Former senator recalls being told Canada asked Sudan to hold Abdelrazik in detention
Jim Bronskill
Mon, October 28, 2024
OTTAWA — Former senator Mobina Jaffer says she was told by the Sudanese intelligence director that he felt Canadian officials had asked him to detain Montreal man Abousfian Abdelrazik.
Jaffer, who retired from the Senate earlier this year, testified today in Federal Court in Abdelrazik's lawsuit against Ottawa over his detention and alleged torture in Sudanese custody two decades ago.
She recalled her September 2004 meeting in Sudan with Salah Gosh, who was then the director of the country's intelligence service.
Jaffer, Canada's special envoy for peace in Sudan at the time, said Gosh told her Canada thought Abdelrazik was a terrorist and wanted him to find out if he was indeed an extremist.
She said Gosh informed her Sudanese intelligence tried "all kinds of ways" to find out, but was completely satisfied he was not a terrorist, and that it was time for Canada to take him back.
Jaffer said it was no secret the intelligence service used brutal methods, so she immediately knew that Abdelrazik did not have a pleasant experience in custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2024.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
Minister apologizes for government's handling of First Nations' money in 1800s
The Canadian Press
Sat, October 26, 2024
NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN AND THE ISLANDS, Ont. — Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree has apologized on behalf of the Canadian government to a group of Ontario First Nations for mismanagement of their money over a century ago.
The minister issued the apology Saturday at Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation on Manitoulin Island, about 350 kilometres northwest of Toronto, during a ceremony that also commemorated a $447.9 million compensation settlement that will be shared among the five First Nations.
A news release from the federal government says the Crown made an agreement with the First Nations in 1862 for sales of Indigenous land, but used the profits from the sales to build roads and open up Manitoulin Island for settlement rather than giving the money to the First Nations as intended.
The release says "the Crown failed to act honourably and uphold its relationship with the First Nations, which went against the spirit and intent of the Treaties, broke promises and created injustices which continue to be felt by the communities today.
The five communities include Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation, M'Chigeeng First Nation, Sheguiandah First Nation, Sheshegwaning First Nation and Zhiibaahaasing First Nation
The settlement for the historical claims, which are often called "the Manitoulin Project," was reached last December and was approved in community votes held in March, with 98 percent of participants voting in favour.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2024.
The Canadian Press
Parks Canada unveils new national Indigenous Stewardship Policy
CBC
Mon, October 28, 2024
Mountains surrounding Fairy Meadows in Nahanni National Park Reserve in the N.W.T. in the summer of 2022. Later that year, a co-management agreement for the park would be signed between Parks Canada, the Dehcho First Nations and the Nahɂą Dehé Dene Band. (Liny Lamberink/CBC - image credit)
Parks Canada has unveiled a new policy focused on Indigenous stewardship.
The policy sets out a framework on how Parks Canada and Indigenous communities can work together to conserve nature and culture.
"We wanted to be able to demonstrate that we've been listening for decades and we've heard the feedback that's been provided and we needed to be able to demonstrate a tangible and concrete commitment moving forward," Nadine Spence, vice president of Indigenous affairs and cultural heritage for Parks Canada told CBC News in an interview.
Parks Canada was created in the 1880s when the first national park in the country was established in Banff, Alta.
Now the government agency manages more than 200 sites including national parks, historic sites and protected areas. It has a complex history with Indigenous communities because First Nations people, Métis and Inuit were displaced, removed and in some cases banned from traditional hunting and harvesting lands.
Chief says more work needs to be done first
But not everyone is on board with the new policy.
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam says he would like to see more work put in from Parks Canada first – including correcting the wrongs of the past and having the federal organization recognize Wood Buffalo National Park as traditional territory of the K'ai Tailé Dené.
"You got to remember you removed us from arks back in 1922 and you haven't resolved that issue," he said.
Chief Allan Adam says he's still seeking reconciliation from Parks Canada.
Chief Allan Adam says he's still seeking reconciliation from Parks Canada. (Jamie Malbeuf/CBC)
Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest national park in the country with land that spans the Northwest Territories and Alberta. At the time of its creation, all Indigenous and treaty rights were considered extinguished, according to Parks Canada.
Adam's grandmother was one of the people who was no longer allowed in the national park after Wood Buffalo National Park was established, he said.
"My dad told me the story of what had happened, that my granny was removed from Wood Buffalo National Park at the age of 21 when her husband died."
The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation commissioned a report on the history of the park. After conducting interviews with elders and community members, the report was released in 2021. It describes the park's history as violent and fraught.
It said the park's co-management strategies didn't do enough to address intergenerational impacts on Denesųłiné peoples.
"Why would we want to make a co-operative management plan agreement with Parks Canada when we didn't do anything wrong in the first place," said Adam. "If we do that, all we're doing is accepting the wrongdoings of Parks Canada towards our people."
Wood Buffalo National Park in 2018.
Wood Buffalo National Park in 2018. (Lennard Plantz/CBC)
Trust at the heart of the new policy, Parks Canada says
The new policy was created in collaboration with Indigenous Stewardship Circle, an advisory group created last year with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people from across the country.
Haida Nation member Cindy Boyko is a chair of the circle and said the policy helps set a new path for Indigenous people and Parks Canada.
"Parks Canada is acknowledging the wrongs of the past and how they did things and making it right," Boyko said.
Haida Nation member Cindy Boyko, also chair of the Indigenous Stewardship Circle at the announcement of Parks Canada's new policy.
Haida Nation member Cindy Boyko, also chair of the Indigenous Stewardship Circle at the announcement of Parks Canada's new policy. (Submitted by Parks Canada)
The policy objectives, according to the Parks Canada website, are to have a framework for Indigenous stewardship and to support cultural continuity, cultural safety and healing.
But Boyko said what it really comes down to is building relationships.
"This policy document that we're talking about helps us, guides us to set a different path moving forward and allows First Nations to be included for once," she said.
North has a history of co-governed parks
The Indigenous Stewardship Policy comes 40 years after Ivvavik National Park was established – the first national park in the country to be created from a land claim settlement and the first park to be co-managed with Inuvialuit.
Several co-management agreements for national parks have since been signed in the Northwest Territories, including for the Thaıdene Nëné National Park Reserve in 2019, and for the Nahanni National Park Reserve in 2022.
Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian, who was at the signing in Nahanni two years ago, said the agreement has been good so far.
Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian in Nahanni Butte on Sept. 30.
Dehcho Grand Chief Herb Norwegian in Nahanni Butte on Sept. 30. (Jenna Dulewich/CBC)
While Parks Canada has been managing land across the country for more than 100 years, Spence said all Canadians benefit when listening to Indigenous stewardship practices that have existed for thousands of years. Spence said arriving at this moment — where space is made for Indigenous knowledge — is important.
Port of Montreal dockworkers to hold another partial strike — this time, with no end date
CBC
Mon, October 28, 2024
Port of Montreal longshore workers held a three-day strike outside the Maisonneuve Termont terminal in Montreal at the end of September. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press - image credit)
The union representing dockworkers at the Port of Montreal have voted to hold a partial, unlimited strike.
The dockworkers, who were on strike on Sunday for one day, voted to hold another strike on Thursday. This time, the strike will be unlimited and it will affect the two Termont terminals at the port, the same ones affected by a partial three-day strike earlier this month.
The union, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which is affiliated with the FTQ and represents nearly 1,200 longshore workers at the country's second-biggest port, said the strike would begin on Thursday at 11 a.m.
On Sunday, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses said in a statement that the union's actions were affecting small and medium-sized businesses, especially ahead of the busy holiday shopping season.
"It's time the federal government made ports an essential service so that they remain operational at all times," wrote Jasmin Guenette, the federation's national affairs vice-president.
The workers have been without a collective agreement since Dec. 31, 2023.
Since Oct. 10, the dockworkers have refused overtime. They are at odds with their employers over salaries, work-life balance and schedules.
Promise tracker: What the Saskatchewan Party and NDP pledge to do if they win Monday
The Canadian Press
Sun, October 27, 2024
REGINA — Saskatchewan's provincial election is on Monday. Here's a look at some of the campaign promises made by the two major parties:
Saskatchewan Party
— Continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa on natural gas until the end of 2025.
— Reduce personal income tax rates over four years; a family of four would save $3,400.
— Double the Active Families Benefit to $300 per child per year and the benefit for children with disabilities to $400 a year.
— Direct all school divisions to ban "biological boys" from girls' change rooms in schools.
— Increase the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit to $15,000 from $10,000.
— Reintroduce the Home Renovation Tax Credit, allowing homeowners to claim up to $4,000 in renovation costs on their income taxes; seniors could claim up to $5,000.
— Extend coverage for insulin pumps and diabetes supplies to seniors and young adults
— Provide a 50 per cent refundable tax credit — up to $10,000 — to help cover the cost of a first fertility treatment.
— Hire 100 new municipal officers and 70 more officers with the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.
— Amend legislation to provide police with more authority to address intoxication, vandalism and disturbances on public property.
— Platform cost of $1.2 billion, with deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in 2027.
---
NDP
— Pause the 15-cent-a-litre gas tax for six months, saving an average family about $350.
— Remove the provincial sales tax from children's clothes and ready-to-eat grocery items like rotisserie chickens and granola bars.
— Pass legislation to limit how often and how much landlords can raise rent.
— Repeal the law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns at school.
— Launch a provincewide school nutrition program.
— Build more schools and reduce classroom sizes.
— Hire 800 front-line health-care workers in areas most in need.
— Launch an accountability commission to investigate cost overruns for government projects.
— Scrap the marshals service.
— Hire 100 Mounties and expand detox services.
— Platform cost of $3.5 billion, with small deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in the fourth year.
---
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.
The Canadian Press
'Dumb mistake': What politicians had to say during the Saskatchewan election campaign
The Canadian Press
Sun, October 27, 2024
REGINA — Saskatchewan's provincial election is on Monday. The Saskatchewan Party, in government for the last 17 years, is hoping for a return to power, while the NDP is fighting to move out of the Opposition benches.
Here are some memorable quotes from politicians during the four-week campaign:
"Very dumb mistake. One word and it can change your life ... to the people involved, I offer my apology again. I wish I could bring it back. Unfortunately, I can't." — Saskatchewan Party candidate David Buckingham, after it came to light that he used a racial slur referencing a Black person in the government caucus office last year
"We very much strive to be a diverse and inclusive party, very much with the policies that we have enacted with the honour of forming government over the last decade and a half." — Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe said in response to Buckingham's apology
"I said things in my 20s that I don’t believe now whatsoever ... my focus now is on being a positive influence in our society, and any music I’ve created in recent years has been devoted to that." — NDP candidate Phil Smith, a former rapper, after the Saskatchewan Party criticized some of his lyrics as misogynistic, pro-drugs and pro-crime
"If that's what (Moe) wants to focus on, he can fill his boots ... but we're focused on the things that Saskatchewan people need." — NDP Leader Carla Beck in response to the Saskatchewan Party's criticism of Smith's music
"I'm so proud of our province and all that we have been able to achieve together." — Moe during the televised leaders' debate
"I see opportunity in every corner of this province. But under Scott Moe and the Sask. Party, there's too much opportunity being left on the table and too many Saskatchewan people being left behind." — Beck during the debate.
"There will be a directive that would come from the minister of education that would say that biological boys will not be in the change room with biological girls." — Moe said the campaign promise would be his first order of business if re-elected premier, as he had recently heard of a school change room complaint about the issue. The pledge was not part of the Saskatchewan Party's platform document.
""Politics is a difficult job. When you sign up for the job, you know that your public life will be open to scrutiny. Your children don't sign up for that." — NDP candidate Nicole Sarauer said in response to Moe's change room promise, as it was revealed another NDP candidate's children were the subjects of the school complaint.
"What appears is there was at least one bullet that was shot into their campaign office ... we've seen this in the U.S. presidential campaign, not in a provincial Saskatchewan election.” — Moe said after holes were found in a window at the Regina campaign office of Saskatchewan Party candidate Rahul Singh. Police later said the damage was not the result of a firearm.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.
The Canadian Press
Saskatchewan election race tightens as parties spend final day campaigning
Jeremy Simes
Sun, October 27, 2024 at 5:20 p.m. MDT·5 min read
REGINA — Saskatchewan's election campaign entered its final day Sunday, with both main party leaders vying for government in what has shaped up to be the tightest race in nearly two decades.
Scott Moe's Saskatchewan Party is seeking a fifth-straight majority after 17 years in office, while Carla Beck's NDP is looking to take back government for the first time since 2007.
Political experts say Moe is still favoured to win, given his party's strength in rural areas, but the question is: How small of a Saskatchewan Party majority could it be?
Election day is Monday.
"I think the parties are much closer than they've been in 17 years," Charles Smith, a professor of political studies at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon, said in a recent interview.
"For the first time in well over a decade, (the NDP) is competitive in ways they haven't been."
Tom McIntosh, a political scientist at the University of Regina, said the electoral map favours the Saskatchewan Party.
"The NDP are the sort of happy warriors of the campaign," McIntosh said.
"I'm not sure the Sask. Party is showing that same kind of enthusiasm. That would be hard to do when you know you've got a massive majority, and you know it's going to be substantially cut by any measure."
Daniel Westlake, a political studies professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said Moe may lose a lot of urban seats, including those in the smaller cities of Prince Albert and Moose Jaw.
"I'm hesitant to predict anything with any kind of certainty, but right now, it looks like a race where the Saskatchewan Party probably loses seats but still forms government," Westlake said.
Polls have suggested a tightening race between both parties, but the breakdown on constituencies means an uphill fight for the NDP.
To win a majority in the 61-seat legislature, the NDP would need to sweep the 28 seats in the three largest cities — Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert — and hope for help elsewhere.
At dissolution, the governing Saskatchewan Party had 42 seats, while the Opposition NDP had 14. There were four Independents and one seat was vacant.
The campaign has largely focused on health care, affordability and crime, though Moe raised the issue of school change rooms later in the race.
In his pledge, Moe said his first order of business if re-elected would be to ban “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls.”
He made the promise after learning of a complaint at a southeast Saskatchewan school about two biological boys using a girls change room. The pledge was not previously included in his party’s platform document.
A parent of the two children subject to the complaint is an NDP candidate. Moe has said he didn’t know that when he made the promise.
Beck has said the ban would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable. She’s also promised to repeal a Saskatchewan Party law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names and pronouns at school.
Beck has said voters want the next government to deal with more pressing issues, including classroom sizes, fixing health care and being able to afford gas and groceries.
Smith said he thinks Moe's change-room plan is meant to lure social conservatives who might be eyeing the right-wing Saskatchewan United Party.
"I also think attacking a candidate's children is very concerning, although he (says) he didn't know it," Smith said.
McIntosh said the change-room issue isn't top of mind for voters.
"Where it does motivate people, they were likely already going to vote Sask. Party anyway," he said.
On Saturday in Saskatoon, Moe said incumbent provincial governments have had it tough.
"And that's likely, you know, the case we're having -- a challenging election I would say here in Saskatchewan," Moe said.
Blaine Higgs' New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives were defeated last week to Susan Holt's Liberals. Higgs, who lost his own seat, was in power for six years.
Beck said Saturday in Saskatoon there's a "feeling of change" out there.
"I'm not taking anything for granted. I'm not built that way. I know we're going to have to knock every door and pull every vote, but I am feeling optimistic," Beck said.
A spokesperson for Moe said he didn't have any public events scheduled for Sunday.
Moe has promised broad tax relief and to continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa.
His platform is to cost an additional $1.2 billion over four years. He says his tax reduction plan would save a family of four $3,400 over four years. It also includes tax credits for those looking to grow their families or put their children in sports and arts.
Moe has promised deficits in the first two years, followed by a surplus in 2027.
On Sunday, Beck told supporters in Regina people have had enough of Moe's Saskatchewan Party.
"(The Saskatchewan Party) has used fear tactics, playing on worst instincts, because they are terrified of losing power," she said.
"This province belongs to the people of Saskatchewan, not any politician. Saskatchewan belongs to you.
"We are better than this, and we know damn well you deserve better than this."
She has pledged to spend more to fix health care and education, pause the gas tax, and remove the provincial sales tax on children's clothes and some grocery items.
Beck says her promises are to cost an additional $3.5 billion over four years, with plans to balance the budget by the end of her term.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.
Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press
Absentee ballot count could settle B.C.'s election, nine days after vote
Dirk Meissner
Mon, October 28, 2024
VICTORIA — British Columbia's election could finally be decided today with the counting of absentee ballots, after recounts and a tally of mail-in votes failed to settle the contest on the weekend.
Neither Premier David Eby's New Democrats nor John Rustad's B.C. Conservatives emerged from the weekend with the magic number of 47 seats required to form a majority in the province's 93-seat legislature.
But the counting increased the prospects for an NDP government, when the Conservative lead in Surrey-Guildford was cut to just 12 votes.
All eyes will be on that Metro Vancouver seat when counting resumes at 9 a.m. today, with 226 absentee votes to count there.
More than 22,000 absentee ballots provincewide that will be counted today could hold the key to the Oct. 19 election, and Elections BC says it will provide hourly updates of the results.
The current standings have the NDP leading or elected in 46 ridings, with the B.C. Conservatives leading or elected in 45 and the Greens with two elected members.
If the NDP wins Surrey-Guildford and hangs onto all other ridings where it leads, it will secure the narrowest of majorities.
Elections BC says there was no shift in the party standings after the weekend count of mail-in and assisted-telephone ballots was completed on Sunday.
A full hand recount in Surrey City Centre resulted in the NDP lead there being reduced by three votes, to 175, while a partial recount in Kelowna Centre saw the Conservative lead cut by four votes, to 68.
The result of a full recount in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where the NDP lead by 113 votes, will also be announced Monday.
While the makeup of the legislature could become clear on Monday, judicial recounts could still take place after that if the margin in a riding is less than 1/500th of all votes cast.
For example, in the closest race of Surrey-Guildford, where an estimated 19,306 were cast, the margin for a judicial recount is about 38 votes or fewer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2024.
Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
B.C. election down to absentee votes as mail-in tally fails to decide closest races
Dirk Meissner
Sun, October 27, 2024
VICTORIA — The result of British Columbia's election will come down to the count of absentee ballots on Monday after a tally of mail-in votes over the weekend failed to resolve a handful of undecided races.
There was no shift in the party standings after the count of mail-in and assisted telephone ballots was completed Sunday, along with a recount in Surrey City Centre and a partial recount in Kelowna Centre.
Both hand recounts resulted in margins being reduced by only a few votes.
Prospects for an NDP government had increased on Saturday after the party widened leads in some close races and cut back the B.C. Conservatives' margins in others, thanks to mail-in ballots.
The closest undecided riding in the province was Surrey-Guildford, where the NDP cut the B.C. Conservatives' lead to 12 votes.
With an estimated 226 absentee and special votes still to be counted there, Surrey-Guildford could provide David Eby's New Democrats with the narrowest of majorities if the lead there flips Monday.
Eby issued a statement on social media Sunday saying Elections BC was ensuring all votes in the October election are counted.
The provincial agency is an independent, non-partisan office of the legislature that administers B.C. elections and byelections.
"We knew this was going to be a close election, but we’ve been here before," Eby said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"BCers support our fair election process and the people at Elections BC (are) making sure every vote gets counted. Thanks to candidates, volunteers and election workers who make democracy work."
Elections BC said the tally of more than 22,000 absentee and special votes will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, with the results then updated on its website hourly "as counting progresses."
The NDP is elected or leading in 46 seats and John Rustad's Conservatives in 45, both short of a 47-seat majority, while the Greens could hold the balance of power with two seats.
Full hand recounts got underway Sunday afternoon in two ridings where the New Democrats held slim leads after the initial count in the still-undecided Oct. 19 vote.
Elections BC said the recount in Surrey City Centre was completed Sunday night, resulting in the NDP's lead being reduced to 175 votes from 178 votes. The election authority said the result of the recount in Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where the NDP leads by 106 votes, would be announced on Monday.
The recounts were triggered because margins of victory after the initial tally were below 100 votes. But counting of mail-in ballots on Saturday had widened the NDP's lead in both ridings considerably.
While the makeup of the 93-riding legislature could finally become clear on Monday, judicial recounts could still take place after that if the margin in a riding is less than 1/500th of all votes cast.
For example, in the closest race of Surrey-Guildford, where the total votes cast is estimated at 19,306, the margin required for a judicial recount is about 38 votes or fewer.
In another close race that will come down to absentee ballots, the Conservatives held a 68-vote lead in Kelowna Centre, where there are an estimated 228 votes left to count.
A partial recount of ballots that went through one particular tabulator in Kelowna Centre resulted in the NDP narrowing the gap by four votes on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Chief Clarence Louie, Tribal Chair of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, issued a statement on Sunday calling for the B.C. Conservative candidate in Juan de Fuca-Malahat to be removed from the party over comments about Indigenous people.
On Friday, the Vancouver Sun published a recording in which a person it identifies as Marina Sapozhnikov calls First Nations people "savages." The newspaper says the comments came during an election-night conversation with a journalism student.
Louie called the reported comments "abhorrent and racist."
"These ignorant and hateful comments, which constitute a form of hate speech, have no place in our society. We call on B.C. Conservative Leader, John Rustad, to immediately take a clear and strong stand against hate and racism by removing her from his political party," Louie said.
Rustad issued a statement saying he was "appalled and deeply saddened" by the comments and the party is "taking this matter seriously."
— With files from Ashley Joannou in Vancouver
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.
Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
Parties face different challenges, present different narratives as N.S. election kicks off
CBC
Mon, October 28, 2024
From left: PC Leader Tim Houston, NDP Leader Claudia Chender and Liberal Leader Zach Churchill. (Submitted by the PC Party/Submitted by the NDP/Submitted by the Liberal Party - image credit)
When Tim Houston stood in the Nova Scotia legislature in 2021 to speak in support of fixed election dates — the first piece of legislation he put forward after becoming premier — he said it was a way to create predictability for the public, prospective candidates and volunteers.
He said it would also level the playing field for the government and opposition parties.
"We all know that governments sometimes pick a date that they think benefits them," Houston said at the time. "Snap election, high in the polls, whatever the case may be."
Being the government to finally put an end to that and set July 15, 2025, as the next provincial election was "truly an honour," he said.
On Sunday, after a month that saw his government make no fewer than 37 announcements costing a total of more than $402 million, and at a time when his party is high in the polls, Houston called a snap election.
PC Leader Tim Houston arrives at the home of the lieutenant-governor on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, with his wife, Carol, and son, Zachary. Nova Scotians will go to the polls Nov. 26.
Houston arrives at the home of the lieutenant-governor on Sunday with his wife, Carol, and son, Zachary. (Kayla Hounsell/CBC)
While the party leaders vying to replace the Progressive Conservatives as government are sure to point to Houston's broken promise and month of announcements, Dalhousie University professor Lori Turnbull thinks Houston is far enough into his mandate that it will not be a burning issue for voters.
Turnbull thinks something other than voters punishing Houston for not keeping his word on the election date is more probable.
"I think a more likely outcome could be that voters don't see a huge need for an election right now, so they don't show up," said Turnbull, a professor in the school's Faculty of Management and Department of Political Science..
Cape Breton University political scientist Tom Urbaniak thinks that if the early election call turns out to be a problem for Houston, it would be in the context of keeping promises.
"It feeds into a credibility issue," he said.
Targeting broken promises
Liberal and NDP candidates could seize on that or other broken Tory promises, such as the reversal on proclaiming the Coastal Protection Act or not giving the privacy commissioner more powers, or accountability issues such as the way the PC government spent less and less time in the legislature and spent more than a billion dollars a year outside of its own budgets.
But the promise most likely to be scrutinized is the PC pledge from 2021 to fix health care.
During their first mandate, the PCs signed new contracts with doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health-care workers, all in an attempt to attract and retain more people. Changes have been made to try to speed up credentialing, with health-care leaders acknowledging that the fastest way to address staffing shortages in the province is through immigration.
Thousands more long-term care rooms are planned or under construction and the government pushed hard to increase the use of technology in the health-care system. Many of these details and others are included in a booklet the government mailed to 480,000 addresses just before the election call at a cost of $158,000. The Liberals have filed a complaint with Elections Nova Scotia about the document.
The PCs will point to all the new ways people without a family doctor can access care without having to resort to an emergency department visit, but the Liberals and NDP will point out that twice as many people are without a family practice now as when Houston took office in 2021.
Shovels in the ground but contracts not signed
There is also construction work planned for or happening at hospitals around the province, yet the Tories were unable to finalize a contract for the first phase of the Halifax Infirmary redevelopment before the election call.
There also remains no contract for the sale of a former hotel construction site to long-term care provider Shannex, although the company is well into the work of converting the property to care for patients who no longer need a hospital bed but are still convalescing or awaiting a nursing home placement.
Nova Scotia's auditor general has been critical of both projects for the lack of checks and balances considering the massive amount of public money involved. In the case of the former hotel site, she questioned the purchase of the former hotel project altogether.
Houston has been unmoved, saying speed and action is what the system requires. In the last election he said things would take time to get better, but he was willing to spend whatever it takes to bring about change.
Urbaniak said most voters probably didn't expect health care could be fixed in a single mandate. He said the question for them will be whether they believe the changes to date are good enough.
Challenges for Churchill, Chender
The Liberals and NDP face questions of their own.
In her first election at the helm of the NDP, Claudia Chender will try to grow support for a party that has remained in third place and largely stagnant since the defeat of former NDP premier Darrell Dexter in 2013.
Although the party had attempted to set the agenda on issues such as housing and affordability and poverty reduction, they've received no credit for it in the past two elections. Meanwhile, they watched this year as the Tories were the party to finally index income assistance rates to the rate of inflation.
But on housing and health-care, in particular, the pitch will be that Houston and his team have fallen woefully short. The NDP has proposed legislation to try to help ease the housing crisis over the past three years, but little of it has interested the PCs.
Chender will point to the way the price of rent in Nova Scotia has skyrocketed in the last three years, and the fact that none of the initiatives advanced by the Tories have materially changed that.
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill greets supports and fellow candidates at a rally in Halifax on Sunday evening.
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill greets supports and fellow candidates at a rally in Halifax on Sunday evening. (Kheira Morellon/Radio-Canada)
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill faces, perhaps, even more challenges.
While it's his first campaign as party leader, Churchill has been an MLA since 2010. He'll be seeking some way this election to reintroduce himself to a public that might already think it knows what he's about.
His party will walk a tightrope of trying to criticize the Tory record on health care while also having to acknowledge it was in power for eight years before the last election.
Another challenge for the Liberals will be the loss of veteran candidates who have decided to retire, along with two candidates who left the party this year and are now running for the PCs.
Last week, Houston attempted to neutralize a Liberal platform commitment — reducing the HST by two percentage points — when he announced the HST would be reduced by one percentage point in April. Nova Scotians need tax relief, he said, but they cannot afford the proposed Liberal cut.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender is surrounded by candidates for the party during a rally in Dartmouth on Sunday.
NDP Leader Claudia Chender is surrounded by candidates for the party during a rally in Dartmouth on Sunday. (CBC)
The steepest hill for Churchill to climb, however, is the certainty that Houston and his team will spend this election trying to link the provincial Liberal leader with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the unpopular federal carbon tax.
The Tories never missed an opportunity to make that connection during the past few years. Earlier this month, Houston labelled Churchill a "Trudeau Liberal," while adding that he is not a "Poilievre Conservative."
"I'm not a member of any federal party. I'm a Nova Scotian. I focus on Bluenosers first and foremost and what's best for Nova Scotians."
Urbaniak said it's a safe bet the public will hear plenty about the federal Liberal government between now and Nov. 26. He speculated that the most likely reason for Houston to go to the polls early is that he doesn't want to miss an opportunity to have an election while the low-polling Trudeau is still prime minister.
"The Liberal brand generally is hurting right now and so that does have a spillover effect to the provincial Liberals, and the PCs are going to try to amplify that as much as they can."
Houston didn't exactly shy away from this suggestion last week when he was asked about the possibility of an early election.
"There is incredible turmoil in Ottawa right now," he told reporters.
How the leaders frame the ballot question
In Houston's view, the federal government is shortchanging the province on funding for upgrades to the Chignecto Isthmus and harming Nova Scotians through a lack of enforcement on illegal fishing and the imposition of a consumer price on carbon.
"We need to make sure that we do whatever we can to put Nova Scotia in the best … position to bargain and to be respected, and I think that's been difficult."
Churchill didn't have much time for that rationale while talking to reporters last week.
"That's BS," he said.
"[Houston] does have a strong mandate — he's got a majority government. And he is going to try and trick people in this province into believing that this election is going to change any outcomes in Ottawa. It's not."
During the Tories' first mandate, Nova Scotia became one of the most expensive places to live in Canada, he said, and issues like the housing crisis are not getting better.
Chender agreed, saying Houston's majority government gave him more than enough clout to negotiate with Ottawa.
"Although he doesn't like to negotiate," she said. "He likes to fight."
Chender said that when people go to cast their ballot, they'll be looking at the PC record and see a party and leader looking to distract from the shortcomings of their first term in government.
"We welcome the chance to have that conversation on the doorsteps and in any venue that we can because this election is going to be about health, it's going to be about housing and it's going to be about the cost of living."
CANADA
Feds say they can't do anything to stop hazardous materials from crossing the Ambassador Bridge
CBC
Mon, October 28, 2024 at 4:42 a.m. MDT·1 min read
Trucks were backed up on the Ambassador Bridge on Friday, June 7, 2024. (Dale Molnar/CBC - image credit)
A Windsor West MP stood in the House of Commons Friday to make sure decision makers know his concerns with hazardous materials crossing the Ambassador Bridge.
Brian Masse, a Windsor NDP MP, says the federal government should step in, despite the federal government saying it has no control over the matter.
At issue is a decision by the Michigan government to allow certain types of hazardous goods including flammable liquids and corrosive materials to be transported across the bridge starting Tuesday.
"We know the border officers won't even get the proper training they need to deal with the eventual disasters that will occur," Masse said in the House of Commons. "Instead of detailed in-person courses to go over what to do in the case of disasters, they are learning from two slides in an online slideshow."
Masse says he's concerned about the safety of Windsor's streets in the event of a spill on the bridge. When the Gordie Howe International Bridge opens next year, it will be equipped to handle hazardous materials.
Touring the bridge Friday, Steven MacKinnon, federal labour minister, echoed the government's position that it can't do anything about what is transported over the nearby Ambassador Bridge.
"We regulate how materials are meant to be transported safely. provinces, in some cases municipalities, in this case, provinces and states are responsible for that," he said, referring the matter to the provincial government.
"Those standards for transporting materials are indeed federal standards and they're vigorously applied. Where that transport can go is up to local authorities, provinces and states."
But Masse called the claim "outlandish."
Previously, the province has told CBC News it does not have jurisdiction over the bridge.
Palestinians say 100,000 residents trapped in Israel's north Gaza assault
Israeli tanks take position at the Israel-Gaza border
Mon, October 28, 2024
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) - Israeli tanks thrust deeper on Monday into two north Gaza towns and a historic refugee camp, trapping around 100,000 civilians, the Palestinian emergency service said, in what the military said were operations to root out regrouping Hamas militants.
The Israeli military said soldiers captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid into Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabalia camp. Hamas and medics have denied any militant presence at the hospital.
The Gaza Strip's health ministry said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and bombardment on Monday, 13 of them in the north of the shattered coastal territory.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies. Reuters could not verify the number independently.
The emergency service said its operations had ground to a halt because of the three-week-long Israeli assault back into the north, an area where the military said it had wiped out viable Hamas combat forces earlier in the year-long war.
As talks led by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to broker a ceasefire resumed on Sunday after multiple abortive attempts, Egypt's president proposed an initial two-day truce to exchange four Israeli hostages of Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners, to be followed by talks within 10 days on a permanent ceasefire.
There was no public comment from Israel or Hamas, who have stuck to irreconcilable conditions for ending the war.
Gaza's war has kindled wider Middle East conflict, raising fears of global instability, with Israeli forces invading south Lebanon to stop Hezbollah rocketing northern Israel in support of fellow Iran-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza.
It has also triggered rare direct clashes between Middle East arch-foes Israel and Iran. At the weekend, Israeli warplanes pounded missiles sites in Iran in retaliation for an Oct. 1 Iranian missile volley at Israel.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday Tehran would "use all available tools" to respond to Israel's weekend attack.
ISRAELI RAID INTO NORTH GAZA HOSPITAL
North Gaza's three hospitals, where officials refused orders by the Israeli army to evacuate, said they were hardly operating. At least two had been damaged by Israeli fire during the assault and run out of medical, food and fuel stocks.
At least one doctor, a nurse and two child patients had died in those hospitals due to a lack of treatment in the past week.
On Monday, the Gaza health ministry said there was only one of roughly 70 medical staff - a paediatrician - was left at Kamal Adwan Hospital after Israel "detained and expelled" the others.
The Israeli military said soldiers who raided the hospital "apprehended approximately 100 terrorists from the compound, including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians. Inside the hospital, they found weapons, terror funds, and intelligence documents".
North Gaza residents said Israeli forces were besieging schools and other shelters housing displaced families, ordering them out before rounding up men and ushering women and children out of the area towards Gaza City and the south.
'NONSENSE TALK OF CEASEFIRE'
Only a few families headed to southern Gaza as the majority preferred to relocate temporarily in Gaza City, fearing they could otherwise never regain access to their homes.
Some said they had written their death notices in case they died from the constant bombardment, saying they would prefer death to displacement.
"While the world is busy with Lebanon and new nonsense talk about a few days of ceasefire (in Gaza), the Israeli occupation is wiping out north Gaza and displacing its people," a resident of Jabalia told Reuters by a chat app.
"(But) neither (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu nor Eiland will be able to take us out of northern Gaza."
Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel's National Security Council, was the lead author of a much-debated proposal dubbed "the generals' plan" that would see Israel rapidly clear northern Gaza of civilians before starving out surviving Hamas fighters by cutting off their water and food supplies.
This month's Israeli tank assault drew Palestinian accusations that the military has embraced Eiland's concept, which he envisaged as a short-term step to defeat Hamas in the north but which Palestinians fear is meant to clear the area for good to carve out a buffer zone for the military after the war.
The Israeli military has denied pursuing any such plan. It says its forces operate in keeping with international law and that it targets militants who hide among the civilian population which they use as human shields, a charge Hamas denies.
North Gaza was the first part of the enclave to be hammered by Israel's ground offensive into the territory after Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, with intensive bombing largely flattening towns like Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
Nevertheless, Hamas-led militants continue to attack Israeli forces in hit-and-run operations with anti-tank rockets, mortar salvoes and bombs planted in buildings, streets and other areas where they anticipate Israeli forces taking up positions.
The war erupted after Hamas fighters stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
The death toll from Israel's retaliatory air and ground onslaught in Gaza has reached 43,020, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Monday, with the densely populated enclave widely reduced to rubble.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; additional reporting by Maayan Lubell and James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Magic the Gathering fans explain why JD Vance’s favorite deck reflects badly on him
Io DoddsTHE INDEPENDENT
Sun, October 27, 2024
Left: Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Right: the centerpiece of his teenage Magic: The Gathering deck (Brandon Bell/Getty Images/Wizards of the Coast)
JD Vance’s favorite Magic: The Gathering card as a 13-year-old boy in Middleton, Ohio might tell us more about Vance the 40-year-old possible vice president of the United States than he realizes.
A clawed metal hand, beckoning for sacrifices. A necromantic monstrosity hunched in the darkness, white teeth showing through its skull. A terrible pact, and an ominous warning: "He craves only one commodity."
This is the infamous trading card known as "Yawgmoth’s Bargain", part of the popular collectible card game. Released in 1999, it has long since been banned from most forms of competitive Magic due to its ability to not just ensure a win, but also entirely take over a game to the point where nothing is fun anymore
Vance, Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, revealed this August that he’d been something of a hobbyist sorcerer in his teenage years.
“The big problem with transitioning from being a 13-year-old who likes Magic: The Gathering to being a 15-year-old who likes Magic: The Gathering is that 15-year-old girls do not like Magic: The Gathering,” the freshman Ohio senator told Semafor. “So I dropped it like a bad habit.”
JD Vance, the Ohio Senator and Republican vice presidential nominee, during a recent interview (New York Times Podcasts / YouTube)
He named Yawgmoth’s Bargain as his “embarrassing” favorite deck, meaning the collection of cards he played with, named for the most infamous one. Magic: The Gathering players tell The Independent that it makes sense Vance would pick that one.
"At the time, it was probably the most powerful deck you could play," one Magic player at a San Francisco game night tells The Independent. "I infer from that that he’s ruthless and wants to win at all costs."
'Essentially, you're playing Solitaire'
To understand the power of Yawgmoth’s Bargain, you have to know a little about how Magic works.
The game’s central concept is simple enough: you are a powerful wizard dueling against other wizards, and every card represents a spell you can cast. Some cards summon monsters to fight for you, while others let you draw magical power (known as mana) from lands that you control or cast enchantments that affect the whole battlefield.
Victory is simply a matter of using these cards to reduce your opponent’s "life" points to zero before they do the same to you. But you can’t just play your best cards on round one, because each card costs mana and gaining mana takes time.
Moreover, you can never be quite sure what cards will end up in your hand. A typical Magic deck has at least 60 cards in it, assembled by each player out of whatever they happen to own, and you can only draw from this deck once per turn by default.
Enter Yawgmoth’s Bargain. It costs a lot of mana to put on the table – but once it’s there, suddenly everything is different. You can draw card after card and play them immediately, devastating your opponent without giving them a chance to respond. You’re not a wizard anymore; you’re a ravenous vampiric trader turning blood into bullets at lightning speed.
The infamous Yawgmoth’s Bargain card (Wizards of the Coast)
"Essentially, you’re not playing an interactive game anymore. You’re just sort of playing Solitaire... while the other person sits there and waits for the game to end," said Lucas Kunce, 42, a lifelong Magic player who is also a Democrat Party politician running to unseat Republican senator Josh Hawley in Missouri.
"In tournament Magic, I’m sure a lot of people played it,” said Kunce. “But if JD Vance was playing that at the kitchen table against his buddies, then people probably thought he was kind of a jerk.”
There are many cards in Magic that let you gain life by fulfilling certain conditions, endlessly replenishing whatever you sacrifice. There are also cards that let you gain mana rapidly even early in the game, or rifle through your deck to select a specific card, or still other special powers that compound the power of the awful beast you’re chained to.
Back in the day, you could build your deck around these synergies and become nearly invincible. "[Yawgmoth’s] Bargain is what’s known as a combo deck, meaning that once it puts its key pieces in play it can win the game almost regardless of what the opponent does," said one Magic fan on Reddit’s r/MTG board. "At the time, the deck was insurmountably strong, easily the best thing to be playing, and rendered games trivial and uninteresting."
According to longtime players, this card – and the decks built around it – hit Nineties Magic like a bomb. "It’s famous for being an absolutely overpowered card that warped the play environment for a while," r/MTG user SisterHummingbird told The Independent, citing it as one of several decks that could "win a game on the first turn".
Magic the Gathering fans play the game during a festival in Sydney, Australia (Getty Images)
Kunce, who began playing in the mid-Nineties and kept on playing with his fellow troops while serving with the US Marine Corps in Afghanistan, likewise says it had "a reputation for being a ‘broken’ card".
This, ultimately, is why Yawgmoth’s Bargain was banned in 2006. "There aren’t very many cards that were too powerful in 1999 that are still too powerful in 2024, given how the game has changed," explained one Reddit user, "but Yawgmoth’s Bargain certainly makes the list."
'You're selling your soul for power'
In the Magic community there are always memes going around about what your deck says about you. Red is for all or nothing gamblers. Blue is for conceited Rick and Morty fans. Black is "either an edgelord or was an edgelord".
Almost all of this is light-hearted, and most players who spoke to The Independent said you can’t really tell much about a person’s deeper psychology by what cards they choose.
Still, people didn’t mince words about Yawgmoth’s Bargain. "Annoying and shitty to play against" was one Reddit user’s verdict. "You know the concept of a ‘power gamer’? Bargain players were power gamers," said another.
Some noted the philosophical implications of a black mana themed deck – the type you’d build around Yawgmoth’s Bargain – which is traditionally associated with "greed, ambition, dominance, wickedness, the dead and undead, vampires, demons, blood magic".
Elon Musk, Donald Trump and JD Vance together at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania (Getty Images)
Kunce argues that there is a thematic resonance for his fellow former Marine as well. "The idea of it is a deal with the devil, right? You’re selling your soul for power. And it’s very fitting for the man whose favorite card it is,” he said. “It’s power at any cost, and that seems to be what he’s into."
Kunce says he’s talking about Vance’s politics in general, rather than his relationship with Donald Trump. But it’s worth remembering that Vance once called the mercurial mogul "morally reprehensible" and suggested he might be "America’s Hitler" – back when Trump was merely a candidate and Vance the writer of a popular memoir.
Years later, when Vance wanted to run for the US Senate and Trump had become the GOP’s unshakeable kingmaker, the two men found it in their hearts to make peace.
Indeed, in an interview with The Independent, Vance’s old roommate at Yale Law School went so far as to call him a "hypocrite" who had "sold his soul" to become Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Our inquiry to JD Vance’s team to talk further about his Magic preferences went sadly unanswered.
