Jordan Peterson starts new content-sharing, free speech platform “Thinkspot” 

A man is facing charges after allegedly attacking young children in a kindergarten class with a curtain rod during the school’s recess.

York Police say the incident happened around 1 pm on Wednesday, when they were called to Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Elementary School after reports of an assault.

The man, who witnesses say was wearing a helmet on his head, was walking around the perimeter of the school with a woman before the school’s recess took place.

The attack took place after two of three kindergarten classes had already gone inside.

According to eye witness reports, the man jumped the fence and began swinging the curtain rod at teachers and students.

“School staff and a good Samaritan were able to remove the weapon from the suspect and get the students back into the school,” said Const. Laura Nicolle to CTV News Toronto.

A five-year-old boy suffered “serious injuries” after being struck by the rod, police say.

The school was placed into lockdown during the incident, as police and ambulances made their way to the premises.

The suspect is a 30-year-old man who police believe has a cognitive impairment. The man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, weapons dangerous and common nuisance endangering life.

Investigators believe the assault was random. He is pending a bail hearing.

A bullish United States crude oil market is rippling north as the number of rigs drilling for oil and gas in Canada more than doubled to 203 last week.

This new exploration activity comes on the back of American crude futures that jumped to almost $66-per-barrel on January 8; a nearly 30 percent increase since the end of last year, and an eight-month high overall.

While the 118 new rigs that came on line at the beginning of 2020 in Alberta and Saskatchewan makes this period the most active exploration spate in Canada since March of 2019, the boom comes with encumbrances.

“There is a huge, growing liability being left for Albertans and the big growing question is, who’s going to pay for the cleanup and when is the cleanup going to be done?” said political economist Gordon Laxer, University of Alberta professor emeritus and founding director of The Parkland Institute.

Laxer is also part of a citizens group known as Alberta Liabilities and Disclosure Project which tracks the number of orphaned wells in the province–approximately 3400–and the growing cleanup burden.

According to Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), the current liability for abandoned and disused wells for provincial taxpayers is $260 billion while just $1.5 billion is held in securities to cover remediation costs.

“That’s less than one percent covering it,” Laxer said.

And Laxer’s liabilities and disclosure group is not alone with their concerns.

In a December letter to AER from the Orphan Well Association–an industry-funded watchdog under AER’s mandate–the association criticized Shell Canada’s proposal to offload nearly 300 wells and 82 pipelines to a virtual penny stock company.

Lars De Pauw, executive director of the association declined to speak about the matter, “as the transfer (of the facilities) is still in the regulatory process.”

Alberta’s Energy minister Sonya Savage also declined an interview for this story but in a statement to The Post Millennial, said her government is “following through on our commitment to address orphan and inactive wells in Alberta.”

“We will be bringing forward a suite of policies, covering the entire lifecycle of wells, which deal with well licences and liabilities,” said Savage in an email.

“These policies will ensure the clean-up of inactive wells is addressed by producers–not on the backs of taxpayers–while still ensuring an environment for industry to be successful.”

Yet another woke record store has decided to ban British pop icon Morrissey from its shelves. This time, the Glasgow Evening Times reports that Glasgow’s “Monorail Music said it would continue to sell records by the Smiths but ‘like many of our colleagues’ would not be selling the singer’s 13th studio album, ‘I am not a dog on a chain.’” 

This follows last year’s indie music store ban on Morrissey’s last album, “California Son.” Cardiff’s Spillers, which calls itself “the oldest record shop in the world,” declined to carry the record in retaliation for Morrissey’s political views. These views include support for Brexit, saying that the word “racist” is meaningless because it’s used so liberally, and that crime in London cannot be properly dealt with if the perpetrators are viewed as victims.

Morrissey responded to the last round of smears and bans by saying, “I straighten up, and my position is one of hope. The march backwards is over, and life has begun again. With voice extended to breaking point, I call for the prosperity of free speech; the eradication of totalitarian control; I call for diversity of opinion; I call for the total abolition of the abattoir; I call for peace, above all; I call for civil society; I call for a so-far unknowable end to brutalities; ‘No’ to Soviet Britain.”

Of course, the bans and smears don’t work. These kinds of actions will not stop Morrissey’s fans from buying the new album. The Guardian has consistently tried to smear Morrissey, and in response, Morrissey wore a t-shirt reading “Fuck The Guardian.” Fans know that Morrissey’s being able to speak his mind means that they are free to speak theirs, to hold opposing views, and to still listen to the new tracks Morrissey releases with consistent quality year after year.

Bookshops and record stores are not required to carry anything that they don’t wish to, obviously, but there is something sinister in the refusal to carry selections by such a popular, long-standing pop star, whose music on last year’s “California Son” was not political, and who lifts other artists through collaboration, simply because he’s not afraid to speak his mind.

Writer Fiona Dodwell responded to the ridiculous ban by tweeting: “How about businesses stock and store products and let customers choose what they want? This achieves nothing, Morrissey will still sell albums – with or without your company “banning” his records. People simply go elsewhere (and learn where NOT to shop next time!)”

How many pop stars have heterodox views but don’t say them out of fear of retaliation? Probably plenty, they just don’t say it, because they don’t want their work to suffer the same fate of being banned by distributors. 

Morrissey has made his entire career out of being an iconoclast who “will not change and will not be nice.” So much the better for his fans, who strive to lead lives according to their own value systems, and not those imposed by a hypocritical society hell-bent on squashing free thought and individuality while claiming to uphold those very qualities they persistently deride.

When the new album drops on March 20, it will be interesting to see which other shops signal their virtue by refusing to carry it, and which ones instead cater to consumers and offer it for sale. Not carrying “I am not a dog on a chain” has more to do with the owner’s false sense of righteousness than punishing Morrissey. Time and time again, Morrissey has shown that he can’t be shelved and forgotten. His work is too essential and beautiful for that.

A Syrian refugee has become a Canadian citizen today and a celebration was held at Halifax’s Pier 21. Tareq Hadhad is the founder of Peace by Chocolate, a company out of Antigonish, N.S. that has been quite successful.

Tareq Hadhad was elated to be called up to officially receive his Canadian citizenship. “It’s the biggest day of my life, full of emotions, absolutely,” Hadhad said following the ceremony. He is the first of his family to become a Canadian citizen.

“It’s certainly an honour, I feel that I belong to this amazing nation. I feel that I am free and I will go out of this place so proudly saying that I am so honoured to be a Canadian at this moment.”

Hadhad will waste no time integrating himself into the Canadian culture, saying a top priority is to pick up “a double-double with a toonie and [fly] to watch a hockey game on the weekend.” 

Making chocolate is a part of Hadhad’s family history as his father, Assam Hadhad, made chocolate back in Damascus for two decades, employing 30 people in his factory according to CBC. The factory was tragically bombed amid the turmoil and warfare.

Prior to the outbreak of war the company used to ship specialty treats across the Middle East.

Hadhad’s family settled in Antigonish in 2016 after fleeing from Syria. They opened Peace by Chocolate —which ships products throughout the country and employs about 55 people, including other refugees as well.

Marco Mendicino, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship spoke at Wednesday’s ceremony, “With all the complexities in the world, I think this is just a wonderful silver lining and positive story. It demonstrates that immigration is a true hallmark of our history, but also the key to our future,”

Hadhad passed his Canadian citizenship test with a perfect score, a fact he proudly shared via Twitter. The post went viral, even attracting attention and congratulations from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Lucille Harper of Antigonish was instrumental in bringing the Hadhads to Canada. She was thrilled to see their successful immigration story. “It’s just all we could ever really hope for,” she said.

Hadhad’s family has applied for Canadian citizenship and they are hoping to be able to take the test within the next couple of months. Alaa Hadhad, Tareq’s sister said it would mean the world to her and her children to join Tareq’s family as Canadian citizens.