Cabinet minister Randy Boissonnault apologizes over Indigenous identity claims

VANCOUVER – Intense flooding that hammered British Columbia’s coast last month has led to more than $110 million in insured damage claims.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says insurers have been working with clients for the last few weeks since the Category 4 atmospheric river caused “significant flood damage” to Metro Vancouver properties in Coquitlam, Burnaby, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Surrey.

The bureau says the intense rainfall and wind — which prompted a local state of emergency in North Vancouver on Oct. 20 — resulted in overflowing rivers, sewer backups, and flooding on roads and in parking garages and basements.

It says that while some residential flood insurance is available, it may be limited or inaccessible to some, forcing them to rely on government disaster financial assistance for their recovery.

About 10 per cent of Canadian households cannot access flood insurance, and the bureau is again calling on the federal government to “fully fund” the National Flood Insurance Program.

It says a national program would provide financial protection to high-risk households, and reduce disaster costs to federal and provincial government treasuries.

“Rather than responding with disaster financial assistance in the aftermath of catastrophes, this program would be a proactive, cost-effective approach to managing the financial toll when disasters strike,” the bureau says in a news release.

“While the federal government has committed to its creation, the program has yet to be fully funded.”

It says insured losses related to severe weather in Canada now routinely exceed $3 billion annually and a new record has been set this year, reaching more than $7.7 billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.

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MONTREAL – Amid heavy criticism across party lines, an opposition member of the provincial legislature is not backing down from comments that his fellow lawmakers say painted them as racist.

Haroun Bouazzi of Québec solidaire has been criticized this week for a speech delivered recently before a community group that works with immigrants.

He told the audience that every day in the national assembly he witnesses “the construction of the other” — which he described as a perception that the cultures of people who are North African, Muslim, Black or Indigenous are dangerous and inferior.

Other political parties said Bouazzi’s remarks equated to labelling members of the national assembly as racist, and there have been calls for him to be sanctioned.

The co-leaders of Bouazzi’s left-leaning Québec solidaire rebuked him on Thursday, saying his comments were “clumsy and exaggerated.”

Bouazzi explained on Thursday that he was trying to express his concern over the daily discourse at the national assembly, which he said seems to point fingers at immigrants and newcomers as the source of many of Quebec’s problems.

In a radio interview Friday, Bouazzi remained unapologetic and singled out members of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and opposition Parti Québécois, who he said blamed immigration for social ills.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The leaders of coalition parties in the Dutch government dominated by hard-right leader Geert Wilders gathered Friday for crisis talks following reports that the finance state secretary was resigning over what she saw as denigrating comments on immigrants after Israeli fans were assaulted after a soccer game in Amsterdam.

Wilders last Wednesday blamed Moroccans for attacks on Israeli soccer fans, claiming that “we saw Muslims hunting Jews” and added it was fueled by ”Moroccans who want to destroy Jews.” He said those convicted of involvement should be deported if they have dual nationality.

Dutch media said that Morocco-born Nora Achahbar of centrist New Social Contract party would announce her resignation as finance secretary later Friday. The news couldn’t immediately be independently confirmed.

While lawmakers condemned antisemitism and agreed that perpetrators of the violence should be prosecuted and handed harsh punishments, opposition legislators accused Wilders of pouring oil on the fire. Wilders, whose party became the biggest in last year’s election, also sowed some dissent within the four-party coalition with his comments.

Late Friday, video and photos appeared of party leaders arriving at the Catshuis residence of Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

The leader of the Green-left-Socialist opposition, Frans Timmermans, lauded Achahbar even before any move was announced.

“In this government, racist remarks are the order of the day. This government is not for all Dutch people,” he said.

Violence erupted in the Dutch capital before and after last week’s soccer match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Fans from both sides were involved in unrest. A number of Maccabi fans chanted anti-Arab slogans and ripped a Palestinian flag off a building, while some men carried out “hit-and-run” attacks on Maccabi fans and people they thought were Jews, according to a 12-page report on the violence issued by Amsterdam authorities.

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