Canada

A veteran Montreal police officer says racism is a "cancer eating away at the organization" in a stinging resignation letter.

Patrice Vilcéus, a Quebecer of Haitian origin, served on the Montreal police service (SPVM) for more than 30 years and worked his way up to commander of the anti-gang squad.

"Throughout my career, I've made sure that I'm not just an observer of racism, racial profiling and social challenges. My aim has been to break down taboos and introduce more nuanced approaches, so as to take all aspects into account and help the organization grow," he wrote in a four-page letter obtained by CTV News.

His letter made reference to the recent Quebec Superior Court ruling declaring that there's a systemic form of racial profiling within the SPVM. The landmark decision also awarded $5,000 in punitive damages to anyone stopped on the streets based on their ethnic origin.

They definitely have a boomer for a social media manager

A city councillor in British Columbia says an online mob of "extremists" and "politically motivated hackers" is responsible for uncovering and publicizing a photo of him wearing a blackface costume to a Halloween party in 2007.

Colwood Coun. Ian Ward on Monday addressed the photo in a statement on his X account after the picture, which was originally published on a personal family blog, surfaced on social media in recent days.

Ward acknowledged he posed for the photo wearing a Washington Bullets basketball jersey, a gold chain and a wig, with his teeth coloured gold and his hands and face painted black.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he wants to build a tunnel for cars and transit under Highway 401 that would stretch roughly from Brampton to Scarborough.

Citing increasing gridlock and little room for highway expansion at a news conference Wednesday morning, Ford says his government will begin studying the technical feasibility of building a tunnel stretching across the GTA under the country's busiest highway.

"This tunnel and expressway will cut gridlock, support economic growth and help get people moving faster," Ford said.

As a kid, Jason Ploeger remembers people searching in the waters of Larder Lake for a taxi cab that sank beneath the surface decades before.

And of course, like everyone else in the small northern Ontario town near the Québec border that was once a major gold mining centre, he heard the stories.

Ploeger spent 35 years searching for the taxi and then while fishing in a local derby last year, he saw something come up on the screen of his side imager that he uses to look deep into the lake for fish. Or sunken treasure.

... he marked the spot and went back later with some fellow divers, going down 15 metres into the pitch black waters of Larder Lake.

They purchased the house in July 2021 from the original buyer, a year after it had been built as part of a 100-home subdivision by Marina Homes.

But after dealing with a host of problems, from leaking windows and roof to extensive water damage and persistent mould, they said they soon discovered an even bigger issue.

The foundation is not strong enough to support the house, an engineering firm hired by the couple determined earlier this year.

"It is recommended that the building be completely demolished," said the report seen by CBC Hamilton.

Treasury Board says 3-day-a-week mandate still offers flexibility

Federal officials pointed to concerns about "public scrutiny" when the government mandated workers back into the office, even as workers reported they felt more productive working from home, documents show.

Documents prepared by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) before the announcements of return to the office mandates were released to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) under an access to information request, and shared with CBC News.

The documents show how TBS looked at global trends, raised concerns about public trust and had very little internal information on productivity when deciding to mandate workers back to the office.

The union says the documents point to the lack of justification for the mandated return to the office.

"They had an opportunity here to really modernize the public service and move it forward, and yet here we are talking about cookie cutter approaches, butts in seats, and we're not really talking about services to those who reside in Canada," said Sharon DeSousa, president of PSAC."

Premier Danielle Smith says she plans to reinforce the right to decide whether to receive a vaccination or other medical procedure in changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights.

In an online video posted Tuesday, Smith said her government aims to amend the document in a few weeks to ensure people have the right to make informed decisions without fear of undue pressure or interference by the government.

"It is my firm conviction that no Albertan should ever be subjected (to) or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent," she said.

The changes outlined by Smith would also ensure the province respects "the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep and safely use firearms."

A report from a tribunal appointed by the Saskatchewan Party government says a proposed federal emissions cap and methane regulations would cause severe economic damage.

The tribunal report, struck by Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre, says the mandates would reduce oil and gas production and cause government revenue losses of $43 billion by 2050.

It also says up to 34,000 people would lose their jobs by that year.

The federal draft regulations have proposed a ceiling on oil and gas emissions to slow the effects of climate change.

The Canadian government is advising Canadians in Lebanon to leave now while flights are available amid escalating violence between Israel(opens in a new tab) and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Asked about the escalating risk level and an updated travel advisory, Global Affairs Canada said it isn't currently offering Canadians in Lebanon help to leave the country.

"Government assisted evacuations from a foreign country are an option of last resort, when all means of personal and commercial transportation have been exhausted, and the safety and security of its citizens is compromised," Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Kevin Sweet wrote in an email to CTV News on Monday evening.

Health Canada approved Pfizer-BioNTech's updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, marking its third authorization of vaccine formulations that protect against the most recently circulating variants of the virus.

Pfizer-BioNTech's mRNA vaccine, called Comirnaty, targets the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron, replacing the previous version that targeted the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant.

The approval of Comirnaty follows last week's authorization of Moderna's updated Spikevax mRNA vaccine and Novavax's updated protein-based vaccine, Nuvaxovid.

The Alberta government banned the use of electronic tabulators in municipal elections when it passed Bill 20 in May of this year. It's a method that municipalities have used for decades, saying it has saved them time and money.

Alberta Municipalities wants the province to reconsider.

A resolution to be put forward at the organization's annual convention this week in Red Deer calls for tabulators to be permitted as an option "to ensure accurate, cost-effective and timely results for Albertan voters."

St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron, who is also president of Alberta Municipalities, told CBC Radio's Edmonton AM that she can't remember a time when St. Albert wasn't using tabulators.

Is Quebec a Traitor to Canada’s Francophone Minorities?

Archived link

Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who was held in China for nearly three years [told] about the interrogation he endured during his six months in solitary confinement.

[...]

"They are trying to bully and torment and terrorize and coerce you … into accepting their false version of reality, in which you're guilty.

[...]

On December 14 [2018], four days after he was taken into custody [in China], Kovrig got his first consular visit with Canada's then-ambassador John McCallum and another official from the embassy an an offsite location.

Kovrig said he remembers trying, in that meeting and others, to communicate that China was violating international law by interrogating him the way they were.

[...]

He said his food rations were cut for being uncooperative. He said that during interrogations he was put in a high-backed wooden chair and restrained, forbidden from crossing his legs or changing his position.

[...]

[Kovrig and Michael Spavor, another Canadian who had also been detained but was being held separately] had been illegally detained by China in apparent retaliation for the Vancouver arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, who was detained at the behest of the U.S. to face fraud charges related to American sanctions against Iran.

[...]

Kovrig's partner [who was pregnant at the time when he was detained] had played their daughter recordings of his voice and showed pictures of her father while he was locked up on the other side of the world. Their daughter was two-and-a-half years old when he finally arrived back in Canada.

[...]

Author: Steve Boots
Length: 4:37
Summary:
Steve Boots discusses the growing issue of violence in Canadian schools. He highlights several incidents that have occurred in different provinces and emphasizes that school violence is a widespread problem across the country. The lack of formal tracking for these incidents is also highlighted, as well as the increasing demands placed on teachers who often face violent situations without adequate support. Boots argues that the rise in violent behavior among students is tied to broader societal issues and calls for a more compassionate approach towards tackling this epidemic.

Generated By Custom AI Agent

Rogers is somehow, impossibly, worse at customer service than Shaw, who were already terrible.

Fuck the government for allowing these mergers and acquisitions to happen. Fuck the previous governments too. (This isn't a Liberal versus Conservative issue at all -- they all allowed this to happen.)

The hoops they force you through to cancel your account should be illegal.

The stores where you sign up for internet in the mall? Nope, sales only. All the local customer service options are gone. They claim I have a secret pin or phrase to access my account (which I never set up with Shaw when I created my account), so I can't deal with anyone over the phone. I basically cannot cancel my Shaw internet post-acquisition.

Well, one of the guys at the store at least gave me some info on how to ship the modem back. Rogers only allows you to return your modem using Canada Post, and they don't provide a box -- only an account number. So I have to scrounge a box and go to Canada Post with an account number. I'm contemplating shipping my modem back in a refrigerator box out of spite.

I'm thinking of just putting a chargeback on the VISA and forcing them to call me. Well, if it wouldn't affect my credit. Fuckers.