An anonymous veteran federal public servant was identified today as the source for a series of internationally embarrassing disclosures about foreign interference in Canadian affairs and about seeming government indifference or reluctance to act over the years. Acknowledging the prospect of eventual prosecution if identified, the whistleblower explains the reasons for sharing concerns about an evolving threat.
Canada’s Veterans Ombud is challenging Veterans Affairs Canada’s arbitrary reduction in the pensions of some retired RCMP officers and civilian employees because they received a one-time lump sum compensation for many years of “horrific” on-the-job abuse and harassment which drove many into early retirement.
ALEXANDER LANDRY and CONNOR HUNERFAUTH
All future activities in the Northwest Passage should be assessed through an Environmental, Social, and Governance lens, advise Hunerfauth and Landry as they provide an overview of key considerations.
(National Post)
As the Army officer who oversaw Canada’s refugee verification mission in Kosovo some three decades, retired Lieutenant-General J.O. Michel Maisonneuve is asking why the internationally-respected Disaster Assistance Response Team hasn’t been deployed to help in the aftermath of the earthquakes that have killed more than 25,000 persons in Turkey and Syria. “In truth,” Maisonneuve says, the CAF have “very little capability to help” due to shrinking ranks and mostly outdated equipment.
(National Post)
As the Army officer who oversaw Canada’s refugee verification mission in Kosovo some three decades, retired Lieutenant-General J.O. Michel Maisonneuve is asking why the internationally-respected Disaster Assistance Response Team hasn’t been deployed to help in the aftermath of the earthquakes that have killed more than 25,000 persons in Turkey and Syria. “In truth,” Maisonneuve says, the CAF have “very little capability to help” due to shrinking ranks and mostly outdated equipment.
Mar 27
(CTV)
The multi-billion-dollar renovation of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill, which is not expected to be finished until at least the end of this decade, is being managed effectively, Auditor General Karen Hogan said today. However, she cautioned, “rigorous” cost management will be needed “as the program moves more into the construction phase, where making changes to elements that are built or in the process of being built becomes more difficult.”
Mar 27
(National Post)
Auditor General Karen Hogan reported today that 1.4 million Canadian households in rural and remote areas do not have access to the level of Internet services promised by the federal government. “When services are of poor quality, unaffordable or unavailable, people are effectively excluded from participating fully and equally in the digital economy, accessing online education, banking, medical care and government services or working remotely,” she said.
Mar 25
(CTV)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden used a day of talks in Ottawa March 24 to tackle a range of shared issues, including defence and security, third-country refugees, Haiti, clean energy and trade in what Trudeau said was a demonstration of how their countries’ interests are “interwoven.” Biden, on his first visit to Canada as President, agreed, saying, “I can't think of a challenge we haven’t met together.”
Mar 23
(CP)
The Transportation Safety Board says that the capsize of a Nova Scotia fishing boat with the loss of six crewmembers during a gale in December 2020 can be linked to federal inaction on recommended stability standards. Modifications by the vessel’s owners, Yarmouth Sea Products, had raised its centre of gravity but the TSB said in its March 22 report that Transport Canada inspectors had had not told the company about the heightened risk of instability.
 Polar Knowledge Canada |
 Accenture |
 EZ Raider |
Aug 18 –
Interference is typically an extremely valid and indisputable concern, but in the case of the NS shooting spree, that argument is being used to obfuscate the real issue of communication negligence which resulted in deaths that could have been avoided.
Aug 10 –
Alberta awarded third prize of “Her Vision Inspires” contest to an essayist who argues that women should pick babies over careers, writing that importing "foreigners to replace ourselves is a sickly mentality that amounts to a drive for cultural suicide.”
Jun 27 –
Keeping Russia "at bay" is not a solution to the carnage happening in Ukraine. With Russia firing 10 times the amount of ammunition than Ukraine, Putin knows he will win, unless something changes.
Jun 20 –
It is now 11 years since I served in Afghanistan, and almost a year since those who helped us were abandoned to the increasing brutality of Taliban rule, it's time the govt cut the red tape and made good on its promises.
TBD July/Aug 2023
St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
9 April 2019
(Global News)
A suicide bomber from Calgary strikes near Baghdad. A Windsor man masterminds the torture and killing of foreigners at a Dhaka bakery. Two London, Ontario, gunmen take hostages at a gas plant in the Algerian desert. To date, Canadian terrorists have killed 127 people and injured another 195 in other countries since 2012.
9 April 2019
(Globe and Mail)
Canada’s Immigration Minister is promising new, tougher legislation to crack down on unscrupulous immigration consultants by giving the industry watchdog that oversees them more power to investigate and punish offenders.
9 April 2019
(CBC)
Facebook is banning far-right political commentator Faith Goldy, white nationalist crusader Kevin Goudreau and various extremist groups, the social media company said Monday.
9 April 2019
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has issued a statement on how certain types of extremist ideologies are described in the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada:
8 April 2019
(CBC)
An MP who has been looking into the militarization of the North warns that if Canada doesn't act now, it could slowly lose its grip on the Arctic.
8 April 2019
(National Post)
The United States has temporarily withdrawn some of its forces from Libya due to “security conditions on the ground,” a top military official said Sunday as a Libyan commander’s forces advanced toward the capital of Tripoli and clashed with rival militias.
8 April 2019
(CTV News )
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has resigned amid U.S. President Donald Trump's growing frustration and bitterness over the number of Central American families crossing the southern border.
8 April 2019
(CBC)
Reduced SAR coverage, ferry-service disruptions, cancelled resupply runs and nearly $2 million in lost navigational buoys. Those are among the real safety, social and commercial impacts that communities across the country are feeling as the Canadian Coast Guard's fleet gets older,The Canadian Press reports.
5 April 2019
(OCanada.com)
The world’s security challenges are at the top of the agenda of foreign and interior ministers of the Group of Seven countries who are gathering in France. Interior ministers in Paris are focusing Friday on environmental crime, including reckless deforestation, waste trafficking and protection of lands and wildlife.
5 April 2019
(Homeland Security Newswire)
Germany passes a law to rescind citizenship from dual nationals if they fight for a foreign terrorist militia. The new law, approved Wednesday by the cabinet, will not be applied retroactively and will not apply to minors.
5 April 2019
A new study by Ohio University shows that people are less supportive of practices to extract information from terrorist suspects when these practices are framed as “torture” rather than the ambiguous “enhanced interrogation.”
4 April 2019
(National Post )
Details of how the Trudeau government launched an investigation spanning six departments and agencies to hunt for who leaked information about a reported $10.5-million settlement with Omar Khadr in July 2017, were revealed by a National Post access-to-information request. When asked if the Privy Council Office ever uncovered the source of the leak, if the matter was ever referred to the RCMP, and if anyone was ever disciplined or terminated over the leak. Stephane Shank, manager of media relations for the PCO, sent a statement that did not answer any of the questions.
