Federal government launching research institute for AI safety

MONTREAL – A Quebec civil liberties group says it intends to push forward with legal action after the Supreme Court of Canada responded to its translation demand by simply removing thousands of unilingual English judgments from its website last week.

Droits collectifs Québec said the court’s decision to delete the rulings doesn’t resolve the issues it raised. “Our intention is to continue the proceedings which, in our eyes, are still relevant at this time, despite this somewhat desperate gesture made by the Supreme Court,” Étienne-Alexis Boucher, the group’s executive director, said in an interview.

The organization had gone to Federal Court alleging the high court’s registrar — the court’s administrative body — was not respecting the Official Languages Act. It was seeking a public apology, a judgment from the court, official translations of the English-only decisions within three years, and $1 million in exemplary damages to be shared with groups working to preserve the French language.

More than 6,000 decisions from before 1970, when rulings started to be systemically translated under the Official Languages Act, had been posted on the Supreme Court’s website in English only.

On Friday, the registrar announced it was removing all pre-1970 judgments from the Supreme Court website, directing people to other online databases if they wished to consult them. The court’s Chief Justice Richard Wagner said in June that the pre-1970 rulings were primarily of historical interest and the cost of translating them would be prohibitive.

The registrar said Friday that although the judgments were taken down, it would begin translating the “most historically or jurisprudentially significant” decisions from before 1970.

The Federal Court application involves decisions that were rendered between 1877 and the September 1969 entry into force of the Official Languages Act, which obliges federal institutions to publish content in English and in French. It came after the court failed to respond to a ruling from official languages commissioner Raymond Théberge declaring that decisions published on the court’s website must be available in both official languages.

Théberge agreed that the law doesn’t apply retroactively, but he said posting earlier decisions without translating them amounted to an offence under the act, and he gave the high court 18 months to correct the situation.

On Tuesday, Théberge said in a statement that he was aware of the Supreme Court’s “new approach on publishing judgments on their website” and said his office will continue to monitor developments in the matter.

François Larocque, a University of Ottawa professor who researches language rights, said that under 2023 reforms to the Official Languages Act, the commissioner has the power to propose a compliance agreement if institutions don’t follow his recommendations.

He said the removal of the unilingual decisions reflects short-term compliance.

“The spirit of the recommendation was something different … it was about making the entirety of the court’s jurisprudence available to both legal audiences in Canada: the French and English legal audience,” Larocque said.

“By removing all the decisions, essentially they’re levelling down, right? Instead of making all the decisions available in both languages, you’re just going to remove the offending ones and no one gets them on the Supreme Court website.”

Larocque said access to translated versions are important, as some of the cases are still cited regularly as jurisprudence.

He said he “vehemently” disagrees with the chief justice’s characterization that the rulings are just of historical interest. “Those decisions, even though they’re not necessarily cited every day, are still important. They are the law of the land until they are explicitly overruled by a subsequent decision,” Larocque said.

The decisions are also pedagogical tools for law professors and having them in French is important.

“I think that’s the right way to view all those decisions as being part of the fabric of our legal system,” Larocque said. “Everything the Supreme Court has ever done, I consider it to be important.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

— With files from Pierre Saint-Arnaud in Montreal.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Tributes to former British Columbia premier John Horgan are flowing after his death on Tuesday at the age of 65.

Here are some of them:

“John embodied kindness and courage. He was a fighter. He will be celebrated for his leadership and the progress he made on so many important issues. Above all, we will remember how John made us feel. His warmth. His positivity. His ability to connect with people irrespective of their politics or beliefs. John leaves behind a profound legacy that will inspire us for generations to come.”

— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“His many accomplishments as premier will be felt for years and generations to come. His achievements are too numerous to mention, but he was a consequential premier at a critical time in our history. He encouraged all of us to strive to be our better selves.”

— B.C. Premier David Eby

“John was not just a colleague in public service but a man of genuine warmth and integrity. … His approachable nature and willingness to engage in open dialogue were qualities that I admired greatly. He had a way of making everyone feel heard, regardless of their stance or background.”

— B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad

“I had the privilege of working with John and always admired his ability to build bridges and work with people of every political stripe. … He leaves behind an enormous legacy that he and his family can be proud of.”

— Ontario Premier Doug Ford

“He was an incredible leader and a dear friend — a pillar of our movement — who made life better for working people. John always put the needs of others first. I am heartbroken to lose him. Rest in peace my friend. “

— NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh

“Public life takes every ounce of your attention, of your heart, and of your time. There is no doubt that Horgan’s commitment to British Columbia and his dedication to public service have left an enduring legacy.”

— Former BC Liberal premier Christy Clark

“Fighting for people wasn’t something John did, it was who he was. … He genuinely loved the people of our province, and connected with people from all walks of life.”

— B.C. NDP president Aaron Sumexheltza

“John dedicated his life to serving our province. He loved British Columbia and its people dearly.”

— B.C. Green Leader Sonia Furstenau

“John led with integrity, and his commitment to the people of this province, his compassion, and his sense of humour will be deeply missed.”

— Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim

“John Horgan spent most of his adult life devoted to public service. His was a down-to-earth and reliable voice in support of B.C.’s working people — always focused on standing up for regular folks.”

— Former Alberta NDP premier Rachel Notley

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

The teenager who tested positive for bird flu in British Columbia is in critical condition and “experiencing acute respiratory distress” while being treated at B.C. Children’s Hospital, the provincial health officer says.

Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday contact tracing being conducted has not identified anyone else linked to the case of the teen who has fallen ill.

Henry said it’s very likely that the infection — the first presumptive human case of avian flu contracted in Canada — was set off by exposure to either a sick animal or something in the environment.

“Having said that, I must caution that there is a very real possibility we may not ever determine a source,” she said. “But at this point, we have a number of leads that we’re following, and we will be tracking down every one.”

The teen, who lives in the Fraser Health region south of Metro Vancouver, first reported symptoms on Nov. 2 and was admitted to hospital on Nov. 8 as their condition worsened.

Henry said the sick teen was not on a farm, and there are no obvious links or contacts to commercial poultry flocks to quickly determine the exact source of the infection.

B.C. is currently facing another wave of avian flu infections in commercial poultry operations, with Henry saying about 26 premises are currently affected.

Infections among commercial flocks have jumped in recent weeks as migratory birds fly south for winter through the region, which Henry said coincides with the current wave of avian flu infections that is concentrated in the Fraser Valley.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said about 6.4 million birds in B.C.’s domestic flocks have been impacted by the avian flu since the spring of 2022.

Henry said 12 other people have been tested for avian flu, including medical workers who came into contact with the teen, whose gender has not be disclosed.

The provincial health officer said that infection in a human — caused by the H5N1 strain of avian influenza — is rare, with the only other case recorded in Canada being in Alberta in 2014 discovered in a person who likely contracted the virus while travelling in China.

Health Canada said that person died from the infection.

Henry said there have been 46 confirmed cases of H5N1 infections in the United States this year, but the vast majority of them were cattle workers in California, Oregon and Washington who were likely infected by the virus being transmitted from birds to dairy cows then to humans.

Infections take place when the virus is inhaled, and Henry said cases show human-to-human transmissions have been rare and infections appear to pose the highest danger to younger people.

“So, what does this mean for most people here in British Columbia? We don’t see right now that there’s a risk of a lot of people being sick,” Henry said.

“One of the important things that we need to do right now — recognizing that this virus is circulating in wildfowl, so geese and ducks primarily — is to be sure that if you’re in contact with sick birds or dead birds, that you don’t touch them directly,” she added.

“Keep pets away from them. … There was recently a dog, for example, in Ontario that became infected by eating a dead bird or biting a dead bird. And if the dog becomes infected, they can pass it on to humans as well.”

Those who find dead birds on their property are asked to contact the BC Wild Bird Mortality Line, while suspected infections in pets should be treated by a veterinarian or the BC Animal Health Centre.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.