Canada

So my parents got scammed last night, fraud case is open but it's likely not gonna go anywhere and they'll be out 10K - they know better and now they really know better, and I'm hoping to get some advice on a repayment strategy.

They absolutely don't have that kind of money and repayment will take a while.

Plan one is just put it on the mortgage, but they're currently locked in at a lower rate for 2 more years, so adjusting that isn't ideal if it changes the rate. If not, adding 10K to mortgage is no brainer.

Line of credit does carry lower interests, but it will accrue daily, credit cards are high interest, but interest is racked up monthly.

Would it be possible/smart (assuming +10K credit card capacity) to move LoC debt to the credit card for 25 ish days a month to avoid daily LoC interest, and then send the debt back to LoC for 5ish days (transfer time) and have the credit card at $0 at the end of every month? No credit card interest and far less days for LoC debt to accrue interest?

Obviously there is risk in not having the credit card paid off in time, but would this strategy be viable if properly executed?

A judge has reserved decision on a challenge of the fairness of the $510 million being paid to the lawyers who argued the landmark $10-billion Robinson Huron treaty annuities settlement.

At the Ontario Superior Court hearing Tuesday in a packed Toronto courtroom, as many as 1,000 people watched virtually at one point.

Two of the 21 member nations represented by Gimaa (Chief) of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek Craig Nootchtai and Ogimaa-Kwe (Chief) of Garden River First Nation Karen Bell brought the case, saying they feel the legal fees need to be reviewed and assessed for reasonableness.

Under the 1850 treaty, 21 First Nations shared their land north of Lake Huron in exchange for a promise of payments based on the wealth produced by the land.

The Crown unilaterally capped those payments at $4 per person per year in 1874.

In an agreed-upon statement issued late last week, the Law Society of B.C. reprimanded Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond and fined her $10,000, after she admitted she had made a series of false public claims about her accomplishments and history.

At the same time, the lawyer, former judge and academic suggests that a DNA test referenced in that agreement confirms the truth of her Indigenous ancestry claims.

(The) geneticist (who reviewed the DNA results), Simon Gravel of McGill University, told CBC when reached by phone that he was asked to review DNA results provided to him by Turpel-Lafond's lawyer from a test that had been conducted by U.S.-based Nebula Genomics.

"I also, myself, did not verify whether this report is from [Turpel-Lafond]," he said. "This is something that they're claiming."

He said the test results are similar to what the public would receive from an Ancestry.com or 23 and Me test, where a percentage of DNA ancestry is assigned from the various regions of the world.

British Columbia's Ministry of Land and Water says personnel are conducting assessments near a landslide that blocked the Chilcotin River in the province's Interior, including to understand risks that might exist downstream.

A government statement says the landslide Wednesday blocked the river that feeds into the Fraser River, and a sudden release of water "may cause rapid rises in river levels downstream along the Fraser River" south to Hope, B.C.

The River Forecast Centre has issued a flood warning for the Chilcotin River upstream of the landslide and a flood watch downstream.

As the devastating fires around Jasper National Park filled the sky with smoke and ash, John Pomeroy was thinking of the region's famous — and melting — glaciers.

Just a week before the fires, the University of Saskatchewan hydrologist had been to the Athabasca Glacier located about 100 kilometres south of the town of Jasper, to collect measurements. His team found that the glacier had already melted about three metres in thickness since last September. "Which is plenty for a mostly winter period," he said.

What Pomeroy's been seeing at the glacier is not the bright white, snowy landscape they're often associated with — but rather a grimy and darkened surface. He believes it's likely that the glacier has been further darkened by the ash and soot from the latest fires.

Archive: [ https://archive.is/1FpoD ]

The very public spat between the province and West Vancouver is over an extremely small number of properties, almost all of them in the parts of the Ambleside and Dundarave neighbourhoods close to Marine Drive and the city’s major bus route. Most of West Vancouver, which extends out to Horseshoe Bay in the west and up Cypress Mountain in the north, is unaffected by the ministry’s requirements.

West Vancouver, with a population of about 45,000, is routinely listed in real-estate profiles and media reports as one of the wealthiest communities in Canada, with high household net worth and high employment income overall. It has also been identified as one of the slowest-growing areas of Metro Vancouver of the past quarter century. About 80 per cent of West Vancouver employees commute from outside the city.

Councillor Christine Cassidy and other councillors said West Vancouver has been working hard to add housing, rezoning the city several years ago to allow the basement suites and coach houses on most lots as well as approving big new projects and areas for development.

“I’m not somebody who likes to be dictated to,” said Ms. Cassidy, calling the current government “now quite frankly bordering on communism.”

'All top 10 teams do it,' coach wrote in message

A Toronto father and son who were arrested while in the "advanced stages" of planning a violent attack have been charged with multiple terrorism-related offences, the RMCP say.

Ahmad Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and Mostafa Eldidi, 26, face a total of nine charges; including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit or at the direction of a terrorist group — namely the Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim militant group.

At some point over the past decade in Canada, McKinsey & Company became the North Star for how to fix things in Ottawa. The management consulting company has been called in to help digitize the Canadian navy, create a ten-year plan for a government-owned bank, modernize leadership at our border services agency, provide an international view on transforming our immigration department, and much more.

They weren’t the only major firm getting millions in these government contracts. Along with their rivals, McKinsey has formed a shadow public service—an army of analysts, many with degrees from impressive business schools, who promise to govern better than the bureaucrats.

Ottawa became increasingly reliant on McKinsey and the others, more than doubling its spending on management consultants over the Liberals’ time in office. Journalists then started asking questions about what, exactly, all this spending was getting us. Similar questions were raised across the industrialized world, where McKinsey and others have had a similar rise. Parliamentary hearings followed, interrogating the value for money of these lucrative gigs. Just as suddenly as he had ushered in this new consultocracy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ordered it to end—vowing, when I spoke with him in an interview for The Walrus, to “crack down.”

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) says it’s intervening in a legal dispute over Saskatchewan’s controversial pronoun laws to prevent the “abuse” of the notwithstanding clause.

The civil rights advocate was one of 11 parties approved to make arguments in a constitutional battle over Saskatchewan’s Parents Bill of Rights following a fiat from the appeal court on Friday.

Saskatchewan’s law requires consent for students under the age of 16 to change their names or pronouns while in school, puts broad restrictions on sexual health education and bars sexual assault centres from presenting in school.

The University of Regina’s UR Pride launched a legal challenge against the rules that began as a Ministry of Education policy in August 2023 before being introduced as a law, with the province invoking the notwithstanding clause to protect it from a potential court order.

Canadian military members who are retiring in the foreseeable future will face delays in receiving severance, back pay and accumulated vacation payouts, the Department of National Defence has acknowledged.

There's been concern and confusion among veterans for several weeks, after a note sent to members who are on track to be released warned them to expect delays in receiving their pension — a hot button issue for former soldiers and the federal government.

Both the defence department and public services and procurement, which is responsible for military pensions, say the payment delays do not involve pensions but rather "release benefits."

Those are separate, standard payments that are within the purview of the defence department, which says it is struggling with a staffing shortage — hence the reason for the delay.

RJ Barrett led all scorers with 24 points in the victory. He shot 8-for-14 from the floor and added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. His 24 points were the most by a Canadian at the Olympic Men’s basketball tournament since Steve Nash had 26 points in 2000.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overcame early foul trouble to finish with 16 points on 8-for-10 field goals, adding four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocked shots in 26 minutes, while Dillon Brooks scored 16 points. Lu Dort added 11 points while playing stellar defence in the second half as Canada pulled away.

Canada’s defensive pressure in the second half helped to force Australia into 18 turnovers in the game, while Canada had 11 miscues of their own. Canada held a 28-10 advantage in points scored off turnovers.

"I think we came back with a purpose in the third quarter," Fernández said. "We did a great job, 22 deflections in the second half, only 16 points in the paint allowed and that ignited our offence. The way we ran the floor, we scored a lot off of their turnovers. It starts with the defence.”

“The resiliency and how relentless this group is [was the difference],” Fernández said. “The way they fought in the second half, Lu Dort was amazing. Dillon was amazing. I think Khem Birch gave us great minutes, Dwight [Powell]with nine rebounds. It was a great team effort. It wasn’t perfect, but for game two, we’re still growing, and we’re about to face one of the best programs in the world.”

The men's next game (vs Spain) is Friday at 11:15 am ET. The women's next game - hopefully a bounce back one after a blowout loss to France to start the group phase 0-1 - is Thursday at 7:30 am ET and they'll take on Australia.

Pat King's trial may have ended last week, but the prominent figure in the 2022 convoy protests is expected to be taken into custody as early as Tuesday after allegedly breaching his bail conditions.

King has pleaded not guilty to mischief, intimidation and other charges for his role in what became known as the Freedom Convoy.

After his trial ended, King has broadcast online — something he had done occasionally since being released from custody in July 2022.

In those broadcasts, King discussed the status of his sureties and his plans to sue the government following a possible victory in the courts.

The former director of public affairs for the Vancouver Police Department is suing the city, the force and one of the VPD's most prominent spokespeople for alleged "gender and racial discrimination, harassment and bullying."

In a lawsuit filed last week in B.C. Supreme Court, Sharmini Dee claims she resigned from her job in June after being "subjected to systemic and persistent gender-based harassment and discrimination by [Sgt. Steve] Addison and other VPD officers."

Dee — who went by the name Sharmini Thiagarajah for the nearly two decades she worked for the VPD — is also suing B.C.'s attorney general and the minister of public safety for negligence, wrongful dismissal and what she alleges was the "intentional infliction of mental suffering."

"As a consequence of the ongoing harassment that she experienced while working with the VPD, [Dee] was diagnosed with multiple psychiatric conditions including major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder," the lawsuit reads.