Indigenous strongwoman makes history by becoming 1st in Canada to earn pro card

Jamie Malbeuf - 

A woman from Whitefish Lake First Nation in northern Alberta has become the first Indigenous woman in Canada to get her pro card in a strongwoman competition.


Angela Houle painted a red handprint across her face to represent Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls during the competition.© Submitted by Angela Houle

Angela Houle, 39, accomplished the feat on Oct. 22 when she battled it out against other amateur strongwomen in the Strongman Corporation of Canada's National Championship in Thunder Bay for the chance at a pro card.

"I worked so hard for it," Houle said. "I couldn't believe how I felt. It was like a spiritual moment for me."

Houle said it was the best she's ever performed, and she smashed her previous personal bests.

"I wanted it not just for me, but for our kids, our Indigenous youth," Houle said.

She competed in an axle press, a circus dumbbell and sandbag carry, among other events.

Houle competed against five other women to get pro status.

"I'm breaking those boundaries… for our Indigenous youth to step forward," Houle said.

Houle said likes to use her platform to help Indigenous youth and women.

Houle told CBC she is connected to her people and culture by wearing moccasins when competing and a red hand over her face to advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Houle said she had Indigenous supporters at the event and it was empowering.

"I feel like I'm on top of the world," Houle said.

Colten Sloan, the first Indigenous strongman in Canada, has been training with Houle for years. The two are related, and Sloan said getting to be the first Indigenous strongman and strongwoman in Canada together has been "powerful."

"Indigenous women get cast in such a dark light, it's nice to see representation in such a positive manner," Sloan said.

Having a pro card means they are considered professional athletes and will be invited to international competitions. The pair will be going to the Arnold Classic together in 2023.

He said Houle has faced hardships, and seeing her break those barriers and succeed in the strongwoman world is "empowering."

When Houle was announced as the winner, "it was booming." Sloan said. "It was just electric watching everybody be so excited for her."

Maggie Buffalo, Houle's cousin, was watching the competition this month from her home in Alberta. The work that Houle put into training was noticeable, said Buffalo, because Houle "made it look easy."

Buffalo was there when Houle first started flipping tractor tires.

"That's what we would do for the evening," Buffalo said.

"Seeing her work hard to get better and getting her pro card has been amazing," Buffalo said.

She added that' it's important to have role models like Houle in the community.

"Especially for youth in our community to know that they can achieve their goals," Buffalo said.

Quebec judge says McGill work halted to avoid 'irreparable harm' to Mohawk plaintiffs

MONTREAL — McGill University said Tuesday it will begin discussions with an Indigenous group that has raised concerns about unmarked graves after a court ruled that excavation work on a university expansion project would cause “irreparable harm.”


Quebec judge says McGill work halted to avoid 'irreparable harm' to Mohawk plaintiffs

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Justice Gregory Moore last week ordered a halt to any excavation at the former site of the Royal Victoria Hospital until the parties hold discussions to develop an archeological plan to search for graves.

“McGill University takes seriously the concerns of Indigenous communities regarding the New Vic project and seeks to better understand how they may be addressed,” Katherine Gombay, a McGill spokesperson, said in an email. She said the university will engage in a conversation with the Indigenous plaintiffs "with humility and in good faith." The New Vic project is aimed at creating a new research and teaching hub.

The judge also granted Kimberly R. Murray, the federally appointed independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves, intervener status in the case, and Murray told The Canadian Press Friday that she would take part in meetings with the parties.

In his written decision released Tuesday, Moore said the identification of unmarked Indigenous graves is a priority for discovering the truth and working toward reconciliation. He cited the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations on residential school cemeteries and drew a link to the health-care system.

“This call to action is drafted in terms of residential schools, but the plaintiff and the special interlocutor have demonstrated the possible parallels between that system and the health services offered to Indigenous peoples,” Moore wrote.

The injunction was granted Thursday at the end of a two-day hearing, following a request in March from a group of elders from Kahnawake known as the Mohawk Mothers. The group has alleged that the bodies of Indigenous patients of the Allan Memorial Institute and the Royal Victoria Hospital are buried at the site scheduled to be redeveloped.

The Mohawk Mothers claimed to have uncovered evidence of burials through interviews with a survivor of the MK-Ultra mind control experiments conducted in the 1950s and 1960s by Dr. Ewen Cameron at the Allan Memorial Institute on the Royal Victoria grounds.

During the hearing, lawyers representing McGill and the Société québécoise des infrastructures, a provincial body that supports public infrastructure projects, argued that there was no evidence of unmarked graves on the site. “Beyond what I consider to be the very firmly held convictions of the plaintiffs, there’s actually very little evidence to support their assertion that there would be graves on the site of the Royal Victoria Hospital,” McGill lawyer Doug Mitchell said.

However, in his ruling, the judge referred to a 2016 archeological report prepared for McGill and the infrastructure corporation that suggested Mount Royal was used as a burial site before the arrival of Europeans. The former hospital is on the side of Mount Royal.

Moore said the plaintiffs would "suffer irreparable harm if the excavation work is not suspended for the time it takes to develop an appropriate archeological plan to identify any unmarked graves." He noted that there is no evidence the project would be delayed by the suspension since the construction timetable has not been established.

The ruling concludes that there is urgency to respond to the plaintiffs' "legitimate concerns" about unmarked graves. "Otherwise, the plaintiffs and those who share their concerns will continue to face the trauma that comes from not knowing whether, when, or how their community members' graves might be disturbed," the judge wrote.

Julian Falconer, the lawyer representing Murray, called Moore's ruling groundbreaking and said it was tremendously important for Indigenous Peoples that truth and reconciliation were at the heart of his decision.

Murray’s affidavit provides the court with recommendations on best practices for undertaking a search for unmarked graves.

“The judge has directed that deep dialogue occurs outside of the court, but also as part of the case management process. He also accepted that the information offered by the special interlocutor could be helpful,” Falconer said.

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

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Marisela Amador, The Canadian Press

WHITE COLLAR CRIME PAYES

Investment con artist admits guilt, but may never face punishment for his crime, court told

Kevin Martin - Yesterday -  Calgary Herald

Calgary senior Vernon Ray Fauth pleaded guilty Monday to swindling investors out of more than $2 million.

The entrance to the Calgary Courts Centre.

But Fauth may never be punished for his crime as he is facing severe medical issues that may make him too ill to face a sentencing hearing, his lawyer told court.

Defence counsel Shamsher Kothari said Fauth, 75, is awaiting the results of medical testing which may prevent him from ultimately seeing justice for bilking investors through his Espoir Capital Corp .

“My client’s going through some serious medical issues,” Kothari told Justice Keith Yamauchi, without elaborating on what health problems Fauth faces.

“There could be a point that there’s not a next (court) date health-wise.”

Fauth pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud relating to investments he took in between Jan. 1, 2012, and July 8, 2015, when Espoir’s bank account had a zero balance.

Reading from a statement of agreed facts, Crown prosecutor Brian Holtby said an investigation by the RCMP Integrated Market Enforcement Team focused on that period and six specific parties which lent Espoir money under the promise of favourable interest rates.

“The amount the six lenders put at risk during the investigation period totalled $2,365,000,” Holtby told the Court of King’s Bench hearing.

“Their total loss was $2,227,751.”

The prosecutor said Fauth accepted short-term loans to Espoir for the purpose of putting the cash in “a pool of secured interest-paying investments.”

“The offender raised funds for Espoir by persuading individuals to loan money to Espoir in exchange for a debenture or promissory note which guaranteed a return.”

Over time Fauth created other companies which were supposed to offer investment possibilities.

“None of these companies was truly a going concern and none provided the type of investment opportunity that Espoir ostensibly pursued,” Holtby said.

Each investor was paid some interest over the period of their loans, but at less than the eight per cent promised. None of them received their principal loan amount at the closure of the loan periods.

“The offender led them to believe that the proceeds would be invested in a pool of secured interest-paying investments. Accordingly, Espoir could be relied on to pay back the principal and the promised interest.”

But that never occurred, the prosecutor said.

“In fact, the offender did not use the money as he represented he would,” Holtby said.

“Almost all of it was quickly paid to earlier Espoir investors/lenders or to the offender’s related companies. Interest payments stopped suddenly and by July 8, 2015, Espoir had no assets.”

In 2019, the Alberta Securities Commission ordered Fauth to repay more than $3 million over his fraudulent scheme.

The case returns to court Nov. 25.

KMartin@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @KMartinCourts

Lula cheered for new climate policies after Brazil election

By Jake Spring - Yesterday 12:36 p.m.

Reuters/MARIANA GREIF

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Environmentalists, world leaders and sustainable investors on Monday cheered the victory of Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to protect the Amazon rainforest and restore Brazil's leadership on climate change.

In his victory speech, Lula pledged to clamp down on illegal logging, mining and land grabbing that have driven the surging deforestation of the Amazon over the past four years under President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's election.

"Brazil is ready to retake its leadership in the fight against the climate crisis," Lula told a crowd of supporters in Sao Paulo. "Brazil and the planet need a living Amazon."

Destruction of the Brazilian rainforest hit a 15-year high under Bolsonaro, who rolled back environmental protections, and pushed for more mining and commercial farming in the region.

Bolsonaro's office and the Environment Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Lula has vowed a sweeping overhaul of environmental policy, on par with the proposed Green New Deal in the United States, although there are doubts if he can get such an ambitious agenda past a Congress where Bolsonaro's allies have the upper hand.

He may have an easier time re-establishing Brazil's role in international efforts to address climate change.

Lula's environmentalist ally Marina Silva told Reuters on Monday that the president-elect would signal Brazil's renewed global leadership on climate change by sending representatives to next week's COP27 United Nations climate summit in Egypt.

The representatives, who have yet to be selected, would form part of an unofficial delegation, as Lula will only assume the presidency on Jan. 1, she said.

Silva said that Brazil would demand rich countries provide financing to poor countries to respond to climate change and give compensation for permanent "loss and damage" from climate change. But international funding will not be a pre-condition to protecting the Amazon, as Bolsonaro's government has signaled.

Norway is ready to discuss restarting a fund for Amazon preservation with roughly 3 billion reais ($573 million), its Climate and Environment Minister Espen Barth Eide said in an emailed statement on Monday. Bolsonaro's government had halted the so-called Amazon Fund in 2019 citing unspecified irregularities.

Under Lula, Brazil will also discuss expanding its national targets for cutting climate-related emissions, said Silva, his former environment minister from 2003 to 2008.

In Lula's third term, he will likely announce targets for cutting methane emissions - a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide - from livestock, power plants and other sources, she said.

Lula also plans in early 2023 to hold a summit including Amazon nations and developed countries with an interest in preserving the forest, an adviser told Reuters last month.

BRAZIL BAN LIFTING?

Investors focused on environment, social and corporate governance (ESG) also welcomed Lula's victory.

Nordea Asset Management, a wing of giant Nordic bank Nordea, said it is considering lifting its ban on buying more Brazil government bonds that was instituted in 2019 when huge fires in the Amazon provoked global outcry to protect the rainforest.

Responsible investing head Eric Christian Pedersen told Reuters he was "optimistic" the quarantine on its Brazil bond holdings would soon be lifted.

The firm, with roughly 237 billion euros ($234 billion) in assets under management, only owned about 100 million euros in Brazilian sovereign bonds when the prohibition took effect.

Robeco, which manages 200 billion euros in assets, including at least 5 billion euros invested in Brazilian equities and debt, also takes a positive view on Brazil "for now" based on Lula's comments on sustainability and other matters, portfolio manager Daniela da Costa-Bulthuis told Reuters.

Environmental advocates also cheered Lula's proposals for the Amazon, but cautioned that his agenda would face enormous political resistance.

Marina Silva, who won a seat in Congress this month, said Lula aims to create a new national climate authority to oversee efforts by all ministries and agencies to combat global warming.

But he will face a more hostile Congress where Bolsonaro's allies are close to a majority in both houses.

"The nightmare is almost over," said Marcio Astrini, head of the Climate Observatory lobby group, while noting Bolsonaro still had two months in which he could sign off on new policies.

"It will be a long journey to rebuild what was destroyed."

($1 = 5.2397 reais)

(Reporting by Jake Spring; Additional reporting by by Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Editing by Brad Haynes and Aurora Ellis)

FAKE COP IN FAKE DEMOCRACY
Jailed Egyptian activist on hunger strike will refuse water during COP27

Haley Ott - 

screenshot-2022-11-01-at-17-32-23.png© Free Alaa campaign

London — Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a prominent rights activist imprisoned in Egypt, went on "full hunger strike" on Tuesday and intends to start refusing even water from the first day of the COP27 climate conference, which kicks off this weekend in northern Egypt, according to his family. The dual Egyptian-British citizen has been on a hunger strike for months in hopes that the U.K. government might take action on his case.

Alaa has been behind bars in Egypt for most of the last eight years. He was an important figure in pro-democracy "Arab Spring" protests that led to the overthrow of then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. He's been locked up, on charges that human rights groups dismiss as spurious, for virtually all of Egypt's current authoritarian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's rule, since 2014.

"Regardless of how it ends, Alaa has already won this battle," his sister, Mona Seif, said in a tweet on Tuesday. She said he could either be freed, or "if he doesn't make it and dies in prison, his body will tell the whole world what a bunch of liars you all are, ruthless inhumane creatures that should not be trusted with one plant let alone people and the future of this planet."

For the last 200 days, Alaa has been consuming less than 100 calories daily, and his family says they're worried for his life. They have been calling on the British government to pressure the Egyptian government to at least allow a British consular visit to Alaa in prison.

Alaa's other sister, Sanaa Seif, set up camp outside the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office in London about two weeks ago to draw further attention to her brother's case.

Last week, 64 members of both houses of the U.K. parliament wrote to the British foreign secretary to ask him to use the COP27 summit as an opportunity to secure Alaa's release.

"Alaa's situation is so grave that it requires a robust message," the U.K. lawmakers wrote. "In that light, we strongly encourage you to make clear to your Egyptian counterparts that Britain's engagement with COP will be seriously undermined by the continued mistreatment of one of its citizens."

A foreign office spokesperson told the BBC on Tuesday: "We are working hard to secure Alaa Abdel Fattah's release and we continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government. The foreign secretary most recently raised his case when he met Egyptian Foreign Minister [Sameh] Shoukry at the United Nations General Assembly in September."

Meanwhile, it was reported that Egyptian authorities had already arrested nearly 70 people in connection with calls issued on social media for people to stage protests on November 11, during COP27.

Protests have effectively been banned in Egypt since al-Sisi cracked down on political dissent when he came to power, but Egypt's COP27 organizers have said that limited demonstrations will be allowed in designated areas.

One activist from India named Ajit Rajagopal was detained in Cairo after setting off on a solo march for climate justice, where he aimed to walk to the site of the COP27 conference in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Reuters said. He was released after being questioned for hours over a poster he was carrying showing the route of his walk.

Campaigners including climate activist Greta Thunberg, who's skipping this year's climate conference but visited Alaa's sister Sanaa at her camp outside the foreign office in London, have expressed doubt over the extent to which activists will be able to freely express themselves around the summit.

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/10/greta-thunberg-visits-westminster-sit.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/10/greta-thunberg-to-skip-greenwashing.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2022/10/fake-cop-in-fake-democracy-at-least-70.html

Freedom Convoy organizer testifies about 'power struggle' inside the anti-mandate movement

John Paul Tasker - 

Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber said Tuesday the anti-vaccine mandate protest that gripped Ottawa for weeks last winter was beset by "conflict" among different factions pushing their own agendas.

Barber, a Saskatchewan trucker and small business owner, testified at the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC) investigating the convoy that he and Brigitte Belton, an unvaccinated Alberta trucker, were the first to pitch a cross-country drive to protest a vaccine mandate for cross-border workers.

Tamara Lich, a former Western Canadian separatist, then joined the team to help organize the trek.

This trio then "organically" aligned with other groups also keen to take on the Liberal government and its COVID-19 policies, Barber said.

A self-described "internet troll," Barber said he connected with these disparate groups through social media platforms such as TikTok — where he has tens of thousands of followers who flocked to his account during the worst of the pandemic as he attacked COVID-related policies.

"The word started to spread. It was completely organic — everything just fell right into place," Barber said. "A bunch of different groups came together and had input in the planning."

The result was a "power struggle" between his group of mostly Western Canadian truckers and other elements like Canada Unity, an outfit opposed to mask mandates and vaccine passports. Canada Unity produced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) calling for the overthrow of the Liberal government.

The group's founder, James Bauder, called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be arrested and "charged with treason."

Barber said he never actually read the MOU and didn't support a movement to seize power in Ottawa.

"I believe I just ignored it. I have no clue what's in the document. I wasn't into that sort of thing," Barber said.

Barber said that had he known at the outset that Bauder and his organization would join the convoy while calling for the government's overthrow, he would have "promptly told them to go home."

Barber, who testified that he is vaccinated, said he only came to Ottawa to protest border restrictions — policies he said hurt his business because he employed unvaccinated drivers who couldn't travel to the U.S.

"I remember calling on Mr. Bauder and having him renounce the MOU part of the way through the convoy," Barber testified.

Related video: City of Ottawa, police were warned about convoy protesters’ plans
Duration 2:33  View on Watch

"There was too much highlight, too much spotlight on this document that we didn't have anything to do with."

"We had a little bit of conflict between Canada Unity and Taking Back Our Freedoms," he said, referring to a group led by former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Peckford.



Pat King, left, poses for photos in front of Parliament Hill as truckers and their supporters protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa on February 16, 2022.© Patrick Doyle/Reuters

Barber said he also occasionally clashed with Pat King, a far-right organizer with a history of incendiary social media posts.

King, who amassed a large following on Facebook, encouraged people to flock to Ottawa to join the movement.

"Pat and I had a power struggle between each other — that was evident. It was a power struggle back and forth over control," Barber said.

Barber said the original convoy organizers felt "some concern" when the media reported on King's previous violent and racist comments. While he said he was bothered by some of the bad headlines King's comments had generated, Barber added he never actually asked King to leave the convoy.

Text messages tabled at the commission Tuesday show the convoy organizers were worried about losing King-aligned supporters if he was removed.

Freeland received a death threat

Barber testified that all he wanted was a peaceful protest against mandates he perceived as unfair. But the government of Canada's lawyer tabled documents before the commission Tuesday that showed the Barber-Lich faction disseminated "daily event and safety report" flyers to their contingent offering questionable information about Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and her association with the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The WEF has been the focus of multiple bogus conspiracy theories throughout the pandemic.

The day after one flyer about Freeland was disseminated among some in the convoy, she received a death threat from someone named "Larry Jenkins."

Jenkins said Freeland would "get a bullet to the head" for "lying about COVID-19."

Barber said he "unequivocally" denounces such violent threats.

He said he played no role in writing the flyers that cited Freeland and the WEF.

"I was purely here for the mandates. My job was truck safety, truck issues, making sure everyone was looked after. My main job was working with law enforcement," Barber said, speaking of his role as liaison with police who were trying to maintain order.

Barber also was forced to account Tuesday for his past anti-Muslim and racist social media posts. He's also previously displayed a Confederate flag — a holdover from the U.S. Civil War that is often associated with racist and far-right elements — in his truck shop.

Barber said he's a changed man.

"I can honestly say that if anyone learned anything or grew during the convoy, it was me. I was a different person nine months ago. Coming out here and seeing the amount of love, all different colours, all different races ... it changed me," he said.

Nova Scotia team restoring the 'Canada Mayflower' will use trees downed by Fiona


PICTOU, N.S. — When post-tropical storm Fiona ripped through Nova Scotia in September, it led to another setback for the team restoring the historic ship Hector — and a surprise gift of old-growth lumber.


Work to restore the replica of a ship that brought about 190 settlers from Scotland to Pictou, N.S., in 1773 had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues.

Vern Shea, restoration manager for the Ship Hector Society — the team working on the historic vessel — said Tuesday that when he went to the site a couple days after the Sept. 24 storm that took out power to most of the region, he wasn't sure what work the team would be able to do. It was then that a board member phoned and asked if he needed any of the many pine trees that had been felled by the storm.

"So then I got thinking … I bet there's a heck of a lot of trees that we might be able to salvage here," Shea said.

The restoration team posted a request on Facebook for any downed trees that needed removal and could be used for the shipbuilding project. Shea says they were immediately inundated with calls from people wanting felled trees taken away.

"We had to shut that down after just two days — we were overwhelmed with people wanting the tree cleanup," he said.

Shea said the team prioritized requests from seniors, adding that staff quickly got to work cutting up and removing trees from across Pictou, located about 160 kilometres northeast of Halifax.

"We just remobilized the crew because we couldn't do anything on the ship," he said. The work site was without power for about two weeks due to the storm, and the ship's protective cover had been blown off.

"We've got a lot of wood, old-growth stuff that fell down on properties that were actually originally owned by some the first settlers to the area," he said.

Shea said the team recently received an offer from a descendant of one of the Hector’s Scottish passengers to mill the wood — at no cost — some of which is up to 250 years old.

"People really want to help, and it's a really good feeling," Shea said.

The wood, which includes old-growth pine and high-quality cherry wood, will be used for interior parts of the ship, such as the galley and captain’s cabin.

Shea said the team of about 10 staff is hard at work to ensure the ship can be back in the water by September 2023, in time for the 250th anniversary of Hector's landing in Pictou. The ship was the first carrying Scottish immigrants to Pictou, an area that would go on to be the entryway for thousands of other settlers from Scotland.

"(Hector) opened up the floodgates, that's why we call it the Canada Mayflower," Shea said, referring to the English ship that brought the Pilgrims to America, who in 1620 established the first permanent New England colony.

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

— By Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

MONOPOLY CAPITALI$M
Sparks fly at Rogers-Shaw case conference with Competition Bureau

Barbara Shecter - Financial Post - TODAY

A person walks near the Rogers Communications Inc. building in Toronto.
Sparks flew between lawyers for merger partners Rogers Communications Inc. and Shaw Communications Inc. and the Competition Bureau — which objects to their proposed $26-billion combination — at a case conference Tuesday, with one of the cable giants’ representatives threatening to go to court Monday to seek to have the case thrown out.

Federal court Chief Justice Paul Crampton, who is to preside over a weeks-long tribunal hearing beginning Monday, oversaw the conference at which the two sides sparred over whether the trial would include the original merger proposal or a revised one that would see Shaw’s Freedom Mobile wireless unit sold to Quebecor Inc. subsidiary Vidéotron for $2.85 billion.

Rogers and Shaw favour the latter, but Competition Bureau lawyer Derek Leschinsky insisted that determining whether competition would be substantially lessened would require the pre-divestiture combination of Rogers and Shaw to be examined.

Jonathan Lisus and Kent Thomson, lawyers for Rogers and Shaw, respectively, told the judge the Competition Bureau is trying to litigate a “conjured transaction” and a “non-existent transaction” that “cannot occur and will not occur.”

Thomson went further, calling the bureau’s position “stubborn and intransigent,” with no precedent in the past 40 years, and said he was considering asking to have the case thrown out as a result.

He said it is “crystal clear” — and backed by three affidavits — that Freedom Mobile will have been purchased Quebecor’s Vidéotron unit before Rogers and Shaw close their merger transaction.
Vass Bednar: Why Champagne's intervention in the Rogers-Shaw merger rings hollow
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“There is uncontested evidence to demonstrate that the Commissioner’s entire theory of this case is removed from reality,” Thomson told the judge.

Lisus added that a case cited by Leschinsky to justify his position involved a transaction that had already closed.

But Leschinsky argued that assessing the original Rogers-Shaw merger transaction is crucial because the “competitive effects will linger in Videotron,” with Freedom separated from Shaw’s wireless services and infrastructure.

He said Rogers and Shaw have known the bureau’s position for months, and have “stubbornly refused to acknowledge that (the) Commissioner has been consistent that getting rid of wireless alone isn’t enough.”

• Email: bshecter@nationalpost.com | Twitter: BatPost

Arctic peers warn 'no return' to prewar times as Russia frozen from circumpolar talks

OTTAWA — Canada's allies are calling for a rethink in Arctic relations after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



"We are only an accident or an incident or a misinterpretation away from escalating things quite quickly," said University of Manitoba international relations professor Andrea Charron.

This month, Washington updated its Arctic strategy, which includes an increased military presence in the Far North.

"The United States values the unique spirit of international co-operation that has generally characterized the Arctic since the end of the Cold War," reads the new strategy.

"Russia's brutal war in Ukraine has made this co-operation in the Arctic virtually impossible."

In a call with reporters, Washington's top foreign-policy adviser noted that Russia has been spending billions of dollars modernizing military bases, buying icebreakers and testing new weapon systems.

Derek Chollet, counsellor with the U.S. State Department, said Finland and Sweden's ascension to the NATO alliance will change the dynamic.

"A significant amount of territory … will now be covered in the Arctic region under NATO’s Article 5, the mutual self-defence clause. So it will be a fundamental shift in the thinking for the alliance," he said.

Last week, the Finnish government released a study it commissioned on how the war in Ukraine changes the Arctic policy it released the year before.

The report argues a new Cold War is underway and Finland needs to try to keep a "functioning relationship" with neighbouring Russia on matters like the environment and Indigenous Peoples, but must see everything through a security lens.

"There will be no return to the prewar reality," reads the report's English summary. "Even chaos is possible."

This month, Russia issued its own document on Arctic relations, and stressed its refurbishment of military infrastructure is meant to shore up its national security and search-and-rescue capability for resource extraction projects.

"There is no serious potential for conflict in the Arctic, especially with the participation of Russia," reads the Russian-language document.

"Russian security policy in the Arctic is transparent. We do not threaten anyone in this region."

Despite the rising rhetoric, Charron said all Arctic nations, including Russia, seem to be steering away from sabre-rattling.

"Everybody's trying to be particularly careful," she said.


She noted that Moscow jammed GPS systems and had its jets buzzing ships during NATO's 2018 exercises, but during similar drills in Norway this May, Russia seemed to be moving carefully.

On Monday, Norad intercepted Russian jets near Alaska in international airspace. Norad command said the move was "not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative."

Charron said Russia relies on northern gas and oil extraction for a substantial amount of economic output, and it wants foreign ships to use a northern passage that could reinvigorate remote towns.

"They benefit most when the Arctic has a rules-based, international order," she said.

That's become increasingly difficult since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which put the Arctic Council on hiatus.

The intergovernmental forum is meant to co-ordinate research, shipping routes and search-and-rescue services among the eight circumpolar countries as well as Indigenous nations.

Russia currently chairs the council, but the other seven members halted participation in March, instead having informal meetings on the side.

While Finland argues this is not viable, Chollet noted that "anywhere from 60 to 75 per cent of the Arctic Council’s projects — and this includes areas like education, fisheries, things of that nature — can occur without Russia being involved."

"We also have to be realistic, given Russia’s behaviour in Ukraine and around the world, that we’re going to see limited possibility for co-operation with Russia in the Arctic Council," he said.

Russia's foreign ministry argues that is unnecessarily provocative.

"Washington, with the support of other westerners, especially the Russophobic officialdom in Ottawa, is trying to isolate Russia without whose participation co-operation in the Arctic is impossible," spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in Russian last week.

Meanwhile in Ottawa, the House defence committee heard Tuesday from defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre, who said Canada needs to invest in the North for the future.

"We don't see a clear and present threat to our sovereignty; not today, not this week, not next week, not next year," he said.

"However, in the decades to come, that threat, that tenuous hold that we have on our sovereignty at the extremities of this nation, is going to come under increasing challenge."

This month, the Liberals had Gov. Gen. Mary Simon attend a major Arctic conference, at which security was a frequent topic. Simon was instrumental in crafting the Arctic Council in the 1990s and wrote the precursor to Canada's northern framework.

In August, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Cambridge Bay, Nvt.

It was the first time the head of the military alliance has been in Canada's Arctic, which Charron said was meant to symbolize Ottawa's steadfast support of its allies.

Yet she doesn't expect NATO to have a large presence in the Canada's North, with the alliance primarily focused in the European Arctic and Norad's systems helping to monitor Russia's air sorties.

Putting NATO ships in Canada's backyard would be seen as too provocative to Russia, given it sits less than 100 nautical miles away. Canada sees the Northwest Passage as part of its domestic waters, and hasn't requested NATO protection.

Charron said if Canada wants to be a serious player in the region it needs goals, a plan and resources.

"We don't really have an Arctic policy; we have a framework, which to me is a prelude to a strategy," she said.

"We've always kind of been flying by the seat of our pants."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2022.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Canada's Sea-Doo powered the Ukrainian marine drone used against Russian fleet: analyst

Tom Blackwell - 


This marine drone washed ashore in Crimea last month, with photos of it posted on social media. H.I. Sutton says the water jet's distinctive shape and design matches those of the Sea-Doo.© Provided by National Post

They’re a fixture on countless Canadian lakes, a source of high-speed amusement for some — and noisy aggravation for others.

Now the Sea-Doo brand of jet ski may be at the heart of Ukraine’s latest weapon against Russian invaders, a remote-controlled innovation that could play a growing role in naval warfare.

A marine drone like those used in the recent attack on ships of Moscow’s Black-Sea fleet appeared to be propelled by a water-jet — and probably an engine — from one of the archetypal Canadian watercraft, says a British naval-defence expert.

The drone washed ashore in Crimea last month, with photos of it posted on social media. H.I. Sutton, who publishes the Covert Shores website and is the author of a number of naval-warfare books, says he could clearly see a water jet in the pictures, prompting him to compare the image to photos of commercial jet skis made by various manufacturers.

The distinctive shape and design of the jet matched those of the Sea-Doo and bore a sticker saying “No step” that is also unique to craft made by Quebec’s Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), he said in an interview. It likely came from a recent model — the GTX or Fish Pro.

“It is a Sea-Doo (water jet),” said Sutton, who posted about the drone on the U.S. Naval Institute website. “It’s beyond any reasonable doubt. You could do what I did and look at photographs of every conceivable commercial jet ski and you’d say, ‘the pattern is distinctive.’… Sea-Doo shape things differently to other competitors.”

He said he wasn’t alone in noticing the origins of the drone’s propulsion system. Sutton knows naval officers who have their own personal watercraft and also made the connection. An aluminum hull had been built around the engine and jet, with what appeared to be a satellite receiver on top that could be used in controlling it remotely, and detonators in the bow.

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BRP spokeswoman Biliana Necheva said Tuesday the company couldn’t speculate on the source of the parts without more details or serial numbers, but stressed “our products are not designed for military purposes” and sales are made only to end users, not resellers.

The company played no part in creating the Ukrainian vessel, she said.

Russia’s defence ministry says nine aerial drones and seven autonomous boats attacked its ships at the port of Sevastopol in Crimea on Saturday. The unmanned marine weapons appear to have been jet powered, but it’s unclear if they used the Sea-Doo equipment like the one found earlier, said Sutton.

If they were propelled by the Quebec firm’s gear, it would be the second possible Canadian link to the autonomous-vehicle attack.

Russia has said that the aerial drones used navigational modules manufactured in Canada . That assertion couldn’t be verified, but the federal government did earlier make a donation to Ukraine of precision targeting cameras, which are used in the Turkish Bayraktar drones that have proven an effective tool against Russian forces.

Russia claims that all the drones were destroyed, with only minor damage to a minesweeper. It later announced that because of the attack it would no longer protect Ukrainian ships taking grain to market, as it agreed to do under an earlier agreement.

But little information has been released about the incident, leaving analysts unclear about the extent of the harm done.

A low-light video posted online purports to show the view from marine drones as they approach warships, including one with a similar profile to the frigate Admiral Makarov, the Black Sea fleet’s new flagship after the Ukrainians sunk the missile-cruiser Moskva in April. Even some damage to the ships would mark the operation as a success, said Sutton.



And it appeared the Russian fleet began behaving differently after the original, Sea-Doo powered drone was found in September, keeping closer to port and being more vigilant, he said.

But “you can’t keep your guard up very long.”

Independent experts say the attack heralds a new era of marine combat.

What happened last weekend to Russia’s Black Sea fleet shows that expendable drones will pose a significant threat to “multi-million dollar ships,” said researcher Tayfun Ozberk on the Naval News website.

“In future conflicts … drone swarms will be a major problem for large combat ships,” he wrote.

Sutton said military experts are already accepting the marine-drone trend as “inevitable and obvious” but he gave credit to Ukraine for actually putting the idea into action.

“The reality is that very few people thought of that, navies didn’t think of that.”

He said such autonomous kamikaze boats have a number of advantages, including the fact they don’t risk the life of a human operator and are “incredibly cheap” compared to most military equipment.

Personal watercraft work by the internal engine sucking up water, then shooting it out the back, forcing the boat forward. The invention is credited to American Clayton Jacobson , who first licensed it to Bombardier as the Sea-Doo in 1968, then to Kawasaki as the Jet Ski.

While re-purposing the engine to power a drone is new, the special forces of several countries already use them as actual vehicles, noted Sutton. Greek commandos are among those that employ Sea-Doos, one photo showing two soldiers on each vessel, the passenger resting a sub-machine gun on the driver’s shoulders.

Necheva says BRP, based in Valcourt, Que., allows its dealers to only sell to end users, not resellers, for recreational and professional purposes, such as water rescue.