National

National


Quebec Facebook class action can go ahead after Supreme Court declines to hear appeal

MONTREAL — A class-action lawsuit alleging Facebook illegally allowed advertisers to target users based on their race, age and gender can move forward after the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the social media giant. Facebook had sought to have Canada’s highest court overturn a Quebec Court of Appeal decision authorizing the class […]

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CSIS disinformation campaign leans on Soviet imagery, as Ottawa tracks ‘grey media’

OTTAWA — Canada’s spy agency is leaning on Soviet imagery to help prime the public against disinformation but experts say Moscow is more likely to use images that make readers think the messaging is coming from North American sources. Last month, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service started posting on social media about its efforts to […]

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With raging fires and extreme heat, more must be done to address the unequal impact of climate change, experts say

It’s an unprecedented wildfire season in Canada, with millions of hectares burned and hundreds of structures destroyed while extreme heat has had devastating effects on people’s health, especially for those from racialized and newcomer communities. At least 619 people died in B.C. during the 2021 heat dome when the province broke records and oppressive 40C […]

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Quebec school districts are improperly handling teacher misconduct cases: report

Quebec’s education minister says it’s absurd that a teacher can commit sexual misconduct and then be transferred without consequences to another school district. Bernard Drainville made his comments Friday in reaction to a report that identified numerous shortcomings in how sexual or violentmisconduct cases against teachers and other employees are treated within the school network. […]

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Pierre Trudeau spy unit reflects secrecy of Ottawa toward Quebec sovereignty

MONTREAL — New revelations about a secret anti-sovereigntist spy unit in the office of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau are a sign of how much remains unknown about the federal government’s response to the Quebec independence movement. According to a recently published paper, the Prime Minister’s Office in the 1970s created the spy group to […]

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Canada ‘trailing partners’ on securing vital utilities and services: internal memo

OTTAWA — A newly released federal memo concedes Canada is “trailing key international partners” who have updated their approaches to securing vital utilities and services from a growing array of risks. The Public Safety Canada memo says “new and rapidly evolving threats pose a greater risk of harm to Canadians and their cyber, economic and […]

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Ottawa eyes relaxing rules for imported baby formula, as costs soar after shortage

OTTAWA — The federal government is looking for ways to bring more infant formula products to Canada while it overhauls regulations to prevent future shortages, an internal memo shows. Many parents still struggle to find the right formula for their babies at a reasonable price, after last year’s temporary shutdown of a U.S.-based manufacturing plant […]

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Feds mull stopgap plan for formula shortage before overhauling approval process: docs

OTTAWA — The federal government is looking for ways to bring more infant formula products to Canada while it overhauls regulations to prevent future shortages, an internal memo shows. Many parents still struggle to find the right formula for their babies at a reasonable price, after last year’s temporary shutdown of a U.S.-based manufacturing plant […]

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‘I remember the fear’: Canadians recounted horror of Bernardo case following transfer

OTTAWA — The haunting effect of Paul Bernardo’s crimes lingered for Canadians nearly 30 years later, detailed in the hundreds of messages that poured into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office after the serial killer was transferred to a medium-security prison. “I have a personal friend who was on that jury and she remains traumatized nearly […]

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Canada confirms it changed land claim process, mulls Indian Act changes

OTTAWA — Canada changed the way it settles First Nation land claims, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada confirmed Friday. The department is also mulling over possible amendments to the Indian Act and the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, though it didn’t say what those changes would be. The response came after The Canadian Press obtained […]

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Corporate ethics czar opens forced labour probes against Walmart, Hugo Boss, Diesel

OTTAWA — Canada’s corporate-ethics watchdog is investigating if Walmart, Hugo Boss and Diesel have forced labour in their supply chains. Sheri Meyerhoffer, the Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, issued three reports today saying none of the companies have done enough to demonstrate the products they sell in Canada are free of slave labour. The Canadian subsidiaries […]

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Prevent illegal mass data extraction, privacy authorities tell social media firms

OTTAWA — The federal privacy watchdog and some of his global counterparts are urging the largest social media companies to prevent bulk extraction of personal details from their websites. In a joint statement, privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne and data protection authorities from Australia, Britain and other countries say the practice, known as data scraping, poses […]

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