The report released yesterday from NSICOP, the parliamentary national security committee, says that some parliamentarians have “wittingly” worked to assist foreign powers – including China – meddle in Canadian politics. The report doesn’t name them, but True North’s Andrew Lawton says Canadians deserve to know who these politicians are. Also, National Post journalist Adam Zivo revealed audio recordings showing the extent to which harm reduction activists were prepared to disrupt a conference of ...
Jun 04, 2024•37 min
Pride festivities in Winnipeg were disrupted by pro-Palestine protesters demanding, among other things, the removal of police from Pride demonstrations, divestment “from corporations and institutions that fund or profit from the occupation of Palestine and climate chaos,” and a refusal to allow “Zionist organizations” to participate in Pride events. A Philadelphia Pride event similarly devolved into chaos. Meanwhile, a poll shows declining support for LGBT rights among Canadians. True North’s An...
Jun 03, 2024•43 min
Wokeness – or cultural socialism, as Prof. Eric Kaufmann puts it – is destroying Western civilization. The ideology has taken hold of almost all Western institutions, instilling identity politics and DEI in the place of freedom and pluralism. The dire nature of the situation is explored in a new book by Kaufmann, “The Third Awokening: A 12-Point Plan for Rolling Back Progressive Extremism.” He joins True North’s Andrew Lawton in today’s edition of The Andrew Lawton Show for an in-depth look at w...
Jun 01, 2024•34 min
Justin Trudeau coasted to victory in 2015 with a promise of “sunny ways.” Now, almost a decade letter, defeat looks inevitable after three terms rocked by scandals, ethics violations, and a cost-of-living crisis pushing Canadians to seek change. A new book by journalist Stephen Maher chronicles Trudeau’s “turbulent reign.” Maher joins Andrew Lawton to discuss Trudeau’s cult of personality, contempt for his critics, his relationship with the media, and other themes explored in Maher’s book, “The ...
May 29, 2024•39 min
After several European countries announced their recognition of Palestine as a state, Liberal MP Salma Zahid now says she’s pushing Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government to do the same. True North’s Andrew Lawton explains why this isn’t the path to peace that activists think it is. Also, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is pushing beer and wine sales into convenience stores ahead of schedule, challenging the Beer Store’s retail monopoly. Grant Dingwall of Free My Booze joins to discuss. Plus, despite Tru...
May 28, 2024•28 min
The Liberal government is mulling a plan to be put forward by Immigration Minister Marc Miller to give legal status to people in Canada illegally. This comes after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau conceded that Canada’s immigration system has allowed in more people than the country has been able to “absorb” in recent years. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in. Plus, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is taking CBC to task over its unwillingness to disclose the details of executive bonuses. Kris Sim...
May 27, 2024•43 min
Andrew is away this week, so Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation Alberta Director, Kris Sims, will be hosting the show! A new survey reveals 58% of Canadians are aware of the proposed capital gains tax changes, but only 24% view them favourably, with 35% opposed. Kris explains why Canadians are concerned about these proposed changes. Also, if current trends persist, by 2030 nearly all legacy newsroom salaries will be funded by the government. Former CRTC vice chair Peter Menzies joins the show to dis...
May 23, 2024•51 min
Andrew is away this week, so Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation Alberta Director, Kris Sims, will be hosting the show! On this special edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, Kris looks at the Conservatives latest push to remove House Speaker Greg Fergus, after he reportedly included a partisan attack in an advertisement promoting an upcoming event. Will the Liberals continue to defend him, or will they finally give in? Plus, a daunting report from Food Banks Canada reveals that Canada is at “a critical ...
May 22, 2024•55 min
Andrew is away this week, so Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation Alberta Director, Kris Sims, will be hosting the show! On this special edition of The Andrew Lawton Show, Kris takes a deep dive into Canada’s cost of living crisis, examining how despite a slight slowdown in inflation, rising gas prices continue to worsen. At the same time, Canada is set to refinance one-third of its $1.4 trillion debt this year at higher interest rates, significantly increasing costs for taxpayers. Will there be any r...
May 21, 2024•55 min
The CRTC has delayed implementation of its Online Streaming Act – the law that allows the government to control what you see on platforms such as YouTube, Netflix, and podcast databases – until “late 2025,” a postponement that more than likely kicks it to after the next federal election. True North’s Andrew Lawton says this might be a bit of a reprieve for Canadians who want the governments hands off their content. Also, while healthcare is in the provincial domain, it’s federal gatekeepers who ...
May 16, 2024•44 min
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to deflect a feisty question from a reporter wondering why he’s still there when he and his party are so dismally unpopular in the polls despite throwing everything at the wall to turn things around. He insists he is delivering for Canadians and isn’t the problem. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in. With auto thefts at an all-time high, Ontario is moving to revoke driver’s licences from repeat car thieves. Criminal lawyer Ari Goldkind joins to discuss. Plus,...
May 15, 2024•45 min
The RCMP’s long-awaited review of its response to the Freedom Convoy is out, showing that officers were concerned they had been politicized by the federal government’s handling of the protest. Crucially, the RCMP has called out the government for “misrepresenting” police information, or claiming information came from the police when it didn’t. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in. Also, the Ontario government is cracking down on cell phone use in classrooms, but education advocates say the ban d...
May 14, 2024•46 min
Police in Calgary and Edmonton moved in on anti-Israel encampments at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta on the weekend, while McGill University in Montreal is fighting in court today for an injunction to clear the occupation on its campus. More than two years ago, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act to clear out Freedom Convoy demonstrators in Ottawa – a decision that has since been ruled unconstitutional by the Federal Court. Where is the line between a legi...
May 13, 2024•40 min
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was ejected from the House of Commons yesterday after refusing to withdraw a comment that Justin Trudeau was a “wacko” (although he offered to replace it with “extremist” and “radical”). The pearl-clutching Liberals and journalists should be less focused on tone-policing and more on governing, True North’s Andrew Lawton says. Plus, a new documentary, Covid Collateral, exposes the harms of lockdowns and the censorship of scientists throughout the pandemic. Fil...
May 01, 2024•44 min
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed that his efforts to keep criminals behind bars will be constitutional, telling the Canadian Police Association he will “make them constitutional using whatever tools the constitution allows me to use to make them constitutional. I think you know exactly what I mean.” It looks like he’s teasing the first ever federal use of the Charter’s notwithstanding clause. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in on why that matters. Also, the capital gains tax hike...
Apr 30, 2024•39 min
According to a Hill Times report, Justin Trudeau has told Liberal members of Parliament not to worry, because despite the Conservatives’ large lead over the Liberals, this will all get sorted out next year. True North’s Andrew Lawton says any Liberal MPs serious about their political futures should be showing Trudeau the door right about now. Also, anti-Israel protesters at McGill University in Montreal have established an encampment to demand the university divest endowment funds from Israel an...
Apr 29, 2024•44 min
As more and more people sound alarms about the implications of the Liberal government’s latest budget, Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland are still saying it’s a budget that injects “fairness” into the Canadian economy. This comes as the Canadian and Ontario governments each pony up $5 billion to create 1,000 jobs creating electric vehicles and batteries for Honda. True North’s Andrew Lawton digs in with Aaron Wudrick of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Also, activists and the government say e...
Apr 25, 2024•48 min
As the Liberal government continues to drag in the polls, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set out to put himself out in front of more Canadians – evidently of the mind that he’s the solution and not the problem. In one podcast interview this week, Trudeau accused Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of feeding into angry populism rather than providing solutions. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in. Also, Canadian Armed Forces soldiers who were expelled because they didn’t get vaccinated again...
Apr 24, 2024•44 min
It’s been nearly four years to the day since the Liberal government prohibited more than 1,500 types of firearms and set in motion a “buyback” to confiscate the lawfully-owned guns from their owners. Since then, not a single gun has been acquired. In fact, Alberta and Saskatchewan have put up roadblocks making it next to impossible for the government to confiscate guns in those provinces, and now Canada Post has said it wants nothing to do with the buyback, dashing federal hopes that the Crown c...
Apr 23, 2024•58 min
Footage from a weekend anti-Israel rally shows protesters openly cheering for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, referring to it as a sign that Palestinians are almost free and calling for Oct. 7 to become “every day” for Israelis. Antisemitic protesters feel safe enough in their views that they no longer feel the need to mask their Jew hatred with terms like “anti-Zionist,” True North’s Andrew Lawton points out, noting that calls for dead Jews should terrify, but not surprise, us. The federal gov...
Apr 22, 2024•46 min
An increasing number of young Canadians can’t afford to buy a home, but Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says not to worry: a lifetime of renting can give “more freedom” and make people feel “liberated,” calling home ownership an outdated concept. True North’s Andrew Lawton says it’s a convenient way to avoid solving the housing crisis, and also markedly similar to the controversial “own nothing and be happy” trope advanced a few years back by a World Economic Forum author. Also, Andrew shares his ful...
Apr 18, 2024•46 min
The federal government unveiled its latest budget yesterday and, surprise surprise, it’s full of big spending with no plan to balance the budget. But the Liberals did find room to shovel more money to CBC and over a billion dollars to “combat hate.” True North’s Andrew Lawton unpacks it with Franco Terrazzano of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Catherine Swift of the Coalition of Concerned Manufacturers and Businesses of Canada. Plus, Andrew shares his interview with Christine Van Geyn of t...
Apr 17, 2024•48 min
Canada’s Governor General is supposed to be apolitical and above partisanship, but Her Excellency Mary Simon opted to convene a panel about the dangers of “online harms” while the federal government is championing a controversial law that uses such harms as a pretext to regulate internet speech. The panel had no critics of the legislation, but plenty of people championing it. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in. Also, it’s budget day, so Andrew checks in Canadian Federation of Independent Busin...
Apr 16, 2024•47 min
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh may not know how to negotiate but apparently he can read polls, now saying that carbon taxes aren’t the only option to fight climate change. Justin Trudeau says he’s “confused” about Singh’s position now, which has previously been unequivocal support, even as resistance to the tax swells across Canada. True North’s Andrew Lawton weighs in. Also, Kris Sims from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation joins for her regular Monday checkin. Plus, Andrew’s fireside chat with Albert...
Apr 15, 2024•51 min
It’s the third and final day of the Canada Strong and Free Network’s flagship conference in Ottawa and True North’s Andrew Lawton Show is once again live from the exhibit hall. In today’s show, Andrew speaks to former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott about freedom, conservatism, and why the right has to articulate its own position on climate and the environment instead of accepting the left’s premises. Also, the Fraser Institute’s Paige MacPherson on choice and education, plus the Canadian ...
Apr 12, 2024•58 min
Across the country, communities are being hollowed out and overrun by tent cities and increasing homeless populations. What has gone so wrong? True North’s Andrew Lawton catches up with former Toronto mayoral candidate Anthony Furey to discuss on the margins of the Canada Strong and Free Network’s annual conference, the flagship event for the country’s conservative movement. Also on the show, former adviser to Margaret Thatcher John O’Sullivan, plus Tracey Wilson of the Canadian Coalition for Fi...
Apr 11, 2024•57 min
Canada's flagship conservative conference, hosted by the Canada Strong and Free Network, kicks off today in Ottawa, with a roster of speakers including former British prime minister Boris Johnson, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. True North is broadcasting live from the convention all week.In today's kickoff episode, True North's Andrew Lawton speaks to Canada Strong and Free Network president Adam Bolek about the conference theme, "leading ...
Apr 10, 2024•52 min
A report from the “sustainable economy” firm Corporate Knights says Justin Trudeau’s government pledged to spend $48.6 billion on climate change over the last nine years but has ‘only’ spent $34.3 billion, calling for the government to “follow through” on its commitments. True North’s Andrew Lawton says encouraging the government to throw more money at the weather isn’t going to change anything. Also, the firearms industry group that contracted with the federal government to work with firearms s...
Apr 09, 2024•40 min
Saskatchewan has just expanded its provincial firearms office, putting public safety and protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners front and centre as the federal government continues to curtail lawful gun ownership in this country. Saskatchewan’s approach has been celebrated by firearms advocates – Andrew welcomes to the show the province’s firearms commissioner, Robert Freberg, and chief firearms officer, Murray Cowan, to explain why. Also, as federal members of Parliament take a big pay...
Apr 08, 2024•35 min
Three NDP MPs – including longtime party stalwart Charlie Angus – have announced today they aren’t seeking re-election, with Angus acknowledging the beginning of a new “political era.” True North’s Andrew Lawton says it’s no surprise, as the latest polling shows Conservatives could make serious gains even in NDP ridings, including Angus’. The public inquiry into foreign interference is underway, vindicating past reporting that the Liberals were the beneficiary of assistance from the Chinese regi...
Apr 05, 2024•45 min
