NDP’s Jagmeet Singh says report shows ‘a number of MPs’ have helped foreign states
By: Jim Bronskill and Mickey Djuric
OTTAWA (CP) – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says a recent spy watchdog report shows a “number of MPs” have knowingly provided help to foreign governments — behaviour he calls unethical or even illegal.
Singh said Thursday he is “more alarmed today” after reading an unredacted version of a report on foreign interference by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.
The intelligence watchdog, composed of MPs and senators, said in a public report last week that some parliamentarians are “semi-witting or witting” participants in the efforts of foreign states to meddle in Canadian politics.
The blunt findings prompted a flurry of concern that members knowingly involved in interference might still be active in politics.
Singh told reporters that after seeing the full report, he is “more convinced than ever” of the watchdog’s public conclusions.
“In short, there are a number of MPs who have knowingly provided help to foreign governments, some to the detriment of Canada and Canadians,” Singh said.
“There are also politicians at all levels of government who have benefited from foreign interference. Some of this behaviour absolutely appears to be criminal and should be prosecuted.”
Singh said the report also stated that he had been a target of foreign interference.
But the NDP leader did not provide details about the number of MPs implicated in the report, their political affiliations or the nature of the alleged misdeeds.
Singh said previously that if the full report showed any New Democrat MP knowingly took part in meddling, he would remove them from caucus. He indicated Thursday he would not be taking such action.
Work to resume on Calgary water pipe after injuries; consumption continues to rise
CALGARY (CP) – Repairs to a fractured Calgary water pipe were to resume Thursday after two workers were injured at the site, while the city’s mayor pleaded with residents to step up their conservation efforts.
Chris Collier, the city’s director of occupational safety, said welding the replacement pipe into place would continue after provincial officials gave the all-clear Thursday morning.
“This morning, (Occupational Health and Safety) Alberta determined welding work could continue,” he said.
The workers were taken to hospital Wednesday night and one remained there with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Infrastructure director Francois Bouchard said the injuries are likely to delay the repairs by a day or two. Previous estimates suggested repairs would be complete by the middle of next week.
Meanwhile, Mayor Jyoti Gondek continued to plead with Calgarians to conserve water after recent days saw consistent increases in consumption.
“That is taking us far above the safety threshold,” she said. “This morning, we were at a place where we really didn’t have enough of a cushion for lifesaving efforts like those in hospitals and firefighting.”
Gondek said daily water use increased by another eight million litres on Wednesday. That would bring the city’s consumption up to 490 million litres — well above Saturday’s 440-million-litre mark.
Legault government pursuing controversial ‘third link’ in Quebec City
By: Maura Forrest
MONTREAL (CP) – The Quebec government is moving ahead with a controversial transportation project in the provincial capital that has for years been a political lightning rod.
Premier François Legault announced Thursday his government is planning to build a third bridge connecting Quebec City with suburbs across the St. Lawrence River.
The decision comes after Legault abandoned the project last year, infuriating some voters and members of his own caucus, and then promised to revive it last fall — one day after his Coalition Avenir Québec candidate lost a Quebec City byelection.
Legault initially pitched the project as a way to alleviate traffic in the capital region, but he now says the so-called “third link” is important to ensure trucks transporting goods could still get to the city if one of the two existing bridges closed.
“We have to have humility when we need to revisit a decision,” Legault told a news conference Thursday. “In taking a step back, we noticed that the issue of economic security is very important. So that’s why we’re changing our decision.”
The announcement followed a new report Wednesday from Quebec’s pension fund manager — the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec — saying a third link is not justified and would only reduce travel time by about five minutes.
The report instead recommended a $15-billion public transit plan for the region that includes a tramway network. On Thursday, Legault also gave the green light to the first phase of that plan, worth $5 billion. “We can do both,” the premier said.
B.C. establishes largest provincial park in a decade to protect threatened caribou
VICTORIA (CP) – A major provincial park expansion will create a protection zone of almost 2,000 square kilometres for caribou and other species in northeastern British Columbia.
The Ministry of Environment says in a statement that the addition to the Klinse-za Park will make it the largest provincial park established in the province in a decade.
The park addition is the result of a partnership in 2020 between the province and the Saulteau and West Moberly First Nations, where they agreed to help stabilize and protect the threatened southern mountain caribou.
Klinse-za Park is located just west of Chetwynd, B.C., almost 1,100 kilometres north of Vancouver.
The province says the number of caribou in B.C. fell by more than 55 per cent in the last century, mostly due to human-caused habitat disturbance, and there are fewer than 4,000 of the southern mountain species left.
The expanded park will also protect other at-risk species, such as fishers, bull trout, grizzly and wolverines, as well as sacred cultural sites for Treaty 8 First Nations in the area.
