Aug 26, 2016
Canada.com – Ian MacLeod, Ottawa Citizen
Federal spies suddenly intercepting 26 times more Canadian phone calls and communications
Huge increases in the amount of personal and private communications may be approved by the watchdog committee but the explanations are leaving a lot to be desired. While the Liberals delay revisions of C-51, the oversight has pronounced all these intercepts within the current parameters but suggested that many of the intercepts were accidental deriving from improved technology. Communications Security Establishment, or CSE, by law can only monitor calls outside Canada and once an international call comes to somewhere inside Canada then judicial approval is necessary. http://www.canada.com/news/national/federal+spies+suddenly+intercepting+times+more+canadian+phone/12148281/story.html
CBC News – Murray Brewster
45,000 legal claims pending against federal government – Settlement of all claims could be in the ‘hundreds of billions of dollars’
Did you wonder why the government just appointed Dominic Leblanc to head the litigation committee? Insiders concede the scene is a quagmire but, says Leblanc, the politicians need to figure out what is driving the increasing number of lawsuits, what policies mired in the lawsuits and what could be done to pre-empt the cases winding up in court for a solution. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/litigation-committee-leblanc-lawsuits-1.3736480
Globe and Mail – Colin Freeze
Liberals replacing Harper Tories’ anti-terror project with new program
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has announced that the government has ended a Conservative inspired $10 million funding of largely academic to research the threat of terrorism. The Kanishka Project started in 2011. The government wants to spend its money in an office for anti-radicalization but critics think the new office will be an extension of the old project but with a focus on doing community projects using the research unearthed over the five years of Kanishka. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/liberals-replacing-harper-tories-anti-terror-project-with-new-program/article31569967/ Related article: CTV News – Josh Dehaas Mountie outlines roadblocks in terror fight http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/exclusive-mountie-outlines-roadblocks-in-terror-fight-1.3044995 Public Safety Ministry of Canada: 2016 Public Report On The Terrorist Threat To Canada http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2016-pblc-rpr-trrrst-thrt/index-en.aspx (Downloadable pdf with Executive Summary) Related article: CTV News More women travelling from Canada to join terror groups abroad: report http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/more-women-travelling-from-canada-to-join-terror-groups-abroad-report-1.3044143
National Newswatch- Lee Berthiaume, Canadian Press
Liberals pledge up to 600 soldiers, $450M for UN peacekeeping operations
Canada seems back in the peace keeping business. The government has pledged 600 soldiers – engineers and medical personnel – and $450 million over three years. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan says: “Around the world, the nature of conflict is changing and it’s more complex than ever… Today, peace support operations are conducted where there may be no peace to keep, or where the fragile peace constantly teeters on the edge of violence. We need to understand conflict better. We need to look at the root cause of conflict, and think of innovative ways to move forward.” http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2016/08/26/liberals-to-unveil-troop-financial-commitments-for-un-peacekeeping-2/#.V8ANYvnyuUk Policy Options – Peter Langille Re-engaging Canada in United Nations peace operations http://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/august-2016/re-engaging-canada-in-united-nations-peace-operations/
Toronto Star – Travis Loller, Associated Press
U.S. prison sued by female visitors claiming they were stripped to prove menstruation
A private prison in Tennessee run by the Corrections Corporation of America is under lawsuit over the forced strip search of three women who visited the South Central Correctional Facility with family members watching. Later when challenged, the CCA buried the documents around the visit under a claim of security and confidential information around security. The lawsuit now is trying to force the CCA to reveal these documents which would allow the lawsuit to advance. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/08/25/us-prison-sued-by-female-visitors-claiming-they-were-stripped-to-prove-menstruation.html Related article: Globe and Mail – Patrick White How a self-represented inmate fought and won release from solitary http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/self-represented-inmate-successfully-argued-against-solitary-confinement/article31570272/
CBC News – Roshini Nair and Jon Hernandez
Liberal government’s refusal to repeal Bill C-2 ‘disappointing’, supervised injection site advocate says – The Harper-government bill introduced strict new criteria for supervised injections sites
C-2 was the Conservative government’s answer to the notion of putting public health front and center in the question of needles and addictions. The obligations in setting up safe sites are so demanding that critics fear the delay in meeting the requirements could well mean a spike in the deaths, especially in BC and Ontario where the use of fentanyl has resulted in increasing death rates. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/supervised-injection-hurdles-1.3733942 Related article: CTV News Sudden spike in overdoses in B.C.: Dozens reported in 48 hours http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/sudden-spike-in-overdoses-in-b-c-dozens-reported-in-48-hours-1.3045273