Politics
Politics Briefing: Ripudaman Singh Malik, man acquitted in 1985 Air India bombing, shot dead in Surrey, B.C. – The Globe and Mail
Hello,
One of two men acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing was shot and killed in British Columbia on Thursday morning, according to media reports.
RCMP say they responded to reports of gunfire in an area of the city of Surrey, southeast of Vancouver, and located a man suffering from gunshot wounds.
“The man was provided first aid by attending officers until Emergency Health Services took over his care. The injured man succumbed to his injuries on scene, “ according to a statement from RCMP Constable Sarbjit Sangha.
The constable said the shooting was targeted, and a suspect vehicle fully engulfed in fire was found nearby.
Reports say the deceased man is Ripudaman Singh Malik, who owned a business in the area.
Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were arrested in 2000 and acquitted in 2005 on charges of murder in the deaths of 329 people – most of them Canadians – killed on June 23, 1985, when Flight 182 en route from Canada to India via England crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
The plane was brought down by a bomb.
The pair were also charged with the murder of two men killed at Tokyo’s Narita airport 54 minutes before the attack on Flight 182. The prosecution alleged the men were part of a conspiracy to plant bombs on Air India flights.
In handing down the acquittal, a B.C. Supreme Court justice ruled that witnesses testifying against the pair were not credible and testimony from several RCMP officers did not meet the standard required by the court.
Inderjit Singh Reyat was the only person ever convicted in the Air India bombing, in 1991, of manslaughter in the deaths of two baggage handlers who were killed at Tokyo’s Narita Airport when a suitcase bomb destined for the Air India flight blew up. He served 10 years for that crime. He also got five years for another manslaughter charge in the Air India bombing. Then, in 2010, he was convicted of perjury for lying to the court during the trial of Mr. Malik and Mr. Bagri.
He was sentenced to nine years for perjury, the longest such sentence ever given in Canada, although he was given credit for time served awaiting trial. His sentence began on Jan. 7, 2011 and he was released in 2016.
The Air India attack, considered the largest mass killing and worst act of terrorism in Canada, has been a tragedy that has enmeshed successive federal governments for decades.
In 2005, Liberal prime minister Paul Martin attended a memorial service in Ireland with families of the victims. Also in 2005, former Ontario premier Bob Rae, now Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, was appointed to look into whether the federal government should call a public inquiry over the Air India investigation and prosecution. Mr. Rae eventually recommended a focused inquiry.
In 2006, the federal Conservative government of Stephen Harper appointed former Supreme Court Justice John Major to conduct a commission of inquiry, which, released in 2010, said errors by the government, RCMP and CSIS allowed the attack to occur.
Mr. Harper issued a public apology for “institutional failings” and the treatment of the victims’ families. “The protection of its citizens is the first obligation of government. The mere fact of the destruction of Air India Flight 182 is the primary evidence that something went very, very wrong,” Mr. Harper told a ceremony in Toronto in June, 2010.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
MANDATORY RANDOM TRAVELLERS TESTING TO RESUME – The federal government says mandatory random testing of travellers arriving at its four main airports will start again next week. Story here.
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‘SWIFT JUSTICE” NEEDED, VICTIMS TELL POPE – Quebec victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy members are calling on Pope Francis to deliver “swift justice” to them ahead of his visit to Canada at the end of the month. Story here. Meanwhile, the federal government announced on Wednesday more than $30-million in new funding to support Indigenous communities and organizations during the upcoming papal visit. Story here from CBC.
INVESTIGATIONS INTO SEX ASSAULT REOPENED BY HOCKEY CANADA – Hockey Canada is reopening investigations into 2018 sexual-assault allegations involving members of the country’s 2018 world junior team. Story here.
FIRST VACCINE APPROVED FOR INFANTS AND PRESCHOOLERS – Canada’s drug regulator approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for infants and preschoolers, making it the first vaccine approved for that age group in the country. Story here.
INTEREST RATE INCREASE TO DEEPEN HOUSING CHILL – The Bank of Canada’s interest rate increase is expected to deepen the chill in the country’s housing market and reinforce the view that property values will decline. Story here. There’s a Globe and Mail Explainer here on how the Bank of Canada’s interest-rate hike affects variable rate mortgages.
OTTAWA RESIDENTS RECOUNT CONVOY PROTEST EXPERIENCES – The second day of the city’s public hearings into the convoy protest was dominated by people describing how they were harmed by the blockade of downtown streets last winter and frustrated by the failure of authorities to end it. “I was in the Soviet Union when it collapsed in December, 1991. Walking on Wellington Street during the convoy occupation gave me flashbacks to that experience,” said Andrea Chandler, who has lived and worked in Ottawa for 30 years. Story here from the Ottawa Citizen.
EX CONSERVATIVE STAFFER CHARGED WITH MISCHIEF TO DATA – The RCMP says former Conservative staffer Dion Ahwai has been charged with mischief to data, which sources say is related to an investigation of an alleged theft of materials from Erin O’Toole’s Zoom account during the 2020 leadership race. Story here.
KING AWAITS BAIL OUTCOME – “Freedom Convoy” organizer Pat King is waiting to hear whether he will be released on bail, with a bail review set to continue for a second day Thursday. Story here.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Regina. Roman Baber holds a meet and greet in Moose Jaw, Sask. Jean Charest is in Saguenay, Que. Leslyn Lewis is in Haines Junction in the Yukon. Pierre Poilievre is in Vancouver, Richmond and Surrey.
THIS AND THAT
The House of Commons is not sitting again until Sept. 19. The Senate is to resume sitting on Sept. 20.
ERIN O’TOOLE INTERVIEWS ERIN O’TOOLE – The former Conservative Party leader interviews Colorado radio host Erin O’Toole – her story is here – on the Canadian O’Toole’s podcast, Blue Skies with Erin O’Toole, MP. Oddly enough, they have the same birthday. You can access the episode here.
LIBERAL MPS EYE MAYORAL POSTS – At least two Liberal MPs are said to be looking for jobs as mayors. The Hill Times reports here that three-term MP Ruby Sahota is considering a run to become the next mayor of Brampton, Ont., a job now held by Patrick Brown, who has been disqualified as a contender for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Brown is looking at seeking another term. “He will make a decision soon and is leaning to returning to municipal public service,” says Chisholm Pothier, a spokesperson for Mr. Brown’s leadership bid. Meanwhile, there’s word from British Columbia that MP Sukh Dhaliwal is about to launch a bid to become mayor of Surrey, the province’s second-most populous city. Mr. Dhaliwal has scheduled a 6 p.m. announcement on Monday, July. 18.
GOVERNOR WEBINAR – Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem is to participate in a webinar Thursday afternoon hosted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The event is private, but a recording of the conversation will be published online at approximately 4:30 p.m. ET to the CFIB YouTube channel.
ALGHABRA IN REGINA – Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, is making an announcement about new funding to improve rail safety and efficiency in Regina and southern Saskatchewan.
BIBEAU IN CALGARY – Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau is in Calgary to announce support for on-farm research activities to develop and implement best practices to reduce greenhouse emissions in Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector.
LEBLANC AND ATWIN IN FREDERICTON – Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton, are making an infrastructure announcement in Fredericton with the city’s mayor, Kate Rogers, and New Brunswick Transportation Minister Jill Green.
ST-ONGE IN MONTREAL -Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge is in Montreal, announcing $30-million in financial support for 14 festivals and cultural events in Quebec.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, The Globe’s Mark Rendell, who covers the Bank of Canada, explains what the bank is up to with an increase on Wednesday of one percentage point to the benchmark interest rate. The surprise move is the biggest hike since 1998. The aggressive increase is larger than economists were expecting. The goal is to cool inflation, which hit 7.7 per cent in May – the highest it’s been in almost four decades. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings.
LEADERS
No schedules available for party leaders.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on the Bank of Canada baring its teeth: “This is new terrain for many people. Rampant inflation existed in the hazy past, during the 1970s, oil embargoes and a stagnant economy. Relatively high interest rates in Canada lasted until the early 1990s. Everyone got used to low inflation and low rates in the decades that followed. Central bankers seemed in full control. Tectonic shifts like China’s rise in the world economy kept the prices of goods low. Technology got faster and cheaper. Oil prices were mostly modest. The pandemic upended everything.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on why the UN is still wrong on population: “The United Nations, in its reluctant trudge toward reality, has removed 800 million people from the face of the earth. But that’s not enough. In World Population Prospects 2022, released this week, the United Nations Population Division (UNPD) projects that the global population will reach 10.4 billion by the end of this century. That’s 800 million fewer than the 2017 edition projected.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail) on how Canadians are delusional captives to a broken health system: “Canada’s health care system is in crisis. In Nova Scotia, 100,000 people – the most ever – are on waiting lists for family doctors. In Ontario, patients are enduring an average wait time of 20.1 hours in emergency rooms – the longest ever recorded – before being admitted to hospital. In Newfoundland and Labrador, emergency rooms that are supposed to be open 24/7 in rural communities are closing because of staff shortages; the same thing is happening in British Columbia. In Manitoba, paramedics have been called in to help a hospital desperate for weekend staff. In Saskatchewan, overcrowding in hospitals has reached a crisis point. These are not problems that a bump in federal funding to the provinces will fix (the premiers are asking Ottawa for a $28-billion, no-strings-attached annual increase to the Canada Health Transfer).”
Vaughn Palmer (The Globe and Mail) on B.C. Premier John Horgan learning that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s friendship is all about political self interest: “As all this sank in — the perfunctory phone call, the one-two punch by the federal ministers delivered on national television — John Horgan’s usually upbeat demeanour gave way to a mixture of anger and frustration. The federal government was refusing to meet. It was bargaining through the news media. It was treating the provinces like “serfs.” “The federal government is not a superior order of government,” said the B.C. premier. “It’s an equal order of government, and we’ll take no lessons from the federal government in fiscal probity.” See, Horgan thought he’d got somewhere with the prime minister. Hardly ever during his five years as premier has he criticized the Trudeau government. In return, he thought he’d developed a healthy relationship based on mutual benefit for the province and the country.”
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
The latest spat between Quebec and Ottawa over immigration is based on politics and not the reality of the labour market, says the head of a major employers group.
“In some ways, it’s deplorable,” said Karl Blackburn, president and CEO of the Conseil du patronat du Québec.
His comments come as Quebec Premier François Legault is threatening to hold a “referendum” on immigration if the federal government doesn’t take rapid action to stem the rising number of temporary immigrants, which include foreign workers, international students and refugee claimants.
“The majority of Quebecers think that 560,000 temporary immigrants is too much,” Legault said last week. “It’s hurting our health-care system. We don’t have enough teachers, we don’t have enough housing.”
Provincial Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette said the province’s demands include stronger French-language requirements in immigration programs managed by the federal government and a reduction in the number of asylum seekers and temporary workers.
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rejected the province’s bid for full control over immigration — currently a shared responsibility — Legault said in March that his federal counterpart had shown openness to some of the province’s demands, and agreed with him on the need to reduce temporary immigrants.
Businesses affected by visa cuts
Blackburn, however, disagrees that there are too many temporary workers, who he said are “working in our businesses producing goods and services.” Their numbers, he added, reflect the needs of the labour market and of an aging society.
He said he supports the Legault government’s call to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the province because Quebec has received a disproportionate share in recent years. But he denounced the federal government’s “improvised” decision to suddenly reimpose visas on some Mexican nationals earlier this year, a measure Quebec had pushed for as a way of reducing asylum claims.
He said that’s already having “direct effects” on businesses by restricting their ability to bring in workers. Any subsequent measures to reduce the number of temporary workers will further hurt Quebec’s economy as well as consumers who will no longer have access to the same goods and services, he said.
“It’s as if our governments knowingly agreed to cause companies to lose contracts for reasons of political partisanship and not based on economic growth, which is nonsensical in a way,” Blackburn said.
Politicians are unfairly blaming immigrants for shortages of housing, daycare spaces and teachers, when the real problem is government failure to invest in those areas, he added.
The long-running debate between Quebec and Ottawa has flared in recent months. Earlier this year, the premier wrote to Trudeau about the influx of asylum seekers entering Quebec, which has welcomed more than 65,000 of the 144,000 would-be refugees who came to Canada last year.
Quebec has demanded Ottawa reimburse the province $1 billion — the amount Quebec says it has cost to care for asylum seekers over the last three years.
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said this week that no country would ever give up total control over immigration. But he said he and his provincial counterpart are having good discussions and agree on many matters, including limiting visas to Mexicans and protecting French.
While Legault has blamed the federal government for the “exploding” number of newcomers, the director of a research institute and co-author of a recent study on temporary immigrants says both Ottawa and Quebec have brought in measures in recent years to facilitate their arrival.
Multiple factors driving immigration surge
Emna Braham says the surge in temporary immigrants is due to a combination of factors, including a tight labour market, post-secondary institutions recruiting internationally, and programs by both Ottawa and Quebec to allow companies to bring in more workers.
She said numbers have now climbed higher than either level of government expected, likely because temporary immigration is administered through a series of programs that are separate from one another.
“We had a set of measures that could be justified individually, but there was no reflection on what the impact will be of all these cumulative measures on the flow of immigrants that Quebec and Canada accept,” she said in a phone interview.
Both Braham and Blackburn point out that the high number of temporary workers in Quebec is also a result of the province’s decision to cap the number of new permanent residents it accepts each year to around 50,000, creating a bottleneck of people awaiting permanent status.
“If the government of Quebec had set its thresholds at the level they should be to meet the needs of the labour market, we wouldn’t be in this situation where [there] is a significant increase in temporary workers,” Blackburn said.
Braham said the moment is right for provinces and the federal government to develop a co-ordinated approach to immigration, and to ensure a system is put in place to ensure both long- and short-term needs are met.
Former PM Liz Truss says she hopes Donald Trump wins the next US election.
The UK’s shortest-serving prime minster said the world was “on the cusp of very, very strong conflict” and needed “a strong America more than ever”.
The full interview between Chris Mason and Liz Truss on Newscast is here on iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
Politics
Quebec employers group urges governments to base immigration on labour needs, not politics – CityNews Montreal
As Quebec and Canada continue to go back and forth about immigration powers, one employers group in Quebec says the problem has more to do with politics than immigration.
The Conseil du patronat du Québec, which represents the interests of employers in the province, says governments needs to stop playing politics with this issue and simply make decisions based on the numbers and the needs of the market.
With an aging population on the rise and over 150,000 vacant job positions across the province, the organization says temporary immigration is needed to fill those spots.
This comes after Quebec Premier François Legault threatened the idea of holding a “referendum” on immigration if the federal government doesn’t act fast to control the increasing number of temporary immigrants. Legault claims the number of immigrants is straining Quebec’s healthcare, education, and housing systems.
But Melissa Claisse from the Welcome Collective says that temporary immigration is not the issue, instead it’s the government’s lack of political will to improve the system, including access to employment support.
“We’re pretty alarmed by the insistence of the provincial government to make immigrant scapegoats for problems that existed a long time, in some cases decades,” said Claisse.
Adding, “We would love to see funding for refugee claimants to have support for finding a job, to connect employers who really need workers to a workforce that’s desperately looking for jobs.”
On Monday, newcomer Henri Libondelo, was outside a Services Québec office in Montreal, waiting to apply for a work permit.
Libondelo, who arrived four months ago from the Republic of the Congo, says somedays, the line outside the office wraps around the building.
“The office opens at 8:30 a.m., but people arrive here sometimes at six in the morning to stand in line, the line gets very long,” said Libondelo.
Libondelo believes that it’s not the number of newcomers that’s the issue, but rather it’s a matter of organization.
“For the moment, the difficulty that I have is looking for a job. Finding a job has been hard since I’ve arrived here,” said Libondelo.
“It’s really dangerous for refugees to have to face this type of rhetoric from our elected officials,” said Claisse.
-With files from The Canadian Press
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