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Police say hacker wanted bitcoin payment from blackmailed N.S. legislator
RCMP say a hacker behind a blackmail attempt on a member of the Nova Scotia legislature was trying to extort bitcoin. Rick Burns, who represents Hammonds Plains-Lucasville, said in a statement Wednesday that criminals hacked his email this week and requested money, which his family refused to pay. As punishment, the ministerial assistant for cybersecurity…
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Brazil rolls out law boosting online protection of minors
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian law that seeks to shield minors from addictive, violent and pornographic online content took effect this week, with experts calling it a milestone in the protection of children and adolescents. The issue gained traction in August, after influencer Felipe Bressanim, known as Felca, published a video denouncing the…
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Critics urge Ottawa to help Inuit resist Chinese surveillance, economic dependence
The Carney government is leaving Inuit communities at risk of Chinese surveillance and economic dependence and isn’t facing up to the threat China poses to the North, critics say. “Inuit communities are central to the challenge. Yet they are often not provided with the resources, information or technical support needed to fully assess these complex…
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Trump threatens to halt federal money next month not only to sanctuary cities but also their states
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that starting Feb. 1 he will deny federal funding to any states that are home to local governments resisting his administration’s immigration policies, expanding on previous threats to cut off resources to the so-called sanctuary cities themselves. Such an action could have far-reaching impacts across the U.S., potentially even in…
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Iqaluit lawyer takes Nunavut’s legal services board to court
Iqaluit lawyer Alison Crowe is taking the Legal Services Board of Nunavut to court after the board denied her application to join its criminal defence panel. Crowe is asking a judge to order the board, which is responsible for providing legal aid services in Nunavut, to add her to the panel, which is the board’s…
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REDACTED: City of Brampton’s $4-billion electric bus deal leaves taxpayers completely in the dark
$245 for 1,799 pages: 1,622 completely redacted—words covered by large blocks of black to hide them from the public. The Pointer is trying to uncover the details behind a $4-billion deal, the largest of its kind in the municipality’s history, between the City of Brampton and a foreign company that not many in Ontario have…
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Manitoba shelves plans for teacher exchange program
The Manitoba government has shelved plans to organize teacher exchanges to address workforce shortages and give urban and northern professionals an opportunity to learn from one another. The now-defunct teacher interchange committee was created to bring together bureaucrats, school leaders from Winnipeg and northern Manitoba and representatives from Gakino’amaage: Teach for Canada in 2024-25. Gakino’amaage,…
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Domestic violence convictions falling in Nunavut, but explanation lacking
Domestic violence charges in Nunavut have been leading to fewer and fewer guilty verdicts, with 2023 seeing the lowest number of intimate partner violence convictions since 2011, Statistics Canada data shows. Only 29 per cent of domestic violence cases in the territory resulted in a guilty verdict in 2023, the most recent year for available…
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Manitoba government’s new digital wallet offers storage of personal data
The Manitoba government is launching a new app to let people store their health cards, and eventually other government documents, on their smartphones or tablets. The Manitoba Digital Wallet is aimed at operating like Apple or Google digital wallets that come with mobile devices, except it will be issued by the Manitoba government. Premier Wab…
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Preclearance operations in Canada are a ‘critical component’ of border strategy: U.S.
Canada and the United States say two preclearance projects that would allow more travellers to be screened well in advance of crossing the border are set to proceed this year after many months of planning. The assurances follow U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra’s comments that cast doubt on the future of arrangements currently allowing…
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A $400,000 payout after Maduro’s capture is putting prediction markets in the spotlight
Prediction markets let people wager on anything from a basketball game to the outcome of a presidential election — and recently, the downfall of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The latter is drawing renewed scrutiny into this murky world of speculative, 24/7 transactions. Last week, an anonymous trader pocketed more than $400,000 after betting that…