While Canadians are told to tighten their belts, Ottawa’s payroll grows
https://www.rebelnews.com/while_canadians_are_told_to_tighten_their_belts_ottawa_s_payroll_grows
New Parliamentary Budget Officer figures show Ottawa’s spending climbing faster than population growth while Canadians are expected to absorb a ballooning deficit amid a cost-of-living crisis. Continue…
Montreal hair salon ordered to pay non-binary customer $500 after booking form had only 'male' and 'female' haircut options
https://thepostmillennial.com/montreal-hair-salon-ordered-to-pay-non-binary-customer-500-after-booking-form-had-only-male-and-female-haircut-options
A Montreal hair salon has been ordered to pay $500 to a person who identifies as non-binary after the customer claimed that their booking system was discriminatory. The processing system only allowed for the individual to get a men's or women's haircut.
Alexe Frédéric Migneault, who identifies as non-binary, was asked in an email to select either male or female when in the process of arranging for a haircut in 2023. The salon, Station 10, charges by the minute, and since women’s hair appointments tend to take longer for them, it was part of their processing system, per CTV.
"The concept seemed great because they charge based on the time that it takes to do the cut and not based on the gender of the person,” Migneault said. However, during the process, Migneault was disappointed that the booking only allowed for a men’s or a women’s haircut.
"It is not fair, and it’s not legal to tell me no, since you don’t fit into my worldview, I don’t want to do anything with you, and I don’t want you as my customer,” Migneault said about the situation.
Station 10’s co-owner, Alexis Labrecque, said that the business is a low-cost-high-volume model, and that bookings, since they are only done online, ask for the gender of customers to help with timing the appointments.
“It takes typically takes longer for a woman’s haircut than a man’s haircut,” he said. “So we optimize our agendas accordingly. We also get statistics for marketing.”
Migneault, however, claimed that reading the only two options of “male” and “female” led to “falling to complete disability" mentally. "I was already spiraling into a huge mental health crisis, and it precipitated my, falling to complete disability. I was unable to work for a year and a half."
Migneault filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, which recommended the $500 settlement. Labrecque refused to pay the settlement, so Migneault sued for $12,000.
"We fought back because we didn’t agree with the prejudice that we might have caused,” Lebrecque added. After the incident took place, the salon also updated its website to include a “gender-neutral” booking option.
The court, however, agreed that the only damages the salon had to pay were $500.
“It was discrimination, and non-binary people should not be forced to pick between men and women if they don’t want to identify as such,” Migneault said, seeing the $500 legal battle as a win.
12-year-old girl breathing on her own after being shot in head, neck by trans BC shooter
https://thepostmillennial.com/12-year-old-girl-breathing-on-her-own-after-being-shot-in-head-neck-by-trans-bc-shooter
The family of Maya Gebala, the 12-year-old girl who was shot during the shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia earlier in the month, have revealed that their daughter is beginning to take her own breaths.
In an update from Maya’s father, David Gebala, he wrote, "Every single day, you show us just how strong, determined, and incredible you truly are. You continue to defy every expectation the doctors and surgeons once prepared us for. We were told we only had hours and yet here you are, still fighting, still with us."
"You went from not being able to move at all, to moving more and more each day. And now, the nurses have adjusted your ventilator to pressure support because you’re taking your own breaths. What an amazing milestone." Continue…
Former BC school trustee ordered to pay LGBTQ educators $750k for 'injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect'
https://www.westernstandard.news/news/former-bc-school-trustee-ordered-to-pay-lgbtq-educators-750k-for-injury-to-dignity-feelings-and-self-respect/71294
The BC Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that former Chilliwack Board of Education trustee Barry Neufeld must pay $750,000 to LGBTQ members of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association over comments deemed offensive.
The tribunal argued that his words amounted to "injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect" of the aforementioned class, thus the punishment was "reasonable, if not modest."
Since 2017, Neufeld has been a vocal critic of sexual orientation and gender identity being taught in schools via the SOGI 123 framework. He referred to it as a "weapon of propaganda" and deemed the concept of gender identity to be a "biologically absurd theory."
Neufeld argued that he was simply targeting the ideology, not individuals who happen to identify as LGBTQ, however the tribunal ruled that his comments displayed an "existential denial" of transgender people.
"A person does not need to believe in Christianity to accept that another person is Christian," the tribunal wrote. "However, to accept that a person is transgender, one must accept that their gender identity is different than their sex assigned at birth."
They went on to argue that "calling transness 'gender ideology' allows anti-trans activists to hide behind a veneer of reasonableness."
"Referring to 'gender ideology' or 'transgenderism' — '-ism' denoting a belief or ideology such as capitalism or communism — pushes the idea that trans people have an agenda rather than being just another demographic group," they added. "As this decision illustrates, such terms can create the conditions for discrimination and hatred to flourish."
The tribunal also took aim at Neufeld's stance against medically-transitioning minors, which he has repeatedly labelled "child abuse."
"Contrary to Mr. Neufeld’s view, gender affirming recognition and care for trans and gender diverse children is life saving," they wrote.
WS reporter denied access to Carney meeting with Jeneroux in Edmonton
https://www.westernstandard.news/news/ws-reporter-denied-access-to-carney-meeting-with-jeneroux-in-edmonton/71287
Western Standard Ontario legislative reporter Jeremy Borg was denied access to a meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and new Liberal MP Matt Jeneroux in Edmonton after federal officials confirmed the event would proceed as a pooled media opportunity.
In an email sent ahead of the meeting, Borg requested location details so Western Standard could dispatch a reporter.
“I’m wondering the location for the Prime Minister’s meeting in Edmonton today so we can send one of our reporters,” Borg wrote.
Federal communications staff replied that attendance would be restricted.
“This is a pooled opportunity. Open to pool only. CP will be covering it as always,” the response stated, referring to The Canadian Press.
The Western Standard does not subscribe to CP.
Borg said the meeting carried national political relevance given the prime minister’s participation and floor crosser Jeneroux's high-profile political positioning, and argued broader media access would have been appropriate.
He said events of that significance are typically of interest to multiple outlets and should be open to all media seeking to cover them directly.
Pooled coverage arrangements are routinely used by federal officials for events with limited space or heightened security requirements.
Under such arrangements, a designated outlet gathers information and shares materials with other organizations, while non-pool reporters are unable to attend or pose questions during the event.
Second New Brunswick Teen Bound by Peace Order in Alleged Extremist Activity Case
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/second-new-brunswick-teen-bound-by-peace-order-in-alleged-extremist-activity-case-5987836?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=second-new-brunswick-teen-bound-by-peace-order-in-alleged-extremist-activity-case-0
A second New Brunswick youth has been placed under a terrorism peace bond after being accused of involvement in terrorist activities linked to the online extremist group 764 Network, Canada’s federal police service says.
The youth appeared in Fredericton Provincial Youth Court on Feb. 18 on allegations of using social media to advocate for the violent ideology of 764, a group recently added to Canada’s list of terrorist entities.
“The youth is believed to have been actively extorting victims to self-harm, making threats to schools in the province and in the United States, and to have been producing and distributing online material with the aim of gaining notoriety for the 764 Network,” the RCMP said in a Feb. 19 press release.
The youth is now subject to strict conditions under the authority of the terrorism peace bond, police said.
The case is not related to a separate incident from earlier this month in which a youth was placed under the same type of bond, the RCMP has confirmed.
The New Brunswick youth in the earlier case was arrested in late 2025 on suspicion of facilitating terrorist activity, the RCMP said in a Feb. 4 press release. RCMP described the young person as “radicalized” and said the teen had been placed under the authority of a terrorism peace bond. Continue…
Ottawa Announces 15 New Commercial Partnerships, Deals With Mexico During Trade Trip
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/ottawa-announces-15-new-commercial-partnerships-deals-with-mexico-during-trade-trip-5987402?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=more-top-news-0
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc says Canada’s trade mission to Mexico has resulted in 15 new partnerships and business deals being signed to date, as Ottawa continues its push to expand exports beyond the United States.
LeBlanc made the remarks on Feb. 18 during a press briefing in Monterrey, Mexico, alongside Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald, as part of this week’s visit to the country. The trade trip runs through Feb. 20 and includes more than 240 businesses and 370 delegates from across Canada.
The objective was to strengthen economic ties, diversify trade, and “advance prosperity in Canada and in North America,” LeBlanc said.
“Thus far, national business associations and Canadian companies from Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador have signed 15 commercial partnerships and deals,” he added.
LeBlanc said many small- and medium-sized Canadian businesses are taking part in roughly 1,900 business-to-business meetings with their Mexican counterparts on the trade mission. He said the trade trip plays a part in meeting Prime Minister Mark Carney’s goal of doubling non-U.S. exports by 2035.
The trade mission’s first three days also involved meetings with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and members of her cabinet. LeBlanc said the two nations reviewed progress on the Canada-Mexico Action Plan on closer Canada-Mexico ties signed last September between Carney and Sheinbaum. Continue…
No Excavations Done Yet at Kamloops Residential School as First Nation Provides Update on ‘Complex’ Investigation
https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/no-excavations-done-yet-at-kamloops-residential-school-as-first-nation-provides-update-on-complex-investigation-5987847?ea_src=ca-frontpage&ea_med=medium-0
The Tkemlúps te Secwépemc First Nation says its ongoing search at the former Kamloops residential school has proven to be “more complex than anticipated.” An update provided by the First Nation on Feb. 18 did not indicate that any excavation work has yet taken place.
Tkemlúps te Secwépemc said it has ruled out some areas of the former residential school grounds as containing potential unmarked graves, while data from multiple surveys have identified zones that “should now be the primary focus.”
The First Nation said that since it announced in May 2021 that ground-penetrating radar had detected 215 potential burial sites, it has worked with independent third-party experts from across Canada to search the grounds of the school. This has involved using ground-penetrating radar, a LiDAR scanner to “create precise, 3D representations of objects and environments,” and dogs that specialize in detecting human remains.
The data and findings from the three investigation methods “overlap” in several areas and are now the primary focus of search efforts, Tkemlúps te Secwépemc said, adding the radar and laser scanner has ruled out utility lines and clay tiles in those locations, while “signatures that resemble burials were found in some areas.”
“Some areas were ruled out as burials, while others cannot confidently be ruled out,” the release said.
The First Nation said while it is seeking “facts and answers as quickly as possible,” there have been challenges with accessing federal government and Catholic Church records for the 88-year period that the school operated. Progress has been “hindered” by government restrictions on certain records and a slow response to requests, Tkemlúps te Secwépemc said. Continue…
Government plans to boost Canadian Forces with foreign recruits
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/government-plans-to-boost-canadian-forces-with-foreign-recruits
A new program aimed at attracting skilled recruits from foreign militaries is “nothing new,” according to a professor at the Canadian Forces College.
Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab unveiled a new scheme on Wednesday that she said would help “attract the best talent” to the Canadian Armed Forces.
“There are lots of people who began their military careers in one nation and end up in Canada,” Paul T. Mitchell, a professor at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, said Thursday in an email.
Potential drawbacks to hiring experts from foreign militaries “is the security aspect,” said Michel Maisonneuve, a retired lieutenant-general.
“These people — you have to vet them properly,” he said. “To bring (Canadians) into our own armed forces is taking months. Is somebody going to stick with it who’s coming from outside?”
Whether they should be accepted by the Canadian military would depend on where recruits are coming from and their level of experience, said Ken Hansen, a military analyst and former Royal Canadian Navy commander.
“If they’re coming from Sweden and the United States, and Australia, then fine. They’re familiar with our system of operation and how governments let contracts and how programs are run,” he said. “But if they’re coming from a third world country or China or North Korea, I would say that they should weed those fellows out.” Continue…