With a new coronavirus variant spreading, the B.C. government plans to restore mandatory masking for staff at all health-care facilities and long-term care residencies October 3. While masks would not be mandatory for patients and residents, a health ministry note states that they “will mask when directed by a health-care worker or based on personal choice.” [node:read-more:link]
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said today that she is prepared to use her province’s Sovereignty Act in a pushback against the federal government’s planned emissions reductions over concerns that they could result in local power blackouts. “I’m hoping we don't have to use it,” she said. “But we are going to defend our constitutional jurisdiction to make sure that we develop our oil and gas industry at our own pace, and that we develop our electricity system so that it achieves the goal of reliability and affordability.” [node:read-more:link]
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said today that he will enforce a controversial school “pronoun” policy despite a provincial judge’s decision to issue an injunction. The judge suspended the policy pending the outcome of a legal challenge by the University of Regina Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. Announced in August, the initiative would require students younger than 16 to have parental consent before changing their pronouns or preferred first names in a school setting. [node:read-more:link]
The sale of what used to be called the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, now known as Viterra, is to be reviewed by the federal government. It is controlled by Glencore, a Swiss multinational with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board the B.C. Investment Management Corporation as minority shareholders, but a Missouri-based Bunge Limited has agreed to buy Viterra for more than US$8 billion. [node:read-more:link]
Foreign interference and national-security issues in Canada’s banking and insurance sectors are in the sights of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. “Over the two years that I’ve been Superintendent, geopolitical risk and its offshoots have increased in significance,” says Peter Routledge. “There’s a possibility that that intensity metastasizes over into the financial system, and we want our institutions ready to adapt.” [node:read-more:link]
Vera Jourova, a Czech politician who is the European Commission’s vice-president for “values and transparency”, says the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has “the largest ratio of mis- or disinformation posts” in the world. Moreover, she warns, billionaire Elon Musk’s dismantling of a monitoring team likely means the problem will grow. [node:read-more:link]
Draft legislation the government says will improve consumer choice by limiting corporate concentration is being slammed by the president of he Business Council of Canada. “C-56 is a trojan horse,” says Goldy Hyder. “It will upend a legal regime that fostered all the globally competitive Canadian companies doing business today.” [node:read-more:link]
Antony Rota, the Ontario Liberal MP who has served as Speaker of the House of Commons since 2019, announced today that he is resigning. All parties had sought his resignation after he had lauded a constituent during Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Parliament last week. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, had served in a Nazi division during the Second World War and while Rota apologized, that wasn’t enough. [node:read-more:link]
Polish Education Minister Przemysław Czarnek said today that he has “taken steps” to having a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian extradited for trial. Yaroslav Hunka, a member of a Nazi division during the Second World War, came into the spotlight last week when he was recognized as a “hero” by House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, his Ontario MP. [node:read-more:link]
Draft legislation introduced by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is designed to address soaring housing and grocery costs. Among other things, Bill C-56 as tabled September 21 would remove the federal portion of the Goods & Services Tax to incent construction of new rental housing and amend the Competition Act to address corporate concentration and its effect on the grocery sector. [node:read-more:link]
Cameron Ortis, the former director general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Co-ordination Centre accused of providing secrets to unauthorized persons, plans a is planning a constitutional challenge. The Public Prosecution Service has confirmed that Ortis’ lawyers will argue that a Security of Information Act section on communication about special operations violates his Charter rights. [node:read-more:link]
Canada reportedly amassed domestic and foreign intelligence during a months-long investigation of the killing last June of a B.C. Sikh activist branded a “terrorist” by India. Prime Minister Trudeau’s suggestion that India was involved set off a diplomatic row but his National Security & Intelligence Adviser was in India in August and again this month ahead of the PM’s meeting with his Indian counterpart during which Trudeau shared his concerns. [node:read-more:link]
A long-awaited report on the prospect of an Alberta pension plan says the province is entitled to have $334 billion in assets transferred from the Canada Pension Plan in 2027. The report released by Premier Danielle Smith states that the province’s contributions to CPP are disproportionately high compared with what Albertans’ benefits but that has been challenged. [node:read-more:link]
Faced with the October 30 expiry of a federal firearms amnesty, a gun lobby plans to seek a Federal Court injunction February 22 on grounds that many owners worry about the prospect of being labelled criminals if they don’t comply. The federal cabinet directive initially issued in 2020, and since extended, reclassified as prohibited a number of common military-style firearms and while owners can still possess them, the directive prohibits transfer of ownership. [node:read-more:link]
The opposition-controlled South Korean parliament has passed an unprecedented but non-binding motion for the country’s president to fire Prime Minister Han Duck-soo for having “consistently demonstrated incompetence, inaction and irresponsibility.” [node:read-more:link]
