CANADA
Surprise! These emails about returning CERB payments aren't scams

CBC, Thu, July 14, 2022

Strange-looking emails from Service Canada, stating that recipients had to pay back some of their CERB money, were mistaken by many as a scam. But Service Canada says the emails are legitimate, and those people really must pay up. 

(Christian Milette/Radio-Canada - image credit)

Recipients noticed what seemed like red flags as soon as they opened the emails from Service Canada, demanding repayment of pandemic benefits.

The government logo looked strange, or was broken. The text was grey, instead of the black typically used in official government correspondence. Some were written in French first, followed by English, which to many seemed unusual.

"You were paid more benefits than the amount for first you were eligible," said one such email, seen by CBC News.

There was a link and a 1-800 number.

Some immediately dismissed it as another scam by fraudsters purporting to be from a government agency.

Others discussed the emails online, recounting attempts to get straight answers from Service Canada. One recipient claimed an agent hung up on them when they called to ask.

CBC

On Twitter and Reddit, they said the formatting looked vastly different from government correspondence they'd received in the past. One wrote that the government logo looked "horrible," as if it had been made with the no-frills app MS Paint.

Others thought it was suspicious to be contacted via email, rather than a secure message.

More than 100 people reported the emails to the national fraud watchdog.

But Service Canada says the emails are no hoax, and those who receive them really do have to pay up.

The agency uses the email address in question — EI-AE.ServiceCanada@canada.gc.ca — to contact people about employment insurance and emergency benefits. It has sent 26.2 million emails from that address since March 2020, including emails about the $2,000-per-month Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which the government launched that month for workers who were laid off or had their hours cut significantly during lockdowns.

It's not clear how many variations of the repayment letter have gone out.

MTPROJECTS/Reddit

Some emails seen by CBC News say recipients must repay a portion of their CERB, but don't state how much.

Recipients are told to call a 1-800 number or click a link to share information "that could modify our decision and impact the amount you owe" within 30 days. After that, the email says, they will receive a letter in the mail detailing their debt and how to repay it.

Service Canada says 1.7 million Canadians have been or will be contacted about debts related to the $2,000 advance payments they received after applying for CERB, because they wound up being ineligible for the full amount.

The agency says people can verify its emails are legitimate by calling 1-800-622-6232.

The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it has received 166 reports about the emails since March 2020, which a spokesperson attributed to "large number of scams circulating, and [because] in some cases, it is difficult to know if the email is legitimate or not."

Giordano Ciampini/The Canadian Press

Good to stay vigilant

One expert says Canadians should be extra vigilant about any emails that demand a payment, given how many sophisticated scams are operating in Canada, including multiple scams relating to CERB repayments and Service Canada.

"I think individuals, given just how easy it is for them to be victimized, and all the steps that they have to go through [if their accounts are compromised] are overly cautious in some cases," said Ritesh Kotak, a cybersecurity expert in Toronto.

"Anyone can spoof an email [address] — it looks like it's from a particular individual but it's not, and it's relatively simple to do. And hackers and fraudsters know this."

Kotak says Service Canada should reconsider whether email is the best way to contact people about repayments, when it could send secure messages or letters by mail instead.

"Clearly there are ways that the government can communicate in secure methods, and they should leverage that."

In a statement, a Service Canada spokesperson said the content and format of its emails were informed by privacy, legal and communications experts, and were in line with government policies. The emails sent with French before English originated from its Quebec offices, the agency said.

Asked whether the agency would consider making changes to avoid such confusion, a spokesperson said: "We continuously review client feedback about all of our communications, and this feedback informs the way we exchange information with clients."

H5N1 MOVED FROM BIRDS TO MAMMALS
Avian flu may be killing Quebec harbour seals, scientists say

Thu, July 14, 2022 

Thus far, 12 harbour seals in Quebec have tested positive for H5N1, also known as the avian flu. It would be the first known case in Canada of bird-to-marine-mammal transmission. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Months after avian flu was first detected in Quebec's birds, it's now affecting a new population: seals.

Quebec scientists say they've found traces of avian flu in dead harbour seals that are washing ashore in the St. Lawrence estuary, a 250-kilometre long ecosystem that runs from just north of Quebec City to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Stéphane Lair, the Quebec regional director with the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre and a wildlife health specialist at the Université de Montréal, said they have noticed a spike in harbour seal mortalities this season compared to previous years.

"This week we got some preliminary results that suggest that this virus is probably the cause," he explained.

Thus far, he said 12 seals have tested positive for H5N1. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is currently validating the results.

According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, it would be the first known case in Canada of H5N1 being passed from North American wild birds to marine mammals.

Lair said that lesions found on the dead seals' internal organs suggest they are "not just carrying the virus," he said.

"The virus is probably killing these seals," he said.

Sunbathing could be cause

One question is how the seals are getting infected. Lair said they're not sure how it's happening, as harbour seals aren't known to eat birds and ducks — but they have a theory.

"We really think it's just by direct contact," Lair said. "These seals will use rock formations to all hang out. And those are the same rocks where you can find common eiders and other ducks."

If the seals are in close proximity to the carcasses of birds that died of the avian flu, that could explain how they're catching the disease, he said.

Radio-Canada

While it's the first time the avian flu has been reported in Quebec seals, the infection is not without precedent. There have been outbreaks in seals reported in Europe and the eastern United States, including recently in Maine, so it was "not a big surprise" to see it happen here, Lair explained.

It "hopefully" won't affect the area's whales, dolphins and other marine wildlife, because unlike seals, they won't get sick even if they are carrying the virus, he said.

As for the seal population, Lair said it's not the first time they've faced a viral epidemic.

"They'll be able to cope with this. It's going to be most likely associated with the decrease of the population [short-term], but in the long term, they should be okay."

Fisheries and Oceans said thus far, no other known cases of H5N1 in harbour seals have been reported in Canada.

Quebecers who find seal carcasses are advised not to approach or let any household pets, such as dogs, near the dead animal, as it could be potentially infected.

Dead seals should be reported to the Quebec Marine Mammal Emergency Response Network (QMMERN) by calling 1-877-722-5346.

N.B. wastewater data suggests some COVID-19 cases went undetected in 2021

Thu, July 14, 2022

Gen Erjavec conducts COVID-19 wastewater monitoring outside Risley Hall, a residence at Dalhousie University. The City of Moncton has been doing its own COVID-19 wastewater testing in partnership with Dalhousie University since fall 2020. (Submitted by Graham Gagnon - image credit)

Public Health officials have raised questions around whether some COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick went undetected in early 2021, after an apparent mismatch between the amount of COVID-19 appearing in wastewater and the province's own COVID-19 testing.

The wastewater data shows four apparent spikes of COVID-19 in 2021: on Feb. 8, March 18, April 29 and June 28, all times when there were "minimal cases or positive tests" reported and PCR testing was widely offered.

The wastewater testing is conducted by the City of Moncton, which has a partnership with Dalhousie University, and is provided to New Brunswick Public Health. CBC News obtained a copy of the test results, and discussion within the Department of Health about the results, through access to information.

Emails from this past April show health officials tried to find an explanation for the differences in the 2021 data, such as increased occupancy at hotels around March break, a difference in the boundaries between the health zone and the area covered by the wastewater treatment plant, and the role of temporary foreign workers who were quarantining in local hotels.

But they couldn't find an easy answer.

'Things do not seem to be lining up'

"The points that you have mentioned are all things that we have considered, but things do not seem to be lining up," Shannon LeBlanc, the manager of surveillance for the Department of Health, wrote in an April 7, 2022 email.

"We have taken into accounts cases in areas outside of Moncton, and cases among the temporary foreign worker population. It is possible that we had cases that went undetected (how many is not clear)."

Duk Han Lee/CBC News Graphics

No one from Public Health was made available for an interview to explain the apparent mismatch.

In an emailed statement, Department of Health spokesperson Valerie Kilfoil said the government is still assessing the benefits of the wastewater testing pilot in Moncton.

"The materials provided to you should be considered working documents – not a formal surveillance program by the province," Kilfoil wrote.

She didn't provide any explanation about why the data seemed to show some cases of COVID-19 went undetected.

Raywat Deonandan said the province shouldn't dismiss the wastewater results.

"It is so objective, more so than PCR testing, that I think we have to hang our hats on it more confidently," said Deonandan, who is an epidemiologist and associate professor in the faculty of health sciences at the University of Ottawa.

Without widespread random testing, which can capture people who are asymptomatic, Deonandan said it's common to under-detect COVID-19 cases.

"If random testing is not being done, as it isn't anywhere frankly, the PCR testing is not a good indication of the true extent of disease burden," Deonandan said.

"That's why I would err on the side of wastewater data to get a true sense of prevalence, not on PCR testing data."

Most provinces in Canada aren't detecting the full scope of COVID-19 infections because there's not enough testing being done, according to Tara Moriarty, an associate professor and infectious disease researcher at the University of Toronto.

New Brunswick offered widespread PCR testing in early 2021, but PCR tests are now only available to people over age 50 or under age two, people who are pregnant or immunocompromised, or people who work in a vulnerable setting, such as a hospital.

"We tend to prioritize testing for people who are higher risk," Moriarty said.

"So that means that we sometimes do have quite a few more infections than we think, as would be suggested by wastewater data. But we're simply not capturing them because we're not testing enough."

Kilfoil said the province is "no longer seeking to confirm and detect every single case occurring in the province or within specific communities."

Province considering COVID-19 wastewater monitoring

Dalhousie University's Centre for Water Resources Studies has been measuring COVID-19 in wastewater in partnership with the City of Moncton for about 18 months, according to Graham Gagnon, the centre's director.

He said it's not surprising to see a mismatch between the wastewater data and public health's testing data. The two bodies aren't coordinating when collecting their data, so there could be differences in how they're collecting information and reporting it.

CBC

"For the wastewater work that we've done in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, it's been a research scheme, not a public health reporting mechanism," Gagnon said.

"As a result, it was never intended to be coordinated, so you end up with gaps from a wastewater standpoint."

Last month, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell said the province is considering implementing COVID-19 wastewater monitoring, but didn't provide any details on who will conduct the testing and whether it will sample the entire province or just certain centres.

Other jurisdictions, such as Ottawa Public Health, post results of their COVID-19 wastewater data online. The federal government also has a COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard, but it doesn't include data from New Brunswick.

Deonandan, the epidemiologist, sees value in sharing wastewater testing data with the public.

"This is the kind of thing that should be made publicly available, because we're in an era now where there's so much distrust of authority, that the only way forward is maximum transparency at all times."

Old computer technology points the way to future of quantum computing


Thu, July 14, 2022 



VANCOUVER — Researchers have made a breakthrough in quantum technology development that has the potential to leave today’s supercomputers in the dust, opening the door to advances in fields including medicine, chemistry, cybersecurity and others that have been out of reach.

In a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, researchers from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia said they found a way to create quantum computing processors in silicon chips.

Principal investigator Stephanie Simmons said they illuminated tiny imperfections on the silicon chips with intense beams of light. The defects in the silicon chips act as a carrier of information, she said. While the rest of the chip transmits the light, the tiny defect reflects it back and turns into a messenger, she said.

There are many naturally occurring imperfections in silicon. Some of these imperfections can act as quantum bits, or qubits. Scientists call those kinds of imperfections spin qubits. Past research has shown that silicon can produce some of the most stable and long-lived qubits in the industry.

"These results unlock immediate opportunities to construct silicon-integrated, telecommunications-band quantum information networks," said the study.

Simmons, who is the university's Canada Research Chair in silicon quantum technologies, said the main challenge with quantum computing was being able to send information to and from qubits.

"People have worked with spin qubits, or defects, in silicon before," Simmons said. "And people have worked with photon qubits in silicon before. But nobody's brought them together like this."

Lead author Daniel Higginbottom called the breakthrough "immediately promising" because researchers achieved what was considered impossible by combining two known but parallel fields.

Silicon defects were extensively studied from the 1970s through the '90s while quantum physics has been researched for decades, said Higginbottom, who is a post-doctoral fellow at the university's physics department.

"For the longest time people didn't see any potential for optical technology in silicon defects. But we've really pioneered revisiting these and have found something with applications in quantum technology that's certainly remarkable."

Although in an embryonic stage, Simmons said quantum computing is the rock 'n' roll future of computers that can solve anything from simple algebra problems to complex pharmaceutical equations or formulas that unlock deep mysteries of space.

"We're going to be limited by our imaginations at this stage. What's really going to take off is really far outside our predictive capabilities as humans."

The advantage of using silicon chips is that they are widely available, understood and have a giant manufacturing base, she said.

"We can really get it working and we should be able to move more quickly and hopefully bring that capability mainstream much faster."

Some physicists predict quantum computers will become mainstream in about two decades, although Simmons said she thinks it will be much sooner.

In the 1950s, people thought the technology behind transistors was mainly going to be used for hearing aids, she said. No one then predicted that the physics behind a transistor could be applied to Facebook or Google, she added.

"So, we'll have to see how quantum technology plays out over decades in terms of what applications really do resonate with the public," she said. "But there is going to be a lot because people are creative, and these are fundamentally very powerful tools that we're unlocking."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2022.

Republicans spread the conspiracy theory that Trump supporter Ray Epps was an undercover FBI agent who incited the Capitol riot. Epps says it ruined his life.

kvlamis@insider.com (Kelsey Vlamis) - Yesterday 

In this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo rioters supporting President Donald Trump storm the Capitol in Washington. John Minchillo/AP

Ray Epps traveled to Washington D.C. to support President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.

He was later pegged to a conspiracy theory alleging the feds incited the Capitol riot.

He told The New York Times in an interview he had to sell his business and home and go into hiding.

Ray Epps, a Marine veteran and business owner from Arizona, traveled to Washington D.C. to show his support for former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.

And although he's not among the hundreds of Capitol rioters who were arrested and charged, the events that followed ruined his life, he said.

Epps, 61, became the center of a conspiracy theory, pushed by the former president himself, that would cause him to sell his business and his home and go into hiding, according to an interview he gave to The New York Times that was published Wednesday.

"And for what — lies?" Epps told The Times. "All of this, it's just been hell."

The baseless theory stemmed from attempts by some on the right to blame the Capitol riot on federal agents, who they claimed wanted a reason to provoke a crackdown on conservatives.

A video of Epps taken on January 5 showed him telling other Trump supporters they needed to go into the Capitol the following day. Epps was never arrested, prompting right-wing internet sleuths to accuse him of being an undercover FBI agent or informant trying to stir up violence — despite videos that show Epps urging others to be peaceful and trying to deescalate confrontations between police and the rioters on January 6.

The theory was eventually picked up by right-wing media and Republican politicians, including Rep. Thomas Massie and Sens. Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, among others. Trump himself mentioned Epps's name at a rally in January, suggesting he may have been working for the feds.

Epps told The Times he and his wife began receiving death threats via email and had people trespassing on their property starting in October, when right-wing site Revolver News first published a story about it. The attacks intensified after Fox News host Tucker Carlson and lawmakers promoted the claims.

Epps eventually found shell casings on his property and received a letter, potentially a hoax, saying Mexican cartel members were planning to kill him. He ended up selling his business and home, losing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and moving into a mobile home somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. He agreed to The Times interview as long as his current location was not disclosed.

"I am at the center of this thing, and it's the biggest farce that's ever been," he said. "It's just not right. The American people are being led down a path. I think it should be criminal."

The FBI has not publicly commented on allegations that Epps was working with them or why he was not charged.

Epps said he never entered the Capitol and told The Times he immediately contacted the FBI's National Threat Operations Center two days after the Capitol riot, when he found out they had flagged him in a be-on-the-lookout alert. The outlet confirmed his phone records showed he spoke to the FBI and obtained transcripts from additional interviews.

Epps was also questioned by the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot in November and told them he was not connected to the FBI, Politico reported.

A student-loan forgiveness program was 'run by greedy loan servicers' under Betsy DeVos, Elizabeth Warren says — and Biden can fix 'the mess' by canceling debt

asheffey@businessinsider.com (Ayelet Sheffey) - 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Warren slammed Betsy DeVos' handling of a student-loan forgiveness program for public servants.

She said the best first step Biden can take to fixing growing debt burdens is canceling it.

When Biden took office, 98% of public servants were being denied relief to the program.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren isn't too upset that a former education secretary is no longer in office.

On Friday, Warren joined the American Federation of Teachers convention in Massachusetts to discuss higher education reform and the student debt crisis. She addressed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which is intended to forgive student debt for public servants, like teachers, after ten years of qualifying payments. While the first group of borrowers should have become eligible for forgiveness in 2017, the program ran up a high denial rate under former President Donald Trump's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

"Less than 3% of the public servants that applied to have their loans forgiven under the PSLF program actually got the relief they were promised," Warren said. "More than 97% were denied. And by the way, this is why math education is so important. You can keep track of when Betsy DeVos is cheating you. The good news: Betsy DeVos is gone."

In 2019, the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten sued DeVos over the high PSLF denial rate, and in October, the organization reached a settlement with President Joe Biden's Education Department that required the department to reconsider any denied PSLF applications upon request and give denied borrowers a detailed response as to why they were denied, among other things. It also discharged $400,000 in student debt for the eight plaintiffs in the case, which Weingarten said at the time was "a day of vindication for the millions of borrowers who took the government at its word but were cruelly denied through no fault of their own."

Biden is teasing a coming decision on student-loan forgiveness. Here's everything we know about how it could look.

Pressure has been mounting for Biden to cancel student debt, as he pledged during his campaign.

Last month, he said his decision on relief would come in a matter of weeks.

While Republican opposition mounts, a few developments hint at the kind of relief borrowers might see.

Despite President Joe Biden's campaign pledge to cancel $10,000 in debt per borrower, he's been largely silent on the issue through his presidency.

But there may be a light at the end of tunnel for more than 40 million Americans with federal student loans.

In late April, Biden said he'd "have an answer" on relief in the coming weeks. That was a year after Biden asked the Department of Education to prepare a memo outlining his legal power to cancel student debt. Insider found that the Education Department created and circulated the memo, but Biden has not revealed its contents.

Instead of relief for all borrowers, so far, Biden has focused on targeted groups like borrowers with disabilities and those defrauded by for-profit schools, who have seen more than $9 billion in collective debt relief. He also extended the pandemic pause on student loan payments four times since taking office, following two from former President Donald Trump.

Democrats are pressuring him to relieve borrowers in fear of low midterm turnout, with some progressives urging him to cancel at least $50,000 for those in debt. Meanwhile, Republicans senators have introduced bills intended to prohibit cancellation.

Biden's approval rating among the young people who helped get him elected is tanking. With the payment pause set to expire after August 31, Americans are on pins and needles to find out what Biden will do.

Here's everything we know so far.

Following the high PSLF denial rate under DeVos, Biden's Education Department announced a series of reforms to the program last year, including a waiver that runs through October 31, 2022, that allows any past payments, including those previously deemed ineligible, to count toward forgiveness progress. Warren said she's "all in favor of this relief, but it's not enough."

Student Loan Forgiveness and the Future of Paying for College

"We need to deal with the mess we're in right now," Warren said. "Mr. President, our educators and our firefighters and everyone who is struggling with a mountain of student loan debt, it is time to cancel $50,000 of student loan debt."

Warren has long called for $50,000 in relief for federal borrowers, even though it's an amount Biden previously said he is not considering. Instead, recent reports have suggested he is mulling $10,000 in relief for borrowers making under $150,000 a year. It'll likely be announced in July or August, closer to when the pause on student-loan payments expires after August 31.

While Democrats like Warren want the president to go big on relief, many Republican lawmakers have slammed the idea of forgiving student debt broadly. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, for example, wrote on Twitter that canceling debt will "have a significant inflationary impact, so the working poor and seniors will be the hardest hit."

"Biden wants to raid the treasury to bribe his progressive base to turn out for the midterms," Cotton wrote.

The White House has not publicly confirmed how it plans to act on student debt, but with payments resuming in less than two months, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are waiting for the final decision.

EV BATTERIES ARE DANGEROUS
Lucid Reports Multiple Battery-Related Fires At Factory In Arizona
Steven Loveday -

© InsideEVsLucid Air Dream Edition

In both cases, the batteries were submerged in water, the factory reportedly had to be evacuated, and workers were injured.

According to a recent report published by Drive Tesla Canada, Lucid has dealt with two reported fire incidents over the course of just four months. The fires broke out at the electric automaker's factory in Arizona.

Lucid is slowly but surely increasing its production speed at its first factory in Casa Grande. Arizona. Since the factory first officially opened, the local fire department has been dispatched to the location on at least two occasions. Drive Tesla Canada notes that according to fire department records obtained by Business Insider, both incidents involved fires related to electric car batteries.

Based on the information in the fire department's reports, one fire happened on March 14, 2022, at 10:30 PM local time. The fire broke out at Lucid's powertrain center, and thermal runaway was noted. This basically means that even if the fire is extinguished, it can continue to reignite long after the initial incident as the rising heat continues to impact additional battery cells. This is one of the reasons EV battery fires are harder to deal with than other fires.

The fire department responded to the battery-related fire incident, which firefighters learned was upgraded to a "hazardous situation” while they were headed to the site. By the time the first responders arrived, the battery had already been put in a tank of water. One person ended up with burns and needed to be treated at a local hospital.

A second fire occurred around the same time in the evening, on June 19, 2022. The fire department was dispatched to respond to an active vehicle battery fire inside the Arizona factory. Once again, when the units arrived, the battery had already been partially submerged in water outside the facility. Drive Tesla Canada writes that four Lucid workers had to have medical treatment for possible smoke inhalation, and another needed to visit a local medical facility.

Check Out These Lucid Stories:
Apple CarPlay Seen Running On Lucid Air Screen At Test Drive Event

Elon Musk Says Lucid And Rivian Are "Tracking Toward Bankruptcy"

Anonymous sources reported that Lucid was forced to evacuate the factory during both incidents. Hopefully, the EV maker has figured out what caused the issues, and there won't be any continued concerns going forward.

ASSASSINATED

Ripudaman Singh Malik, acquitted in Air India bombing, had many enemies

Kim Bolan - July 15.2022- VANCOUVER SUN

When retired RCMP deputy commissioner Gary Bass was in charge of the terrorism investigation into the 1985 Air India bombing, he saw just how many enemies Ripudaman Singh Malik had.


© Provided by Vancouver Sun

Ripudaman Singh Malik (centre) leaves B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, B.C. with his supporters after he was found not guilty in the bombing of an Air India flight 182 in 1985, Wednesday March 16, 2005. Malikl won't be getting back $9.2 million in legal fees. Malik had admitted in a B.C. Supreme Court case that it would be difficult for him to convince the government to cover his legal bills.

“I’m not privy to the ongoing investigations on Malik right now, but I can say that from years when I was that he was involved in a number of activities that might bring him into conflict with other people.”

Malik, who was acquitted of murder and conspiracy charges in 2005, was shot to death as he sat inside his car about 9:30 a.m. Thursday outside an industrial plaza where he has a business office in the 8200-block of 128th Street.

Bass said it would be speculative to suggest who might be behind the fatal shooting of the 75-year former Sikh separatist leader.


© Jason Payne

Various police agencies investigate the shooting death of Ripudaman Singh Malik at 8236 128th Street in Surrey, B.C. Thursday morning July 14, 2022. Malik, a well-known Surrey businessman, was acquitted in 2005 in the Air India Bombing, which killed hundreds of people in 1985.

“I just think there’s so many potential motives.”

Bass recalled monitoring a seven-hour interview Malik gave to the Air India investigators after his October 2000 arrest.

“I watched that interview. And he was a different person than he portrays in public for sure. He was cocky. He took his turban off, and he had his feet up on the desk, and really playing games,” Bass recalled. “And coming very close to confessing and then kind of backing away … not the pious religious guy that he’d like everyone to think for sure.”

Homicide investigators are now trying to figure out who killed the controversial community leader, one-time terror suspect, wealthy businessman and founder of both the Khalsa Credit Union and Khalsa Schools.


© Jeff Vinnick

Accused Air India bombers Ajaib Singh Bagri (left) and Ripudaman Singh Malik walk together through the exercise yard at the jail where they were in custody Nov. 1, 2004 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Was someone angry over Malik’s recent support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanking him for work he had done on behalf of Sikhs in a letter he sent in January?

“I am writing you this to express my deer heartfelt gratitude for the unprecedented positive steps taken by yourself to redress long-reading Sikh demands and grievances,” Malik wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Postmedia.

Malik cited the elimination of blacklists like the one he was once on and the reopening of criminal cases for suspects in murders during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as well as a declaration that the riots were in fact a genocide.


A door from the Air India jumbo jet floats off the Irish coast after a bomb exploded causing the plane to crash in 1985.

The Surrey senior had also attracted recent controversy for his links to printing the Sikh holy book — the Guru Granth Sahib — outside of India in contravention of a religious edict.

But several sources also said Malik has had a number of personal disputes with individuals over the years.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team issued a release later Thursday, confirming Malik was the victim and that the murder was targeted. And police believe a burned vehicle found near 82 Avenue and 122a Street is associated to the shooting.

“We are aware of Mr. Malik’s background, though at this time we are still working to determine the motive,” Sgt.Timothy Pierotti said. “Having occurred in a residential area, we are confident that witnesses exist that could help us further this investigation. We urge them to come forward immediately and without delay.”

In March 2005, Malik and his Babbar Khalsa associate Ajaib Singh Bagri, were acquitted by a B.C. Supreme Court judge of murder and conspiracy charges in Canada’s deadliest terror attack.

Air India — then the country’s national airline — was bombed to retaliate against the Indian government for its attack on Amritsar’s Golden Temple a year earlier, which left hundreds of Sikh pilgrims dead.


Malik and Bagri were alleged to be part of a conspiracy of a small group of B.C. militants who placed suitcase bombs on two connecting flights leaving Vancouver airport. The deadly bags were tagged for Air India flights heading in opposite directions.

One blew up aboard Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people aboard, most of them Canadian citizens. The other exploded in Tokyo’s Narita Airport as it was being transferred. Two baggage handlers were killed.

Inderjit Reyat, a former Vancouver Island man, was convicted of manslaughter in both bombings.


© Handout

Ripudaman Singh Malik serves up something at Khalsa school in this 1995 file picture.

After Malik’s acquittal, he resumed his leadership roles at the Khalsa Credit Union and Satnam Education Society which operates several Khalsa schools. And he moved from Vancouver to South Surrey. He continued to run a number of businesses including Papillon Eastern Imports — the clothing company based in the building where Malik was killed Thursday.

Malik also travelled to India for the first time since his acquittal in 2019 after the India government granted him a visa.

Former B.C. premier Ujjal Dosanjh first met Malik in the 1970s when the local South Asian community in Vancouver was very small.

Malik had started a clothing store, Papillon, in Gastown. The two men and their wives socialized. Malik was not yet a supporter of the Sikh separatist Khalistan movement, Dosanjh said Thursday.

Dosanjh did the legal work pro bono to help Malik set up his first two charities — the Satnam Trust and the Satnam Education Society.

“He was a ganja-smoking hippie who had a ponytail and then he turned into an extremist warrior. It’s hard to explain,” Dosanjh said. “Something happened to him.”

Dosanjh thinks that it’s possible Malik’s recent support of the Indian government he once reviled could be a motive in the murder.

“Whenever somebody is felled by violence, one is saddened,” Dosanjh said. “Mr. Malik ostensibly played with violence in his life and it has likely come back to haunt him.”


© Jason Payne

Various police agencies investigate the shooting death of Ripudaman Singh Malik at 8236 128th Street in Surrey, B.C. Thursday morning July 14, 2022. Malik, a well-known Surrey businessman, was acquitted in 2005 in the Air India Bombing, which killed hundreds of people in 1985. Pictured is an unknown woman, identity shielded, at the crime scene.

Kash Heed, a longtime Vancouver police officer and former B.C. solicitor general, said the Malik murder bore similarities to recent gangland murders, where a masked shooter blasts away, escapes and a getaway car is later found burning.

“This has the earmarkings of a paid hit against an individual. We know of several of these hits on the Lower Mainland related to gang violence,” he said.

And he also said Malik’s recent support for the government of India might be the motive in the shooting.

“This has been such a prolonged event, I am actually surprised that he has survived so many years,” Heed said. “My belief that it is related to his political advocacy.”

Several people who testified against Malik in the Air India prosecution declined to comment Thursday though they privately expressed shock at his murder.


© Gerry KahrmannMar. 16, 2005. The judge in the Air India bombing trial found Ripudaman Singh Malik (left) not guilty of bombing Air India flight 182. He is escorted by a court sheriff and an unidentified man to a waiting car.

Malik lived in a waterfront house on Crescent Road in South Surrey with his wife Raminder, who is the only one on the land title.

Assessed at $6.8 million, the house is also listed as the home of some of Malik’s adult children on corporate records related to family businesses.

When a Vancouver Sun reporter visited Malik’s family in India in 2003 on the eve of the Air India trial, his elderly aunts said he was born in Lahore — now in Pakistan — on Feb. 5, 1947 — just before the partition of India. He was still a baby when his father Ranjit Singh moved the family to Ferozpur, Punjab — on the Indian side of the new border.


Tenants on the Malik family estate in Ferozpur, Punjab enter the front gate.

The family bought a gas station and opened a drugstore and later moved into a large home. Ripudaman Malik emigrated to England in the early 70s before arriving in Vancouver where he settled and raised his family — three sons and a daughter.

He ran and expanded Papillon, then started Khalsa Development and some numbered companies, though he was not listed as a director of any of them on current corporate records. And he was a founder of the Khalsa Credit Union and the two charities, Satnam Trust, which had its charitable status revoked in 2012, and the Satnam Education Society, of which Malik is still listed as a director.

Punjab MP Simranjit Singh Mann, a longtime pro-Khalistani leader told The Vancouver Sun in 2003 that he had been a friend of Malik’s family when he was in the police in Ferozpur.

“They were very law-abiding people and very devout Sikhs,” recalled Mann. “He comes from a very, very good family. I should know that because I used to call on them.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/kbolan

Putin fires head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, and appointed deputy prime minister Yuri Borisov to head the organization.


© Provided by News 360Archive - Former Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin - EUROPA PRESS

Although the reasons for the dismissal have not been specified, sources of the Russian opposition portal Meduza, including one close to Rogozin himself, pointed out this week that the former head of Roscosmos will soon join the presidential administration, possibly as the Kremlin's new chief of staff.

Again according to the same sources, it is also not ruled out that Rogozin will eventually become one of the Kremlin's supervisors for the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.

Rogozin had been at the helm of Roscosmos for the past four years, since May 24, 2018, while Borisov had previously served as deputy defense minister of the Russian Federation.

What Dmitry Rogozin’s Firing Could Mean for Russia's Approach to Space

George Dvorsky - Yesterday -GIZMODO

The Kremlin has abruptly ended Dmitry Rogozin’s tenure as the head of Russia’s space agency, forcing us to wonder if the introduction of a new space chief might change Roscosmos and the way it handles other space agencies. Sadly, there’s good reason for pessimism.


© Photo: NASAThe Nauka and Prichal modules and the Soyuz MS-21 crew ship.

As British rockers The Who once sang: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” This could well be the case at the Russian space agency, where earlier today the Kremlin announced the firing of Rogozin, who was replaced by former Russian deputy prime minister Yury Borisov. It’s hard to know how Borisov might alter the complexion of Roscosmos or the agency’s relationship with its International Space Station partners, but given Russia’s waning interest in space and ongoing focus on the war in Ukraine, it’s a safe bet that things aren’t going to change too dramatically.

Rogozin’s departure is undoubtably a relief for NASA and other Roscosmos partners, as his four-year tenure as director general of Roscosmos was fiery and turbulent. Rogozin rarely hesitated to lash out publicly when things rubbed him the wrong way—and there was no shortage of things that got him agitated.

Back in 2014, when still deputy prime minister of Russia, Rogozin responded to newly imposed U.S. sanctions by saying NASA will soon require trampolines to send its astronauts to the ISS (NASA was dependent on Russia for crewed access to space at the time). As Roscosmos chief, he once again railed against sanctions while continually threatening to abandon the space station. Consistently crass, Rogozin said that people who impose sanctions against Russia should be checked for Alzheimer’s and that Russia’s departure from the ISS would result in the space station making an uncontrolled deorbit.

Last year, an anonymous high-ranking official in the Russian space industry blamed a “mentally unstable” NASA astronaut for drilling a hole in a Soyuz capsule docked to the ISS, in an unfounded accusation that smacked of Rogozin’s involvement. Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Roscosmos put out a fabricated video showing cosmonauts entering into a module and leaving the ISS for good, raising fears that Roscosmos would abandon NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei in low Earth orbit. And as early as this week, Rogozin threatened to withhold access to Europe’s new ISS robotic arm—a response to the European Space Agency terminating its relationship with Roscosmos on the ExoMars mission.

You get the picture. But despite these bleak episodes, Rogozin’s histrionics never really amounted to much. “Rogozin’s bluster was rarely translated into actual practical action,” Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, wrote to me in an email. “But it did contribute a sense of Trumpian instability to the Russian space effort, and distracted space workers are not a good thing for safety.” Indeed, it was under Rogozin’s tenure that one of the most serious incidents in the 25-year history of the ISS took place. In August 2021, a newly docked Russian module inadvertently fired its thrusters, causing the space station to backflip out of control.

Rogozin couldn’t act on his threats or do anything to revamp Russia’s deteriorating space program on account of Russian President Vladimir Putin not really caring that much about space exploration. Putin slashed Russia’s space budgets and instead prioritized his build-up of Russia’s military. As a substitute for building cool things in space, Russia changed its focus to destroying things in space, as witnessed by the country’s reckless anti-satellite weapons test in November of last year.

The new guy, Yury Borisov, will likely face the same challenges as his predecessor. How he will approach them remains to be seen.

Keith Cowing, editor of NASAWatch.com and a former rocket scientist at NASA, doesn’t know if Borisov will be any better than Rogozin, but he said the new space chief “needs to fall back to basic problems” and deal with the “cash-strapped Roscosmos,” he told me over the phone. Cowing said the departure of Rogozin may represent a good thing for Roscosmos, as his continual antics “were causing people to step away.” His advice to Borisov is to “defer to people who are doing the work and actually running the place,” because the one thing that Roscosmos most needs right now is “institutional stability.”

That Roscosmos will start to exhibit signs of positive change is possible, even if it is unlikely. A newly brokered agreement between the U.S. and Russia for a crew swap on upcoming flights of SpaceX Crew Dragon and Russia’s Soyuz likely has nothing to do with the firing of Rogozin, according to Cowing, but he said there is something that Borisov could do in good faith: return OneWeb’s satellites. Roscosmos was supposed to launch 36 of OneWeb’s internet satellites in March but is instead holding them hostage. The London-based OneWeb is currently seeking to build an internet constellation in low Earth orbit, though one smaller than SpaceX’s Starlink. Returning the satellites to OneWeb “is an easy thing that Borisov can do,” Cowing told me, and it could “restore confidence in Roscosmos” or be a “positive sign that things might change.”

McDowell doesn’t expect Russian space policy to change, but he hopes it will be less noisy. Borisov, given his military and defense background, will likely “support Putin’s Ukraine invasion just as much as Rogozin, but perhaps he won’t push that support in NASA’s face quite as much,” he said.

Speaking of NASA, I reached out to the space agency for comment on Rogozin’s departure but have yet to hear back. I asked Cowing how NASA ought to respond.

“Don’t gloat,” he replied.

CANADA
No new equipment or land for a few years, say farmers hit by interest rate hike

CBC, Thu, July 14, 2022


Farmers are used to keeping an eye on the weather and their fields, but now they're also watching the Bank of Canada after it raised its benchmark interest rate by a full percentage point in an attempt to fight runaway inflation.

"It's made for a challenging year, especially with paying off credit lines and making sure that bills are paid on time," said Rauri Qually, who farms with his wife, Pam Bailey, on land west of Winnipeg.

"We've been managing, but there are a lot of farmers across Manitoba and many different aspects of agriculture, from grains and oilseeds to livestock to specialty crops to fruit that are struggling."

Most farmers carry a lot of debt, buying seed, fertilizer and equipment upfront every year, then hoping for a bumper crop and high returns many months later. The rising interest rates call into question the sustainability of some farms, which could directly affect consumers as well as the one in nine Canadian jobs involved in the country's agriculture and agri-food sector.

For Qually and Bailey, drought hurt their harvest last fall. This spring, inflation drove up seed and fertilizer costs. Spring flooding meant a late start to their planting season.

They're about a month behind where they should be.

Increased risk of borrowing

All of that, combined with this increased cost of borrowing, means they'll hold off on major purchases such as a new combine, which can cost half a million dollars. The bank's interest rate impacts what Canadians get from their lenders on products like mortgages and lines of credit.

"That ship has sailed," Bailey said, laughing.

"New tractors aren't exactly in our scope at this point in time," Qually added. " Maybe in a few years."

Toban Dyck

At an agriculture conference in Winnipeg, farmer Toban Dyck was also keeping an eye on interest rates.

He saw his parents struggle with interest rates in the double digits in the 1980s, so he's always been careful not to take on too much debt when the money has been "cheap."

Still, "in order to increase our farm size, we've had to invest in more land, which means loans," he said. "It'll affect us.… Lots of people will be way more saddled with debt."

And while farmers are resilient, "there are lots of deep sighs and just kind of one foot in front of the other," he said.

Toban Dyck

One of the big concerns is that this may just be the beginning of increasingly high interest rates.

A central bank cuts the lending rate when it wants to stimulate the economy by encouraging people to borrow and invest. It raises rates when it wants to cool down an overheated economy.

"The big question is where interest rates are going in the future," said Richard Gray, an agricultural economist at the University of Saskatchewan. He also farms with his son near Saskatoon.

"Fundamentally, you have to see interest rates higher than the expected rate of inflation. Right now, inflation expectations are six or seven per cent and interest rates are not nearly that high yet so there may be more interest rate hikes to come."

Livestock producers most vulnerable, expert says

Gray sees livestock producers as the most vulnerable in the sector. The cost of buying and feeding cattle are up, but the final price at market is not keeping pace.

"So they're in a little bit of an income squeeze, and you add higher interest rates to that group, you can bet there's some farmers that are hurting," he said.

David Laughlin/CBC

High commodity prices are helping some farmers right now, but that could change as the economy slows, said Sylvain Charlebois. He teaches food distribution policy at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

"This year's seeding season was the most expensive in history because of costs, but the return is likely going to be there as well. Commodity prices are are much higher than average, so farmers should do well this year," he said.

"The concern with higher rates is probably next year ... because commodity prices will likely drop as a result of a slower global economy. That's why central banks want a slower economy. Demand for commodities will drop and prices will drop as well. But if costs don't drop, then farmers will be in trouble.

"For next year there is a lot of uncertainty," Charlebois said.

Back in the field, the most immediate concern for Qually and Bailey is getting this crop to harvest.

Kneeling in the soil as they check out their canola plants, they know they're at the mercy of the markets and nature.

"You have to plan for the worst in agriculture," Qually said.

"You know, try to live within your means, farm within your means," Bailey added. "As farmers you gotta have hope. Just keep going."