Category Archives: Canada

Trump’s remarks could stymie US extradition of Huawei CFO from Canada

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Canada’s ambassador to China said Meng Wanzhou had ‘good arguments on her side’, in part because of Trump’s remarks

US efforts to extradite a Chinese telecoms executive from Canada may have been stymied by remarks on the case made by Donald trump, according to Canada’s top diplomat in Beijing.

Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was detained at the request of the US on 1 December in Vancouver, over alleged violations of US sanctions on Iran. She is currently under house arrest and the US justice department has until 30 January to file a formal extradition request.

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Former China envoys call on Xi Jinping to release two detained Canadians

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Open letter says the arrests mean diplomats are more cautious about work in China

More than 140 former diplomats and leading China experts have called on Xi Jinping to release two Canadian citizens detained last month as a diplomatic stand-off between Ottawa and Beijing escalates.

In an open letter Chinese president, former envoys to China from Canada, the UK, the US, Australia, Germany, Sweden and Mexico described how the arrests of Michael Kovrig, a Canadian diplomat on leave, and Michael Spavor, a businessman, have sent a chill through the diplomatic community.

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Vintage ski posters – in pictures

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A collection of vintage ski and winter sports posters up to a century old – some worth thousands of dollars – is about to be auctioned in New York. The resorts advertised range from Europe’s Alpine jewels to the mountains of Canada, and all offer fun in the outdoors

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‘An egregious offence’: Canada battles Norway for tallest moose statue

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After Norway’s Storelgen stole Mac the Moose’s place as world’s tallest, a Canadian city hopes to ‘stick it to Oslo’ by increasing their statue’s size

For three decades, the Canadian city of Moose Jaw took pride in its status as the home of the world’s largest moose statue.

Standing at a majestic 10 meters tall, Mac the Moose has weathered brutal winters, graffiti and even the inglorious loss of his jaw. His recognition was so great that in 2013, he was named the city’s most popular celebrity.

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France in shock at gang-rape trial of police from famous BRI unit

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Court hears how Canadian woman was allegedly raped by terrorism officers at 36 Quai des Orfèves

Emily Spanton grew up with police officers – her father had been a high-ranking officer in the Toronto force – so when two French officers she met while drinking in a Paris bar invited her to see their famous headquarters, she agreed.

Spanton was, she says, drunk and shaky on her feet. “I knew I wasn’t in a state to find my hotel. And I thought that going to a police station would sober me up as there would be plenty of lights and people,” the Canadian said.

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China expresses ‘strong dissatisfaction’ with Trudeau as countries spar

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Prime minister should ‘respect the rule of law’, a spokeswoman said after Trudeau criticised a Canadian man’s death sentence

China has expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with Justin Trudeau after he criticised the death sentence passed on a Canadian man convicted of drug trafficking, as the two countries continued to spar over detained citizens.

The Canadian prime minister should “respect the rule of law, respect China’s judicial sovereignty, correct mistakes and stop making irresponsible remarks”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday.

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Saudi woman who fled family pledges to fight for women escaping persecution

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Rahaf Mohammed said she will work in support of ‘the same freedom’ she experienced after arriving in Canada

Rahaf Mohammed, the Saudi teen who shot into the headlines after barricading herself into a Thai hotel room, has pledged to fight for women fleeing persecution after she successfully escaped abuse and the fear of death in her home country.

“Today and for years to come, I will work in support of freedom for women around the world – the same freedom I experienced on the first day I arrived in Canada,” she told reporters at a press conference in Toronto.

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Saudi teen granted asylum in Canada hopes to ‘encourage other women to be brave’ – video

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Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the young  woman who hit global headlines after barricading herself in a Thai hotel room to flee abuse, has said she hopes to be an  'agent for change' in Saudi Arabia, a country where women are denied basic freedoms and are not allowed to work, marry and travel without the permission of a male guardian

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‘Hostage’ diplomacy: Canadian’s death sentence in China sets worrying tone, experts say

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Concerns Beijing using case to exert pressure on Ottawa after Canada’s detention of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou

China’s sentencing of a Canadian to death for drug trafficking threatens to escalate tensions between the two countries and set a dangerous precedent, according to experts.

On Monday, the Dalian Intermediate People’s Court in the northeastern province of Liaoning increased Robert Schellenberg’s sentence from 15 years in prison to the death penalty, concluding the Canadian had played “a key role” in a failed attempt to smuggle 222kg (almost 500lbs) of methamphetamine from China to Australia in 2014.

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Rahaf al-Qunun: ‘I hope my story encourages other women to be brave and free’

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Saudi woman begins new life in Canada after her family disowns her

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the Saudi woman who captured the world’s attention by barricading herself in a Thai hotel room after fleeing abuse in her own country, has said she hopes to inspire other Saudi women to be “brave and free”.

Speaking in her first interview after being given asylum in Canada, and landing in Toronto on Saturday, Qunun, told the ABC Australia her case might be the “agent for change” in Saudi Arabia, a country where women are denied basic freedoms and are not allowed to work, marry and travel without the permission of a male guardian.

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Justin Trudeau lookalike found in Afghan talent show

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Wedding singer Abdul Salam Maftoon was called the Canadian prime minister’s ‘lost twin’ after appearing on Afghan Star

An Afghan talent show contestant’s striking resemblance to Justin Trudeau has turned him into an unlikely celebrity in the war-torn country.

Abdul Salam Maftoon, a wedding singer from a village in the remote and impoverished northeastern province of Badakhshan, had never even heard of his more famous doppelganger until a judge on the popular television music contest Afghan Star pointed out the uncanny likeness.

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Canada revises travel advice for China in wake of citizen’s death sentence

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‘High degree of caution’ recommended after Canadian’s 15-year jail sentence raised to execution, in deepening diplomatic rift

Canada has issued a travel warning to its citizens going to China, in the wake of a Canadian man being sentenced to death over drugs charges.

On Monday a Chinese court upped Robert Lloyd Schellenberg’s sentence from 15 years in prison to execution after he appealed against the court’s December verdict.

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Out of dough? Canada air traffic controllers buy pizzas for unpaid US colleagues

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Ten thousand US staff have not received paychecks since late December because of government shutdown

Canadian air traffic controllers have bought hundreds of pizzas for their American counterparts over the past few days in what has become an industry-wide show of support during the US government’s partial shutdown.

Peter Duffey, the head of the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association, said the initiative began on Thursday when employees at Edmonton’s control centre took up a collection to buy pies for controllers in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Rahaf al-Qunun lands in Toronto after long journey to safety

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Saudi teen was granted asylum by Canada after flying to Thailand to escape her family

The Saudi woman who barricaded herself in a Thai hotel room in a desperate attempt to flee abuse landed in Canada on Saturday, capping a tumultuous and uncertain journey towards safety.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun arrived in Toronto, the country’s largest city. As she entered the airport’s arrivals area, she was accompanied by Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, Chrystia Freeland, who has been a vocal critic of Saudi Arabia’s jailing of female dissidents.

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Australia too slow in considering Saudi teen’s asylum bid, rights group says

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Human Rights Watch says government should have acted with more urgency to help Rahaf al-Qunun

Human Rights Watch Australia has criticised the government’s handling of a Saudi teenager’s bid for asylum, after the 18-year-old was granted safe haven in Canada.

Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun fled from Kuwait to Thailand, saying she had been abused by her family and feared for her life if deported back home.

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Saudi woman fleeing family flies to Canada after gaining asylum

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Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, 18, fled to Thailand last week accusing her family of abuse

An 18-year-old Saudi woman who said she was abused by her family and feared for her life if deported back home has left Thailand for Canada, which has granted her asylum, officials said.

The fast-moving developments capped an eventful week for Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun. She fled her family while visiting Kuwait and flew to Bangkok, where she barricaded herself in an airport hotel to avoid deportation and grabbed global attention by mounting a social media campaign for asylum.

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China’s ambassador accuses Canada of ‘white supremacy’ in Huawei CFO arrest

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Ambassador Lu Shaye wrote in an op-ed for an Ottawa-based paper that western countries are employing a ‘double standard’

China’s ambassador to Canada has accused the country of “white supremacy” in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China last month.

The arrests were in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive in Canada.

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Canada: 14 arrested at indigenous anti-pipeline protest camp as tensions rise

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Indigenous groups are fighting construction of liquified natural gas pipeline which would cross through First Nations territory

Canadian police have arrested 14 demonstrators at an indigenous protest camp in northern British Columbia, amid growing tensions over a proposed pipeline running through First Nations territory.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada’s national police force, said 14 people had been arrested late on Monday as officers enforced a court order to remove barriers built along a logging road.

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Canada: indigenous anti-pipeline protesters call police presence ‘act of war’

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Police officers deployed near checkpoint where protesters have gathered to block the construction of a natural gas pipeline

Indigenous protesters in Canada have called a growing police presence near their makeshift checkpoint “an act of war”, as tensions mount over a stalled pipeline project in northern British Columbia.

In defiance of a court order, dozens of protesters have gathered on a logging road nearly 700km (430 miles) north-west of Vancouver, to block the construction of a natural gas pipeline.

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Canada says 13 citizens detained in China since Huawei CFO’s arrest

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Diplomatic tensions between the two countries have escalated since Meng Wanzhou’s arrest on 1 December

Canada has said 13 of its citizens have been detained in China since the Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in December in Vancouver at the request of the US.

“At least” eight of those 13 have since been released, a Canadian government statement said, without disclosing what charges if any had been laid.

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