On Monday, more than 30 lawyers and professors joined forces in an open letter to speak out against proposed changes to lobbying rules in Canada. Opponents say lobbying stands to become more unethical if suggested changes from the commissioner of lobbying Nancy Belanger go through. Faisal Bhabha, associate professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, said […]

Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek held a town hall meeting with residents of Drumheller on Tuesday evening, February 28, drawing a full audience to the Town of Drumheller council chambers. This was the third town hall meeting MP Kurek held on Tuesday, having held town hall meetings in Three Hills and Morrin in the morning […]

Shannon McPhail said she felt like the “world’s biggest schmuck” after reading an email from a senior official at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The official told her it was “impossible to confirm” how many living salmon eggs were in the path of the Coastal GasLink pipeline at a major river crossing. With wild salmon populations […]

MANITOBA — Education’s response to a scathing report that concludes the way Ontario schools teach students how to read — a popular approach in local classrooms — is failing children with learning disabilities is being met with skepticism. Internal documents shed light on government officials’ limited analysis of Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Right to Read […]

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 […]

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. […]

The same Brampton Council members who passed a motion that bans outdoor election signs are responsible for 1,083 election sign violations during the recent municipal campaign — about a third had Mayor Patrick Brown’s name on them. When the motion was brought forward on November 23 by Rowena Santos, who had pushed to ban election […]

The assault style firearms ban that came into effect in Canada on May 1, 2020, has been highly controversial since its inception and implementation. Proponents of the ban say that it is a necessary step in protecting Canadians from gun violence, whereas those opposed to the ban insist that it has been an overly heavy-handed […]

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 […]

An online relationship left a Norfolk County resident in tears — and out a lot of money — in what police are calling a “romance scam.” Police said the victim met the alleged scammer online in November 2021. Over the course of several emails and phone calls, their relationship deepened to the point that the […]

More than $3 million set aside to improve air quality in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has been spent on duct cleaning — a measure not backed by research as an effective way to limit infectious-disease transmission. Manitoba earmarked nearly $11.3 million, including provincial and federal pots of about $6.8 million and $4.5 million, respectively, […]

As the year’s climate-related gains and catastrophes wrap, Canada’s National Observer is reviewing the top five stories to make waves in B.C.’s coastal and island communities in 2022. First Nations, forests and fish-related news surfaced as some top issues from CNO’s Island Insider beat, and are likely to dominate headlines in the new year as […]