Chinese cyberattack hits messaging app during Hong Kong protest

In this July 15, 2017 file photo, the messaging app Telegram is displayed on a smartphone in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP Photo, file)

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Yanan Wang, The Associated Press
Published Thursday, June 13, 2019 4:30AM EDT 
Last Updated Thursday, June 13, 2019 6:42AM EDT

BEIJING -- An encrypted messaging app said Thursday that it was hit by a powerful cyberattack from China as a major protest unfolded in Hong Kong.

The attack on the Telegram app, which slowed connectivity but did not compromise user data, came as thousands surrounded Hong Kong government headquarters on Wednesday to protest legislation that would allow people to be extradited to mainland China to stand trial. They protesters were forcibly dispersed by police using tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. They did not assemble again on Thursday and debate over the legislation was delayed.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov tweeted that most of the attackers had IP addresses from China.

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PHOTOS

In this June 12, 2019, file photo, thousands of protesters gather outside the Legislative Council in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)

"Historically, all state actor-sized (attacks) we experienced coincided in time with protests in Hong Kong," Durov said. "This case was not an exception."

Activists in both Hong Kong and mainland China often use Telegram to organize protests in hopes the encryption will allow them to evade the government surveillance of Chinese social networking apps such as WeChat.

Whereas WeChat users reported this week that photos of the protests could not be viewed, apps like Telegram offer more privacy and independence. Telegram is blocked in mainland China, but users can access it using software to circumvent the firewall, which also blocks apps and websites ranging from Facebook to The New York Times.

Encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram say that messages sent on their systems cannot be decoded by third parties during the delivery from sender to recipient. "We can ensure that no single government or block of like-minded countries can intrude on people's privacy and freedom of expression," Telegram says on its website.

Telegram said that the latest attack was a distributed denial of service in which "your servers get GADZILLIONS of garbage requests which stop them from processing legitimate requests."

The messaging app said on Wednesday evening that the system had stabilized.

The protest in Hong Kong forced the legislature to cancel its sessions Wednesday and Thursday, putting off debate on the extradition legislation.

Opponents say the bill would severely compromise their freedoms and erode Hong Kong's legal independence. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam maintains the legislation is necessary and would have safeguards to ensure human rights are protected.

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese territory, enjoys greater freedoms than mainland China under a "one country, two systems" framework put in place when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997. Hong Kong residents can freely surf the Internet and participate in public protests, unlike in the mainland.

The U.S. government has complained for years about data breaches by China to steal high-tech information and other trade secrets -- a key factor in the current trade dispute between China and the United States. Pentagon leaders told a congressional committee this month that cyberattacks from China are increasingly sophisticated.

When asked about the Telegram issue at a daily news briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he was not aware of the case but that "China always opposes any form of cyberattack."

"China is also a victim of cyberattacks," Geng said.

Trump-bashing exhibit gets booted from China tech show

A man hits a bobble head in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump as part of a "stress relief station" from a Japanese company during the Consumer Electronics Show in Shanghai. (HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP)

AFP
Published Thursday, June 13, 2019 4:36AM EDT 

A Shanghai tech fair exhibit that allowed visitors to clobber a bobble-head likeness of Donald Trump has been shut down for encouraging the "violent disrespect" of a public figure, organizers said Thursday.

The kiosk at this week's Consumer Electronics Show Asia (CES Asia) was set up by Japanese tech firm Soliton Systems as a "stress-relief" station.

Visitors were given a hammer to smash a life-sized likeness of the U.S. president, who has angered many Chinese by launching a tariff war with China.

A curtain was seen drawn across the display site on Thursday, and the Trump likenesses had been removed.The U.S. Consumer Technology Association (CTA) -- which stages the show each year -- told AFP it issued a "warning" to Soliton Systems on Tuesday.

The association told AFP that exhibitors sign contracts making clear that displays cannot be "offensive."

"We will not tolerate violent disrespect of any public figure."

Soliton Systems officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The three-day trade show opened on Tuesday under the shadow of the escalating trade war.

China and the United States have hit each other with steep tariffs on more than $360 billion in bilateral trade, rattling financial markets and business confidence.

Technology is a key battleground, with the United States pressing governments across the world to drop Chinese telecom giant Huawei from their 5G network development plans, saying it could be used by Beijing for espionage.

Huawei denies the charge.

MPs unanimously agree to approve a new and first-ever parental leave program for MPs.

THIS SETS THE AGENDA FOR BOTH THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTOR

SOMETHING UNIONS NEED TO INCLUDE IN THEIR BARGAINING

House approves year-long, fully paid parental leave from the Commons for MPs
The House of Commons has just unanimously agreed to pass a first-ever parental leave program for members of Parliament that allows them to be absent from the chamber for up to a year after giving birth or welcoming home a new child without penalty.

Vote on parental leave program for MPs

MPs unanimously agree to approve a new and first-ever parental leave program for MPs.
Rachel Aiello, Ottawa News Bureau Online Producer@rachaiello
Published Wednesday, June 12, 2019 3:20PM EDT

OTTAWA – The House of Commons has just unanimously agreed to pass a first-ever parental leave program for members of Parliament that allows them to be absent from the chamber for up to a year after giving birth or welcoming home a new child without penalty.

The program allows for pregnant MPs to take leave starting four weeks before their due date, and then for up to 12 months after the day their child was born to be away from their House duties, with the understanding that an MP’s work in their riding continues. It also applies to MPs who are caring for a newborn or newly-adopted child, meaning male MPs can claim this time as well.


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PHOTOS


Liberal MP David Graham speaks with Parliamentary Guards in the House of Commons before the start of the first session in West Block Monday January 28, 2019 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

This move comes on the recommendation of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee (PROC).

Government House Leader Bardish Chagger asked the House to approve the committee’s recommendation after question period on Wednesday. It passed unanimously and given that it was a recommendation from this somewhat unique House committee, it does not need to go through any further legislative steps to be implemented.

With a slowly growing contingent of female MPs of childbearing age and MPs with young families, there has been an increasing push to think seriously about revamping the rules to reflect the changing demographics.

Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould, who made history as the first federal cabinet minister to give birth while in office, has been pushing for this policy for years, after she personally experienced administrative issues as the result of not having the Liberal-promised policy in place.

“I think it’s really important that we have a parental leave policy for members of Parliament. I think that in the absence of having a parental leave policy, it doesn’t give people permission to think that they can take leave,” Gould told reporters on Tuesday. She said that while she’s not sure how many elected officials would want to be absent from the House for the full year, having the option provides some flexibility.

“As many new parents can attest, you don’t always know what going to happen,” Gould said.

As the parental leave rules currently stand, MPs are not provided parental leave, because they don’t pay into Employment Insurance. They are allowed 21 days of medical leave before being docked $120 pay per day they are absent. Under the current rules MPs have no formal way to report with the House of Commons that their absence is because of a maternity or paternity leave, leaving it up to the MP to work out case-by-case leave scenarios with their parties.

The new policy will be effective as soon as it passes, meaning that any MP or candidate running to win a seat will know that should they get elected, they will have new support should they want to start or grow their family during the next Parliament.

This program remains different than the EI parental benefit program available to Canadians, in that MPs who take this parental leave time still maintain their full pay and benefits, because they are technically not leaving their jobs during this time.

The creation of an MP parental leave policy has been in the works for years.

PROC first studied the matter in 2017 and recommended that Canada take steps to catch up to other Parliaments. Then, in the 2018 federal budget, the Liberals promised to pursue a parental leave program for parliamentarians as part of a bigger promise to take steps to make Parliament more family friendly.

Following the budget, the government amended the Parliament of Canada Act to allow the House and Senate to create new regulations for maternity and parental leave, though the legislation didn't actually create any new rules and several months passed with no action.

Then this spring Chagger—the minister responsible for the change—took the issue to the Board of Internal Economy Committee and asked for a policy to be drafted and proposed.

The Board is a historically secretive panel of MPs that oversees the workings of the House of Commons. On May 30, House of Commons Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel Philippe Dufresne presented the proposed plan and the Board recommended PROC look it over. It did on June 6 and then reported back to the House earlier this week.

“There's no mythical MP who doesn't do work in the constituency, because somebody who doesn't do work in their constituency doesn't get re-elected. Members of Parliament are still working during this period. These parental obligations have to be balanced with that constituency work. All that's being suggested by this policy is that we stop penalizing them in the second workplace. The first workplace continues,” said NDP House Leader Peter Julian at the May meeting.

Expert panel recommends single-payer pharmacare plan for Canada

Kristy Kirkup, The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, June 12, 2019

OTTAWA -- Canada's governments have to work together to transform, rather than tinker with, a patchwork of prescription-drug plans to create a public plan for every Canadian, says the chair of the expert panel the federal Liberals named to advise them how to create a national pharmacare system.

The patchwork should be replaced by a pharmacare system much like the public health-care system, with standards set by the federal government and supported by federal funding, but administered by provincial and territorial governments, the panel said in its final reportWednesday. Individuals should still be able to get supplemental drug insurance, either on their own or through workplace benefits programs.

Dr. Eric Hoskins, an Ontario health minister under the previous provincial Liberal government, released his council's findings in Ottawa. The group reported that such a plan will result in savings of an estimated $5 billion annually, an average of $350 a year for each family.

Canadians spent $34 billion on prescription medicines in 2018, the report says, adding drugs are the second-biggest expenditure in health care after hospitals. The cost is growing, as well, as people live longer with chronic conditions that require medication.

It is a good time to show courage and do some "nation-building," Hoskins said at a press conference as he put forward his plan, adding the price of doing nothing is too high.

Canada has a variety of drug plans administered by provinces, mainly for children, seniors and people on social assistance. Other plans managed by the federal government cover other groups, such as Indigenous people and members of the military, while private insurance fills the gaps for some.

Hoskins' panel recommended Wednesday that a new drug agency be responsible for developing a national list of prescription drugs, known as a formulary, beginning with common or so-called essential medicines by Jan. 1, 2022. It also suggests the initial formulary expand to a "fully comprehensive formulary" no later than Jan. 1, 2027. Each government with its own smaller drug-coverage programs now does this for itself.

Speaking outside the House of Commons on Wednesday, Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said she would review the recommendations and pledged to work with provinces, territories, stakeholders and partners as Ottawa considers next steps.

One of the key questions is money.

The report calls for the federal government to work with the provincial and territorial governments to begin to implement national pharmacare as soon as possible, with a new financing agreement to be developed jointly and with Ottawa paying the additional costs governments would take on.

Hoskins' report estimated that annual incremental costs will reach $15.3 billion in 2027. The advisory council recognizes the "very significant fiscal implications" but stressed "the issue is too important to ignore."

The federal government also recognizes funding is going to have to be part of the equation, Petitpas Taylor said Wednesday, and it doesn't expect provinces to foot the bill.

"If we want to put in place a national pharmacare program, the federal government has to play a leadership role but also we have to make sure that we have all provinces and territories at the table," she said. "Does that mean it will happen all at once, that all provinces and territories will be at the table at once? Not necessarily."

In response to the report, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer took aim at Hoskins as a former minister in Kathleen Wynne's government in Ontario.

"Justin Trudeau hired someone from a disastrous provincial Liberal government that spent Ontario into the ground with unsustainable rates of spending growth," he said. "You will excuse me if I have zero confidence in their ability to manage this."

For its part, the federal NDP urged the Liberals to act on implementation.

"Dr. Hoskins and the advisory council have come to the same conclusion as every other expert panel and study done on the subject: prescription-drug coverage should be integrated into our public health-care system to cover everyone," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement.

Organizations including the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Labour Congress also issued statements to applaud the recommendations.

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights, a pro-choice charitable organization, said it is pleased to see the call for a universal, single-payer system but said it is concerned a phased approach of prioritizing commonly used drugs might not include sexual- and reproductive-health medications.

Wednesday's report also suggests "co-payments" expected from individuals be limited to $2 per prescription for essential medicines and $5 per prescription for all other drugs on the national formulary, with an annual limit of $100 per household.

It says those living with disabilities, people on social assistance and low-income seniors should be exempt from these fees.

In its last budget, the Liberal government pledged to create a new agency to buy drugs in bulk and cut Canadian medication costs as the first step toward a national drug plan.

It said it intends to work with provinces, territories and other partners to develop the mandate for the agency, with Health Canada to receive $35 million over four years starting in 2019-2020 to create an office to support the plan. It also promised to spend $500 million a year beginning in 2022 on subsidizing drugs that treat rare diseases.

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A Prescription for Canada: Achieving Pharmacare for All

PHOTOS


Dr. Eric Hoskins, Chair of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, is accompanied by Vincent Dumez, Member of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, during a press conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

CTV National News: $15B pharmacare proposal


An expert advisory panel has proposed a $15B national pharmacare system. Joyce Napier reports.

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Former Ont. health minister Eric Hoskins breaks down the panel's recommendations on a national pharmacare strategy.

Feds recommend funded pharmacare program by 2027

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Husky fined $3.8M for charges arising from Saskatchewan oil spill

By Colette Derworiz The Canadian Press

Husky Oil Operations Ltd., a subsidiary of Husky Energy, was fined $3.8 million Wednesday for a pipeline oil leak that fouled a major river, harmed fish and wildlife and tainted the drinking water supply for thousands of people in Saskatchewan.



“We’ve been working hard since that day to try to set things right.”“We recognize that the spill had a significant impact on communities along the North Saskatchewan River and we’re deeply sorry for that,” Duane Rae, the company’s vice-president of pipelines, said outside court in Lloydminster, Sask.

READ MORE: Husky Energy wants to build Saskatchewan oil pipeline, replace one that leaked in 2016

The spill into the North Saskatchewan River in July 2016 forced the cities of North Battleford, Prince Albert and Melfort to shut off their water intakes for almost two months.

Calgary-based Husky pleaded guilty to three environmental charges: two under federal migratory birds and fisheries legislation and one under a provincial law for releasing a harmful substance.

She noted that two alarms had gone off but were not recorded or reported to senior staff.

“Once the leak was discovered, Husky acted quickly and properly,” said the judge. “I believe Husky has learned from this mistake.”

“There’s no doubt it has had a detrimental affect on Husky’s reputation and on the industry as a whole,”’ Rae said. “We have expended a lot of money on the cleanup – over $140 million.”

A victim impact statement filed by three Indigenous communities in the area said the cleanup wasn’t good enough. Chief Wayne Semaganis spoke on behalf of his Little Pine First Nation and also for the Sweetgrass and Red Pheasant bands.

He said birds, wildlife and fish still suffer the effects of the contamination and the First Nations have lost traditional use of their land.

“We no longer fish in the river. We no longer trap on or near reserve lands. We no longer farm on or near reserve lands,” he said. “We no longer drink water drawn from reserve lands.”

READ MORE: Husky given OK to restart Saskatchewan pipeline after major spill

Semaganis said the Indigenous communities remain anxious, fearful and psychologically stressed.

The cities of North Battleford and Prince Albert also filed victim impact statements that were read out by the Crown.

“The impact was dire, ongoing and will cause long-lasting changes to procedures and processes,” said the statement from North Battleford’s city manager James Puffalt.

Prince Albert’s statement said the spill caused significant disruption and stress for residents and had considerable costs.

Spray parks were closed at the peak of the summer holidays. Laundromats were shut down. Car washes couldn’t operate and businesses had to close.

“The city was forced to implement its emergency operations centre,” said the statement.

The city also had to lay temporary lines to two nearby rivers for drinking water.

Saskatchewan prosecutor Matthew Miazga told court there has never been an environmental event as significant in the province.

“Literally tens of thousands of people downstream were impacted.”

Environment Canada investigator Jeff Puetz said staff put their full effort into getting information.

“We did search warrants and gathered tens of thousands of copies of documents from Husky in order to get enough evidence,” he said.

The company said the pipeline buckled and leaked because of ground movement.

The line was allowed to reopen in October 2016 after being repaired and inspected.

Husky CEO Rob Peabody noted in a release that the oil and gas producer has been doing business in the Lloydminster region for more than 70 years.

“We understand that some people think we could have done better. After having such a long and successful history in this region, the event three years ago was a disappointment for all of us.”

He added that the company has made improvements that include an updated leak response protocol, regular geotechnical reviews of pipelines and fibre optic sensing technology.

Stephen Jordan, with Public Prosecution Service of Canada, commented on the fine and charges outside of court on Wednesday.

“What you saw today was Husky came to court and took responsibility for two of the nine charges on the information. Those were the most serious charges and that’s reflected in the sentencing range which was the most significant for those offences. It encapsulated the circumstances in totality we felt,” Jordan said.

“The fine will be paid into what we refer to as the EDF, the environmental damages fund,” he added.

“Various groups (including) non-government organizations, universities, Indigenous organizations, municipal and provincial governments can apply with projects to put that to use for the purposes that we set out in the sentencing order and that was relating to the remediation of habitat and research relating to fish and migratory birds.”

Saskatchewan Energy and Resource Minister Bronwyn Eyre said the province will be releasing its report on the spill in the next few days.

-With files from Global’s David Baxter and Brittney Matejka

View this document on Scribd

© 2019 The Canadian Press

Social housing landlords use domestic violence as reason to evict victims – study

A new study analysing lease terminations data of public housing has found that housing authorities are evicting domestic violence victims for the abuse they suffer, labelling it “nuisance” and a breach under tenancy laws.
The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute study found women, often the sole leaseholder in these situations were carrying the burden of controlling “the misconduct of male partners and children”. Other findings revealed that a zero-tolerance approach was disrupting drug and alcohol treatment and that children were only a “marginal consideration” in cases, often being evicted into homelessness with the parents.