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Church fire on Canadian indigenous land on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

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4 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

RCMP said the September 30 fire at Alexander First Nation’s Roman Catholic church in Alberta was ‘suspicious,’ marking yet another potential attack on Catholics, particularly those of indigenous heritage.

In what seems to be yet another attack on Catholics, the Roman Catholic church on Alexander First Nation in Alberta was reduced to rubble in what police are calling a “suspicious” fire.

On September 30, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) got a call just after midnight that the local Catholic church of the Alexander First Nation was on fire. Soon after, fire crews from the Alexander First Nation, as well as neighboring communities, worked together to halt the blaze. Alexander First Nation is located in northern Alberta near the town of Morinville.

Despite an earnest effort by firefighters, the church was damaged beyond repair and is considered a total loss, police confirmed.  

RCMP said in a press release that the “circumstances around this fire do appear suspicious,” and it is currently investigating the incident further. 

“RCMP will be working to determine the cause of the fire,” said police.  

In a Facebook post later in the day, the Alexander First Nation Fire Department Chief Wyatt Arcand said it was with great “sadness” that the First Nation’s church was lost. 

“It is with great sadness that we confirm that our Nation’s church burned down last night,” wrote Arcand. “I would like to thank the Nation’s Fire Department staff, Public Works and Security and all those who assisted and continue to assist today in ensuring the fire is completely out.” 

The Alexander First Nation church fire is the second church fire in less than a week. On September 28, an Anglican church in Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, was also reduced to a pile of ashes. The fires are just the two most recent in a string of church burnings and vandalism incidents which have plagued the country, particular indigenous Catholics.

Indeed, since the spring of 2021, some 112 churches, most of them Catholic, have been either burnt to the ground, vandalized or defiled across the country.

The church attacks started in earnest in 2021 when the mainstream media and federal government ran with the inflammatory and dubious claims that hundreds of children were buried and disregarded by Catholic priests and nuns who ran schools as part of the now-defunct residential schools system.

LifeSiteNews reported late last month that the Trudeau cabinet’s own data confirms there was a massive uptick in church attacks following the unproven claim that 215 “unmarked graves” were discovered at the Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia. With no bodies having been recovered, and the claims being made based off of soil disturbances found with ground-penetrating radar, Kamloops First Nation has since changed its claim of 215 graves to 200 “potential burials.”  

While the attacks have rocked Catholics as a whole, they have had a particular impact on indigenous Catholics as many of the churches targeted have been located on First Nations.

Despite the devastating impact the dubious residential school claims have had on Catholics, including indigenous Catholics, a backbencher MP from the socialist New Democratic Party (NDP) Leah Gazan wants to criminalize through legislation those who deny the system was a “genocide.”

Anyone with information about the fire but wants to remain anonymous is asked to contact the local Crime Stoppers by phone at 1‐800‐222‐8477 (TIPS), or at www.tipsubmit.com. All others can contact the Morinville RCMP at 780-939-4520. 

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2025 Federal Election

‘I’m Cautiously Optimistic’: Doug Ford Strongly Recommends Canada ‘Not To Retaliate’ Against Trump’s Tariffs

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From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Cohen

Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to avoid retaliation against the tariffs President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday.

Trump announced in the White House Rose Garden that he would impose “a minimum baseline tariff of 10%” on all goods entering the United States, with Canada not being included on the list of countries with higher rates. When asked about what Canada’s response would be on “Bloomberg: Balance of Power,” Ford said he was “cautiously optimistic” about Canada’s omission from the higher-tier tariffs and emphasized the importance of a cooperative relationship with the U.S.

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“Well, let’s see where these tariffs go. I’m cautiously optimistic that I never saw Canada or Mexico on that list. And it just goes to show you two great countries working together, collaborating together and building relationships,” Ford said. “So again, I’m cautiously optimistic. I think if that’s the case, it’s the right thing for both the U.S and Canada.”

Host Kailey Leinz noted that there are currently tariffs on Canada in place as well as an exemption for goods that are in compliance with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

“Does that mean, sir, at least in your mind, that it wouldn’t be appropriate for Canada to retaliate for this at this time?” Leinz asked.

“That is correct. If that’s the case, then I would highly recommend to the prime minister not to retaliate. And let’s carry on a strong relationship,” Ford answered. “Let’s build the American-Canadian fortress around both countries and be the wealthiest, most prosperous, safest two countries in the world.”

Trump declared a national emergency to levy a slew of reciprocal tariffs on what he has deemed “Liberation Day.”

“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day, April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,” Trump said.

The president also announced that he would proceed with implementing a 25% tariff on “all foreign-made automobiles” that will take effect at midnight.

Ford in March had imposed a 25% surcharge on electricity to New York, Michigan and Minnesota, but promptly rescinded the policy and apologized to Americans on WABC’s “Cats & Cosby” radio show the following day. The tariffs were a retaliatory measure against Trump’s flurry of tariffs against Canada since starting his second term.

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2025 Federal Election

Liberal MP resigns after promoting Chinese government bounty on Conservative rival

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

“I find it incredible that Mark Carney would allow someone to run for his party that called for a Canadian citizen to be handed over to a foreign government on a bounty,” he said at a recent rally. “What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?”

Liberal MP candidate Paul Chiang has dropped out of the running after being exposed for suggesting Canadians turn in a Conservative Party candidate to the Chinese consulate to collect a bounty placed on the man by the communist regime.

In an March 31 statement, Chiang, the Liberal candidate for the Markham-Unionville riding, announced his departure from the race after a video of him suggesting a bounty could be claimed for Conservative candidate Joe Tay by handing him over to Chinese authorities circulated on social media. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have announced they are “probing” the comments.

“I am proud of what we have achieved together and I remain deeply grateful for the trust placed in me,” he said. “This is a uniquely important election with so much at stake for Canadians. As the Prime Minister and Team Canada work to stand up to President Trump and protect our economy, I do not want any distractions in this critical moment.”

 

“That’s why I’m standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham-Unionville,” he announced.

Chiang’s resignation follows backlash from Conservatives and Canadians alike when a January video from a news conference with Chinese-language media in Toronto resurfaced.

In the video, Chiang jokingly suggested that Tay, his then-Conservative rival for the Markham–Unionville riding, could be turned over to the Chinese Consulate General in Toronto in return for $1-million Hong Kong dollar bounty, about $183,000 CAD.

 

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre was quick to call out Chiang’s suggestion and blasted Prime Minister Mark Carney for keeping him on the ballot.

Chiang has since apologized for his suggestion on both social media and personally to Tay.

“Today, I spoke with Joseph Tay, the Conservative candidate for Don Valley North, to personally apologize for the comments that I made this past January,” he wrote in a March 30 X post.

 

“It was a terrible lapse of judgement. I recognize the severity of the statement and I am deeply disappointed in myself,” he continued.

Carney has said remarkably little regarding the situation. First, he refused to fire the Liberal candidate, referring to Chiang’s statement as a “terrible lapse of judgment.”

“He’s made his apology. He’s made it to the public, he’s made it to the individual concerned, he’s made it directly to me, and he’s going to continue with his candidacy,” Carney said. “He has my confidence.”

Then, following the announcement of Chaing’s resignation, Carney told reporters that it was time to “move on” and that he would “leave it at that.”

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