Freeland rejects Toronto mayor Chow's ask for financial help from federal government

Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, fired off a letter Monday to Chow’s office after the mayor and Premier Doug Ford demanded Ottawa foot most of the bill to resolve a crisis in refugee housing.

In a letter sent to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow on Monday, Freeland says the federal government has contributed over $6 billion to the city since it was elected in 2015. And if further help is needed, Toronto should either pull money from its reserve accounts or approach Premier Doug Ford's provincial government.

The city of Toronto faces a near billion dollar budget shortfall this year and Chow is just the latest member of city council to ask for federal and provincial assistance.

#Ontario

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City of Vancouver says it won't renew lease for Yaletown overdose prevention site

The City of Vancouver says it will not be renewing the lease for an overdose prevention site located in the heart of downtown.

The Thomus Donaghy Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) at 1101 Seymour St. in Yaletown opened in 2021. It is operated by Vancouver Coastal Health in conjunction with housing operator Raincity Housing.

The city says that it will not renew the operator's lease, set to end in March 2024, with a city councillor saying that public safety concerns and the congregation of people outside the site made it unsuitable.

#BritishColumbia

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Justin Trudeau set to make major changes to cabinet Wednesday

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is getting ready to shuffle his cabinet today as he readies the team that will likely lead the Liberals into the next election.

A swearing-in ceremony will take place at Rideau Hall this morning for what is expected to be the most significant change since 2021.

Trudeau spent Monday and Tuesday in private meetings in the capital, while several other ministers cancelled appearances at public events, typical signs of an impending shakeup.

A source with knowledge of the shuffle said all ministers who can make it to Ottawa will be at Rideau Hall, including those who are not getting new roles.

The government is currently made up of 38 cabinet ministers and the prime minister.

#Trudeau

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Colombian man gets 27 years for helping run global fentanyl trafficking ring from Quebec prison

A Colombian man who helped lead an international fentanyl trafficking network inside a prison east of Montreal has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Daniel Vivas Ceron, 42, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $11,048.43 in restitution after his arrest.

The U.S. Department of Justice operation led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force resulted in charges being laid against 34 people, including three people from Montreal.

#crime #Quebec #US #Colombia

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Trudeau announces major cabinet shake-up, seven new ministers

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a significant change to his cabinet.

About three-quarters of cabinet portfolios have switched hands, with seven rookie ministers coming in to replace the seven ministers who are leaving. Five of the new ministers represent constituencies in Ontario, one is from British Columbia and one from Quebec.

🔹Former immigration minister Sean Fraser is in a new role that sees the government's housing agenda combined with the infrastructure file. Marc Miller, who was the minister for Crown-Indigenous relations, is taking on immigration.

🔹Mark Holland, who was the government House leader, is taking on the health portfolio, while former Jean-Yves Duclos moves to public services and procurement. Karina Gould, the former families minister, will be the new House leader.

🔹Only seven ministers have kept their portfolios: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, Women and Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.

#Trudeau

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📈 Bank of Canada prepared to raise rates further if inflation progress stalls

The Bank of Canada’s policymakers said they are still prepared to raise their benchmark interest rate further even as they hiked rates to their highest level in 22 years earlier this month.

The central bank on Wednesday released notes of the deliberations surrounding its interest rate decision on July 12, which saw the policy rate rise 25 basis points to 5.0 per cent.

Debate ensued among observers and economists following the July 12 decision over whether the latest rate hike was really needed as inflation fell into the central bank’s one-to-three per cent target range.

The central bank governing council’s consensus in July was that leaving the key policy rate unchanged at 4.75 per cent would risk stalling the progress it had made in tamping down price increases, which has so far seen annual inflation cool to a low of 2.8 per cent from highs of 8.1 per cent last year.

But the “underlying inflation pressures” are proving “more persistent than expected,” policymakers expressed earlier this month. At the time of the July rate decision, more than half of the items in Statistics Canada’s consumer price index basket were seeing prices rise more than five per cent annually, the deliberations note.

Inflation could even rise again if the Bank of Canada did not continue to put pressure on the economy through higher rates, the governing council decided.

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✈️ Canadians travelling to Europe in 2024 will need a permit to enter some countries

Starting in 2024, Canadian travellers seeking a short-term visit to 30 countries including France, Switzerland, Spain and Greece must apply to the European Travel Information and Authorisation System.

The permit costs 7 euros, or about $10.25, and can be obtained on the ETIAS website or mobile app.

It allows travellers to visit for up to 90 days within any 180-day period and is valid for three years, or until the passport used in the application expires.

In addition to Canada, the new rules will apply to nearly 60 countries including the United States, Mexico, United Kingdom, Australia and Japan.

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Opposition parties say cabinet shuffle is admission Trudeau government 'broken,' but doesn't fix it

🔹“Justin Trudeau fired a lot of ministers today and admitted that his government is broken, but he didn’t fire the minister of inflation, Chrystia Freeland, who weeks after saying that government deficits drive inflation decided to introduce $60 billion more in government deficits,” said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, speaking in Timmins, Ont.

“He didn’t fire the minister of the carbon tax, Stephen Guilbeault, who wants to hit people with another 61-cents per litre, and he did not fire the one minister who is most responsible, the one minister who has presided over the record increase in costs, the doubling of housing prices, the growing crime and chaos in our streets …. that minister is the prime minister,” Poilievre added.

🔹Speaking to reporters in Yellowknife, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the cabinet shuffle doesn’t change the government’s eight years of unresponsiveness on Canada’s housing crisis.

“Changing the positions, shuffling the cabinet doesn’t change this government’s eight-year record,” Singh said.

#Trudeau #Poilievre

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B.C. launches $10.5M rebate for vandalism repairs for affected businesses

B.C. government introduces a $10.5-million program to repair and prevent vandalism damage to small businesses.

B.C. Economic Development Minister Brenda Bailey says the new program will begin in the fall and is open to small businesses that suffered vandalism damage, retroactive to Jan. 1 this year.

If approved for the rebate, businesses can receive up to $2,000 for cost of repairs and up to $1,000 for prevention measures, with the criteria for eligibility yet to be released.

The West End and other Vancouver neighbourhoods, such as Gastown and Granville Street, have seen an increase in vandalism.

These measures do not address the root of the problem, though.

#BritishColumbia

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B.C. woman sentenced to 18 months probation for coughing at grocery employee during pandemic

A British Columbia judge has sentenced a Vancouver Island woman to 18 months of probation for deliberately coughing in the face of a grocery store employee and shoving her shopping cart into another worker during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judge Barbara Flewelling found Kimberly Brenda Woolman guilty in April of assaulting the employees and causing a disturbance at the Save-On-Foods in Campbell River.

The incident occurred three years prior, on April 24, 2020, when provincial health orders required stores to limit the number of customers allowed inside and required shoppers to stay at least two metres apart.

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🇨🇦 Canada geese contaminated with crude oil at imperial oil facility in Alberta

The Alberta Energy Regulator has reported that a group of Canada geese were affected by oil staining after landing on a lagoon at an Imperial Oil facility located northwest of Cold Lake. This incident occurred following Imperial Oil's accidental release of approximately 900 liters of crude oil into a process water lagoon at its Mahihkan plant, as reported by the company. The regulator discovered twelve geese stained with oil and promptly removed them from the lagoon for specialized cleaning and rehabilitation.

Imperial Oil is actively engaged in oil recovery efforts, while the Alberta Energy Regulator closely monitors the situation. Additionally, the company has implemented further measures to deter wildlife, including wildlife cannons and flagging, around the affected lagoon. Daily updates on the cleanup progress have been directed by the regulator. Local communities have been notified about the incident to ensure awareness and appropriate precautions.

#Canada #ecology #oil

@songofoil

B.C. port strike cost Canadian Pacific's newly amalgamated railway $80M, exec says

The B.C. port workers' strike deprived Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. of scores of millions of dollars, its chief marketing officer said.

"At this point, we're estimating the strike had a negative impact of about $80 million in revenue, much of which we will work hard to claw back over the remainder of Q3 and Q4," John Brooks told analysts on a conference call Thursday.

The 13-week strike — plus a brief wildcat job action — earlier this month halted operations at most ports along the West Coast. In the first week alone, it depressed the number of containers hauled by Canadian railways to barely half the level reached during the same period in 2022, according to the American Railroad Association.

#BritishColumbia

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Violent crime keeps rising; murder rate highest in 30 years

Crime continued to rise in Canada in 2022, new Statistics Canada data show, with the severity of violent crime reaching its highest point since 2007, and murders reaching their highest rate in 30 years.

🔹Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index, which measures police-reported crime, was up four per cent overall last year. The index for violent crime showed a five-per-cent increase in 2022, following a six-per-cent increase in 2021.

🔹The uptick in violent crime in 2022 was primarily driven by the rise in homicides as well as an increase in armed robbery (15 per cent) and extortion (39 per cent).

🔹The rise was driven in part by notable increases in homicides in B.C., Quebec and Manitoba. The highest murder rates in the country continued to be in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

#crime #Quebec #Manitoba #BritishColumbia

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B.C. judge allows cannabis 'fire sale' after CRA threatened to destroy more than 1,200 kilograms

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has approved the bulk sale of more than 1,200 kilograms of cannabis by a company after the Canada Revenue Agency threatened to destroy it.

In a ruling released online this week, the court allowed Tantalus Labs Ltd. to move ahead with a hasty sale of its remaining inventory of cannabis flower after the CRA planned to destroy the product at its facility in Maple Ridge, B.C.

The agency had earlier declined to renew the company's excise tax licence due to financial difficulties. Without the licence, the company would've been unable to sell its remaining inventory and potentially recover more for creditors, including its main lender and the CRA itself.

Court documents say the company has more than $14 million in deb.

#BritishColumbia

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🇨🇦🇭🇹 Canada sending $13M in reinforcements to Haitian police

Canada is sending 250 motorcycles, 300 radios and 10 drones to Haiti in the next two months to bolster the police force's efforts to fight against gang violence, officials said Tuesday.

Canada’s Ambassador to Haiti, Sébastien Carriere, said via Twitter Tuesday that the assistance is an initial disbursement of $13 million, in US dollars, from a $100 million pledge the Canadian government made in March to support Haitian police.

#Haiti

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🇲🇽🇺🇸🇨🇦 Mexico hosts meeting of Trilateral Fentanyl Committee

Mexican, United States and Canadian officials met Tuesday to discuss the three countries’ joint fight against fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.

A Mexican delegation led by Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodríguez hosted representatives of the United States and Canadian governments in Mexico City for the second meeting of the Trilateral Fentanyl Committee.

According to a joint statement published Thursday, the aim of the meeting was to “propel and expand actions on our shared commitment to combat the trafficking of synthetic drugs.”

The three co-chairs – Rodríguez, United States Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall and Canadian National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas – “reaffirmed commitments to jointly confront the deadly scourge of synthetic drugs, and discussed the steps we are taking to fulfill them,” the statement said.

Those steps included intensifying and expanding prosecution of drug traffickers and dismantling criminal networks; targeting the supply of precursor chemicals used to make illicit fentanyl; preventing the trafficking of drugs across our borders; and promoting public health services to reduce harm and demand.

🔎 Source
#Mexico #US #Canada #fentanyl

☠️ Blood Meridian

Thousands of workers at 27 Metro stores in GTA to strike after rejecting deal

Twenty-seven Metro grocery stores in the Greater Toronto Area will be closed beginning Saturday as thousands of workers will be striking after they voted down a tentative deal.

Unifor, the union representing 3,700 Metro workers at 27 GTA locations, announced Friday evening the results of the ratification vote.

A tentative deal was reached on July 18, following weeks of bargaining to initially avert a strike. In June, members voted 100 per cent in favour of striking.

Union officials previously said fair pay for all workers, greater access to better benefits, and more secure work hours and full-time jobs were the three main priorities ahead of the negotiations.

#Ontario

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B.C. port workers reject tentative agreement that ended strike

Unionized port workers in British Columbia have rejected a tentative agreement with their employer, throwing the province's ports back into turmoil.

In a brief statement Friday night, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada announced that its longshore division had "said no to the terms of the settlement."

The union has been without a contract since March 31, when its previous deal with the BC Maritime Employers Association expired.

#BritishColumbia

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith threatens sanctions against clinic set to charge fees

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says if a Calgary medical clinic begins charging a fee for faster access to a family doctor, it will be shut down, fined or have medicare payments from the province withheld.

Smith says her government is committed to the principles of the Canada Health Act that include patients not paying to access publicly funded services such as doctor visits.

The Marda Loop Medical Clinic has told patients it will begin offering membership-fee based services, including faster access to its physician, starting Tuesday.

#Alberta #healthcare

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Regina police clear city hall encampment, 11 arrests made

Residents of the encampment at Regina’s city hall were forced to leave Friday afternoon as police began clearing the site.

On Thursday, Regina Fire Chief Layne Jackson said residents needed to vacate the area as soon as possible after the Fire Safety Act was put into place due to three fires in 24 hours, including one that destroyed a tent on the east side of the camp.

The fire that destroyed the tent Thursday morning could have been fatal if it was in a more populated area of the camp.

According to the Regina Police Service (RPS), there were 11 people arrested and charged with obstruction.

#Saskatchewan

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