speech crimes, and real sentences for thought crimes, have civil rights groups sounding the alarm. The legislation, known as the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63), was tabled by Justice Minister...

The city of Toronto has a car theft problem, and it doesn't sound like police have much of a clue as to how to combat it. In a recent safety meeting, one officer even gave advice that basically boiled down to: If thieves come knocking to steal your car, just let 'em have it. As reported by blogTO, Toronto Police Service Constable Marco Ricciardi said, "To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your [key] fobs at your front door because they're breaking into your home to steal your car. They don't want anything else." On the...