In the News

Legal notices from the federal government which seemed to be a scam, mainly due to fractured English and strange graphics, are the real thing. The emails from Service Canada are calling for repayment of unwarranted benefits to individuals during the initial coronavirus waves but the often skeptical response from recipients has prompted calls for the agency to change how it contacts taxpayers.

Ripudaman Singh Malik, one two men acquitted in the 1985 Air India bombings – a mid-air explosion that killed 329 passengers and crew on a flight to Canada from Mumbai and a failed second attempt that killed two baggage handlers in Japan – was shot to death July 14 in Surrey, B.C. Opinions on his involvement remain deeply divided but police said they believe Malik had been targetted.

A former Central Intelligence Agency computer engineer was found guilty July 13 in U.S. Federal Court of the largest data leak in ghe agency’s history. Joshua Schulte, whose previous trial ended with a hung jury in 2020, was accused of handing over reams of classified information to WikiLeaks in 2016 while working in the CIA Center for Cyber Intelligence.

The UN Security Council says more needs to be done to counter disinformation and misinformation about its 90,000 peacekeepers, whose operations have faced growing attacks, especially on social media. All 15 council members approved a Brazilian call July 13 for the UN to “improve the culture of strategic communications across civilian, military and police components” of its 12 peacekeeping missions.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and visiting U.S. President Joe Biden pledged today to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Their written accord came a day after he told a local TV station that he was open to the use of force as a “last resort” against Iran which Israel, generally believed to have the only nuclear weapons in the Middle East, considers an existential threat.

The Supreme Court of Canada is being asked by an Ottawa-based Muslim charity to direct the federal government to stop a Canada Revenue Agency policy of “shoot first and hold a hearing later” when it comes to levying administrative penalties. The charity wants a review of a Federal Court of Appeal's refusal to freeze a CRA directive that prohibited the charity from issuing tax receipts.

A journalist already jailed for two years for “violating public order” by covering protests against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, has been sentenced to an additional eight years for “state treason.” Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Katerina Bakhvalova is being punished for simply showing “the truth” about their country’s increasingly authoritarian leader.

As current head of the Council of the Federation, B.C. Premier John Horgan called on the federal government July 12 to stop “quibbling” about health care funding and actually meet with the provinces and territories on how to restore a “crumbling” system. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos countered that officials in the two levels of government have been working on the issue, which centres on a provincial call for increased and unconditional transfer payments.

An Alberta judge has ruled that it is not unconstitutional to refuse an organ transplant to a woman who has refused COVID-19 vaccine as a matter of “conscience.” Annette Lewis had sought preserve her place on a waitlist after doctors told her she was ineligible. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil dismissed her challenge July 12, explaining that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not applicable in such cases.

A proposed 233-kilometre transmission line to carry Quebec hydroelectricity to Massachusetts is facing a legal challenge in a Maine court 18 months after construction began. Even though it has the potential to eliminate three million tonnes of carbon emissions annually, the $1-billion project funded by Hydro-Quebec and Spanish-owned Central Maine Power was vetoed in a Maine referendum last November.

Faced with resurgent passenger demand and staff shortages at many airports, Air Canada plans to cut an average of 154 flights daily for the rest of July and all of August. “Things are not business as usual in our industry globally, and this is affecting our operations and our ability to serve you with our normal standards of care,” CEO Michael Rousseau said today. The COVID 19 pandemic brought the world air transport system to a halt in early 2020. Now, after more than two years, global

Via Rail and Unifor have announced a tentative contract agreement which, if ratified by 2,400 unionized workers, would eliminate the threat of a national passenger rail shutdown. It would be retroactive to the beginning of 2022 and in effect through 2024.

Canada’s decision to permit the return to Germany of six turbines needed to import Russian natural gas has resulted in Ukraine calling in Canada’s ambassador to protest what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calls an “absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia.” He also said July 11 that the unprecedented decision in Ottawa “will be perceived in Moscow exclusively as a manifestation of weakness.”

As concern grows in some European markets about the security of supplies of natural gas from Russia, Canada has agreed, despite protests from Ukraine, to return a turbine to Germany which is essential to pipeline operations. Gas supplies to Germany via a submarine line across the Baltic Sea have been shut down for 10 days for annual maintenance but German Economy Minister Robert Habeck says EU countries must prepare in case shipments do not resume.

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency is reviewing internal security programs at the Communication Security Establishment, the foreign signals intelligence agency. Among other things, NSIRA is looking into whether the use of polygraph tests in CSE recruitment "is lawful, reasonable and necessary. The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected the use of polygraph results as evidence in court due to concerns of accuracy.

An unexpected loss of jobs in June, the first monthly decline not associated with the coronavirus pandemic, was reported today by Statistics Canada. Subject to revision, overall employment fell 43,000, effectively negating a 40,000 increase in May. Despite the decline, the unemployment rate fell to a record low of 4.9 per cent from 5.1 as fewer people evidently looked for work. The agency said the latest loss was tied mainly to self-employment.

The Community Security Establishment’s use of polygraph tests as part of its agent recruitment process is being assessed by the National Security and Intelligence Review. The Supreme Court of Canada has rejected the use of polygraph results as evidence in court but NSIRA investigators say the review should include sampling the results of current and prospective CSE personnel’s “lie detector” tests, a proposal the CSE says raises serious personal privacy concerns.

Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, has died in hospital after being shot twice during a speech July 8 in the capital city of Nara Prefecture. Police immediately subdued the attacker, who admitted having used a home-made gun to shoot the 67-year-old politician.

The British government has approved a £2.6 billion takeover of Ultra Electronics, which manufactures a range of sensitive defence and security systems for the “Five Eyes”, by the Boston-based Advent International private equity firm. This was after months of discussion in London about the sale to a foreign entity and there were reports that U.S. officials threatened to limit intelligence-sharing if the deal wasn’t approved.

As his province enters its seventh COVID-19 wave, Health Minister Christian Dubé said today that while the situation is “under control for the moment”, residents should be “vigilant” because he doesn’t want to reimpose health measures. “We've said all along that we need to live with this COVID,” he said, stressing the need to keep vaccinations up to date and to isolate positive cases.

The Supreme Court of Canada has been asked by the federal government to resolve a dispute with Alberta about the legality of 2019 legislation empowering federal regulators to consider the environmental and social effects of major construction. Alberta Court of Appeal struck down the Impact Assessment Act, calling it a “breathtaking pre-emption of provincial authority.”

Trade Minister Mary Ng confirmed today that the U.S. has agreed to lift tariffs on Canadian solar panels. First imposed by the former U.S. administration in January 2018, they were extended by the current one in February 2018 but a trade tribunal found that they were not in compliance with the terms of the North Amerian free trade pact

A “strategic lawsuit against public participation” filed by anti-vaccine activists is being described as a vexatious attempt to silence critics and limit free speech. Three Ontario nurses who have been investigated for spreading medical misinformation and conspiracy theories on social media are seeking $1 million in damages in the suit which the Canadian Nurses Association and news media are moving to have the suit struck down.

Finland has seized 865 Russian railcars as a result of European Union sanctions. VR, the Finnish state railway operator had already reduced traffic with Russia after the EU sanctioned Russian coal supplies in April and a spokesperson said the company is trying to return “non-sanction” rolling stock as soon as possible.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced July 5 that Canada is the first country to ratify Finland and Sweden’s accession protocols to join NATO. “Their membership will make NATO stronger and we call on all NATO members to move swiftly to complete their ratification processes to limit opportunities for interference by adversaries,” he said. The House of Commons had already approved a motion of support before it adjourned for the summer.

Even though Allan Kerpan, a former MP and Saskatchewan MLA, has been tasked by Premier Scott Moe with co-hosting “in house” about increasing the province’s autonomy, he’s not interested in “independence from Confederation.” Rather, he says he is “very interested in some sort of independence from Ottawa.”

A day after contract talks with its pilots collapsed, Scandinavian Airlines, headquartered in Sweden, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. today as part of an accelerated corporate restructuring. It’s the latest in a series of international carriers which have used the process to renegotiate contracts with aircraft leasing companies and other suppliers while continuing to operate during the pandemic.

Customs & Immigration Union President Jack Weber believes that a lack of frontline airport staff, coupled with an overdependence on technology notably the ArriveCan app, are contributing to widespread long lineups as well as flight delays and cancellations. He is urging recruitment of at least 2,000 staff at airports and marine and land entry points.

Sixteen women and 35 minors have been repatriated by the French government from camps in Syria, where they had been involved with the Islamic State, which drew more adherents from France than from any other European country. Eight women were taken into custody for questioning, the other eight were detained on arrest warrants and one of the children who is about to turn 18 is in custody on suspicion of terrorist activities.

Canada’s embassy in Beijing has confirmed that a China-born businessman with Canadian citizenship was due to go on trial July 4 but so far has been denied access to the trial, which is believed to part of a crackdown on conglomerates. Xiao Jianhua, known to have links with the Chinese Communist Party elite, has not been seen since 2017 when he was abducted in Hong Kong.

NATO’s 30 member states signed off today on protocols which would enable Finland and Sweden to join the alliance but the process is far from over. Each state’s parliament must ratify the proposal and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to indicate that the Nordic countries should extradite Kurdish expatriates whom he considers terrorists.

A man accused of shooting two Ottawa brothers in broad daylight in May 2021 was only minutes away from boarding a flight to Somalia when he was arrested at Toronto International Airport. Abdullahi Osman actually was arrested Feb. 12 but details have only now come to light during the trial of an alleged accessory who pleaded guilty to passport fraud for having helped Osman.

Seventy Russian diplomatic staff in Bulgaria were expected to have left the country by July 3, reducing Moscow’s footprint by more than half. Prime Minister Kiril Petkov explained that “our services identified them as people who worked against our interests.” Many European countries have expelled Russians since the invasion of Ukraine began February 24 and Moscow has generally responded in kind.

Some 51 per cent of major Canadian airports’ commercial departures and arrivals in one six-day period in late June were cancelled or delayed, according to a New Brunswick-based data strata consultancy. DataWazo reports that Toronto International had the worst June 22-27 performance with 11 flights cancelled and 52 per cent delayed.