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KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Before heading to bed before the Fourth of July holiday, Christopher Flowers checked the weather while staying at a friend’s house along the Guadalupe River. Nothing in the forecast alarmed him.

Hours later, he was rushing to safety: He woke up in darkness to electrical sockets popping and ankle-deep water. Quickly, his family scrambled nine people into the attic. Phones buzzed with alerts, Flowers recalled Saturday, but he did not remember when in the chaos they started.

“What they need they need is some kind of external system, like a tornado warning that tells people to get out now,” Flowers, 44, said.

The destructive fast-moving waters that began before sunrise Friday in the Texas Hill Country killed at least 32 people, authorities said Saturday, and an unknown number of people remained missing. Those still unaccounted for included 27 girls from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp along a river in Kerr County where most of the dead were recovered.

But as authorities launch one of the largest search-and-rescue efforts in recent Texas history, they have come under intensifying scrutiny over preparations and why residents and youth summer camps that are dotted along the river were not alerted sooner or told to evacuate.

The National Weather Service sent out a series of flash flood warnings in the early hours Friday before issuing flash flood emergencies — a rare alert notifying of imminent danger.

Local officials have insisted that no one saw the flood potential coming and have defended their actions.

“There’s going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr County. “There’s a lot of people saying ‘why’ and ‘how,’ and I understand that.”

When the warnings began

An initial flood watch — which generally urges residents to be weather aware — was issued by the local National Weather Service office at 1:18 p.m. local time on Thursday.

It predicted rain amounts of between 5 to 7 inches (12.7 to 17.8 centimeters). Weather messaging from the office, including automated alerts delivered to mobile phones to people in threatened areas, grew increasingly ominous in the early morning hours of Friday, urging people to move to higher ground and evacuate flood-prone areas, said Jason Runyen, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office.

At 4:03 a.m., the office issued an urgent warning that raised the potential of catastrophic damage and a severe threat to human life.

Jonathan Porter, the chief meteorologist at AccuWeather, a private weather forecasting company that uses National Weather Service data, said it appeared evacuations and other proactive measures could have been undertaken to reduce the risk of fatalities.

“People, businesses, and governments should take action based on Flash Flood Warnings that are issued, regardless of the rainfall amounts that have occurred or are forecast,” Porter said in a statement.

Local officials have said they had not expected such an intense downpour that was the equivalent of months’ worth of rain for the area.

“We know we get rains. We know the river rises,” said Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, the county’s top elected official. “But nobody saw this coming.”

Kelly said the county considered a flood warning system along the river that would have functioned like a tornado warning siren about six or seven years ago, before he was elected, but that the idea never got off the ground because of the expense.

“We’ve looked into it before … The public reeled at the cost,” Kelly said.

Hundreds of rescues

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Saturday that the massive response to the flooding had resulted in the rescue and recovery of more than 850 people, including some found clinging to trees.

Scores of people in and along the river were airlifted to safety by helicopter, including girls at Camp Mystic.

Kelly said he didn’t know what kind of safety and evacuation plans the camps may have had.

“What I do know is the flood hit the camp first, and it came in the middle of the night. I don’t know where the kids were,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of alarm systems they had. That will come out in time.”

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said Saturday it was difficult for forecasters to predict just how much rain would fall. She said the Trump administration would make it a priority to upgrade National Weather Service technology used to deliver warnings.

“We know that everyone wants more warning time, and that’s why we’re working to upgrade the technology that’s been neglected for far too long to make sure families have as much advance notice as possible,” Noem said during a press conference with state and federal leaders.

Weather service had extra staffers

The National Weather Service office in New Braunfels, which delivers forecasts for Austin, San Antonio and the surrounding areas, had extra staff on duty during the storms, Runyen said.

Where the office would typically have two forecasters on duty during clear weather, they had up to five on staff.

“There were extra people in here that night, and that’s typical in every weather service office — you staff up for an event and bring people in on overtime and hold people over,” Runyen said.

___

Murphy reported from Oklahoma City.

Sean Murphy And Jim Vertuno, The Associated Press











A large group of NDP supporters

A group of NDP organizers and former MPs are asking supporters to redirect donations from the central party to local riding associations, claiming hundreds of ridings cannot get tax rebates on campaign expenses due to the New Democrats’ dismal election performance.


CALGARY — Prime Minister Mark Carney may be a deft hand when it comes to handling finances, but he proved Saturday that his flapjack flipping could use some work.

Carney attended a pancake breakfast Saturday hosted by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, which attracted a crowd of about 200 people.

“The grill’s hot,” Carney told onlookers. “You guys ready?”

Sizzling on a black, flattop griddle, Carney slid his spatula under the first hotcake and flipped it, landing with a splat.

In an attempt to redeem himself, he tossed a second into the air, but it, too, landed lopsided and sent batter splatters into the crowd.

“I was better in Ottawa,” Carney joked. “I got a little cocky there. I’ll take responsibility.”

Sliding the two pancake mishaps to the side, Carney said: “These are mine. I’m not making anyone eat these.”

The prime minister asked if anyone had watched “The Galloping Gourmet,” a cooking show that aired from the late 1960s and the early ’70s.

“He’d be like, ‘Here’s one I made earlier,'” said Carney, taking a perfectly-made pancake and placing it on the griddle.

One onlooker told the prime minister, “You’re even worse at (flipping pancakes) than Trudeau.”

“There are certain things at my job I’m better at,” Carney quipped. “I’m better at eating pancakes … I’m better at Eggo waffles.”

The prime minister shook hands and took photos with many people attending the breakfast.

He also ran into Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who took part in some pancake flipping earlier this week with Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

“The premier’s here. I love your blue hat. It looks like you’ve got a whole collection,” Carney said.

“I do and I can’t wear the same colour all the time,” Smith said. “But I hear you have a little work to do on your flipping skills.”

“I do,” Carney replied. “There’s video evidence. I’m not going to deny it.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was also attending the breakfast, but waited in his vehicle until Carney left.

Smith told Carney that she and Ontario Premier Doug Ford were going to sign a memorandum of understanding on energy, priorities and trade.

“It would be so great if we didn’t have net-zero (carbon) rules,” Smith said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2025.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press



Alcohol consumption is on the rise among Gen Zers, according to a British research firm the surveys drinking patterns in internationally. Previous research painted the cohort as more likely to abstain.

Drinking among Gen Zers is on the rise in many major markets throughout the world, including Canada, according to

IWSR

, a British-based firm that analyzes drinking patterns.

Previous research about Gen Z alcohol consumption that painted them as abstainers. For example, in 2020, researchers from the

University of Michigan

reported that abstention was steadily increasing among college-age Americans. In August 2024, a

Gallup study

found 65 per cent of U.S. adults under 35 considered drinking unhealthy.

An IWSR

research survey

conducted in March has turned that picture of Gen Z on its head. “The idea that Gen Z drinkers are moderating significantly more than other generations isn’t backed up by the data in our latest survey,” says Richard Halstead, IWSR’s COO Consumer Insights.

IWSR interviewed 1,374 Canadian adults in total for its spring survey. This number was determined to be a representative sample of the national population of adults of legal drinking age in Canada.

The percentage of Canada’s Gen Z legal drinking-age (LDA) population who reported drinking rose from 56 per cent in spring 2023 to 69 per cent in spring 2025.

How is drinking more defined by IWSR?

Gen Z drinking more “is based on what we call ‘participation rate,’” says Halstead. To be considered a drinker, respondents must have had one or more drinks in the past six months, he wrote to National Post in an email.

The recent survey found a third of Canadian Gen Z drinkers reported that the last time they drank it was at a bar, restaurant or club — significantly higher than Canadian drinkers as a whole. Nearly four in five reported consuming spirits, which is higher overall than all drinkers in Canada.

How does Gen Z compare to the other generational cohorts?

The Canadian data for the other generational cohorts shows a small increase among Millennials: 71 per cent (April 2023) to 75 per cent (March 2025). However, alcohol consumption fell for Gen Xers (77 per cent in 2023 to 76 per cent in 2025) and Boomers (76 per cent in 2023 down to 72 per cent in 2025).

IWSR defines these age cohorts as follows: Gen Z (18−27); Millennials (28−43); Gen X (44−59); Boomers (60+).

What is contributing to increased Gen Z alcohol consumption?

Increasing income played a role in alcohol consumption among Gen Z drinkers, says Halstead. “As more Gen Z LDA drinkers approach their mid-twenties, their disposable income is increasing, and that generally correlates with increased alcohol purchases.”

IWSR research says cost-of-living pressures have meant most consumers focused more on buying essentials and staying home, rather than going out drinking.

Otherwise, Halstead says the impact of demographic factors such as gender and household income has “been fairly consistent in Canada.” Instead, he adds, an increasing number of people are reaching legal drinking age within Gen Z, boosting consumption for that cohort.

How does Canada’s Gen Zs compare to this cohort elsewhere?

Gen Z alcohol consumption is also growing in other key markets. In the U.S., consumption among Gen Z consumers rose from 46 per cent to 70 per cent over the same time-period. In the U.K. it jumped from 66 per cent to 76 per cent, in India up from 60 per cent to 70 per cent and in Australia up from 61 per cent to 83 per cent.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.


CALGARY — Looking to shore up support at one of the summer’s biggest political blowouts, Prime Minister Mark Carney and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre are scheduled to court supporters at the Calgary Stampede today.

Carney, who strolled the Stampede grounds on Friday night, is scheduled to attend a pancake breakfast this morning and host a party fundraiser later in the day.

Carney also appeared at the first set of chuckwagon races, receiving a mix of cheers and boos when he came onstage.

Poilievre, currently campaigning to regain his seat in the House of Commons in the rural Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot, is scheduled to host a party event.

The 10-day rodeo is a major event for politicos across levels of government, providing an opportunity to make public appearances, shake hands with voters and meet with counterparts from around the country.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek rang in the rodeo earlier in the week, flipping pancakes in front of an early-morning crowd in downtown Calgary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2025.

The Canadian Press


Two officers with a U.S. task force, one of them a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the other a detective with the New York City Police Department, had flown to the Czech Republic for the anticipated takedown of a man wanted in an extraordinary, politically sensitive murder-for-hire case.

The U.S. officers knew exactly when their target was to arrive in Prague on a flight from India and had given all the details to Czech authorities. International paperwork requesting the arrest and extradition to New York had already been sent for their wanted suspect: Nikhil Gupta, 53, known as Nick.

On the afternoon of the flight’s arrival, the two Americans were told they’d have to wait in a police van parked at Terminal One of Vaclav Havel Airport while the operation went down.

An hour passed before the Czechs returned to the van, escorting Gupta in handcuffs. The Czech’s told the Americans they had waited for Gupta to collect his luggage before arresting him, the DEA agent wrote in his report on the incident, typed 12 days later. Gupta’s arrest, around 6:30 p.m., on June 30, 2023, went smoothly, he wrote.

The agent’s report went on to present a neat and tidy account of the arrest of Gupta on alarming charges that ignited international headlines and diplomatic tensions, most dramatically in the United States, India, and Canada, three countries being drawn into a firestorm.

Gupta stands accused of having a key role in an alleged conspiracy plotted from within an Indian intelligence agency to kill a dual Canadian-American citizen who leads a Sikh organization, as well as other related targets in Canada and the United States.

The murder plot in the U.S. was allegedly underway when Hardeep Singh Nijjar, an outspoken Canadian Sikh separatist, was shot dead outside a temple in Surrey, B.C.; then prime minister Justin Trudeau said “credible allegations” point to the involvement of the Indian government in the hit, setting off a harsh diplomatic dispute between Canada and India. Dozens of diplomats were kicked out of both countries.

The U.S. prosecution of Gupta later alleged that Nijjar was on the list of targets that Gupta was farming out to underworld hitmen.

Nijjar was a close associate of the alleged target in America, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Both Nijjar and Pannun have been harsh critics of the Indian government and leaders in the Khalistan movement, seeking to create a separate homeland for Sikhs in India’s Punjab region.

That global backdrop makes this case — and Nikhil Gupta — particularly important and extraordinarily sensitive.

A recent flurry of insider documents rarely seen publicly were filed in federal court in New York, including the DEA agent’s report on Gupta’s arrest that relays a startling confession made by Gupta to the American officers in the back of the Czech police van while driving from the airport after his arrest.

As should be expected in a high-stakes case swirling with global intrigue, spies, and gangland figures, the emerging evidence also presents competing accounts and opposing claims that say the airport arrest, and so much more, are much messier and far sneakier than first declared.

Inside the Czech police van at the Prague airport, DEA Special Agent Mark Franks wrote afterwards in his internal report, he and Jose Sandobal, a New York detective assigned to the joint taskforce, spoke with Gupta as they travelled to a detention facility.

The Americans didn’t have long with Gupta. It was a short drive from the airport to the holding facility, less than 15 minutes, by Franks’ account.

“I want to cooperate. Take me to America and I’ll cooperate right now with you guys,” was the first thing Gupta said to the Americans, according to Sandobal’s account, given much later.

Gupta told them he was travelling in Uzbekistan in 2021 and when he returned to India, he was told he was scheduled for a court appearance for a robbery, according to Franks’ written account.

“Gupta did not understand why, as he was not in the country, but he said this was not unusual as India’s police force is corrupt. Gupta began asking friends to see if they knew anyone who could assist him in clearing his name,” the report says. Gupta then received a phone call from someone named “Amanat” who said he could clear Gupta’s name. The two men met in New Delhi, shortly after, the report says.

“Gupta said Amanat wore a mask, hat, glasses and long sleeve t-shirts.”

Amanat asked Gupta to have someone in New York City killed. If it was a surprising request, Gupta didn’t seem to show it. He told the man he knew someone who could do it, the report alleges he said.

Gupta showed the Americans the contact number for Amanat on his phone and said he knew little else about him. Included in court filings is a photograph, taken inside the police van, of a phone being held open to the contact information screen for “Amanat” showing two numbers.

He said Amanat would probably go into hiding when he hears about Gupta’s arrest.

The agent said they read Gupta his rights as they travelled.

Gupta then wrote his name on the rights advice consent form but before signing it asked to make a phone call. The Americans said they couldn’t authorize that as he wasn’t in U.S. custody. He insisted he would sign only if he could make a phone call. And he didn’t sign it.

“Gupta started very cooperative but later soured; don’t think he liked me,” Sandobal later said in a debrief with U.S. prosecutors, according to a court filing.

According to documents filed in court, there was a text chat group going on after the van ride between Franks, Sandobal, and two Assistant U.S. Attorneys on the prosecution team.

“Is he talking?” prosecutor Camille L. Fletch asked.

“We had limited time,” Franks replied. “He did but he was playing f–k f–k games. We think he will ultimately cooperate. We can fill you in more.”

– – – – –

At the time of Gupta’s arrest, an indictment against him was filed in U.S. federal court in the Southern District of New York. It was sealed by court order and an arrest warrant was secretly issued on June 13, 2023. Then U.S. officials requested assistance from Czech authorities to arrest him.

The Americans knew exactly what Gupta’s travel plans were because they had secretly helped to arrange them in an undercover sting.

Not long before his arrest, Gupta had reached out to a man he thought was a Colombian cocaine supplier, according to unproven allegations in the U.S. indictment and other documents filed in court.

The two men had a past. Since 2016, they had periodically discussed — but never pulled off — various guns and drugs deals. The man he spoke with was an unusually experienced snitch. He has worked as a paid DEA informant for more than 25 years.

During one of their chats in May 2023, Gupta allegedly asked the man if he knew someone who could carry out a hit on a lawyer who lives in New York. Gupta’s belief he was dealing with a professional narco seemed so deep, he gave the man the name of the intended target and told him he could pay $100,000 for the hit, court documents allege.

The snitch, of course, said he would reach out to his contacts in the New York underworld and see. The informant then introduced Gupta to a man who purported to be the Colombian’s New York hitman, but was really an undercover police agent.

Gupta allegedly used WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging app, to arrange for a courier to deliver $15,000 as a retainer for the hitman in Manhattan. The courier and the hitman met in the afternoon on June 9, 2023.

Gupta later added a specific time frame for the job: either shortly before or after the official visit to the United States by India’s prime minister in June 2023.

He also allegedly said this was the first of four hits; he would have more work for the purported killer with more targets, some of whom lived in Canada.

On June 18, 2023, came shocking news from British Columbia: Nijjar had been shot and killed outside a Sikh temple. The Indian-born citizen of Canada had been designated a terrorist by India three years earlier for his support of taking up arms in a fight for a separatist Sikh state.

The next day, Gupta allegedly sent a video clip of the Nijjar killing to the undercover agent and said the victim was one of the intended targets he had previously mentioned.

“This strongly suggests that Gupta and/or persons working with Gupta were responsible for the associate’s murder,” a U.S. letter sent to the Czech government to support Gupta’s extradition says. “Gupta also told the undercover agent that the murder of the intended victim should now be carried out as soon as possible, without regard to collateral consequences such as potential harm to civilian bystanders or any resulting protests or political upheaval.”

On a recording made by the undercover agent, Gupta allegedly said: “Hit the target … no restrictions, no limitations.”

After the victim, Pannun, was killed, Gupta would then give the hitman the next targets, including some in Canada, the U.S. prosecutors allege.

The hitman arranged to meet with Gupta in the Czech Republic to continue the discussions and planning.

– – – – –

The story purportedly told to the American officers in the back of the Czech police van expanded the U.S. investigation and allegations in the probe.

Amanat, said to have recruited Gupta into the plot, was allegedly identified as Vikash Yadav, 39, who U.S. officials describe as a government employee and a senior field officer with India’s foreign intelligence service, called the Research and Analysis Wing.

Last October, U.S. Justice Department officials announced murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against Yadav for directing the foiled assassination plot.

The case is “a grave example of the increase in lethal plotting and other forms of violent transnational repression targeting diaspora communities in the United States,” then U.S. assistant attorney general Matthew Olsen said at the time.

Yadav is accused of providing information on the intended target, including his home addresses, phone numbers, and other identifying information. He also allegedly was involved in arranging the $15,000 advance.

So far, Yadav remains out of reach. He is on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

Those formal allegations match the alleged confession attributed to Gupta by the DEA agent in his report.

What isn’t in the agents’ reports of Gupta’s arrest in Prague is what Gupta later reported: that he was physically grabbed by half a dozen Czech police as he walked toward an airport exit and forced into a room at the airport, where he was strip searched, questioned, and ordered to unlock his phones, which he did.

His lawyers say Czech police put him in the back of a dark SUV with tinted windows between the two Americans as seven Czech officers piled inside with them. He said the Americans didn’t identify themselves as law enforcement officials and didn’t inform him of his rights, including his right to silence.

Nonetheless, Gupta said through his lawyers in court documents, whatever he said in the van, it wasn’t the incriminating story of being recruited into a murder conspiracy by Amanat.

“At no point during the car ride did Mr. Gupta say anything about having someone in New York City killed,” his lawyers said.

His lawyers claim the ride in the police van was much longer than the 10 to 15 minutes the DEA said it was. Gupta said he heard a Czech officer tell the Americans they would take the “long route” to give them added time.

His lawyers point to time stamps on one of Gupta’s phones — about 75 minutes passed between Gupta giving the password to Czech police and the DEA agent photographing Amanat’s contact information on it in the van.

Lawyers also point to group chat messages between the DEA officers and prosecutors, in which the agent said Gupta was playing “f–k f–k games.”

“That is not the text one would expect from an agent who had allegedly … just obtained an outright confession,” Gupta’s lawyers argue.

About two and a half hours after his arrest, Gupta was formally interrogated by Czech authorities. No Americans were present, Czech officials told Gupta’s Czech defence lawyer.

He wasn’t as talkative as he might have been in the police van. The meeting lasted just 10 minutes, most of which was taken up by him being read his rights with the help of an interpreter.

Gupta told the Czechs he came to Prague for the weekend, “solely for leisure.”

“At present, I have nothing to declare, as I do not even know what charges have been brought against me. Once I am informed of the charges, I will respond to them accordingly,” was his statement which he signed.

At his court hearing the next day, he was provided a Hindi interpreter, although he also speaks English.

After consulting privately with his lawyer, Gupta made a statement to the court: “I consent to extradition to the United States and request that the court allow me to purchase a plane ticket at my own expense so that I may travel to the United States as soon as possible to testify before the court that issued the arrest warrant. I will cooperate with U.S. authorities.” The court rejected his request to go on his own.

He also, according to the minutes of the hearing by Czech authorities asked the Prague court officials to “notify my son in India and my son in Pakistan, as well as the Indian Embassy in Prague, about my placement in pre-trial detention.”

That part in the documents, about him having a son in Pakistan, and elsewhere a reference to him also having a Pakistan passport, grabbed attention in India and Pakistan, two neighbouring countries with strained and often hostile relations. Gupta denied in court appeals that he has Pakistan travel documents.

He also told a court in Prague that he disputed the U.S. allegations.

He said he had no reason to order a murder and didn’t have the money to pay someone $100,000. He also, however, offered a $500,000 surety for his release on bond pending the outcome of his extradition hearing. He said false accusations may have been motivated by jealousy of his success by someone who wanted to ruin his name and reputation.

He then fiercely fought against extradition, appealing repeatedly until his options expired. One of his complaints was that the prosecution against him had political and “semi-military” interests.

He complained of the impromptu interview in the back of the police van by the Americans, alleging they took his photo and photos of his travel documents and accessed his phones without respecting his rights. His lawyer called that “unlawful” conduct. In a Czech high court ruling, it is also said that in one of Gupta’s appeals, he claimed he was “under an obligation, imposed by the Indian intelligence service, not to discuss the matter in any way.” He seemed a man full of contradictions.

Documents speak of him having a global footprint, including a six-month visa for Switzerland, real estate deals in Dubai, travels through Asia and Europe, and trips to Los Angeles and New York.

A court in Prague ordered him extradited to the United States last year and he arrived in New York, where he was taken into U.S. federal custody, in June 2024. He has pleaded not guilty.

It is unusual for this insider information and level of detail in an ongoing criminal case to be available publicly, especially this early in the process.

Lawyers for Gupta in New York, however, have asked the court to suppress some evidence and “unlawfully obtained” statements, and to dismiss one of the three charges, that of money laundering.

In support of that motion, last month they submitted reams of documents into the public court record, including the evidence sent to Czech officials to support the U.S. request for Gupta’s arrest, and more sent to rebut Gupta’s challenges to his extradition.

Gupta’s lawyers say the money laundering charge should not be prosecuted as it was not included in the original indictment presented to Czech authorities when they requested Gupta’s arrest. It was an additional charge included in a superseding indictment sent later. The charge expands the sentencing range Gupta faces from a 10-year maximum to 20 years.

Gupta’s lawyers’ motion also complains that Czech police violated Gupta’s rights by interrogating him and obtaining the passwords for his phones, and then sending the contents of the phones to U.S. authorities. They want any evidence from the phones to be excluded from Gupta’s prosecution.

They also claim the police van interrogation by U.S. officials was an “unconstitutional interrogation” because Gupta was not informed of his rights prior to the questioning. They want any statements he might have made to be excluded from evidence as well.

Those issues are being argued in a New York courtroom.

Lawyers for Gupta and for Pannun did not respond to requests for comment on the case and the allegations. Officials at India’s High Commission in Canada could not be reached for comment prior to publication deadline.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | X:


Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney and President of the United States Donald Trump take part in the family photo at the 2025 G7 summit in Kananaskis on Monday, June 16, 2025.

It has become something of a cliché to assert as an evident fact accepted resignedly, that the West is in decline. But it isn’t. The West is essentially the Americas, Central and Western Europe, Israel, Australasia, and Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, arguably the Philippines and beleaguered elements in South Africa. Obviously, some of these places are in better condition than others. A degenerating society is one that has lost the will to defend itself from both external and internal enemies and where belief in the value of the society or civilization and loyalty and pride in the country have eroded to the point where there is legitimate doubt that they can be sustained under any pressure. No part of the Western world has achieved such a condition.

Canadians are vaguely aware that in the last decade we’ve been uncompetitive with peer countries in economic growth and the rise of our standard of living, and although most Canadians have been dissatisfied with many aspects of public policy, almost nobody believes this has ceased to be a worthwhile country and a relatively agreeable place to live with excellent prospects if we have improved standards of political leadership. The burning question is whether the new prime minister, Mark Carney, will follow the authoritarian and socialistic, environmentally-obsessed course indicated by his book, Values, a turgid recitation of an unpromising political agenda, or succumbs to the traditional tenacious enticements of incumbency of a federal Liberal leader. It must be said that, so far, he has shown gravitas in his distinguished office, and although there is a weakness for Pearsonian waffling, that is a merciful relief compared to the green fanaticism and mindless globalism that afflicted him when he was governor of the Bank of England. The appointment of the very capable Michael Sabia as clerk of the privy council is reassuring.

In the United States, on whose strategic direction and political and economic health the condition of the entire West chiefly depends, President Trump, no matter how appalled many may be by his lack of gentility, is moving decisively to stimulate economic growth, reduce the trade deficit, reduce inflation, increase job creation, and has effectively closed the borders to illegal immigration, and is asserting the authority of the federal government throughout the country and requiring the apprehension and deportation of convicted criminals who entered the United States illegally. These are elemental steps in national self-preservation and if they had not been taken, a rising concern about what the late British critic and humorist Malcolm Muggeridge called “the great liberal death wish” in the United States would have been justified. The joint Israeli-American destruction of the Iranian nuclear program and of Iran’s capacity to finance international terror on the scale that it has through most of the history of the Islamic Republic has been a decisive and absolutely essential step in raising the prospects for peace and prosperity in the whole world.

Western Europe is naturally more complicated. For all of history from the rise of the Roman Republic to the 20th century it was the leading and most influential political and economic region in the world. It is naturally heavily burdened by its responsibility for the evils of totalitarian communism, Nazism, and fascism and the terrible hecatombs of the world wars. For notorious historic reasons, it lumbers its economy with extravagant Danegeld for the working classes and the small farmers. Much of Europe went perilously far in abdicating democratic political authority to the undemocratic commissioners of the European Union. They are all committed to the “ever closer union” which is the founding objective of the EU, but which has not been specifically ratified by many of the adherent populations, and as the European commissioners are not elected and are not answerable to the talking shop European Parliament in Strasbourg, this is not democracy. That was the great problem in the United Kingdom, which Mark Carney failed to recognize as he tried in his in supposedly nonpolitical position of central banker to terrorize the British into voting against Brexit. Britain had voted to join a common market not a federal union. The institutions of government that had developed over 800 years of British history would be subsumed into the well-intentioned but unfledged institutions of Brussels, and its relations with the United States and its senior Commonwealth kindred countries, relationships that have made an incomparable contribution to Western civilization, would be handed over to the Davos-minded foreign placemen of Brussels.

The European Union will have to be rethought and probably will proceed on a two-tiered basis where those countries which wish federation should certainly have it and those that wish to retain national sovereignty but in affiliation with European central government are accommodated. The whole enterprise will have to adopt a tax and benefit system more stimulative to economic growth and more respectful of the market economy. Europeans cannot ignore the implications of the fact that 20 years ago their collective GDP was almost identical to that of the United States and today the American economy is almost twice as large as that of the EU. This is despite the mediocre American leadership between the Reagan and current Trump eras, because European political leadership has been even poorer. For the only time in British history, U.K. Conservatives provided five consecutive failed prime ministers in eight years. The quality of French leadership in the Fifth Republic has declined from the great General de Gaulle in tottering downward increments to the completely incompetent François Hollande, and Emmanuel Macron has been only a very partial improvement. Four-term German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who could Have been a female Bismarck, was ultimately a failure, as was her successor. Both the new chancellor and the new opposition show signs of hope. The Italian Premier, Giorgia Meloni, is a very considerable statesman and the most capable Italian leader since Alcide de Gasperi. The Spanish premier is a socialist imbecile, and the present British government is off to a terrible start.

But there are unmistakable signs that the old continent is recovering: the German Christian Democrats like the equivalent Italian parties, are much bolder and more ideologically robust than in the recent past. The French Rassemblement National has respectabilized itself and appears ready for victory. In the United Kingdom, either the Conservative Party will regain a reasonable quality of leadership and political judgment or it will be shunted into the wilderness like the old Liberals by the Reform Party. The most encouraging litmus test of the recovery of Europe is that Vladimir Putin had assumed that it would be wallowing in moralistic platitudes while he reabsorbed Ukraine. Not only has Ukraine repulsed him with great courage, but he succeeded in reawakening Europe from its long torpor and arming it with the resolve of self-respect and determination of olden time, and is doubling its defence budget. The westernized countries of the Far Pacific are responding commendably to the Chinese challenge, encouraged by the pivot of Trump’s America towards them. This is not a civilization in decline.

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Zohran Mamdani, Democratic candidate for mayor, leaves a press conference celebrating his primary victory with leaders and members of the city's labor unions on July 2, 2025 in New York. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is on a mission to bring race socialism to New York City. That is not speculation, it’s in his public campaign platform.

“Shift the tax burden from overtaxed homeowners in the outer boroughs to more expensive homes in richer and whiter neighbourhoods.”

Were it a throwaway line designed to appeal to unhappy, dyed-hair baristas and the local faculty lounges, Mamdani might have quietly removed it, but it turns out that it is essential to his vision. When called out on it on live television, he

doubled down

on the policy while bewilderingly denying it was race-based.

“That is just a description of what we see right now. It’s not driven by race. It’s more of an assessment of what neighbourhoods are being under-taxed versus over-taxed,” Mamdani stated on NBC News.

Despite the blatant attempt at gaslighting, this could be the start of a tremendous shift in global left-wing politics, considering the influence of the United States. The buildup to race socialism has been decades in the making, and Mamdani could be the politician to make it mainstream.

These ideas have been gaining traction in the West, including in Canada.

The far-left publication Canadian Dimension

published

a column in February that called for a wealth tax and explicitly linked it to race: “It’s no secret that extreme wealth in western democracies is overwhelmingly held by white people, and Canada is no exception.”

There is even a

“critical tax theory”

movement arising in North America that argues that white taxpayers should pay higher rates in the name of equity.

For those who want a policy of racial socialism and revolution in the West, Mamdani is their role model for the foreseeable future. If New Yorkers want to consign themselves to stagnation, racial animosity and more bad governance, that is their decision. The burden is on everyone else to reject race socialism wherever it arises.

There is no doubt that Mamdani is a charismatic figure, with a readily deployable smile and a soft millennial bearing that makes him appear rather harmless. It is an excellent shield for a man whose ideology strays sharply from that of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, or even Barack Obama.

For all his faults, it is clear that Obama has

at least a basic,

albeit very critical, respect for the American Founding Fathers and the country’s constitutional principles. Mamdani’s

thinking

has been

deeply shaped

by his family, who are heavyweights in the world of far-left academia.

His father in particular, Mahmood Mamdani, is one of the western world’s more well-known scholars in the field of “postcolonial studies,” with a special interest in Africa.

The Africa Report, an award-winning quarterly focusing on the continent’s current affairs,

reported

in June that the Mamdanis were awash with “diasporic intellectualism, where ideas about justice, decolonization and identity were household conversations.”

How exactly did decolonization play out in Africa following the collapse of European rule? There was great enthusiasm for wealth redistribution and the scapegoating of ethnic minorities, led by charismatic figures like Uganda’s Idi Amin and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

Following the British departure in 1962, Idi Amin demonized and

purged

the country’s mostly South Asian merchant class in the 1970s, Mamdani’s father among them. Their businesses were expropriated, and their assets confiscated.

In the 1980s in Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, Robert Mugabe

seized the lands

of the remaining white farmers in an attempt to loot and redistribute the wealth associated with it.

Concurrent to that, Mugabe began a

violent repression

of the country’s sizable Ndebele minority, whom he accused of subversion and sabotage. It resulted in the deaths of up to 30,000 Zimbabwean citizens.

The Ndebele remember it as a time when their people were singled out and slaughtered. Mahmood Mamdani

described this period

as one of “massive social change,” in which “very little turmoil” took place. For those who champion decolonization, the violent cleansing of certain ethnic groups is immaterial if it furthers the cause.

According to Africa Report,

his son Zohran would be

“the first to carry the intellectual legacy of postcolonial Africa into the political heart of the West.”

Right now, the West’s cultural zeitgeist is perfectly aligned for the arrival of this sort of decolonial race socialism in New York City.

It is impossible to ignore the newly emerged, constructed narrative of the “colonizers” and the “colonized.” Resentment and the assignment of ancestral guilt are at the core of it, and it has spread throughout the English-speaking world.

Statues of explorers, monarchs and historical business and political leaders are common targets for radicals who despise the countries they helped to found. They have been toppled, smashed or vandalized in Victoria, Hamilton, and Melbourne, usually without legal repercussions.

This fabricated Indigenous-colonizer conflict is not only permissible, but given space in respectable society across Australia, Canada and even Britain. The hustlers are given

prime- time

television slots or

academic tenure

to vent, and usually receive polite nods from the presenters in return.

In America, Zohran Mamdani’s rise to political stardom is where this wave of racial politics meets the socialist revival spearheaded by

Bernie Sanders

and

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

, who have wholeheartedly endorsed him.

The politics of the English-speaking world have always been connected, and the United States is its most powerful engine for driving new narratives. Mamdani’s team are

artful practitioners

of social media, and his presence is felt well beyond the U.S.

Already, Canadian NDP politicians like

Marit Stiles

and MP

Leah Gazan

are falling over each other trying to heap praise upon him.

Gazan, a leading voice

for radical decolonial

, anti-Western politics in Ottawa, posted on X: “Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York is an inspiring example for how progressives can stand up to establishment liberals or authoritarians like Trump.”

Is it truly sticking it to Trump that has got Gazan and her ilk so fired up, or is it something else?

The majority of people in the U.S., Canada and its peer countries must have the courage to say no to race socialism, with strength and without fear.

National Post


Swimmer Lia Thomas holds a trophy after finishing first in the 500 free at the NCAA Womens Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech in March 2022.

Money talks, and when the sum being discussed is $175 million it starts speaking the language of common sense.

The University of Pennsylvania has — finally — been forced to see reason over Lia Thomas, the controversial transgender athlete who was allowed to compete against female swimmers.

In an embarrassing climbdown, the university has settled a civil rights case with the Department of Education by: apologizing to female athletes “disadvantaged” by Thomas taking part in swimming competitions; restoring individual records and titles to female athletes who lost to Thomas; sending a personalized apology to each of those female swimmers; agreeing it will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs and adopting a “biology-based” definition of male and female.

It was total capitulation.

“The University will not — on the basis of sex — exclude female students from participation in, deny female students the benefits of, or subject female students to discrimination under, any athletics programs,” reads a

statement

posted to the university’s website on Tuesday.

Crucially, it went on to say, “In addition, in providing to female student-athletes intimate facilities such as locker rooms and bathrooms in connection with Penn Athletics, such facilities shall be strictly separated on the basis of sex and comparably provided to each sex.”

Great, female locker rooms for women. Why was that ever a battle?

The issue of transgender athletes competing against women was always so much more than that, although that in itself mattered. It opened the door not just to unfairness in sport, but access to female spaces like locker rooms, prisons and rape shelters.

This wasn’t just about discrimination, but about how half the population was suddenly vulnerable to the depredations of anyone who wished to declare themselves a woman.

That’s not to accuse transgender people of being sex pests. It is, unfortunately, a recognition that too many predatory men will use whatever means necessary, even posing as a woman, to put themselves in a position where they can abuse women.

If the debate about transgender people had been less strident from the beginning, if supporters had adopted less of an all or nothing principle — all trans women are women — we might have come to a compromise or a reasonable accommodation.

But for trans activists, a simple misgendering was grounds to label you some kind of vocal terrorist.

Moved by “compassion” some people lost their collective minds.

In Scotland, they sent a double

rapist

to a women’s prison. That’s not compassion, that’s being willfully blind to the danger of putting such a dangerous criminal in the presence of women prisoners. It is the triumph of culture war activism over the virtue of common sense.

The University of Pennsylvania was able to parade its transgender credentials by allowing Thomas to compete against women. But it was always unfair.

Thomas went from a

ranking

of 554th in the 200 men’s freestyle in the 2018-19 season to being one of the top-ranked female swimmers in that event.

In 2022, Thomas won the women’s 500 freestyle at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, finished fifth in the women’s 200 freestyle and eighth in the women’s 100 freestyle.

While the transgender athlete had supporters, there were also detractors who complained about Thomas competing as well as using the female

locker rooms

.

Why is it always the women who have to suffer? The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is now

investigating

because a school in Denver converted a female restroom into an all-gender restroom. Boys, however, still get exclusive use of a male restroom.

Under the Biden administration, academia could get away with such conduct. But the Trump administration was always going to be different.

U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion policies and use Title IX (which prevents sex discrimination in education) to support women.

It was Title IX that landed Penn university in trouble. The Education Department threatened to withhold $175 million in federal funds from the university unless it complied with the law.

In a

statement

in March, Penn President Larry Jameson pledged, “We expect to continue to engage with OCR, vigorously defending our position.”

But he folded almost as fast as Prime Minister Mark Carney on the Digital Services Tax.

This week, the university said it would comply with two executive orders from Trump. The first,

Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government

, decries “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex” because it deprives women “of their dignity, safety, and well-being.”

The second,

Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports

, states, “It shall also be the policy of the United States to oppose male competitive participation in women’s sports more broadly, as a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth.”

In a statement, Jameson said the institution was only following the rules at that time, but would now, “apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect.”

It was a craven statement that sought to deflect responsibility to those damnable rules at the time. It’s a pity Jameson didn’t have the courage just to admit that what happened was wrong.

Still, Jameson will now get the $175 million that Trump was threatening to withhold. And if he had to throw Lia Thomas under the bus to get it, so be it.

National Post


A file photo shows the sign for a speed camera that had been placed on Algonquin Avenue between Maurice Street and Field Street in Sudbury, Ont. The cameras have generated more than $700,000 in net revenue for the City of Greater Sudbury in 2024. John Lappa/Sudbury Star/Postmedia Network

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has been focused on improving traffic flow and reducing congestion on provincial roads and highways for several years. His gaze has now turned to an electronic device that can disrupt traffic and frustrate drivers: speed cameras.

Ford and his PC government have tackled this issue on several occasions.

A 2019 amendment to the Highway Traffic Act, for example,

stated

that municipal speed camera signs must be displayed in Ontario “not less than 60 centimetres in width and 75 centimetres in height.” Some

proposed amendments

to the Highway Traffic Act related to speed cameras were also included in Bill 24, Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2025. “Municipalities are required to publish the location of automated speed enforcement systems and red light camera systems,” according to the third point, “and, if required by the regulations, to display signs indicating that such systems may be in use.”

Ford was asked about the deployment of speed cameras during a recent press conference in Wasaga Beach, Ont. His immediate concern was this device was a “revenue tool” (as) “opposed to safety” on Toronto streets, roads and neighbourhoods.

“The city is using it as their revenue source, and it’s a little unfair,” he

told

reporters on May 16. “They hide them all over the place and if you’re going, you know, 10 kilometres an hour over, you’re getting dinged…People aren’t too happy when they get dinged for 10 kilometres over, five kilometres over. It’s a revenue tool.”

Ford and the Ontario PCs naturally recognize that speed cameras still serve an important purpose. In particular, using them in community safety zones and school zones. “Everyone should be crawling through a school zone,” the Premier told the media, “but they’re putting them all over the place and they’re creating endless amounts of money.”

Ford summed up the government’s position thusly. “All we’re saying is not to take them away — I don’t like them — but let’s put signs up. The whole purpose of a radar trap is to slow people down, so let’s slow people down by putting big signs that there’s a radar ahead and we’ll go from there.”

The Premier is absolutely right. He should pass legislation to massively reduce the use of speed cameras as a revenue tool on major streets and in residential areas in Toronto and across Ontario.

The sole purpose behind enacting speed cameras in Ontario’s municipalities was always about public safety. It was a means of warning drivers to slow down and help prevent accidents, injuries and fatalities involving fellow drivers and pedestrians. Families with young children would also, hopefully, feel more safe and secure in their neighbourhoods with slower and more responsible drivers on the roads.

Speed cameras were never designed to be a source of revenue. Ontario’s cities, towns and villages already collect more than enough money from taxpayers each year. Municipal and property taxes in Toronto have gone through the roof under left-wing Mayor Olivia Chow,

increasing

by 9.5 per cent in 2024 and 6.9 per cent in 2025. Does Toronto, or any other city, really desperately need a few extra bucks from drivers who went a fractional number of kilometres above the speed limit? The answer should be pretty obvious.

What about the argument that keeping speed cameras hidden in Ontario’s municipalities would help ensure that drivers slow down?

Besides the fact that playing a game of “gotcha” with drivers is juvenile, it doesn’t make much of a difference. While popular navigation systems like GPS and Waze can

identify

hidden speed cameras and speed traps on certain routes, there are plenty of drivers who routinely ignore these warnings. There will always be drivers who ignore (or have ignored) municipal speed camera signs sitting in plain sight, too. The one silver lining? If any of these individuals get caught driving over the speed limit or worse, they’ll be punished to the furthest extent of the law.

Ford is right to suggest there should be certain exceptions to the use of speed cameras in the province. This includes school zones where caution should always be the better part of valour. That’s why speed limits are generally reduced to 30 km/h on Toronto streets located in and around our schools.

Here’s the thing. If you slightly adjust your foot on the pedal or shift around in your car seat, which most drivers do at some point during their journeys, the chances are your speed will briefly go up a few kilometres. This would be caught on a speed camera and, in effect, mean that you’ve broken a municipal law. An inanimate speed camera obviously can’t tell the difference. Are police and city officials going to care or take this into consideration? Of course not. Hence, it’s a bit much to expect everyone to drive their vehicles to the point of a basic crawl or get fined. There has to be a certain amount of rational thinking and leniency involved in the decision-making process.

Ford has the right idea when it comes to speed cameras. Toronto needs to use them as a public safety tool, and stop robbing Peter to pay Paul — and, in turn, pay Olivia.

National Post