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Trudeau government mum on Japan’s invitation to rejoin global timber treaty

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The federal Liberal government has yet to respond to a months-old invitation from Tokyo to have Canada rejoin a global environmental organization that regulates the timber trade.

A July 2022 briefing note obtained through an access-to-information request shows that Japan has asked Ottawa to be part of the International Tropical Timber Organization.

The group works with producer and consumer countries to share knowledge about conservation practices and to promote the sale of sustainable timber.

The organization currently includes 37 exporters of timber and 38 countries that import it, including all other G7 states.

Canada was among the signatories to the 1983 treaty that originally created the organization, but Stephen Harper’s Conservative government pulled out of it in 2013.

The same year, Harper’s government also pulled Canada out of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, a move the Trudeau government reversed in 2016.

But Canada has now been absent from the timber organization for nearly a decade, during which the World Wildlife Fund has reported worsening tropical deforestation in parts of southern Africa and Peru, driven by illegal and unsustainable logging.

A briefing note prepared for International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan notes Japan’s invitation to rejoin but doesn’t specify when it was made.

“Sustainable forest products, limiting deforestation and combating illegal logging are priorities for Canada,” reads the July 2022 briefing note, prepared in advance of a call with Japan’s then-state minister of foreign affairs, Takako Suzuki.

The document recommended to Sajjan that if Suzuki made note of Tokyo’s previous invitation, he should respond that Canada “will consider rejoining” but note that Canada’s “re-entry would require a long parliamentary accession process.”

Six months later, Natural Resources Canada says it “continues to actively consider whether to rejoin the treaty” but will not elaborate on that process.

“The government strongly supports global efforts to promote sustainable forest management and halt deforestation,” spokesman Michael MacDonald wrote in an email.

“Canada left the treaty in 2013 in part because it does not have tropical forests,” MacDonald wrote — despite 38 other non-tropical countries being members of the group.

He noted that Canada has signed onto similar agreements, such as the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use.

MacDonald said Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson was not available for an interview.

The Conservatives, Bloc Québécois, NDP and Green Party did not respond to requests for comment before deadline.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2023.

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RCMP arrest second suspect in deadly shooting east of Calgary

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EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.

Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.

Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.

Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.

Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.

RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.

Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.

“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.

But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.

“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.

While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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26-year-old son is accused of his father’s murder on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast

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RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.

Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.

The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.

It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.

Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.

The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Metro Vancouver’s HandyDART strike continues after talks break with no deal

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VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.

Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”

However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.

McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.

He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.

The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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