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.
ARCHIBALD FALSELY STATED COOPERATION WITH INVESTIGATION: BRIEFING NOTE – Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald falsely stated that she was co-operating with an external investigation into complaints made against her by AFN employees during an interview last month, according to a briefing note written by AFN external counsel. Story here.
‘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 MinisterDominic 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 Globe and Mail Editorial Boardon 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.”
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.”
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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
