English school board says it will file legal challenge of Quebec language law reform

OTTAWA – With a simmering mutiny plot in the backbenches and four more cabinet ministers deciding not to seek re-election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s attempt to right the Liberal ship and stay on as captain is becoming more challenging.

Trudeau is expected to shuffle his cabinet again after the ministers informed the Prime Minister’s Office they won’t be running in the next election.

Filomena Tassi, the minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, announced Thursday she won’t be running for personal reasons.

Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough also issued a statement that she won’t be seeking re-election. She offered few details except to say that it is time for her to move on and she is excited to see what comes next. She also thanked her family and the prime minister.

A senior government source confirmed a report from Radio-Canada Thursday that National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal also won’t be on the ballot.

It’s not clear yet when the shuffle will happen.

It won’t happen before all Liberal caucus members are expected to meet on Parliament Hill on Oct. 23, a meeting that could be quite tense as several Liberal MPs are expected to push Trudeau to resign.

While the loss of several cabinet ministers isn’t good news for Trudeau, Liberal strategist Andrew Perez says the cabinet shuffle may be an opportunity to take the wind out of the sails of the caucus revolt.

“In terms of morale, if he does promote a couple or even four members from the backbench, that could be good,” said Perez, a principal at Perez Strategies.

Trudeau’s leadership has been under fire for months as the government’s polling numbers tanked alongside his approval ratings.

Trudeau has so far been steadfast in his plans to stay on as Liberal leader for the next campaign, which must happen before next October but could happen far sooner with a minority government.

Several media reports have outlined plans by several Liberal MPs to band together in an attempt to convince Trudeau to step down as leader.

It’s not clear how many MPs have signed onto the effort, or how many of those who have signed on plan to run in the next election.

There is no way for caucus to force Trudeau to step aside, but one MP told The Canadian Press on background that some MPs are discussing the possibility of calling for a secret ballot vote on his leadership at Wednesday’s caucus meeting.

Holding a leadership race with the precariousness of parliament at the moment would be risky, but if Trudeau did decide to step down he could take the controversial step of proroguing parliament in order to give the Liberals time to elect a new leader, Perez said.

In a statement on social media, Tassi expressed her support for the prime minister.

“I wish him the very best now and in the future. I believed in him in 2015 and I believe in him now,” she said.

Tassi, who was procurement minister in 2022, asked the prime minister to shuffle her into a smaller portfolio at the time for family reasons.

Since then, Trudeau has held three shuffles, including a major shakeup in the summer of 2023 that saw seven ministers leave the cabinet table.

Most of the ministers who were dropped in that shuffle had announced they wouldn’t run again, with the exception of then public safety minister Marco Mendicino and justice minister David Lametti.

Lametti resigned his seat months later, and the NDP won it from the Liberals in the following byelection.

Former labour minister Seamus O’Regan resigned from cabinet in July for family reasons, and former transport minister Pablo Rodriguez left last month to seek the Quebec Liberal leadership.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

— With files from David Cummings

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia cabinet minister says the cost of removing huge moorings abandoned in the harbour entrance of a Bay of Fundy community likely won’t be covered by a deposit left by a bankrupt tidal energy firm.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton told reporters today the $20,000 security deposit from Occurrent Power is “not a lot of money,” and he fears it won’t be enough to carry away the concrete-filled railcars used as anchors.

The railcars with chains attached were left in the staging area near Walton, N.S., after the company declared bankruptcy Aug. 29.

The province says it is in the process of hiring a company to install buoys to mark the four boxcars that become submerged at high tide, and Rushton has promised they will eventually be removed.

Transport Canada determined last month the train cars pose a navigational hazard to boaters because when the tides rise in the channel, they are just metres beneath the surface.

The trustee overseeing the company’s bankruptcy has said the provincial government is expected to pay to relocate the railcars and would then become a creditor in the bankruptcy proceedings.

A statement sent to creditors says the firm has $35.7 million in liabilities and about $14 million in assets.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources said last month that the $20,000 security deposit was established in 2022 and was deemed sufficient at that time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

MONTREAL – An SUV was torched Thursday in the suburban driveway of a lawyer who owns two Old Montreal buildings that have burned down in the past two years and left nine people dead.

Police did not identify the owner of the home, but city property records show that the residence in the Montreal suburb of Dorval belongs to Emile Benamor.

The vandalism to the vehicle is the third criminal incident reported this month involving property owned by Benamor, and the fourth since March 2023.

Police have not said if the events are linked. Attempts to reach Benamor on Thursday were unsuccessful, but Montreal police said last week that he has been co-operating with the investigation into the Old Montreal fires.

Benamor owns a century-old Notre-Dame Street East building that went up in flames on Oct. 4, claiming the lives of a mother and daughter from France.

Léonor Geraudie, 43, and her seven-year-old daughter Vérane Reynaud Geraudie had been staying at a hostel in the three-storey building that had a restaurant on the ground floor.

Justin Fortier-Trahan, 20, and Juventino Hernandez Pelaez, 18, were charged with second-degree murder and arson over the weekend. They were also charged with arson causing bodily harm in connection to another man injured in the fire, and recklessly endangering life by damaging a property by fire or explosion.

The case is due back in court on Friday.

Benamor also owns a heritage property on nearby Place D’Youville that was allegedly set on fire in March 2023, leading to the deaths of seven people. Investigators have classified the deaths as homicides.

The victims in that blaze were identified as Camille Maheux, 76; An Wu, 31; Dania Zafar, 31; Saniya Khan, 31; Nathan Sears, 35; Charlie Lacroix and Walid Belkahla, both 18.

No arrests have been made in the 2023 blaze, but police have said they have submitted the results of their investigation to the Crown to determine if charges will be laid. A coroner’s inquest has been ordered into the fatal fires.

On Oct. 8, a building owned by Benamor that houses his law office was hit by gunfire, with Montreal police arresting three suspects — aged 17, 19 and 20 — shortly after.

On Thursday, police said emergency services were called at around 3 a.m. about a vehicle on fire in the driveway of a residence on Whitehead Crescent.

Police say a gas canister was found at the scene.

“The suspect fled on foot before the police arrived,” said Const. Véronique Dubuc, a police spokeswoman.

A Montreal fire department spokeswoman says no one was injured and the flames did not spread to the home, but the vehicle is a total loss.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.