Guard was shot inside Drake’s home and had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, while the assailant fled in a vehicle
A security guard at the mansion of Canadian hip-hop artist Drake has been “seriously injured” in a shooting outside the musician’s Toronto home.
The victim, an adult male, was rushed to a Toronto hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries following the shooting early on Tuesday morning.
Continue reading...Jeremy Skibicki, charged with four counts of first-degree murder, is believed to have left bodies of at least two victims in a landfill
An accused serial killer in Canada, who police believed disposed of his victims by dumping some of them in landfills, has admitted to killing four Indigenous women, with his lawyers arguing a mental disorder meant he was not criminally responsible for the crimes.
Jeremy Skibicki is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and an unidentified woman, who was named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) by Indigenous leaders. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and had been due to stand trial this week.
Continue reading...Prime minister said there were ‘credible allegations’ that India was behind killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Canadian police have charged three members of an alleged hit team for their role in the assassination of the Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the first arrests in a high-profile killing which officials believe was masterminded by India.
The arrests comes nearly a year after the prominent activist was killed in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh gurdwara on the evening of 18 June in the city of Surrey, British Columbia. In what investigators previously described as a carefully orchestrated operation, two assailants fired about 50 bullets at Nijjar and escaped the area in a grey car.
Continue reading...François Legault advocates removal of week-long demonstration at Montreal’s McGill University: ‘The encampment is illegal’
Quebec’s premier has said police should begin dismantling an “illegal” week-long pro-Palestinian encampment at Montreal’s McGill University, as students at Canada’s largest universities ramp up demands that the schools sever relationships with groups linked to Israel.
“The encampment is illegal,” François Legault told reporters. “The law must be respected, so I expect the police to dismantle these illegal campsites, which is what McGill has requested.”
Continue reading...Parliamentary questions dominated by partisan attacks a day after Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre ejected from chamber
Canada’s Liberal and Conservative parties have redoubled their parliamentary clash a day after the Tory leader was ejected from the House of Commons for calling Justin Trudeau a “wacko”.
Under the guise of a debate over British Columbia’s decision to decriminalize some hard drugs, the parliamentary question period on Wednesday was dominated by deeply partisan attacks.
Continue reading...Conservative Pierre Poilievre refuses to withdraw ‘wacko’ remark, prompting censure from speaker and removal from Commons
The leader of Canada’s main opposition party was ejected from the House of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “a wacko”, in the latest clash between two men set to fight an election next year.
The incident started when Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservatives, criticised Trudeau for supporting moves in British Columbia to decriminalize some hard drugs in an attempt to reduce the number of overdose-related deaths.
Continue reading...Vehicle driving wrong way on highway was being pursued by police after alleged liquor store robbery, causing six-vehicle collision
Two grandparents and their infant grandchild have been killed on a highway east of Toronto after a van being chased by police crashed while going the wrong way, causing a six-vehicle collision.
The chase late on Monday was triggered by an alleged liquor store robbery, and the crash also left the suspect in the chased van dead, police in Canada said on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Premier asks government to reintroduce ban, ending Canada’s first large attempt to gauge effects of decriminalization
British Columbia has abruptly reversed course on its landmark experiment decriminalizing the possession of certain illicit drugs, citing mounting public frustration and “disorder” in the Canadian province.
Premier David Eby said on Friday that he had asked the federal government to reintroduce a ban on public drug use, formally ending the country’s first large attempt to gauge the effects of decriminalization.
Continue reading...Two-year-old calf one step closer to reuniting with family group after tragic accident that left her stranded in remote lagoon
An orca calf, trapped for weeks in a remote lagoon in western Canada, has freed herself and is travelling towards open waters, hailed as “incredible news” by a growing body of human supporters.
The move puts her one step closer to reuniting with her family one month after a tragic accident left her stranded.
Continue reading...Politicians decry ‘shameful’ incident on domestic flight in which Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak’s headdress was taken by airline staff
Canada’s largest airline has apologized to a prominent First Nations chief after her ceremonial headdress was removed from the plane’s cabin, wrapped in a plastic bag and moved to the baggage hold.
Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, national chief of the assembly of First Nations, was flying domestically on Wednesday when she said her headdress was taken by airline staff.
Continue reading...Dozens of firearms also seized after 6,600 gold bars worth C$21m and C$2.7m in cash stolen at Pearson international airport
Police investigating a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport have arrested six men and seized dozens of firearms linked to the case which officers said “belongs in a Netflix series”.
Six thousand six hundred gold bars, worth C$21m, and C$2.7m in cash were stolen from a cargo facility at Toronto’s Pearson international airport a year ago in the country’s largest-ever gold heist.
Continue reading...Notorious for drawing large crowds, Emerson was removed by officials who were surprised to find him back in Victoria in a week
Last week, gun-wielding conservation officers stuffed a 500-lb elephant seal in the back of a van, drove him along a winding highway in western Canada and left him on a remote beach “far from human habitation”.
The plan was to move the young seal far from British Columbia’s capital city, where over the last year, he has developed a reputation for ending up in “unusual locations”, including flower beds, city parks and busy roads.
Continue reading...Patrice Runner, 57, of Canada was convicted in June of multiple counts of defrauding ‘millions of older and vulnerable Americans’
A Canadian conman, who swindled more than US$175m (C$241m) from his North American victims through “a massive psychic mass-mailing fraud scheme” has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Patrice Runner, 57, who holds citizenship with both Canada and France, was convicted by a jury in June of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, eight counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was found not guilty on four counts of mail fraud.
Continue reading...Nearly half a million hectares of Crown land on Haida Gwaii will be returned to Indigenous people in first-of-its-kind agreement
For centuries, the Haida people have known that the impenetrable forests and bountiful waters of Xhaaidlagha Gwaayaai – “the islands at the boundary of the world” – were both a life-giving force and their rightful home.
Now, after decades of negotiation, the province of British Columbia has come to the same conclusion: the title over more than 200 islands off Canada’s west coast should rightfully be held by the Haida Nation.
Continue reading...Prime minister testified at inquiry into foreign interference that agency’s report of China meddling wasn’t relayed to him
Canada’s spy agency is under pressure after Justin Trudeau and his closest advisers say they were never made aware of a report that Beijing “clandestinely and deceptively” interfered in both the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.
Canada is in the midst of a contentious public inquiry “examining and assessing” foreign interference by China, Russia, and other foreign states and non-state actors, and this week the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, testified under oath about the steps his government took to respond to the threat of meddling. In his appearance, which lasted nearly four hours, Trudeau insisted that despite the efforts from hostile states, previous federal elections “held in their integrity”.
Continue reading...Worst-ever fire season in 2023 saw 15m hectare burned, eight firefighters killed and 230,000 people evacuated
Canada risks another “catastrophic” wildfire season, the federal government has warned, forecasting higher-than-normal spring and summer temperatures across much of the country, boosted by El Niño weather conditions.
Last year, Canada endured its worst-ever fire season, with more than 6,600 blazes burning 15m hectares (37m acres), an area roughly seven times the annual average. Eight firefighters died and 230,000 people were evacuated from their homes.
Continue reading...Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon speaking loudly and often after party win over Coalition Avenir Québec
Quebec separation is back among the living.
Years after many considered it dead, the prospect of removing Canada’s second-most populous province from the federation has re-entered the political debate. And though Quebecers aren’t exactly marching in the streets in its support as they once did, they are certainly taking another look at the Parti Québécois.
Continue reading...This live blog is now closed. You can read our latest stories on the total eclipse below:
First contact is when the moon’s outer edge first appears to touch the sun, creating the beginnings of a partial eclipse and a crescent sun reducing in size until totality (second contact).
In the moments before totality, look for (in order) shadow bands, Baily’s Beads and a diamond ring, three of the most memorable stages of a total eclipse.
It gives us the opportunity not just to leverage all the great scientific capabilities that we have in the US, using all kinds of equipment, aircraft, kites, balloons, sounding rockets, all flying up into the atmosphere to observe.
But in addition we have trained regular citizens, not professional scientists, to use solar telescopes. And we have an app on your phone. We’re going to have hundreds of thousands of people taking pictures, and by pulling all that data together, we think we’re going to understand the shape of the sun down to within a few kilometers.
When literally day turns to night, animals start to behave differently, we’re seeing changes in the Earth’s atmosphere, it’s a mystical, mysterious experience. And I love the thought that millions of Americans will stand together today, looking up into the sky wearing their glasses. It is amazing.
Continue reading...Almost 32 million people in the path of totality as moon’s shadow crossed the Mexico-Texas border and then traversed 15 states
The ethereal spectacle of a total solar eclipse swept across North America on Monday afternoon, giving tens millions of people in Mexico, the US and Canada the chance to witness a rare and dazzling celestial show.
Almost 32 million people were in the path of totality as the moon’s shadow crossed the Mexico-Texas border at lunchtime and traversed 15 states over the next hour and a half, although many, especially in the south and midwest, were denied a clear view by low clouds and rain.
Continue reading...‘If the United States threatened to suspend aid, maybe my son would be alive today,’ John Flickinger told the US secretary of state
When the US’s top diplomat called with condolences over the killing of John Flickinger’s son in the Israeli airstrikes on a World Central Kitchen aid convoy in Gaza, Flickinger knew what he wanted to say.
The grieving father told Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, that the killings by Israel in the Hamas-run territory must end – and that the United States needs to use its power and leverage over its closest Middle East ally to make that happen.
Continue reading...