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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👍 Canadian judge rules 'thumbs-up' emoji can represent binding contract agreement

A Canadian judge ruled in a case last month that a thumbs up emoji counts as much as a valid signature for agreeing to a legal contract.

The case, which is rooted in Saskatchewan, revolved around a grain buyer with South West Terminal, Ltd.

#Saskatchewan

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Six people dead after small plane crashes in Calgary

Six people have died after a small plane crashed in Kananaskis Country, the RCMP said on Saturday.

The RCMP said an aircraft with five passengers and a pilot left Springbank Airport near Calgary on Friday night en route to Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Contact was lost with the plane around 9:30 p.m. local time. Shortly after the plane was reported overdue, a search was conducted by a Royal Canadian Air Force squadron based in Winnipeg.

#Alberta #BritishColumbia

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Breakthrough in B.C. port dispute as new tentative deal is reached

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada and the BC Maritime Employers Association say the new tentative deal was reached with the assistance of the Canada Industrial Relations Board.

Details of the deal haven't been released, but both sides say in a joint statement issued Sunday night that they are recommending their members to ratify it.

The dispute, which saw workers walk off the job at more than 30 port terminals and other sites for 13 days at the beginning of July, entered a new phase late Friday night when members of the union rejected a previous potential agreement with employers.

Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan announced Saturday he was directing the industrial relations board to determine if a negotiated end to the dispute was still possible, and if not, to impose an agreement or final binding arbitration.

Pressure had been mounting for federal intervention if a deal failed to eventuate.

#BritishColumbia #strike

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🇨🇦🇦🇺⚽️Canada eliminated from Women's World Cup after loss to Australia

Canada, the 2020 Olympic champion, leaves the FIFA Women's World Cup early after loosing 4-0 to Australia.

#Australia

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Canadian families to pay almost $17,000 this year on public healthcare insurance

🔹A new study by the Fraser Institute has found that the average Canadian family of four will pay almost $17,000 this year for public healthcare insurance.

The study, released on Thursday, calculated the cost of healthcare for families based on their income and tax rates.

🔹The study found that a family of two parents and two children with an average income of $169,296 will pay $16,950 for public health care insurance in 2023.

A couple without children will pay $16,162, while a single person will pay $5,622. A single parent with one child will pay $6,294.

🔹The study also compared the cost of healthcare with other expenses and income over time. It found that since 1997, the cost of public health care insurance for the average Canadian family has increased by 223%, much faster than the cost of clothing (53%), food (100%), shelter (125%), and income (131%).

#healthcare

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🇨🇦🇳🇪Canada 'strongly condemns' Niger military coup as others threaten sanctions, cut aid

Canada is speaking out against a coup d'état in Niger, but hasn't joined other nations in threatening to sanction the West African country.

Last Wednesday, a faction of Niger's military claimed to have overthrown the country's president Mohamed Bazoum after detaining him in his palace. In a tweet Friday evening, Global Affairs Canada wrote that Ottawa "strongly condemns the attempted coup" in Niger and calls for Bazoum's release.

The Economic Community of West African States, a group of 15 countries known as ECOWAS, has threatened to sanction leaders of the military junta and send in troops if Bazoum isn't restored to power within a week.

Britain and the European Union have pulled aid from the country, while Washington has mulled following suit. The Liberal government in Ottawa has given no indication it is thinking of cutting back on development and humanitarian dollars for Niger, which has amounted to roughly $60 million per year.

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Trudeau appears at news conference with bandage after bumping head

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared at a news conference Monday with a bandage in the middle of his forehead.

A spokesperson for Trudeau says he bumped his head while he was playing with his kids over the weekend.

Let's take a moment to appreciate the media for covering this breaking news.

#Trudeau

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Yukon's wildfire season 'escalated dramatically' over last week, with 80 new starts

The Yukon's wildfire season has taken a turn for the worse in recent days, according to emergency officials, with 80 new fires sparked in the last week.

And with more lightning expected in the coming days, officials are bracing for still more — while preparing for the possibility that there's no available firefighting help from outside the territory.

More than half of those new fires — 42 — are in the Dawson fire district, and 20 are in the Old Crow district.

No Yukon communities are currently at risk, officials said.

#Yukon #wildfires

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🇨🇦🇺🇸 Trudeau defends military spending after criticism from Alaska Sen. Sullivan

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended his country's military spending after Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan criticized the nation for not "pulling its weight."

🔹NATO allies are expected to direct 2% of their GDP to defense, and Canada spent 1.29% in 2022. Sullivan has been a vocal critic of Canada's military budget and called the country out during a Wednesday confirmation hearing for President Joe Biden's nominee to lead the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which Canada and the U.S. share.

Sullivan referred to a Wall Street Journal editorial that called Canada's defense commitment "feeble" and suggested Trudeau should have sat at a "junior table" at the NATO summit this month.

"Americans get frustrated when our allies don't pull their weight," Sullivan said. "With regard to NATO, Canada's not even close to pulling its weight."

🔹Trudeau defended Canada's military spending record and outlined its engagement with NORAD and NATO in response to reporters' questions Thursday about Sullivan's comments.

"We've invested massively in NORAD modernization just earlier this year. We're continuing to step up in our NATO commitments," Trudeau said.

Though Canada has the sixth-largest defense budget in NATO, the parliamentary budget office estimated the country would have to spend between $13 billion and $18 billion in Canadian dollars per year for five years to reach the target.

#Trudeau #US #NATO

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PM Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are separating

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are separating after 18 years of marriage.

In a brief statement issued by the prime minister, he said that after "many meaningful and difficult conversations" the pair have "made the decision to separate."

#Trudeau

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Trudeau issued a statement on IG

#Trudeau

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