Category Archives: Canada

Canada police under scrutiny after two women die after encounters with officers

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Agency faces criticism over its capacity to de-escalate situations involving racial minorities or those with mental health issues

Police in Canada are facing growing scrutiny after two women – both members of ethnic minorities and both suffering mental health problems – died following encounters with officers. 

The deaths come as tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the US in protest over police violence against racial minorities, prompted by the police killing of George Floyd.

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Many of the 300 plants and animals endemic to Canada at risk, report finds

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Ours to Save identified 308 species and subspecies but only 10% considered ‘globally secure’ or ‘apparently secure’

There are few animals more iconically Canadian than the moose and the beaver, and few plants more closely associated with the country than the maple leaf.

But while those species have long considered part of the nation’s ecological identity they are also found elsewhere.

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Justin Trudeau lost for words over Trump handling of George Floyd protests

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Canadian prime minister pauses for 20 seconds before saying: ‘We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States’

Justin Trudeau, when asked about US president Donald Trump threatening to use the military to quell protests over the police killing of George Floyd, paused for more than 20 seconds before responding that Canadians were observing events in the US with horror.

“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” the Canadian prime minister said on Tuesday at a daily news briefing, after a reporter pressed him on Trump’s idea of using soldiers against protesters.

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Trudeau speechless at Trump’s reaction to Floyd protests – video

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The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was silent for 21 seconds in reaction to a question on Donald Trump's handling of protests across the US over the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer.

Trudeau said Canada also had to face up to 'systemic discrimination' and become allies against it

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Trudeau: Canadians watching US unrest and police violence in ‘shock and horror’

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Prime minister condemned racism and called on Canada to ‘stand together in solidarity’ against racial hate as protests continue in US

Canadians are watching unrest and police violence in the United States in “shock and horror”, Justin Trudeau said on Friday – but the prime minister cautioned that his country also has entrenched problems with racism. 

The city of Minneapolis has been rocked by a third night of violent protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, after a white police officer knelt on his neck as he lay on the ground following arrest. 

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Fears rise of ‘murder hornet’ spreading in western Canada after sighting

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Latest discovery suggests the species has reached far deeper into British Columbia than previously thought

When officials in western Canada received the squashed remains of a hornet in late May, they immediately knew trouble was in their hands. 

With its hulking orange and black body, the insect sent in by a concerned resident was unmistakably an Asian giant hornet – an aggressive predator increasingly known as the “murder” hornet.

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Canada court ruling allows US extradition case of Huawei executive to proceed

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Decision says Meng Wanzhou’s alleged actions in the US would be considered a crime in Canada, a key condition for extradition

A Canadian judge has dealt a major blow to a senior Huawei executive’s attempts to evade extradition to the United States, ruling that the high-profile case against Meng Wanzhou can proceed.

The British Columbia supreme court justice Heather Holmes ruled on Wednesday that the alleged actions of Meng would be considered a crime in Canada – a key condition for extradition to proceed.

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Rare white grizzly bear spotted in Canada’s Rocky Mountains – video

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A rare white grizzly bear has been spotted in Canada's Rocky Mountains. According to experts, the colouring is the result of a recessive gene in the cub – not albinism.  Local wildlife officials have known about the white grizzly since 2017, but Cara Clarkson’s mobile phone video of the bear, which went viral, marks the first time the public has caught a glimpse of the predator

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Trudeau says China fails to understand judiciary system as Canadians detained

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Prime minister condemns Beijing for linking its 2018 detention of two Canadians with arrest of Huawei executive

Beijing’s linking of its detention of two Canadians in China to the arrest of a Chinese executive in Vancouver shows it does not understand the meaning of an independent judiciary, Justin Trudeau said on Thursday.

China detained the former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor in December 2018, nine days after the arrest on a US warrant of the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver.

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Covid-19 track and trace: what can UK learn from countries that got it right?

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Pledge of ‘world-beating’ system will have to look to likes of South Korea and Germany

Boris Johnson’s insistence that the UK will be able to roll out a “world-beating” coronavirus test, track and trace regime by 1 June has inevitably drawn comparisons with countries around the world that have already set up effective Covid-19 tracing programmes.

It has also raised questions about timing, as some experts insist a system would have been more useful at the beginning of the pandemic.

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Canada police say machete killing was ‘incel’ terror attack

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Authorities say they have evidence tying Toronto attack in which a woman was murdered and two others injured to ‘incel’ movement

Police in Canada are treating a machete attack in which a woman was murdered and two others injured as an act of terrorism, after discovering evidence suggesting that it was motivated by violent misogyny.

The move is thought to be the first time that terrorism charges have been brought in a case connected to the so-called “incel” ideology.

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Snowbirds crew member killed after jet crashes into houses in Canada

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Military aerobatics display over Kamloops was intended to boost public morale during coronavirus pandemic

A Canadian aerobatics jet has crashed into a British Columbia neighbourhood during a flyover intended to boost morale during the Covid-19 pandemic, killing one crew member, seriously injuring another and setting a house on fire.

Video appeared to show the crew of the Snowbirds’ plane ejecting during the crash on Sunday.

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FBI offers $1m reward for captors of Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle

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  • US-Canadian couple were kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2012
  • After release Boyle was cleared of abusing Caitlan in Canada

The FBI has offered a $1m reward for the arrest and prosecution for those responsible for the kidnapping of US citizen Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle, eight years ago in Afghanistan.

The offer of a reward for their captors is the latest twist in the protracted saga of Coleman and Boyle, who were the subject of intense media scrutiny following their dramatic rescue in 2017 – and a subsequent trial over allegations of abuse by Boyle.

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Canada’s Calgary zoo to return two giant pandas after bamboo supply disruption

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Scarcity of flights due to coronavirus pandemic has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them

The Calgary zoo will be returning two giant pandas on loan from China because a scarcity of flights due to Covid-19 has caused problems with getting enough bamboo to feed them.

Er Shun and Da Mao arrived in Calgary in 2018 after spending five years at the Toronto zoo and were to remain in the Alberta city until 2023.

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Nova Scotia shooting: ex-neighbours say they warned police about gunman

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  • RCMP were told of shooter’s violence and illegal weapons
  • Former neighbour: ‘That man scare the crap out of me’

Former neighbours of the gunman who killed 22 people in Canada’s worst shooting have said they warned police he was violent and had a collection of illegal firearms – but that little action was taken by authorities.

Nearly one month ago, Gabriel Wortman went on a shooting spree in rural Nova Scotia – the deadliest in the country’s history – before he was shot dead by police.

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Bryan Adams apologises after ‘bat eating’ coronavirus rant

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Singer had ranted at ‘wet market animal selling, virus making’ people in China in Instagram post

The Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams has apologised after an outburst on Instagram where he attacked “bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy bastards” in China for the source of the coronavirus outbreak.

The 60-year-old shared an expletive-filled post on Instagram, lamenting how his planned performances in London had been postponed due to the health crisis.

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Bryan Adams attacks China as ‘bat eating, virus making’ source of coronavirus

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Canadian pop-rocker conflates various unproven theories about source of disease in expletive-filled rant on Instagram

Bryan Adams has made an expletive-filled attack on Chinese people over coronavirus, in the week he was due to start a concert residency at the Royal Albert Hall, London, that was cancelled due to the outbreak.

Introducing an acoustic performance of the song Cuts Like a Knife on his Instagram page, the Canadian singer wrote:

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Nova Scotia shooting: police launch ‘psychological autopsy’ of gunman for clues

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Technique involving in-depth interviews with friends, family and colleagues to understand what led gunman to kill 22 people

Police investigating last month’s mass shooting in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia have launched a psychological analysis of the deceased gunman, in the hope of better understanding what led him to kill 22 people over a 12-hour period.

The Royal Canadian Mounted police said on Monday that they were carrying out a “psychological autopsy” on Gabriel Wortman, who carried out the worst shooting in the country’s history.

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Emma Donoghue: the lockdown lessons she learned from writing Room

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The author’s bestselling novel of confinement has gained new resonance during coronavirus

As the author of Room, a story about a mother and child held captive for years in a garden shed, Emma Donoghue mapped the mental toll of extreme confinement long before coronavirus lockdowns.

Her character Ma endured boredom, frustration, anguish and worse – yet somehow created a rich, nurturing environment for her son.

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Canada: DNA discovery lends weight to First Nations ancestral story

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The last of Newfoundland’s Beothuk was thought to have died in 1829 but new research indicates the bloodline did not die out – as Mi’kmaq tradition has always maintained

When a woman named Shanawdithit succumbed to tuberculosis in Newfoundland nearly 200 years ago, it was widely believed that her death marked a tragic end to her people’s existence.

For centuries, the Beothuk had thrived along the rocky shores of the island, taking on a near-mythical status as descendants of the first people encountered by Norse explorers in what is now Canada. But their population was devastated by decades of starvation and diseases, and when she died in 1829, Shanawdithit was believed to be the last of her line.

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