In the News

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, wife of the prime minister will sponsor the future HMCS Harry DeWolf at a naming ceremony on Friday at Halifax Shipyard. The ship is the first of the Royal Canadian Navy's lead Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships fleet.

The Canada Revenue Agency has suspended the charitable status of the Islamic Society of North America-Canada (ISNA-Canada) for a year and ordered it to pay a $550,000 penalty. An audit raised concerns it had “provided resources” that may have supported armed militancy.

A sophisticated ring of car thieves operating in major cities across Eastern Canada has been "almost exclusively" targeting large Lexus SUVs and Toyota Highlander and 4Runners. After breaking into the vehicle, they reprogram the console to accept a new key, and then simply drive away (often in the middle of the night).

The Ottawa police force has decided that legal marijuana is legal for everybody, including their officers. The requirement to show up for work unimpaired remains, but the force will not impose restrictions on how long officers must refrain from consumption before duty begins.

The number of potentially fatal close encounters between drones and conventional air traffic has increased sharply in Canada, from 38 cases in 2014 to 135 in 2017. Former military pilot David Cooke says sooner or later a drone strike will kill someone.

Canadian and American negotiators agreed on a revamped trade deal to replace NAFTA just ahead of a midnight deadline. The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA allows US dairy farmers more access to the Canadian market, among other provisions.

The 'Five Eyes' intelligence community - Canada, US, UK, New Zealand, Australia - wants tech companies to give them access to private communications on consumer products. Opponents of the move insist such 'backdoors' would benefit criminals and terrorists as much as security and law enforcement.

Federal government lawyers have asked for closed-door hearings in a court case alleging that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service spied on anti-pipeline activists. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association says the request violates the principle that justice must be seen to be done.

British Columbia will investigate how money laundering in the real estate market may inflate housing prices. The Ministry of Finance will look real estate and financial services vulnerability to money laundering, and the Attorney General will investigate specific cases of money laundering.

In a bid to attract more recruits, the Canadian military is changing its policy to allow soldiers to grow beards after completing basic training. Right now, a small group can have beards: sailors, some specialized soldiers and members whose religion requires keeping facial hair.

Veterans Affairs Canada has announced that in future it will not pay benefits for jailed relatives of retired military personnel. Controversy erupted when it became known that the convicted murderer of a Halifax police officer received PTSD treatments for his crime under his veteran father's benefits plan. It is unclear if those payments have been terminated.

After a high number of North Atlantic right whale deaths in the summer of 2017, Dalhousie University launched the Whale Habitat and Listening Experiment. The Canadian Forces assisted with the simultaneous deployment of boats, aircraft, underwater robots, military sonobuoys, and satellites over a 1,500 square kilometre area to study whale activity over two days.

A new Canadian Forces building planned for Yellowknife will provide offices, an assembly space and drill hall, and warehouse and garage space. Estimated at between $50 million and $99 million, the space will support about 360 military and civilian personnel.

Canada will create a new ambassador position dedicated to women, peace and security, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Saturday. She said that the new ambassador would help champion feminist-based aid programs and advocate for more female participation in peacekeeping and conflict resolution.

Organized crime is moving online and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is struggling to keep up, according to a briefing note prepared for RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki when she took over the top job earlier this year.

During a series of exercises on a mock battlefield in urban Montreal Canadian soldiers tested a new British weapon that uses artificial intelligence to scan the battlefield for enemy movements. Space age technology tracks opposing forces in built up areas and alerts soldiers to danger.

Britain will step up its cyber crime offensive against the threat from Russia and terrorist groups with a new £250m ($CAN 422m) joint task force between the Ministry of Defence and GCHQ, it was reported last night.

Ottawa is launching nationwide consultations on a handgun ban, a move that will fuel a national debate on the need for tighter gun control and the proper response to growing gun crimes across the country.

Almost all of Canada’s 15 largest police forces have not yet ordered equipment to test a driver’s saliva for recent drug use. Only one device has been approved for use. Marijuana use becomes legal on October 17, but driving while impaired remains a crime.

After an internal discussion, military leadership has decided to retain the current yellow paint scheme for the RCAF’s new fleet of 16 Airbus C-295W search and rescue aircraft. Some officers advocated tactical grey, so the aircraft could be available for other tasks, including combat.

Canada is conducting a national security analysis to minimize cyberthreats to the country from equipment made by foreign telecommunications companies, including China’s Huawei – a study that has gained importance since the United States and Australia banned the telecom giant from participating in new wireless cellular networks.

On Saturday, a pickup truck sped north through a Vancouver-area border crossing and was able to penetrate more than 50 kilometres into Canada before crashing. The incident highlighted a potentially dangerous quirk of border security: Canadian border guards are not allowed to chase vehicles that blow through border crossings.

United States border officials have stated they may deny entry to people involved in Canada’s marijuana industry. Mike Farnworth, British Columbia’s solicitor general is concerned the US may bar provincial government employees in the province’s new legal cannabis branch from travelling across the American border.

The Royal Canadian Navy's first Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessel was launched Saturday in Halifax. To be named HMCS Harry DeWolf, the vessel is scheduled for delivery to the navy in summer 2019.

Launch of Canada’s first Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS), the future HMCS Harry DeWolf, is planned for Saturday, 15 September 2018. Sea trials are scheduled to begin in 2019.

Governor-General Julie Payette has been frequently at odds with the RCMP over security issues in the first year of her mandate, from her decision to go jogging without informing her protective detail to the fact that she lives off the protected grounds of Rideau Hall, current and former RCMP sources say.

Zakaria Amara is serving a life sentence for his part in a plot to detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto, but for six months, a Facebook page showed what were apparently his prison photos and writings. The account was deleted after reporters notified the company.

Following shoplifting and assault charges, an Ottawa court has ordered Abdulmati Elmi, 24, to surrender his passport, avoid contact with ISIS influences and meet a number of other conditions. Failure to comply could bring a four year prison term.

Coquitlam City Councillor Teri Towner has initiated an online petition to recognize the valued service within search and rescue communities by establishing March 1st as “National Search and Rescue Day” to honour the living, past and present search and rescue volunteers to whom Canadians owe an immense debt of gratitude.

Marijuana becomes legal for Canadians on October 17, including, with some restrictions, members of the armed forces. Senior officers have explained the military's policy and potential impact on operations to close allies.

Hurricane Florence could inflict the hardest hurricane punch the Carolinas have seen in more than 60 years, with rain and wind of more than 209 kph. North Carolina has been hit by only one other Category 4 storm since reliable record keeping began in the 1850s. That was Hurricane Hazel in 1954.

Some soldiers are heading home after fighting British Columbia forest fires for almost a month. About 100 land task force members will remain to assist with fire containment. At the height of the effort about 420 Canadian Forces members and three aircraft were engaged in the effort.

Daniel Kueblboeck, a 33-year old German pop singer is believed to have jumped off a cruise ship about 200km north of St John’s on Sunday. Canadian Forces aircraft joined the search.