Category Archives: Canada

Ottawa: two-month-old among four children and two adults killed in attack

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Man, 19, charged with six counts of first-degree murder as police condemn ‘senseless act of violence’ in Barrhaven neighbourhood

Police in Canada say two adults and four young children, the youngest of whom was less than three months old, are dead in a mass killing in what Ottawa’s mayor described as “one of the most shocking incidents of violence” in the city’s history.

A 19-year-old male is in custody and has been charged with with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

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Canada reaches settlement with Michael Spavor over detention in China

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Spavor was one of two Canadians detained in China in 2018 amid a broader diplomatic feud between the two countries

Canada’s federal government has reached a million-dollar compensation settlement with Michael Spavor, a businessman who was held by China for nearly three years amid a broader diplomatic feud between the two countries.

Spavor and Michael Kovrig, who became known as “the two Michaels”, were detained by Beijing in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for the arrest in Vancouver of the senior Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on a US warrant. All three were later released.

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Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for arms ban on Israel

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Letter aims to bring public anger over 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into heart of parliaments

More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.

The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.

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Brian Mulroney, former Canadian PM, dies aged 84

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Mulroney, a Progressive Conservative PM, ‘never stopped working for Canadians,’ Justin Trudeau says after his death

Brian Mulroney, the former Canadian prime minister who struck a landmark free trade deal with the US and signed breakthrough environmental accords, but whose legacy was marred by revelations of improper business dealings with an arms dealer, has died at the age of 84.

His daughter announced the death in a social media post.

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Canada lawyer under fire for submitting fake cases created by AI chatbot

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Chong Ke, from Vancouver, under investigation after allegedly using ChatGPT to cite case law – but those cases did not exist

A lawyer in Canada is under fire after the artificial intelligence chatbot use she used for legal research created “fictitious” cases, in the latest episode to expose the perils of using untested technologies in the courtroom.

The Vancouver lawyer Chong Ke, who now faces an investigation into her conduct, allegedly used ChatGPT to develop legal submissions during a child custody case at the British Columbia supreme court.

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Scientist fed classified information to China, says Canada intelligence report

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Report says Xiangguo Qiu secretly worked with Wuhan Institute for Virology and posed a ‘threat to Canada’s economic security’

A leading research scientist at Canada’s highest-security laboratory provided confidential scientific information to Chinese institutions, met secretly with officials and posed “a realistic and credible threat to Canada’s economic security” according to newly released intelligence reports.

The dismissal of Xiangguo Qiu and her husband, Keding Cheng, has been shrouded in mystery ever since the couple were escorted from Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory in 2019 and formally fired two years later.

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Alberta to ban renewables on ‘prime’ land and preserve ‘pristine viewscapes’

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Decision by premier Danielle Smith further pits Canadian province against environmental groups pushing green energy

Alberta will block renewable energy projects on “prime” agricultural land and limit the placement of wind turbines to preserve “pristine viewscapes”, a decision that increasingly pits the western Canadian province against environmental groups pushing green energy – and the companies investing in it.

The decision, announced by the premier, Danielle Smith, and utilities minister, Nathan Neudorf, on Wednesday, follows a controversial six-month ban on new renewable energy projects that is due to expire on 29 February.

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Priest accused of abusing Inuit children in Canada will not be dismissed by church

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Senior church officials in Rome decline to act, citing worsening health of French clergyman known as ‘devil priest’

A French clergyman dubbed the “devil priest” who stands accused of sexually abusing Inuit children in Canada’s north will not be dismissed from his congregation after senior church officials in Rome declined to act, citing the nonagenarian’s declining health.

Johannes Rivoire, a priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, worked in several Canadian Arctic communities in the 1960s and 70s before returning to France in 1993.

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Ultra-rare Wayne Gretzky rookie cards expected to be part of $3.72m Canadian auction

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The pristine unopened case of Oh-Pee-Chee brand NHL cards could contain as many as 27 much-coveted rookie cards of ‘the Great One’

Among avid collectors of sports trading cards, rumours of a “holy grail” – a trove of cards so rare that they shouldn’t exist – have long swirled, but never materialized.

“It thought if we were ever going to find it … it would be buried deep up in Canada and the owners wouldn’t even know they had it,” said the expert Steve Hart.

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Indigenous people sue over alleged Canadian secret medical experiment

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First Nation members say in lawsuit that radiologists subjected them to a secret study without their knowledge or consent

Members of a First Nation in Canada have launched a lawsuit alleging they were subjected to a secret medical experiment without their consent that left them feeling “violated and humiliated”.

The class-action lawsuit, which was certified by the Nova Scotia supreme court in early February, revives the painful history of Canada conducting medical experiments on Indigenous peoples and the persistent discrimination they continue to face within the country’s healthcare system.

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Canada’s assisted dying laws in spotlight as expansion paused again

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Canada has one of the highest rates of euthanasia in the world, with 4.1% of deaths aided by doctors, but moves to make it more accessible are being questioned

When Canada’s justice minister announced plans to legalise medically assisted dying nearly a decade ago, she acknowledged the proposed law might prove divisive. “For some, medical assistance in dying will be troubling,” Jody Wilson-Raybould told reporters in 2016. “For others, this legislation will not go far enough.”

A fresh delay in expanding the scope of who can access a medically assisted death has once again put a spotlight on the system, which critics and advocates agree is one of the most liberal in the world. But the two groups remain sharply divided on what that means for improving the quality of life – and death – in the country.

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Canadian university vending machine error reveals use of facial recognition

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University of Waterloo dispenser displays facial recognition message despite no prior indication it was monitoring students

A malfunctioning vending machine at a Canadian university has inadvertently revealed that a number of them have been using facial recognition technology in secret.

Earlier this month, a snack dispenser at the University of Waterloo showed an error message – Invenda.Vending.FacialRecognition.App.exe – on the screen.

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Air Canada ordered to pay customer who was misled by airline’s chatbot

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Company claimed its chatbot ‘was responsible for its own actions’ when giving wrong information about bereavement fare

Canada’s largest airline has been ordered to pay compensation after its chatbot gave a customer inaccurate information, misleading him into buying a full-price ticket.

Air Canada came under further criticism for later attempting to distance itself from the error by claiming that the bot was “responsible for its own actions”.

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British Columbia bids to stop spread of fatal ‘zombie deer disease’

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Chronic wasting disease, which affects deer and other cervids, confirmed in Canada but experts divided over risk to humans

The Canadian province of British Columbia has released a strategy to combat the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) as the virus continues to move across North America.

Officials in the westernmost province this week ordered the testing of any road-killed deer, moose, elk and caribou after two cases were confirmed at the end of January. Both cases – in a mule deer and a white-tailed deer – were found in the Kootenay district. The province also placed restrictions on the movement and disposal of deer in the area.

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Canadian federal police officer charged with passing information to a ‘foreign entity’

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Eli Ndatuje of Royal Canadian Mounted Police was charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan government

A member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been arrested and charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan government.

The federal police force said on Tuesday that its integrated national security enforcement team (Inset) had arrested Constable Eli Ndatuje, who was stationed in Alberta.

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Polar bears risk starvation as they face longer ice-free periods in the Arctic

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Bears use ice to access food, but study of animals in Canada shows them struggling to adapt to more time on land amid climate crisis

Polar bears in Canada’s Hudson Bay risk starvation as the climate crisis lengthens periods without Arctic Sea ice, despite the creatures’ willingness to expand their diets.

Polar bears use the ice that stretches across the ocean surface in the Arctic during colder months to help them access their main source of prey – fatty ringed and bearded seals.

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Canada: second Sikh activist’s house hit by gunfire this month

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Bullet hole found in Inderjit Singh Gosal’s house, reigniting fears of apparent campaign of violence targeting Sikh separatists

The house of a Sikh activist in Canada has been hit by gunfire, in the second such incident this month, reigniting fears of an apparent transnational campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists.

A construction crew found a bullet hole in a window of an unfinished house in the city of Brampton, Ontario, on Monday, according to the the US-based group Sikhs for Justice.

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Canadian teacher accused of selling students’ art on personal website

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Parents in disbelief after students at Montreal’s Westwood junior high found their art for purchase on mugs, phone cases and clothes

A Canadian teacher is under fire for allegedly using his personal website to sell nearly 100 pieces of art created by students, prompting disbelief and anger from parents.

Students at Montreal’s Westwood junior high school made the chance discovery last night after searching out their art teacher’s website. On it they found their own art, available for purchase on coffee mugs, mobile phone cases and clothing.

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Weather tracker: ‘Pineapple express’ atmospheric river deluges California

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Weather system brings heavy rainfall, strong winds and mudslides. Elsewhere, Nova Scotia declares state of emergency

During the first week of February two storms hit California in quick succession, both featuring intense precipitation thanks to the “pineapple express” atmospheric river.

Atmospheric rivers are long narrow channels of very moist air that flow through the atmosphere, transporting impressive amounts of water vapour that eventually fall as heavy rain or snow. The pineapple express is a famous recurring atmospheric river that forms near the Hawaiian Islands and flows northe-east to the Pacific coast of North America.

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Minister ‘pissed off’ as Canadians’ family members blocked from leaving Gaza

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Immigration minister Marc Miller frustrated by impasse over list of about 1,000 people trapped in Palestinian territory

Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, has said he is “pissed off” that extended family members of Canadians are being blocked from leaving war-torn Gaza.

Ottawa last month provided a list of about 1,000 people approved to come to Canada to Israeli and Egyptian authorities, who jointly control the only border crossing out of the Palestinian territory, at Rafah.

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