An unverified video circulating on social media warns people not to fly on Air India on Nov. 19 because they will be in danger
India has asked Canada to step up security for Air India flights, including those flying out of Vancouver and Toronto, but Canadian authorities have yet to confirm it has put the airports on alert.
An unverified video threat circulating on social media, and reported on by several news outlets in India, warns people not to travel on Air India on Nov. 19 because their lives would be in danger.
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According to a post in the Hindustan Times on Monday, India has asked Canada to step up security on Air India flights following the threat.
The Indian media outlet reported that India’s high commissioner to Ottawa, Sanjay Kumar Verma, said: “We shall take up the threat against Air India flights originating from and terminating in Canada, with the Canadian authorities concerned.”
Travel agencies in Metro Vancouver say the threat has “heightened concern” about flying that day and in general, and that it comes at a time when the industry was slowly getting back to normal after the lifting of India’s ban on processing visas for Canadian travellers to India.
“There haven’t really been (many) cancellations because of the threat,” said Nitin Gaba, director of operations at Gaba Travel, which often helps customers file their visa applications from offices in Vancouver and Abbotsford.
“What complicates things further is that because of the previous visa restriction, this season has been significantly slower.
“The volume of people travelling to India from Vancouver was (already) much smaller than normal.” said Gaba, who said the agency “had just started seeing an uptick once the visas were opened.”
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He said “there’s heightened concern, but generally speaking the threat hasn’t affected travel yet.”
Messages to Air India have not been returned. RCMP E Division in B.C. directed all questions to Canada’s national RCMP media unit, but they have not returned phone calls. Global Affairs Canada and Public Safety Canada have also not commented.
Balwant Singh Gill, president of Khalsa Diwan Society in Surrey and a former president of Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, called the threat “very serious” especially since the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985 remains on the minds of Canadians.
Gill said he would like the Canadian government or RCMP to urge social media companies to remove the video.
It’s “openly promoting terrorism … so this should be taken off social media,” he said. He did not have a message for Sikh people regarding the video but said everyone should take the threat very seriously.
Air India operates several direct flights each week to New Delhi from Vancouver and Toronto airports.
Postmedia has been unable to verify the authenticity of the video.
Nov. 19 is the day India is hosting the final match of the men’s cricket World Cup.
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On June 23, 1985, two bomb-laden suitcases that had been checked in at Vancouver airport — destined for Air India flights — exploded on opposite sides of the globe. The first blew up at Japan’s Narita Airport, killing two baggage handlers. The second brought down Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland about an hour later, killing everyone — including 280 Canadians — on board.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge and a subsequent public inquiry determined the bombings were carried out by Babbar Khalsa, a B.C. group pushing for the independence for India’s Punjab. Three B.C. men were eventually charged in the murderous plot. Two were acquitted and a third pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
— with files from Joseph Ruttle and Kim Bolan
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BELGRADE, Serbia – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is back in the winner’s circle.
The 25-year-old Shapovalov beat Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4 in the Belgrade Open final on Saturday.
It’s Shapovalov’s second ATP Tour title after winning the Stockholm Open in 2019. He is the first Canadian to win an ATP Tour-level title this season.
His last appearance in a tournament final was in Vienna in 2022.
Shapovalov missed the second half of last season due to injury and spent most of this year regaining his best level of play.
He came through qualifying in Belgrade and dropped just one set on his way to winning the trophy.
Shapovalov’s best results this season were at ATP 500 events in Washington and Basel, where he reached the quarterfinals.
Medjedovic was playing in his first-ever ATP Tour final.
The 21-year-old, who won the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF title last year, ends 2024 holding a 9-8 tour-level record on the season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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