Canada

The valedictorian at a west Ottawa high school says she's been told not to come to school Monday after she made pro-Palestinian remarks during a speech at her commencement ceremony.

Elizabeth Yao largely focused on highlights from the past four years at Bell High School during her speech on Thursday, including a memorable waffle fundraiser and the days spent dozing off while reading Shakespeare.

Her comments on the war in Gaza came at the end, after a land acknowledgement.

"As a commitment to truth and reconciliation, I must acknowledge colonial and genocidal atrocities today, including the massacre of more than 17,000 Palestinian children in Gaza," Yao said, breaking off as the crowd cheered.

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On June 3, 2025, the Canadian government tabled Bill C-2, omnibus legislation that, if passed, would introduce a wide array of new federal agency and law enforcement powers, and would significantly reform substantive and due process laws in Canada for migrants and asylum seekers. Our preliminary analysis of Bill C-2 situates the legislation within the context of existing research by the Citizen Lab about two potential data-sharing treaties that are most relevant to the new proposed powers being introduced in Bill C-2: the Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention (2AP) and the CLOUD Act. Both of which carry significant constitutional and human rights risks.

This is a 33% hike

A brand-new water bomber sat unused and idle at the La Ronge airport as wildfires raged nearby, destroying homes and businesses, according to Saskatchewan's Opposition NDP.

NDP public safety critic Nicole Sarauer said the province took delivery of the multi-million dollar Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker on May 30, according to flight records.

"Since landing, the aircraft hasn't logged a single flight. It's been sitting there unused," Sarauer said.

Sarauer said the plane sat idle and unused, with Premier Scott Moe seemingly unaware it had even arrived.

She pointed to June 6, a week after the plane arrived, when Moe said during a daily Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) briefing that the plane was on its way and would be put to use as soon as it arrived and was ready.

"It appears that Premier Scott Moe and the Sask Party government either weren't straight about the bomber or were completely asleep at the wheel during a crisis," Sarauer said.

Doctors and scientists worry Alberta's measles outbreaks could signal the start of a new era when other dangerous infectious diseases of the past could re-emerge and pose new health threats.

The province is battling its worst wave of measles cases in nearly half a century and there is no end in sight.

As of Friday, a total of 879 measles cases had been reported in the province since the outbreaks began in March.

It's one of the first to re-emerge, experts say, because it is so highly contagious and requires very high vaccination rates (about 95 per cent) for population level protection.

Provincial data shows in 2024 just 68.1 per cent of Alberta two-year-olds were up to date with two doses of the measles vaccine.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3156279

Here is the full study (pdf, 319 pages)

Here is the executive summary (pdf, 17 pages)

TLDR:

• CETA has effectively eliminated duties for 98.6% of all Canadian tariff lines and for 98.7% of EU tariff lines. As a result, the simple average EU tariff on Canadian exports decreased from 5.1% to almost zero, while the Canadian tariff on EU exports declined from 4.2% to nearly zero
• Bilateral trade in goods and services between the EU and Canada has increased from €64 bn to €72 bn in the pre-CETA period (2012-2016), representing a 12.5% increase
• During the post-CETA period (2017-2023), total bilateral trade increased by 71%, from €72 bn in 2016 to €123 bn in 2023, despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
• When considering the increase in bilateral trade from 2016 (the year before CETA came into effect) to 2023, the total bilateral trade in goods increased by 65.0%, while total bilateral trade in services increased by 81% in the same time perio- CETA has effectively eliminated duties for 98.6% of all Canadian tariff lines and for 98.7% of EU tariff lines. As a result, the simple average EU tariff on Canadian exports decreased from 5.1% to almost zero, while the Canadian tariff on EU exports declined from 4.2% to nearly zero.
• Bilateral trade in goods and services between the EU and Canada has increased from €64 bn to €72 bn in the pre-CETA period (2012-2016), representing a 12.5% increase.

Peel police say they have dismantled a violent criminal organization that attempted to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from members of the community and defraud insurance companies by staging collisions across GTA roadways.

According to investigators, 18 people have been arrested and are facing a total of nearly 100 charges in the probe, which was launched in July 2024.

“They start at the planning stage. These are collisions that are often happening on our roadways, which obviously have a public safety impact, sometimes including police, ambulance and fire attending the scene,” he said.

“They continue the fraud all the way through the reporting and through the insurance industry to reap the material benefits of the fraud.”

An estimated $4.2 million worth of assets were seized as part of the probe, including 18 tow trucks, police noted. The trucks, Lorette said, were “some of the tools” used ”to commit their offences.”

The seizures occurred during the execution of 67 search warrants in Peel Region, Caledon, York Region, and Toronto on June 10, Lorette added. The investigation was conducted with the assistance of other GTA police forces, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

“This investigation is still ongoing and we anticipate further arrests and charges,” Lorette said.