Juno News - Man kicked off plane for wearing Trudeau blackface shirt

00:00:00.000 A Nova Scotia man was removed from an Air Canada flight for wearing a shirt of Trudeau

00:00:09.340 in blackface after a crew member deemed it was offensive.

00:00:12.960 Alberta is blasting Ottawa's immigration plan as, quote, reckless,

00:00:17.320 warning it will worsen the province's housing and health care crises.

00:00:20.880 Leslyn Lewis is calling out the Trudeau government for failing to reject

00:00:24.260 binding World Health Organization health regulations that could override Canada's

00:00:28.880 pandemic response. Hello, Canada. It's Thursday, July 24th, and this is the True North Daily Brief.

00:00:34.340 I'm Isaac Lamoureux. And I'm Alex Zoltan. We've got you covered with all the news you need to know.

00:00:38.980 Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives you won't hear anywhere else.

00:00:46.720 A Nova Scotia man was removed from an Air Canada flight after wearing a t-shirt of former Prime

00:00:52.100 Minister Justin Trudeau in blackface, an image crew members called offensive. Daniel Greaves,

00:00:57.480 a 62-year-old man, was en route from Edmonton to Vancouver on July 8th. While waiting on the

00:01:02.460 tarmac, he was informed that the imagery on his shirt was, quote, offensive and racial. He said

00:01:08.060 he flies frequently for work in northern Alberta and has flown wearing the shirt before, without

00:01:12.440 incident. The shirt featured an infamous image of Trudeau wearing a turban with blackface paint.

00:01:17.600 He told the flight attendant that the shirt was not about race, but a comment on the former

00:01:21.660 Prime Minister. Greaves, who felt that such a request violated his rights, decided to remain

00:01:26.940 seated and asked the flight attendant to present him with documentation that would justify why he

00:01:31.780 would have to be removed from the plane and miss his flight. Greaves said the flight attendant claimed

00:01:35.820 it violated the airline's dress code, comparing it to being told staff can't wear bikinis. When

00:01:40.840 Greaves was subsequently asked to leave, he eventually walked off the plane on his own. He was met at the

00:01:46.000 gate by various RCMP officers who told him he was being detained and could face a charge of mischief.

00:01:51.660 In an audio recording that he took discreetly and provided to True North, Greaves can be heard asking

00:01:56.680 an RCMP officer if he could re-board the plane if he turned the shirt inside out, to which the officer

00:02:01.740 said he would ask the flight captain. However, according to Greaves, moments later, an officer

00:02:06.060 grabbed the back of his elbow from behind him and he flinched, which resulted him in being picked up

00:02:10.680 and thrown on the ground. Greaves said, quote,

00:02:12.820 Then he put handcuffs on me, so I shut up and listened to them. They walked me down the stairs and let me go.

00:02:17.700 I'm 63 in another week or so, 145 pounds. I'm not a big man.

00:02:22.400 True North contacted the RCMP to verify whether there was any documentation of their exchange with Greaves.

00:02:27.540 An RCMP corporal told True North, quote,

00:02:29.840 Upon arrival, officers met with an individual who was upset with being denied boarding on an aircraft.

00:02:35.240 Upon being denied boarding, the individual was told to leave the secure side of the airport, which he did not comply.

00:02:40.760 Contrary to Section 1391 of the Canadian Aviation Security Regulations.

00:02:46.360 Section 1391 states that if a person has been given notice orally, in writing, or by a sign,

00:02:52.160 that access to a part of an aerodrome is prohibited or is limited to authorized persons.

00:02:56.980 The person must not enter or remain in that part of the aerodrome without authorization.

00:03:01.540 Air Canada declined True North's request for comment.

00:03:04.400 So, Alex, does Air Canada have a dress code and was Greaves' removal warranted?

00:03:08.820 Well, Isaac, I'm not an expert on Air Canada's internal policies,

00:03:13.440 but I do believe that Canadians have a protection under the Charter,

00:03:17.540 which is effectively our constitution, to a freedom of expression.

00:03:20.820 And I think that this would apply, or I believe that it would.

00:03:23.720 It seems really strange to me as well,

00:03:25.820 because it seems like the individual was restricted from boarding the airplane

00:03:30.260 based off of how an Air Canada staff member felt about the shirt versus other passengers.

00:03:36.760 I mean, as a general rule, you would want to dress appropriately when you go anywhere, frankly.

00:03:43.700 But anybody who's traveled on planes in Canada would probably acknowledge that Canadian air travel is terrible.

00:03:50.740 Air Canada has a general policy of people needing to be clean, neat, and modest.

00:03:56.100 An athletic pair, such as sweatpants, yoga pants, hoodies, shorts, tank tops, flip-flops,

00:04:01.860 or running shoes are generally discouraged or off-limits when boarding.

00:04:06.000 But I would also say that I've been on many flights in Canada,

00:04:08.880 and I've seen many people dress very, very casually.

00:04:11.240 So I think that this is really a constitutional issue,

00:04:14.320 an issue of whether individuals have a right to freedom of expression or not.

00:04:17.500 And I guess it might also qualify as an obscenity issue.

00:04:20.860 Is an image of Justin Trudeau in blackface obscene,

00:04:26.320 obscene to the point of being justifiably refused service to an Air Canada flight?

00:04:31.980 I suppose that would be a question for lawyers.

00:04:35.400 And I do hope that this goes to court, actually.

00:04:37.420 I'd be really interested to see what the result would be.

00:04:39.580 Yeah, just to touch on the obscenity aspect, Alex,

00:04:42.600 if such an image is so obscene that it can't even be seen on an airplane,

00:04:46.740 I just find that a bit ironic considering the headline images of all the articles

00:04:51.020 about Trudeau in blackface is, of course, that very same image.

00:04:53.740 So I don't think it would be justifiably qualifiable as such

00:04:57.380 because if this is the image you're showing across the online airwaves, if you will,

00:05:03.220 it doesn't seem to me that that justifies it being so obscene

00:05:07.020 that it can't be seen in public.

00:05:11.680 Alberta's immigration minister says the Liberals are ignoring provincial capacity

00:05:15.400 by expanding immigration without coordination,

00:05:18.740 this time by allowing 10,000 new sponsorships for parents and grandparents in 2025.

00:05:23.940 Joseph Schcau called the move, quote-unquote, reckless,

00:05:27.620 warning it will overload already stretched hospitals, schools, and housing in the province.

00:05:32.500 He said, quote,

00:05:33.400 Under the federal Liberal government, Canada's immigration levels have ballooned.

00:05:37.340 Almost 2 million newcomers entered Canada last year alone

00:05:40.280 without any regard for the provinces that are tasked with delivering frontline services.

00:05:44.460 This latest move will only serve to further increase the unsustainable pressures

00:05:48.820 on our hospitals, schools, and housing markets.

00:05:52.040 Alberta Premier Daniel Smith, meanwhile, blamed the Trudeau government's immigration surge

00:05:56.180 for driving affordability crises across the entire country,

00:05:59.400 saying Alberta's own recruitment campaign was drowned out by Ottawa's open-door approach.

00:06:04.220 She said, quote,

00:06:05.120 You've seen the result of it.

00:06:06.820 The reason why housing prices have spiked,

00:06:08.940 why food affordability has spiked,

00:06:10.640 why affordability on every front has spiked,

00:06:12.540 is because if you just have too many people chasing too few jobs,

00:06:16.000 too few homes, and too little employment,

00:06:18.100 you're just going to end up causing problems.

00:06:19.880 The federal government blew it, and it's such a tragedy.

00:06:22.700 One question asked at the ongoing Alberta Next panel was,

00:06:25.740 Should Alberta take more control of the immigration system

00:06:28.420 to counter Ottawa's open-border policies?

00:06:31.080 While polls at the panel were conducted after each of the six topic areas,

00:06:34.480 the sentiment surrounding immigration in Alberta

00:06:36.560 is at such a point that the host of the town hall in Red Deer

00:06:39.700 considered the outcome predetermined and didn't even bother

00:06:42.940 conducting the poll on immigration.

00:06:45.160 Scott was demanding that immigration targets drop to below 500,000 per year

00:06:49.260 and that provinces get more control over who comes in.

00:06:52.040 He continued,

00:06:52.760 Immigration must be sustainable and aligned with provincial capacity and priorities.

00:06:56.800 The federal government cannot continue to make unilateral decisions,

00:07:00.040 he said,

00:07:00.820 that ignore the realities on the ground.

00:07:02.860 So Isaac, with immigration driving record population growth, 0.98

00:07:06.060 what are your thoughts?

00:07:07.120 Do you think that the provinces can afford to keep up with it

00:07:09.880 without more say in federal decisions?

00:07:12.720 Do you think that they're over capacity?

00:07:14.420 No, Alex.

00:07:15.060 Provinces are already struggling to keep up

00:07:17.020 with Ottawa's record-level immigration decisions,

00:07:19.580 especially when those decisions are made without provincial input.

00:07:22.780 As you said, Alberta's Immigration Minister, Joseph Scow,

00:07:25.320 warned that the Liberal government's decision

00:07:26.860 to accept 10,000 new parent and grandparent sponsorship applications in 2025

00:07:31.220 comes as provinces are already overwhelmed.

00:07:34.080 Scow called the move reckless, pointing to housing shortages

00:07:37.020 and overloaded hospitals and schools as evidence that the social systems are buckling.

00:07:42.580 And while critics often love to point to the fact

00:07:44.660 that healthcare is the province's responsibility to administer,

00:07:47.980 they often omit the fact that irresponsible immigration policies

00:07:51.400 fall on the federal government.

00:07:53.160 Meaning, if your population is increasing at unsustainable levels,

00:07:56.900 overwhelming your hospitals, there's little a province can do.

00:07:59.680 And the aforementioned foreign parents and grandparents

00:08:01.740 are the type of people that you might see when you go to a hospital

00:08:04.500 as the older you get, the less healthy you generally become

00:08:07.340 and the more likely you are to end up needing services from a hospital.

00:08:11.180 Some provinces, like Quebec, already negotiate separate immigration agreements

00:08:14.760 to protect language and cultural priorities,

00:08:17.020 a model that others are increasingly pointing to as necessary to manage capacity.

00:08:21.680 However, without a formal mechanism to match federal intake

00:08:24.360 with provincial serviceability, these calls for greater provincial authority

00:08:27.760 over immigration may only grow.

00:08:30.200 Canada admitted over 817,000 newcomers in the first four months of 2025.

00:08:36.280 And a federal memo recently showed that more than 3 million temporary residents

00:08:39.900 are now in the country, equivalent to almost 19% of the private sector workforce,

00:08:44.300 and nearly 130,000 are without valid permits.

00:08:47.600 Keep in mind, this is only the tracked or known number,

00:08:50.780 and many of the estimates provided are based on the presumption

00:08:53.920 that visa holders with expired permits leave willingly.

00:08:57.600 However, many do not, and instead opt to join the underground economy

00:09:01.200 or even claim refugee status.

00:09:03.740 So without changes, provinces like Alberta are saying

00:09:06.200 they risk losing control of key social infrastructure

00:09:09.380 and the ability to deliver basic services effectively.

00:09:15.100 Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis is warning that Canada's failure

00:09:18.140 to reject amendments to the World Health Organization's

00:09:21.020 international health regulations could undermine national sovereignty.

00:09:25.240 Lewis said the Liberals allowed a key deadline to pass

00:09:27.620 without debate in Parliament.

00:09:29.140 The binding changes will give the WHO authority

00:09:31.740 over Canada's public health response during emergencies, Lewis warned.

00:09:36.180 She said, quote,

00:09:37.040 countries such as the United States and Italy have rejected these amendments

00:09:40.220 to protect their national sovereignty.

00:09:42.120 Canada, however, has doubled down.

00:09:44.040 Lewis also criticized the recent appointment of Dr. Howard Njou

00:09:47.520 as interim chief public health officer citing his ties to the WHO.

00:09:52.080 He currently serves as vice chair of the WHO Pandemic Influenza

00:09:55.760 Preparedness Framework Advisory Group,

00:09:58.260 which Lewis suggested represents further alignment with the WHO.

00:10:02.020 Lewis said, quote,

00:10:03.120 Canadians deserve a government that cares about protecting our national sovereignty.

00:10:07.220 Unelected international bureaucrats do not know better than Canadians 0.95

00:10:10.980 and should not have authority over how Canada governs.

00:10:13.880 The public health agency website states that these amendments were agreed upon

00:10:17.500 by WHO member states, including Canada, on June 1st of last year.

00:10:21.820 The changes include implementing cross-border digital health documents

00:10:25.360 similar to digital currency systems, already raising privacy concerns in Canada.

00:10:30.240 Implementation is expected this fall when Parliament resumes.

00:10:34.280 So, Alex, what specific authority does the WHO now have over Canada's health response

00:10:39.260 and how could it impact the country's autonomy during future crises?

00:10:43.140 So, it's a bit of a mixed bag answer because Canada is bound by international agreements

00:10:48.900 and international organizations, much like consulting firms, have some sort of,

00:10:53.100 I would say, soft authority and soft legitimacy,

00:10:57.000 which is one of the reasons Canada spends so much money on consulting firms

00:11:00.920 and also in acquiescing to international organizations like the World Health Organization.

00:11:06.660 Canada is a state party to the International Health Regulations Order of 2005,

00:11:11.480 and as such, it's a legally binding document under the WHO constitution,

00:11:15.980 and these regulations apply to 196 countries, including Canada.

00:11:20.080 The countries who it is not binding to are generally either pariah states

00:11:24.420 or the United States under Donald Trump.

00:11:28.440 But basically, the WHO, this is why it's a mixed bag answer,

00:11:32.000 they have no hard authority in Canada.

00:11:34.460 In other words, legally speaking, they cannot issue direct orders under Canadian law,

00:11:39.520 and Canada retains full constitutional authority over domestic issues,

00:11:44.080 including public health measures.

00:11:46.060 So, I guess to answer your question, it's a bit of a mixed bag,

00:11:49.400 and ultimately, how much authority the WHO has is determined by the opinions

00:11:54.600 of the legislators that we elect to represent us in Ottawa.

00:12:02.220 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in.

00:12:04.560 You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday

00:12:06.840 by subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify.

00:12:09.960 And while you're at it, make sure to hit us with a five-star rating,

00:12:12.500 and please leave a review.

Juno News - July 24, 2025

Man kicked off plane for wearing Trudeau blackface shirt

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