Canada

It was a heated day in Canada’s House of Commons when elected Speaker Greg Fergus ejected Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre from the chamber on April 30. Fergus removed Poilievre after he repeatedly refused to withdraw his remark that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pushing “wacko” drug policies.

That day Conservative MP Rachael Thomas posted on the social media site X in support of her boss.

“Drug use in parks, hospitals and public spaces is whacko. Drug deaths are up by 380 per cent in B.C. Pierre Poilievre called out Trudeau for his dangerous drug policies today in the House of Commons,” Thomas wrote. “How did partisan hack Greg Fergus respond?! He kicked Pierre Poilievre out of the chamber.”

THE CLAIM: Drug deaths are up by 380 per cent in B.C. The Tyee is supported by readers like you Join us and grow independent media in Canada

Thomas’s 380 per cent increase compares the number of B.C. drug deaths in 2015 with the 2023 total.

FACT CHECK: Over a similar period, drug deaths are up by 198 per cent in Alberta.*

What Thomas neglected to mention is that overdose deaths have risen by 588 per cent in her home riding of Lethbridge, Alberta, over a similar period (2016 compared with 2023).

The polls are not good for the Liberals — in fact, they're struggling to overcome the 15 to 20-point gap that separates them from the Conservatives. But those close to the prime minister like to point out that their leader is used to being underestimated and performs well under pressure.

But in the halls of Parliament, many Liberals are worried.

"Several MPs from the Greater Toronto Area are afraid of losing their seats," one Ontario elected official said. The official requested confidentiality to speak more freely.

"We would be better off changing leaders for the good of our country," one Liberal MP said, adding that he has a lot of respect for Trudeau and what he has accomplished.

He fears, however, that Trudeau's unpopularity will act as a drag on his party. The MP added that public weariness with Trudeau's leadership has reached a point of no return.

"If he doesn't leave on his own, I will be disappointed."

A husband-and-wife law firm in Toronto has been shut down, lenders have moved to seize their family homes, and they're facing 15 lawsuits and a police investigation after millions of dollars in client money went missing from the firm's trust accounts.

The saga of Nicholas Cartel and his wife, Singa Bui, has plenty of twists and turns, not the least of which is what happened to the huge sums of money allegedly embezzled from Cartel & Bui LLP.

But it also reveals a part of the homebuying process that's vulnerable to financial manipulation but isn't closely scrutinized, and the inadequacy of the compensation for homebuyers or sellers who do fall victim.

In interviews and again during a court hearing on Thursday, Cartel asserted he never had a role in financially managing the firm that bears his name, never had access to the trust account and maintained a separate non-real-estate practice. His wife, he said, handled all that.

The three things Lee said buyers need to check for are an item's condition, whether it has any recalls and if it is banned in Canada.

For instance, Lee said, a used helmet could have hidden internal damage from a previous accident without showing any cracks on the outside. In that case, Lee said buyers' best bet is to ask the item's seller about its history and hope they are honest.

Donald Sutherland, the prolific film and television actor whose long career stretched from “M.A.S.H.” to “The Hunger Games,” has died. He was 88.

Kiefer Sutherland, the actor’s son, confirmed his father’s death Thursday. No further details were immediately available.

“I personally think one of the most important actors in the history of film,” Kiefer Sutherland said on X. “Never daunted by a role, good, bad or ugly. He loved what he did and did what he loved, and one can never ask for more than that.”

The tall and gaunt Canadian actor with a grin that could be sweet or diabolical was known for offbeat characters like Hawkeye Piece in Robert Altman’s “M.A.S.H.,” the hippie tank commander in “Kelly’s Heroes” and the stoned professor in “Animal House.”

Before transitioning into a long career as a respected character actor, Sutherland epitomized the unpredictable, antiestablishment cinema of the 1970s .

Over the decades, Sutherland showed his range in more buttoned-down — but still eccentric — parts in Robert Redford’s “Ordinary People” and Oliver Stone’s “JFK.”

More, recently, he starred in the “Hunger Games” films and the HBO limited series “The Undoing.” He never retired and worked regularly up until his death.

“I love to work. I passionately love to work,” Sutherland told Charlie Rose in 1998. “I love to feel my hand fit into the glove of some other character. I feel a huge freedom — time stops for me. I’m not as crazy as I used to be, but I’m still a little crazy.”

Submitting for this truly astonishing quote:

" Landlords in Quebec, however, feel they need to catch up to other provinces as Quebec is still one of the most affordable places to live in the country, said Jean-Olivier Reed, a spokesperson for the Quebec Landlord Association (APQ)."

Cross-posted to https://sh.itjust.works/post/21102275

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• "Castlegar opens Canada's tallest castle play structure". Chelsea Novak. Castlegar News. 2024-06-14T13:00. https://www.castlegarnews.com/community/castlegar-opens-canadas-tallest-castle-play-structure-7387997.

Here is a before on Google Street View, and here is an after (while under construction).

Given his political leanings, it probably shouldn't be surprising that Poilievre has chosen to oppose the Liberal tax changes. Back in 2004, the Conservative leader seems to have been in favour of eliminating capital gains taxes entirely (the Conservative party platform that year called for a "reduction").

It's a hell of a thing to imagine housing flippers won't have to pay any taxes on their profits.

Kamal Sehaki thought he could finally live freely when he moved to Canada in 2018.

The Kabyles are part of the larger Amazigh or Berber family of Indigenous North Africans. They have their own language and culture, and some advocate for the creation of an independent state in a mountainous coastal region of northern Algeria.

Sehaki, a 36-year-old artist, learned the hard way that anyone associated with this independence movement risks reprisal from the Algerian government.

"I received a call recently from a member of the Algerian consulate in Montreal," he said.

Sehaki, winner of international awards for his short films, said the man suggested the Algerian government could help boost Sehaki's career and offered him an appointment at the consulate.

Instead, the conversation revolved around his links to the Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia (MAK). The MAK's Canadian chapter has organized demonstrations in Montreal and Ottawa to demand the release of political prisoners in Algeria.

Patricia Sayers was always thinking about the women she left behind.

She quit her job after being sexually assaulted and harassed by a co-worker at a retail store in Uxbridge, Ont.

She filed a police report and submitted an application with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) in hopes of creating change at her former workplace.

Sayers filed her application in 2018 against the particular store location, the man who assaulted her and managers who she says mishandled her complaint.

There's no set timeframe for how long the entire process should take. But it was six years before the tribunal set a date for the final step.

A watchdog group says her case illustrates the problems plaguing the HRTO: a backlog and delays that are resulting in fewer cases making it to a final hearing, which has wider implications on human rights law.

Meanwhile the LPC oppose the bill while the CPC would work to amend it.

https://plantbasednews.org/lifestyle/food/canadas-most-vegan-friendly-cities-unveiled/

Renters make up 33.4% of households in Canada — the highest percentage it’s ever been. As expected, the largest share is represented by young Millennials still working out their balance up the property ladder by their mid-30s. The kicker is that senior renters over 65 are right at their heels.