Diana’s Shadow Still Looms over King Charles | About That

May 4, 2023 | A recent poll suggests many Canadians have an ‘unfavourable’ view of King Charles. Royal commentators join Lauren Bird to explore the effects of Princess Diana and pop culture on the new King’s popularity.

Republic of Canada? Poll Suggests It's Time to Ditch the Monarchy

Apr 25, 2023 | King Charles’s coronation is set for May 6, but a new Angus Reid survey suggests many Canadians aren’t keen on keeping the monarchy.

Quebec Moves to End Canadian Elected Officials’ Oath to King Charles

THE GUARDIAN: ‘It is a relic from the past’: strong opposition to oath from three political parties of French-speaking province

Quebec’s premier, François Legault, will propose legislation to end the oath to the British king.Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Quebec’s premier, François Legault, said that his government would introduce legislation next week to end elected officials’ required oath to Britain’s King Charles, as pressure mounts in the Canadian province to cut such ties with the monarchy.

Fresh legislation from the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) follows a separate bill introduced on Thursday by the left-leaning Québec Solidaire party that would allow elected officials to just take an oath to the people of Quebec.

“It is, I think, a relic from the past,” Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, a co-spokesperson for Québec Solidaire, said about the oath to King Charles.

“I think there is strong support in Quebec to modernize our institutions, to make sure that the representatives of the people are not forced in 2022 to swear an oath to a foreign king.” » | Reuters in Montreal | Thursday, December 1, 2022

Quebec Separatist Urges Canada to Cut Ties with ‘Incredibly Racist’ Monarchy

THE GUARDIAN: Yves-François Blanchet, leader of Bloc Québécois, says ‘slave-driven’ British monarchy is ‘archaic’ and ‘humiliating’

The leader of Canada’s Quebec separatist party has renewed calls for the country to sever its ties with the “incredibly racist” and “slave-driven” British monarchy ahead of the coronation of King Charles III.

The Bloc Québécois leader, Yves-François Blanchet, tabled a motion on Tuesday, widely seen as purely symbolic, in the House of Commons.

“It’s archaic. It’s a thing of the past. It’s almost archaeological. It’s humiliating,” Blanchet told lawmakers of Canada’s longstanding ties to the monarchy. » | Leyland Cecco in Toronto | Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Continued Police Violence in Iran, Canada Imposes New Sanctions | DW News

Canada says it will sanction senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and ban them from entering the country. This comes as international pressure grows on Iran over its response to protests triggered by the death of a young woman in police custody.

A coroner in Iran has denied Mahsa Amini was killed by blows she suffered in police detention. But dozens of protesters have been killed in an ensuing crackdown and many more have been arrested.

Since posting this report, it has been age-restricted; therefore, it cannot be embedded. It must be viewed on YouTube itself. Here is a link to it. – Mark
Loosen the vice on the people, for God’s sake! Theocracy? What a joke! If Iran were truly a theocracy, the authorities would never treat women as violently as they so clearly do. And for what? Just for showing a few strands of hair? If this brutal mistreatment of women were truly Allah’s will, He wouldn’t be worthy of being prayed to! Ditto the way that Iranian authorities treat gays. The poor gays of Iran are often put to death.

Iran so clearly needs another revolution; but this time a secular revolution, in order to bring some human rights and decency to the Republic. Sweep the Mullahs away! – © Mark Alexander

Justin Trudeau Tears Up as He Announces Queen Elizabeth II's Death - 'One of My Favourite People'

Top Vatican Official Is Accused of Sexual Misconduct in Quebec

THE NEW YORK TIMES: A woman accused Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a member of Pope Francis’ inner circle, of inappropriately touching and kissing her.

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the former archbishop of Quebec, was named in a lawsuit made public this week. | Filippo Monteforte/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
OTTAWA — A woman in Quebec has accused a prominent Canadian cardinal — who is also a top Vatican official and member of Pope Francis’ inner circle — of engaging in sexual misconduct against her when she served as a diocesan intern.

The accusations against the cardinal, Marc Ouellet, are part of a sweeping class-action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Quebec, in which 101 people say they were victims of sexual abuse by several dozen clerics and lay staff members of the archdiocese. The allegations date to 1940, and the lawsuit says that some of the plaintiffs were minors at the time of the events.

The case is the latest in a string of class-action lawsuits in Quebec that accuse Catholic clerics of sexual abuse, many of which have already been settled, including accusations covered under an 18-million-dollar agreement reached in 2013. » | Ian Austen and Gaia Pianigiani | Wednesday, August 16, 2022

Au Québec, une loi pour renforcer le français embrase le Canada

LE MONDE : Le texte étend aux petites entreprises et aux immigrants l’usage de la « langue officielle » dans la Belle province. Les anglophones dénoncent un nouvel acte de « repli ».

Des opposants anglophones à la loi 96 sur la langue française du Québec manifestent dans le centre-ville de Montréal, Québec, Canada, le 26 mai 2022. CHRISTINNE MUSCHI / REUTERS
Sujet hautement sensible au Québec, le débat sur la langue est aussi inflammable dans tout le Canada, pays officiellement bilingue. Se vivant comme un village gaulois assiégé par plus de 350 millions d’anglophones régnant sur le continent nord-américain, la Belle Province considère la langue française comme constitutive de son identité.

Le 24 mai, le gouvernement québécois Coalition Avenir Québec (centre droit, nationaliste) a ainsi adopté une loi destinée à réaffirmer sa primauté. Ce texte dit « 96 » vient renforcer la charte de la langue française qui avait fait, en 1977, du français « la langue officielle » du Québec ; il étend son usage aux petites entreprises, fait de son apprentissage un droit et un devoir fondamentaux pour tous les immigrants et les anglophones, et impose aux commerces de privilégier le français sur leurs devantures. » | Par Hélène Jouan (Montréal, correspondance) | samedi 18 juin 2022

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Lavish Money Laundering Schemes Exposed in Canada

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Government officials in the province of British Columbia were aware that suspicious money was entering their revenue stream, but took no steps to stop it.

VANCOUVER — Self-professed students were buying multimillion-dollar homes in the Vancouver area, with dubious sources of income, or none at all.

A family of modest means transferred at least 114 million Canadian dollars to British Columbia.

Loan sharks cleaned their dirty money by giving garbage bags and hockey bags full of illicit Canadian 20 dollar bills to gamblers who took it onto casino floors.

Those were just some of the findings from a long-awaited report into money laundering in Canada’s western province of British Columbia, which after two years of testimony was finally released by a special commission on Wednesday.

Canada is a “major money laundering country,” with weak law enforcement and gaps in its laws, that put it on a list of countries that included Afghanistan, China and Colombia, according to a 2019 report by the State Department. Few places in Canada launder as much money as the province of British Columbia, specifically the region around Vancouver, which has one of the country’s biggest underground economies. The province has earned an international reputation as a haven for “snow washing” — a term for money laundering in Canada, according to government officials. » | Catherine Porter, Vjosa Isai and Tracy Sherlock | Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Canada : The Authorities Have Lost Their Minds!

With many thanks to Klaus Becker on Pinterest for this super photograph.
The Canadian government legalized the smoking of cannabis/marijuana three years ago; yet they are introducing ever more stringent laws against the smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Clearly, these laws are redolent of a Nanny State. How stupid can people get? This means that you can legally get stoned out of your mind, yet enjoying a humble cigarette is becoming ever more difficult. How nonsensical is that? I had always thought that Canadians were smarter than this. Obviously, I was mistaken. – © Mark Alexander

The pros, cons and unknowns of legal cannabis in Canada 3 years later: Legalization has had a positive effect on the justice system, but public health data is lacking, experts say »

Written warning on every cigarette in Canadian world-first: Poison in every puff’ message proposed amid government concern photo warnings on tobacco packages have lost impact »

Canada Puts Sanctions on Russian Media Tycoon Alexander Lebedev

THE GUARDIAN: Oligarch with links to Boris Johnson among 14 businessmen and associates of Vladimir Putin targeted

Alexander Lebedev finances the Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta. His son Evgeny owns the UK’s Evening Standard and Independent. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
Canada has put sanctions on Alexander Lebedev, the former KGB agent who little more than a decade ago bought the Evening Standard and the Independent.

The Russian billionaire was named in a fresh wave of sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime announced on Friday that also included a ban on the import of Russian vodka, diamonds and caviar, according to the Globe and Mail.

Lebedev, whose links to the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, are well documented, has not been subjected to sanctions by the UK.

The Canadian government said the ban on trade in luxury goods and the addition of 14 oligarchs and associates of the Russian president was aligned with similar measures imposed by allies such as the US and the EU, and would “help to mitigate the potential for Russian oligarchs to circumvent restrictions in other luxury goods markets”. » | Miranda Bryant | Saturday, May 21, 2022

E-cigarettes : Welcome Back, Big Tobacco - The Fifth Estate

Oct 22, 2016 • Big Tobacco is trying clean up its image, moving into the booming e-cigarette business which continuing to peddle the deadly tobacco products. This has left public health officials in Canada, the U.K. and the US.

Five million Canadians still smoke. Could e-cigarettes help wean them over to a safer nicotine delivery device? Many ex-smokers say 'yes.' E-cigarettes are their salvation.

Health Canada is on the cusp of deciding how e-cigarettes should be regulated. Mark Kelly heads to England -- a country that has taken bold steps in embracing the e-cigarette as a safer alternative. Will Canada? And what will this mean for our e-cigarette industry?

Until now, e-cigarettes with nicotine have not been endorsed by Health Canada. And that's kept Big Tobacco out of the Canadian market. Will new regulations open the doors for a tarred industry to join in the e-cigarette revolution?


Government of Canada: Vaping product regulations »

Le Canada, nouvelle destination du rêve américain

250 nouveaux Canadiens prêtent serment de citoyenneté, le 2 mai 2018, lors d’une cérémonie à Toronto. Le Canada a attiré 405.000 immigrants en 2021, malgré la pandémie de Covid. Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star via Getty Images
À Montréal
LE FIGARO : ENQUÊTE - Grands espaces, facilité de trouver un travail et de créer une entreprise, le pays rivalise d’attrait avec les États-Unis en raison d’une politique volontariste. Objectif: surmonter le déficit de natalité et parvenir à 100 millions d’habitants en 2100, grâce à une immigration choisie en fonction des seules compétences.

Montréal, métropole traditionnellement francophone de quatre millions d’habitants, grouille aujourd’hui d’accents variés. Commerçants chinois près du Vieux Montréal, Ukrainiens et Polonais sur le boulevard Saint-Laurent, Petite Italie au nord de la ville, de plus en plus sud-américaine. Et les Français? Longtemps présents dans le quartier bobo du Plateau Mont-Royal, ils se pressent désormais à Rosemont, moins branché mais plus abordable.

Les longs hivers glaciaux n’y font rien. Le Canada, 37 millions d’âmes au dernier recensement, a attiré 405.000 immigrants en 2021, malgré la pandémie de Covid. Des chiffres en forte hausse. Ottawa «dévoile un plan pour accueillir 1,3 million de nouveaux arrivants» au cours des trois prochaines années, a titré récemment Le Toronto Star. Un véritable boom, alors que 250.000 personnes ont immigré, bon an mal an, entre Terre-Neuve et Vancouver du début des années 1990 jusqu’en 2015. Justin Trudeau veut en accueillir 432.000 en 2022. … Des Indiens, des Chinois, … » | Par Ludovic Hirtzmann | vendredi 29 avril 2022

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Canada: Ottawa Declares State of Emergency as Truckers Blare Horns against Covid-19 Restrictions

Feb 7, 2022 • The mayor of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency to help deal with an unprecedented 10-day occupation by protesting truckers that has shut down much of the core of the Canadian capital.

The protesters, who first reached the capital on Jan 29, have parked their big rigs on city streets and put up tents and temporary shacks - paralysing the capital to the consternation of officials and the mounting frustration of many residents.

The demonstrations began as protests by truckers angry with vaccine requirements when crossing the US-Canadian border, but have morphed into broader protests against Covid-19 health restrictions and the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Locals have complained of the ceaseless sound of air horns and of being harassed, insulted or blocked by the protesters.

The truckers and their supporters have dug in, however, saying the protests will continue until the Covid-related restrictions are lifted.

Police on Sunday announced new measures to stop people from helping the protesters keep up their sit-in.

The Town That Burned Down in a Day

Feb 3, 2022 • This year, Canada had a record heatwave which scientists say was impossible without climate change. Wildfires engulfed Patrick Michell’s hometown of Lytton after it reached 49.5°C. Now he and his community must plan for an uncertain future. Meanwhile, an environmental protest against the logging industry becomes the largest act of civil disobedience Canada’s ever seen.

Toronto / Montréal : Cooking the Best Ashkenazi Jewish Food

Mar 29, 2021 • "Taste The Diversity" Cooking show. Take a gastronomic trip around the world without leaving your house! Produced for you by ECG Productions (Canada).

Canada Votes to Ban Barbaric Conversion Therapy while the UK Dithers and Delays

Prime minister Boris Johnson and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (Getty/Leon Neal/Karwai Tang)
PINK NEWS: Canada’s House of Commons has voted unanimously to ban so-called LGBT+ conversion therapy, while Tory government officials continue to dither over a proposed ban in the UK.

The new legislation, proposed by the Liberal government of prime minister Justin Trudeau, would make it illegal to have a child, or anyone who is unwilling, to undergo the dehumanising practice.

All efforts to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity have long been rejected by mainstream medical and mental health organisations in recent decades.

In fact, UN experts have called for a global ban saying such interventions are “degrading and discriminatory and rooted in the belief that LGBT+ persons are somehow inferior”. » | Nola Ojomu | Thursday, December 2, 2021

‘Unacceptable’: Outrage as Air Canada Chief Gives Quebec Speech in English

THE GUARDIAN: Michael Rousseau’s decision not to speak French in Quebec address inflames longstanding grievances over linguistic rights

The head of Canada’s largest airline is facing public outrage and calls for his resignation after giving a speech in English to business leaders in Quebec – a misstep that has inflamed longstanding grievances over linguistic rights and protections in the country’s lone Francophone province.

The row began last week, when in his first major public appearance as head of Air Canada, Michael Rousseau chose to address the city’s chamber of commerce without speaking French.

Rousseau’s gaffe comes as the Quebec government attempts to dramatically strengthen protections for the French language amid fears English is overtaking it, especially in large cities. » | Leyland Cecco in Toronto | Monday, November 8, 2021

L’armée canadienne décimée par les scandales sexuels

Le général Dany Fortin, superviseur de la campagne de vaccination au Canada, prend la parole devant un poste de police de Gatineau, après avoir été inculpé pour agression sexuelle, en août dernier. PATRICK DOYLE/REUTERS
LE FIGARO : Les principaux hauts gradés des Forces armées canadiennes (FAC) font face à des accusations de harcèlement et ont été évincés.

«Une autre allégation d’inconduite sexuelle contre un haut gradé», a titré ce samedi Le Journal de Montréal. L’accusé est le chef du commandement du personnel militaire, Steven Whelan. Ce lieutenant général, également chargé de lutter contre les inconduites sexuelles dans l’armée, a remplacé en milieu d’année un autre militaire soupçonné de harcèlement sexuel. Autre accusé, le futur chef de l’armée de terre, Trevor Cadieu. Il a dû renoncer à sa promotion mercredi dernier. » | Par Ludovic Hirtzmann | dimanche 17 octobre 2021

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Canada : les libéraux de Justin Trudeau donnés vainqueurs mais de nouveau minoritaires

Justin Trudeau, avec son épouse, prononce son discours de victoire à l'hôtel Reine Elizabeth de Montréal, le 21 septembre 2021. ANDREJ IVANOV / AFP
LE FIGARO : Après sa réélection, le premier ministre a promis aux Canadiens, dans son allocution de victoire, «un avenir meilleur» une fois que le pays serait «sorti de cette pandémie».

Les libéraux de Justin Trudeau sont en passe de remporter les législatives canadiennes, une demi-victoire toutefois pour le premier ministre sortant qui n'est pas parvenu à redevenir majoritaire à l'issue d'une campagne durant laquelle il a été malmené. D'après les projections des médias canadiens lundi soir, les résultats préliminaires permettent d'affirmer que le parti libéral obtiendrait autour de 155 sièges, sous le seuil des 170 sièges permettant d'obtenir une majorité. Or c'est précisément pour sortir de cette situation qu'il avait déclenché des élections anticipées à la mi-août pour tenter de regagner la majorité qu'il avait perdue deux ans plus tôt. Dans son allocution de victoire, le premier ministre réélu a promis aux Canadiens «un avenir meilleur» une fois le pays «sorti de cette pandémie». » | Par Le Figaro avec AFP | mardi 21 septembre 2021

Les articles suivants portent sur les élections russes et marocaines :

Élections russes: la victoire annoncée du parti de Poutine »

Aziz Akhannouch, milliardaire et premier ministre du Maroc »

KOMMENTAR: Putin und die Macht: Ein gestohlener Sieg ist wenig wert: Russlands Führung kann die Duma auch künftig wie ein willenloses Instrument benutzen. Aber um die Macht abzusichern, muss der Kreml heute grobschlächtiger vorgehen als früher. Das sollte für Putin ein Alarmzeichen sein. »

Im Dienste seiner Majestät: Die Nähe zum Königshaus hat Aziz Akhannouch geholfen, zu einem der reichsten Männer Marokkos zu werden. Jetzt soll er die Geschicke des Landes führen – die Nähe zum König bleibt. »