Police investigate break-in at Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou's Vancouver home
(via CTV News)
A Vancouver home that a court heard is owned by a recently arrested Huawei executive and her husband was broken into early Sunday morning.
Toronto woman who lost boyfriend in Uber crash has warning for B.C.
(via Global News)
Vancouver is currently the only major city in North America without ridesharing, and a Toronto woman who lost her boyfriend in an Uber crash says passenger safety is worth the wait.
“Abhorrent” neglect of young boy reported by watchdog
(via Times Colonist)
In a report released this morning, Jennifer Charlesworth, representative for children and youth, says the 12-year-old boy was removed from his mother’s care on the Lower Mainland in 2016 after being found “naked and filthy, severely underweight, unable to walk, and living in a bedroom covered in garbage and feces.” He had been screaming for half an hour before police arrived at the home.
Mark Marissen: YIMBYs will dominate future Vancouver politics
(via Vancouver Sun)
Vancouver’s housing crisis is the “new normal.” This has profound political implications, which have already shaken up Vancouver’s politics.
What Bill Morneau didn't tell Canadians about the Trans Mountain purchase
(via National Observer)
When Finance Minister Morneau delivered his fall economic update in the third week of November he painted a rosy picture of Trans Mountain’s financial performance. What Morneau didn’t tell Canadians is that if he had included interest expense for the debt taken on to buy the pipeline, there is actually a loss.
Black people 'grossly overrepresented' in violent police interactions, Ontario human rights report says
(via CBC News)
A black person in Toronto is nearly 20 times more likely than a white person to be shot and killed by police, according to a new Ontario Human Rights Commission report on race and policing.
'We’re going to kill you': Nicaragua's brutal crackdown on press freedom
(via The Guardian)
Journalists have been beaten, arrested and robbed; radio stations raided by police. Last week, both the UN and the IACHR condemned the intensifying harassment.
Should we break up the tech giants?
(via Macleans)
Should Facebook, Google and other giant tech firms be broken up? If this seems an unrealistic response, even to the problems they’ve been accused of bringing about—from the hobbling of competition to the destabilization of democracy—Tim Wu would like to give you a history lesson.
Teen quits Grande Prairie Walmart with epic rant
(via Edmonton Journal)
A Facebook video of a 17-year-old worker airing his grievances over a Grande Prairie Walmart intercom system and then quitting is attracting some online attention.
Inside China's audacious global propaganda campaign
(via The Guardian)
The long read: Beijing is buying up media outlets and training scores of foreign journalists to ‘tell China’s story well’ – as part of a worldwide influence campaign of astonishing scope and ambition
It's not just you: Restaurants really are louder than they used to be
(via CBC Radio)
Architecture critic Kate Wagner explains how modern restaurant design has transformed the dining experience into a shouting match — and why that matters.
Cannabis use for fun 'sinful behaviour,' B.C. and Yukon bishops tell Catholics
(via National Post)
A letter by the bishops warns that 'the mere fact that an activity is made legal by the government does not automatically mean that it is morally acceptable'.
Vancouver Art Gallery shoe memorial recognizes lives of murdered women in B.C.
(via Vancouver Courier)
On Dec. 6, more than 1,000 pairs of women’s shoes will be placed on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery to commemorate women killed as a result of violence in British Columbia. The names of each murdered woman will be displayed alongside the donated shoes.
Sorry isn’t good enough after English speech, group tells Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante
(via Montreal Gazette)
On Tuesday, while making an announcement on artificial intelligence to a business audience, Plante got momentarily carried away and spoke off the cuff in English instead of reading her speech, which was in French, Plante said at a meeting of the city’s executive committee.
Canada’s ambassador to U.S. tries to head off concerns about Alberta’s oil output cut
(via Global News)
Canada’s ambassador to the United States says he has done some pre-emptive diplomacy with the Trump administration on Alberta’s plans to force output cuts on its oil industry.
Quebec takes hard line on cannabis with bill raising legal age to 21
(via CTV News)
The Quebec government tabled legislation Wednesday that would impose the strictest cannabis controls in the country, raising the legal age to 21 and outlawing consumption in public.
'Brutal news': global carbon emissions jump to all-time high in 2018
(via The Guardian)
Global carbon emissions will jump to a record high in 2018, according to a report, dashing hopes a plateau of recent years would be maintained. It means emissions are heading in the opposite direction to the deep cuts urgently needed, say scientists, to fight climate change.
The woman who outruns the men, 200 miles at a time
(via The New York Times)
Courtney Dauwalter specializes in extremely long races. But her success in winning them has opened a debate about how men’s innate strength advantages apply to endurance sports.
Here's what's in the 250 pages of secret Facebook emails the U.K. just released
(via Vice News)
The U.K. Parliament has published 250 pages of secret internal Facebook emails that lawmakers claim show the company — and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in particular — was planning to sell access to user data to developers willing to spend at least $250,000 a year.
Indigenous lawyer 'not optimistic' about NEB hearings as Trans Mountain consultations wrap up
(via CBC News)
"The criticisms have been fairly public about the process: that it's rushed, that the scope is very narrow," Merle Alexander, an Indigenous resource lawyer and a hereditary chief of the Kitasoo First Nation on B.C.'s Central Coast, told Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition.
Public deserves clarity from Ottawa on collapse of money-laundering case, says B.C. official
(via The Globe and Mail)
British Columbia’s attorney-general is pressing Ottawa on whether police and prosecution have the capacity to handle large-scale financial crimes after the collapse of a money-laundering case allegedly involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
For decades B.C. failed to address selenium pollution in the Elk Valley. Now no one knows how to stop it.
(via The Narwhal)
There are no viable solutions to stop the tide of selenium leaching into Canadian and U.S. water from a 100-kilometre stretch of coal mines owned and operated by mining giant Teck Resources. Deformed fish, a potential fish population collapse and contaminated drinking water signal more trouble to come
Baby, It's Cold Outside won't be played on some radio stations, including CBC
(via CBC News)
CBC public affairs head Chuck Thompson said CBC Music will be pulling the song from its rotation as of midnight. "Song lyrics are always open to interpretation, and we fully acknowledge there are two camps regarding this issue," he said. "While we consider both points of view, and in light of the times we are living in, we have chosen to remove the song, for the time being, from two of our holiday music streams."
Quebec’s high school history textbooks offer 'skewed, one-sided view of the past' and should be replaced: report
(via National Post)
The report says the course focuses on French Quebecois while largely or completely ignoring other immigrants, and presents Aboriginals as ‘antagonists’.
Joystick: the untold story of Ottawa's coke-fueled 1980's video game industry
(via Ottawa Rewind)
Thirty-five years ago Ottawa was something right out of a Hollywood movie, a rise and fall epic, with a plot involving millions of hi-tech dollars, mounds of cocaine and the resulting production of Canada’s first video game.
A generation of Canadian journalists are struggling
(via J-Source)
This is not some millenial ennui. There’s no mystery, at least to me, why a generation of reporters and editors are struggling daily with mental health issues. During my three years as managing editor of J-Source, writes H.G. Watson, I have documented a Canadian journalism industry that is dying by a thousand cuts.
They called her “the Che Guevara of abortion reformers”
(via Slate)
A decade before Roe, Pat Maginnis’ radical activism—and righteous rage—changed the abortion debate forever.
More than a dozen B.C. chinook salmon populations in decline, scientists say
(via CBS News)
Nearly half of southern British Columbia's chinook salmon populations are in decline, according to a science committee that monitors the health of wildlife populations.
B.C. school locks bathrooms after too many students caught vaping
(via Surrey Now-Leader)
In a bulletin sent to parents at Seycove Secondary last week, officials said all bathrooms would be locked until further notice, while changing rooms will only be unlocked before and after gym class, and teachers will monitor how many students are out of class.
B.C. First Nation to present oral evidence about Trans Mountain expansion impact
(via CTV News )
A news release says the National Energy Board is hearing new evidence from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation about the environmental effects of Trans Mountain pipeline expansion including adverse effects of shipping to species at risk such as southern resident killer whales.
RCMP knew Atwal was joining PM's trip — but did not tell Trudeau's security detail: report
(via CBC News)
The RCMP admitted that they made a mistake when they failed to inform Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's protective detail that would-be political assassin Jaspal Atwal was planning to join the PM during his official visit to India earlier this year, according to a new report by a joint committee of MPs and senators.
Toronto sculptor poisoned by heavy metals in mussel shells used for art
(via National Post)
For Gillian Genser, who first wrote about her case in Toronto Life magazine on Nov. 28, the poisoning is deeply ironic. By using a natural material, like mussel shells, to depict a biblical character, she wanted to comment on humanity’s skewed relationship with the now-contaminated natural world.
Trial date set for man accused of killing 10 in Toronto's van attack
(via CP24)
A months-long trial is set to begin in February 2020 for a man accused of killing 10 people while driving a van down a sidewalk in north Toronto.
Despite drug war that killed thousands, Rodrigo Duterte ‘jokes’ about smoking marijuana
(via Global News)
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose controversial war on drugs has killed nearly 5,000 suspected drug dealers and users since taking office in 2016, said on Monday he used marijuana to stay awake – and then said he was just joking.
Boy gets Colorado town to overturn snowball fight ban
(via BBC News)
A nine-year-old boy from the town of Severance in Colorado has successfully campaigned for the repeal of an archaic ban on snowball fights.
Why guns are part of the wedge forming between First Nations, others in Saskatchewan
(via Regina Leader-Post)
“It’s non-verbal, but when we talk about rural crime, it sort of shifts over to Indian people."
France Faces a Typical Facebook Revolution
(via Bloombeg)
Street riots in Paris are less about a tiny fuel tax hike than the power of social networks to radicalize their users
BC Hydro puts out the welcome mat for bitcoin miners, but experts urge caution
(via CBC News)
BC Hydro is keen to attract cryptocurrency firms and wants to offer them discounted rates on electricity
My ex died of AIDS – but that’s not what killed him
(via Globe and Mail)
"Coming to terms with the disenfranchisement of my ex has been a battle"
Ottawa to hand over child welfare services to Indigenous governments
(via CBC News)
Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott announced Friday that the federal government is prepared to hand over control of child welfare services to Indigenous governments.
Dark day for press freedom': Vice must give ISIS notes to police, top court rules
(via CBCl News)
"A Vice Media reporter will have to hand over records of his conversations with an alleged ISIS member to the police following a unanimous Supreme Court of Canada ruling that upholds a lower court's decision regarding the work of reporter Ben Makuch."
Meghan Murphy’s gender identity talk at Vancouver Public Library not cancelled
(via Global News)
Feminist speaker Meghan Murphy, whose planned public talk at the Vancouver Public Library stirred local controversy over LGBTQ rights and the limits of free speech, will still be going ahead with her event on Jan. 10.
Empty homes tax not helping rental crisis, generating millions more for Vancouver: report
(via CBC News)
Numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation show a mere 0.1 per cent increase in the city's primary market vacancy rate in 2017 — rising from 0.8 per cent to 0.9 per cent.
Laird Cronk becomes new BC Fed president
(via Business in Vancouver)
Electrician-turned-labour-activist Laird Cronk on November 29 became the new president of the British Columbia Federation of Labour – an organization that lobbies on behalf of about 500,000 workers in dozens of member unions across the province.
William Shatner suggests Jeopardy adopt B.C. boy's invented word
(via CTV News)
Levi Budd was five years old when he noticed the word “stop” was “pots” backwards. He was familiar with palindromes – words or numbers that can be read the same forwards as backwards, like racecar or 1001 – but didn’t know what the word was to describe a word which takes on a new meaning once it is spelled backwards. The Victoria family decided "levidrome" is as good a word as any and has been campaigning to get it in the Oxford dictionary.
Canadian government reviewing presence in Cuba after another diplomat falls mysteriously ill
(via HuffPost)
Government representatives will travel to Havana next week to begin a review, and while it is too early to say what steps might be taken, all options are on the table, a senior official said Thursday.
Record high of more than 2,000 hate crimes reported to Canadian police in 2017
(via Toronto Star)
In 2017, Canadians reported 2,073 hate crimes to police services, a sharp rise of 47 per cent compared to the previous year. This growth was primarily fuelled by Ontario, which saw the biggest spike in hate crimes with 1,023 incidents — a 67 per cent increase from 2016, with the majority of cases targeting Muslim, Black and Jewish communities.
'A failed, second-tier Canadian politician’: Mark Carney’s dire Brexit warnings earn the wrath of British politicians
(via The Globe and Mail)
Mark Carney rarely shies away from expressing strong opinions, but the Governor of the Bank of England is facing a backlash over a blunt Brexit analysis that has led to calls that he’s hysterical, incompetent and a “failed, second-tier Canadian politician.”
A riddle-writing extortionist is terrorizing a New Hampshire animal sanctuary
(via National Post)
If they pay up, the sender instructs them: 'I left instructions under glass / On your grass / From here o(n) keep 50k cash on your a--'.
British Columbia takes steps to try to fill abandoned Greyhound routes
(via Vancouver Courier)
The B.C. government is looking for operators to take over eight bus routes that remain without service since Greyhound pulled out of the province on Oct. 31.
'We're all responsible': Surrey teacher says visit to migrant caravan in Mexico offered 'startling' insights
(via CBC News )
Violette Baillargeon was in Mexico City for a union conference when she and some colleagues decided to visit the stadium where the caravan of nearly 3,000 travellers was staying for a few days of rest.
Trans advocates criticize Vancouver Public Library for welcoming controversial speaker
(via Star Metro Vancouver)
Meghan Murphy, founder of the website Feminist Current and former Tyee intern, will give a talk on “gender identity, ideology and women’s rights” in a room at the central branch of the VPL in January. Murphy has gained attention in recent years for her critiques of the trans-rights movement and for refusing to recognize trans people’s gender identities.
People who kill Indigenous women punished less than those who kill non-Indigenous women, Senator’s study finds
(via APTN News)
An Indigenous Senator who is trying to change how perpetrators of violence against Indigenous women are sentenced in Canada says a soon to be released report shows that courts are more lenient to people who kill Indigenous women and girls than to those whose victims are not Indigenous.
'Inaction is not an option': Cost to keep invasive Asian carp out of Great Lakes triples
(via CBC News)
Fortifying an Illinois waterway to prevent invasive carp from using it as a path to Lake Michigan could cost nearly three times as much as federal planners previously thought, according to an updated report.
Drug and suicide deaths rise as US life expectancy drops
(via BBC News)
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found nearly 70,000 more Americans died in 2017 than 2016, with rising rates of death among 25- to 44-year-olds.
Two U.S. pipelines rack up violations, threaten industry growth
(via Reuters)
Energy Transfer LP and its Sunoco pipeline subsidiary have racked up more than 800 state and federal permit violations while racing to build two of the nation’s largest natural gas pipelines, according to a Reuters analysis of government data and regulatory records.
