OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says China’s attempts to broker peace in Ukraine will likely just help Russia re-arm and prolong the conflict.
In a Monday statement, Joly said the only way to end the war is for Russian President Vladimir Putin to “lay down his weapons and get out of Ukraine,” and accused Moscow of turning to Beijing with a false premise.
“Make no mistake, the Russian regime is looking to buy time to resupply, recruit and re-attack,” Joly said in the statement.
“A ceasefire not predicated on Russia’s withdrawal of their troops from Ukrainian territory would only serve Putin’s agenda by freezing the conflict before his losses become even greater.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Russia, arriving on Monday for peace talks after Beijing laid out a proposal that calls for an end to the conflict, although Xi has no plans to visit Kyiv.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said she wouldn’t comment on Xi’s motives, but said everyone must call out Moscow’s “illegal and barbaric” invasion of Ukraine.
“The people responsible for that invasion are war criminals. Everyone in the world has a responsibility to be very clear about that,” she said at an event in Oshawa, Ont.
“All the countries in the world have an absolutely clear interest in Putin’s war failing, because Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is the strongest challenge in a generation to the rules-based international order.”
Freeland also noted the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant last Friday for Putin to face charges of war crimes.
“Countries that choose to support Russia are supporting war criminals and a war crime,” Freeland said.
Canada and the other countries in the G7 have said since last October that they will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” with humanitarian and military aid.
Yet developing countries have lamented feeling forced to choose sides between Russia’s invasion and the West’s opposition to it.
At last month’s Munich Security Conference, countries such as Colombia argued that the conflict is diverting funding and attention away from the climate crisis, while others such as Namibia said the focus should be on ending the violence instead of assigning blame.
Beijing has argued along the same lines, and accused western powers of escalating the conflict through arms shipments.
“Our position has always been that dialogue and negotiation provides the fundamental way out for the Ukraine crisis, and that the international community needs to play a constructive role,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday.
Wang also rejected reports that the U.S. State Department had found Chinese-made ammunition in Ukraine.
“It is the U.S., not China, that has been sending weapons to the battlefields in Ukraine. The U.S. needs to stop fuelling the fight with more weaponry and fanning the flame, stop pointing fingers at other countries or seeking to coerce and intimidate them, and play a constructive role,” Wang said.
“President Xi’s visit is a trip for friendship, a trip for co-operation and a trip for peace.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2023.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
