Big Tobacco to pay billions – Canada News

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Mar 1, 2019 / 3:11 pm | Story
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An Alberta mother found guilty of breaking the ankles of her two-year old daughter has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

The woman, who can only be identified as S.N.A. Due to a publication, was convicted in December of several offenses, including aggravated assault.

She had her daughter tested in 2016.

The toddler's grandparents took her to a hospital in Wetaskiwin, south of Edmonton, where X-rays confirmed fractures to both ankles.

The child was then transferred to Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Wayne Renke determined that the injuries were not an accident.

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The Quebec Court of Appeal has upheld a landmark of tobacco companies in Quebec to smokers.

Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans-Benson & Hedges had appealed to a ruling that found the profits of their customers.

Philippe Trudel, a lawyer for smokers who brought the class action, called today's appellate short decision to complete victory and excellent news for victims.

In June 2015, Quebec Superior Court Judge Brian Riordan ordered the companies to make payments of more than $ 15-billion to smokers who fell ill or were addicted. At the time, the rulers are considered to be the biggest class action awards in Canadian history.

Some lawsuits were started by people who were addicted to cigarettes and could not have been removed, and the second was brought by those who had suffered from cancer or emphysema.

Some 76 witnesses testified at the Superior Court trial and nearly 43,000 documents were filed as evidence, including a document that smokers did not know or understand the risks associated with cigarettes.

The three cigarette companies underwriting the risks of smoking. Moreover, the firms of the United States are legally bound by strict federal regulations.

Trudel estimated that after the appeal ruling, the total damages would be more than $ 17-billion.

"It's great news for victims who have been waiting for this day for a long time." We're very happy with the result, clearly, "he said.

Quebec's highest court, which entered the appeal in 2016, struck down almost all of the tobacco companies' grounds for appeal and upheld the judge's decision.

The court did find the judge in several minor aspects, including how the interest was calculated. Trudel called the change a "technicality" that would have little effect on the overall damages.

"Out of all the trillions, I do not think they'll call it a victory," he said. "But we call it a total victory on all fronts."

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Mar 1, 2019 / 1:50 pm | Story
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Nathan Cullen, one of the NDP's best known and most effective MPs, is calling it quits.

He's announcing he will not seek re-election this fall.

That makes 13 of the 44 New Democrats elected in 2015 who will not be running again.

Cullen's departure is a blow to NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who just won his seat in the House of Commons in British Columbia byelection earlier this week.

Had Singh lost the byelection, Cullen.

Cullen has represented the northern BC riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley since 2004.

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Mar 1, 2019 / 1:46 pm | Story
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The Federal Justice Department Gave the Go-ahead Friday, October 26, 2008 Huawei Executive Meng Wanzhou, marking the start of the high-profile process in Canada has a deeply uncomfortable position between two superpowers.

Canada's relationship with China – its second-biggest trading partner – has deteriorated since Meng's December arrest in Vancouver.

The arrest of the Chinese telecom giant's chief financial officer has angered Beijing, which has warned.

China has criticized the United States of America, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump, the United States.

Throughout Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has maintained Canada is simply following the rule of law.

The government news release Friday announcing the decision appeared to take into consideration the profoundly sensitive nature of Meng's case and the allegations of political interference that surround it. The first line in the release declares: "Canada is a country governed by the rule of law."

It goes on to say the decision follows a "thorough and diligent review" of the evidence in this case.

Ultimately, Justice Minister David Lametti must decide whether or not he is extradited.

It heads back to the BC Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The extradition hearing will not render a verdict of guilt or innocence. If Meng is eventually extradited, it will take place in the United States.

Following Friday's decision, Meng's defense team said it was disappointed Lametti let the process proceed in the face of the political nature of the US charges and where the president of the United States has repeatedly stated that it would interfere in Ms. Meng's case if he thought it would assist the US negotiations with China over a trade deal. "

The statement, signed by David J. Martin, continued by the defense is also concerned with the approval of the U.S.

"Our client is so innocent of any wrongdoing that the US prosecution and extradition is an abuse of the processes of law."

The U.S. Department of Justice has laid out 13 criminal counts of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction against Huawei and Meng, who is the daughter of the company founder Ren Zhengfei.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said it was "utterly dissatisfied" with Friday's decision, calling it "a political persecution against a Chinese high-tech enterprise."

"The following developments have been made," the embassy said in a statement. "The so-called 'rule of law' and 'judicial independence' asserted by Canada's Meng Wanzhou."

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Mar 1, 2019 / 10:26 am | Story
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Alberta's police oversight unit says it was unexpected for a police dog to drag a suspect out of a truck by the head, ripping off an ear.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team says a 25-year-old woman was a passenger in a stolen vehicle police were chasing in May 2017.

It says the woman ran and hid under a truck and refused repeated orders to come out.

Her ear could not be reattached.

ASIRT says police dogs are trained to catch suspects by a limb, but for some reason the dog is on the side of the woman.

It says the actions of the dog's handler are reasonable.

"ASIRT said in a release Friday," There can be no doubt that the consequences suffered by the young woman were extreme and unexpected.

"While this is not something the dog had done before, it is possible that it is possible, by its handler."

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Mar 1, 2019 / 10:25 am | Story
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It's a way to make it happen.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says today that the 2030 target will take care of governments and the economy – hence the aspirational nature of the goal.

An estimated 1.6 million households are considered in "core housing need," meaning that people live in places that are too expensive for them or do not meet their needs.

The plan is based on gender, race, sexual orientation and gender identity.

The target audience is one of the largest companies in the federal government's 10-year, $ 40-billion housing strategy.

Over the next year, the agency plans to invest $ 2.4 billion in loans and funding as part of the strategy and to build 8,300 units and repair 15,000 more by this time next year.

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, CTV News reports.

In the city's West Side, $ 2,056 In East Vancouver, it's $ 1,869.

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Mar 1, 2019 / 10:09 am | Story
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Investigators say at least one million gallons of crude oil was released last month on a ranch in western Manitoba.

The Transportation Safety Board says the spill was mostly contained in a low-lying area next to the track, and it's too early to be on the environmental impact.

The Canadian National train, with 110 petroleum crude oil cars, was traveling in the early hours of Feb. 16 near St. Lazare, MB, when an emergency brake was applied.

The Transportation Safety Board says 37 of the cars derailed and 16 sustained breaches.

There were no injuries, there were no fire and no area residents were evacuated.

The agency says the investigation is ongoing and some components and wheel sets are being reviewed for failure analysis.

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Mar 1, 2019 / 8:01 am | Story
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UPDATE 8:00 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making longtime MP Lawrence MacAulay his new veterans-affairs minister to fill the void left by the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould as part of a minor cabinet shuffle this morning.

Marie-Claude Bibeau replaces MacAulay as Minister of Agriculture and Gender Equality Minister Maryam Monsef takes on the additional portfolio of international development.

That means that it will be responsible for selling to the industry. She is also the first female federal agriculture minister.

"It's a huge privilege – I come from a rural riding, a dairy riding, in fact, in the south of Quebec, so I'm very close to the producers in Quebec," she said outside the Rideau Hall after being sworn in. She said she's eager to meet with them.

MacAulay will take over responsibility for a new veterans-benefits.

Wilson-Raybould, who was moved to court in the last federal cabinet shuffle in mid-January, resigned her post Feb. 12.

On Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould testifies to the House of Commons that he was pressured by Trudeau, his senior staff and others to halt a criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.

She said that she was well off as a lawyer and did not give in to political arm-twisting.

Trudeau has denied the SNC-Lavalin affair had anything to do with Wilson-Raybould's move, saying she would still be justice minister had to form Treasury Board president Scott Brison.

Asked by reporters, Trudeau's decision on whether Wilson-Raybould stays in the Liberal caucus after his criticism of the Trudeau way and his staff handled her.

"She's a very well-respected lady," MacAulay said of Wilson-Raybould, but what to do about her place in their party is up to the prime minister.

UPDATE 7:42 am

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shuffled his federal cabinet for the second time in two months, to fill the vacancy left following Jody Wilson-Raybould's abrupt departure.

No new faces are joining the team; Trudeau is moving around current ministers:

  • Lawrence MacAulay, who was previously the minister for agriculture and agri-food.
  • Replacing MacAulay as Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister is Marie-Claude Bibeau. She was previously the minister for international development.
  • Maryam Monsef, who adds to the position of Minister for Women and Gender Equality.

-with files from CTV News

ORIGINAL 7:12 a.m.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making longtime MP Lawrence MacAulay his new veterans-affairs minister to fill the void left by the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould as part of a small cabinet shuffle this morning.

More coming.

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Mar 1, 2019 / 7:17 am | Story
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The federal justice minister has been sentenced to a murder trial in Halifax, which has been jailed for almost 17 years for the murder of his ex-girlfriend.

David Lametti's decision says it was a reasonable basis for a miscarriage of justice in the case of Glen Assoun.

It also says that it has been reported that it has been reported that it has not been provided to the country.

Brenda LeAnne Way, whose body was found in a Halifax-area parking lot on Nov. 12, 1995.

The case against him was based largely on the testimony of circumstantial evidence.

Kirk Makin, co-chair of the Innocence Canada legal group, said Lametti's decision represents the "next development in what we believe is an egregious wrongful conviction case."

Assoun has been out on a lease since November 2014, based on a preliminary assessment.

Sean MacDonald and Philip Campbell, Presented for the Present Case.

Assun was found guilty of second-degree murder in Death's Way on Sept. 17, 1999. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of applying for parole for 18 years.

Shortly heard of her body was found with multiple stab wounds, and her throat was slashed.

Assoun was arrested in March 1998, despite having an alibi. He would remain in jail for almost 17 years.

That is six years longer than the 11 years that Donald Marshall Jr., has Mi'kmaq leader and Indigenous activist, served for his wrongful conviction for murder in 1971.

During Assoun's trial, he fired his lawyer. Though he told the judge he was in need of assistance.

Earlier this week, the father of four told The Canadian Press he's always had hope he was innocent of the crime.

However, he said he did not go out of his way, and that he did not have a life with him.

"It was devastating to me, it affected my mind, it affected my overall health, I had several heart attacks in prison," he said.

Life passed me by. "It was my life and my life.

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Feb 28, 2019 / 9:36 pm | Story
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Premier Rachel Notley says Alberta will be making cuts again.

The province says it will be increased by 25,000 barrels per day in April.

This will be increased by 325,000 barrels per day to deal with low prices.

The first increase was on Jan. 30 when Notley announced the province would allow increased production by 75,000 barrels per day.

The government says oil storage levels are trending downward and the price difference between Alberta and West Texas Intermediate remains narrow.

The province also says it can be used in a pipeline, which helps the oil flow easier.

"We are in the middle of the future, we know that we are in the market today." Notley said Thursday in a release.

"The decision to be limited in the last few days has been fairly and equitably.

Notley says the short-term is not ideal or sustainable.

She says that is the province of Alberta.

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Feb 28, 2019 / 7:30 pm | Story
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Jody Wilson-Raybould, a senior government source confirmed Thursday evening.

The source, speaking to the Canadian Press on the condition of anonymity,

A small number of ministers will change roles, the source said, primarily that the Department of Veterans Affairs will have a dedicated minister again.

Wilson-Raybould, who was moved to court in the last federal cabinet shuffle in mid-January, resigned her post Feb. 12.

Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan has been acting as minister of veterans affairs since then.

On Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould testifies to the House of Commons that he was pressured by Trudeau, his senior staff and others to halt a criminal prosecution of Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.

She also testified that she held firm in her case, telling Trudeau at one point that she would strongly advise him against interfering with her duties as attorney general.

When asked by Conservative MP Lisa Raitt, she said that she was "concerned", "Wilson-Raybould said she was" concerned "that was the case.

Trudeau has denied that the SNC-Lavalin affair had anything to do with Wilson-Raybould's being moved out of the justice portfolio in January. That shuffle was precipitated by Treasury Board Chairman Scott Brison's decision to leave politics.

If Scott Brison had not stepped down from cabinet, Jody Wilson-Raybould would still be minister of justice and attorney general, "Trudeau said Feb. 15.

David Lametti takes over the justice minister and Nova Scotia Bernadette Jordan becomes minister of rural economic development.

Ontario Sisters of the United States. Seamus O'Regan Moved from the United States to the Treasury Board.

Now, Trudeau's ministers will be on the move again.

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Feb 28, 2019 / 2:58 pm | Story
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's principal secretary, Gerald Butts, wants to give his side of the story in the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Butts wrote the House of Commons justice committee on Thursday, requesting it be called as a witness.

Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jody Wilson-Raybould, Jody Wilson-Raybould testifies that she faced the challenges of veiled threats-from Trudeau, senior prime-ministerial aids, Canada's top public servant and the finance minister's office to interfere in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. Butts was one of those people.

Butts said he believes that it will help the committee get to the bottom. He added that he will need a short time to receive legal advice and compile relevant documents before testifying.

Trudeau's longtime friend and most trusted adviser resigned as his principal secretary last week to the mushrooming controversy over the government's attempts to help SNC-Lavalin avoid a criminal trial on charges of bribery and corruption related to its bid to secure contracts in Libya.

In a statement announcing his resignation, Butts categorically denied that he or anyone else in Trudeau's office pressured Wilson-Raybould. He said he was quitting to avoid distracting from the government's agenda and suggested he wanted to be free to defend himself.

"My reputation is my responsibility and that is for me to defend," he said in the statement.

On Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould specifically accused Butts and Trudeau's chief of staff, Katie Telford, of pushing for an external legal opinion on the option of negotiating a remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin – a kind of plea bargain that would force the company to pay restitution but avoid the potentially crippling impact of a criminal conviction. In a Dec. 18 meeting, Wilson-Raybould said Butts told her chief of staff, Jessica Prince, that there was "no solution here that does not involve some interference."

Earlier Thursday at an event in Montreal, Trudeau said it would be up to the federal ethics commissioner to decide who is telling the truth in the SNC-Lavalin affair – Trudeau or Wilson-Raybould.

A Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is arguing that it is time for the RCMP to investigate what he thinks is possible obstruction of justice by the prime minister.

Scheer wrote Commissioner Brenda Lucki on Thursday, calling for an investigation. He also reiterated his call for Trudeau to resign.

Trudeau said he had totally disagreed with Wilson-Raybould. And he said the ethics commissioner Mario Dion can be trusted to settle disagreements over what happened. Dion initiated an investigation into the affair two weeks ago.

"Who do you know who is a member of Parliament? Who is it?" is an officer of Parliament, who will make a determination in this issue, "Trudeau said after an announcement at the Canadian Space Agency.

More than four hours of explosive testimony Wednesday, Wilson-Raybould told the House of Commons there were 10 meetings and 10 phone calls involving 11 people between September and December 2018, all aimed at getting politically interfered in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in my role as the attorney general of Canada. "

Wilson-Raybould detailed a meeting with Trudeau where he brought up the possibility of SNC-Lavalin leaving Quebec and the spectrum of job losses during a provincial election campaign. Trudeau did not deny there were "many and broad conversations about the importance of defending jobs" across the country but he insisted that discussions did not cross any legal lines.

"Canadians expect their government to look for ways to protect jobs, to grow the economy, and that's exactly what we've done every step of the way," Trudeau said. "We have also done so in a way that has respected our laws, and respected the independence of the judiciary – there is no doubt that there is no doubt about this. job and were doing it in a way that respects and defends our institutions. "

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