Canada’s privacy watchdog opens investigation into OpenAI, ChatGPT over complaint

Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said his office was investigating OpenAI after receiving complaints alleging "the collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent."

"A.I. technology and its effects on privacy is a priority for my Office. We need to keep up with – and stay ahead of – fast-moving technological advances, and that is one of my key focus areas as Commissioner," Dufresne said in a statement.

In a video call between the watchdog’s commissioners and OpenAI executives, including CEO Sam Altman, the company promised to set out measures to address these concerns – though the remedies have not been detailed.

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Vancouver Police Requires Officers to Consider Age, Ethnicity Before Handcuffing

The Vancouver Police Department has officially updated its handcuffing policy to require officers to consider a person’s age, ethnicity, and the seriousness of the alleged incident before using handcuffs to restrain the individual.

It also informs police officers that they can no longer view handcuffing someone who is under arrest, detained, or apprehended as a “routine action.”

The updated policy states that before applying handcuffs, the officer must have “lawful authority that is objectively reasonable, is proportionate to the potential risk of harm the officer faces, and is necessary to fulfil a legitimate policing objective.”

Another revision to the handcuffing policy states that a police officer who uses force on the job is “legally responsible for the force applied.”

#BritishColumbia

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🚜 Shortage of Canadian farm operators is looming, report says

▪️A new report says more than 40 per cent of farm operators will retire over the next decade, leaving Canada with a shortage.

▪️The report from the Royal Bank of Canada says the country will be short 24,000 general farm, nursery and greenhouse operators. It also estimates that 66 per cent of producers do not have a succession plan in place.

▪️To address the shortage and lack of succession plans, the report says Canada will need to accept 30,000 permanent immigrants by 2033 to take over existing farms and greenhouses or establish their own.

▪️The report says the shortage will come at critical moment because Canada's agricultural sector will need to produce significantly more food for a growing world population, but must also cut emissions to meet climat-related restrictions.

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🩺 Intense competition pushes eastern Ontario communities to lure family doctors with cash

As mayor of Quinte West, Jim Harrison says he's offered doctors everything from a boat slip to a temporary apartment in an effort to convince them to move to the city.

Harrison claims the scarcity of doctors creates a big issue: a competitive market is pitting municipalities in Ontario against each other in creative attempts to lure family doctors.

"We've got to do everything we can to get the doctor to stay here — not just to come here," Harrison said.

Quinte West, located on the shore of Lake Ontario about 20 km west of Belleville, currently offers physicians a financial incentive of $100,000 in exchange for a five-year commitment to the city.

#Ontario #healthcare

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Royal Canadian Navy wants 12 new submarines

The Royal Canadian Navy is pushing the government to support a program to build up to 12 new submarines.

The Navy is already in the early process of studying how to replace its current fleet of four Victoria class subs via the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, and the service hopes a new submarine program will make it into the updated defense policy.

Industry sources have suggested a new fleet of 12 subs would cost at least $60 billion. However, Canadian shipbuilding programs have a history of going over budget. For example, the projected cost of the Navy’s planned 15-strong frigate fleet has grown from $14 billion to over $80 billon, according to estimates from the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Deliveries of the new frigates won’t begin until the early 2030s, and the program will put pressure on the military’s budget into the 2040s.

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🇨🇦🇷🇺 Canada is imposing sanctions on 14 individuals and 34 legal entities from Russia, including those associated with the Wagner PMC, Justin Trudeau announced.

#Russia

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PM's chief of staff set to testify Friday on foreign interference

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford, will appear before a parliamentary committee on Friday.

The Prime Minister's Office says Telford will testify at the procedure and House affairs committee on the issue of foreign interference in Canadian elections. An exact time has not been scheduled.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh had said his party would back a Conservative motion to call Telford to testify if the government didn't voluntarily agree.

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Manitoba bought 500K reusable N95 respirators. 3 years later, 98% are in storage

▪️Manitoba announced in May 2020 it would buy 500,000 reusable N95 silicone masks from Winnipeg-based company Precision ADM Inc. The masks could be sterilized and reused up to 30 times, the province said at the time.

▪️Now the province says about 490,000 of those respirators remain in inventory. As it turned out, the cleaning takes approximately 14 minutes to complete each time, which is unrealistic given the heavy workload of the medical staff.

▪️A government record disclosing details of the purchase shows the province bought the masks in an untendered contract with Precision ADM Inc. for $35,572,500 on May 5, 2020, and said the "project schedule does not allow sufficient time to conduct a competitive process" for the purchase.

#Manitoba #healthcare

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Some residents cleared out of East Hastings Street encampment moving into nearby CRAB Park

Some of the residents of the encampment in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside that was taken apart last week by police and city staff have moved to nearby CRAB Park. There are about 40 to 50 tents.

Last week Mayor Ken Sim ordered the long-standing encampment removed after the city's police and fire chiefs warned of escalating crime and an unacceptable fire risk. At the camp's peak, about 180 structures covered the sidewalk along the street.

#BritishColumbia

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🇨🇦🇺🇦 Trudeau announces new military aid, bilateral agreements during Ukraine PM's visit

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Tuesday in Toronto.

The main outcomes of the visit:

🔹21,000 assault rifles, 38 machine guns and 2.4 million rounds of ammunition will be sent to Ukraine for a total of $59 million

🔹new sanctions against 14 Russian individuals, 34 entities, as well as nine organizations tied to the financial sector in Belarus, were imposed

🔹$2.4 billion loan has been dispersed to Ukraine

🔹joint declaration on modernizing the free trade agreement between the two countries was signed

#Ukraine

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Trudeau Foundation president, board resign, citing 'politicization' of China-linked donation

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation's president and board of directors have resigned en masse, citing the charity's entanglement in the ongoing foreign interference controversy.

In a statement, the foundation said that a $200,000 donation in 2016 from a businessman linked to the Chinese government "has put a great deal of pressure on the foundation's management and volunteer board of directors, as well as on our staff and our community."

The charity announced last month that it would return the donation. The Conservatives criticized the government over the matter, saying the donation compromised a government report on the integrity of the 2021 federal election.

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Conservatives ask Twitter to label CBC accounts as 'government-funded' media

The Opposition Conservatives are asking Twitter to apply a "government-funded" label on accounts associated with the CBC.

On Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tweeted a copy of a letter addressed to the company that made that request. In the letter, Poilievre asked that the label be applied to CBC's English "news-related" accounts.

The social-media giant currently defines "government-funded" media as outlets that "may have varying degrees of government involvement over editorial content." Poilievre said he believes that applies to CBC.

CBC said in a statement on Wednesday that is "clearly not the case," adding that it cannot comment on the motives behind Poilievre's letter.

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Union representing 120,000 federal public servants voted in favour of a strike

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced Wednesday morning the results of its strike votes, which were held between Feb. 22 and April 11.

“An overwhelming majority of our members have told us they can’t wait any longer and they are prepared to strike to secure a fair deal that won’t see them fall behind,” Chris Aylward, PSAC national president announced.

Aylward said the units were in a legal strike position as of Wednesday, but the union’s desire is to reach a deal with the federal government. Its division representing 35,000 Canadian Revenue Agency workers also voted in favour of a strike last week, and will be in a legal position to do so Friday.

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B.C. pledges $10M funding boost for Chinese Canadian Museum ahead of July 1 opening

Vancouver’s Chinese Canadian Museum will open its doors on July 1 on the 100th anniversary of legislation known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, after the province pledged an additional $10 million in funding.

The legislation effectively eliminated Chinese immigration before being repealed in 1947.

The Chinese Canadian Museum will be located in the Wing Sang Building on East Pender Street, one the oldest buildings in Chinatown.

#BritishColumbia

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🌊No tsunami risk after 6.2-magnitude earthquake rumbles off Vancouver Island

Officials say there is no tsunami risk after a moderate earthquake was detected off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island on Thursday morning.

The 6.2-magnitude quake occurred at approximately 8:55 a.m. and was located about 211 kilometres northeast of Port McNeill, according to the United States Geological Survey.

#BritishColumbia

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Multiple people arrested, over $800K in cash, drugs seized: police

Guelph police say a loaded handgun and more than $860,000 in cash and drugs were seized after an ongoing investigation into drug trafficking involving multiple police services in Ontario.

The investigation, dubbed “Project Hammer,” began in May of last year after officers received information about drugs being sold through a social media account.

According to police, search warrants were executed Tuesday at two addresses in Guelph and three in Toronto.

Guelph police said it believes this is the largest cash seizure in Guelph Police history.

#Ontario

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The world's largest rubber duck is coming back to Toronto

That massive rubber duck that drew crowds to Toronto’s waterfront in 2017 is coming back this year for what will now be known as the Toronto Waterfront Festival, officially renamed today from its past branding of the Redpath Waterfront Festival.

The annual festival will arrive in Toronto from September 16 to 17, 2023, including the long-awaited return of the World’s Largest Rubber Duck which attracted more than 750,000 visitors to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017.

#Ontario

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First Nations leaders want Quebec to drop plans for Indigenous language law

Indigenous Peoples are calling on the Coalition Avenir Québec government to scrap plans to table legislation to protect First Nation languages and culture.

The First Nations Education Council, representing eight First Nations of Quebec, has issued a statement saying it is inconceivable that the government legislate unilaterally on languages without their consent.

“Let us recall that by virtue of their inherent right to self-government, First Nations elect their own government and have the legitimacy to adopt their own laws,” the council said. “Anything related to their languages and cultures remains under the purview of First Nations themselves.”

The issue of Indigenous languages came up during the 2022 adoption process for Bill 96, overhauling the Charter of the French Language.

First Nations sought to be exempted from the law, a request that was refused. But the government expressed interest in adopting another law, similar in nature to Bill 101, to protect and promote Indigenous languages.

#Quebec

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Supreme Court to rule on Quebec law banning homegrown cannabis

▪️The Supreme Court of Canada is set to rule today on whether Quebec's ban on growing cannabis plants at home is constitutional.

▪️The ruling is in a case first brought before the courts in 2019 by Janick Murray-Hall. Murray-Hall's lawyer argued that Quebec's ban on owning and cultivating plants for personal use is unconstitutional and contradicts the federal cannabis law enacted in 2018.

▪️The federal law allows people to grow or own up to four cannabis plants at home, but the Quebec government banned growing for personal use, with fines running between $250 and $750.

▪️Quebec Superior Court sided with Murray-Hall and found the law to be unconstitutional. But the province successfully appealed to the Quebec Court of Appeal, and now the final word lies with the country's highest court.

#Quebec

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40 per cent of Canadians say federal budget will do 'poor,' 'very poor' job of addressing their issues

As many as 40 per cent of Canadians believe the new federal budget will do a "poor" or "very poor" job of addressing their concerns.

Of the more than 1,000 people surveyed, 19 per cent said based on what they have heard they would grade the federal budget as poor when it comes to addressing the issues they and their families are worried about, while 20 per cent say it is very poor.

Thirty-three per cent say the federal budget, released in late March, does an "average" job based on what they have heard.

Two per cent said the budget does a "very good" job, 17 per cent described it as "good" and nine per cent were "unsure."

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🏠 National average rents rise 10.8 per cent in March

🔹The Canadian rental market has experienced a notable surge, with average asking rent for all property types rising 10.8% annually in March to $2,004.

🔹The past year saw an increase of $196 in average asking rents, highlighting the growing demand for rental housing and insufficient supply in the country. Private room and shared-accommodation rentals gained popularity as rents soared over the past year.

🔹The average asking rent for single room rentals in Canada was $834 in March, with British Columbia and Ontario having the highest rents at $1,053 and $934, respectively. In Vancouver and Toronto, single room asking rents averaged $1,410 and $1,309.

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