In an attempt to combat what he calls “disinformation and misinformation,” Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has issued a set of guidelines to reporters and media outlets, citing the need to adapt to changing technology.

“We can no longer ignore the challenges and opportunities that come with an increasingly digital world. We have to act now to ensure a healthy ecosystem online for all citizens.”

The guide – titled ‘The Guiding Principles On Diversity of Online Content’ – does not currently contain “concrete action they will take to implement the guiding principles,” according to Guilbeault but will within a year.

The guide touches on a number of points including hopes to make private interests in media clearer to the public by adding “information about media ownership and funding sources should be made accessible to the public and transparent to safeguard a diverse and pluralistic media ecosystem.”

Guilbeault did not note if the state-run CBC should be required to inform readers that it is paid for by taxpayers and owned by the government.

“Misinformation” is defined within the guide as “false or misleading content shared without harmful intent though the effects can still be harmful, e.g. when people share false information with friends and family in good faith.”

Blacklock Reporter said the current version of the document does not explain who would be responsible for monitoring news deemed to be harmful.

Blacklock speculates the timing of this guide could have ulterior motives. One week prior to its issuing, Guilbeault’s department proposed a pre-election advertising campaign specifically targeting white voters.

The campaign was said to attempt to create “an emotionally compelling narrative of contemporary Canadian identity and values as antithetical to racism and discrimination, and one that directly supports social cohesion,” according to Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc.

The new ‘Anti-Racism Campaign’ has not yet disclosed its budget, but is set to start up in September.

The campaign is an attempt to combat – in LeBlanc’s words – an expectation of unnamed groups disrupting a potential 2021 election by encouraging “racism and hatred.”

LeBlanc went so far as to predict unnamed groups will “want to disrupt and sow discord and divide societies or agitate racism and hatred.”

The potential for a 2021 election and the recent passing of Bill C-10 push the issues discussed in this guide to the forefront, as many believe free speech is currently under attack in Canada.

Jackie Conroy is a Correspondent for the Western Standard
jconroy@westernstandardonline.com

Outspoken global warming fighter and Liberal Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier managed to burn through jet fuel by ordering an empty plane across eastern Canada to get to a local news conference close to her home.

Lebouthillier arranged for a government aircraft to fly empty on the 2,200-km round trip flight from Ottawa to her home in Gaspé, Quebec in order for to taxi her to a local news conference.

A Department of Transportation employee involved wrote in a document obtained by an Access to Information request, “This is getting weird again.”

Lebouthillier has been a well-known champion of fighting global warming and the federal carbon tax during her tenure in government.

On August 26 2019 Lebouthillier stated that “extreme weather is becoming more severe, frequent, damaging, and expensive because of climate change.”

Later on November 6 2020, Lebouthillier made a call for all Canadians to “reduce their carbon footprint.”

A timeline of the event disclosed through flight logs from June 30, 2020 revealed Lebouthillier had Transport Canada fly the jet from Ottawa to her constituency, stay between “60 and 90 minutes”, then fly the minister back to her home, and then return again to Ottawa, empty.

Another transport department manager asked in an internal email if “we have an approximate sense of cost for the flights?” The expense has not yet been disclosed.

Lebouthillier previously called out Air Canada for the “shameful” way they “behaved with people in the regions” after the airline suspended scheduled flights to Îles de la Madeleine on June 30 to cut costs because of the pandemic.

This detail seems serendipitous as documents indicate June 29 – a day before the Air Canada cancellation was announced – Lebouthillier was “now inquiring about the possibility of using a Transport Canada aircraft to fly a VIP and possibly one additional passenger from Gaspé to Îles de la Madeleine.”

The aircraft seats five, but according to Blacklock’s Reporter no other passengers traveled aboard the flight.

Minister Lebouthillier’s office declined to comment on the flight records or offer an explanation why the minister could not have made the announcement via videoconference instead of travelling to make it in person.

On March 25 2021 Lebouthillier tweeted celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the federal carbon tax.

“Great news! This is a big step forward in our fight against climate change and a great victory for all Canadians. Climate change has had its repercussions everywhere and this is why we must continue to act.”

Jackie Conroy is a Correspondent for the Western Standard
jconroy@westernstandardonline.com

Septic Tank Sam finally has a name – after 46 years.

The man, dubbed Septic Tank Sam, was found in April of 1977 in a septic tank on an abandoned farm near Tofield. He has now been identified as Gordon Edwin Sanderson, of Edmonton. He was identified through the use of the novel forensic technique of Genetic Genealogy.

“In October 2017, the Alta. RCMP Missing Persons Unit (MPU) announced a National DNA program focusing on the identification of unidentified remains was being launched. The program allows investigators to obtain DNA from people who have a missing family member for potential match against unidentified human remains on the DNA index. It was hoped that this new program would provide some answers in this case,” said RCMP in a release.

“In 2019, Alta. RCMP MPU sent a partial DNA profile from the 1977 unidentified human remains that had been developed in 2012 to be compared to this new Canadian DNA database, without success.

“It would take the emerging field of Genetic Genealogy to provide a break in this case. In 2020, Alberta RCMP MPU and the OCME sent biological samples to Othram Labs of Woodlands, Texas in the hopes a full-DNA profile suitable for analysis could be developed. Othram was successful in developing a DNA profile and then searched the profile against public DNA databanks. As a result, they were able to develop a “family tree” with a number of possible relatives to the unidentified remains.”

RCMP conducted further investigation and with the help of those identified relatives, and were able to obtain familial DNA samples that were then sent for forensic testing in August 2020. In October 2020, RCMP received confirmation that the familial DNA was a match to the 1977 unidentified human remains.

Alberta RCMP were able to confirm that the identity of the homicide victim in 1977 was Gordon Edwin Sanderson of Edmonton, who would have been approximately 25-years-of-age at the time of his death. In discovering Mr. Sanderson’s identity, the Alberta RCMP was able to provide his relatives with some information on what had happened to their loved one some 40 years prior.

The Alberta RCMP were also able to provide family members with information on Gordon Sanderson’s brother, who had also lost contact with family for many years and unfortunately passed away in Edmonton several years ago.

Legendary Calgary Sun crime reporter Peter Smith recalls the case of “Septic Tank Sam” as one of the most puzzling of his career.

“In all the 20 cases covered in my true crime books this was the only unsolved case among them, making it the most mysterious of all – until now,” the now retired Smith told the Western Standard.

RCMP are now looking for anyone who they may not have spoken to, who may have spoken to Gordon Sanderson before his death, or may have information regarding this homicide. Please contact the Tofield RCMP Detachment at 780-662-3353, or your local police. You can also reach the Alberta RCMP Historical Homicide Unit via email to RCMP/KHHU-KHHU.GRC@rcmp