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Ottawa ‘must act’ to overhaul RCMP’s federal policing program, committee report says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

A committee of parliamentarians says the RCMP’s federal policing program suffers from challenges that undermine its ability to fulfil an essential role in the security and intelligence community.In a report released today, the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians blames the problems on factors including the RCMP’s focus on front-line policing across Canada, weak governance and inadequate data management.The committee of MPs and senators, which hears witnesses behind closed doors, announced its review of the RCMP’s federal policing mandate two years ago.It studied the capabilities and results of the mandate’s programs and activities and how the RCMP carries out federal criminal investigations in areas of national security, complex crimes and major organized crime.The report says the government should take a clear role in driving reforms to federal policing.It urges the federal public safety minister to provide clear, ongoing directi...

WeWork seeking to exit some Canadian locations as part of bankruptcy filings

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

TORONTO — WeWork is seeking an early exit of several Canadian leases as part of bankruptcy proceedings for the once high-flying office sharing company.Filings show the company is looking to get out of two leases in Toronto, two in Vancouver, and one in Burnaby, B.C. as part of its efforts to improve its balance sheet.The five Canadian locations make up a small portion of the 69 total leases it sought permission to leave early, with most in New York.The company said in a late Monday announcement that it had a deal in place with the majority of its stakeholders to “drastically reduce” its debt as it works to reduce its commercial office lease portfolio. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, with plans to also file recognition proceedings in Canada, according to Monday’s announcement.WeWork locations outside of the U.S. and Canada will not be affected by the proceedings, the company said, as well as franchisees worldwide.This report b...

Industry minister won’t say whether new military planes will be a sole-source deal

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

OTTAWA — Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne won’t say whether the process to replace a fleet of aging military patrol planes will be an open-source bid.On Tuesday, Champagne told reporters in Ottawa the federal government has made no decision so far on whether Bombardier Inc. will have a chance to submit a proposal on new reconnaissance aircraft.For months, Bombardier CEO Éric Martel has been pushing Ottawa to put out a call for tenders as he promotes the company’s still non-existent surveillance plane over a Boeing Co. alternative — the apparent frontrunner.Bombardier joined forces earlier this year with U.S.-based General Dynamics on a patrol aircraft, a modified Global 6500 business jet with submarine-hunting technology, which they hope will supplant the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 14 CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol planes in the early 2030s.However, Public Services and Procurement Canada describes Boeing’s P-8A Poseidons as the only currently avai...

Man charged in suspected hate crime following rally in Toronto

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

Toronto police are investigating a suspected hate crime and have charged a man with assault following a rally held in the city’s downtown core over the weekend.Authorities were called to the Yonge Street and Davenport Road area on Sunday, Nov. 5, for reports of violent behaviour.It’s alleged the victim was in the area of a demonstration near Yonge Street and Bloor Street and had a keffiyeh around his arm. A keffiyeh is a traditional headdress worn by men from parts of the Middle East, and the black and white chequered keffiyeh has become a symbol of Palestinian solidarity. Police said the victim and accused became involved in a verbal dispute, leading to the accused assaulting the victim by spraying them with a substance believed to be pepper spray. The victim suffered minor injuries. Police confirmed the investigation is being treated as a suspected hate-motivated offence.Investigators charged 36-year-old Brandon Stier with assault with a weapon. He&...

Significant update on Pathways Alliance project coming soon: MEG Energy CEO

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

CALGARY — The CEO of one of the oilsands companies behind the Pathways Alliance says the group expects to provide a significant update on its proposed $16.5-billion carbon capture and storage project within the next couple of months.Derek Evans, chief executive of MEG Energy, made the comments on a conference call with analysts discussing the company’s third-quarter financial results.MEG is one of six oilsands companies that have formed the Pathways consortium with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from oilsands production to net-zero by 2050.The companies have proposed jointly investing in the construction of what would be one of the largest carbon capture projects in the world. The project would take the form of a massive pipeline built to transport carbon from 20 separate carbon capture facilities at oilsands sites in northern Alberta to an underground hub near Cold Lake for safe storage.The proposed project would sequester up to 10 to 12 million tonnes of harmf...

Music Review: Todd Snider’s great ‘Crank It, We’re Doomed’ finally arrives after 16 years in the can

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

A singer-songwriter with the persona of a fried folkie can be expected to work at a poky pace, as is the case of Todd Snider. His “Crank It, We’re Doomed” album has been a long time coming, despite the urgency of its title.Snider recorded the 15-song album in 2007 before shelving it. Much of the material subsequently surfaced elsewhere and will be familiar to fans when “Doomed” is finally released Friday.Even so, it ranks among Snider’s strongest collections. Four songs have never been released before, including the bluesy stomper “Juice” and “What Made You Do It,” a marvel of cool jazz that evokes Tom Waits singing to Billy Joe Shaver.Other highlights include a brief star turn by Kris Kristofferson on “Good Fortune” and Snider’s duet with Loretta Lynn on “Don’t Tempt Me,” which they co-wrote. “Anyone can see you’re stoned as a rock,” she sings.These garage-folk versions of tunes, available elsewhere, are often significantly different. “Mercer’s Folly” combines the words for one lat...

How Lebanon’s Hezbollah group became a critical player in the Israel-Hamas war

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

BEIRUT (AP) — When the Lebanese militia Hezbollah announced last week that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, would deliver his first public speech since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, much of the region held its breath.Would Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the Arab world’s most powerful paramilitary force, continue its limited exchanges of fire with Israel or throw itself wholeheartedly into the war? In Lebanon, streets emptied as people sat glued to their screens to watch, ready to parse his words along with decision-makers in Israel and across the Mideast.Hezbollah has traded fire with Israeli troops along the border since the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel sparked war in the Gaza Strip. Both sides have suffered casualties, but the fear is that the conflict will escalate and spiral into a regional fight.Nasrallah nodded to those concerns in his speech Friday. “Some say I’m going to announce that we have entered the battle,” he said. “We already enter...

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to share stage with former Fox host Tucker Carlson

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

CALGARY — A right-wing news commentator is to have a conversation with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in January when he’s scheduled to speak in Calgary.Tucker Carlson, who was fired by Fox News in April, is to appear at the Telus Convention Centre on Jan. 24.An itinerary posted on Carlson’s website says he will make remarks and have a conversation with Smith.The premier’s office says in a statement that Smith participates in a variety of public and private events, and does interviews with people from across the political spectrum.It adds that she doesn’t subscribe to every view of every interviewer or reporter.Opposition NDP members of the legislature say the premier shouldn’t give time to such a divisive personality.“Tucker Carlson is a pro-Putin white nationalist, so naturally Danielle Smith is scheduled to help him promote his event in Calgary in January,” finance critic Shannon Phillips wrote on the social media platform X, formerly kno...

Chile president calls for referendum on new constitution proposal drafted by conservative councilors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Tuesday received the new Constitution draft and called for a national plebiscite next month so citizens can decide whether the new charter will replace the country’s dictatorship-era constitution.Chileans, who in September of last year resoundingly rejected a proposed Constitution that had been written by a left-leaning convention, will decide on Dec. 17 whether to accept the new document that was largely written by conservative councilors.“The definitive time for citizens has begun, and now it is their voice and their decision that truly matter,” Boric said during a formal ceremony in Congress to formally deliver the document and sign the decree that calls for the vote.After Chileans rejected the proposal for what many characterized as one of the world’s most progressive constitutions, they must now decide whether to vote for a document that some warn goes to the other extreme.One of the most controversial articles in the pr...

Biden administration says colleges must fight ‘alarming rise’ in antisemitism and Islamophobia

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:09:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is warning U.S. schools and colleges that they must take immediate action to stop antisemitism and Islamophobia on their campuses, citing an “alarming rise” in threats and harassment.In a Tuesday letter, the Education Department said there’s “renewed urgency” to fight discrimination against students during the Israel-Hamas war. The letter reminds schools of their legal duty to protect students and intervene to stop harassment that disrupts their education.“Hate-based discrimination, including based on antisemitism and Islamophobia among other bases, have no place in our nation’s schools,” wrote Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights at the department.Universities have faced mounting criticism over their response to the war and its reverberations at U.S. schools. Jewish and Muslim students on many campuses say too little is being done to keep them safe. Protests have sometimes turned violent including at a recent dem...