Juno News - Pro-Communist protesters in Canada scolded by anti-Maduro Venezuelans

00:00:00.000 former liberal cabinet minister christia freeland is now ukrainian president volodymyr

00:00:10.180 zelinski's economic advisor raising ethical concerns over sitting mps working for foreign

00:00:16.840 nations canadian protests against the capture of socialist dictator nicholas maduro were met by

00:00:22.660 anti-communist venezuelans who were scolding protesters that they do not represent the people

00:00:27.780 of venezuela the liberal government has proposed penalties as low as 50 for foreign agents who

00:00:34.580 failed to put forward their names on a registry designed to counter foreign interference hello

00:00:40.940 canada it's tuesday january 6th and this is the true north daily brief i'm cosmon gerja and i'm jeff

00:00:48.220 knight we've got you covered with all the news you need to know let's discuss the top stories of the

00:00:53.960 day and the true north exclusives you won't hear anywhere else

00:00:57.640 ukrainian president volodymyr zelinski has appointed former liberal cabinet minister christia freeland

00:01:06.680 as an economic advisor immediately sparking outrage among conservative mps who are raising ethical

00:01:14.140 concerns about the sitting canadian mp taking on a foreign role concurrently volodymyr zelinski

00:01:21.360 appointed christia freeland as an advisor on economic development monday saying ukraine needs

00:01:28.400 to strengthen its internal resilience as the war with russia continues in a statement posted on x

00:01:35.620 zelinski said quote today i appointed christia freeland as an advisor on economic development

00:01:41.700 christia is highly skilled in these matters and has extensive experience in attracting investment

00:01:48.160 and implementing economic transformations he added quote right now ukraine needs to strengthen its

00:01:55.640 internal resilience both for the sake of ukraine's recovery if diplomacy delivers results as swiftly as

00:02:02.520 possible and to reinforce our defense if because of delays by our partners it takes longer to bring

00:02:09.380 this war to an end prime minister mark carney previously named freeland as canada's special

00:02:14.860 representative for the reconstruction of ukraine role that has involved frequent travel to europe and

00:02:21.220 ukraine the appointment comes as carney travels to paris to meet with allied leaders to discuss

00:02:27.260 continued support for ukraine and efforts to end the conflict the announcement follows freeland's

00:02:32.780 election as the incoming chief executive officer of the roads trust knoxford-based educational charity

00:02:39.180 that administers the road scholarship she's set to begin that role on july 1st and is expected to relocate

00:02:46.180 to oxford england freeland has said she will not run in the next federal election but has not announced

00:02:52.140 plans to resign her seat in the house of commons so jeff as a sitting mp uh and a member of the liberal 0.85

00:03:00.540 party i very much doubt that this decision was not greenlit by prime minister mark carney uh she highly

00:03:10.940 likely had to ask permission before taking on a role like this and the prime minister seems to be okay with

00:03:18.380 her taking the position because he hasn't said otherwise so what are some of the criticisms leveled against

00:03:25.020 freeland for taking this on uh particularly by the conservative opposition yeah cosmon conservatives

00:03:31.340 have reacted pretty sharply to christia freeland's appointment as the economic advisor to ukrainian

00:03:36.780 president volodymyr zelensky and they've been focusing on the ethical conflicts that it involves

00:03:42.780 and they've been calling for her resignation as a sitting mp because of it michael chong stated that

00:03:47.900 freeland quote needs to choose between being an mp and working for zelensky emphasizing the

00:03:53.660 incompatibility of the roles other mps including roman baber and todd doherty described the move as

00:04:00.460 a blatant conflict of interest arguing it undermines her duties in parliament while she holds a foreign

00:04:06.140 advisory position roman baber also posted that freeland quote lacked the decency to resign her seat

00:04:12.700 and called it a clear conflict the criticism centers on the perception that freeland is prioritizing

00:04:18.220 international roles including her upcoming rhodes trust ceo position over canadian

00:04:23.340 representation with some questioning how she can serve constituents while advising a foreign

00:04:29.100 leader on economic matters juno news put out an article highlighting this as part of a broader

00:04:33.900 concern about accountability for liberal figures transitioning to global positions without immediate

00:04:39.100 resignation overall conservatives frame the appointment as an ethical lapse that demands her

00:04:44.540 exit from the house of commons venezuelan refugees and canadians confronted quote hands-off venezuela

00:04:54.460 protesters in toronto who were rallying against the u.s push to oust social dictator nicolas maduro asserting

00:05:01.100 that the pro maduro crowds do not speak for the venezuelan people one such moment shared by ex-user leviathan

00:05:07.980 shows an emotional woman claiming to be venezuelan yelling at keffia-clad protesters that they are quote

00:05:13.740 against her people who are actually happy with the capture of their oppressor the woman a counter 0.98

00:05:19.180 protester held a sign from the ladies of liberty alliance picturing maria europiza who is a lawyer

00:05:25.580 political prisoner and campaign manager for venezuela's opposition leader maria carina machado

00:05:31.340 she brandished a passport declaring that she is a venezuelan and that none of those protesting u.s

00:05:36.780 president donald trump's seizure of the dictator are from her country the woman is then seen walking away

00:05:41.900 from known agitator diana sheriff and another man both clad in palestinian keffias until the man

00:05:48.060 called the u.s action against maduro quote state terrorism and what about the terrorism against

00:05:54.540 venezuelans who who my friends in a total center there ain't 100 political prisoners this is what

00:06:00.540 the venezuelans to do not by americans who is going to help us we don't have guns no the state has the

00:06:07.420 guns and that's where the government has the guns and they have killed us taking us and you are not

00:06:13.020 standing with us you are standing against us you get support you are same on you yeah yeah yeah let's

00:06:20.140 get that let's let's go let's go on you you don't stand with my people you stand against my people

00:06:27.820 another video from a pro-venezuela anti-maduro rally in toronto on sunday posted by karima saeed showed a

00:06:35.580 similar exchange this time between an anti-communist venezuelan protester and an anti-trump activist

00:06:42.060 the anti-trump activist sarcastically mocked the celebrating venezuelans saying that america taking

00:06:47.820 charge of the country was worse than the communist dictator continuing to be in power the activist

00:06:52.940 told the celebrant that america was stealing venezuela's oil the other activist however noted

00:06:58.300 that the country's oil has been plundered by countries such as iran china and russia for years

00:07:03.820 so cosmon what are some of the other ways we're seeing western activists and media showing a complete

00:07:09.100 disconnect from the will of the venezuelan people in this case you know jeff one of the biggest

00:07:14.860 disconnects i see is how western activists um choose to listen to certain voices certain narratives and

00:07:24.620 more importantly they decide to ignore most venezuelans themselves if you think about it when you have

00:07:32.060 venezuelans in the diaspora literally in tears holding up their passports to prove where they're

00:07:38.860 from naming friends who are literal political prisoners and saying look this is what happened

00:07:46.060 to our country this is what happened to my family to my friends and western activists uh these usually

00:07:53.180 far left like pro-palestine types and it's funny because these people frequent like a cycle of protests

00:08:02.060 uh picking their whatever issue is in vogue of the day and these protesters just talk right over them

00:08:10.220 over these people who have real experiences with these regimes they don't ask questions they don't even

00:08:16.460 try to understand it or have a honest conversation they just dismiss it all as i don't know cia talking

00:08:24.540 points or propaganda and that dismissal tells you everything you need to know about who they are and

00:08:31.180 their mindset they are ideologically captured and do not consider any opinion outside of the ones that

00:08:39.980 they've been fed and brainwashed with but it's also the fault of the media to some degree if you watched

00:08:46.940 the news it's sort of detached from the average venezuelans experience you don't really hear about the

00:08:55.020 human catastrophe and the cost of the maduro regime and the regime before him under chavez it's all about

00:09:03.580 geopolitical sort of vague uh framings about oil interests interventionism etc but meanwhile the actual

00:09:12.780 people of venezuela are talking about torture they themselves are people they know endured the

00:09:19.500 starvation in the country and disappearances of political dissidents so it's too bad that the media

00:09:26.940 would rather focus on theoretical and kind of intellectual conversations about political theory and

00:09:35.900 these grand narratives when the voices of the actual people who suffered and lived under venezuelan

00:09:42.540 dictatorship are ignored the federal government is proposing penalties as low as 50 for foreign

00:09:53.420 agents who fail to register under a law passed by parliament to counter foreign interference it's a

00:09:59.740 move that has drawn sharp criticism from conservative mps and senators the draft regulations were first

00:10:06.620 reported by black locks reporter public safety minister gary ananda sandri released proposed regulations on

00:10:14.380 saturday governing a foreign influence transparency registry mandated by parliament in june 2024 a regulatory

00:10:23.260 impact analysis statement from the department of public safety said the regulations would allow some

00:10:29.420 information to remain unpublished including payment details citing privacy concerns no deadline was set for

00:10:36.380 enforcement despite earlier government commitments that the registry would be operational by june 2025

00:10:43.340 parliament passed bill c-70 an act respecting counter foreign interference on june 19 2024 the law requires

00:10:53.020 individuals individuals and entities quote acting at the direction of for the benefit of or in association

00:10:58.940 with a foreign entity to register when lobbying public office holders the media or the public under the statute

00:11:06.860 approved by parliament violations can carry penalties of up to five years imprisonment or fines of up to five

00:11:13.660 million dollars the draft regulations however propose administrative monetary penalties that could be as low as 50

00:11:21.740 dollars per violation they would also allow non-compliant individuals or organizations to enter compliance

00:11:29.660 agreements that could reduce penalties or eliminate them entirely the analysis statement said quote the

00:11:36.460 regulations would allow certain information not to be published the department acknowledged that some

00:11:42.140 stakeholders had urged the government to acquire had urged the government to require disclosures of

00:11:48.220 compensation paid to foreign agents similar to reporting rules under the united states foreign agents registration act of 1938

00:11:57.340 the statement said quote diaspora group suggested publishing compensation details in the registry to show the scale of arrangements

00:12:05.740 the department considered this but did not adopt it due to privacy concerns i mean jeff fifty dollars for failing to comply with

00:12:14.300 foreign interference rules and registration seems pretty low don't you think i mean yeah definitely uh and critics and opposition

00:12:23.420 parties have slammed the proposed fifty dollar minimum fine for failing to comply as far too lenient and they're arguing it

00:12:30.300 undermines the law's deterrent effect against foreign interference conservative mps like michelle rempel garner have called it a slap on the wrist that

00:12:36.300 treats serious violations like failing to register arrangements with foreign principles as just minor infractions

00:12:45.420 comparable to like a parking ticket they contend that administrative penalties starting at fifty dollars with options for compliance

00:12:52.300 agreements that could reduce or eliminate fines send a weak signal to potential agents of authoritarian regimes

00:12:58.300 especially where the statute allows for up to five million dollar fines or five years imprisonment for severe cases

00:13:05.660 opposition figures have highlighted the contrast with allies like the u.s foreign agents registration act

00:13:11.020 which imposes stricter penalties and full disclosure of compensation and they're accusing the liberal government of

00:13:16.700 prioritizing privacy concerns over transparency and national security the decision not to publish payment details

00:13:23.420 justified by the department as protecting privacy has fueled accusations that the regulations are watered down

00:13:31.740 allowing covert influence to persist with minimal risk overall critics view the low entry level fine as evidence that the

00:13:39.740 registry lacks teeth potentially rendering bill c70 ineffective in countering threats from countries like china or russia

00:13:47.500 that's it for today folks thanks for tuning in you can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by

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Juno News - January 06, 2026

Pro-Communist protesters in Canada scolded by anti-Maduro Venezuelans

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