Canada's National Observer

Canada's National Observer


BC Ferries urged to chart a new course around LNG

BC Ferries has launched a bid to build up to seven green flagship vessels but climate groups are urging the company to abandon liquified natural gas to fuel ships and speed electrification of its fleet to reach its emissions targets.  The ferry service recently revealed it has teamed up with a naval architectural firm to […]

Read More


Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec join Ottawa in investigating ChatGPT

EDMONTON _ The governments of Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec are joining the federal privacy commissioner in investigating the company behind the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot, ChatGPT. Alberta’s privacy authority says the joint investigation would see if OpenAI, which is the parent company of ChatGPT, obtained valid consent from Canadians to collect, use and disclose their personal information via its chatbot. ChatGPT, which […]

Read More


MP on federal ethics committee disagrees with reduced cooling off periods for lobbyists

All but one MP on the federal ethics committee has agreed with a proposal to reduce cooling-off periods for lobbyists doing political work. Feedback from the committee on the proposed change was sent to lobbying commissioner Nancy Belanger on March 20. Belanger is in the process of updating the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, which governs […]

Read More


‘These are real people’: NDP MP slams Correctional Service Canada over systemic racism

Blake Desjarlais laboured to steady his voice. On Thursday, the NDP MP for Edmonton Griesbach spoke at a public accounts committee meeting after the release of an auditor general’s report on systemic barriers facing prisoners in federal jails. “(Correctional Service Canada) acknowledged in November 2020 that systemic racism is present in the correctional system; it’s […]

Read More


Canada under pressure to ban deep sea mining as global ocean summit starts in Vancouver

Canada is under increasing pressure to declare a moratorium on seabed mining just as federal leaders are set to host an international marine conservation summit. More than 700 international scientists and a multitude of environmental organizations are calling on Canada to ban the search for deep-sea minerals in its own waters and show global leadership […]

Read More


Should mandatory minimum sentencing exist? Supreme Court rulings highlight ongoing debate

A trio of Supreme Court decisions Friday overturned one rule on mandatory minimum sentencing but upheld two others, highlighting Canada’s ongoing debate on how to approach the contentious topic. The four-year mandatory minimum sentence for firing a gun at a house was deemed unconstitutional, with the court ruling it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. […]

Read More


Prince Rupert port set to ban cruise ships from dumping contaminated wastewater

A second port on Canada’s West Coast is proposing a ban on cruise ships dumping contaminated and acidic wastewater while docked to protect the marine environment. The Port of Prince Rupert on B.C.’s north coast is taking public feedback until Feb. 5 on changes slated for 2023, including forbidding the open-loop scrubber systems that cruise […]

Read More


Will Indigenous sovereignty be on the agenda at COP15?

Msit No’kmaq, Wahkohtawin, Nindinawemaganidog — all loosely translate into the phrase “all my relations,” which is defined by a kinship between beings in the natural world and Mother Earth. It’s a phrase that asserts the symbiotic relationship between Indigenous nations and their lands. Now, as the world prepares to converge on Montreal for the United […]

Read More