Cyber breach at B.C. First Nations Health Authority exposed TB tests, insurance data

MONTREAL – Some residents of a Mohawk community west of Montreal who are accused by the Quebec government of illegal dumping say they’ve done nothing wrong.

Quebec government lawyers are in Superior Court today seeking a temporary injunction to stop the dumping of contaminated soil and other waste on 17 waterfront properties along the shores of the Lake of Two Mountains in Kanesatake.

They have named 17 defendants, mostly Kanesatake residents, and two excavation companies that did work on the properties where the dumping allegedly occurred.

But lawyers for two of the defendants say it isn’t fair for them to be lumped in with everyone else, since no contaminated soil was found on their land.

One of them is accused of filling in soil along the shoreline on her property, while the other is accused of cutting trees along the shore.

The court case follows months of media coverage and public pressure from community members, who say illegal dumping has been a problem in Kanesatake for years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

MONTREAL – McGill University has agreed to drop a legal challenge of its law faculty’s right to unionize, bringing an official end to a strike during which law professors walked off the job for more than five weeks this fall.

The university and the Association of McGill Professors of Law released a joint statement announcing “a new path forward” for negotiating working conditions for professors across McGill.

The union has agreed to negotiate collective agreements jointly with two other nascent unions in the faculties of arts and education, which had been one of the university’s main demands.

In exchange, McGill will end its judicial review of the law faculty’s union certification, and will stop challenging the certification of the other two unions.

Law professors suspended their strike and returned to classrooms last week, but had threatened to walk out again if a deal with the university was not reached.

The law faculty union was certified in November 2022 by Quebec’s labour tribunal, but has yet to secure its first collective agreement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

VANCOUVER – Members of Vancouver’s Jewish community say they are meeting the anniversary of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that triggered their ongoing war with profound sadness and ongoing unease.

Multiple police and at least one police dog were posted outside the Talmud Torah School on Oak Street as parents dropped off their children.

Allie Saks, who has two children at Talmud Torah, broke down in tears as she described Oct. 7 as a “day of grieving” saying it’s hard to drop off a child at school where they “have to see police in front.”

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt of the nearby Schara Tzedeck Synagogue says the Oct. 7 attack and the community’s reaction are “a little bit akin to the anniversary of 9/11,” referring to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington in 2001.

The synagogue was the scene of an arson attack in May that blackened the temple’s doors.

Rosenblatt says a silver lining has been the response of most Canadians in the last year, and that people are “rediscovering how important it is to feel close and in lock-step with the Jewish community.”

The Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack in Israel killed about 1,200 people while about 250 more were taken hostage.

It triggered an Israeli counteroffensive in the Hamas-held Gaza Strip that the territory’s health ministry says has left more than 41,000 Palestinians dead, and the hostilities have since spilled into nearby Lebanon.

About a hundred of the hostages taken by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack have not been returned.

In a post on social media platform X, BC NDP Leader David Eby says the province’s residents still feel deeply “the pain and sorrow” from Oct. 7 and “stand firmly against violence and its glorification.”

Meanwhile, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad denounced the attack and the ongoing “celebrating the massacre of Jews and glorifying terrorist organizations” by some local protesters and calling for immediate action to crack down on those who “call for violence against minority communities, particularly Jews.”

Provincial Green Leader Sonia Furstenau also issued a written statement, saying that party members “are committed to the safety of all British Columbians and stand firmly against hate in all its forms.”

Vancouver Police have said they are stationing extra officers at faith-based schools today and places of worship.

Among the groups planning rallies and events on Monday is pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, which is promoting its events on social media by referring to the Oct. 7 attacks as “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the Hamas code name for the operation.

Samidoun says the events will include a “teach-in” about the operation and a rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Monday, as well as attending an Oct. 8 court appearance the group says will be made by Samidoun organizer Charlotte Kates.

Samidoun director Kates was arrested last year in a hate-crime investigation after praising the Oct. 7 attack as “heroic and brave” in a speech at a rally.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.