Inquest to begin in N.B. police shooting of Indigenous woman during wellness check

An investigator gave the World Anti-Doping Agency a pass on its handling of the inflammatory case involving Chinese swimmers, but not without hammering away at the “curious” nature of WADA’s “silence” after examining Chinese actions that did not follow rules designed to safeguard global sports.

WADA on Thursday released the full decision from Eric Cottier, the Swiss investigator it appointed to analyze its handling of the case involving the 23 Chinese swimmers who remained eligible despite testing positive for performance enhancers in 2021.

In echoing wording from an interim report issued earlier this summer, Cottier said it was “reasonable” that WADA chose not to appeal the Chinese anti-doping agency’s explanation that the positives came from contamination.

“Taking into consideration the particularities of the case, (WADA) appears … to have acted in accordance with the rules it has itself laid out for anti-doping organizations,” Cottier wrote.

But peppered throughout his granular, 56-page analysis of the case was evidence and reminders of how WADA disregarded some of China’s violations of anti-doping protocols. Cottier concluded this happened more for the sake of expediency than to show favoritism toward the Chinese.

“In retrospect at least, the Agency’s silence is curious, in the face of a procedure that does not respect the fundamental rules, and its lack of reaction is surprising,” Cottier wrote of WADA’s lack of fealty to the world anti-doping code.

Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and one of WADA’s fiercest critics, latched onto this dynamic, saying Cottier’s information “clearly shows that China did not follow the rules, and that WADA management did nothing about it.”

One of the chief complaints over the handling of this case was that neither WADA nor the Chinese gave any public notice upon learning of the positive tests for the banned heart medication Temozolomide, known as TMZ.

The athletes also were largely kept in the dark and the burden to prove their innocence was taken up by Chinese authorities, not the athletes themselves, which runs counter to what the rulebook demands.

Despite the criticisms, WADA generally welcomed the report.

“Above all, (Cottier) reiterated that WADA showed no bias towards China and that its decision not to appeal the cases was reasonable based on the evidence,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said. “There are however certainly lessons to be learned by WADA and others from this situation.”

Tygart said “this report validates our concerns and only raises new questions that must be answered.”

Cottier expanded on doubts WADA’s own chief scientist, Olivier Rabin, had expressed over the Chinese contamination theory — snippets of which were introduced in the interim report. Rabin was wary of the idea that “a few micrograms” of TMZ found in the kitchen at the hotel where the swimmers stayed could be enough to cause the group contamination.

“Since he was not in a position to exclude the scenario of contamination with solid evidence, he saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities,” Cottier wrote.

Though recommendations for changes had been expected in the report, Cottier made none, instead referring to several comments he’d made earlier in the report.

Key among them were his misgivings that a case this big was largely handled in private — a breach of custom, if not the rules themselves — both while China was investigating and after the file had been forwarded to WADA. Not until the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD reported on the positives were any details revealed.

“At the very least, the extraordinary nature of the case (23 swimmers, including top-class athletes, 28 positive tests out of 60 for a banned substance of therapeutic origin, etc.), could have led to coordinated and concerted reflection within the Agency, culminating in a formal and clearly expressed decision to take no action,” the report said.

WADA’s executive committee established a working group to address two more of Cottier’s criticisms — the first involving what he said was essentially WADA’s sloppy recordkeeping and lack of formal protocol, especially in cases this complex; and the second a need to better flesh out rules for complex cases involving group contamination.

___

AP Summer Olympics:

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom – Canada’s top male tennis players have defeated Finland 3-0 in the group stage of the Davis Cup Final.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., beat Eero Vasa 7-6 (2), 6-2 in Tuesday’s first singles match. Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime then dispatched Otto Virtanen 6-2, 6-3 in the second singles match.

With the tie already won thanks to the two singles victories, Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime teamed up to best Virtanen and Harri Heliovaara 6-2, 7-5 in doubles play.

There was an element of revenge after Canada lost to Finland in last year’s quarterfinals.

“Everybody’s in good spirits, so it’s very good,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Any motivation is good, but I think it’s a different year, a different time, and (last year’s loss) was behind us. This year we have a full team and everybody’s playing better than last year. Everybody’s improved.”

It’s the second consecutive group-stage tie Canada has won after beating Argentina 2-1 on Tuesday. Canada, the lone seeded team in Group D, will face host Great Britain on Sunday.

Four groups of teams are playing in four cities this week to qualify for the eight-team Finals in Malaga, Spain, in November. The top two countries in each four-team group advance.

Since Canada’s undefeated after two opponents in the group stage, it is set to advance to the Davis Cup Finals.

“Couldn’t ask for more today, super proud of the team,” said captain Frank Dancevic. “Great team spirit, amazing bench team spirit, and fans pushing us through the day.”

It is Canada’s fifth consecutive appearance in the Davis Cup Finals, having won its only title in 2022. The Canadians defeated South Korea 3-1 in February’s Davis Cup qualifiers in Montreal to reach the group stage of the finals.

— With files from The Associated Press.

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

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

TORONTO – The Toronto Transit Commission is ending free public Wi-Fi at its subway stations at the end of the year, citing a steep drop in rider usage along with reliability, security and cost concerns.

The decision, first reported by the Toronto Star, comes as Rogers Communications Inc. continues its installation of 5G cellular service throughout the subway network, enabling passengers to call, text or browse the internet using their data.

TTC spokesman Stuart Green said the transit agency has seen a 65 per cent drop in use of the TConnect Wi-Fi system since 5G connectivity for all carriers was introduced. He added there are “concerns about the age of the technology and infrastructure” related to performance and security.

“When comparing subway trips to total logins, we know TConnect is only being used on two per cent of trips,” Green said in an email.

“We continue to work with Rogers to get the 5G network fully built out and we’ll explore opportunities to enhance connectivity on the TTC and improve the customer experience in the process.”

Rogers spokeswoman Sarah Schmidt said the company had proposed options to the TTC to update or replace the Wi-Fi equipment last year when it acquired the Canadian operations of BAI Communications, the company originally contracted to develop a wireless network in the subway system.

But the transit agency “decided not to expand the agreement to maintain, modernize or rebuild the Wi-Fi infrastructure at its end of life,” she said in a statement.

“This is a TTC decision. The Wi-Fi infrastructure at subway stations has reached its end of life and usage has dropped dramatically since we started rolling out 5G in the subway system.”

Schmidt added that when BAI Canada launched the Wi-Fi service at subway stations in December 2013, the service was not part of its contract with the TTC. She said BAI planned to manage and fund the Wi-Fi service through advertising “but there was a chronic under-investment over the years.”

Green said it would have cost $17 million to upgrade the infrastructure to improve performance and security issues which “does not feel like a wise investment.”

“We think our customers would rather see that money spent on our core business — safe and reliable transit service,” he said, adding the TTC plans to inform riders about the change over the coming months.

“Given these reasons, we are comfortable with the decision to let the service expire by the end of the year.”

Since late last year, Rogers’ cellular network has been available to passengers regardless of their carrier in every subway station, along with tunnels mostly concentrated downtown between St. George, Bloor-Yonge and Union stations.

Tunnel service is also available between Sheppard West and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre stations.

In May, the company announced it had launched the next phase of the build in the remaining 36 kilometres of unconnected TTC subway tunnels. Schmidt said Rogers expects to share an update on progress of that work later this fall.

Despite fewer riders using TConnect as the 5G build ramps up, the public Wi-Fi network still had immense value to low-income transit customers, said Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of the TTCriders advocacy group.

She called it a “very disappointing” decision to wind down the service.

“People can’t afford cellphone plans and rely on public Wi-Fi to communicate on really long TTC trips,” Pizey-Allen said.

“We know that most TTC users are lower income, shift workers and women … and so we have to make sure that this public service is available for people who need it the most.”

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

Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.