Government seemingly violated House powers on 'green slush fund' docs, Speaker rules

House Speaker Greg Fergus ruled that the government appears to have violated the vast powers of the Commons when it failed to surrender records on the so-called “green slush fund” so they could be turned over to the RCMP.

The Speaker’s ruling is the latest in the battle between MPs and the Liberal government over the extent of parliamentary privilege over thousands of unredacted records regarding Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), the government green fund that was plagued by scandal before being ordered shut down earlier this year.

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🛫🇱🇧Canadian charter flights leaving Lebanon have hundreds of empty seats, Global Affairs says

Global Affairs Canada says two flights chartered by the federal government to bring Canadians out of Lebanon left Beirut for Istanbul Thursday with just 275 passengers and 379 empty seats.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told reporters there were 654 seats on those two flights.

Shortly after Joly's media availability, her department issued a press release saying those two flights collectively carried 275 passengers, not all of them Canadian. The department said the passengers included citizens of "like-minded countries" like Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and the U.S.

#Lebanon
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🎓McGill University restricting access to campus in preparation for Oct. 7 protests

It's been a year of protest, counter protest, and intense debate on university campuses and McGill is bracing for the possibility of more.

Citing multiple demonstrations planned to mark the Oct. 7 anniversary since the Hamas attack on Israel that led to war in Gaza, the university says it has hired extra security and has asked professors to hold classes online, if possible.

In a statement, McGill said it has not received any threat to physical safety, though it is "limiting access to the campus during this week to prioritize the stable continuation of critical academic activities at a time of elevated potential for disruption."

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The historic Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Allégresses Catholic Church in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, was devastated by fire on Thursday.

#Quebec
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Immigration consultant fined $50K, sentenced to house arrest after creating fake documents

A Winnipeg man who worked as an immigration consultant has pleaded guilty to misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for creating fraudulent documents, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.

No wonder criminals and terrorists are easily sneaking into the country.

#immigration
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Twenty-two years later, federal government still working to deport Ottawa's Mohamed Harkat

Twenty-two years after the federal government first launched its bid to deport Ottawa’s Mohamed Harkat to his native Algeria as a terrorist, a court will once again convene to consider the case.

A Federal Court hearing in December will review the “minister’s opinion,” written by an unnamed senior official at Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada, that concluded Harkat posed a serious threat to Canada as a member of the al-Qaida network and should be deported despite holding refugee status in this country.

The judicial review will decide if that opinion, issued in October 2018, was legally fair and reasonable.

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🇱🇧Trudeau urges Canadians to leave Lebanon as conflict intensifies

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadian citizens still in Lebanon on Saturday to sign up to be evacuated on special flights.

Canada has 6,000 signed up to leave and officials are trying to reach another 2,500 over the weekend, an official in Trudeau’s office said, adding that more flights were being added for Monday and Tuesday.

#Trudeau #Lebanon
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🇺🇸🇵🇰Man accused of plotting NYC Oct. 7 attack made refugee claim in Canada

While a Pakistani man living in the Toronto area was allegedly planning a mass murder of Jews in New York, he was also seeking refugee status in Canada, according to an immigration consultant.

The U.S. is now aiming to extradite Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, after he was arrested by RCMP in a dramatic operation on Sept. 4 in Ormstown, Que., not far from the U.S. border.

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💸Self-identifying Indigenous group got $74-million in federal cash

The president of an organization representing about 70,000 Inuit across Canada said he wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over a year ago to express his concern about the NunatuKavut Community Council’s ability to receive federal grants and fisheries allocations based on a “simple self-declaration of Inuit identity.”

The NunatuKavut Community Council has received nearly $74-million in federal funding for Indigenous programs or projects related to their claims of Indigenous identity since 2010, according to government data.

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🇨🇳Canada has quietly raised foreign interference with China 48 times in two years

Canadian diplomats have quietly but frequently raised concerns over foreign interference and surveillance with their Chinese counterparts over the past two years, newly-released documents show.

A document published by the foreign interference commission Friday shows a total of 48 “representations” to People’s Republic of China (PRC) officials since September 2022. The general topic of “foreign interference” has been raised 31 times in total, including four formal diplomatic letters.

The document also shows Canadian officials raised Chinese overseas “police stations” 20 times, surveillance balloons twice, and two meetings on a former PRC diplomat, Zhao Wei, who was expelled from Canada over foreign interference concerns.

#China
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💉Albertans can now book appointments for flu, RSV and COVID-19 immunizations

What year will they stop pushing the Covid vaccine? Your guess👇

#Alberta #heathcare
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Canada's newest medical school reserves 75% of its seats to "Indigenous, Black, and Equity-Deserving" applicants

[Read Full article]

#CanadaMedicalSchool #DiversityInMedicine #EquityInHealthcare #IndigenousHealth #BlackHealth

⚖️ Canada has no legal obligation to provide First Nations with clean water, lawyers say

The federal government has no legal duty to ensure First Nations have clean drinking water, even if Liberal ministers publicly suggest otherwise, Justice Canada lawyers say.

That's the defence the federal government is expected to mount in Ottawa this week in Federal Court, as it fights a national class-action lawsuit launched by a remote northern Manitoba First Nation in 2022.

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"I should have used my majority," Trudeau says

Justin Trudeau regrets not using the majority he had from 2015 to 2019 to implement his preferred voting method—preferential voting.

#Trudeau
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Nearly one-quarter of Canadians work in the gig economy: poll

Many Canadians are turning to gig work to supplement their income. The poll conducted in collaboration with the Angus Reid Institute found that nearly a quarter of respondents participate in gig work, defined as short-term jobs or tasks that do not guarantee steady work.

Many say they're taking on the extra work on top of a regular job to meet the rising cost of living.

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Vancouver Police probe Oct. 7 rally where ‘death to Canada’ cry went up

Vancouver Police say they are conducting an investigation into a pro-Palestinian protest marking the Oct. 7 anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel where they say speakers expressed “solidarity with terrorist groups.”

The rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery, organized by the group Samidoun, included a masked speaker who told the crowd “we are Hezbollah and we are Hamas,” and she also led cries of “death to Canada, death to the United States and death to Israel.”

#BritishColumbia
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Downtown businesses association demands bail reform to restore public safety on urban streets

Businesses in cities and main streets across the country say a "humanitarian crisis is playing out in" Canada's communities and they want the federal government to act swiftly to tackle the crime, addiction and social issues they say are hurting businesses and downtowns.

Repeat offenders are significant drivers of crime and the current bail system does not protect Canadians or small businesses. Every single day in communities across Canada there are stories of crime perpetrated by an individual who was on bail or breached bail conditions. This cannot continue.

Kate Fenske, chair of International Downtown Association Canada (IDA Canada).

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Killer who left pregnant victim's body on side of road granted unescorted leave for 'personal development'

The woman who helped kill a young Inuit student from Labrador a decade ago in Halifax and dumped her body in a hockey bag beside the highway has been granted 30 days of unescorted leave to take “personal development” courses at a halfway house.

Victoria Lea Henneberry is serving a life sentence for the second-degree murder of Loretta Saunders in February 2014.

Henneberry, now 39, and her boyfriend, Blake Leggette, were subletting a room in Saunders’ Cowie Hill Road apartment when the couple killed the Saint Mary’s University student, who was pregnant, after she came to collect their rent.

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Victims of Communism memorial faces call to remove over 330 names linked to Nazis, fascists

The Department of Canadian Heritage is being told that more than half of the 550 names on the Memorial to the Victims of Communism should be removed because of potential links to the Nazis or questions about affiliations with fascist groups, according to government records.

A 2023 report for Canadian Heritage recommended more than 330 names be excluded to be on the safe side, the records noted. Some of the entries could also be removed because they have no direct link to Canada.

The memorial, which is located near the corner of Wellington and Bay streets, is supposed to honour those who suffered under communism.

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🚅Canada 'seriously' considering high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City: minister

The federal government is "seriously" considering building the country's first high-speed rail link between Quebec City and Toronto, says Public Services and Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.

Ottawa announced plans back in 2021 to build what it called a "high-frequency" (HFR) rail corridor with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Laval and Quebec City. At the time, the government estimated the cost at between $6 billion and $12 billion.

Duclos said Monday the government expects to name the successful bidder soon and to release more information about how the new rail corridor would work.

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🎓Quebec government will slap ceiling on number of international students

The Quebec government is to table legislation Thursday limiting the number of international students allowed to study in the province.

Immigration, Francization and Integration Minister Jean-François Roberge Wednesday gave notice of the government’s plan to table a bill designed to curb the arrival of out-of-province students in Quebec’s educational institutions.

There are currently about 120,000 international students in Quebec. In 2014 there were 50,000.

Quebec argues that with 600,000 temporary immigrants in Quebec including students, its public services and housing are being overtaxed and the French language is threatened because about 40 per cent of the temporary immigrants do not master the language.

#Quebec #immigration
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