Supreme Court declares parts of sex offender registry unconstitutional


OTTAWA — Canada's top court has struck down parts of the national sex offender registry.


In a ruling Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada said mandatory registration of all sex offenders with more than one conviction goes too far and that keeping offenders on the registry for the rest of their lives violates the Constitution.

"While mandatory registration has the attraction of simplicity and ease, the convenience of requiring every sex offender to register does not make it constitutional," wrote the court in a majority decision.

The ruling concerns the conviction of Eugene Ndhlovu, who pleaded guilty in 2015 to the sex assaults of two women in 2011.

Court heard Ndhlovu, who was 19 at the time, was brought to a party publicized by a sexually explicit ad on Facebook. He touched one woman on the buttocks and another in her vagina.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in jail and three years' probation, which he served.

Under 2011 amendments made to the sex offender registry, Ndhlovu’s name would have been permanently added to the list with no discretion for either the judge or the Crown.

But the trial judge found the Crown had introduced almost no evidence to show that the mandatory listing helped police sexual assault investigations. Justice Andrea Moen found the benefits to society of mandatory lifetime listing didn't justify the impacts on Ndhlovu, whom Crown experts considered a minimal risk to reoffend.

Moen's ruling was overturned by the Alberta Court of Appeal, but upheld by the Supreme Court.

The Friday ruling said the registry is not intended to punish offenders but to aid law enforcement. It said there are currently 27 offences ranging widely in severity that require offenders to be listed.

"(The registry)is nearly 20 years old," the court wrote. "Despite its long existence, there is little or no concrete evidence of the extent to which it assists police in the prevention and investigation of sex offences."

Meanwhile, it found the impact of being placed on the registry to be severe.

Offenders must report to police if they change their address, travel or obtain a driver's licence or a passport. They may be contacted by police at any time. There's the stigma it brings, as well as some evidence that simply being listed increases the chance of reoffending.

"The impact of a (registry) order on an offender’s liberty can only fairly be described as serious," the court wrote.

Three justices dissented from the majority on the constitutionality of mandatory listing, although they agreed that lifetime listing could not be justified.

The dissenters wrote that before listing was made mandatory, too many judges were refusing to require offenders to be placed on it, reducing its effectiveness.

But Elvis Iginla, Ndhlovu's lawyer, said the current legislation reduces the registry's usefulness by diluting it with low-risk offenders, such as his client.

"We don't have any issue with the fact there is a need for a sex offenders registry," he said. "It's essential there is one.

"(But) you don't want people on there who don't need to be on there."

The court has given the federal government a year to rewrite its legislation before the clause on mandatory listing is struck down. The requirement for lifetime listing is quashed immediately.

It also exempted Ndhlovu from being listed at all.

"He's very grateful," said Iginla.

Ndhlovu is employed and has had a clean record since his conviction, added Iginla.

"He's trying to move on. He doesn't believe he will ever endanger anyone and he wanted the chance to prove that."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2022.

— By Bob Weber in Edmonton. Follow him on Twitter at @row1960

The Canadian Press

ABOLISH PRISON

Canada failing Black, Indigenous prisoners as overrepresentation persists: report

OTTAWA — Canada has made scant progress in addressing the overrepresentation of Black and Indigenous people in prisons, with some facing even worse conditions than a decade ago, a new report says.


Canada failing Black, Indigenous prisoners as overrepresentation persists: report© Provided by The Canadian Press

The country's top prison watchdog says systemic concerns and barriers, including rampant racial discrimination, stereotyping and bias, are "as pervasive and persistent as before."

Correctional Investigator Ivan Zinger said in a press conference Tuesday that he is disappointed the "extraordinarily well-financed" agency in charge of Canadian prisons has failed to recognize its role in reversing the crisis of overrepresentation.

"For an organization that spends so much money to have poor correctional outcomes, especially for Indigenous prisoners as well as for Black prisoners, is a real shame and something that Canadians should be concerned with," he said.

The Correctional Service of Canada employs about 1.2 staff members for each incarcerated person and spends almost $109,000 a year per prisoner, Zinger said, putting it among the best-financed agencies in the world. "These are phenomenal numbers."

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who oversees the service, said that he welcomed the "meticulous" report and that "extensive work" is underway to address issues.

"I look forward to working closely with CSC to ensure progress is made on the issues identified in this report to improve our federal correctional system," he said in a written statement.

"All offenders must be able to serve their sentences with dignity and without fear, in an environment that supports rehabilitation and prepares them to reintegrate into Canadian society."

Zinger's latest annual report includes an investigation of the experience of Black prisoners and the first part of an investigation focused on Indigenous people in the system. Both are updates to landmark reports in 2013, and neither found much improvement since then.

Black prisoners represent 9.2 per cent of the total incarcerated population despite representing only about 3.5 per cent of the overall Canadian population, the report says. More than a third of them are young Black men aged 18 to 30.

The investigation found that Black prisoners were more likely to be overrepresented at maximum-security institutions, involved in "use of force incidents," involuntarily transferred, placed in solitary confinement, institutionally charged and assessed as "higher-risk" and "lower motivation."

Black prisoners relayed their experiences of "discrimination, differential treatment, stereotyping, racial bias and labelling," the report reads, and "consistently reported use of derogatory or racist language by CSC staff, as well as being ignored or disregarded in ways that increase feelings of marginalization, exclusion and isolation."

Related video: Indigenous services minister discusses CHRT decision

Duration 0:46  View on Watch

They also told investigators that they were more likely to be labelled as "gang members," or treated as such.

Zinger decried the correctional service for an "underwhelming and disappointing" response to his recommendations, and for consistently failing to include input and support from Black community groups. He said the agency promised more sensitivity training, more research projects and more policy reviews in response.

"The service's stated commitment of creating 'an anti-racist organization that is more inclusive, diverse and equitable' looks good on paper," he told reporters.

"But top-down, corporate-driven diversity, inclusion and anti-racism frameworks are not likely to reach down to root out the discriminatory and unfair treatment that Black people consistently related to us in the course of this investigation."

The overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prison continues to worsen, with Indigenous people now making up 32 per cent of the prison population, and more than 50 per cent of incarcerated women.

Indigenous people are also more likely to be subject to the use of force by correctional officers, put into structured intervention, placed in maximum security and labelled as gang members.

Indigenous prisoners are more likely to self-injure and attempt suicide. Five out of six people who died by suicide last year were Indigenous, Zinger said.

"We found, again, terrible outcomes," he said.

Though more than 30 recommendations have been made to the correctional service over the years on how to fix the problem, including funding healing lodges and allowing the supervision of Indigenous offenders in their own communities, it "hasn't followed up very much on many of them," said Zinger.

Zinger's report includes a third investigation, this one addressing restrictive confinement in maximum security institutions for men.

It found that federal legislation intended to replace the former "administrative segregation" regime with "structured intervention units," has failed to prevent the creation and extension of segregation-like conditions.

A wide range of practices similar to solitary confinement are still used, including "voluntary limited association ranges," which are purportedly designed for "inmates who do not want to integrate in mainstream inmate populations" but who do not meet the criteria for placement in structured intervention units, the report says.

These "exist outside the law," says the report, and Zinger is calling on the correctional service to develop a national policy addressing such systems that takes into account prisoners' rights, freedoms and privileges.

Zinger's office has made 18 recommendations to the federal government overall, including eight focused on improving the lives of Black prisoners.

The recommendations include the development of a national strategy that specifically addresses "the unique lived experiences and barriers faced by federally sentenced Black individuals" and a renewed call to appoint a new deputy commissioner focused exclusively on Indigenous corrections.

Among other things, Zinger is also urging the government to prohibit the use of dry cells beyond 72 hours, update the CSC's national drug strategy, change a "discriminatory" system of organizing maximum-security women and add basic safety equipment such as seatbelts to prisoner escort vehicles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

The Canadian Press

'Isn't about fed-bashing for kicks': Saskatchewan aims to assert autonomy with bill


REGINA — The Saskatchewan government introduced a bill Tuesday to unilaterally amend parts of the Canadian Constitution, signalling the province is gearing up for a fight with Ottawa over its environmental policies.



The Saskatchewan Party government is leaning on Section 45 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which "permits provincial legislatures to amend the constitution of the province" — in this case, the Saskatchewan Act.

It's the same section Quebec relied on when it unilaterally changed the Constitution to make French its official language earlier this year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said it's legitimate for provinces to modify the section of the Constitution that applies specifically to them.

Saskatchewan wants to add several articles in the Constitution that pertain to its autonomy and its ability to control the development of its non-renewable natural resources, forestry resources and electrical generation.

It also wants to amend the Saskatchewan Act to reassert that it has exclusive jurisdiction over its natural resources. It would also set up a tribunal to determine economic harms caused by federal environmental policies.

"We think we're on solid ground with respect to … both of those amendments, based on the fact that these amendments don't purport to change the divisions of powers between the federal and provincial government," Mitch McAdam, director of the provincial government's constitutional law branch, said Tuesday.

"We feel we're on solid constitutional footing."

Saskatchewan's NDP Opposition criticized the proposed bill as a "copy-paste" of what already exists in the Constitution.

Section 92A of the Constitution Act says provinces have jurisdiction over its natural resources.

"If it makes the government feel better — fine. I don't think it has a lot of legal significance," NDP justice critic Nicole Sarauer said.

Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre sponsored the bill, which was introduced in the legislature on Tuesday.

"This isn't about fed-bashing for kicks," she said.

"It's about our place in this federation and our responsibility to the people of Saskatchewan to foster economic growth."

Eyre said the bill could help establish a legal basis for challenging federal regulations that hurt industries.

"We would look, for example, at defining, quantifying, assessing that economic harm in dollar-figure terms and potentially using that as evidence in a future case," Eyre said.

The bill would help in court cases surrounding jurisdictional debates, said McAdam.

"It's not just symbolic. That's something that the courts can look to and can be an interpretive aid when the courts are called upon to decide where that boundary line is," McAdam said.

He said the bill can also inform future decisions when there is a request for an injunction or the government files a reference to the Court of Appeal to get its opinion on a matter.

"It will give us those tools that we will need to take that case forward to the courts," McAdam said.

Moe made a commitment that his government would "respect and follow all the laws of the land" as it puts forward its changes.

The same was echoed by McAdam.

"(The act) recognizes that that's the role of the courts and the courts are the ultimate arbitrators of where that diving line is between federal and provincial jurisdiction," McAdam said.

Danielle Smith, Alberta's new United Conservative premier, has proposed a sovereignty act to resist federal laws and court rulings it deems against provincial interests, but her office has maintained it would remain onside with the Constitution.

Eyre pointed out that Alberta does not yet have a bill, and that the Saskatchewan first act is unique. She said the bill was created following months of legal and economic analysis.

"So this is ours, and ours alone," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press

Letter:  Only Alberta prevents Sask. from being Canada's laughingstock

Reader Letters - Star Phoenix

Were it not for the flat-earthers in Trumpville, Alberta, we in Saskatchewan would be the laughingstock of this country. Imagine the modifying shame of it all if Alberta didn’t exist.


Minister of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety Christine Tell speaks at an event at the Regina Wildlife Federation on Monday, September 27, 2021 near White City. 

TROY FLEECE / Regina Leader-Post© Provided by Star Phoenix

We have a premier who must have missed the day at school his teacher taught arithmetic , and who doesn’t know if his ministers vet who is invited to sit in the public gallery.

A minister of public safety who states that it doesn’t bother her that a convicted murderer was a guest of the government for last week’s throne speech as “he’s a free citizen.”

And yet she won’t allow the RCMP to use provincial funds to assist in the federal handgun buy-back program, stating that the “handgun freeze” will not “in any significant way affect actual crime.”

In fact, the individual who sat in the gallery for the throne speech is on full life parole. The federal gun program is not a freeze or confiscation, it’s a buy-back program. Why does the program have to reduce crime in a “significant” manner? If it saves only one life, is that not worth it? What is an “actual” crime?

Related video: Growing frustrations from premiers in prairies as they push for sovereignty

Duration 2:01  View on Watch

Police training must have been very different back when Ms. Tell graduated.

Then we have the minister responsible for the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, who must have been in the premier’s math class, stating that the government is getting out of retail liquor sales because the stores could start losing money, even though they are currently profitable.

Oh, the shame of it all. Thank God for Alberta.

J.J. Young, Saskatoon

Alberta NDP says B.C. doctor deal a wake-up call to Smith to knock off pseudo-science

EDMONTON — Alberta’s Opposition NDP leader says a proposed pay deal for B.C. doctors is a wake-up call to Premier Danielle Smith to knock off the pseudo-science and put down the wrecking ball aimed at the province’s health system.


Alberta NDP says B.C. doctor deal a wake-up call to Smith to knock off pseudo-science© Provided by The Canadian Press

Rachel Notley says the B.C. contract shows the race is on for scarce talent in the health field and that the organizational chaos and anti-science bent of Smith’s government are setting Alberta back.

“People who are trained in health care — whether they are nurses' aides, whether they are neurosurgeons — all understand evidence and science,” Notley said Tuesday.

“And those folks being told they have to work in a health-care system that is being led by a premier who doesn’t believe that vaccines are an important part of any health-care regime, those folks are much more likely to go somewhere else.

“All this at a time when we see other provinces acting quickly to attract health-care professionals to their jurisdictions.”

This week the B.C. government announced a tentative deal that could see a full-time family doctor paid about $385,000 a year – a pay boost of about one-third from the current $250,000.

Notley said it’s hard to make direct comparisons, but the B.C. deal is on par if not better than Alberta’s.

Alberta Health spokesman Steve Buick disputed that.

“More fearmongering by Alberta’s NDP does not change the facts: Alberta full-time family doctors were paid $393,000 in 2019-20, more than the $385,000 B.C.’s new deal would pay them next year. And Alberta’s family doctors will earn more compensation under the new agreement with the Alberta Medical Association,” said Buick in a statement.

“The NDP are once again showing they have nothing to contribute on health care but empty politics.”

Related video: Provinces call on Ottawa for more health-care funding
Duration 8:31  View on Watch

Smith became premier three weeks ago, replacing Jason Kenney as United Conservative Party leader and premier.

She campaigned on a platform that blamed Alberta Health Services, the agency tasked with operating front-line care, for what she terms punitive and unnecessary vaccine mandates and rules. She also blames the agency for fumbling the COVID-19 response, leading to hospitals teetering dangerously close to collapse during multiple waves of the pandemic.

Smith said action must be taken immediately to fix jammed emergency wards and ambulance bottlenecks. She has promised to fire the AHS board and revamp the entire system with an eye to decentralizing it by mid-January.

She has also promised to not impose new health restrictions or mask mandates to combat any future COVID-19 outbreak. She is contemplating legal steps to ensure schools can’t impose mask rules, and next month plans to change human rights laws to forbid discrimination, such as banning someone from coming to work because they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Smith, on her first day as premier on Oct. 11, said she takes her health cues from documents such as the Great Barrington Declaration. The 2020 open letter from a group of health specialists argues for shielding the vulnerable but otherwise letting COVID-19 run unchecked to create herd immunity and reduce long-term harmful side-effects from isolation, such as drug use and mental health problems.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, publicly rejected the declaration, calling it scientifically flawed and logistically unworkable. Her views echoed other academics and the World Health Organization.

Smith has said Hinshaw will be moved out of her current job.

The premier also said she will not do joint press conferences with Hinshaw, and on Oct. 22 told reporters, “A lot of the bad decisions were made by Alberta Health Services on the basis of bad advice from the chief medical officer of health.”

She has also asserted that allowing health workers to come to work without being vaccinated would be a drawing card, something Notley labelled “an utterly ridiculous, ridiculous assertion.”

Smith, a former journalist, has made headlines for arguments challenging mainstream science. Last year, she pushed for livestock dewormer ivermectin to be used as a COVID-19 treatment – a cure since debunked.

This summer, she apologized after announcing on a livestream interview that people have it within their power to avoid contracting early-stage cancer.

The UCP government has had a fractious relationship with health providers since it tore up the doctors’ master agreement almost three years ago, then fought to roll back nurses’ wages during the pandemic.

The doctors have since agreed to a four-year deal that delivers pay hikes of four per cent or more.

The Alberta Medical Association said it plans to continue suing the province for tearing up the agreement, unless the province follows through on revoking the legislature power it granted itself to tear up the deal in the first place.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2022.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

Climate Changed: Canada's health system isn't ready for new reality, say doctors

Montreal family doctor Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers sees climate change as an all-encompassing "risk amplifier."


Climate Changed: Canada's health system isn't ready for new reality, say doctors© Provided by The Canadian Press

She says it raises the potential for hazard across the board, from threatening the most basic health determinants, such as air quality and access to food and water, to exacerbating seasonal allergies and tick-borne Lyme disease.

Pétrin-Desrosiers, president of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, is among a group of doctors who say Canada's health-care system isn't prepared for the worsening effects of climate change.

Finola Hackett, a locum physician working in rural communities throughout southern Alberta, said ignoring the "climate crisis when it comes to health, long-term, it's going to be very costly, not just in terms of dollars, but in lives."

Both say acting now has the potential to save lives.

"That's motivating enough for us to do the work," said Pétrin-Desrosiers.

Hackett and Pétrin-Desrosiers are the lead co-authors of a policy brief on Canada released last week alongside a global report produced by the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change, which is published by the Lancet medical journal.

The Lancet report underscores the health risks of global heating, pointing to the heat dome that settled over British Columbia in summer 2021 as an example.

The heat dome, which caused more than 600 deaths in B.C., would have been "virtually impossible" without the influence of climate change, the peer-reviewed report says.

The Canadian policy brief says the health-care system has the potential to increase resilience to such extreme heat and other climate-related health risks, but it's far from ready, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic.

It says heat waves may increase the number of emergency room visits by 10 to 15 per cent, further straining health-care capacity and reducing quality of care.

Duration 1:32
Climate change has 'massive' impact on health, expert says
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In Alberta, Hackett said she sees patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, during periods of air pollution from wildfire smoke.

Both Hackett and Pétrin-Desrosiers said they're also concerned about the effects of climate change on mental health, having seen evidence of increasing instances of post-traumatic stress disorder following extreme weather events, such as flooding.

That's worrying, Pétrin-Desrosiers said, because access to mental health care in the public system is already lacking, with long waiting lists across the country.

Health Canada's own assessment of climate change and health published earlier this year says global heating is "already affecting the health of Canadians, and, without taking concerted action, will continue to result in injury, illness and death."

Greater warming will bring greater risks, but many impacts could be avoided "if Canada rapidly and substantially scales up efforts now to adapt," the report says.

The linkages between climate change and health are also the focus of the annual report from Canada's chief public health officer, Theresa Tam, released last week.

The report says "urgent public health action is required to prepare for, protect against, and respond to current and future health impacts of climate change."

Both the Health Canada and public health officer's reports emphasize the importance of involving people who are most affected by climate change in adaptation planning, noting vulnerability is often linked with additional social inequities, such as low income, inadequate housing and food insecurity.

Such reports, along with some actions at the provincial level, show there is increasing recognition of the health risks posed by climate change, Hackett says.

"But in terms of, actually, do we have measures in place in our clinics, in our hospitals, in our health organizations, we're just in the early stages," she says.

The Canadian policy brief notes the governments of B.C., Ontario and Quebec have taken steps to assess links between climate change and health, but Hackett said such initiatives are "fragmented" without some kind of national co-ordination.

Similarly, Pétrin-Desrosiers said Health Canada committed on paper to improving resiliency in the health-care system, but that hasn't yet translated into action at the pace needed to address the growing risks.

The doctors' policy brief recommends that provincial and territorial health authorities undertake climate-resilience analyses to identify priority actions, and calls on Ottawa to create a national secretariat "to co-ordinate the transformation of Canada's health system" into one that's resilient to the effects of climate change.

Itsuggests adaptation measures could include climate risk training for health workers and creating health-care contingency plans for extreme weather events.

The federal government is set to finalize a national climate change adaptation strategy by the end of this year, with health and well-being as one of five key areas.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2021.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

Federal government contributing $970M to fund small modular nuclear reactor in Ontario

Peter Zimonjic - Oct 25,2022

The Canada Infrastructure Bank has made a deal with Ontario Power Generation to provide $970 million to build the country's first small modular reactor.

Over ten years, the deal will fund construction of a 300-megawatt small modular reactor next to the existing 3,500-megawatt Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Clarington, Ont.

"Today's announcement represents a significant step towards the development of a non-emitting electricity grid and a prosperous net-zero future," said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in a media statement.

"The deployment of one of Canada's first small modular reactors [SMRs] at Darlington Station will further enhance Canada's leadership in nuclear technology, create sustainable jobs and reduce emissions."

SMRs have smaller footprints and shorter construction schedules than traditional nuclear generating stations.

The Canada Infrastructure Bank, CIB, a federal Crown corporation, said in a media statement that small reactors are crucial to achieving Canada's goal, laid out in the Paris agreement, of cutting national greenhouse gas emissions 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

Related video: The Canadians who want to see more nuclear energy

Duration 3:06

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Ontario Power Generation, a provincial Crown corporation responsible for about half of Ontario's energy production, said the reactor is key to its goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

The Darlington SMR, the CIB said, will also be used to help spearhead similar projects in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Alberta.

The future of low emissions

The transition from gas-powered vehicles to ones that rely on electricity will result in a sizeable increase in electricity demand — and the government wants the future grid to be zero-emitting by 2035.

OPG and the federal government say that once the Darlington SMR is up and running, it will be able to provide enough power to run 160,000 cars.

Earlier this year, the federal government said it would work with the provinces and territories to establish a "a Pan-Canadian Grid Council" to promote clean electricity infrastructure investments and develop emerging technologies like geothermal, tidal and SMRs.

"As our largest clean power investment, we are supporting technology which can accelerate the reduction in greenhouse gases while also paving the way for Canada becoming a global SMR technology hub," said Ehren Cory, CEO of the Canada Infrastructure Bank.



Federal government contributing $970M to fund small modular nuclear reactor in Ontario© CBC News

Bloc leader condemns 'racist' and 'humiliating' monarchy while calling for Canada to cut ties with Charles

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet delivered a provocative speech Tuesday condemning the monarchy as a "racist," "archaic," "almost archeological" and "humiliating" institution that should be scrapped.

The comments came during debate on the party's motion, which calls on the federal government to sever ties with what the Bloc calls the "British monarchy."

The motion is purely symbolic because, under Canada's Constitution, it would take more than a vote like this to cut ties with the Crown.

Such a constitutional change would require the unanimous consent of all provinces and both houses of Parliament — an unlikely prospect, given the reluctance of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and most premiers to engage in constitutional talks.

The Bloc's critics decried the motion as a meaningless political stunt and a distraction from the real problems facing the country, such as a lack of affordable housing, the high cost of living, climate change and a health care system under severe stress.

They also questioned whether a separatist party should have any say in deciding who symbolically leads the country.

Blanchet said Canada's Parliament can tackle the challenges of the day while also engaging in some soul-searching about what kind of country Canada should be.

Blanchet said Canada's sovereign, Charles III, is a "foreigner who knows nothing about Canada" and would struggle to pass the country's citizenship test.

Charles has made 18 official visits to Canada since 1970 — more than to any other Commonwealth realm. He also often talks about his love of Canada and his affection for its people.

Blanchet said Charles is from a family who "crushed us in Quebec with cannonballs and muskets," referring to the British victory in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 and the larger Seven Years' War, which resulted in France ceding most of its North American territory to Great Britain.

"We're told we're a secular democratic country but they protect a King who is the head of a church," Blanchet said, referring to Charles's role as the supreme governor of the Church of England. Charles does not have any formal leadership role in the church's Canadian counterpart, the Anglican Church of Canada.

"It's archaic. It's a thing of the past — it's almost archeological. It's humiliating. It's completely illogical to have this monarchy. We need to exit this monarchy because it's important to do so," Blanchet said.

Speaking of Liberal and Conservative MPs, Blanchet said some of them condemn The Adventures of Tintin cartoons, which have been criticized for their racial stereotypes and colonial tropes, but "stand up and defend a racist British monarchy."

Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of foreign affairs, said now is not the time to debate the role of the monarchy.

With the economy in a fragile state, housing increasingly unaffordable and a climate crisis looming, Oliphant said the government doesn't want to be bogged down by divisive constitutional talks.

He also offered a defence of Canada's system of government, saying the Crown is "the bedrock of our constitutional democracy," a form of government that has served Canada well over the last 150 years.

Related video: Bloc Québécois calls for Canada to end monarchy

Duration 2:29

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Queen Elizabeth helped usher in the modern era in Canada, signing the Constitution Act, 1982 and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Oliphant said, "ensuring stability in our country and guaranteeing rights of it citizens."

"We have a system of government that Canadians trust. It's a system that was fought for and it came at the cost of many men and women's blood. We will continue to defend that democracy," Oliphant said.

Oliphant said the Bloc's motion, which only runs to a few lines, also doesn't offer any alternative.

Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden said dumping the Crown would prompt "chaos" and a "fundamental rethinking of all our institutions and how they relate to each other. It's no simple task."

Bloc is just looking for attention: Conservative MP

Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus said the Bloc launched this motion now because it wants to prop up its sister party, the Parti Québécois. The PQ's three MNAs protested swearing an oath to Charles after the recent provincial election.

Paul-Hus said that, like the PQ MNAs, the Bloc is just trying to grab media attention.

"They say, 'Let's be the talk of the town. Let's get in the news. It's going to make headlines and we're going to have a lot of fun dong it,'" Paul-Hus said.

Rather than tackle more pressing issues, Paul-Hus said, the Bloc wants to revive old constitutional debates to show they still have relevance after decades on the opposition benches.

"Does anyone still believe in the Bloc? It's just looking for a reason to exist," he said.

"What do they propose in return? We pledge allegiance to the president of Canada? We'd do that and then they'd turn around say, 'We must cut ties time with the Canadian republic.' They already call this a foreign Parliament."

Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux, the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, said that in his 12 years as an MP, he's never once heard a constituent ask him about the monarchy.

'Nobody is talking about this'

He said it's a waste for the Bloc to use one of its three opposition days this year — a day in the Commons when an opposition party sets the agenda — to discuss this subject.

"Surely to goodness the Bloc understands no matter what region you're from, nobody is talking about this issue. Except for the Bloc," Lamoureux said.

"Why does the party that wants to see Canada fall apart want to talk about this issue? I won't speculate. But this motion just shows how truly irrelevant the Bloc really is. They're just being mischievous."



King Charles III shakes hands with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he receives realm prime ministers in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace in London, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022. A Bloc motion introduced Tuesday calls for Canada to cut ties with the Crown.

© Stefan Rousseau/Pool via AP Photo

NDP MPs were more divided than the other federalist parties on the question of the Crown's future.

NDP MP Nikki Ashton said the monarchy is "a symbol of colonial, a symbol of slavery, oppression and repression and a symbol of conflict."

"It's an anachronism that should be done away with," she said.

Her colleague, NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, said he takes a more "laissez-faire" approach, preferring to debate other democratic reforms like the enactment of proportional representation in Canada.

Regardless, MacGregor said the Crown offers stability. "I believe the monarchy's continual rule provides legislative consistency. Governments come and go but the Crown remains."

MPs will vote on the Bloc's motion on Wednesday.

Oct 25,2022

Ottawa hospital calls out to Alberta health-care workers in wake of Premier Smith's comments

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith holds her first press conference in 

Edmonton, on Tuesday October 11, 2022. 

Tyler Dawson - Oct 24, 2022 - National Post

Alberta is calling. Or is it Ottawa?

In the latest twist of inter-provincial drama and worker-harvesting, an Ottawa hospital said it would be happy to crib health-care workers from Wild Rose Country, while Alberta’s government is trying to convince beleaguered skilled workers in Toronto (and Vancouver) to head west.

The call for Alberta health-care workers came on the heels of comments from the province’s new premier, Danielle Smith, which she made at the United Conservative Party’s annual general meeting in Edmonton.

“I think that the staffing shortages have been manufactured by the bad decisions of Alberta Health Services,” Smith said in a Saturday news conference.

The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario’s responded on Monday. In a tweet, Alex Munter, the president of the pediatric care centre at CHEO, posted a link to jobs at the hospital.

“Alberta Health Services staff: If you feel discouraged because you’re being blamed for healthcare problems rather than being thanked for 2 ½ years of tireless work… We’d welcome your dedication and expertise at @CHEO,” Munter wrote on Twitter.

Health-care workers and the Opposition New Democrats also responded to Smith’s comments. Janis Irwin, an Edmonton NDP MLA, asked the premier to visit a hospital.

“Talk to those on the frontlines. Your words are incredibly disrespectful. You’re completely out of touch,” Irwin wrote on Twitter.

It’s not the first time Munter has offered up a pitch to Alberta’s health-care professionals. On her very first day as provincial leader, Smith said the unvaccinated were the most discriminated-against group of Canadians she had witnessed in her lifetime.

A day later, Munter took to Twitter, saying Alberta workers would be welcome if they are vaccinated against COVID and their other shots are up to date. “We think racism is bad, immunization is good and we (love) occupational health+safety,” Munter wrote.

Meanwhile, Alberta has been trying to woo skilled workers from other parts of the country, and before he left office, former premier Jason Kenney unveiled an advertising campaign in Toronto and Vancouver entitled “Alberta is calling.” It directs Torontonians, groaning under outlandish rental rates and home prices, to come to Alberta, where the wages are the highest in the country, property prices are low and there are spectacular mountains within a few hours’ drive of the province’s major cities.

It’s unclear what impact the campaign has had — though the province saw nearly 35,000 people move in during the second quarter of 2022, according to government statistics.

While Ontario has largely declined to respond to the campaign, outgoing B.C. Premier John Horgan said he wasn’t happy that Alberta’s ad campaign in Vancouver was targeting skilled workers, which would include health-care staff. He said earlier this month that Alberta shouldn’t be competing for health-care workers, and instead asking for more health-care money from the federal government.

“Alberta’s approach is at odds with what the provinces have been doing for the last four or five years,” Horgan said.

AOC vows to champion LGBTQ+ rights after hecklers storm New York event

Erum Salam in New York - 

The progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she will stand up for LGBTQ+ rights after an attack by hecklers caused chaos during a recent speaking event in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, New York.


Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images© Provided by The Guardian

The Democrat from New York met the heckles at the back of the Boys and Girls Club with dancing, the video of which has gone viral on social media.

“AOC has got to go,” the protesters shouted in unison to the sound of a beating drum.

On Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez responded to the video, saying the hecklers “were yelling Westboro Baptist-style anti-LGBT+ slogans. What do you think I’m gonna do? Take them seriously?

“If you want to associate with their views, that’s your business.”

Referring to the 14th congressional district of New York she represents, Ocasio-Cortez added: “But NY-14 will always have a champion for LGBTQ+ people on my watch. Period.”

A video online of the 19 October confrontation between Ocasio-Cortez and the hecklers showed one of them badgering her about how a policy providing affordable housing for LGBTQ+ seniors would discriminate against heterosexual people.

Another heckler shouts “there’s only two … genders” – a concept that is discriminatory toward people who identify as non-binary.

One heckler held up a homemade sign in support of Tina Forte, a rightwing candidate from Rockland county running against Ocasio-Cortez in the midterms.

Last month, the local news outlet NY1 reported that Forte was at the US Capitol during the January 6 attack staged by supporters of Donald Trump.

In a video posted on the day, Forte is seen wearing a pro-Trump beanie on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (not in fact at the Capitol). The video showed her standing next to a large caricature of Nancy Pelosi, saying “we will not allow this election to be stolen from us” even though Joe Biden beat Trump in the 2020 presidential race.

In response to questions about her whereabouts on 6 January, Forte has said: “I went there to shine light on the election. I did nothing. I didn’t participate in anything that went on that day, from what I see on videos or anything that they want to call it. I’m not going to say I regret it because I don’t.”

As Forte’s campaign vows to “stop socialism”, Ocasio-Cortez is expected to easily win reelection to a third term during the 8 November midterms.

Polls show the congresswoman holds a significant lead over Forte. Her campaign has raised more than $11m (£9.8m) while Forte has raised less than $1m (£887,995).

Last week was not the first time that a video of Ocasio-Cortez dancing went viral. A video of her dancing on a rooftop while she was a student at Boston University went viral on the day she was sworn in to her first term in 2019, with her opponents on the political right wing trying to use it to embarrass her and her supporters, drowning out that criticism with positive reactions.