McGill University ending negotiations with pro-Palestinian encampment on campus
MONTREAL (CP) – McGill University says it is ending negotiations with pro-Palestinian activists who are occupying the lower field of its downtown Montreal campus.
The university says in a statement today it will pursue disciplinary action against people participating in the encampment, which began in late April.
McGill president Deep Saini says it has become clear that talks with the activists are going nowhere.
Saini says the university will still consider divesting from weapons manufacturers and disclosing more of its investments.
The statement says the encampment has led to harassment and intimidation of students and faculty, and that the university will continue to request help from police.
On Monday, Montreal police said the encampment is a civil dispute and they don’t yet have a legal basis to intervene.
Protesters have said they won’t leave until the university ends its investments connected to Israel’s military and cuts ties with Israeli institutions.
High heat envelops much of Ontario; Environment Canada issues widespread warnings
By: Sonja Puzic and Maan Alhmidi
TORONTO (CP) – Most of Ontario started to swelter on Monday as what’s expected to be a prolonged heat wave arrived in the province, with Environment Canada warning that many communities could experience dangerously high temperatures this week.
The weather agency issued heat warnings for large swathes of the province, from southwestern Ontario all the way to the Quebec border, stretching up to Sault Ste. Marie and as far north as Moosonee. It warned that vulnerable people would be particularly at risk as temperatures soar.
Temperatures in the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa could feel as hot as 45 C with the humidity this week. Regions further north are also forecast to see humidex values that could feel like the low to mid 40s.
“It’s certainly out of the norm,” Environment Canada meteorologist Gerald Cheng said in a phone interview Monday.
“Normally we should be at 25 C for daytime highs and 14 C for nighttime lows.”
A weather system south of the border is driving the heat, Cheng said, with hot air expected to later move eastward, blanketing much of southern Quebec and most of New Brunswick later this week.
Murder-conspiracy trial hears two Edmonton police officers supported Coutts blockade
By Bill Graveland
LETHBRIDGE, ALTA. (CP) – A COVID-era protest blockade at Coutts, Alta. — now at the centre of a murder-conspiracy trial — was getting outside support, including from two members of the Edmonton Police Service, court heard Monday.
An undercover Mountie who infiltrated the blockade posing as a volunteer testified, “We made some small talk there with a lady. Her husband was an Edmonton police member and she was a nurse.
“She wanted to come and see it for herself and show her support.
“I believe her husband was there.
“He was an Edmonton police member, and there was another female Edmonton police member there as well, and she had sort of a thick Russian accent,” the Mountie added.
“A lot of people had been coming up and shaking their hands and talking to them and thanking them for coming. They were very happy to be there and show their support.”
The Mountie cannot be identified to protect her safety.
B.C. premier urges PM to provide foreign interference information to protect province
NORTH VANCOUVER (CP) – British Columbia Premier David Eby is pressing for urgent access to information from Canada’s spy agency to help combat foreign interference at the provincial level, citing allegations involving transnational organized crime, cybersecurity and murder.
Eby said Monday he sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying B.C. does not have the information it needs to intercept and address foreign interference that may be occurring in the province.
“How are we supposed to take action to address these issues?” he said at a housing related news conference in North Vancouver on Monday.
He described a series of situations with alleged foreign links, including the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh leader who was shot last June in Surrey, B.C.
Trudeau said in the House of Commons in September there was credible intelligence that India’s government was involved, which it denies.
Alberta to ban cellphones in K-12 classrooms starting in fall
By: Lisa Johnson
CALGARY (CP) – Alberta is moving to ban cellphones in kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms starting in the fall.
Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said Monday that cellphones help with learning but can also be a distraction and lead to cyberbullying.
He said there will be exceptions for students who use phones for health needs, such as monitoring blood sugar levels, or for specialized learning.
Otherwise, personal devices must be turned off and stored out of sight during class time. School internet networks will also have to limit access to social media, Nicolaides said.
Alberta has previously allowed school boards to set a patchwork of cellphone rules amid mounting concern from teachers and parents that the devices were disrupting learning.
Alberta follows the lead of Quebec, Ontario and B.C., where governments have announced or implemented cellphone restrictions in schools.
The Alberta government said it surveyed more than 68,000 parents, teachers, students and principals about cellphone use in schools. About 90 per cent said they were concerned and urged it be limited.
How the new rules are implemented and enforced will be up to school boards, Nicolaides said, but those policies will need to fall in line with minimum provincial standards.
Blair defends navy’s Cuba visit, says critics may be ‘confused’ about its purpose
By: Alessia Passafiume
OTTAWA (CP) – Defence Minister Bill Blair says he was acting on advice from the military when he approved a plan to send a Canadian ship to Cuba, but he can’t disclose the classified advice he was given about why the navy wanted to take part in the mission.
The trip, which is getting attention this week because the Canadian navy ship was there at the same time as a Russian flotilla, was made after a request by the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Joint Operations Command.
The federal government was aware that Russian vessels would be in the area at the same time, Blair said.
He said the Russian ships in Havana pose “no immediate threat” to Canada or Canadians, and Canada’s trip was meant to demonstrate its “presence, naval capability and commitment to safe and open waters in the Americas.”
“The deployment of these ships and aircraft sends a very clear message that Canada has a capable and deployable military, and we will not hesitate to do what is required to protect our national interests,” Blair said at a press conference on Monday.
“Canada … is committed to maintaining a credible military presence in the sea and in the air around our continent.”
