WASHINGTON, D.C. — Canada is grappling with debates over national identity and security as well as international trade. Ottawa is navigating U.S. tariffs and Donald Trump’s threats of higher trade duties ahead of this July’s review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement, while also managing populist and separatist movements, hate crimes, and broader pressures on national cohesion.

To gauge how these pressures are reshaping Canada’s identity and policy choices, the National Post sat down with Dimpee Brar, director of engagement for Allies for a Strong Canada, to discuss Western traditions, the Canadian identity, national security, trade, and domestic politics.

This has been condensed for length and clarity.

What inspired the creation of Allies for a Strong Canada, especially after Oct. 7, 2023, and how has it evolved since its launch?

Dimpee Brar: So Allies for a Strong Canada came up, like you said, after Oct. 7, and the idea was that the people marching through our streets were the same people who have marched through our institutions, who have marched through our bureaucracies, and who have marched through our halls of power. In brief, that the enemies of the Jewish people are really the enemies of Western civilization. At Allies, we believe that Western civilization comprises two roots. Athens, which gives us our philosophy, our nature, our reason, and Jerusalem, which gives us our revelation and our God. Those two together for us comprise the unique inheritance given to Western civilization as a whole.

Because fundamentally, unfortunately, the case right now is that antisemitism alone is not enough to get people motivated to do anything. When they understand that this is not a Jewish issue or a Jewish problem, but an issue of Western civilization — that the prosperity and the security of the Jewish people is also an issue for Canadians writ large — that is something Canadians understand and that most people in the Western civilized world also understand.

It has evolved significantly. We just hit 30,000 activists, and our job is quite simple. We are not here for a moment; we are here to create a movement. We are not a policy think tank organization, we are really about boots on the ground. The best analogy I have for you is a kind of Tea Party movement. We’re here to teach the normies how to really get the attention of our politicians. One of our campaigns, for instance, was the one to push Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials out of Canada — to have them named, shamed, and deported. It was brought up in Parliament, and that was largely because of the Allies for a Strong Canada campaign. We have a similar campaign running right now against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for obvious reasons. Our focus is on shared threats to the security and the sovereignty of the Western world and Canada at large. These are issues that affect every single Canadian, Jewish or gentile.

Your organization focuses on mobilizing non-Jewish allies against antisemitism. Why emphasize this distinction between yourselves and Jewish-led organizations like B’nai B’rith or the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs?

I think fundamentally it’s an effectiveness issue. The Jewish organizations do great work, but again, the Jewish population is simply not large enough in Canada. They simply aren’t large enough in numbers, and also in political power. We have noticed something more than troubling when it comes to our politicians: They respond to what they take to be the loudest, most obnoxious factions. Those loud, obnoxious factions happen to be extremely well-organized and very well-funded. And if there’s going to be anyone who’s able to defend and preserve these Jewish issues, it’s going to have to come from outside the community.

The key is showing that the issues that face the Jewish community are not particular to the Jewish community. The shuls are being shot up, but the churches are also burning, and it’s not just the churches that are burning. We are having our statues taken down. All of these issues are expressions not just of decline, but they are basically the opening salvos of a campaign against Western civilization as a whole, and that is really our key at Allies.

How did you get involved with Allies?

I had first seen Allies for a Strong Canada online, and I was desperately trying to get a hold of them. It turns out that my brother happened to know the president and CEO, Michael Westcott, and it was because of that introduction that when I met Mr. Westcott, I basically pitched myself to him. I’m one of those people who did not want to be involved in politics. I found it vulgar. I found the people questionable, and I found the success rate and the effectiveness of many of these organizations to also be … I was quite skeptical. But this is something that I believe in.

I will live and die on the hill of Western civilization. I was born to two Indian immigrant parents who came to this country, who love this country, and who view themselves as Canadian, and I grew up as a Sikh. So I was born in a country that I grew not only to love, but to admire. This country has given me everything and more. This country is the reason why a little girl like me is able to speak so boldly, so openly, and to speak on behalf of Western civilization.

As a Canadian from an Indian and Sikh background, why do you reject the hyphenated labels like Sikh-Canadian? Do you believe the Khalistan movement has impacted Sikh communities and national cohesion? And finally, what role should Ottawa be playing to counter such separatism and build alliances against antisemitism?

My belief is that the Canadian identity must come first. To have cultural cohesion in this nation, we must have one singular identity. It’s not that I reject the idea that one can be a Sikh and a Canadian; I just believe in a hierarchy of loyalties, and the first loyalty must be to Canada. So I reject the idea of the hyphens, the Sikh-Canadian, one, because it suggests that something comes before Canadian, and I believe this has really been the problem.

I believe that you are Canadian, and then you can be a Sikh in private, et cetera, practice your fullest way of life. Funnily enough, the principles of Canada, the liberty that we engender, the equality we engender, the freedom of religion we engender, which again, is the unique inheritance of Western civilization, those principles allow for the greatest, fullest flourishing of many of these religious communities.

One of the issues that I find with these Khalistani movements — and you see it with all of them, whether it’s the Khalistan movement, the CCP, or the IRGC — who are really the targets who suffer the most? It is the diaspora community. The ugly truth of this is this: Whether it’s Khalistan, whether it’s the CCP, whether it’s the IRGC, they view citizens here not as Canadians, but as their own. For example, the Khalistanis believe that if you’re a Sikh here, then you still fundamentally belong to India, that you’re never really Canadian.

No foreign national group, interest, or nation should have such a hold over our sovereignty or such free power to move around and affect both policy and intimidate and harass our own citizens. That is a responsibility that falls on us to protect and preserve them against those people.

What about Alberta separatism? It’s an obvious threat to Canadian cohesion, but what should leaders be doing to address the sentiments behind the campaign?

I know polling suggests that Carney’s in a very strong position, that he’s very popular, but I’m a little skeptical and suspicious of polling, one, by methodology, two, by how the questions are framed. It is a very interesting time when two provinces are flirting with the idea of seceding from the confederation. Whether it succeeds or not is really not the point. It’s the fact that it’s taking place right now.

With Alberta, we must understand, and we must be open to the fact that there are true, true grievances that Alberta has, and we must at least be able to openly name them and state what they are. For Alberta, I find they understand that the nation is in crisis, and they just happen to be much louder about it and much more angry about it. They, as the guardians of a large supply of energy, feel as if they are being left out of confederation, and they feel as if their grievances are never really responded to.

I am a federalist. I want one nation. I want all my provinces. I don’t think that there is a Canada without Alberta or Quebec. I want them to be part of this large family, but I need Ottawa to be able to speak to them and at least address their concerns and grievances, and not dismiss them outright. They cannot be dismissed. To degrade them or talk down to them is not working. In fact, I think it’s actually making things worse. In many ways, the Carney government, every step it’s taking, especially in response to tariffs with the United States, is just ratcheting it up right now.

You’ve mentioned that the U.S. trade actions are fundamentally about containing China. How should Canadians decode this given Trump’s tariffs and Carney’s EV agreement with Beijing?

We belong in the sphere of Western civilization. We are not a part of the tyrannical despotism that we see coming out of the CCP. We never have been. Canada has been among the foremost defenders of human rights around the world. This is almost a historical inheritance to our people, to our nation, and it’s something that we cannot stand for. We cannot stand for Uyghur slavery. We cannot stand for organ trafficking. We cannot stand for the encroachment and the pushing of despotism the world over.

China is only interested in Canada insofar as we are attached to the United States, insofar as we have access to the American market, and insofar as we have access to American intelligence. Take that away, and China has no interest in us. It is entirely incompatible with our way of life as Canadians to be in any kind of strategic partnership with a way of life that believes that liberty is not promised to us … We believe in equality above all else. Those two ways of life cannot exist peacefully.

It is to our eternal shame, and really a betrayal of the Canadian people, that we have not been told that the tariffs are about China, and I believe that as USMCA negotiations heat up in the next few weeks, we’re going to start hearing this much more. What we need to do is to be a fortress North America. There is no reason why Canada and the United States should not serve as the bulwark against the Communist Party in North America. That means shared economic security and prosperity, and that means shared continental security as well.

What do you think of the current state of immigration in Canada and its impact on cultural cohesion?

Immigration is a threat because we are importing a lot of ways of life and beliefs that are incompatible with the Canadian way of life. The best view or the best example of this really is the Jew hatred that we have coming in. A lot of this is coming in through communities that come from places where they do not believe — or they already believe — that the Jews are some sort of existential threat. You see it as well with the Khalistani and with the CCP.

So immigration at these levels is a major threat to our sovereignty and our cultural cohesion. But I want to say the problem is this: Assimilation has become a dirty word and a pejorative. Assimilation was actually written in the Lord Durham Report, and assimilation has a very specific meaning.

Assimilation for a nation such as ours, for Western civilization, stems from the belief that our way of life is supreme, that our principles of liberty and equality for all are good, that they are true to human nature, that this is what man needs because man, for us, is born free and equal. Assimilation was actually a good thing because the idea used to be that we believe that liberty and equality — that promise applies to those coming from India, from China, from Iran — that freedom is a good thing. We thought it was benevolent that you assimilate to this way of life because it was better for you, that this is the best way of life.

Unfortunately, the immigrants today are coming into a nation that does not believe that it is best, so they have nothing to assimilate into. These immigrants are coming to a nation that is no longer confident, no longer believes in itself. For a confident nation — one that believes in itself — assimilation immigration is not going to be a problem for them. It points to the crisis in Canadian civics and the Canadian identity because we no longer know who we are.

Look, Aristotle only ever gave one definition of what it meant to be a Greek versus a barbarian. It’s in The Politics, book one, and I believe it applies to the West as a whole, and this is something personal for me. Aristotle said that the difference between the Greeks and the barbarians is that for the barbarians, a woman is a slave. I am extremely concerned, especially about the status of girls and what’s going to happen to little girls in this nation. I do not want to see a situation that we see in England with those grooming gangs targeting girls. I do not want to see a situation where we see female genital mutilation here considered one among many cultural acts or just something that should be protected because it’s just one more way of life. That is not what the West stands for.

Are there any concrete steps Ottawa should be taking to strengthen Canada against any sort of Group of Two (G2) U.S.-China dynamics?

First of all, we need to know what’s in those MOUs. We need to release the MOUs that have been signed. We’re not even aware of what intelligence we’re sharing or exchanging right now. I’m quite confident that if Carney were to take a hard-line approach against the Communist Party of China, a lot of this would go away. I think that’s what the president wants to see. I think it would get us a deal in no time.

Whether it comes to the Arctic, we should not be allowing Chinese exploration or Chinese research projects to take place in the Arctic. Those should be Canadian-led developments. They are not a near-Arctic power, no matter how many times they tell us that. We need to secure our own borders and our own ports. Look at Vancouver and what is happening right now. Fentanyl components pour into our nation. We have super labs here, and they don’t just affect Americans dying from fentanyl; they are affecting Canadians.

Remember, Fortress North America is going to make Canada and the United States the shining city on a hill. The U.S. needs Canada because Canada, again, if Canada is captured by the CCP, the Monroe Doctrine is really null and void … And Canada needs the United States. We need their military power. We need their economic power.

You’ve hinted that Mark Carney has been reckless in leveraging anti-Americanism for political gain. Can you tell me why? Do you feel that it somehow weakens Canada?

It was an electoral strategy, and it was successful in mounting this kind of anti-Americanism and using that as a kind of guise for Canadian patriotism. But there is a problem. It works with (Carney’s) electorate. They want to hear it, but there’s a limit to these ideologies. Reality has a very funny way of punching you in the face, and it’s coming to a head with (CUSMA) negotiations. That anti-Americanism might work domestically, but it does not work when negotiating with the largest military and economic power.

I wrote an article for The Federalist, and in it I expressed that our anti-Americanism is a kind of narcotic that’s dulling the pain of our own decline. It’s a way for us to evade the problems at home, to look outside and not look at what’s going on in our own streets. This is a betrayal of our people. It’s a way to get Canadians riled up and to get angry and focused on Trump while ignoring what’s happening at home.

Mr. Carney, after Mr. Lutnick’s comments about how (Canada) has no real strategy in trade negotiations, went on defence. He has spoken at length about (CUSMA) longer than any subject so far, in greater frequency, and for a longer period of time. There is real fear among many that I know that Mr. Carney was never serious about getting a deal with the United States. His behaviour and his actions betray someone who does not really want a deal with (CUSMA) — who’s very happy to continue on with China, because none of this otherwise makes sense.

We voted for him because he said that he would diversify our trade, not divorce us from the United States. That is a bridge too far for many. It’s not just impractical, it’s poor politics, and it’s again, choosing despotism over freedom. This is not about economics. This isn’t even geopolitics. This is about good versus evil. This is about freedom versus tyranny, and whether Canada still remains as part of Western civilization or whether we’re going eastwards now. I do not believe the people of this country are open to the idea that we are no longer part of Western civilization.

National Post

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A retired RCMP officer who says he was tricked into appearing on a CBC prank show has provided a full account of his experience, describing how he was made to partake in a sort of humiliation ritual in which former police were subject to allegations of mistreatment of Indigenous peoples.

In an hour-long video posted to his personal channel, a YouTuber under the name Clinton Jaws, a nearly 40-year RCMP veteran, said he and other former officers were invited to attend a Vancouver event that was hosted by a production company funded by the broadcaster, which organizers reportedly said would be attended by Prince William. (The National Post spoke to Jaws, who declined to confirm his real surname.)

The whole thing was in fact a prank performed by Northland Tales, a satirical program described as an “ unscripted, half-hour comedy series where an Indigenous activist trio uses pranks as a form of social action,” which is being produced by the CBC. Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (ATPN) is a co-producer.

The program has come under fire in recent days for the way its organizers duped some conservative-leaning activists and former RCMP officers into appearing on the program, with critics — including some Conservative MPs — saying the broadcaster was using taxpayer dollars to promote activism disguised as comedy. None of the episodes of Northland Tales have yet run, but the CBC on Tuesday announced it was pausing the program before its airing to ensure that the series “does not negatively impact our news brand.”

While Jaws is quite frank in the video about how he fell for the trick, he also speaks repeatedly to the overall strangeness of the setup, and his ongoing confusion around what the organizers intended to achieve.

“They got me, hook line and sinker,” Jaws said. “I’m one of the cops out of six that they pranked.”

“It wasn’t even a prank, it was something very odd. I felt evil around me when it was happening to me.”

The program appeared to target people who have voiced doubts about the existence of unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, or who have spoken favourably about Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister.

The RCMP is often cited by residential school critics as an alleged perpetrator of Indigenous harms, and several former officers also got tricked into participating in the program.

“The RCMP was informed of an incident involving an RCMP Veteran’s Association (RCMPVA) member who volunteered for a CBC documentary series about an episode featuring life after retirement from policing,” an RCMP spokesperson told Juno News in a statement. “The veteran has relayed her experience and describes being subjected to a prank during filming in Vancouver in March 2026.”

Frances Widdowson, a former Mount Royal University professor, and Lindsay Shepherd, a conservative commentator, also appeared on the program under false pretenses.

Jaws is a YouTuber with two channels focused mainly on U.S. and Canadian politics, where he regularly attracts hundreds of thousands of viewers. He told the National Post he is unclear why he was targeted by Northland Tales, but said the officers were being used as “symbols” in the prank.

Jaws said he first got an email from someone named Michael Burnett in January who claimed to be working on a “new documentary-style series for BBC 2 and CBC” called After the Call. The series, according to a picture of an email in Jaws’ video, would focus on how police officers adjust to life after retirement.

Jaws said he first did a pre-interview at his home, and then agreed to a later interview in Vancouver in March.

He was told that he and other officers would partake in a Vancouver event to honour their service, and that Prince William would be attending the ceremony. Organizers asked him to wear his RCMP Red Serge uniform that Mounties are allowed to keep after they retire. The organizers booked Jaws for three nights at the Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel just down the road from the broadcaster’s studios, Jaws said.

Jaws said he had already been suspicious about the pre-interview, which he said felt oddly superficial. He told the organizers he did not want to partake in any effort to honour his service, and said he recalled thinking that the whole thing “doesn’t make any sense.”

Jaws said he also had deep skepticism about the Vancouver event, and said he even expected a CBC crew to try to catch him off guard at the Rosedale hotel when he checked in. He said he declined to wear his uniform to the event.

He said he and two other officers were brought to the Vancouver studio, where they were guided through the building and finally into a room with a stage. Jaws said he and the others were introduced by someone posing as an event host, and one of the officers sang the national anthem.

The organizers then played a fake video of King Charles on a massive television screen in front of the audience claiming that Canada was dissolving the RCMP in order to account for all the wrongs the force had committed against First Nations people. A First Nation chief then came on stage and spoke to how, according to his account, the RCMP were responsible for the plight of Indigenous people. Later, a person pretending to be Prince William also did a speech.

“And now I’m realizing I’m sitting there for a reason,” Jaws said. “These people, these production people, wanted me to feel humiliated, which I did, big time.”

Jaws said he walked off stage but was followed out of the room by a camera crew that refused to turn off its cameras. In the hallway, Jaws said he saw Michael Burnett, the organizer who invited Jaws to the interview, refusing to make eye contact with Jaws.

Months after the event, Jaws said he is still baffled by the whole experience, and somewhat dismayed that the show sought former RCMP officers who sometimes struggle with mental health issues.

“I’m sick to my stomach,” he said. “I guess they got me, but there was no funny part…. I still don’t understand it, I don’t get it. Then I started thinking: the most fragile minds, some of them, are retired police officers. It’s so dangerous.”

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Scammers regularly try to convince their intended victims that they are from the Canada Revenue Agency, says the CRA.

As a result, the agency has issued guidance aimed at protecting the public.

“Know when to be suspicious,” the CRA says. For example, a scam could arrive as a text notification promising your tax refund. That’s one of the latest cons, with tax season recently ended. But the CRA is clear that it “will not” send refunds other than by official means. That includes direct deposit into your bank account or a cheque mailed to your home.

Meanwhile the CRA says it will not request payment by e-transfer or phone. Nor does the agency accept payment by cryptocurrency, prepaid credit cards or retail gift cards. Instead, payments are to be sent securely, for example through CRA My Payment . Some banks and credit unions allow the CRA to be added as bill payee. And then there is the old-fashioned option of mailing a cheque.

The CRA insists that it will also not threaten to arrest you or set up a public meeting to collect payment.

Most of all, the CRA will not ask for personal or financial information in a voicemail or email.

That’s not to say the CRA doesn’t contact taxpayers by phone, automated message or email.

During a phone call with a CRA agent, you could be asked for personal information to verify your identity. You could also be asked for banking information. But before you provide any personal or financial information, you are urged to “verify it’s the CRA calling” by taking the person’s name and phone number. You can verify a number as being from the CRA using the agency’s confirmation tool.

The only time the CRA will send a text is as part of its multi-factor authentication sign-in process.

The agency urges Canadians to be wary of fake websites, which use look-a-like web addresses that will have extra words (for example, cra-login-canada.com, cra-account-notice.info, crareturnreview.cfd), unusual endings (.info, .su, .sfd, .com), extra characters or unusual abbreviations (crra, c-ra, carev, revagency).

“The official website for the CRA uses web addresses that either start in canada.ca or end in cra-arc.gc.ca. If it doesn’t, it could be a fake website pretending to be a CRA website,” says the agency’s guidance.

In its tips on how to avoid fake sites, the CRA urges: “When in doubt, don’t click! Since scammers want you to click on links, forms, or attachments, they usually send a message to try and trick you into clicking on a link. If you are ever unsure about a message you received, contact the department … directly.”

Here are some of the latest scams:

Tax refunds: A text message of an image with the Government of Canada logo claiming to be from the Canada Revenue Agency offering a refund by Interac e-transfer deposit. A separate text message will contain a link to an impersonation of your bank’s sign-in portal. Don’t fill it in.

Grocery rebate scam: There was a specific “grocery rebate” program but that was back in 2023. For the new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit eligible recipients need to file their 2024 and 2025 tax returns. Do not click on any links, provide information, or reply to messages asking you to apply for any Grocery Rebate. Get current information about federal government programs from Canada.ca

Low-income seniors scam: A scam aimed at seniors is claiming the CRA is sending extra payments to low-income seniors. Websites with false information describe benefits. Some may contain links to join the Telegram or WhatsApp instant messaging groups. The CRA advises seniors not to click on any links or join any instant messaging group. Instead, refer to official federal government web pages for correct information.

Canada Pension Plan scam: This involves fraudulent text messages claiming to be from the CRA. The message will refer to a recent tax assessment and ask the taxpayer to respond “Y” for yes to resolve an issue. The scammer then sends the recipient a fake CPP-related hyperlink, which takes them to false CRA and banking websites, asking for personal information to enable the scammer to later sign in.

Identity theft to enable fake tax returns: Scammers try to use personal information to file fake tax returns and collect refunds. You may notice this scam due to a CRA email saying your account has been modified. Or perhaps you encounter a delay in receiving credits or refunds or difficulty filing your tax return online. Check your account for unauthorized changes and contact the CRA as soon as possible.

Fake charitable donation scam: The CRA regulates registered charities in Canada. It says scammers are pretending to be from a real registered charity or asking you to donate to a fake charity to nab your money and/or information. You can report suspected scams by calling the CRA at 1-866-809-6841.

Cryptocurency scam: In this one, the scammer connects by phone, claiming to be from the CRA and requesting money be transferred by cryptocurrency to cancel a Royal Canadian Mounted Police warrant for your arrest. Then the scammer calls, pretending to be an RCMP officer providing instructions on how to transfer money to cancel the arrest warrant. They promise to return your money once your name is cleared.

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AI-generated antisemitic content is spreading quickly across the global social media platforms, drawing tens of millions of views while skirting moderation systems that struggle to keep up with the coded hate, according to a new report .

Between January 2025 and this February, analysts at CyberWell, an independent Israel-based non-profit whose mission is to combat online antisemitism, identified 307 AI-generated antisemitic posts in English on five major platforms — TikTok, YouTube, X and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram.

Those posts piled up more than 30 million views, over 2.8 million interactions (likes, shares, comments) across the platforms, most of it on video-based TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

CyberWell found that more than 75 per cent of the posts fit into one of three narratives — “depictions of Jews as greedy or money-obsessed, Holocaust-related hate speech, and event-driven violent rhetoric against Jews.”

The organization also found a noticeable “sharp inflection point” in June 2025, which it attributed to Israel’s 12-day war on Iran. In the latest round of war on Iran carried out by Israel and the U.S., founder and CEO Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor told National Post in an interview that they’ve witnessed generative AI used to not only push antisemitic content but to promote “misinformation and disinformation.”

Alarmingly, more than a third of the content “glorifies, justifies, or calls for violence against Jews,” and those posts accounted for more than 33 per cent of the total views and 41 per cent of engagement by users.

Cohen Montemayor said she was very surprised to see that AI-generated content is twice as likely as user-generated content to be violently antisemitic.

“When you have generative AI content that’s literally fetishizing or justifying violence against Jews at a rate that’s twice as high as user-generated content … that’s very worrying to us,” Cohen Montemayor.

And for her, it raised a troubling, somewhat dystopian question about the algorithms that govern humanity’s digital spaces: “Is there something in the design or in the system that AI recognizes AI and is more likely to amplify that content in our future?”

Unlike traditional extremist content, much of the material identified in the report was designed to appear humorous, iconic or satirical — with many posts hashtagged as such — allowing it to spread before moderation systems could intervene.

“I think that the violence being the threshold by which any kind of tech platform is training their model to identify a problem doesn’t necessarily address the way that racism and hate show up in a social world,” Cohen Montemayor said.

The report found TikTok accounted for the largest share of the AI-generated antisemitic content in the dataset (35 per cent), while Instagram generated the majority of views (62 per cent) and engagement (92 per cent).

But as a result of existing explicit AI content moderation policies, those platforms (and Meta’s Facebook) also had the much higher rates of removal — 88 per cent and 67 per cent respectively — than YouTube (28 per cent) and X (20 per cent), platforms without similar policies.

Still, CyberWell reasoned that “high levels of engagement and views” the posts generated would suggest enforcement and removal occurred after they proliferated online. And while violent content is more likely to be removed, posts that used “implicit framing or coded language” to perpetuate the narratives stayed online longer.

Complicating removal is that existing content moderation classifiers — a “more primitive AI,” according to Cohen Montemayor — were trained on user-generated content and are more effective at identifying it than identifying content created by their superior AI kin.

“The infrastructure that the platforms have set up is simply exhausted by this proliferation of AI-generated hate content,” she explained.

Removal is important, the CEO said, because “the rules that govern these platforms matter.”

“It may occur to people that trust and safety or content moderation is in the weeds or its niche, but it’s as important as the laws that govern our streets,” she said.

The findings arise as antisemitism has seen a sharp increase in Canada, where Jewish advocacy organizations, law enforcement and political leaders have repeatedly warned that online rhetoric is increasingly spilling into the real world in the form of intimidation, harassment, threats and outright violence against Jewish people.

It also comes amid a growing debate within Canada about how to regulate online harms.

And while Ottawa has proposed legislation to address that and AI, Cohen Montemayor said any efforts to combat antisemitism focused only on educating people “without learning from what the tech and digital platforms are advertently or inadvertently pushing into their platforms is not a full stop solution.”

“Any strategies that are focused on confronting this problem and stemming it must also learn from the type of antisemitism that is being pushed by the tech platforms, including social media and the LLMs (Large Language Models) of today.”

In her view, to effectively govern the platforms and the AI, governments need a baseline framework that establishes “transparent guardrails” and a requirement to “fine-tune” platform trust and safety.

As for the platforms, CyberWell recommends that they explicitly apply hate speech and violence policies to AI-generated content, improve detection of the coded antisemitic narratives and remove harmful content before it can reach millions of people.

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Police in Fort Wayne, Indiana, have released surveillance video and a statement after an altercation in a local Tim Hortons ended with a 75-year-old customer dead of a heart attack.

The incident took place just after 8 a.m. on the morning of May 13. In the video, Anita Grayson, 75, can be seen entering the restaurant at 3975 Ice Way in the northern Indiana city, police say, to address an issue with an order she had received at the drive-through.

After standing at the counter for about a minute, Grayson is seen arguing with a 17-year-old female employee, both parties gesturing intensely with their hands. (The video does not include sound.)

Next, a 20-year-old shift lead steps between Grayson and the employee. Police say the shift lead repeatedly told Grayson to leave. Grayson moves toward the younger employee, at which point the shift lead places her hands against Grayson to hold her back. Grayson then shoves the shift lead backward and takes a swing at her, striking her face.

The shift lead reacts and moves toward Grayson, swinging her arms and pushing her backward. The two end up in a tussle on the floor, as two other employees move in to separate them.

Police say that during the fight, Grayson grabbed the shift lead’s face, leaving scratches and knocking off her glasses. “During the struggle, Ms. Grayson pulled a chunk of hair from the shift lead’s head, leaving a raw area on the top of her head,” they said in a press release .

The video highlights the shift lead’s hair on the floor. Police also noted: “At one point, Ms. Grayson picked up the shift lead’s hair from the floor and placed it into her bag.”

Police say that at 8:22 a.m. Grayson lay down on the floor and the shift lead went to check on her, bringing her a cup of water. “A (Fort Wayne Police Department) officer then arrived and found Ms. Grayson unresponsive. Medics arrived and began life-saving measures. Ms. Grayson was transported from the scene and was later pronounced deceased by medical personnel.”

Police say they released the information to counter “a dangerously false narrative (that) has led to significant public concern and misinformation. For that reason, and because it is in the public interest, FWPD is releasing the facts of the case along with a clear and complete video of the events that occurred inside Tim Hortons.”

A segment of the surveillance footage that starts with Grayson being knocked over had been shared on social media by her daughter, Tawnda Grayson, leading to calls for the Tim Hortons workers to be arrested.

“My mother was wronged in the worst way,” Tawnda told local news . “You should not enter a coffee shop for a coffee and a doughnut and come out unalived. That is diabolical.”

She added: “That’s an elderly lady. That’s not how we treat our senior citizens. We be careful with them. We make sure that they’re alright. We don’t jump on them and attack them and scare them to death.”

Police say homicide detectives and crime scene personnel conducted a full death investigation. “Detectives interviewed witnesses, collected and reviewed surveillance video, gathered evidence, and fully documented the scene,” they said. “The Allen County Coroner’s Office was contacted, and an autopsy was requested. At this time, the cause and manner of death remain pending.” The file was sent to the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office for review on Tuesday.

“The Fort Wayne Police Department recognizes that any loss of life is tragic,” police added. “FWPD understands the public concern surrounding this case. We also recognize the importance of transparency, accuracy, and allowing the investigative and prosecutorial review process to proceed based on the full body of evidence, not incomplete video clips or inaccurate public narratives.”

• Infamous Toronto man alleged to have thrown feces faces new charges following two sexual assault incidents
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A Texas man learned the hard way this week that a Tesla Cybertruck is not a boat, but you can still be charged with boating-related offences for driving it in the water.

In posts to its various social media channels this week, the Grapevine Police Department said officers were called to a boat ramp on Grapevine Lake, a reservoir in the North Texas city, where they found one of the angular electric vehicles in the water, not far from the shoreline.

The driver allegedly told police he “intentionally” drove into the water to test the vehicle’s “Wade Mode.”

“The vehicle became disabled and took on water,” police wrote. “The driver and passengers abandoned the vehicle and the Grapevine Fire Department Water Rescue Team assisted in removing it from the lake.”

The driver told a Dallas-Fort Worth NBC affiliate that he had successfully navigated water in the Cybertruck several times before, including the Atlantic Ocean.

Regardless, the man was arrested and charged with operation of a vehicle in a closed section of the lake, and, according to CNN , not having a valid boat registration and other water safety equipment violations.

“We want to remind drivers that although a vehicle may be physically capable of entering shallow freshwater areas, doing so can create legal and safety concerns under Texas law,” police wrote.

Spokesperson Katharina Gamboa told CBS that driving along the popular lake is prohibited to protect the safety of lake goers, beach users and children who play along its shoreline.

“It’s a safety concern, but it’s also a legal concern as well,” she said.

The Wade Mode setting allows the Cybertruck “to enter and drive through bodies of water, such as rivers or creeks” to a maximum depth of 81.5 centimetres (32 inches), about the height of a tire, according to Tesla’s online owner’s manual .

“Do not drive in deep, fast-flowing bodies of water (such as strong currents or rapids),” it warns. “Doing so can result in damage, serious injury, or death.”

When enabled, the vehicle’s ride height maxes out and the high-voltage battery automatically pressurizes to protect from water and debris.

Tesla advises drivers to check underwater conditions before driving in and warns that the truck could sink in “soft or muddy underwater surfaces.” Mud can also adhere to the radiator, reducing the effectiveness of the cooling system.

“It is your responsibility to gauge the depth of any body of water before entering,” Tesla cautions, noting that “damage or water ingress … is not covered by the warranty.”

In September 2022, about 14 months before the first North American-made trucks rolled off a Texas assembly line and were delivered to the first customers, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk shared loftier aquatic aptitude aspirations for his product.

“Cybertruck will be waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat, so it can cross rivers, lakes & even seas that aren’t too choppy,” he wrote on what was still Twitter at the time.

“Needs be able to get from Starbase to South Padre Island, which requires crossing the channel.”

Needs be able to get from Starbase to South Padre Island, which requires crossing the channel

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2022

Musk was likely referring to the area where his SpaceX launch facilities are located in Texas — officially incorporated as a city in 2025 — which is located just south of the barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico.

To make the “drive” would require crossing the Brazos Santiago Pass, a waterway with a depth of 13 metres, according to Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth .

The Texas incident is not the first time a Cybertruck driver has tested the vehicle’s nautical limits.

Last April, police in Truckee, California, reminded owners that “Wade Mode” isn’t “Submarine Mode” after a driver admitted to testing it in a lake, per Fox 26 News .

A year earlier in Slovakia, another driver attempted the same in a lake near Bratislava, only to get stuck in the gravel and need the assistance of the public to get out, The Slovak Spectator reported.

• In European first, the Netherlands is set to allow Tesla owners to self-drive
• Tesla sales are plummeting in Canada. Is a backlash against Elon Musk to blame?

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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney said there is momentum behind his nation-building agenda after receiving criticism from British Columbia Premier David Eby over the possible construction of a pipeline to his province’s coast.

“What we’re trying to accomplish, and I think we’re really getting momentum now across the country, is we don’t want to hear what people are against, we want to hear what they’re for,” said Carney, during a Q&A in front of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Wednesday.

“And if you’re for something, we will get behind you,” he added.

Last week, Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed an “implementation agreement” that underlines the federal government’s support for a one-million-barrel a day pipeline to the B.C. coast.

The agreement also includes several caveats for a pipeline to be approved, including Alberta’s commitment to increase its industrial carbon tax to a headline price of $140 a tonne by 2040 and a reduction of its emissions through the Pathways carbon capture project.

There is still no private proponent for a pipeline, although the agreement has promised fast-tracked regulatory approval by the fall of 2027.

Eby has criticized the deal due to the lack of consultation with B.C. On Tuesday, he also said Alberta is getting special treatment because of separatist sentiment brewing in the province.

During his speech, Carney said any potential pipeline will have to give substantial financial and economic benefits for British Columbia and must fully respect duty to consult under Section 35 of the constitution.

The prime minister also pointed to the number of B.C. projects currently under review in the Major Projects Office.

“We’re getting big things done, 22 nation-building projects and strategies referred to that Major Projects Office,” said Carney. “One-third of those 22 are right here in British Columbia.”

Carney also highlighted the role the West Coast province will play in his government’s economic agenda, including in critical minerals, electricity, artificial intelligence and liquefied natural gas.

“When we master energy, we master our destiny,” he told the business audience.

Carney was asked about the criticism of a possible pipeline within B.C. and how he will navigate that in his conversations with Eby.

Carney said initial conversations with Coastal First Nations and the premier are important, which can lead to an adjustment of what people want. But the prime minister said ultimately, “it’s a big country” and “there’s lots of things going on.”

“If things get stalled here, we’re going to be spending more time elsewhere in the country because we need to move forward,” he said.

Eby and Carney spoke to reporters ahead of their meeting in Vancouver, where both leaders emphasized their priorities.

“I have no doubt in my mind that the prime minister is a friend to British Columbia,” said Eby.

“An important part of friendship is telling each other the truth and part of the truth for British Columbia is that development work we’re doing, of developing the economy, has to go hand in hand with environmental protection for the next generation, including the north coast tanker ban,” added the premier.

Eby said that he and the prime minister have agreed to enter negotiations on “B.C.’s priorities going forward.”

Carney said it’s important to build in the right way, with an emphasis on partnership with First Nations and sustainability.

“There are series of other issues that we will work on that’s part of broader Canadian federalism and cooperation that is critical,” said the prime minister, adding that the discussion will respect the priorities of British Columbia.

“We’re building British Columbia strong, sustainable, for all,” said Carney.

National Post

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Doctors believe there’s a one-in-four shot that human bodies and brains suspended in deep freeze could be successfully revived in the future, and most support intervening, pre-death, to improve “preservation outcomes,” a new survey suggests .

“Medicine often faces a tragic temporal mismatch: while approximately 70 per cent of terminally ill patients have a strong will-to-live despite their impending deaths, treatments that could meaningfully extend their lives may remain years or decades away from development,” the authors wrote in the journal, PLoS One.

Thus, hundreds of people, including many Canadians, have opted to be cryopreserved upon death — cooled to -196 degrees Celsius and stored in vats of liquid nitrogen with the hope of being successfully “reanimated” or restored to life at some later date.

While no such “preserved” patient has ever been revived, and, even if possible at all, successful revival may be decades away, “current preservation organizations report several hundred patients preserved globally, with thousands more signed up for future preservation,” the authors wrote.

For their study, the researchers surveyed 334 U.S. physicians — 150 primary care doctors and 184 other specialists, including neurologists, intensive care doctors, anesthesiologists and doctors who specialize in palliative, or end-of-life care.

Current preservation procedures known also as “biostatis” or “cryonics” take two main forms, the authors explained: the traditional approach (deep-freezing and flushing the body with biological antifreeze to minimize crystal formation) and aldehyde-based fixation, a newer brain-banking technique that involves injecting a fixative prior to cooling to lock everything into a life-like state and avoid further decay.

The latter approach is thought to be superior at preserving the brain’s “connectome,” which first author and neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston of Monash University in Melbourne has described as “all the individual (neural) connections that each of us have in our brains that make us unique.”

However distant, or outlandish, the prospect might seem now, “as long as you’ve preserved someone’s body and their brain in good quality (revival) remains a possibility, as long as you have their connectome,” Zelesnikow-Johnston said before a Royal Institution talk on abolishing death.

However, doctors lack “consensus” on whole body or brain preservation, “creating challenges for physicians whose patients inquire about preservation as an end-of-life option,” Zeleznikow-Johnston and colleagues wrote in PLoS One, including after medically assisted deaths.

For their study, survey participants were first asked, “How plausible do you find the idea that preservation could potentially allow for some form of revival in the future?” All in, 27.9 per cent answered “somewhat” or “very” plausible, while 47 per cent responded “somewhat” or “very” implausible.

Next they were asked to imagine a scenario where a patient is preserved within minutes of his or her heart stopping, and where imaging and brain biopsies show “intact brain structures down to the synaptic level.”

How likely would it be, the doctors were asked, that a “significant amount of the neurally-encoded information required for long-term memory and personality is still preserved in their brain, such that it may be technologically possible to revive this patient, even in the distant future?”

Overall, they said there was a 25.5 per cent chance.

Neurosurgeons rated the possibility that psychological information would remain after revival at 72 per cent, the highest of the group. Most of the other specialities were more skeptical.

Blood clots that form shortly after cardiac arrest can seriously hamper preservation’s probability of success, the authors said. When asked whether it should be allowable to give blood thinners to an “imminently terminal patient” who wishes to be preserved after death — which, to the best of the team’s knowledge, is not currently legally permissible anywhere in the world — 70.7 per cent said the practice should “probably” or “definitely” be allowed

Roughly 44 per cent said that, in cases of medically assisted dying, it should be legal to begin preservation procedures for those who want it after the patient is unconscious, but not yet dead.

“A lot of physician hesitancy may come from simple unfamiliarity with the scientific basis of modern preservation methods,” Zeleznikow-Johnston said in a news release.

“The doctors who have actually thought about this — and who regularly sit with dying patients — tend to be more receptive, not less.”

Experiments freezing and reviving fish date back to 1665. More recently, German scientists reported in March that they succeeded in restoring some activity in previously frozen slices of an adult mouse brain.

Zeleznikow-Johnston and his co-authors said that the plausibility of it working with humans gains some support from procedures like deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, where patients undergoing complex surgeries on blood vessels around the heart or in the brain are cooled to the point where blood stops circulating and their heart and brain activity ceases, so that surgeons can do the delicate repairs in a bloodless field. Their bodies are then slowly warmed again after surgery.

While patients “routinely recover full neurological function” after 30 minutes of cardiac arrest, that’s a short-term form of preservation, and skeptics of the preserve-restore-revival promise of cryonics are plentiful.

The cost isn’t cheap, upwards of $200,000 for whole body freezing and storage. Given what’s known about how the dying process damages brain tissue due to lack of oxygen, in addition to any further damage sustained from freezing, it’s “next to impossible” to believe brain preservation and restoration would ever work, no matter how advanced the science, bioethicist Arthur Caplan told National Post in 2023. The risk of adverse events like dementia or severe cognitive impairment “are just huge,” Caplan added.

How, and in what form, people will “reawaken” is unknown: Their brain still attached to their now freshly, biologically restored body, or uploaded to a digital form that’s placed inside a robot? Whatever form, “if the memories and experiences which define us are held on to, a person has survived,” Zeleznikow-Johnston said in an interview with the Guardian. “A robotic or digital brain, if done right, I’d argue, is still you.”

The survey was conducted in October 2025 among doctors who are part of an online community for verified doctors. Payments to doctors for filling out the survey (US$28 for primary care physicians and US$48 for specialists) were supported by a a grant from CryoDAO, an organization that funds research in cryopreservation. Of the study’s two other authors, one is an employee of Sparks Brain Preservation, a non-profit brain preservation organization, the other is a shareholder and CEO of Tomorrow Bio, a biostasis provider.

National Post

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OTTAWA — Call it the coriander conundrum.

Like with parsley, carrots, dill, and most other members of the apiaceae family of edible plants, the retail price of coriander has been growing like a weed.

While the prices of many items on grocery store shelves have been heading north in recent months and years, the price of fresh coriander — and the cilantro leaves that come from the same plant — tends to be even more volatile than most because the plant is a bit precious – it needs good weather, spoils quickly after being picked, and is usually imported.

That means its shelf price, which has more than doubled in price in some markets since the start of the pandemic, is more susceptible to exchange rate fluctuations and fuel price spikes, such as those that followed the recent attacks on Iran and the subsequent closing of the Strait of Hormuz.

The price of coriander is just one small component in the broader basket of items on Canadian grocery store shelves, the costs of which have been rising sharply in recent years. The Bank of Canada said earlier this year that grocery prices climbed about 22 per cent between 2022 and 2025, compared to a jump of 13 per cent for other consumer prices during the same period.

But there are no policy options to deal with grocery prices that won’t cause more harm than good, said Don Drummond, a former high-ranking official at the Department of Finance and chief economist at TD Bank.

“There are no policy levers that would quickly and decisively lower grocery store prices,” he said. “All they can do is re-distribute who pays and when.”

Drummond says the rise in food prices is a trap for governments because most efforts to do something will mean borrowing more money, thereby adding to the burden that future generations will pay for today’s consumption. Scratching more cheques for consumers is also dangerous because it’s expensive, adds to the expectation that governments will bail people out, and puts further pressure on inflation by boosting demand.

“There is nothing useful that can be done.”

Many Canadians, however, believe their grocery bills have been climbing faster than the Bank of Canada’s statistics show. The central bank says the average Canadian spends about 11 per cent of their budget on groceries, although that figure tends to be much larger for those with limited resources.

For many consumers, the conundrum has simply been about what to do about rising grocery prices, especially when they show few signs of heading back down. They’re annoying for pretty much everybody, but a serious issue for those on tighter budgets. In some cases, the price hikes have changed their lives, leaving them unable to pay bills or even hungry. Statistics Canada reported a full four years ago, in the early days of the recent price hikes, that consumers were also responding to the post-pandemic food inflation by buying less and hunting more for bargains.

For governments, however, the conundrum rests on a misalignment between the economics of grocery prices and the politics, leaving them struggling to try to do something about a major problem that is difficult to influence.

Analysts say the economics are that grocery prices are largely a function of market forces. Michael von Massow, a food agriculture economist at the University of Guelph, said the grocery price hikes over the last five or so years have been a result of poor weather, global warming, currency fluctuations, rising energy and fertilizer costs, the wars in Ukraine and now Iran, and of course pandemic-related supply chain problems — many things, but not an industry conspiracy.

Grocery stores are still earning pre-tax margins of about 4 per cent on most items, von Massow said, just as they were before the pandemic. “The perception of gouging is grossly overstated.”

The Retail Council of Canada, which represents the large grocery chains, says that grocery store margins are lower than the net income of farmers or food manufacturers and processors. Grocery store profits, the group says, have been flat in recent years and driven much more these days by non-food items such as those in the health, beauty and pharmacy aisles.

As for the politics, it’s as much about perception than the economic reality. When millions of voters are miffed about something, governments likely won’t be stopped from doing something as a response, even if it’s mostly to be seen to be doing something. Nor will opposition parties be stopped from accusing governments of not doing enough, or too much, or just doing it wrong.

The Carney government has already taken a number of steps to try to help, targeting both consumers’ wallets and the industry itself.

In a bid to help consumers, particularly those most in need, Ottawa brought in a new Canada Groceries and Essential Benefit. This measure, an expansion of the existing GST credit, includes a one-off top-up payment of 50 per cent, plus an increase in payments by 25 per cent for five years beginning in July.

The government also provided more money for food banks and local food programs.

To encourage grocery stores to lower their costs and perhaps their prices, the Liberals spent $500 million on a Strategic Response Fund to help businesses absorb disruption costs, instead of just passing them on to consumers. They also spent $150 million on a Food Security Fund that was designed to support smaller players in the food business and brought in tax incentives to encourage the construction or expansion of greenhouses.

There were also measures to support greater competition in the grocery sector, including greater monitoring by the Competition Bureau.

All told, said John Fragos, a spokesman for Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, Ottawa’s responses to the food price surge will save a single person about $905 a year, and a family of four about $1,890.

Opposition parties have proposed more drastic steps.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the government should tackle rising grocery prices by slashing taxes and input costs for truckers, farmers and food producers, and taking measures to increase competition in the grocery store market.

NDP Leader Avi Lewi says the government should attack affordability by investing in a new chain of government-supported grocery stores that would compete against the private operators. The non-profit government stores would offer a smaller array of products, the theory goes, but could charge 30 to 40 per cent less than the private chains.

A report released last week by the conservative-leaning Montreal Economic Institute argued against government-run grocery stores, saying they’d fail to provide significant savings and fail to address the real drivers of rising food prices: tariffs, interprovincial trade barriers, and unnecessary regulation.

Provincial governments have also taken their shots at combatting rising grocery prices through tax credits and rebates targeted at low-income citizens, increased support for food banks and farmers.

But the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers said governments could help even more with grocery prices by cutting the fees that credit card companies charge smaller retailers and doing more to address the disparity between business costs in rural and urban communities. “It’s like an invisible border,” said Gary Sands, the federation’s senior vice-president.

The Liberals argue that the soaring food prices are a global phenomenon and that their measures have prevented prices from going up even more.

The OECD says that Canada ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack of industrialized countries when it comes to grocery price inflation over the last few years. But that’s cold comfort to Canadian consumers who just want to feel like they’re getting a fair shake as they make their way through the checkout.

Despite the global increase in inflation, economists say Canadian governments have also played a role by throwing too much coal on the fire. During the pandemic, at a time when the global economy was already experiencing a number of supply shocks and increased consumer demand, the Trudeau government embarked on an unprecedented spending spree.

In 2020, near the start of the pandemic, about 20.7 million Canadians out of an adult population of 30.3 million received income from one of the federal pandemic-related programs, according to a 2022 report from Statistics Canada. During that year alone, the programs are estimated to have cost $270 billion — about 12.5 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP).

While the programs provided relief to individuals and businesses and offered a short-term economic cushion during the crisis, the C.D. Howe Institute noted that injecting that much extra money into an economy with strong employment will almost certainly lead to inflation.

Von Massow, the University of Guelph economist, said today’s higher food prices might not seem fair, but market forces can also work the other way too. In recent months, for example, coffee, olive oil, pasta, some berries and some seafood have been among the grocery items to fall in price, he said.

Consumers, however, tend to notice the rising prices, notably of some imported fruits, chocolate, beef, and fresh vegetables, much more than those that are falling, von Massow said.

Economists also point out that food prices haven’t jumped that much more than inflation overall, which has averaged 2.8 per cent over the last three completed years, or 3.8 per cent if 2022’s 6.8 per cent is included.

“They’re tough,” Von Massow said about the grocery price hikes over the last few years, “but they’re not as tough as we make them out to be.”

He suggests that consumers try to control what they can control, such as what they buy and when. For example, buying produce that is in-season and grown nearby can help, he said.

Coriander, by contrast, is largely imported to Canada from warmer places, mostly Mexico, Arizona and California in the winter, dried seeds from India, Morocco and Egypt in the winter. That makes the spice among the items on the grocery store shelves most susceptible to fuel price hikes and other supply chain fluctuations — and a small piece of a big conundrum for both consumers and governments.

National Post

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OTTAWA — Defence Minister David McGuinty announced the Canadian Snowbirds, the fleet of planes that make up the Royal Canadian Air Force’s air demonstrations, will be grounded following the 2026 season.

“After more than six decades of service as both a trainer and demonstration aircraft, 2026 will mark the final season of the CT 114 Tutor aircraft fleet,” said McGuinty, during a press conference at 15 Wing Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, where the Snowbirds are based.

“And as Canadians gather over the next year to watch the Tutors fly one final time, we will also celebrate the generations of pilots, technicians, engineers, and support personnel who made the Snowbirds one of the most respected air teams in the world,” the defence minister added.

The Snowbirds first entered service in 1963 as a jet trainer for the RCAF, then became part of the air force’s air demonstrations starting in 1971. The Snowbirds received their name after a “Name the Team” contest was held at the local Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan base elementary school that same year.

Since its inception, the Snowbirds have performed over 2,700 air displays for over 140 million people.

RCAF Commander Lieutenant-General Jamie Speiser-Blanchet said that despite the millions of dollars invested in improvements to allow the planes’ lifespans to last until 2030, feasibility studies showed engineering challenges that required the aircraft to be retired three years earlier than anticipated.

The Department of National Defence intends to acquire the CT-157 Siskin II as a replacement, which are manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft Ltd in Stans, Switzerland.

The new planes are expected to become operational sometime in the “early 2030s.”

McGuinty did not specify which year the new Snowbirds will become operational, noting that discussions with the manufacturer are “ongoing” and the government’s new Defence Investment Agency will lead the negotiations.

The air demonstration squadron is comprised of 86 regular force, reserve force and public service personnel. McGuinty said these members will be reassigned to other duties.

Speaking to reporters during an announcement in Quebec, Prime Minister Mark Carney defended his government’s decision to ground the planes that are emblematic of Canadian identity and pride.

“We inherited a situation, or I inherited a situation where the planes literally had come to the end of their lives,” he said, during a press conference.

“The Snowbirds will continue, and new planes are being commissioned and will arrive,” he added.

The RCAF remains in a pilot shortage and the Snowbirds are often a good recruitment tool for the Canadian air force. The defence minister said recruitment overall in the Canadian Armed Forces is up 61 per cent from last year.

“We have every confidence that the air force will do what it has to do to be able to recruit and retain trainees to become pilots,” said McGuinty.

Conservative MP Fraser Tolmie, who represents the federal riding of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, said the federal government’s decision to ground the planes is “heartbreaking” and a symptom “of far deeper problems in our military.”

“Canadians want to be inspired by Canadians,” said Tolmie, in a statement.

“Because of this government’s failure to plan and deliver, the U.S. air demonstration teams (the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds) will fill the skies of Canadian airshows for years to come in the Snowbirds’ absence,” he added.

Tolmie said Canada will lose a generation of pilots because of this decision.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said he was happy to hear the aging fleet will be replaced, but would like to see a financial commitment from the federal government.

“The Snowbirds…are very much iconic to not only CFB Moose Jaw, but to the military and to our nation as a whole,” he said, in an interview with the National Post.

National Post

– with files from Stephanie Taylor

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