Rollbacks of corporate DEI, “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” gained momentum. After a widely publicized study conducted by Rutgers University found that the practice actually promotes, rather than decreases, discrimination, and amid growing legal, social and political backlash, corporations across North America rolled back their DEI initiatives. Walmart, Starbucks, Boeing, Toyota, Brown-Forman, Molson Coors, Deere & Company, SalesForce, Jet Blue, Bud Light, Target, and Ford Motor Company are among the growing list of companies that have removed their DEI practices. These rollbacks include ceasing race- and gender-based hiring or supplier preferences, ending participation in Pride events, reducing promotion and donations to LGBTQ+ groups, and discontinuing diversity, equity, and inclusion training for employees.

Canadian Freedom Convoy-ers scored a big victory over Trudeau in federal court! In a historic decision, Canada’s Federal Court on January 23, 2024, ruled the government’s use of the Emergencies Act in 2022 to disperse the Freedom Convoy protesting the government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates was “unreasonable” and violated several articles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Freezing the bank accounts of protesters and supporters also violated Canada’s Charter and amounted to “unreasonable seizure.” In his ruling, Justice Richard G. Mosley said the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act “does not bear the hallmarks of reasonableness—justification, transparency, and intelligibility—and was not justified in relation to the relevant factual and legal constraints that were required to be taken into consideration.”

Bye-Bye Fluoride. Just three months after a Federal Court ruled that fluoridation chemicals pose an “unreasonable risk” to human health and mandated EPA regulation, the Trump administration announced plans to recommend the removal of fluoride from all US tap water starting January 20th. In the announcement, Robert Kennedy Jr. stated: “Fluoride is an industrial byproduct linked to arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease. Fluoridation is an outdated practice that violates medical ethics.”

More than four times more parents are against vaccinating their children compared to pre-pandemic times, a new Canadian survey by the Angus Reid Institute shows. Additionally, nearly 30% of parents expressed skepticism surrounding the science of vaccines.

The Supreme Court of New York ordered all New York City employees who were fired for not being vaccinated to be reinstated with back pay. The court found that “being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting COVID-19.” New York City fired roughly 1,700 employees (including many police officers and firefighters) for being unvaccinated after it adopted a vaccine mandate.

Canadians’ trust in mainstream news media continued to wane. According to recent research by the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission), only one-third of Canadians consider mainstream media trustworthy and balanced. This is being reflected in a decrease in watch-time, as CTV News Vice-President Richard Gray admitted during a parliamentary committee that the broadcaster is now losing $40 million a year and that viewership is declining year over year.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an emergency ban on DCPA, a herbicide commonly used on broccoli and cabbage farms. The EPA cited concerns that the chemical appears to cause damage to unborn children.

In its updated guidance for COVID-19 boosters for the fall and winter 2024–2025 season, the Florida Department of Health warned the public about safety and efficacy concerns of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. “The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines present a risk of subclinical and clinical myocarditis… postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome… autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis.… As efficacy waned, studies showed that COVID-19 vaccinated individuals developed an increased risk for infection…”

The majority of Canadians said “No” to the shots. According to Health Canada’s latest data, only 18.2% of the adult population in Canada had received an updated COVID-19 vaccine despite a relentless multi-billion-dollar promotional campaign.

Vaccination rates significantly decreased around the world compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. According to a 2023 immunization coverage report released by the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Katherine O’Brien, director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines, and Biologicals at the WHO, noted that vaccine skepticism, which surged during the pandemic, is partly to blame for the global decline.

Puberty blockers for children with “gender dysphoria” were banned in the UK. The High Court ruled that the previous government’s ban is lawful, given the evidence against the safety of puberty blockers. Similar bans also took place in Texas and South Carolina.

The US Court of Appeals ruled in favour of doctors who alleged that medical boards violated First Amendment Rights (to Freedom of Speech of the US Constitution). The court agreed with the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons claim that medical certification boards colluded with the federal government to silence doctors who voiced dissenting opinions on COVID-19 policies and vaccines.

The Bank of Canada dropped its plan to issue a digital Canadian dollar. A statement on the Bank of Canada’s website announced that it “is scaling down its work on a retail central bank digital currency and shifting its focus to broader payments system research and policy development.”

The FDA finally released the final batch of Pfizer Documents, only two years after they declared it would take a staggering 75 years to release all the data. We can thank a group of scientists and medical researchers for having sued the FDA under FOIA to force the release of hundreds of thousands of documents related to the licensing of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 “vaccine.” The good news is that independent scientists and researchers can now see everything the FDA saw when they decided that this shot was “safe and effective.”

The march against Monsanto is winning! As of late 2024, glyphosate levels, once detected at alarmingly high concentrations, are now at their lowest in recent history, according to tests conducted by the American nonprofit Environmental Working Group. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in RoundUp—produced by Bayer (formerly Monsanto)—has been linked to serious health risks, including a rare form of lymphoma. Following massive court losses resulting in over $12 billion USD in settlements and a staggering $8.3 billion USD loss in market value, Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto is now widely regarded as one of the worst corporate deals in history.

Newfoundland fisheries won their battle for freedom! After protesting for weeks outside the Confederation Building in St.John’s for a free and open fishery market (i.e.to not to be restricted to selling only to the large corporations in the area), fishermen reached a deal with the NL government that allows catch to be sold to outside buyers.

Ireland drops plans for hate speech law. The Irish government had previously announced plans to curb “hate speech” through legislation that would criminalize possessing vaguely defined hateful material, allowing officials to raid homes, demand passwords, seize devices, and impose one-year prison sentences for non-compliance.