A new paper from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute explores the financial cost of war using links between taxation and defence spending and drawing on data from 100 countries, including Ukraine. It offers evidence to understand how increases in military spending may affect tax structures, but also how low-income, autocratic and conflict-affected countries fund their military spending.
KEN POLE
(FrontLine News)
Canada’s international reputation in question as Cameron Ortis, former head of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre, is again free on bail pending his trial on security violations in late 2023.
On December 6th, a 26-hour long moment of silence will begin. Beginning on Finland's Independence Day, the conflict resolution organization CMI - Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation will hold a 26-hour long moment of silence in Helsinki, Finland to honour people who have lost their homes due to a conflict.
CHRIS MacLEAN
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.
CHRIS MacLEAN
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.”
Feb 07
(CP)
An RCAF CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft headed back to base in Atlantic Canada today after intelligence gathering flights over Haiti. The aircraft was retasked from a U.S.-led counter-narcotics mission and a Canadian Armed Forces official said the data collected over two days would be used by the government “to further assess the situation in Haiti,” which has requested military help in dealing with endemic gang violence.
Feb 07
(Globe & Mail)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today offered premiers $46.2 billion in new health care transfers over 10 years, which wen coupled with previous commitments, would amount to $196.1 billion. “This is significant,” he said after meeting with his provincial and territorial counterparts, but it was significantly less than they have demanded to address a nationwide shortage of health care resources.
Feb 07
(CP)
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told a parliamentary committee February 6 that implementing a registry of foreign agents should be culturally sensitive. “There is a historical context when it comes to some communities within this country and their relationship with agencies and the law-enforcement community,” he said. “We need to be diligent and thoughtful and inclusive when it comes to bringing all Canadians along in the modernization of the tools and the arsenal that we create for our national security and intelligence communities.”
Feb 07
(CP)
As the death toll from the weekend’s earthquakes and aftershocks in Turkey and Syria topped 6,200 today, the Canadian government has committed an initial $10 million to the international relief effort. International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said further aid and potential deployment of disaster response teams are being considered.
 Accenture |
 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
1 February 2023
(EuroNews)
Concern about losing investment and jobs, the European Commission has new plans to boost homegrown green industry and counter U.S. tax credits and rebates. Announced today, the latest package combines simpler subsidy rules, repurposed funds, faster approval of renewable projects, common production targets, trade deals and upskilling. “In the fight against climate change, what is most important is the net-zero industry,” said EC President President Ursula von der Leyen. “We want to seize this moment.”
1 February 2023
(CTV)
On the same day it decriminalized small amounts of drugs in a bid to prevent deaths among users, B.C. reported 2,272 deaths attributed to illicit drugs in 2022. It said January 31 that Fatalities in November and December alone totalled 182 and 210, respectively, and the daily average for the year was 6.4, roughly the same as the previous year, with victims aged 30-59 accounting for 70 per cent of the toll.
1 February 2023
(CP)
The U.S. is filing a new complaint under the auspices of the North American trade agreement over what it alleges is Canada's failure to live up to its obligations to American dairy farmers and producers. Trade Representative Katherine Tai says the latest submission to a panel for resolution was necessary because Canada has not fully complied with the recommendations from an initial panel in December 2021.
1 February 2023
(CTV)
The latest Corruption Perceptions Index by Berlin-based Transparency International ranks Canada’s public service 14th on a list of 100 countries. Canada scored 74 out of 100 in 2022, unchanged from the previous year – 100 being the least corrupt and zero the worst. Each country’s score and ranking are based on data from 13 external sources and is meant to illuminate which countries pose security and geopolitical threats.
1 February 2023
(BBC)
British Labour Party MP Kim Johnson apologized today or describing Israel’s new coalition government, which includes right-wing nationalists, as “fascist.” She had used the label when pressing Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over “human rights violations” against Palestinians. Ordered by party leaders to apologize, she acknowledged that she had been “particularly insensitive” to Israeli history.
1 February 2023
(CBC)
A B.C. woman defrauded of $69,000 in 2018 has won the right to sue the Canadian branch of the Bank of China after she appealed the ruling denying her claim. She had received a call from someone claiming to be with the Chinese consulate in Vancouver, saying she was being prosecuted for money laundering and that she could settle the issue by transferring funds, which she did with the help of a Bank of China teller. Her complaint that the bank was aware of fraudulent activities was eventually upheld January 30 by a Court of Appeal tribunal which ordered a retrial.
1 February 2023
(Government Executive)
U.S. National Security Director Avril Haines says that ongoing investigations into the handling of sensitive documents by former U.S. presidents and vice- presidents highlight problems with “over-classification” protocols. “We must keep certain information secret or we will not be able to do our job in the intelligence community,” she said, suggesting it is overdone. “It does have to meet a national security standard.”
1 February 2023
(National Post)
The federal government spent $6.8 million to quarantine just 15 travellers for 14 days at a Calgary hotel in the current fiscal year during the pandemic. The hotel’s designation as a quarantine facility ended in October 2022 and when details were provided to Alberta Conservative MP Rempel Garner, she said January 31 that the Prime Minister “doesn’t have the capacity or willingness to get things under control.”
1 February 2023
(Financial Post)
A construction company’s former employee has been awarded a total of $295,158 in damages by the Ontario Superior Court against the company and a supervisor who assaulted him. In awarding damages (Docket No. CV-20-0000361), Justice Joseph Di Luca said the claimant had been subjected to some of the worst treatment he had ever encountered, notably an assault requiring surgery.
1 February 2023
A new paper from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute explores the financial cost of war using links between taxation and defence spending and drawing on data from 100 countries, including Ukraine. It offers evidence to understand how increases in military spending may affect tax structures, but also how low-income, autocratic and conflict-affected countries fund their military spending.
31 January 2023
(Global)
Citing similar cases in British Columbia, an Ontario Superior Court judge has denied a municipality’s application to clear out an encampment of homeless people. The Region of Waterloo had asked the court to find that some 50 people in a Kitchener were violating trespass laws but Judge Michael Valente ruled that there is a constitutional right for a person to shelter themselves if accessible indoor spaces aren’t available.
31 January 2023
(BBC)
Saudi Arabia’s capital punishment rate has nearly doubled since 2015, according to reports by international and Saudi human rights groups. They said the death penalty, often carried out in secrecy has been used routinely to silence political dissidents and protestors, including detainees who were children when they were arrested.
