Canada

Canadian homeless encampments have become increasingly visible in recent years, and those residing within them have faced a fair bit of variation in how local governments react to their presence. Today, let's look at a remarkable legal case that may change the game regarding how homeless encampments are considered under Canadian law and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Canada Revenue Agency is on a "witch hunt" to find whistleblowers who may have spoken to the media and exposed how it has been repeatedly duped into paying out millions in bogus refunds to scammers, according to sources.

"The consensus is that management is nervous," one source said. "Any media contacts [they're saying]: 'Don't talk to them at all, don't talk to journalists.' I think they're very much trying to control the narrative."

According to multiple sources, the CRA's senior leadership is anxious, looking for ways to silence employees and to limit media coverage.

Last month, an investigation by CBC's The Fifth Estate and Radio-Canada revealed the tax collector has been keeping Canadians largely in the dark about how many hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds it has wrongly paid out, as well as the extent to which taxpayers have had their CRA accounts hacked by fraudsters.

Patsy Smith's husband, Tony Smith, isn't a physiotherapist, but his days are focused on helping his wife regain some movement in the limbs on the left side of her body.

The couple lives in St. Anthony, N.L., a small community on Newfoundland's northern tip. A number of months ago, a physiotherapist visiting the region gave Tony Smith tips to help with his wife's mobility that they've practiced every day since.

It's the only rehabilitation Smith receives, after the family's applications for professional therapy from Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services were repeatedly denied.

Archive: [ https://archive.is/xDNyl ]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21960771

In a letter issued Tuesday, the school's principal Aaron Hobbs said the intention "was to foster a message of peace and remembrance, reflecting on the importance of unity and reconciliation," but that he has since become aware the song "caused significant distress to some members of our school community."

"For this, I would like to offer my apologies," he said.

The song title, when translated to English, roughly means "This Is Peace." Many comments on multiple Youtube videos of the song, speak of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the suffering of Palestinians, though the song itself makes no mention of the conflict in the Middle East.

"The inclusion of a song that could be seen as politically charged was not in line with the values of respect and unity that we strive to uphold at this school," wrote Hobbs

I don't know the song but this doesn't look good.

However, several human rights advocacy groups are now condemning the backlash, calling it anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab.

"Just because the language is Arabic?" asked Jamila Ewais, a researcher with the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East's anti-racism program. "What if someone was singing this language, let's say this song or like a similar song in, I don't know German or Ukrainian language?"

Exactly.

cross-posted from: /c/britishcolumbia

In a statement posted to X by Horgan's press secretary Sheena McConnell, the Horgan family said he passed away peacefully at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria on Tuesday morning.

"Our hearts are broken to announce the passing of our beloved husband, father and friend, John Horgan," the statement reads.

"The wellbeing of British Columbia and everyone in it was everything to him.

"Live long and prosper," the statement concludes, with a nod to Horgan's love of Star Trek.

The union representing Canada Post workers said it will be in a legal strike position on Friday, exactly one year after talks on a new contract began.

A woman who says she was repeatedly denied adequate emergency care last spring is blasting the Newfoundland and Labrador health-care system, saying she's been left psychologically scarred after being told several times that her gangrenous appendix was simply anxiety or constipation.

Joy Spence, 21, said she visited emergency departments at two hospitals in St. John's over the course of nearly two weeks this May.

What began as weakness and abdominal pain on her right side quickly deteriorated into blacking out from the agony in her torso.

As repression against the Palestinian liberation movement in Canada continues to intensify, this handbook serves as yet another tool for curtailing our right to protest and speak out against the atrocities Israel is committing. As charges from the past year against protestors in Toronto are being dropped, the state is seeking new and creative ways to criminalize Palestinian solidarity. Hiding behind the same excuse used to found the State of Israel, the IHRA definition of antisemitism and the newly released handbook are merely another tool for distraction and repression.

The two men found guilty of mischief and firearms offences for their roles in the 2022 Coutts border blockade want the Alberta Court of Appeal to overturn their convictions, while prosecutors are seeking new trials on the more serious charge of conspiring to murder RCMP officers, for which they were acquitted.

Four appeals — two Crown and two defence — have now been filed in the cases of Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert, who were convicted in August of mischief over $5,000 and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace.