National

National


Government websites down in four provinces, territories; cyberattacks blamed in two

Government websites in four provinces and territories were shut down Thursday, with at least two jurisdictions blaming cyberattacks for their outages. Websites for Yukon, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut were all inaccessible. P.E.I. and Yukon said cyberattacks were behind their shutdowns. “At midnight on Sept.14, Yukon.ca experienced a cyberattack that shut down the website […]

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What’s at stake for the Assembly of First Nations in the upcoming election?

OTTAWA — The next leader of the Assembly of First Nations will be tasked with unifying hundreds of chiefs at a time when reconciliation appears to be less of a priority in Canada, said an Indigenous policy expert. Hayden King, executive director of Indigenous-led think tank Yellowhead Institute, said the assembly has grown in influence […]

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RCMP boosts contract scrutiny following review of dealings with China linked firm

OTTAWA — The RCMP says it is updating procurement practices after an internal review of dealings with a company that has ties to China found no serious security concerns, but some areas for improvement. A standing offer with Sinclair Technologies to provide the RCMP with radio-frequency filtration equipment was suspended in December after media coverage […]

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Alberta’s ‘war room’ is back with massive ad spend revealed in annual report

EDMONTON — New documents outline a massive increase in public funding for the Canadian Energy Centre’s campaign to change attitudes toward Alberta’s oil and gas. An agency founded by Alberta’s United Conservative government to fight what it calls misinformation about the province’s industry and otherwise known as the “war room,” the centre’s most recent annual […]

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Mounties eyeing change to recreational cannabis use policy for members

OTTAWA — The RCMP is looking at easing a policy that requires front-line officers and many other employees to refrain from recreational cannabis use for four weeks before duty. A change to the five-year-old policy could bolster recruitment of new officers by bringing the Mounties in line with police forces that have much less restrictive […]

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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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