Trade Minister Mary Ng’s office says a planned “Team Canada” trip to India is being put off, giving no details about when it will go ahead.
Ng was scheduled to lead a five-day “Team Canada” trade mission to Mumbai with leaders from Canadian businesses and provinces, leaving on Oct. 9.
The trade mission, the first in Asia under Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy, was focused on boosting Canadian clean-technology companies as a way to help meet India’s need for renewable energy.
The Trade Commissioner Service says the trip would’ve also sought to increase trade in sectors such as automotive, agriculture and value-added food, digital technology, infrastructure and life sciences.
It would’ve also involved networking with Indian business leaders, briefings from senior officials, and key industry players and roundtables with local industry and experts.
A description of the trip posted on the Trade Commissioner Service website noted that India was the fastest-growing major economy in 2022.
“India’s growing strategic, economic and demographic importance in the Indo-Pacific makes it a critical partner in Canada’s pursuit of its objectives under the Indo-Pacific strategy,” reads the online notice meant to entice Canadian business leaders to join Ng’s trip.
Ng was set to meet Friday with her provincial and territorial counterparts as part of recurring trade-minister meetings. The meeting comes days after the Saskatchewan government claimed Ottawa has left provinces in the dark for months over the status of trade talks with India.
This past weekend, India’s foreign ministry expressed “strong concerns” over Sikh separatists in Canada, who want to carve out their own state in India.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Sunday with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in New Delhi.
The summary of the meeting provided by Modi’s office focused heaving on that issue, with nothing to say on trade negotiations with Canada. A written summary published by Trudeau’s office was also silent on that point.
Meanwhile, Ottawa has refused to provide any detailed explanation of why it paused trade talks with India, a move that blindsided business leaders and provinces.
“It’s really important to take a look at the negotiations that have been taking place, and just reflect on it. It’s normal; we do that all the time,” Ng said.
“We always want the best deal for Canadians and I want to make sure that we do that.”
Two weeks ago, Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma told The Canadian Press that Ottawa paused the trade talks, and that he wasn’t aware why.
The Business Council of Canada, which has been pushing for more trade with India, stressed that the two countries benefit from commerce.
“We expect this relationship to continue irrespective of political tensions that may occur from time to time,” wrote the group’s president, Goldy Hyder.
“As we have seen with other bilateral relations, disputes tend to work themselves out. In the meantime, business carries on by strengthening ties and forging new opportunities because trade creates jobs, drives economic growth, and raises living standards for all Canadians.”
New Delhi has long argued that Canada undermines India’s national security through some people in Sikh communities who advocate for part of the Indian state of Punjab to become an independent country.
The Indian government perceives this as an extremist movement and has long accused Canada of harbouring extremists. Ottawa has maintained that freedom of speech means groups can voice political opinions so long as they are not violent.
The issue has become particularly heated this spring over unproven allegations that India had a hand in the shooting death of a Sikh gurdwara leader near Vancouver in June. The RCMP have said they have no evidence of any links to foreign interference and had no reason to believe the Sikh community in Canada is at risk.
New Delhi has argued the claim of interference is groundless, and has complained about posters by the advocacy group Sikhs for Justice seeking the home addresses of Indian diplomats.
On Thursday, that group announced a second grassroots referendum on Khalistan independence, saying the Oct. 29 vote would ask whether Verma is “responsible for the assassination” of temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Speaking last month about posters calling him an “assassin,” Verma said: “There is a reward on my head today by the Khalistani terrorists, and when I look at that, I say, ‘If that is freedom of expression, I do not know which world I’m living in.’”
Also Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly revealed Canada has offered round-the-clock security to India’s diplomats.
“India has been bringing some issues in the past (and) we’ve addressed them particularly when it came to the security and safety of their diplomats. Indian diplomats in Canada have 24/7 security,” Joly said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Liberal caucus retreat in London, Ont., Joly noted Canada has “an important trade relationship” with India.
NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Police in New Glasgow, N.S., say a 44-year-old woman faces fraud charges after funds went missing from the Pictou East Progressive Conservative Association.
New Glasgow Regional Police began the investigation on Oct. 7, after Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston reported that an undisclosed amount of money had gone missing from his riding association’s account.
Police allege that a volunteer who was acting as treasurer had withdrawn funds from the association’s account between 2016 and 2024.
The force says it arrested Tara Amanda Cohoon at her Pictou County, N.S., residence on Oct. 11.
They say investigators seized mobile electronic devices, bank records and cash during a search of the home.
Cohoon has since been released and is to appear in Pictou provincial court on Dec. 2 to face charges of forgery, uttering a forged document, theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000.
Police say their investigation remains ongoing.
Houston revealed the investigation to reporters on Oct. 9, saying he felt an “incredible level of betrayal” over the matter.
The premier also said a volunteer he had known for many years had been dismissed from the association and the party.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
PICTOU, N.S. – A Nova Scotia excavation company has been fined $80,000 after a worker died when scaffolding collapsed on one of its job sites.
In a decision released Wednesday, a Nova Scotia provincial court judge in Pictou, N.S., found the failure by Blaine MacLane Excavation Ltd. to ensure scaffolding was properly installed led to the 2020 death of Jeff MacDonald, a self-employed electrician.
The sentence was delivered after the excavation company was earlier found guilty of an infraction under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Judge Bryna Hatt said in her decision she found the company “failed in its duty” to ensure that pins essential to the scaffolding’s stability were present at the work site.
Her decision said MacDonald was near the top of the structure when it collapsed on Dec. 9, 2020, though the exact height is unknown.
The judge said that though the excavation company did not own the scaffolding present on its job site, there was no evidence the company took steps to prevent injury, which is required under legislation.
MacDonald’s widow testified during the trial that she found her husband’s body at the job site after he didn’t pick up their children as planned and she couldn’t get in touch with him over the phone.
Julie MacDonald described in her testimony how she knew her husband had died upon finding him due to her nursing training, and that she waited alone in the dark for emergency responders to arrive after calling for help.
“My words cannot express how tragic this accident was for her, the children, and their extended family,” Hatt wrote in the sentencing decision.
“No financial penalty will undo the damage and harm that has been done, or adequately represent the loss of Mr. MacDonald to his family, friends, and our community.”
In addition to the $80,000 fine, the New Glasgow-based company must also pay a victim-fine surcharge of $12,000 and provide $8,000 worth of community service to non-profits in Pictou County.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Investigators found the remains of a 77-year-old American man on Wednesday at the scene of a fire that destroyed a hotel in western Newfoundland on the weekend.
Eugene Earl Spoon, a guest at the hotel, was visiting Newfoundland from Kansas. His remains were found Wednesday morning during a search of the debris left behind after the fire tore through the Driftwood Inn in Deer Lake, N.L., on Saturday, the RCMP said in a news release.
“RCMP (Newfoundland and Labrador) extends condolences to the family and friends of the missing man,” the news release said.
Spoon was last seen Friday evening in the community of about 4,800 people in western Newfoundland. The fire broke out early Saturday morning, the day Spoon was reported missing.
Several crews from the area fought the flames for about 16 hours before the final hot spot was put out, and police said Wednesday that investigators are still going through the debris.
Meanwhile, the provincial Progressive Conservative Opposition reiterated its call for a wider review of what happened.
“Serious questions have been raised about the fire, and the people deserve answers,” Tony Wakeham, the party’s leader, said in a news release Wednesday. “A thorough investigation must be conducted to determine the cause and prevent such tragedies in the future.”
The party has said it spoke to people who escaped the burning hotel, and they said alarm and sprinkler systems did not seem to have been activated during the fire. However, Stephen Rowsell, the Deer Lake fire chief, has said there were alarms going off when crews first arrived.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
