Over 200 prisoners have accidentally left Quebec provincial jails before their sentences were served since 2015 due to bureaucratic fumbles, the Globe and Mail revealed recently.
Some of the inmates had been convicted or accused of violent crimes, such as assault, robbery and sexual assault.
The Globe cited hundreds of pages of incident reports from the province’s Ministry of Public Security, which oversees the provincial corrections system.
The reports show that 175 inmates were let go by mistake between January 2015 and January 2022 because of staff mistakes, such as mixing up inmates with alike names, misunderstanding court instructions and poor communication.
Ministry spokesperson Louise Quintin said that 29 more inmates were released by accident between April 2022 and March 2023.
One inmate facing assault and other charges was freed from Amos Detention Centre despite being subject to a transfer to a therapy centre.
According to the government, “no major offence was committed by a released person between his release and the regularization of his situation” but some offenders visited their former victims.
In another case, a man related to the Hells Angels was freed after he was mistaken for another inmate with a similar name despite having two more months left to serve.
The incident reports were initially sent to the Globe in an unredacted form on May 31, after a request under the province’s access to information law.
The next day, the ministry asked the Globe to shred the documents, citing privacy and security concerns, and promised to send a redacted copy.
However, the redacted version omitted not only the names of the inmates and staff involved but also the nature of the offences and the details of the errors and their impact on public safety.
The ministry defended the redactions as necessary under the law, but declined to comment on specific cases.
A sexual harassment case filed against the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation will have to be heard in Quebec, the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court ruled.
The ruling sided on behalf of the foundation, which has argued against the jurisdictional claims made by the applicant and her lawyers.
For years, Nlaka’pamux Nation and of the Dine’ Nation member Cherry Smiley has pursued a lawsuit against the organization and former Northwest Territories premier Stephen Kakfwi for allegedly sexually harassing her during a conference while she was in its mentorship program.
Smiley’s lawyer Kathryn Marshall has argued that the case should be heard where the alleged events took place, but the Trudeau Foundation disagreed.
“None of the parties has a substantial connection to Newfoundland and Labrador,” argued Justice Peter Browne.
“The only connecting factor is that the parties were participants in a meeting held here in the summer of 2018.”
Marshall has said that filing a case in a Quebec court would bear extra costs for Smiley and would require her to get a French-speaking lawyer.
“The Trudeau Foundation has refused to do the right thing from Day 1,” said Marshall.
“This is their responsibility. They failed my client.”
According to Marshall, the length of the court proceedings are re-traumatizing her client, Smiley.
“She’s going to have to completely restart her case in Quebec, a province where she is not proficient in the language. She’s going to have to find a brand-new lawyer, she’s going to have to start from scratch. It’s just not right,” said Marshall.
Smiley is alleging that Kakfwi inappropriately grabbed Smiley and allegedly invited her to his home in Yellowknife.
Canada could be headed for another heated trade dispute with its largest trading partner should the Liberal government impose a digital services tax, warned US Ambassador to Canada David Cohen.
It’s been nearly three years since Canada’s last economic showdown with the US. Both countries were involved in a back and forth trade war over former president Donald Trump’s decision to impose aluminum duties on Canadian goods.
Back then, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland responded with $2.7 billion in retaliatory tariffs on American products.
This time, however, the lingering trade dispute will be largely Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s doing as his government refuses to budge on the prospect of a service tax for big tech firms like Meta, Google and others.
According to Cohen, Canada has failed to heed several warnings from US Trade Representative Katherine Tai about a potential trade conflict.
“(Our) statement was direct and clear and strong that if Canada decides to proceed alone, you leave the United States with no choice but to take retaliatory measures in the trade context, potentially in the digital trade context, in order to respond to that,” Cohen told the National Post.
The tax would force companies to pay out an estimated $1 billion to the Canadian government. Canada is the outlier among other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) partners, who have put off imposing such a tax while negotiations on the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework take place.
Instead, Freeland says unless international talks set firm dates for an agreement, Canada will proceed with the Digital Services Tax as early as 2024.
“When you look at the countries that do not agree with that position, they are not countries that you would normally think Canada wants to be a part of. They are a combination of autocracies and Third World countries,” said Cohen.
“I’m a glass-half-full-kind of guy. I do believe in civility and am optimistic that if you treat people well and make your case in a compelling fashion, then in the end you will work things out.”
Those countries include Russia, Belarus, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Earlier this month, Ambassador Kai raised the prospect of the tax during a meeting with Liberal International Trade Minister Mary Ng, calling on the Canadian government to wait until the OECD agrees upon a common framework.
“Ambassador Tai underscored the need for Canada to fully meet its USMCA commitments, including on home shopping. In addition, she urged Canada to refrain from imposing a digital services tax while the OECD process continues this year,” a readout from her office on the meeting stated.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to cut an appearance in Belleville, Ont. short after protesters swarmed his motorcade.
Plus, the University of Guelph’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology is looking to hire a new assistant professor – but eligible applicants must “identify” as black or Indigenous.
And a majority of Canadians believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s spending priorities are out of touch and that they pay too much in taxes.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Cosmin Dzsurdzsa and Elie Cantin-Nantel!
A majority of Canadians believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s spending priorities are out of touch and that they pay too much in taxes.
This is according to a new Ipsos poll released by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) surveying the views of 1,020 Canadian adults.
“Not only do Canadians find that the Trudeau government spends too much, but they also find that it spends unwisely,” said MEI senior director of communications Renaud Brossard.
“This seems to indicate a disconnect between the Department of Finance and the people whose money is entrusted in its care.”
Three in four Canadians believed that they were spending too much in income taxes, while fewer than a quarter believed that the prime minister was using taxpayer funding on the right programs.
Quebec saw the highest percentage of people (64%) who believed that the government was overspending.
Across Canada, 55% of people cited Ottawa for overspending.
Some of the programs taxpayers took issue with was carbon taxes with 45% looking at the cost negatively while 41% saw it positively.
“The message Canadians are sending Ottawa is unequivocal,” said Brossard.
“They are asking Ottawa to cut its spending, review its priorities, and reduce their tax burden.”
Around 60% of Canadians also believed that government spending lacked transparency.
Nearly the same number believed that the federal government’s massive spending programs also contributed to Canada’s inflation.
In the government’s latest federal budget, the feds ditched its projection to balance the budget within five years with the next fiscal year, predicting a $40.1 billion deficit. In total, the Liberals have pledged a whopping $497 billion in this year’s budget.
Everything in Canada seems broken, but the most striking sign is the fact that our government appears to be holding political prisoners in jail as repeat violent offenders roam the streets.
Thanks to the Trudeau’s government’s woke catch-and-release bail policies, the Canadian justice system has collapsed.
As Freedom Convoy organizers and supporters get the book thrown at them, violent criminals and even convicted sex offenders are released into the public.
Watch the latest episode of Ratio’d with Harrison Faulkner!
The University of Guelph’s (U of G) Department of Sociology and Anthropology is looking to hire a new assistant professor – but eligible applicants must “identify” as black or Indigenous.
The recruitment is part of the university’s Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative, a $3.6 million “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” (EDI) program.
The University of Guelph’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology is looking to hire a new assistant professor – but eligible applicants must “identify” as black or Indigenous. #CampusWatchpic.twitter.com/2ZHXG0FZ7M
The job posting for the Assistant Professor in Sociological Criminology found on U of G’s website notes that “the Department seeks applicants with teaching interests in the area of racialization, crime and social control, and an active, clearly articulated international, comparative, and/or domestic research agenda that critically engages this area”
The successful candidate will teach four courses in the undergraduate program in Criminal Justice and Public Policy and the graduate program in Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy. They will also be provided the opportunity to develop new courses in their area of specialization.
Those interested in the position must be “qualified individuals who identify as persons of Black African or Caribbean descent and/or Indigenous (First Nation, Inuit, Métis, Native American, Alaskan Native, or Native Hawaiian).”
U of G says, “applicants will be asked to self-identify through the Applicant Tracking Questionnaire (ATQ) facilitated by Diversity and Human Rights,” adding that “applicants who self-identify as Indigenous on the ATQ will be asked to confirm their Indigenous citizenship/membership and/or ancestral and kinship connections to a recognized and inherent Indigenous nation, community, treaty, land claim, territory or region through a confidential follow-up process facilitated by Indigenous Initiatives.”
The university’s questionnaire also asks candidates their gender and their sexual orientation.
U of G says applicants for the position must also support its indigenization agenda as well as EDI ideology.
“Applicants must demonstrate a willingness and ability to contribute to the mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students, to the Department’s collegial and collaborative intellectual community, to the revitalization of the CCJP course-based Master’s program, and to College and University goals and priorities of indigenization, equity, diversity, and inclusion,” reads the job posting.
U of G says it particularly encourages black and Indigenous applicants who are also women, disabled, and/or “identify as 2SLGBTQIA+” to apply.
The Black and Indigenous Hiring Initiative was launched last year with the goal of increasing diversity among faculty. U of G seeks to hire at least 15 new black faculty members and four or more Indigenous faculty members during the next three years.
U of G also notes that “the faculty and staff positions will be filled in areas that support the advancement of Black and Indigenous academic excellence and the University of Guelph’s commitments to inclusion, anti-racism, indigenization, and decolonization,”
This is not the first time that the University of Guelph has made headlines over controversial practices related to race.
As previously reported by True North’s Campus Watch series, the university has hosted several racially segregated events, including a black-only yoga session and art workshop, as well as a “sensual embodiment” session exclusive to non-white people who identify as “2SLGBTQIA+”.
Other Ontario universities who have engaged in race-based hiring practices include Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson) and the University of Ottawa – which excluded white scholars from professor positions as a way to “combat systemic racial discrimination.”
Affirmative action hiring practices have been criticized by scholars.
St. Mary’s University philosophy professor and former president of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship Mark Mercer previously told True North, “What we want as professors are the people who combine teaching and research to the highest degree. So by bringing in something irrelevant, such as ethnicity or race, the university is cutting itself off from potentially the best scholars.”
“The scholar sees him or herself as someone who’s actively trying to understand something,” said Mercer, adding that “understanding doesn’t track race or sex or ethnicity or any of these other categories.”
Mercer finds EDI initiatives and ideology to be fundamentally anti-academic. The University of Guelph did not respond to True North’s request for comment in time for publication.
The debate concerning whether Surrey should embrace its own municipal police force was decided on Wednesday by Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.
Citing his authority over the Police Act, Farnworth ordered the municipality to transition to the Surrey Police Service (SPS), effectively ending the RCMP’s jurisdiction in the area.
“Unfortunately, the City of Surrey has failed to meet mandatory requirements to go back to the RCMP,” Farnworth said.
Farnworth also asked all parties involved to engage in “essential” cooperation to complete Surrey’s shift to a municipal police force.
In response to the decision, Mayor Brenda Locke, who campaigned to reverse the transition plan, blasted Farnworth’s decision.
“The actions of the solicitor general should serve as a warning to the autonomy of all municipalities in B.C.,” claimed Locke.
Farnwroth has since hit back, claiming he was confident in his office’s powers to force the matter.
“I’m very confident in the legal authority on which this decision is made,” said Farnworth.
The provincial government has promised Surrey with $150 million in funding to help offset the $8 million a month cost of transitioning the forces.
Currently there are 400 officers working for the SPS and another 500 still at the Surrey RCMP branch.
According to Farnworth, the city failed to convince the federal government that reversing the transition wouldn’t impact other jurisdictions by relying on their resources.
“Officers would be pulled from other units, creating RCMP staffing deficits in other parts of the province,” he said.
“This means pulling officers from the Major Crimes Section, and their unit that deals with organized crime. It means pulling officers from Highway Patrol, decreasing traffic enforcement and monitoring. These services are critical to the safety of everyone in British Columbia.”
Don Valley North MP Han Dong, who is currently sitting as an Independent, could be let back into the Liberal party fold as Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc has been assigned to review foreign interference allegations.
LeBlanc told reporters in Moncton on Wednesday that he will meet with the MP to discuss returning to the Liberals.
He said he has been in touch with Dong via messages and hopes to have a face-to-face conversation soon.
Dong stepped aside from the Liberal caucus in May after Global News revealed allegations that he received covert support from the Chinese consulate in Toronto and that he suggested to a Chinese diplomat that freeing the “Two Michaels” would help the Conservatives in an election.
Dong denied the allegations and is now suing the outlet.
“I’m still going through the process. It’s something the prime minister asked me to do (and) I want to do it properly,” LeBlanc said.
“The Prime Minister asked me to begin a process that would look at all of these issues … And when we have more to say at the right moment, I’d be happy to do so,” said LeBlanc.
Global News reported the claims of anonymous sources within the intelligence community that Dong allegedly met with and instructed Chinese consul general in February 2021.
“Let me assure you, as a parliamentarian and as a person, I have never and would never advocate or support the violation of basic human rights of any Canadian – of anyone, anywhere, period,” said Dong at the time.
Global News reports also claimed that the MP was targeted for investigation by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
LeBlanc did not provide a timeline for his decision on Dong’s future with the Liberal Party.
Two days after Ontario Provincial Police issued a rare public advisory, convicted sex offender Lauriston Maloney and his wife Amber Maloney have been arrested. Why was a convicted sex offender allowed to be near children in the first place?
Plus, an elementary school teacher in Windsor, Ontario was caught on tape berating Muslim students for skipping the school’s LGBTQ pride day, telling them their abstention was “disgusting” and “an incredible show of hatred.”
And Delta Police Chief Neil Dubord debunks British Columbia’s drug decriminalization policy.
Tune into The Daily Brief with Andrew Lawton and Lindsay Shepherd!
