Category Archives: Canada

Trudeau files last-ditch appeal against billions for Indigenous children

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Tribunal ordered Canadian government to pay compensation to children who suffered discrimination in welfare system

Justin Trudeau’s government has launched a last-minute court appeal against a ruling that would require it pay billions of dollars to First Nations children who suffered discrimination in the welfare system.

Minutes before a court deadline on Friday afternoon, the government filed papers indicating it planned once again to fight a human rights tribunal decision ordering the compensation payment.

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New minister takes helm as Canadian military engulfed by sexual misconduct crisis

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Seven generals have so far been implicated in the billowing scandal – can institutional change be effected?

For nearly a year, Canada’s military has been engulfed in crisis, as one senior officer after another has come under investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct or cover-up.

So far, seven generals have been implicated in the snowballing scandal, which has undermined both public trust in the institution and morale within the ranks – and highlighted a lack of transparency over how the military handles allegations of sexual assault.

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Justin Trudeau names women to top posts in Canada cabinet reshuffle

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Mélanie Joly becomes foreign minister and Anita Anand defence minister in gender-balanced cabinet

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has carried out a major cabinet shuffle, naming women to the foreign affairs and defense posts in his gender-balanced cabinet.

Trudeau named Mélanie Joly as foreign minister and Anita Anand as defence minister. Chrystia Freeland, widely considered a favorite to replace Trudeau at some point, retains her positions as deputy prime minister and finance minister.

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Canada container ship fire: ‘bomb cyclone’ storm may hinder effort to assess damage

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Blaze on freighter ship has been largely contained, but officials won’t be able to determine damage amid wind and rain

Emergency crews have largely contained a chemical fire aboard a container ship anchored off western Canada, but warned a looming “bomb cyclone” storm could complicate efforts to fully assess damage to the ship and surrounding marine ecosystem.

The blaze broke out on Saturday aboard the MV Zim Kingston, a freighter ship carrying mining chemicals, including potassium amylxanthate – a hazardous substance used to help separate ores.

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Saudi crown prince a ‘psychopath’, says exiled intelligence officer

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Saad Aljabri says Mohammed bin Salman boasted he could kill former ruler King Abdullah

A former senior Saudi intelligence officer has claimed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a “psychopath with no empathy” who once boasted that he could kill the kingdom’s ruler at the time, King Abdullah, and replace him with his own father.

In an interview on US television, Saad Aljabri, who fled Saudi Arabia in May 2017 and is living in exile in Canada, also said he had been warned by an associate in 2018, after the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, that a Saudi hit team was heading to Canada to kill him.

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‘We know who we are’: Inuit row raises questions over identity and ancestry

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Under Canada’s constitution, Indigenous groups have the right to self-govern – but there are fears that the recognition of NunatuKavut could weaken the authority of Inuit groups

For centuries, Inuit in Canada have thrived in the sprawling territory known as Inuit Nunangat – the homeland – which stretches from a thin sliver of land in the Yukon territory to northern Labrador, a vast domain more than 3.3m sq km (1.2m sq miles) in size.

“Inuit have long understood where our communities are, who belongs to our communities, and have fought over the last 50 years to create modern treaties that identify these specific homelands,” said Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, a group that represents the four main Inuit regions.

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Natural habitats of 30 cities around the world at risk due to ‘coastal hardening’, study suggests

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Researchers estimate 1m sq km of seascape globally has been modified by coastal structures which bring in invasive species and damage habitat

Artificial structures have replaced more than half of the coastline of 30 cities around the world, according to new research suggesting coastal infrastructure will have a significant ecological impact if not well managed.

“Coastal hardening” – replacing natural coastal habitats with seawalls, breakwalls, wharves and other structures – is “consistently extensive” across cities in North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, finds a study published on Friday.

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Top Saskatchewan health official moved to tears by unchecked Covid spread

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Dr Saqib Shahab, the Canadian province’s chief medical officer, spoke of grief and frustration at deaths despite vaccine availability

A senior health official in western Canada has made an emotional plea for people to get vaccinated against coronavirus and observe social distancing recommendations, highlighting the grief and frustration felt by health workers in a country where Covid deaths continue despite the availability of vaccines.

Saskatchewan’s chief medical officer, Dr Saqib Shahab, was brought to tears during a briefing on Wednesday, as he presented new data showing the continuing pressure on the province’s hospitals and intensive care units.

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Chinese military condemns US and Canada over warships in Taiwan Strait

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Countries ‘colluded to provoke and stir up trouble’ in region that China claims as its territory

The Chinese military has condemned the United States and Canada for each sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying they were threatening peace and stability in the region.

China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, and has mounted repeated air force missions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the past year, provoking anger in Taipei.

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Canada army commander pick is latest to be accused of sexual misconduct

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Trevor Cadieu is the latest senior military officer to be embroiled in a misconduct investigation

The Canadian military has delayed the appointment of its next army commander after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against the man chosen for the role – the latest in a string of senior officers to be investigated for misconduct.

Lt Gen Trevor Cadieu was to be sworn in as the head of Canada’s army at a ceremony in early September. But that event was cancelled after the military learned of “historical allegations” against Cadieu.

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Don’t drink from tap, Canadian city says, as gasoline suspected in water supply

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State of emergency in Iqaluit, capital of Nunavut territory, as officials say they are testing water for petroleum hydrocarbons

Officials in Canada’s northernmost capital have declared a local state of emergency after finding possible evidence of gasoline in the city’s tap water.

Residents of Iqaluit, the capital of the Arctic territory of Nunavut, have been told not to drink, boil or cook with the city’s water.

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US to reopen land borders with Canada and Mexico in November

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The United States’ neighbours have been pressing it to ease restrictions on nonessential travel that have separated families during the pandemic

The US will reopen its land borders to nonessential travel in November, ending a 19-month freeze due to the Covid-19 pandemic as the country moves to require all international visitors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Vehicle, rail and ferry travel between the US and Canada and Mexico has been largely restricted to essential travel, such as trade, since the earliest days of the pandemic.

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Canada drops charges against man who claimed to be IS executioner

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Shehroze Chaudhry, who featured in New York Times podcast, had been charged under terrorism hoax laws

Canadian prosecutors have dropped charges against a man who claimed to be an Islamic State executioner after he admitted fabricating his tales of violence.

In September 2020, Shehroze Chaudhry was charged under Canada’s rarely used terrorism hoax laws, which carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Prosecutors withdrew those charges on Friday, after Chaudhry admitted that his account of travelling to Syria was fictitious. His trial was due to begin in February.

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How tracking grizzly bears is helping veterans find way back from trauma

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A project in western Canada lets former military service members put their skills to use tracking bears with wildlife experts and helps both groups overcome mental and physical wounds

On a recent crisp sunny morning, a small group of wildlife guides and British and Canadian military veterans, reached a ridge in the mountains of British Columbia and found themselves within 15 metres of a grizzly bear.

“He knew we were there. He could smell us but he was just doing his thing,” said Joe Humphrey, a former Royal Marine. The bear walked past them and ambled further up the valley.

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Canada invited Chelsea Manning to country just so she could be thrown out

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Bizarre request made ahead of immigration hearing for Manning, whose previous attempts to enter Canada have been denied

Canadian government lawyers recently invited US whistleblower Chelsea Manning to travel to a hearing in Montreal – so that border agents could then physically remove her from the country.

The bizarre request, which was eventually denied by an adjudicator, was made ahead of an immigration hearing set to begin on Thursday for Manning, whose previous attempts to enter Canada have been denied.

This article was amended on 7 October 2021 to correct a city name that was misspelled.

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‘Dead because she was Indigenous’: Québec coroner says Atikemekw woman a victim of systemic racism

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Hospital staff assumed Joyce Echaquan was an opioid addict. She was dying of a rare heart condition

An Indigenous woman who was taunted by nursing staff as she lay dying in a Quebec hospital would probably be alive today if she were white, a coroner has concluded.

The death of Joyce Echaquan was an “undeniable” example of systematic racism in the province, the Québec coroner Géhane Kamel told reporters on Tuesday.

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Canada invokes 1977 treaty with US as dispute over pipeline intensifies

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Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer says Line 5 of pipeline is a ‘ticking time bomb’ and has ordered it shut down

The Canadian government has invoked a decades-old treaty with the United States in its latest bid to save a pipeline that critics warn could be environmentally catastrophic if it were to fail.

For nearly 67 years, Calgary-based Enbridge has moved oil and natural gas from western Canada through Michigan and the Great Lakes to refineries in the province of Ontario.

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Huawei hopes US decision on Meng Wanzhou heralds new era in relations

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US justice department suspended fraud charges against chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms giant

The Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei hopes that the US justice department’s decision to abandon its efforts to extradite Meng Wanzhou may mark the starting point in a new era in relations between the company, China and the US government.

Meng, the firm’s chief financial officer and daughter of its founder, was freed last month after three years of house arrest in Canada following an agreement with the justice department to suspend fraud charges against her.

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‘I’m overjoyed’: Canadian Michael Spavor speaks out after China release

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Businessman Spavor reunites with family after his release last week from detention along with former diplomat

Canadian citizen Michael Spavor has expressed joy at being reunited with his family after being released from jail in China last week.

“I’m overjoyed to be finally reunited with my family. It’s humbling as I begin to understand the continued support that we’ve received from Canadians and those around the world, thank you,” Spavor said on Friday in a first statement since his release.

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Canadian designer Peter Nygard consents to US extradition

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Nygard faces sex trafficking and racketeering charges in US, as well as sexual assault and forcible confinement charges in Canada

The Canadian fashion designer Peter Nygard has consented to extradition to the US, where he faces sex trafficking and racketeering charges, lawyers for the prosecution and defence said at a hearing on Friday.

Separately, Toronto police service issued a statement saying it had an arrest warrant for Nygard on six charges of sexual assault and three charges of forcible confinement between 1987 and 2006.

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