Weekend Posted: Some great stories you may have missed

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Welcome to your Weekend Posted. As the weather gets better, everyone is probably looking at their finances and their budgets to determine whether a summer vacation is in the cards this year. But speaking of spending (or being spendy) it turns out that Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the federal New Democrats, is the most profligate spender among parliamentarians. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, on the other hand, is the most frugal. Choose wisely whose example you choose to follow when it comes to making your own budget.

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HEROES AMONG US

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Thirty years ago, Canada created its very own top honour for military valour: the Canadian Victoria Cross. Decades have past and Canadian soldiers have seen combat in Afghanistan. Yet the Canadian Victoria Cross, meant to laud “the most conspicuous bravery, a daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self-sacrifice or extreme devotion to duty, in the presence of the enemy,” has never been awarded. The British Victoria Cross that preceded Canada’s version was last  awarded to a Canadian in 1945. In 1993, Queen Elizabeth II approved the Canadian Victoria Cross, when Brian Mulroney was prime minister. National Post, in partnership with the True Patriot Love Foundation, Anthony Wilson-Smith of Historica Canada, Gen. (ret’d) Rick Hillier and entrepreneur/benefactor Kevin Reed, is proposing 10 military veterans who could be awarded Canada’s highest award for combat bravery. Hillier writes that he is inspired by the bravery of the men and women he served with and those who fought for Canada in the past. Follow the Heroes Among Us series and read the first instalment on the Battle of the White School in Afghanistan.

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NATIONAL POST EXCLUSIVE

On March 8, Canada’s government reinstated funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinians. But in the weeks before, Israeli intelligence had shared evidence with Canadian officials that UNRWA members and employees had participated in the October 7 attacks on Israel. National Post was granted exclusive access to portions of the Israeli intelligence that was used to brief the Canadian government as the Israelis argued that Canada should permanently suspend funding to the refugee agency, which has served Palestinians for 76 years. Canada, along with Japan, Australia, Finland and Sweden have restarted funding UNRWA, while other nations, including the United States, have not, and are awaiting the findings of a United Nations investigation into Israel’s allegations. The intelligence briefing argued that “Hamas members serve in all sectors of UNRWA activities, including in key positions” and that 2,135 UNRWA staff are members of Palestinian terror groups. More than 300 are members of the Al-Qassem Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, the Israelis say. Read more about the information used to brief National Post reporter Bryan Passifiume — and the Liberal government. 

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DEAR DIARY

In the weekly satirical feature Dear Diary, the National Post re-imagines a week in the life of a newsmaker. This week, Tristin Hopper takes an imagined journey into the thoughts of the fake Canadian woman Mélanie Joly made up: We are a light to the world under the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. But amid this abundance there is only one thing I crave: Increased government communications.

ET CETERA

• • An Ontario resident who wanted to receive a unique surgery to have both a vagina and a penis has won a court battle that mandates the provincial government to pay for the treatment in Texas. A three-member panel of the Ontario Divisional Court concluded that Ontario’s denial of the treatment for the person, called only K.S. in court documents, would violate their Charter right to security of the person. K.S., who identifies as non-binary, had been fighting the Ontario Health Insurance Plan to get the surgery done since 2022. Read more about this “experimental” procedure and why the court says it must be covered by provincial health care.
  • On Friday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said that upcoming legislation on gender policies will not include restrictions on single-sex spaces, but said transgender individuals who have not fully transitioned should “show modesty” in women- or men-only spaces. In late January, Smith announced a variety of policies affecting transgender individuals, including rules around students using different pronouns in school and restricting medical treatments for transgender youth. But, unlike the federal Conservative party and leader Pierre Poilievre, Alberta has stopped short of mandating “single-sex spaces” for biological women and men. Read more about Smith’s speech and what questions she was asked by reporters.  
  • David Vigneault, the director of CSIS, said on Friday that he warned the government repeatedly that Canada has been slow to respond to foreign interference and is ill-equipped to combat it when it does happen. Vigneault was speaking, for the second time, at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference. In his Friday remarks, he confirmed that China had interfered “clandestinely and deceptively” in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Read more about Vigneault’s testimony and what it tells us about what Justin Trudeau knew about Chinese meddling.
  • Giuseppe Violi, the son of a Mafia boss, has been released after spending time in prison for trafficking fentanyl and cocaine. He had been sentenced to 16 years behind bars, but as of last year, was living in a halfway house. Violi is the son of notorious Mafia boss Paolo Violi, who was killed by a rival Mafia family. Read more about Violi and the conspiracy that put him behind bars. 
  • Israel is bracing for a direct attack from Iran within days, according to sources familiar with western intelligence assessments. If it happens, it could lead to an all-out regional war. Drone and missile strikes could occur within 48 hours. Read more about the situation in the Middle East. 

SNAPSHOT

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