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 “In truth,” Maisonneuve says, the CAF have “very little capability to help” due to shrinking ranks and mostly outdated equipment.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 “In truth,” Maisonneuve says, the CAF have “very little capability to help” due to shrinking ranks and mostly outdated equipment.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 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.
Mar 22
(CTV)
Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser announced today that Ukrainians and their families now have until July 15 to apply for a free visitor visa which enables them to work and study for up to three years. The previous deadline was March 31.
Mar 21
(CP)
The federal government said March 20 that it expects that the Nexus trusted-traveller program with the U.S. to be back in full operation in about a month. Registration for the program has been on hold for nearly a year, partly because of bureaucratic and legal issues, resulting in backlogged applications. Enrolment centres will reopen at the Halifax and Winnipeg airports on March 27, followed by Vancouver April 3, Calgary and Edmonton April 12, Montreal April 17 and Toronto and Ottawa April 24.
Mar 21
(CTV)
Federal Justice Minister David Lametti’s stated commitment to “targeted” Criminal Code and bail reforms should rebalance what some of his provincial counterparts agreed were “unintended consequences” of 2019 reforms. “We have a broad consensus on a path forward, one based on a set of shared principles and clear objectives,” says Lametti. “That starts with a commitment from […] the federal government to move forward quickly.”
 Polar Knowledge Canada |
 DRDC Valcartier Research |
 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
15 February 2019
(Huffington Post)
The Senate resoundingly approved a border security compromise Thursday that ignores most of President Donald Trump's demands for building a wall with Mexico but would prevent a new government shutdown. Trump says he would quickly declare a national emergency and perhaps invoke other executive powers to try to shift money to wall-building from elsewhere in the federal budget.
14 February 2019
(Global News)
A woman who had attacked workers a Toronto-area Canadian Tire store with a golf club and a butcher’s knife while draped in an ISIL banner, has been sentenced to seven years in prison. The judge acknowledged that the woman’s mental illness played a "significant role" in the attack and her attempt to join ISIL.
13 February 2019
(CBC)
St. John's Dockyard Ltd. in Newfoundland has been awarded a $10-million vessel life extension contract for the
13 February 2019
(The Globe and Mail)
Most of Canada was walloped Tuesday by severe winter weather ranging from an extreme freeze in Alberta to an ice storm blasting its way through Southern Ontario.
12 February 2019
(CTV News)
The RCMP and other police forces arrested 15 people Monday in a series of raids in Montreal and Toronto targeting what investigators say is an extensive international money laundering network with ties to organized crime.
12 February 2019
(CBC)
Nearly two years ago, volunteers, military members, and the coast guard met in northern Manitoba for what would be their last roundtable meeting on SAR in the Arctic. Supporters of the Northern Search and Rescue Roundtable still aren't sure what happened next – but say the disappearance of the meetings has led to confusion and wasted resources.
12 February 2019
(CBC)
Jody Wilson-Raybould – the former justice minister who has kept largely silent since a news report claimed the Prime Minister's Office pressured her to help Quebec-based engineering firm SNC-Lavalin avoid criminal prosecution – has quit the Liberal cabinet. She resigned as Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence.
7 February 2019
(Defense News)
It didn’t take long following the US announcement that the country would suspend its participation in the INF treaty for Russia to move in kind. Now, freed of its obligations under the 1987 treaty, Moscow is wasting no time in developing new, once-prohibited weapons systems.
7 February 2019
(The Globe and Mail)
According to Globe & Mail protected sources, Jody Wilson-Raybould was pushed out of the Justice portfolio for her unwillingness to press the public prosecution office to abandon the court proceedings against SNC-Lavalin. This allegation was denied by the PMO.
7 February 2019
As public schools increasingly embrace technology, cybersecurity incidents are becoming more common and more significant. A recent U.S. report reviews the issue.
7 February 2019
(Ottawa Citizen)
Canada is an attractive target for malicious cyber operations and is often one of the first countries criminals and hostile nations target with new methods, a cyber security expert and former CIA analyst told a House of Commons committee Wednesday.
7 February 2019
(CTV News)
Over the next year, the top-secret National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians plans to probe the threat foreign interference poses to Canada, and examine how the military collects and uses information about Canadians.
