In the News

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the constitutionality of enhancements of the 1982 “rape shield laws”, Criminal Code amendments designed to encourage reporting of sexual by essentially preventing a victim's sexual history from being used against them. Parliament approved changes in 2018 to expand the definition of evidence to include communications such as emails, videos and documents an accused might have about the complainant.

The prospect of a $5-billion Atlantic Loop to transmit Quebec hydroelectricity to the four Atlantic provinces is putting pressure on the federal government to approve it quickly due to the construction time frame. “We need to make sure we have clarity from the federal government on their timelines and, of course, their financial commitment,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said after talks with his New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island counterparts.

Governor General Mary Simon’s lack of fluency in French has prompted a group led by a former Parti Québécois leadership hopeful to file suit against her appointment on ground that it violates a constitutional requirement that the vice-regal representative, A Quebec-born Inuk who speaks English and Inuktitut, speak both official languages. The move in Quebec Superior Court follows a successful attempt by New Brunswick Acadians to have the appointment of their anglophone Lieutenant-Governor declared unconstitutional.

UN envoy says his country is ready for the EU to resume brokered discussions with the U.S. on overcoming remaining obstacles to a renewed nuclear agreement. Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi told the UN Security Council his country’s “negotiating team is ready to engage constructively . . . if the US acts realistically and shows its serious intention to implement its obligations.”

The extreme views facilitated by the Muslim Association of Canada, have been ongoing, yet the organization continues to receive millions in federal funding. Speakers at the upcoming conference in Toronto will include one who advocates the death penalty for homosexuality and another who says it's OK to beat your wife. An ongoing Canada Revenue Agency audit has identified links between the association and foreign entities, and the MAC is seeking a court order to have the audit shut down.

The Canadian government has yet to appoint a successor to Dominic Barton, its Ambassador to China who resigned in six months ago. The government’s position this week was that a replacement would be named in “due course” and that Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly had discussed with her Chinese counterpart “the challenges of recent years, including cases of arbitrary detention, and the importance of frank dialogue.”

A judge who presided over court appearances of “Freedom Convoy” organizers says there have been threats and other offensive messages from Canadian and U.S. sources that police considered serious enough to require intervention. “It's intimidation,” said the judge whose identity is protected. “It's trying to influence a court decision, and that's serious.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said today that Canada is discussing with European allies the potential for exporting oil and natural gas from Atlantic terminals as alternative to Russian imports. “It is important for Canada to be able to step up and to help our European friends that are dealing with very difficult energy realities,” she said. “We need to do it in a way that we’re also dealing with the climate change issue, and And this is exactly the conversations we’re having, particularly with the Germans and also with the Spanish.”

Individuals described as pro-Chinese agents have been using social media to pose as local residents and environmental activists unhappy with rare earth mining projects in the U.S. and Canada, according to a Virginia-based threat intelligence consultancy. The misrepresentation is designed to give China, the largest producer of rare earth minerals, a competitive advantage.

At the request of a commission of inquiry into the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act to address “freedom” protests earlier this year, the Liberals have waived cabinet confidence, only the fourth such move in Canadian history. “This exceptional step recognizes the fundamental importance of the commission's work and how critical these documents are in inquiring into why the government declared a public order emergency,” commission lawyers said.

The expansion of NATO's rapid reaction force marks a new phase of its response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and is intended to send a stronger message of deterrence to Russia.

Less than a month after being appointed Australia’s Minister for International Development & Pacific, Pat Conroy announced today that his country will set up a school to train Pacific island militaries amidst mounting competition for security ties in the region. He disclosed the plan ahead of a forum in Fiji at which regional leaders are expected to press for a trade and security pact with 10 countries which have diplomatic ties to China.

Iran and Argentina are trying to join the five-national BRICS group, the economic coalition currently comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

There has been no Canadian government followup so far on a U.S. announcement that diplomats showing mysterious symptoms first noted at their embassy in Havana several years ago will be compensated. The “Havana Syndrome”, also reported by Canadian diplomats and their families there, evidently resulted in long-term cognitive impairment, The president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers says Ottawa needs to “get to the bottom of what this is so that we can figure out what the best way of helping people is.”

The U.S. is pressing its allies to address forced labour practices in China’s Xinjiang region, kickstarting the campaign by implementing a law that bans goods from the region where it accuses authorities of genocide against Muslim minorities. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the goal is freedom from “the use of forced labour, to speak out against atrocities in Xinjiang, and to join us in calling on the government of the . . . to immediately end atrocities and human rights abuses.”

As the national capital braces for more “freedom” protests over the Canada Day weekend, interim Conservative Leader Candice Berger says her caucus is free to attend the protests. “I support peaceful and legal demonstrations, and if my MPs want to be there, they're free to do whatever they want, and they'll answer to their constituents,” she said on the weekend. Meanwhile, Ottawa police plan to ensure no long-term blockage of the city’s downtown core.

The European Union’s top diplomat says a “long and positive” weekend meeting with Iran’s foreign minister has set the stage for a resumption of stall nuclear negotiations. Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Nuclear Policy, said new talks would focus on “resolving the last outstanding issues” which include U.S. sanctions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the U.S. Supreme Court's decision today to overturn decades-old jurisprudence on abortion is a “horrific” threat to women’s right to choose. “My heart goes out to the millions of American women who are now set to lose their legal right to an abortion,” he said on social media. “I can't imagine the fear and anger you are feeling.”

An earthquake in eastern Afghanistan June 22 left at least 1,000 dead and the Taliban government working with aid groups to bring in resources. In one particularly hard-hit community, Taliban fighters were reportedly seen driving around but only a few evidently were helping with rescue and recovery efforts.

Microsoft reports that state-backed Russian hackers have engaged in “strategic espionage” against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups in 42 countries which have sided with Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s so-called “special military operation.” Nearly two-thirds of the targets have been NATO members, notably the U.S. and Poland, and the hackers’ activities have included unrelenting cyberattacks against Ukraine.

Yves Côté has ended his 10-year term as Commissioner of Canada Elections with a warning that disinformation and foreign interference are two key threats to the country’s electoral system. “There are all kinds of challenges that are lurking and some of them are becoming perhaps worse as we move on with time,” he says, calling on “politicians of all stripes, of institutions, of media, of academics . . . to pull together and say this is a danger.”

Responding to the problem of youth radicalization, the parliament in Australia’s second-largest state, Victoria, has become the first in the country to ban public displays of Nazi swastikas. Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, expects other states to follow suit, saying “the fact that we’ve got a resurgent white supremacist and neo-Nazi movement is a cause for concern in every state.”

Saudi Arabia's crown prince. Mohammed bin Salman. visited Turkey June 22 for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about repairing a deep diplomatic rift sparked by journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Seeking trade, investment and assistance, Turkey also has also worked to improve relations with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Israel.

The cost of twinning the federally-owned Trans Mountain pipeline to B.C. from Alberta has tripled, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported June 21, topping $21 billion compared with an initial $7.4-billion estimate. Natural disasters along the right-of-way, coupled with environmental measures and increasing financing costs are cited but an aide to Finance Ministers said the project “is in the national interest and will make Canada and the Canadian economy more sovereign and more resilient,”

The centrist government of French President Emmanuel is trying to avoid political paralysis after losing its parliamentary majority to influential right- and left-wing parties in last weekend’s election. The government now is focusing on building a “working majority’ through a coalition or alliances with individuals in the other parties.

Growing concern about the personal safety of Members of Parliament have prompted parliamentary security to issue MPs with emergency response technology. The decision has been confirmed by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, himself the target death threats on social media, and follows recent harassment of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh during an Ontario election campaign event.

A three-year-long public inquiry into money-laundering in British Columbia delivered strong criticism, finding billions of dollars of criminal funds flowed annually through casinos, real estate and luxury goods in the absence of effective federal law enforcement. The report released Wednesday by former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen says the anti-money laundering actions taken by the former BC Liberal government were largely ineffective. Cullen calls on the provincial government to create its own intelligence and investigation police unit to tackle large-scale money laundering, with an independent officer of the legislature to provide oversight.

The Canadian government plans to fight gun smuggling and trafficking by increasing criminal penalties, providing more tools to investigate firearms crimes, and strengthening border measures. According to the federal Liberal govt, the firearm-control legislation tabled today would put a national freeze on importing, buying or selling handguns, and also allow for the removal of gun licences from people involved in acts of domestic violence or criminal harassment, such as stalking.

A rare "Derecho" storm extended roughly 1,000km from the Michigan border to Quebec City leaving fatalities and much damage in its wake, toppling trees and power lines, overturning cars, cutting electricity, and tossing debris through windows. At least nine deaths have been attributed to the storm, mostly from falling trees.

The federal government has banned Huawei from working on Canada's fifth-generation networks over security concerns. The move puts Canada in line with key intelligence allies like the United States, which have expressed concerns about the national security implications of giving the Chinese tech giant access to key infrastructure.

Historically neutral Finland and Sweden confirmed today that they will apply for NATO membership, a political shift prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland, which shares a 1,300km border with Russia, announced its decision first and was followed within hours by Sweden. Russia has threatened unspecific “consequences.”

The Israeli surveillance company NSO Group is being sued by Apple Inc. in U.S. federal court in a bid to hold it accountable for surveillance and targetting the San Francisco-based giant’s customers with NSO’s Pegasus spyware. Seeking unspecified damages and costs, Apple said it would donate the proceeds its suit to organizations that expose spyware.

With Finland’s parliament expected to formally approve a request for NATO membership, a decision expected to be matched by Sweden this weekend, Russia’s foreign ministry said today there is a threat to security and stability in northern Europe. “Russia will be forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature,” it added without being specific.

Canada’s dairy supply management program can now add New Zealand to the roster of countries challenging its legitimacy. New Zealand’s trade minister, Damien O’Connor said May 12 that his government has initiated dispute settlement proceedings under the 2018 Trans-Pacific Partnership accord. “Our priority is to ensure that New Zealand exporters have meaningful access to the benefits negotiated under CPTPP, and that all parties fulfill the commitments they have made to each other.”