NEWS BRIEFS: CANADA

18 April 2023   (AL Jazeera)
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and her G7 counterparts today pledged more intense sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. They also closed their three-day meeting in Japan by formally criticizing China for its recent aggression in the Taiwan Strait and North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
17 April 2023   (CTV)
With the House of Commons and Senate back today from their winter hiatus, two weeks-long spring sessions before summer have a packed agenda for MPs, including discussion of precedence for 25 government bills. They include a pending budget approval bill as well as Bill C-21, which would amend several statutes to improve firearms controls.
14 April 2023   (CTV)
“Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle was a factor” in the drownings of four Royal Military College cadets when their vehicle plunged into the St. Lawrence River abutting the Kingston campus in April 2022. The Office of the Canadian Forces Provost Marshal said today that this was the finding of the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service.
14 April 2023   (CTV)
There has been a “notable” increase in cyber threat activity by Russia-aligned actors, the Communications Security Establishment reported April 13. “These are attention-grabbing, but do not mean the website has been hacked or that any information has been compromised,” said Sami Khoury, head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security within the CSE.
12 April 2023   (CTV)
Even as its negotiators remain at the bargaining table, the Public Service Allliance of Canada has voted in favour of a strike mandate for its more than 120,000 members. “PSAC members are feeling squeezed along with everyone else,” the union’s national president said today. “Our members have been without a contract since 2021. Today, an overwhelming majority of our members have told us they can’t wait any longer.”
11 April 2023   (Stars & Stripes)
As Canada and dozens of other countries wrestle with repatriation of Islamic State fighters, family members and refugees from camps and prisons in Syria, there are concerns that the slow progress increases the risk of an IS resurgence. The head of U.S Central Command, General Michael Kurilla, has called one camp housing more than 50,000, mainly women and children, a “flashpoint of human suffering” that could foster a resurgence.
6 April 2023   (CTV)
Brigadier-General Krista Brodie, who heads Canadian Armed Forces recruitment and training, continues to wrestle with a 16,000-member shortfall in the Regular and Reserve forces. She also says the CAF faces a relevancy problem because general public awareness of their role has diminished. Vacancies in urgent need of filling include medical officers, naval operators, aviation specialists, communications, and technical tradespeople.
4 April 2023   (CP)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today that Chantier Davie Canada, based in Lévis, Quebec, has joined the roster of shipyards formally approved for Defence Department and Coast Guard work. The decision evidently was prompted by a decade of CDC lobbying and delivery delays by Seaspan Shipyards of Vancouver and Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax.
4 April 2023   (BBC)
A Russian woman arrested shortly after pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by a bomb in St. Petersburg April 2 has been charged with terrorism. Russian officials say Darya Trepova, 26, was remanded in custody today by a court in Moscow.
3 April 2023   (FrontLine News)
NASA announced the selection of Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen to fly to the Moon on the Artemis II mission. This will be the first crewed flight test of the Orion spacecraft launching on the SLS rocket. Hansen will be the first Canadian to ever venture to the Moon.

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