In the News

In the second such case, senior executives of a U.S. company were permitted to enter Canada for non-essential purposes without having to quarantine for 14 days. Costco President Craig Jelinek and another executive visited by private jet in August. “Their travel was deemed to be essential when it should not have been,” says Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, who had ordered tighter control after the first case was uncovered, also in August.

European Union leaders want British PM Boris Johnson to extend his deadline for winding up post-Brexit trade talks. Rather, they say, he should “make the necessary move” to having new “intensive” talks concluded by the end of the month.

For the first time since January, Canada's ambassador to China, Dominic Barton, was recently granted virtual consular access to Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian facing the death penalty. Convicted of involvement in methamphetamine smuggling, he was initially sentenced to 15 years but that was changed to the death penalty in a retrial. “Canada continues to call for clemency,” Global Affairs Canada says.

The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the constitutionality of a change in how juries are selected. A majority ruled that the government’s legislated elimination of “peremptory challenges” was simply a procedural change to make juries more representative of the community at large.

John Bolton, a former U.S. National Security Advisor, says President Donald Trump considers Canada a political pawn in trade dealings with China. “Within the whole U.S. government, that was true in the mind of . . . one person only: Donald Trump,” Bolton said in a televised interview.

The spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. in recent weeks has been worse than it seems, not because of how it has spread but where. Surges in rural areas have been just as severe as the spikes in densely populated cities in the Sun Belt over the summer.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s declaration that a military solution is the only way to resolve his country’s escalating conflict with Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh has been criticized by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne. He and his British counterpart, Dominic Raab, insist that a negotiated settlement is the only appropriate solution.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service considers a requirement that it secure Federal Court investigative warrants “a necessary evil” which potentially compromises its effectiveness. An internal review found that ineffective training, secrecy and a poor understanding of responsibilities contributed to CSIS failing to meet its obligation of full disclosure when requesting warrants.

China has joined a global coalition to distribute COVID-19 vaccine equitably, supported by the World Health Organization and most industrialized country but dismissed by U.S. President Donald Trump. A foreign ministry spokesperson did not go into detail about Beijing’s commitment support for the COVAX plan to deliver at least two billion doses by the end of 2021.

Thirteen people have been charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat accused by a White House spokesperson of “sowing division” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal and state law enforcement officials said Oct. 8 that the accused domestic terrorists had sought to overthrow several state governments they believe were “violating the U.S. Constitution.”

The escalating Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict over Nagorno-Karabachk evidently is being “shadowed” by a social-media battle over how it is being portrayed to the outside world. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says researchers at its Cyber Policy Centre have found large numbers of accounts weighing on both sides, indicating large-scale coordination.

The U.S. administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans, featured strongly in the Oct. 8 debate between Vice President Mike Pence and his Democratic Party challenger, Senator Kamala Harris. Pence defended the White House record, often ignoring facts, while Harris accused the administration of a catastrophic failure in public-health policy.

Belarus opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, in exile in Lithuania, has been charged by Russia with an unspecific “criminal charge" and put on its wanted list. Tikhanovskaya ran against incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko in August's disputed election.

Face masks have become the ubiquitous symbol of the COVID-19 pandemic which has killed more than a million persons worldwide. There’s general consensus about their effectiveness in health care institutions but the journal Nature says that for those used by the general public, there's confusion due to the fact that “data are messy, disparate and often hastily assembled.”

The Supreme Court of Canada has been told by federal government lawyers that it would be a miscarriage of justice to grant a new trial for two men accused of plotting to crash a Via Rail train. The Ontario Court of Appeal agreed last year to a new trial for Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier, found guilty in 2015 of terror-related charges, on ground that the original jury had been improperly constituted.

The U.S. State Department has told Congress that Syria continues to obtain components for its chemical weapons and missile programs as President Bashar al-Assad tries to restore capabilities eroded by civil war and U.S. airstrikes. “The Assad regime continues to pursue chemical weapons,” the State Department said in a report just made public. Kelly Craft, the U.S. ambassador to the UN told a Security Council session this week that Syria is breaching its international obligations governing chemical weapons.

President Donald Trump plans to participate in the second election debate, set for Oct. 15 in Miami, against former Vice-President Joe Biden. This is despite have been just discharged from hospital after treatment for COVID-19 and warnings that the course of his illness is unpredictable given his age, 74, and that he is overweight. Many of his White House staff also have tested positive.

After a series of violent protests in the capital against voting irregularities, Kyrgyzstan’s electoral commission has “invalidated” the results of its Oct. 4 national election. The decision was taken after President Sooronbai Jeenbekov accused “political forces” of trying to seize power and proposed a thorough investigation.

Former cabinet minister Ralph Goodale, a Liberal veteran who lost his Saskatchewan seat in last year’s general election, is apparently bound for Britain as Canada’s High Commissioner. He would succeed Janice Charette, a former Privy Council Clerk appointed in 2016.

The federal government is returning to a lottery system for citizens or landed immigrants hoping to sponsor immediate family members. Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Minister Marco Mendicino and the three-week online application window would open Oct. 13. Department staff will then randomly select prospective applicants who would have 60 days to complete the process, which had been suspended due to COVID-19.

Three days after being admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for aggressive treatment of COVID-19, U.S. President Donald Trump has returned to the White House, where he would continue around-the-clock care. His personal physician, USN Cdr Sean Conley has said that because Trump remains contagious, he could resume his schedule once “there is no evidence of live virus still present.”

Vice-President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris, will be separated by plastic shielding at their Oct. 7 debate. Harris’ request prompted mockery from Pence spokeswoman Katie Miller, who was confirmed COVID-19 positive in May; she suggested that Harris wanted “a fortress around herself.” As for two more scheduled presidential debates, incumbent Donald Trump’s three-day stay in hospital has prompted debate organizers to rethink their approach.

The U.S. military is being called on the congressional carpet to explain how an estimated $1 billion in COVID-19 relief funds allegedly were used to pay contractors rather than to purchase medical supplies. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has been told by several House subcommittees that the funds were supposed “to prioritize the domestic production and distribution of urgently needed medical supplies and personal protective equipment” and not used for “lucrative contracts . . . for non-medical projects.”

The federal government has promised to spend $10 billion on infrastructure initiatives as part of its plan to stimulate growth and create jobs in a post-pandemic economy. The package unveiled by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Infrastructure & Communities Minister Catherine McKenna includes funding for “clean power”, improved Internet connectivity, energy retrofits, agricultural irrigation and zero-emissions transit.

The Massachusetts-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has received a U.S. Navy contract worth more than $12 million to develop unmanned submarine vehicles and buoys as well as a communications and data sharing network. The stated goal is enhanced monitoring of environmental changes in the Arctic.

President Donald Trump and his wife have tested positive for COVID-19 but Vice-President Mike Pence and his wife have been confirmed negative. A persistent skeptic about the effectiveness of masks, Trump evidently was suffering “cold-like” symptoms but was continuing to work from isolation in the White House as the international community and global markets reacted to the announcement.

The European Commission is taking legal action against Britain over its push for Internal Market legislation which would breach parts of the legally binding Brexit package agreed to last year. EC President Ursula von der Leyen says the proposal “is a breach of the obligation of good faith laid down in the Withdrawal Agreement” and could lead to renewal of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

British Chief of Defence Gen Nick Carter wants his government to “fundamentally change” how it counters spreading authoritarianism rivals or risk being overwhelmed. His advice coincides with publication of a new Integrated Operating Concept which underscores the value of improved domestic and international cooperation and equipment modernization. “In an era of persistent competition, our deterrent posture needs to be more dynamically managed and modulated,” Carter says.

Rob Anders, an Alberta MP who helped found the Conservative Party of Canada and made a name for himself campaigning for lower taxes, has been charged with five tax-related offences. He has declined comment. 

In a rare display of unanimity, the House of Commons has voted 360-0 in favour of Bill C-4 which would authorize new benefits for persons whose income has been affected by COVID-19. The vote had been considered a confidence measure.

Overseas reaction to the first 2020 U.S. presidential debate was generally negative with one Chinese editor saying it was filled with “chaos, interruptions, personal attacks and insults” while an Australiana counterpart described it as “swamped” by the “rancour engulfing America.”

Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux is projecting that the federal deficit for this fiscal year will reach $328.5 billion, due in no small way to an estimated $225.9 billion in emergency benefits due to COVID-19. Expected to be a major factor in future spending government-wide, it would represent 15 per cent of gross domestic product, the largest in more than 50 years of comparable data. The government said in July that the deficit would be $343.2 billion, but that did not include either new spending or emergency measures which came in under budget.

A Quebec woman suspected of sending ricin-laced envelopes to the White House and to law enforcement officials in Texas remains in custody in New York. Pascale Ferrier, 53, has pleaded not guilty but a judge says there is “convincing material” that she continues to pose a threat. When arrested 20 September at the Buffalo border crossing from Fort Erie, Ont., she had a loaded pistol and other weapons in her possession as well as a forged Texas driver's licence.

The Finnish telecom giant Nokia has contracted with British Telecom to provide 5G technology for BT’s “radio access network” as well as replacing its Chinese competitor, Huawei, in BT’s other networks. The government announced in July that all service providers would be prohibited from installing new Huawei technology next Jan. 1 and remove all existing installations by 2027 due to U.S.-driven national security concerns.