National

National


Concerns raised about AI-powered toys and creativity, development as holiday shopping peaks

As parents hunt for gifts that will wow their kids this holiday season, Canadian child development and psychology experts say they should be wary of AI-powered toys because of possible harms, ranging from privacy and security violations to interference with children’s creativity and development. “Early childhood is a time where the developing brain is a […]

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Nova Scotia Power executive believes Russia-based actor was behind cyberattack

The president and chief executive officer of Nova Scotia Power says a Russia-based actor is likely behind a cybersecurity breach that targeted the utility’s customers in April. “This incident was an unprecedented, sophisticated and targeted attack,” Peter Gregg told a committee of the Nova Scotia legislature in prepared remarks on Tuesday. “Based on expert assessments […]

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Ontario to strengthen dangerous driving laws in honour of father killed this year

Dangerous driving penalties are set to soon be strengthened in Ontario, as the government has tabled a bill in honour of a father of three who was killed by an alleged dangerous driver. Andrew Cristillo, 35, was killed Aug. 3 in a head-on crash in Whitchurch-Stouffville that also left his wife and their three young […]

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Officer broke pursuit policy in Hay River crash, review finds

A review into a police chase through Hay River that resulted in a bystander’s vehicle being hit has found an officer broke RCMP policy on pursuits. Nicolinea Minakis was driving her daughter to school at around 8 a.m. on January 21 when another vehicle crashed into the side of her pickup truck in the Northwest […]

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Union leaders in Quebec denounce proposed labour law they say will unleash chaos

Union leaders from sectors across the province gathered in Quebec City on Sunday to decry a new bill they say could severely limit how unions are allowed to use dues collected from their members.  Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet tabled the bill, which proposes dividing union dues into mandatory and optional ones. Under the proposed […]

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Solutions are slow to come for water crisis plaguing Quebec’s Nunavik region

Most Quebecers have only to twist a tap to get a seemingly endless source of clean water. The reality is completely different in the northern region of Nunavik, where the water supply system faces a host of problems, from bad weather to outdated equipment and labour shortages.  Some would be inclined to blame a lack […]

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Immigration minister extends pause on new private refugee sponsorships to 2027

Immigration Minister Lena Diab has extended the pause on new applications through the Private Sponsorship for Refugees Program for another 12 months as the department works to clear its backlog. New ministerial instructions were published in the Canada Gazette on Friday, along with a notice on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website. The pause […]

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Child advocates urge government to bring back online harms legislation

The dangers children face online constitute a national emergency, a coalition of child advocates and medical organizations said Thursday as they called for the federal government to take action. “Unlike every other industry that affects children, from cars to pharmaceuticals to toys to food safety, the tech industry has been allowed to self-regulate with tragic […]

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Supreme Court of Canada to look at request for religious records through B.C. law

The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a case about applications for access to personal information held by Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations. The congregations withheld information from two former members who applied under B.C.’s Personal Information Protection Act for records about themselves, on the basis it was confidential religious communication. After mediation failed, an […]

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School boards caught unprepared in mass student data breach: provincial watchdogs

Privacy watchdogs in Ontario and Alberta issued their findings Tuesday after investigating a mass data breach of a student information system used across Canada, concluding that school boards lacked adequate breach response plans, among other issues. Ontario’s privacy commissioner says PowerSchool, a software and storage company for school systems in the U.S. and Canada, was […]

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RCMP in British Columbia help dismantle global cybercrime network

Police in British Columbia say they have dismantled a local operation involved in global cybercrime activity that used malicious software. Mounties say Canadian police along with international agencies have succeeded in dismantling software and online infrastructure used to steal data from personal devices around the world. They says a main suspect was arrested in Greece […]

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Freeland tasked with tapping Canadian businesses to help rebuild Ukraine

Seven weeks ago, Prime Minister Mark Carney assigned former cabinet minister Chrystia Freeland to be Canada’s new special envoy for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Canadians haven’t heard much about the job since, and nothing at all about how Ukraine can be rebuilt while Russia continues its wide-scale bombing of critical infrastructure. But experts say Canada […]

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