00:00:00.000A man in Lindsay, Ontario was arrested and charged after defending himself against a home intruder who was wanted by the police.
00:00:12.320A new poll found that over 80% of Canadians want First Nations to be forced to disclose how they spend public funds again, years after liberal changes to the contrary.
00:00:23.380Public Service Pride Week was filled with taxpayer-funded rainbow flags, talks, and praise for gender-affirming policies, once again demonstrating how entrenched DEI principles are in federal decision-making.
00:00:36.880Hello Canada, it's Thursday, August 21st, and this is the True North Daily Brief. I'm Cosbin Georgia.
00:00:44.620We've got you covered with all the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.
00:00:53.380A man from Lindsay, Ontario has been arrested and charged for defending himself against a home intruder, according to Kawartha Lakes Police.
00:01:03.500The 44-year-old homeowner, who remains unnamed, is facing assault charges for allegedly injuring the intruder.
00:01:10.720According to police, on August 18th, at approximately 3.20 a.m., the Kawartha Lakes Police Service responded to an apartment on Kent Street for a report of an altercation between two males.
00:01:22.100Officers arrived on scene and learned that the resident of the apartment had awoken to find an intruder inside his apartment.
00:01:29.760Kawartha Police then said there was an altercation inside the apartment, presumably between the accused and the intruder, resulting in the intruder suffering serious, life-threatening injuries.
00:01:40.100The intruder was transported to Ross Memorial Hospital and later airlifted to a Toronto hospital.
00:01:47.860Police added that there is no risk to public safety and that the investigation has resulted in the homeowner being charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
00:01:57.220He was released with a future court date.
00:01:59.500The intruder, meanwhile, was already wanted by police at the time of the incident for unrelated offenses.
00:02:05.040He has since been additionally charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, break-and-enter, failure to comply with his probation orders, and mischief.
00:02:13.940Jeff, I would think most Canadians are shocked and outraged that somebody who defended himself, potentially his life and his own property, is being charged over it.
00:02:25.340Especially when there was an intruder in their own home, and I would suspect it actually serves as deterrence for people willing to stand up for themselves and others when they're being attacked or invaded upon by criminals.
00:02:38.700So, how are self-defense laws different in Canada compared to the U.S., where they have something such as castle doctrine and more securities for people to engage in self-defense in defense of their person and property?
00:02:57.380Yeah, Cosmin, this happened once before in Manitoba a few years ago that I remember, and Canadians were upset then, and once again, Canadians are shocked and outraged by the arrest that just happened in Lindsay.
00:03:07.700It shows a widespread belief that self-defense should be more broadly protected, especially given the intruder's criminal history and the life-threatening nature of the incident.
00:03:16.860In Canada, self-defense laws governed by Section 34 of the Criminal Code differ significantly from the U.S. Castle Doctrine.
00:03:24.080Canadian law requires the use of force to be reasonable and proportional to the threat, with judges considering whether the defendant had a real opportunity to retreat before acting, as seen in the homeowner's aggravated assault charge, despite the intrusion.
00:03:36.860The U.S. Castle Doctrine, prevalent in states like Texas, grants individuals a legal presumption to use deadly force against intruders in their home without a duty to retreat, provided they reasonably believe it's necessary to prevent harm, which is a stark contrast to Canada's more restrictive approach.
00:03:53.560Canada lacks a formal Castle Doctrine, emphasizing reasonableness over automatic protection, meaning the Lindsay case hinges on whether the homeowner's response exceeded what was deemed necessary, unlike in the U.S., where such actions might be shielded from prosecution.
00:04:07.480Additionally, Canada's self-defense framework doesn't extend to protecting property alone with lethal force, focusing on personal safety, whereas some U.S. states allow it under this stand-your-ground principle.
00:04:18.740This further fuels Canada's perception of unfairness in this case compared to American norms.
00:04:23.340Most Canadians believe Indigenous people should follow the same rules as everyone else, with over 80% supporting public disclosure of First Nations spending.
00:04:35.840An Angus Reid Institute survey found that 60% of Canadians believe Indigenous people should abide by the same rules as the rest of Canadians, while 40% said First Nations communities should be moving towards more independence.
00:04:47.260The poll also found 82% of respondents felt the federal government should reverse liberal changes to auditing laws that remove the onus on First Nations to disclose how they use public funds.
00:04:58.960Angus Reid surveyed 2,508 Canadian adults from July 24th to 29th, asking about Indigenous status, including treatment and privileges.
00:05:07.940The sample was weighted based on census data.
00:05:11.200A probability sample of the same size yields a 1.5% margin of error 19 times out of 20.
00:05:17.180In 2015, Justin Trudeau's Liberal government stopped enforcing the requirement for First Nations to publish their audited financial statements.
00:05:24.760Four in five, 82% of Canadians, said that they think First Nations, which are granted billions of dollars in public funds, should have to disclose their spending.
00:05:33.42072% of Indigenous respondents said First Nations bans should be accountable to the public.
00:05:39.960Asked about their fundamental views on Indigenous status in Canada, 45% of Canadians said there should be no special status granted to Indigenous people that other Canadians don't have.
00:05:49.640The other 55% said that Indigenous people have an inherently unique status.
00:05:54.340Days before the survey was released, law professor Bruce Party argued that legal rights should not be granted to Indigenous people based on their heritage,
00:06:02.920saying it contradicts the principles of a free society and the rule of law.
00:06:07.020Despite significant pushback from wider Canada on the unique status given to Indigenous peoples,
00:06:12.02073% of survey respondents who identified as Indigenous believed they had an inherently unique status due to their ancestry.
00:06:19.720So, with all that said, Cosmin, why are so many Canadians, including almost three quarters of Indigenous people,
00:06:25.940demanding that First Nations disclose their financial statements?
00:06:29.640Well, this was actually the norm about over a decade ago.
00:06:34.560It was under Stephen Harper that the First Nations Financial Transparency Act was introduced in 2013,
00:06:42.020and that piece of legislation actually mandated that First Nations publish audited consolidated financial statements
00:06:51.440and a schedule of the remuneration that chiefs and counsel receive on a public website.
00:06:59.040Now, I will add that Justin Trudeau in 2015 actually suspended the enforcement of that act,
00:07:08.660which means that it's still in place, but First Nations have a choice whether to oblige and follow the specific edicts that the act lays out or not.
00:07:22.940And quite a large number of them do not follow it and don't publicly disclose their financial audited statements.
00:07:31.320Now, most First Nations have some form of, you know, financial statements that they put up online,
00:07:37.580but fully audited ones are not available in every single case for public consumption.
00:07:44.620So, the act still exists, but it was suspended by Trudeau in 2015.
00:07:50.120It was actually, like, one of the first things he did when he came into power.
00:07:55.520And it created a problem because now, essentially, people are unaware of what's going on.
00:08:04.160I think the legislation was first introduced to address these exact concerns, right?
00:08:10.500Like the transparency concerns, the accountability, budgetary concerns, and, you know, wasteful spending,
00:08:18.300misallocation of funds, serious issues that if they're not properly checked on and audited can actually grow to be much worse.
00:08:29.980You know, if a government, a First Nations government feels that, you know, it's not being supervised,
00:08:37.500it doesn't have accountability to the public, then who knows where that can escalate.
00:08:43.520And I'm not specifically talking about anything that's necessarily illegal,
00:08:48.140but it could just be a massive amount of wasteful spending.
00:08:52.160Who knows the administrative ballooning that happens at First Nations when they're not very clear and upfront about what they're spending on.
00:09:00.700And I think most Canadians are aware that a majority of the funding that First Nations receive
00:09:06.500are from taxpayers via the federal government injecting funds and directing funds to various First Nations.
00:09:15.540So I think accountability is a start and being transparent with money that is received from everybody else.
00:09:24.700The least that could be done is to have audited statements.
00:09:28.840During Public Service Pride Week, government departments were awash with rainbow flags and praised for, quote,
00:09:37.760gender-affirming policies, demonstrating how diversity, equity, and inclusion principles are deeply embedded into federal decision-making.
00:09:46.360The week began with a launch hosted by the Public Service Pride Network,
00:09:50.240followed by an event from Statistics Canada titled,
00:09:53.500By the Numbers with StatCan, 2SLGBTQ Plus in Canada.
00:09:57.760A trivia night in downtown Ottawa branded Queer Queries on Queen was also part of the opening day's lineup.
00:10:05.980Statistics Canada told True North it has two employee-driven social events scheduled during the week.
00:10:12.080The agency said its speakers also took part in a presentation hosted by the Health Canada,
00:10:17.760Public Health Agency of Canada, Gender and Sexual Diversity Network on Monday,
00:10:22.220focusing on how the department collects data on LGBT populations in Canada.