National

National


Mount Polley boss says 2014 B.C. mine spill not toxic as firm faces fisheries charges

The president of the company involved in the Mount Polley environmental disaster that poured millions of cubic metres of mine tailings into B.C. waterways 10 years ago says the material spilled wasn’t toxic. Imperial Metals Corp. and two other firms were charged last month with 15 alleged Fisheries Act breaches, accused of allowing a “deleterious […]

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Privacy czar concerned about students’ personal info as scope of data breach revealed

The federal privacy watchdog says he’s “concerned” about a cybersecurity breach involving a student information system used across Canada, as the country’s largest school board revealed the scope of the data that may have been stolen last month.  The Toronto District School Board told parents and guardians in an email Monday that its students’ birthdays, […]

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Will the Alberta Energy Regulator impose real fines against Imperial over Kearl spill?

Nine charges against Imperial Oil were laid Friday over a toxic spill in northern Alberta. The charges by the province’s energy regulator mean the company could face fines ranging from a slap on the wrist to serious deterrence. The charges date back to 2023 when 5.3 million litres of toxic waste from Imperial’s Kearl Oil […]

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Sales at New Brunswick’s liquor and cannabis stores disrupted by cybersecurity threat

New Brunswick’s liquor and cannabis stores had to shut down their debit and credit card machines last week after detecting a cybersecurity threat, and the problem has yet to be fixed. Florence Gouton, a spokesperson for NB Liquor, said “some anomalies” were found Jan. 7 and external experts were called in to investigate, but much […]

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Lake of Bays dodges costly legal battle as council rolls back controversial roads bylaw

The Township of Lake of Bays has potentially escaped an expensive legal action. During the township’s Jan. 14 meeting, council approved amendments to the Roads License Agreement Program, effectively repealing the current bylaw and saving residents on unopened roads hundreds of thousands of dollars. “If the proposal remains unchanged after public input next month, we […]

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Even federal staff believe Canada’s ocean noise strategy lacks substance

Environmental groups aren’t the only ones characterizing Canada’s recent draft Ocean Noise Strategy as weak and watered down. The same criticism came from inside the department. Key Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) staff were unimpressed with the proposed framework to address the surging problem of noise pollution, internal communications obtained by Canada’s National Observer suggest.  […]

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Okanagan Winemaker Banned from Foreign Worker Program over Abuses

Advocates are welcoming a rare decision to permanently ban an Okanagan winemaker from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program because of abuses. But they warn much more needs to be done to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s website shows Toor Vineyards was fined $118,000 and was permanently banned from hiring through […]

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Canadian school boards among those affected by cyber incident involving third party

School boards in multiple provinces have been affected by a data breach involving software used by schools across North America to store student information.   Ontario’s Toronto, Peel and Durham district school boards issued similarly worded notices about a “cyber incident” targeting PowerSchool, a third-party application that’s also used to store some school-based staff information.  The […]

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Labradorians pay thousands to fly to Newfoundland. Could a Quebec energy deal help?

An airport executive in Labrador hopes a new energy deal with Quebec could help attract a competing airline company to the northern region, where flights costs have climbed at more than three times the national rate. But even if another airline company is enticed to operate in Labrador, Rex Goudie, the Goose Bay Airport Corporation’s […]

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FortisBC pitched to a Sooke Council to keep its products on tap for new builds

Build, and build responsibly. That’s the overall message the province is giving the community of just under 15K that’s projected to have 28K residents by 2045. A hard sell from Fortis, pressure to adopt the Zero Carbon Step Code and a deadline to respond to the province’s housing density mandate are all coming to a […]

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Alberta’s Smith disappointed federal pension plan report offers no estimate of share

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province has heard back from Canada’s chief actuary on its bid to leave the Canada Pension Plan but says there’s no estimate on how much the province should get. The province has been waiting for months for the review and a figure. Smith said Thursday her government will follow […]

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Privacy watchdog concerned as Alberta passes bill to end fall legislature sitting

Alberta’s information and privacy commissioner says she is worried — but not surprised — the province voted this week to pass legislation she says will reduce public access to government information. “I am concerned,” commissioner Diane McLeod said in an interview. “All of those things I think are going to impact the right of access […]

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