Minister tables bill to extend citizenship rights to children born abroad
OTTAWA (CP) – Immigration Minister Marc Miller tabled legislation today that is intended to extend citizenship to some children born outside of the country.
In 2009, the Conservative government changed the law so that Canadian parents who were born abroad could not pass down their citizenship, unless their child was born in Canada.
Those who’ve not had access to citizenship rights as a result of the amendments are known as “Lost Canadians.”
The bill would extend citizenship by descent beyond the first generation born outside of Canada.
Parents who were born outside of Canada will need to have spent at least three years in Canada before the birth or adoption of their child to pass on their Canadian citizenship.
Last year, the Ontario Superior Court found the current system unconstitutionally creates two classes of Canadians, and gave Ottawa until June 19 to fix the problem.
Plan to wake serial killer Robert Pickton from coma: Quebec police
QUÉBEC (CP) – A spokesman for Quebec’s provincial police says British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton is in a medically induced coma after a prison attack and doctors planned to try to wake him soon.
Sgt. Hugues Beaulieu says the plan to wake Pickton in the next few days and see if he can survive on his own was current as of Wednesday, but he wasn’t sure if it has since changed.
Police previously said Pickton was in a life-threatening condition after Sunday’s attack at the maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution, about 480 kilometres northeast of Quebec City.
Correctional Service Canada said Pickton was the victim of a “major assault” and prison officers had not been involved.
Pickton was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2007 after being charged with the murders of 26 women.
Beaulieu previously said that a 51-year-old suspect was in custody after the attack on Pickton.
‘One of the most hated men in Winnipeg’: Trial sees letters from serial killer
By Brittany Hobson
WINNIPEG (CP) – The trial of admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki learned about him through his own words Wednesday, with pen pal letters in which he discusses everything from the persecution of Caucasians to his post-apocalyptic zombie novel.
“A racist is someone who wakes up white in the morning,” Skibicki wrote to a fellow inmate in a series of letters entered into evidence at his trial.
The letters, from over a year ago, also foreshadow Skibicki’s legal strategy and how he thinks he should not be held criminally responsible because of mental illness.
Skibicki, 37, is on trial charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of four Indigenous women in 2022.
The trial was originally to be heard by a jury. But both sides agreed to a judge-alone trial just before it began, when defence lawyers announced Skibicki admits to killing the women but should be found not criminally responsible.
The Crown has presented video, DNA, computer and witness evidence linking Skibicki to the victims to illustrate possible planning and coverup of the crimes.
On Wednesday, the Crown wrapped up its case by entering into evidence nine letters Skibicki wrote over four months early last year to a woman in a Nova Scotia correctional facility as part of a pen pal program.
The federal government has a support line for those affected by the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls: 1-844-413-6649. The Hope for Wellness Helpline, with support in Cree, Ojibway and Inuktitut, is also available to all Indigenous people in Canada: 1-855-242-3310.
Indian international students most likely to live in unsuitable housing, StatCan says
By Nojoud Al Mallees
OTTAWA (CP) – International students were more likely to live in unsuitable housing in 2021 than Canadian-born students, a report released Thursday by Statistics Canada shows.
In the top ten municipalities with the largest number of international students, 25 to 63 per cent of them were living in unsuitable housing.
By comparison, the rate of students living in unsuitable housing was 13 to 45 percentage points lower among Canadian-born students aged 18 to 24.
One of the requirements for suitable housing is that adults should have their own bedroom, if they are not part of a couple.
Indigenous CBC employee’s discrimination claims to be heard by human-rights tribunal
By Mickey Djuric
OTTAWA (CP) – An Indigenous employee with the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is taking up the fight against what he describes as systemic racism by his employer.
Richard Agecoutay, 61, has been granted a human-rights hearing over claims of discrimination at the public broadcaster, where he’s worked since 2001.
It’s an effort to knock down barriers for others, he said in an interview.
“You don’t have to suffer systemic racism or racism in the workplace. You have avenues to pursue it.”
Agecoutay, a videographer for CBC in Regina, alleges he has repeatedly been denied work due to his race, and that the broadcaster offered a settlement, but he would have had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Documents filed with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal detail several instances in which Agecoutay said he was denied work.
The key allegation stems from 2012, when his complaint says a less-experienced white employee was chosen over him for a senior position at Hockey Night in Canada.
CBC filed a response with the tribunal denying the allegations, saying all videographers assigned to Hockey Night in
