Police clear pro-Palestinian encampment in Montreal financial district
By: Joe Bongiorno
MONTREAL (CP) – Police have cleared protesters from a pro-Palestinian encampment that was set up last month in the heart of Montreal’s financial district.
Municipal workers were on site at Victoria Square Friday morning, using tools to cut down metal shielding around the protesters’ tents and tearing down tarps. A police officer said the operation, requested by the city, began after 4 a.m. under a heavy police presence that included riot squad officers.
The approximately 15 protesters at the encampment on Friday were moved to the periphery of the square and some were escorted back to the site by police to retrieve belongings. Protesters carried their belongings in crates and on bicycles, as city workers in orange vests loaded trucks with materials collected from the encampment.
The encampment was erected on June 22 near the headquarters of the provincial pension fund manager — Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec — and protesters had demanded the fund manager immediately divest from companies they identify as complicit with Israel.
Warnings expand as heat wave settles over B.C., with weekend temperatures set to rise
B.C. (CP) – A heat wave is settling over parts of British Columbia with Environment Canada warning of very high temperatures stretching into next week.
The agency has expanded a series of heat warnings to include the Sunshine Coast and Howe Sound, where daytime highs are forecast to reach 32 C.
The hottest temperatures are expected to start hitting the province Sunday.
Environment Canada had already issued heat warnings for eastern Vancouver Island, where daytime highs are expected to hit the low 30s.
Another warning covers the Kitimat and Terrace regions, where highs near 30 C are expected Saturday until Tuesday night.
The agency says the heat poses a moderate risk to public health, but more-seasonal temperatures are expected later next week.
It says the heat warnings may be expanded further, as the ridge of high pressure moves from west to east across the province bringing hot, dry weather.
Canadian unemployment rate rose to 6.4% in June
OTTAWA (CP) – The Canadian job market stalled in June as the economy lost 1,400 jobs and the unemployment rate climbed to its highest level in more than two years, bolstering the case for further interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada.
Statistics Canada said Friday the unemployment rate came in at 6.4 per cent for the month, up from 6.2 per cent in May, as the size of the labour force grew.
The June result was the highest reading for the unemployment rate since January 2022 when it was 6.5 per cent.
Leslie Preston, managing director and senior economist at TD Bank, said financial markets increased the odds of a rate cut by the Bank of Canada at its July 24 decision following the jobs report.
“The Bank of Canada is not out there to see Canadians lose jobs, but they do want to see, you know, slightly cooler conditions in the labour market,” Preston said.
“So this is certainly consistent with what they’re looking for.”
The central bank cut its key interest rate last month for the first time since the early days of the pandemic. The bank’s policy interest rate stands at 4.75 per cent.
Orphan B.C. orca calf unseen since May 10 despite family sightings: researchers
By: Dirk Meissner
VICTORIA (CP) – A whale research group that was involved in efforts to rescue an orphaned orca calf from a Vancouver Island lagoon says she has not been seen since May 10, despite multiple recent sightings of her family members.
A statement from Bay Cetology on Thursday said the two-year-old female killer whale known as kwiisahi?is or Brave Little Hunter could be travelling with an unsighted pod, moving between groups of orcas or “she is gone.”
The statement said there have been several documented sightings of the calf’s maternal family and related groups of Bigg’s killer whales since she swam free of the lagoon near the village of Zeballos on April 26.
But there have been no sightings of kwiisahi?is for almost eight weeks by Bay Cetology, Fisheries and Oceans Canada or other whale spotters.
“(We) have collectively identified many other killer whales since mid-May, including kwiisahi?is’s natal group, her great grandmother’s group, her auntie’s group as well as other groups known to frequent the west coast of Vancouver Island. Kwiisahi?is was not with any of these groups,” said Jared Towers, Bay Cetology’s executive director.
CSIS director David Vigneault stepping down after seven years on the job
By: Anja Karadeglija
OTTAWA (CP) – David Vigneault says he is stepping down from his job as the head of Canada’s spy agency.
The director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who spent seven years at the helm, is leaving the public service altogether.
Vigneault says in a statement that he’s proud of the work he’s done to bring CSIS “out of the shadows” and make its role on national security and in combating foreign interference more visible.
Foreign interference has been a prominent issue in Canadian politics in recent years, at times putting Vigneault in the spotlight.
In April, he testified before a federal inquiry into foreign election interference. He said he agreed with a panel of top bureaucrats who concluded there was no significant threat to Canada’s elections in 2021 and 2019, despite Chinese interference.
He is calling his time in the job one of the most challenging and rewarding periods of his career, but says it’s time to pass the baton as the organization celebrates its 40th anniversary this month.
Poilievre vows to scrap Online Harms Act as PBO pegs cost of regulators at $200M
By: Stephanie Taylor
OTTAWA (CP) – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre vowed Thursday to repeal the Liberals’ Online Harms Act should it become law, the same day the parliamentary budget officer estimated that setting up proposed new regulators would cost $200 million over five years.
The analysis from the budget watchdog looks at the federal government’s pledge to establish a Digital Safety Commission to regulate social media companies and force them to limit harmful content online.
If the legislation passes in Parliament, that commission would establish a set of regulations and have the power to levy fines against companies that break the rules.
The online harms bill also proposes creating a Digital Safety Ombudsperson that Canadians can bring their concerns to, as well as a new Digital Safety Office.
The budget watchdog says the Heritage Department estimates those new entities will employ about 300 people when they’re fully up and running.
nt may collect revenue by fining companies that don’t comply, but the estimated costing does not include an analysis of what that could look like.
