On Monday morning, Vancouver Park Board employees erected a blue fence around a homeless encampment in CRAB Park — separating residents from their shelters and belongings. As park rangers and police began preparing the site to be cleared, residents of the camp on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlilwətaɬ territories watched from outside the newly constructed barrier. […]

Hospitals and long-term care homes spent nearly $1 billion last year to fill shifts with nurses and personal support workers from private staffing agencies, a Ministry of Health document estimates. A November 2023 staffing agency update obtained by The Canadian Press through a freedom-of-information request shows that agency use increased from 2021-22 to 2022-23 by […]

Threats against politicians have become “increasingly normalized” due to extremist narratives prompted by personal grievances and fuelled by misinformation or deliberate lies, warns a newly released intelligence report. The report, prepared by a federal task force that aims to safeguard elections, says the Canadian violent extremist landscape has seen the proliferation of conspiracy theories, a […]

Manitoba Education has abandoned plans to create an entirely new online high school to increase access to remote learning and expand e-course offerings coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. The department’s planned takeover of InformNet — a Grade 9-12 remote learning program operated by Winnipeg’s St. James-Assinbioia School Division — appears to be collateral damage […]

Aurora will soon explore the feasibility of developing a Digital Data charter that would protect residents’ privacy in an increasingly digital world. Sitting at Council’s inaugural Committee of the Whole meeting, Council approved a motion from Ward 2 Councillor Rachel Gilliland tasking staff to come back with a report on just such a framework “centred […]

The national spy watchdog is calling on the military’s counter-intelligence unit to suspend investigative searches of a workplace computer system over concerns about employee privacy. A National Security and Intelligence Review Agency report released Thursday says Defence employees and Armed Forces members have a reasonable expectation of privacy when making personal use of work computers. […]

The Liberal government has tabled legislation that updates the federal Elections Act as part of its political pact with the NDP. The minister responsible for democratic institutions, Dominic LeBlanc, said the changes “will enhance Canadians’ ability to exercise their vote while strengthening protections against foreign interference in our elections.” The bill, if passed, would add […]

It’s “extremely appropriate” that two scientists who lost their jobs due to dealings with China remain under investigation, Health Minister Mark Holland said Wednesday. The National Microbiology Laboratory researchers were fired in early 2021 after their security clearances were revoked over questions about their loyalty and the potential for coercion by China. Records tabled in […]

Refit work on the 17-year-old MV Fanafjord, slated to replace the decommissioned Holiday Island ferry running between Wood Islands, PEI and Caribou, NS is well underway, according to Transport Canada.  However, the department is no longer confident the vessel will be ready by May 1st as promised by Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay and other federal […]

The Liberal government is looking for ways to improve policing services provided under contract by the RCMP across Canada — eyeing everything from overall cost and sustainability to stronger oversight and accountability. Among the possibilities are “more responsive” police service models that could involve closer integration of the RCMP and community social services, say internal […]

Manitoba Teachers’ Society executives have not ruled out an investigation to hold whistleblowers accountable for exposing employee concerns about the head office’s “toxic” environment, related departures and capacity to support members. “I honestly can’t say at this point in time which direction things will take; we’ll have to see how things play out,” said president […]

The cost of insurance for local municipalities continues to rise. Springwater Township received its annual insurance renewal notice last Friday at a cost of $625,709.52. That’s almost $42,000 more than last year, or slightly more than seven per cent.  According to a report prepared by Renée Ainsworth, Springwater’s clerk and director of corporate services, which […]