Montreal police arrest two people in connection with 15-year-old’s opioid overdose

OTTAWA – Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet says he won’t support the Conservatives in their attempt to topple the Liberal government with a non-confidence motion next week.

Blanchet says he works for Quebec, not the Conservatives.

Pierre Poilievre says his non-confidence motion will be debated next week, and a Conservative spokesperson says it will simply state the House has no confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or his government.

Now that the NDP has ended the supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals, the minority government needs to shore up support from opposition parties on a vote-by-vote basis.

The Conservatives would likely need the support of both the Bloc and the NDP to bring down the government.

Blanchet has previously indicated he is willing to vote with the Liberals on confidence motions in exchange for the government green-lighting a Bloc bill about seniors’ pensions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

OTTAWA – Canada abstained today from a high-profile United Nations vote demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank within a year.

Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, told the assembly the motion was too one-sided to support, though he said Ottawa agrees that Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian territories.

This morning’s non-binding vote passed 124-14, and Canada was among 43 abstentions.

The State of Palestine brought the motion to the UN General Assembly, and Israel says the vote amounts to “diplomatic terrorism.”

The resolution is based on a July ruling by the International Court of Justice, which condemned Israel’s rule over lands it captured in 1967 by force, saying this violates international laws.

Last December, Canada stopped its decade-long policy of backing Israel in almost any United Nations vote over concerns about the lack of progress toward a humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

— With files from The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

VANCOUVER – The Pivot Legal Society and the BC Civil Liberties Association say they’ve launched three complaints against the Vancouver Police Department alleging illegal surveillance and police brutality against pro-Palestine protesters.

The association and the society say the complaints stem from the “violent dispersal” of protesters who demonstrated at a Vancouver rail crossing in May.

In a statement, the groups say the two “service and policy” complaints to the Vancouver Police Board involve police actions against “pro-Palestine demonstrators,” where they were allegedly met with “extensive forms of policing violence” and unlawful surveillance tactics through the use of police drones and officer smartphones.

They say another complaint to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner involves VPD Const. Dimitri Sheinerman, who is facing a Police Act investigation after he was photographed with an Israeli flag patch on his uniform with a “punisher” skull.

The groups say the police force has “allowed anti-Palestinian racism to persist within its ranks,” and actions against demonstrators have violated their Charter rights to freedom of expression.

Meghan McDermott, BC Civil Liberties Association policy director, says there have been “systemic rights violations” against people demonstrating for Palestinian human rights due to police bias and “undemocratic practices.”

The Vancouver Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the complaints.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.