Senate’s top spender defends long list of contracts for outside consultants
Manitoba senator also spent $108,082 on travel in the last year A non-affiliated senator from Manitoba is the biggest spender in the Red Chamber — but she defends her expenses by saying she’s an active parliamentarian who needs a lot of help and wants to pay her consultants fairly. Marilou McPhedran, named to the Senate by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016, spends comparatively more than other senators to retain outside aides and consultants. Since January 2021, McPhedran has awarded $193,881 worth of contracts to part-time and casual employees —Read more
Canada’s inflation rate increases to 4%
Grocery prices increased at 6.9 per cent annual pace Canada’s inflation rate jumped higher last month, to an annual pace of four per cent, mostly because of an increase in gasoline prices. Statistics Canada reported Tuesday that the inflation rate ticked higher by 0.7 percentage points, in large part because gasoline prices increased on an annual basis for the first time since January. Pump prices increased by 4.6 per cent in August alone, and are up by 0.8 per cent compared to where they were a year ago. Energy pricesRead more
Unifor and Ford reach tentative deal, averting strike
Deal comes a day after strike deadline passes Unifor and Ford have reached a tentative contract deal, averting a strike that would have seen around 5,600 Canadian workers hit the picket lines, and providing a roadmap for an agreement for thousands of other autoworkers employed by General Motors and Stellantis. “We believe that this tentative agreement, endorsed by the entire master bargaining committee, addresses all of the items raised by members in preparation for this round of collective bargaining,” said Unifor National President Lana Payne. “We believe that this agreement will solidifyRead more
Daughter of slain First Nations woman Morgan Harris walks out of meeting with minister
‘I was not respected in that room today,’ says Cambria Harris Cambria Harris walked out of a meeting with a federal minister Monday morning, she said, after the government came with questions about feasibility rather than a firm commitment to search a Winnipeg landfill for her mother’s remains. The bodies of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are suspected to be in the Prairie Green Landfill, a private facility north of the city, and families have been demanding authorities search the site for months. Police have said the women were dumped inRead more
Secondary cases of E. coli grow in aftermath of Calgary outbreak: Alberta Health Services
Daycares not served by shared kitchen closed due to what is believed to be secondary spread There are now 348 lab-confirmed cases of E. coli in the city following an outbreak at Calgary daycares, Alberta Health Services said in an update Monday. That figure includes 27 lab-confirmed secondary cases, which is an increase of four since Saturday, said the emailed statement from the provincial health body. This comes after an outbreak of the shiga toxin-producing E. coli, which can cause serious issues. The outbreak has sent children to hospital and some areRead more
RCMP, other employers exploiting human rights ‘loophole’ to stall complaints, lawyer claims
CHRC waived requirement for military members earlier this year An employment and human rights lawyer says organizations like the RCMP are exploiting a “loophole” to prevent employees in federally regulated workplaces from taking their cases directly to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The Canadian Human Rights Act allows the commission to deny complaints if the complainant “failed to exhaust” the review process that was reasonably available to them. “At this point it’s a loophole that’s getting abused by organizations to indefinitely stall people’s right to access justice and hold them accountable forRead more
Evacuation orders issued, expanded as B.C.’s wildfire threat refuses to subside
New evacuation orders in Sunshine Coast, Central Okanagan and Cariboo regions Evacuation orders were issued for multiple B.C. regions Sunday, as wildfires continue to upend residents’ lives well into September. The orders cover portions of central B.C., the Sunshine Coast, and the Okanagan region — which has already seen devastating fires that torched communities this year. Though the B.C. government ended its provincewide state of emergency Friday, officials have warned residents to be vigilant into the fall. The Sunshine Coast Regional District has declared a local state of emergency due to the Clowhom Lake wildfire, withRead more
Yukon gov’t website back after cyberattack, Nunavut gov’t site still down
Distributed-denial-of-service attack began at midnight in Yukon; Nunavut gov’t still investigating its outage The Yukon government’s website and its internal systems are once again functioning after being brought down by a cyberattack on Thursday. The territory was among several jurisdictions where government websites crashed on Thursday, including Nunavut, P.E.I., Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The Nunavut government has not confirmed a cyberattack, but confirmed to CBC News that it’s “still investigating the nature of the outage” affecting its main government page. The page appeared to still be down on Thursday evening. In the Yukon, aRead more
Jury shown video of Nathaniel Veltman pacing in police cell after arrest in attack on Muslim family
4 of 5 Afzaal family members in London, Ont., killed in truck attack June 6, 2021 Warning: This story contains distressing details. For hours, Nathaniel Veltman paces back and forth in his tiny jail cell at London, Ont., police headquarters, sometimes sitting or lying down, following his arrest the evening of June 6, 2021. This footage of the accused in custody is from lengthy police video shown to the jury Thursday at his murder-terror trial in Ontario Superior Court in Windsor, in connection with the attack on a Muslim family. At 9:47Read more
Jury at murder-terror trial sees video of truck that struck Muslim family in London, Ont.
The Afzaals a ‘peace-loving’ family, says witness at Nathaniel Veltman’s trial in Windsor Warning: This story contains distressing details: Data from a Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Nathaniel Veltman on the day in 2021 that members of a London, Ont., Muslim family were struck shows him veering to the right five seconds before impact, his gas pedal 100 per cent compressed, court heard Monday. On the first day of testimony at the 22-year-old’s murder trial in Windsor, Crown prosecutors called three witnesses and laid out the evidence they’ll present to theRead more