A Saskatchewan man faces rare charges under National Parks Wildlife regulations and potential fines of up to $125,000 after allegedly using a slingshot to hurl projectiles at a cougar in Banff National Park.
According to Parks Canada, an eyewitness provided key evidence — a number of photos that wardens used to build the case.
“Using a vehicle description and photos provided by the public, park wardens located the vehicle and arrested the individuals within,” said Parks Canada in a statement to CBC News.
A 40-year-old man from Prince Albert, Sask., has been charged with two offences under National Parks Wildlife Regulations — disturbing an animal in a national park and possession of a loaded firearm outside of a vehicle in a national park, charges that are rarely laid.
Parks Canada said that, under the regulations, a slingshot is considered a firearm.
The charges carry maximum penalties of $25,000 and $100,000.
The arrest happened approximately 25 kilometres east of where the slingshot incident was reported on May 31.
Parks Canada said the cougar was on the wrong side, or the highway side, of a wildlife fence that runs along the Trans-Canada highway near Lake Louise, Alta., when a man used a slingshot and an unknown projectile to “harass” the animal.
It’s unclear how long the incident lasted. Parks Canada said wardens were on scene within 10 minutes of receiving the call.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) said it believes it has strong evidence against the accused.
“Our position is that the evidence exists to establish those things [the offences] beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Tyler Lord, Crown counsel for the PPSC.
Charges in the public interest
Weighing the evidence is key in assessing whether a prosecution will commence, Lord said, but it’s not the only consideration.
“The other aspect is public interest,” he said.
“When it comes to files coming from the national park, there’s very high public interest in things which might seem to be relatively minor, we take a great deal of interest in because Banff National Park is obviously very well visited, it’s known internationally. And, so this kind of allegation is something that I think the public would take very seriously.”
It’s unclear whether the animal was hit or suffered any injuries. Wardens were able to coax it back into the fenced area.
Parks Canada said the animal was not trapped or cornered during the incident, but it was “contained” by the wildlife fence along the highway corridor.
Lord was asked whether the decision to pursue charges is meant to send a message to people who might consider this type of behaviour in a national park.
“If there was a conviction and sentence in this case, that’s when a message would be sent.”
The accused is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Canmore, Alta., in November.
Bryan Labby is an enterprise reporter with CBC Calgary. If you have a good story idea or tip, you can reach him at bryan.labby@cbc.ca or on Twitter at @CBCBryan.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
