Category Archives: Canada

Case to extradite Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou to US resumes

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Telecoms group to claim abuse of process, saying US government has provided partial evidence

The legal battle between Washington and Huawei resumes this week when a Canada-based senior executive at the Chinese state-backed telecommunications firm reappears in a Vancouver court on Monday claiming the effort to extradite her to the US should be thrown out.

Huawei will claim an abuse of process, arguing the US government has provided Canadian authorities with partial and misleading evidence in an effort to show finance officer Meng Wanzhou tried to circumvent US sanctions on Iran 10 years ago.

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Canada arrests man for lying about joining Islamic State under terrorism hoax law

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Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, gained notoriety from the podcast, Caliphate, but his account of grisly murders for Isis have been questioned

Police in Canada have arrested a man for lying about his participation with the Islamic State, while charging another for joining the terror group in Syria.

Police announced on Friday charges against Shehroze Chaudhry, 25, who operated under the name Abu Huzayfah al-Kanadi. He was charged under the country’s terrorism hoax laws, which carry a maximum sentence of five years.

In 2016 Chaudhry had claimed to have travelled to Syria to join Islamic State, alleging he was a member of the terror group’s religious police. On social media, he claimed to have conducted at least two executions on the group’s behalf.

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Trudeau pledges tax on ‘extreme wealth inequality’ to fund Covid spending plan

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PM says government will invest billions in housing, health and jobs, but dismissals from rival parties prompt election speculation

Justin Trudeau’s government has announced ambitious plans to spend billions on childcare, housing and healthcare – partly financed by taxing “extreme wealth inequality” – as Canada braces for an economically devastating second wave of coronavirus.

Related: 'It's like night and day': Trudeau's and Trump's Covid-19 responses fuel wildly different outcomes

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Woman suspected of sending ricin to White House is arrested at Canada border

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Woman is also suspected of sending five similar poisoned envelopes to law enforcement agencies in Texas

A woman suspected of sending an envelope containing the poison ricin to the White House, has been arrested at the New York-Canada border and is also suspected of sending five similar poisoned envelopes to law enforcement agencies in Texas.

The letter was intercepted earlier this week before it reached the White House.

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John Turner, former Canadian prime minister and friend of Princess Margaret, dies at 91

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The dashing lawyer, who lost the top job after just 79 days in 1988, caused a stir when he danced with the British royal

John Turner, a Liberal party politician who served stints as Canada’s justice and finance ministers before a very brief turn as prime minister, has died at age 91.

Marc Kealey, a former aide speaking on behalf of the family, said Turner died peacefully in his sleep at home in Toronto on Friday night.

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Canada unveils ‘swirl, gargle and spit’ Covid test for school-aged children

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Test, which is only offered to children in British Columbia, involves gargling saline solution and spitting it into a tube

Authorities in Canada have unveiled a new non-invasive coronavirus test that avoids the need for intrusive nasal swabs, in a development which they hope will making testing easier and more accessible for students as they return to schools.

The new testing method, unveiled Thursday, is a significant departure from the standard – and often painful – nasopharyngeal swab, which remains the most common method of detecting Covid-19.

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Ontario announces new restrictions and steep fines amid Covid-19 surge

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Premier Doug Ford to limit size of indoor gatherings to 10, down from 50, saying ‘crisis is far from over’

Canada’s most populous province has announced new restrictions and steep fines amid a surge of Covid-19 infections that has prompted concerns the country is losing control of the virus.

Ontario premier Doug Ford on Thursday announced plans to limit the size of gatherings, reversing course on previous steps to reopen the province’s economy. The new rules reduce the size of indoor gatherings to 10, down from 50, and outdoor gatherings to 25, down from 100.

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Tesla driver found asleep at wheel of self-driving car doing 150km/h

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  • Man charged after car discovered speeding on Alberta highway
  • Police say ‘both front seats [were] completely reclined’

Police in Canada have charged a man with speeding and dangerous driving after he was found asleep at the wheel of his self-driving car as it travelled at 150km/h down a highway in the province of Alberta.

Related: Elon Musk becomes world's fourth richest man on Tesla boom

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British Columbia pioneers programme to offer safer alternatives to street drugs

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The Canadian province, facing an epidemic of overdoses, is expanding ‘safer supply’ guidelines to let nurses prescribe opioids

In a North American first, Canada’s westernmost province has announced plans to provide more legal alternatives to street drugs like fentanyl for people at risk of an overdose, and will allow nurses to start prescribing them.

The new policies, announced on Wednesday, are aimed at providing greater access to pharmaceutical drugs like hydromorphone amid the worst spate of overdoses British Columbia has ever seen.

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How about Jeffrey? Canada town of Asbestos reveals shortlist for new name

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Contenders to help the mostly French-speaking town in Quebec move on from its past include Phénix, Trois-Lacs and ... Jeffrey

A town in Quebec named after the deadly substance that was for years mined there – asbestos – has narrowed down to four a list of new names as it prepares to adopt a new identity.

The Canadian town’s four finalists, chosen from a list of 1,000 suggestions, include Phénix for the mythical bird reborn from fire (though asbestos exposure is often a concern after major fires). Another option is Apalone, after a species of turtle, or Trois-Lacs (three lakes), after a neighbourhood in the town. The final contender is simply “Jeffrey”, the name of what was until recently the town’s largest asbestos mine, the establishment of which was funded in 1880 by a W H Jeffrey, according to a local history website. Residents aged 14 or over are allowed to vote.

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Groundhogs to blame for scattered bones in Canada’s biggest cemetery

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  • Pieces of casket and human bones discovered amid grass
  • Groundhogs thriving at Notre Dame des Neiges in Montreal

The sprawling grounds of Canada’s largest cemetery have long offered visitors a respite from the bustle of downtown Montreal.

But in recent weeks, those in search of a peaceful walk have instead made a series of grisly discoveries among the graves of Notre Dame des Neiges: splintered pieces of caskets and human bones scattered throughout the grass.

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Toronto’s strip clubs face calls to close after second Covid outbreak in a month

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Seven cases linked to Club Paradise, which had been attended by hundreds of patrons in recent weeks

Officials in Canada’s largest city are calling for strip clubs to be shut down after a second Covid-19 outbreak linked to such an establishment in less than a month.

Over the weekend, Toronto’s public health unit identified seven cases linked to Club Paradise, a venue which had been attended by hundreds of patrons in recent weeks.

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MSF ran ‘white saviour’ TV ad despite staff warnings over racism

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Decision to show then withdraw video sparked crisis at MSF Canada, says review

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) broadcast a $400,000 (£307,000) TV fundraising campaign in Canada despite warnings from staff that it was exploitative, reinforced racist “white saviour” stereotypes and breached the medical charity’s ethical guidelines, the Guardian has learned.

A damning review of the decision to run and later withdraw the advert, which featured the REM track Everybody Hurts played over images of crying black children being treated by MSF medics, concluded it exposed a lack of trust in leadership and triggered an “organisational crisis” at MSF Canada.

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We Charity closes Canada operations after scandal linked to Trudeau family

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Brothers who founded influential organisation will also stand down, blaming Covid and damage to its brand

The charity at the centre of a political firestorm in Canada has announced it will shutter its operations in the country, the latest in a scandal that has placed prime Justin Trudeau at the centre of a parliamentary and ethics investigation.

Citing sustained damage to its brand, as well as the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger announced plans to scale down the operations of the WE Charity in Canada. The brothers, who co-founded the charity, also announced they would leave the organization.

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Canada: shooting in family home near Toronto leaves five dead

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  • Dead include four males and one female, with two under 18
  • Woman, 50, injured in incident in early hours of Friday

Five people have been found dead and another with serious injuries following an early morning shooting in a home east of Toronto on Friday.

A police spokesman said that neighbours reported the sound of gunshots from a home in Oshawa, Ontario, at around 1.20am.

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‘So much sadness’: more British Columbians dying from overdoses than Covid

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Morgan Goodridge was one of 900 British Columbians to die of an overdose this year, more than four times the number killed by coronavirus

Kathleen Radu thought her son was getting better.

After three stints in private drug treatment programs, Morgan Goodridge was stable again. His prescription drug-replacement treatments seemed to be working. He had just bought his first car, and hadn’t used street drugs in five months.

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Canada: father of woman killed by bear was on phone with her during attack

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Stephanie Blais had called her father due to problems with water supply at remote Saskatchewan cabin

The father of a Canadian woman who was killed by black bear has said that he was on the phone with her at the time of the attack.

Stephanie Blais, 44, was with her husband, Curtis, and two young children at the family’s remote cabin in the province of Saskatchewan. But problems with the water supply prompted her to call her father on a satellite phone.

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Trudeau accused of attempting to cover up scandal by proroguing parliament

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Move to ‘reset’ government due to coronavirus comes amid committee investigations into WE charity affair

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, is facing accusations that his decision to prorogue parliament is little more than an attempt to cover up an ethics scandal – and walk away from his duties during a pivotal moment in the pandemic.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trudeau asked Julie Payette, governor general, to prematurely end the current parliamentary session. He vowed to resume on 23 September with a speech from the throne, followed by a confidence vote.

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Canada finance minister resigns amid charity scandal and reports of tensions with Trudeau

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Opposition parties have called for Bill Morneau’s resignation over allegations he had a conflict of interest

Canada’s finance minister has announced his resignation amid reports of differences with prime minister Justin Trudeau over spending to protect the economy during the coronavirus pandemic and allegations of conflict of interest.

Bill Morneau said he is leaving politics and has put his name forward as a candidate to lead the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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Toronto: strip club employee may have exposed about 550 people to Covid-19

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Potential exposure took place just days after the Brass Rail Tavern, one of the city’s best-known strip clubs, was allowed to re-open

Health officials in the Canadian city of Toronto have warned that as many as 550 people may have been exposed to the coronavirus at a downtown strip club after an employee tested positive for the virus.

The potential exposure took place just days after the Brass Rail Tavern, one of the city’s best-known strip clubs, was allowed to re-open. The employee worked four shifts in early August, the city said in a statement, without detailing the capacity in which the employee worked.

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