Canada's prime minister is facing calls to resign over the biggest political scandal of his administration. It centres on claims by his former attorney general Jody-Wilson Raybould that Trudeau's advisers improperly pressured her to prevent the prosecution of the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin over paying alleged bribes in Libya
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Huawei: Meng Wanzhou sues Canadian government over arrest
Chinese CFO claims she was detained and interrogated before being told she was under arrest
Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Chinese technology company Huawei, is suing the Canadian government, its border agency and the national police force over her high-profile detention. Meng claims they detained, searched and interrogated her before telling her she was under arrest.
Lawyers for Meng said on Sunday they had filed a notice of civil claim in the British Columbia supreme court. Canada arrested Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, at the request of the US on 1 December at Vancouver airport. US prosecutors will accuse her of misleading banks about the company’s business dealings in Iran.
Continue reading...Canada approves Huawei extradition process, sparking ire from China
China has demanded the release of Meng Wanzhou, the company’s chief financial officer, who is in Vancouver under house arrest
Canada has approved extradition proceedings against the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, prompting a furious reaction from China.
Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, was detained in Vancouver last December and is under house arrest. In late January, the US justice department charged Meng and Huawei with conspiring to violate US sanctions on Iran.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau refuses to resign over claims officials interfered in bribery prosecution
- Jody Wilson-Raybould: I was ‘barraged’ by senior officials
- Former justice minister testifies on Canadian bribery scandal
- PM says staff acted properly
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has rejected calls to resign over a scandal that is engulfing his administration, saying he and his staff always acted properly and that Canadians will get to have their say on the matter at the federal election in October.
His comments came after Canada’s former minister of justice and attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould described a consistent, sustained and inappropriate effort by senior officials close to the prime minister who were attempting to dissuade her from prosecuting a Canadian engineering company accused of bribery.
Continue reading...The pioneering ex-minister at the centre of a Canadian scandal
Jody Wilson-Raybould, Canada’s first indigenous attorney general, will testify over claims Trudeau aides pressured her to let a firm escape prosecution
In recent weeks, an archival clip from a 1983 constitutional conference on indigenous rights has circulated widely in Canada. The footage shows the Kwakwaka’wakw lawyer Bill Wilson sitting across from the then prime minister, Pierre Trudeau – the father of the country’s current leader.
Wilson tells Trudeau that both of his daughters want to become lawyers – and even prime minister. The audience – and Trudeau – laugh.
Continue reading...Thousands mourn seven Syrian siblings killed in Canada fire
Refugee children from four months to 15 years old perished in as-yet unexplained blaze at their home in Halifax
Around 2,000 mourners attended the funeral on Saturday of seven children from a Syrian refugee family who died earlier this week in a house fire in Halifax, eastern Canada.
Ahmad Barho and siblings Rola, Mohammed, Ola, Hala, Rana and Abdullah – whose ages ranged from four months to 15 years – all perished in the as-yet unexplained blaze at their home on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Australian woman dies while snowboarding in Canada
The 42-year-old entered closed zone at Whistler Blackcomb resort, reportedly causing an avalanche
An Australian woman has died while snowboarding at the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort in Canada.
The 42-year-old, from New South Wales, died after entering a permanently closed zone on Thursday in the area above Lakeside Bowl on Blackcomb Mountain, which is said to have triggered an avalanche.
Continue reading...Canada: Jagmeet Singh faces existential byelection on road to challenge Trudeau
First non-white leader of a major political party needs to win a seat in parliament before he can run for PM
The leader of Canada’s left-of-centre New Democratic party is facing a key byelection on Monday which will decide whether or not he is able to challenge Justin Trudeau in October.
Jagmeet Singh, the first non-white leader of a major political party in the country’s history, must win the byelection in Burnaby, a city east of Vancouver, in order to get a seat in parliament and be in position to go up against the PM in this year’s general election.
Continue reading...Canada’s Saputo to buy Dairy Crest in near-£1bn deal
British maker of Cathedral City cheddar employs more than 1,100 people in seven locations
The British owners of Cathedral City cheddar and Clover margarine have agreed a near-£1bn takeover from the Canadian dairy company Saputo.
On Friday Dairy Crest recommended shareholders accept an offer from Saputo that values the FTSE 250 company at £975m.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau’s top adviser resigns as ‘political meddling’ scandal widens
Exit by Gerald Butts comes days after veterans affairs minister resigned from Cabinet
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top adviser has resigned while denying allegations that he pressured Canada’s former attorney general to avoid prosecuting a major Canadian engineering company.
Principal secretary Gerald Butts has been Trudeau’s closest adviser and best friend since university, and his resignation over the widening scandal was a significant blow to the prime minister, who is facing an election this year.
Continue reading...Huawei founder: US cannot crush technology firm
Ren Zhengfei hits back at criminal indictments he calls politically motivated
The US cannot crush Huawei, the company’s founder has insisted, as he hit back against criminal indictments levelled at the firm and allegations that it poses a security threat.
Washington has warned allies off using Huawei products in recent weeks. But Ren Zhengfei, whose daughter Meng Wanzhou – a fellow senior Huawei executive – is among those charged by US prosecutors, told the BBC on Monday that the firm would survive the pressure.
Continue reading...Canada police rebuke public for complaining about late-night alert on murdered girl
An emergency mobile phone alert about an abducted child resulted in a barrage of angry calls to police
Police in Canada have issued a rare rebuke to the public after a late-night emergency mobile phone alert about an abducted child prompted widespread complaints.
At 11.36pm on Thursday night, police in Ontario issued an amber alert for Riya Rajkumar, 11, after police feared the girl’s father had kidnapped her.
Continue reading...New drug raises hopes of reversing memory loss in old age
Toronto researchers believe the drug can also help those with depression, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s
An experimental drug that bolsters ailing brain cells has raised hopes of a treatment for memory loss, poor decision making and other mental impairments that often strike in old age.
The drug could be taken as a daily pill by over-55s if clinical trials, which are expected to start within two years, show that the medicine is safe and effective at preventing memory lapses.
Continue reading...‘If it gets me, it gets me’: the town where residents live alongside polar bears
Residents of Churchill, Canada share their streets with the largest land carnivore in the world as their isolated town’s identity faces a reckoning: a revitalized port
Spend enough time in Churchill, and you will hear the stories.
Of hearing a noise outside, pulling open the drapes and seeing a polar bear looking in through the window.
Continue reading...‘Pain has no borders’: loved ones recall victims of Toronto serial killer
The eight men murdered by Bruce McArthur – many of south Asian or Middle Eastern heritage – all had lives, hopes and dreams
When Greg Dunn addressed a packed Toronto courtroom this week, his voice drew taut as he spoke of his close friend Andrew Kinsman, who was murdered by the serial killer Bruce McArthur.
“Fractures never heal as well as a break and they tend to bother you for the rest of your life,” Dunn said. “My life has been truly fractured. My heart, soul and spirit have been fractured. They may heal in time, but it will never be the same.”
Continue reading...European nations set to recognise Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s leader
UK among countries set to back Guaidó as interim president unless Nicolas Maduro calls election
The UK, France, Germany and other European countries are expected to recognise Juan Guaidó as interim president of Venezuela on Monday if the current president, Nicolás Maduro, has not set a date for fresh elections by then.
EU leaders, including the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, started expressing their support for Guaidó before the midnight deadline Sunday night.
Continue reading...‘Divide and conquer’: China puts the pressure on US allies
Criticism of Canada’s case against Meng Wanzhou seen as part of attempt to isolate US
As tensions between China and the US mount over trade and the extradition of a senior Huawei executive, Beijing has reserved its most colourful language for America’s allies.
On Tuesday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs called on Canada to “stop pulling chestnuts out of the fire for the US” after the unsealing of a 13-count indictment against the Huawei chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was arrested in Canada in December. An editorial in the state-run Global Times put it more bluntly: “You cannot live the life of a whore and expect a monument to your chastity … If Canada insists on wrong practice, it must pay for it.”
Continue reading...Grieving Humboldt Broncos families face wait for sentencing
Driver of semi-trailer truck that struck coach of young hockey players will be sentenced at the end of March
The victims and grieving relatives of a Canadian truck crash, in which 16 people died, will have to wait until March to learn the driver’s sentence.
Following an emotionally charged week of victim impact statements, the judge overseeing the case has asked for nearly two months to consider how to sentence the driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu. On 6 April last year, his semi-trailer truck collided with the bus of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team after he failed to stop at an intersection in central Saskatchewan.
Continue reading...Canada cuts staff in Cuba embassy after mystery illness strikes again
Latest case comes after dozens of American embassy workers in Havana were affected, some suffering mild brain injury
Canada has announced it is removing up to half of the Canadians at its embassy in Cuba after another diplomat was found to have fallen mysteriously ill.
Canada has confirmed 14 cases of mysterious health problems since early 2017. Twenty-six American embassy workers in Cuba have also been affected, suffering a range of symptoms and diagnoses including mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussion.
Continue reading...Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou appears in court on eve of US China trade talks
Extradition case in Canada drags on as Donald Trump prepares to meet Beijing’s top trade envoy in Washington
The chief financial officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, has made her first appearance in a Canadian court in more than a month, part of a high-stakes dispute that threatens to cast a pall over this week’s US-China trade talks.
Meng, the daughter of the Chinese telecoms company’s founder, attended the hearing in British Columbia supreme court on Tuesday, just two days before Donald Trump and Chinese vice premier Liu He are scheduled to meet in Washington.
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