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Alberta

“Butt out, Creeps”: ALERT issues sextortion warning

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From ALERT (Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team)

While the number of sextortion cases remains high for ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation team, the province-wide unit is launching a multi-media awareness campaign that says “butt out, creeps”.

“Butt out, creeps” is campaign to raise awareness and help youth get smart about sextortion. ALERT worked with DDB Canada to research and develop the campaign, which officially launched on social media channels earlier this month and has already generated over one million impressions.

The ads, featuring dancing eggplant and peach emoji characters, are running on Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, online gaming platforms and can also be found on the web at buttoutcreeps.ca. The singing eggplant tells kids, “don’t be a wang, don’t be a boob, sending nude pics to strangers makes you look like a newb”. Meanwhile the peach character sings, “if someone you know asks you for a nude, tell someone you trust, then ghost that weird dude”.

“Sextortion cases are completely debilitating for youth and have become all too frequent – and it is happening inside our homes. We are hoping this campaign allows us to connect with youth online, and provide education and supporting resources in a manner that is accessible and noteworthy,” said Supt. Marc Cochlin, ALERT CEO.

The ads are aimed towards connecting with youth between 10 and 17 years of age, who ICE has found to be the primary target of sextortion cases.

Sextortion is where children, specifically boys, are being coerced into sending explicit images online and are then extorted for money, e-transfers, or gift cards. Predators often pose as girls of a similar age and use fake accounts to target youth. Investigating sextortion is challenging as the suspects are believed to be operating overseas, much the same manner as more traditional phone scammers.

The campaign’s primary message is to dissuade youth from sharing nudes online, but to “get smart about sextortion” by following a link to our website with resources and tips.

Last year, ICE received nearly 3,000 case referrals. Record numbers for Alberta as online child sexual exploitation offences have increased by more than 185% in the past five years.

While the ads are designed to connect more with youth, parents also play an important role in prevention. Studies show that 1 in 3 victims of sextortion never told anyone, largely due to embarrassment or shame. Resources for parents are also posted online at buttoutcreeps.ca.

About DDB Canada
DDB Canada is part of DDB Worldwide, one of the world’s largest and most influential advertising and marketing networks. Known for advertising that generates significant results for clients, DDB Canada’s fundamental belief is that creativity is the most powerful force in business. Founded in 1949, DDB is part of the Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC).

About ALERT
ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime. Integrated ICE teams investigate offences related to the exploitation of children over the Internet.

 

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Alberta

Alberta introduces bill banning sex reassignment surgery on minors

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From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith followed through on a promised bill banning so-called ‘top and bottom’ surgeries for minors.

Alberta Conservative Premier Danielle Smith made good on her promise to protect kids from extreme transgender ideology after introducing a bill banning so-called “top and bottom” surgeries for minors.

“It is so important that all youth can enter adulthood equipped to make adult decisions. In order to do that, we need to preserve their ability to make those decisions, and that’s what we’re doing,” Smith said in a press release.

“The changes we’re introducing are founded on compassion and science, both of which are vital for the development of youth throughout a time that can be difficult and confusing.”

Bill 26, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2024 “reflects the government’s commitment to build a health care system that responds to the changing needs of Albertans,” the government says.

The bill will amend the Health Act to “prohibit regulated health professionals from performing sex reassignment surgeries on minors.”

It will also ban the “use of puberty blockers and hormone therapies for the treatment of gender dysphoria or gender incongruence” to kids 15 and under “except for those who have already commenced treatment and would allow for minors aged 16 and 17 to choose to commence puberty blockers and hormone therapies for gender reassignment and affirmation purposes with parental, physician and psychologist approval.”

Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange, the bill’s sponsor, said the province’s legislative priorities include “implementing policy changes to continue our refocusing work, position our health care system to respond to pressures and public health emergencies, and to preserve choice for minors. These amendments reflect our dedication to ensuring our health care system meets the needs of every Albertan.”

Earlier this year, the United Conservative Party (UCP) provincial government under Smith announced  she would introduce the strong pro-family legislation that strengthens parental rights, protecting kids from life-altering, so-called “top and bottom” surgeries as well as other extreme forms of transgender ideology.

With Smith’s UCP holding a majority in the provincial legislature, the passage of Bill 26 is almost certain.

While Smith has done far more than predecessor Jason Kenney to satisfy social conservatives, she has been mostly soft on social issues such as abortion and has publicly expressed pro-LGBT views, telling Jordan Peterson that conservatives must embrace homosexual “couples” as “nuclear families.”

This weekend, thousands of UCP members will gather for the party’s annual general meeting, where Smith’s leadership will be voted on along with many other pro-freedom and family policy proposals from members. Smith is expected to pass her leadership review vote with a large majority.

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Alberta

Alberta court upholds conviction of Pastor Artur Pawlowski for preaching at Freedom Convoy protest

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Lawyers argued that Pastor Artur Pawlowski’s sermon was intended to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, but the statement was characterized as a call for mischief.

An Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Calgary Pastor Artur Pawlowski is guilty of mischief for his sermon at the Freedom Convoy-related border protest blockade in February 2022 in Coutts, Alberta.

On October 29, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Gordon Krinke sentenced the pro-freedom pastor to 60 days in jail for “counselling mischief” by encouraging protesters to continue blocking Highway 4 to protest COVID mandates.

“A reasonable person would understand the appellant’s speech to be an active inducement of the illegal activity that was ongoing and that the appellant intended for his speech to be so understood,” the decision reads.

Pawlowski addressed a group of truckers and protesters blocking entrance into the U.S. state of Montana on February 3, the fifth day of the Freedom Convoy-styled protest. He encouraged the protesters to “hold the line” after they had reportedly made a deal with Royal Canadian Mounted Police to leave the border crossing and travel to Edmonton.

“The eyes of the world are fixed right here on you guys. You are the heroes,” Pawlowski said. “Don’t you dare go breaking the line.”

After Pawlowski’s sermon, the protesters remained at the border crossing for two additional weeks. While his lawyers argued that his speech was made to encourage protesters to find a peaceful solution to the blockade, the statement is being characterized as a call for mischief.

Days later, on February 8, Pawlowski was arrested – for the fifth time – by an undercover SWAT team just before he was slated to speak again to the Coutts protesters.

He was subsequently jailed for nearly three months for what he said was for speaking out against COVID mandates, the subject of all the Freedom Convoy-related protests.

In Krinke’s decision, he argued that Pawlowski’s sermon incited the continuation of the protest, saying, “The Charter does not provide justification to anybody who incites a third party to commit such crimes.”

“While the appellant is correct that peaceful, lawful and nonviolent communication is entitled to protection, blockading a highway is an inherently aggressive and potentially violent form of conduct, designed to intimidate and impede the movement of third parties,” he wrote.

Pawlowski was released after the verdict. He has already spent 78 days in jail before the trial.

Pawlowski is the first Albertan to be charged for violating the province’s Critical Infrastructure Defence Act (CIDA), which was put in place in 2020 under then-Premier Jason Kenney.

The CIDA, however, was not put in place due to COVID mandates but rather after anti-pipeline protesters blockaded key infrastructure points such as railway lines in Alberta a few years ago.

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