Potential gas leak forces an evacuation in Coronation, Alta. Monday night

MONTREAL – Lawyers for Montreal billionaire Robert Miller asked a judge on Tuesday for a delay in his sex crimes case, arguing that his frail health makes it difficult to discuss the Crown’s evidence with him.

The 81-year-old founder of Future Electronics was arrested in May on 21 sex-related counts involving 10 complainants, many of them minors at the time of the alleged offences between 1994 and 2016. One of the alleged victims was under the age of 14.

Miller, who has denied the allegations, is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, enticing a person to commit prostitution, sexual exploitation and sexual intercourse for consideration with a minor.

In Quebec court on Tuesday, Crown attorney Myriam Corbeil told Judge Mélanie Hébert she was ready to set a trial date, estimating the case against Miller would require about five weeks.

Miller’s defence lawyers asked that the case be delayed as their client remains extremely ill and bedridden, adding that reviewing the evidence with him is complicated.

“We are still in what we call the intake phase,” lawyer Isabella Teolis told the court. “Baby steps doesn’t begin to describe the situation.”

Hébert put off the case until Dec. 12.

Defence attorneys Teolis and Nicholas St-Jacques are also awaiting further evidence disclosure and want to examine the documents before deciding whether they will seek a trial by jury or judge alone.

Corbeil told the judge the case is mainly testimonial and the additional disclosure won’t change the essence of the Crown’s presentation.

Miller is battling Parkinson’s disease. St-Jacques noted that to go over the volume of evidence with him would take about two-and-a-half months if it was done on a full-time basis, a frequency she said isn’t possible given his condition.

A Quebec Superior Court judge declined in June to hear the application for a stay of proceedings, saying the issue of whether Miller is capable of standing trial can be decided by a trial judge.

Miller stepped down as chairman and CEO of Future Electronics in February 2023, saying he would focus on protecting his reputation and his health issues. He is facing separate allegations in a proposed class-action lawsuit by dozens of women who claim he gave them money and gifts in exchange for sex between 1996 and 2006, when they were minors.

As many as 50 alleged victims are involved in the lawsuit, with a hearing on authorization expected in the coming months or early 2025. Miller denies the charges, which have not been tested in court.

The hearing on Tuesday also involved the case against Teresita Fuentes, an alleged accomplice of Miller. Fuentes, 67, is facing a charge of procuring sexual services in connection with one of Miller’s alleged victims.

Valérie Abdelahad-Acosta, a lawyer representing Fuentes, told the court her client is also facing health problems and set to undergo surgery for a medical issue. Fuentes resides at the same address as Miller.

In her case, which is separate from Miller’s but part of the same police investigation, Corbeil told the court the Crown’s office is ready to proceed with a three-day trial.

Defence lawyers for Fuentes and Miller declined to comment following the joint court hearing on Tuesday. Both cases will return before a judge on Dec. 12.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.

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OTTAWA – Owners of small and medium-sized businesses will finally receive their long-awaited carbon pricing refunds before the end of this year, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced on Tuesday.

The Finance Department says the federal government will send more than $2.5 billion to about 600,000 Canadian businesses in December.

The payments will return a portion of the carbon price revenue from 2019-20 through 2023-24 to small businesses in jurisdictions where the federal fuel charge applies.

The amount received by a business will depend on the province it operates in and the number of workers it employs.

For example, a business in Ontario with 10 employees can expect to receive $4,010, while a business in Saskatchewan with 499 employees will receive $576,844.

“So these are real, significant sums of money. They’re going to make a big difference to Canadian small business,” Freeland said in a news conference on Tuesday.

The federal government said lower credit card transaction fees for small businesses will take effect on Oct. 19, saving them about $1 billion over five years.

It also announced a revised code of conduct for the payment card industry “that will help businesses compare prices and offers from different payment processors, and shorten the complaint handling response time by nearly 80 per cent to just 20 business days.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business applauded the announcements, but called for the abolition of the carbon levy.

“While CFIB welcomes the federal government delivering on its commitment to return a portion of carbon tax revenues to small businesses, the vast majority of small firms (83 per cent) now oppose the carbon tax. CFIB will continue to call on all political parties to scrap the carbon tax at the earliest possibility,” the business group said in a statement.

The federal government has also announced the final list of Chinese-made aluminum and steel products that will be subject to a 25 per cent tariff, which will come into effect on Oct. 22.

The 100 per cent tariff announced last month on Chinese-made electric vehicles came into effect Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

British Columbia’s Green Party has released an election platform that’s heavy on taxing the wealthy to support people’s wellness, while the provincial Conservatives have unveiled a plan for making B.C. energy-independent.

Green Leader Sonia Furstenau says her party’s 72-page platform, which includes doubling existing property tax rates and adding a new two-per-cent tax on homes over $3 million, is aimed at creating “an economy that serves the people” instead of “delivering harm.”

The platform is the first to be released by a major party for the fall provincial election and includes an 18 per cent proposed tax for corporate profits over $1 billion, while there would be investments of $650 million annually in “municipal infrastructure to support new housing” and $250 million to expand child care.

Meanwhile, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad says his party will reverse course on provincial policies on vehicle electrification and heat pumps under the New Democrats.

Rustad says those policies are “pushing B.C.’s energy system to the brink,” adding that a Conservative government would look at building the infrastructure needed to support B.C.’s electricity demands, including conducting a feasibility study on nuclear power.

In Castlegar today, NDP Leader David Eby pledged a re-elected New Democrat government would cover the travel costs for cancer treatments and extend employment protections for people with serious illnesses from eight days to 27 weeks.

Eby told a campaign event in the southeast B.C. city that rural residents face “unique challenges” accessing health care, and bolstering travel assistance would allow them to be reimbursed for mileage if they can’t get a flight to access treatment.

The New Democrats say in a statement that changes to the province’s travel assistance program would allow people to receive “up-front payments.”

Rustad said during an announcement in Brackendale outside of Squamish that the NDP’s energy mandates on vehicle electrification and heat pumps are “pie-in-the-sky.”

The Conservative leader also says his party will support alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal, but only when the projects “make practical, economic sense.”

Furstenau says she wanted her party platform to “lead by example” in getting away from the back-and-forth politics she says is demonstrated by the NDP and the Conservatives.

She says the Green platform is aimed at presenting a “vision” to take B.C. forward, and urged everyone to “all start voting for what we want” instead of compromising their expectations on an elected government.

As part of the second week of the election campaign, all three major party leaders are expected to come face-to-face for multiple events on Wednesday.

They will debate live in the morning on Vancouver radio station CKNW, followed by an event hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.

– With files from Darryl Greer in Castlegar

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.