Most Canadians believe China did try to interfere in elections: poll | Canada News Media
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Most Canadians believe China did try to interfere in elections: poll

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A majority of Canadians believe China attempted to interfere in recent federal elections and want to see stronger measures to prevent foreign meddling, a new poll suggests, adding to the growing calls for Ottawa to take action.

The new poll from the Angus Reid Institute, released Wednesday, also found 53 per cent of those surveyed believe the Liberal government has not been strong enough in responding to China’s alleged interference attempts, and even more (64 per cent) want more focus on national security and defence.

“The response over the last couple of weeks from Ottawa … is not necessarily washing with Canadians, or at least with a really significant segment of them,” said Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute.

“More than half of them are saying, ‘No, this alleged interference represents a serious threat to Canadian democracy.’”

Over the last number of weeks, Global News and The Globe and Mail have revealed detailed reports showing the scope of China’s alleged efforts to influence Canadian society, including allegations of attempts to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections.

On Tuesday, a report commissioned by an independent panel tasked with reviewing the 2021 federal vote concluded there was no foreign interference that “threatened Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election.” But it also warned there were attempts to interfere in the election that didn’t meet the panel’s threshold for reporting those attempts to the public.

Despite the mounting allegations, Trudeau so far has not clearly answered questions about calls for a public inquiry into the matter, despite calls from prominent officials to do so.

The Angus Reid Institute poll, which was conducted in late February, did not ask Canadians about a public inquiry. But Kurl did note the data is consistent with a growing distrust among some Canadians in their democratic institutions.

She pointed to ARI polling from last February that suggested 34 per cent of voters believed free and fair elections were getting weaker in Canada, compared with just 23 per cent who said the opposite.

The poll released Wednesday found nearly a quarter of Canadians surveyed — including 42 per cent of Conservative voters — believe the 2021 election was “stolen” because of China’s interference, despite media reports making clear the ridings allegedly targeted by Beijing were not enough to sway the overall results. Just under half of respondents disagreed the election was stolen.

“In the absence of transparency, we run the risk of greater distrust, of conspiracies, of more disinformation and misinformation,” Kurl said.

“The last thing that this country can afford is to see a greater deterioration in trust in democracy and the tenets of democracy.”

Over half of Canadians are following developments of alleged Chinese election interference closely in the media, the poll suggests.

Alleged Chinese election interference is a serious threat to Canada’s democracy, a sentiment that 53 per cent of Canadians surveyed agreed with and that is shared by a majority or a plurality of respondents from all political parties and nearly all demographics. Only young women aged 18 to 34 were less willing to say so, with 44 per cent saying they were not sure.

The same is true of the overall belief that China attempted to interfere in recent elections. Respondents in British Columbia and Ontario — where much of the alleged interference efforts took place — and the Conservative strongholds of Alberta and Saskatchewan were more likely to agree than those in other provinces.

While fewer Liberal voters (30 per cent) agreed the response to China’s alleged actions by the Trudeau government is not strong enough than those who said it’s about right (66 per cent), just over half agreed there’s not enough of a focus being paid on national security and defence.

Nearly half of Liberal voters (46 per cent) also said they believe Ottawa is afraid to stand up to China, compared with 62 per cent of NDP voters and 91 per cent of Conservatives.

Overall, 69 per cent of Canadians said they felt this way.

Yet 46 per cent of Canadians also said they are worried about the economic consequences of standing up to Beijing — although Kurl noted that’s down 12 points from when the same question was asked a year ago.

Canada continues to have a lucrative trading relationship with China. Statistics Canada says last year, imports from China surpassed $100 billion for the first time to set a new record.

Yet Canada has signalled, through its new Indo-Pacific strategy released last year, that it is willing to sacrifice growth and even lessen Chinese trade and investment in favour of other partners in the region in order to counter Beijing’s rise.

Kurl suggested the Canadian public may also be willing to make that shift in the name of security.

“Each incident, each crisis, each drama … that affects Canada-China relations further serves to chip away at people who would be inclined to say that economic primacy comes first above all others,” she said, pointing to everything from the detentions of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor to the recent flyover of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.

Those and other issues are “leading Canadians to be increasingly in a place where they’re still saying, ‘Look, the economic relationship is important, but sovereignty, security, defence is important too,’” she added.

The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from Feb. 23 to 25, 2023, among a representative randomized sample of 1,622 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. The survey was self-commissioned and paid for by ARI.

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Safety board calls for changes two years after Nova Scotia fisherman’s death at sea

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HALIFAX – An investigation into how the Canadian Coast Guard responded to a Nova Scotia vessel in distress two years ago raises questions about why one fisherman died after a towing operation went awry. 

In an investigation report released Thursday, the Transportation Safety Board says the fishing boat Mucktown Girl was returning to Canso, N.S., with five crew aboard on March 11, 2022, when it was disabled by electrical problems. 

The captain called for a tow from the coast guard as a storm was closing in.

After a seven-hour voyage, the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Jean Goodwill reached the drifting boat and attached a 300-metre tow line to the smaller vessel’s bollard. But as the weather turned rough, the bollard broke off six hours into the recovery mission.

At that point, the decision was made to let the fishing crew ride out the storm aboard the Mucktown Girl rather than attach another tow line that could damage the boat.

By 6 a.m. on March 13, wind speeds had reached 70 to 90 kilometres per hour. The waves were as high as 10 metres — twice the height of the fishing boat, which was then taking on water. Crew aboard Jean Goodwill relayed the mayday distress call from the fishing boat, which was 44 kilometres from shore.

Minutes later, amid heavy rain and dense fog, the five fishermen donned immersion suits and jumped into a life raft. In response, the coast guard crew lowered a scramble net — a type of rope ladder — over the side of the 77-metre medium icebreaker. 

But the water was so rough, the net was washed back onto the ship several times. And as the ship rolled in the big swells, two coast guard crew members were injured and a number of others were almost swept overboard.

“As a result of the environmental conditions, communications broke down and affected the co-ordination of the (rescue effort),” the report says.

At the time, the air temperature was about 12 C, but the water temperature was only 4 C.

Four of the fishermen, including the captain, jumped from the life raft into the frothing water and managed to climb the ladder to safety. But the fifth crewman, 35-year-old Jeremy Hart of Windsor Junction, N.S., drifted to the stern of the coast guard ship and disappeared.

The father of two boys was pulled from the water five hours later by the crew aboard a Cormorant search and rescue helicopter, but he was later declared dead at a Cape Breton hospital.

The report from the independent safety board says there are no Canadian regulations for the towing points on fishing vessels.  

“Without specific guidance for assessing the risks to the towed vessel and its crew, the (coast guard) may underestimate risks and tow vessels with crew on board in hazardous conditions, resulting in an increased likelihood of injuries and loss of life,” the report says. 

But the report does not call for any changes, aside from updating the coast guard’s towing waiver, which explains the responsibilities of those involved and the risks.

More importantly, the report highlights the fact that once the bollard broke, it became clear there were no plans in place to remove the crew from the fishing boat.

“Without comprehensive contingency planning for towing disabled vessels, risks to rescuers as well as crews of vessels under tow may be increased,” the report says.

The safety board’s investigation found that the coast guard’s search and rescue (SAR) training typically involves the use of small, fast-rescue craft rather than larger vessels like the Jean Goodwill. 

“There is limited vessel-specific SAR training such as the use of scramble nets,” the report says. “(This) training does not reflect the realistic conditions and equipment in a rescue operation, where factors can change unpredictably. For example, training is carried out in good weather only, and in … overboard exercises, only one person at a time needs rescue.”

As for the scramble net, the report says it was not suitable for the deplorable conditions that faced the coast guard crew in 2022.

“Although scramble nets do not have specified restrictions for use, they are difficult to climb in rough conditions,” the board says. “They are also difficult to climb in an immersion suit, even in calm weather, and are not usable if a person is injured or incapacitated.”

That’s why the coast guard has already installed a so-called rescue scoop on the Jean Goodwill. The hydraulic device uses an extendable arm to dip a scramble net into the water on its side, allowing the operator to scoop up victims.

The device has been used on other coast guard vessels in the past, and the federal agency is looking at acquiring more. 

“Without emergency drills using realistic scenarios, and their subsequent evaluation, vessel crews may not have the most effective equipment and may not be well prepared to use it in the safest and most effective manner,” the report says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.



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Alberta pitches new rules for auto insurance, including rate hikes, no-fault claims

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EDMONTON – The Alberta government is making changes to auto insurance, including rate hikes and switching to a predominantly no-fault claims model.

Premier Danielle Smith announced the changes at a news conference in the legislature.

Under the new system, car accident victims in most cases won’t be able to sue the party responsible for their injury and, instead, insurers would pay compensation at rates set by the government. 

By cutting down litigation costs, the government estimates that when the new system is in place in 2027, it could lead to savings of up to $400 per year for the average insurance premium. 

It’s also promising better support and benefits for those hurt in collisions. 

Until the new model kicks in, insurers would be allowed to raise rates for good drivers up to 7.5 per cent each year, starting in January. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Third deer infected with chronic wasting disease in B.C.

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VICTORIA – A new case of chronic wasting disease, an incurable illness that has the potential to decimate deer populations, has been identified in British Columbia. 

The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says the discovery of the infection in a white-tailed deer hunted in the Kootenay region last month brings the total number of confirmed cases in the province to three, after two cases were confirmed in February. 

It says testing by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency lab confirmed the latest infection on Wednesday.

The ministry says the new case occurred within two kilometres of one of the earlier infections in a white-tailed deer near Cranbrook.

Wasting disease affects deer, elk, moose and caribou. It attacks their central nervous system and causes cell death in the brain.

The ministry says there is no treatment or vaccine and the disease is always fatal.

The ministry says there is no direct evidence the disease can be transmitted to humans, but Health Canada recommends people do not eat meat from an infected animal, since cooking is not able to destroy the abnormal protein that causes the illness. 

In July, the B.C. government introduced mandatory testing for the disease in deer, elk and moose killed in certain zones in the Kootenay region.

The first two cases identified in B.C. were a male mule deer killed by a hunter and a female white-tailed deer killed in a road accident.

Other steps included removing urban deer from Cranbrook and Kimberley.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024. 

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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