🗳B.C. smashes advance voting record, over a million ballots cast

A record number of British Columbians have cast their ballots in advance voting before the provincial election on Saturday, Elections B.C. says.

The elections body says 1,001,331 people have already voted, representing more than 28 per cent of all registered electors and putting the province on track for big overall turnout.

#BritishColumbia
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Tobacco giants to pay $32.5B to Canadian provinces, smokers in 'historic' proposed deal

Three major tobacco companies are set to pay close to $25 billion to Canadian provinces and territories, and over $4 billion to Quebec smokers and their families, as part of a proposed deal stemming from a long-standing legal battle. The plan was filed in an Ontario court after five years of mediation.

The companies—JTI-Macdonald Corp., Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, and Imperial Tobacco Canada—entered creditor protection in 2019 after losing an appeal in a Quebec court case.

Under the new arrangement, provinces and territories will receive phased payments, with $6 billion paid upon implementation. Quebec plaintiffs could receive up to $100,000 each, while smokers in other provinces with lung or throat cancer or COPD diagnosed between 2015 and 2019 could claim up to $60,000.

#Quebec #Ontario
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Committee reviewing euthanasia in Canada finds some deaths driven by homelessness fears, isolation

An expert committee reviewing euthanasia deaths in Canada’s most populous province has identified several cases where patients asked to be killed in part for social reasons such as isolation and fears of homelessness, raising concerns over approvals for vulnerable people in the country’s assisted dying system.

Ontario’s chief coroner issued several reports Wednesday reviewing the euthanasia deaths of people who weren’t terminally ill. The expert committee’s reports are based on an analysis of anonymized cases, chosen for their implications for future euthanasia requests.

#healthcare #MAID
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Canada’s Indigeous chiefs reject $47.8B child welfare reform deal

First Nations chiefs have voted to reject a landmark $47.8-billion child welfare reform deal, reached in July with the Canadian government.

At a special chiefs assembly in Calgary hosted by the Assembly of First Nations, 267 out of 414 chiefs voted against a resolution in support of the deal after a lengthy debate that at points was emotionally charged as they argued either for or against it.

This was not a good agreement: we have to do better for our children.

Mary Teegee, the chair of the Our Children Our Way Society.

48 billion not good enough?

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🇨🇦🇺🇦Canada to give $65 million in military aid to Ukraine

Canada plans to give Ukraine a $64.8 million (US$47 million) military aid package that will include small arms, ammunition, and protective gear, Defense Minister Bill Blair said in a statement on Friday.

The aid package, which also allocates money for training Ukrainian troops, is part of a $500 million military funding committed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in July.

#Ukraine
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🇵🇰Pakistani taxi driver in Canada tells a woman that if they were in Pakistan, he would kidnap and rape her, but since they’re in Canada, he cannot do anything.

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🗳Initial count finished, but 49,000 ballots still to be reviewed in B.C. election

Nearly 50,000 ballots remain uncounted in the B.C. provincial election, and their contents – as well as the outcomes of any recounts – will determine the final result of the vote.

Elections BC announced Sunday that it has completed its initial count in the 43rd provincial general election, after a nail-biting election night during which no party won enough seats to form a majority government.

As of Sunday afternoon, the agency showed the B.C. NDP leading in 46 ridings, the B.C. Conservatives in 45, and the B.C. Greens in two, leaving all parties short of the 47 seats required for a majority.

#BritishColumbia #election
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Khalistan separatists are doing their best to strain relations between Canada and India.

One has to be suicidal to support such “activists” and offer them asylum.

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Former B.C. premier Christy Clark interested in replacing Trudeau if PM steps down

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark is suggesting she would be interested in replacing Trudeau, should he decide to step down.

Clark wrote that she was open to returning to public life and "would like to be part of the discussion about the future direction of the Liberal Party and the country."

Trudeau hasn't left yet, but the Liberals are already vying for his seat.

#Trudeau
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💰Replacing Canada's crumbling water, road infrastructure would cost more than $300B: Statistics Canada

On Monday, the national statistics agency released the results of a 2022 survey of government agencies responsible for public infrastructure. Statistics Canada estimates that it would take $356.7 billion to replace road or water systems the survey says are in "poor" or "very poor" condition.

That cost estimate has jumped by more than $100 billion since 2020, the first year the survey was conducted.

The agency defines "very poor" items of infrastructure as those posing a public health or safety hazard and needing immediate replacement of "most or all of the asset."

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🇮🇳🇺🇸Federal officials provided intelligence about India to Washington Post, sources say

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser and the deputy minister of foreign affairs provided sensitive intelligence about India to The Washington Post days before the RCMP publicly alleged that Indian government agents have been linked to homicides, extortions and other violent criminal activities in Canada, two sources say.

#India #US
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💅Parents pull students from Nova Scotia school after nonbinary drag queen gives compulsory gender identity presentation: report

Parents at a Halifax-area, Nova Scotia school are furious that Oyster Pond Academy allowed a drag queen to deliver a presentation on gender identity to kids aged 12 to 15. Some parents pulled their children from class on Friday to protest the school’s decision.

Teo Ferguson, who calls himself nonbinary and works as a drag queen, shared some of his social media pages – replete with sexualized material – with the children. Ferguson also works at The Youth Project, a non-profit that influences young people to transition to another gender identity or experiment with their sexual orientation.

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Canada is potentially heading for a labour supply decline as immigration policy abruptly changes

A series of rapid policy changes aimed at reducing the temporary resident population in Canada could lead to an overall shrinking of the labour force and a potential economic slowdown, economists predict.

A new report from Bank of Nova Scotia says that Ottawa could be “over-correcting” in its attempt to rein in the number of temporary residents in the country, which topped three million people for the first time this July, or 7.3 per cent of the total population.

The bank’s economists predict that the cumulative effect of Ottawa’s shift in immigration policy could lead to a 1-per-cent contraction in Canada’s labour force over the next two years and weakening economic growth if businesses do not boost productivity accordingly.

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🚶‍♂️Immigration minister calls efforts to oust Trudeau 'garbage'

Immigration Minister Marc Miller today called efforts by disaffected Liberal MPs to oust Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "garbage" and said it would be better for the team to pull together to take on their main opponent: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Any minute spent on this garbage is a minute that's not spent on Pierre Poilievre and what he wants to do to this country, and I think that is very dangerous.

Miller, who is a close personal friend of Trudeau, also said the MPs planning a caucus revolt should come out of the shadows and tell the prime minister in person that they want him gone.

There are plenty of people willing to "come out of the shadows" and tell Trudeau he has to go. But he won't listen.

#Trudeau
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💉Nova Scotia woman was asked if she knew about assisted dying before mastectomy surgery for breast cancer

The Nova Scotia woman was steeling herself for major surgery, a mastectomy for breast cancer, when an unfamiliar doctor ran through a series of pre-operative questions: What was her medical history? What medications does she regularly take? Any allergies? Was she aware of medical assistance in dying?

Fifteen months later, before a second mastectomy, “it happened again,” the woman said. Different doctor, same inquiry. “In the list of questions about your life and your past and how are you treating these things was, ‘Hey, (MAID) is a thing that exists,'” she said.

Her experience is drawing fresh concerns about doctors in Canada raising euthanasia before their patients do, a practice that is prohibited or strongly discouraged in most jurisdictions in the world with legalized assisted death.

#MAID
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💰Auditor general to investigate all government payments to ArriveCan contractor GC Strategies

Canada's auditor general will conduct a full audit of all government contracts awarded to GC Strategies, the company at the centre of the ArriveCan controversy.

In a letter sent to the House of Commons on Monday, Karen Hogan confirmed that her office will look at all government contracts awarded to GC Strategies, its predecessor Coredal and other companies incorporated by the two co-founders. She will also examine related subcontracts.

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🇺🇸🇮🇳Indian migrants drive surge in northern U.S. border crossings

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have had nearly 20,000 encounters with migrants between ports of entry on the northern border. That’s a 95% increase from last year.

Nearly 60% of those encounters were with Indian nationals.

One of the migrants interviewed crossed into the U.S. illegally a few weeks ago, through the thick woods connecting Canada to upstate New York. He’s now awaiting a hearing in front of an immigration judge after claiming asylum in the U.S. But he admits, he came here mostly for work, and because “I get more opportunities in the U.S. compared to Canada.”

#US #India
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📉Trudeau government to slash immigration levels

The Trudeau government will announce a dramatic immigration cut Thursday, reducing new permanent resident numbers by almost 100,000 in 2025 after years of consecutive increases to the country’s immigration targets.

The federal government is planning to decrease permanent resident intake from 485,000 this year to 395,000 in 2025. The government is planning to further cut intake to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.

#immigration
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2 men plead guilty in murder of Ripudaman Singh Malik, then fight one another in B.C. court

A shocking scene unfolded in a B.C. courtroom on Monday, as a fistfight broke out after two men pleaded guilty to murdering a man acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombing.

Ripudaman Singh Malik was fatally shot in Surrey in July 2022. In 2005, Malik was acquitted in the Air India bombing that killed more than 300 people. He had consistently denied any involvement.

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Alberta announces $112M to build 250 modular homes for displaced Jasper residents

The Alberta government is investing $112 million for the construction of interim housing for Albertans who lost their homes when the community of Jasper was decimated by wildfire three months ago.

The bulk of the funding announced Monday will be used to construct 250 modular homes within the Jasper townsite.

#Alberta #housing #wildfires
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Trudeau says he will lead Liberals in next election following caucus meeting on his future

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will lead the Liberal Party into the next federal election campaign, speaking one day after some Liberal MPs criticized his leadership during an extended closed door caucus meeting.

Mr. Trudeau answered questions about the meeting for the first time Thursday, stating clearly that he has no intention of stepping down.

During Wednesday’s caucus meeting B.C. MP Patrick Weiler read a letter to the room expressing concern with the party’s direction and asking the Prime Minister to step down. Mr. Trudeau was told that 24 people had put their names to it, but those names were not disclosed even in the private meeting.

#Trudeau
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