Canada

An RCMP investigation into the financial records and mail use of men accused of building up an anti-government militia suggests they received and spent almost half a million dollars over a period of two and a half years, using much of it to buy weapons and military equipment.

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Students from China comprise one of Canada’s largest international student populations—nearly 15 percent of the University of Toronto’s total student population in 2024. The majority aren’t leading anti-government marches in the street, or hatching plans to harm their classmates in group chats. But as a result of overseas surveillance and intimidation by the Chinese government, an atmosphere of fear and repression looms over the community at large, chilling free and open discourse. It’s led to a conflict within this community, left largely unaddressed by school authorities, that threatens one of the core values of a university in a free society.

“I think the CCP has created an environment where students are too scared or uncomfortable to talk about politics at all,” [one Chinese student in Canada] says.

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For decades, members of the Chinese diaspora worldwide have been subjected to the phenomenon of “transnational repression.” This term broadly describes “efforts by states to use coercion to silence critics in their diasporas,” according to Emile Dirks, a senior research associate at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, who specializes in Chinese politics and state repression.

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cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/4681271

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The ambassadors did not provide firm figures on the long-debated eligibility criteria, which will instead be set during the negotiations. Currently, third-country suppliers – including those from the UK and Canada – cannot supply more than 35% of the total value of any weapons contract financed through SAFE loans.

SAFE currently only allows European firms, along with Ukrainian and Norwegian ones – whose countries were granted access without negotiations with the Commission – to produce at least 65% of the value of defence products purchased through the programme.

This limit could be removed if the supplier’s home country signs both a Security and Defence Partnership and a separate eligibility agreement with Brussels, and contributes financially to the programme.

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A measure of Beijing’s political influence surged more than 50 percent in Canada over the past two years, an international study finds, after media reports of China’s clandestine election interference were confirmed in public reviews. The China Index 2024, produced by Taiwan’s Doublethink Lab and its global research partners, shows that Beijing’s presence in Canadian politics, academia, media, and society is advancing at a faster pace than almost anywhere else in the democratic world.

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The most alarming takeaway is that China’s increasing grip on Canadian institutions is driving dependence — a factor that could pull Canadian decision makers closer into Beijing’s orbit on economic, security, and social policies.

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The results reflect a “triple movement” in Canada’s relationship with Beijing: greater exposure through academic, media, and technology ties; sustained pressure through China’s diplomacy and retaliation; and rising alignment in the two nations’ policy positions.

“Canada experienced rising exposure and alignment with the PRC alongside sustained high levels of coercive pressure,” the report says, “highlighting a complex mix of engagement and influence dynamics.”

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This confirms a longstanding pattern documented by The Bureau: pro-Beijing Chinese-language outlets in Canada continue to echo Beijing’s lines on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang. Diaspora-linked cultural organizations, often connected to PRC diplomats or United Front groups, are also highly active. The Index notes that between 2022 and 2024, diaspora cultural events tied to PRC entities nearly doubled worldwide, rising from 38 percent of countries surveyed to 72 percent. Canada is among the cases where these events are expanding and carry political overtones.

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Beijing’s penetration of Canadian technology sectors, from consumer electronics to PRC-linked equipment in infrastructure, remains high. Globally, PRC-linked technology is now embedded in 78.8 percent of critical infrastructure sectors, up from 65.4 percent in 2022, and Canada is part of that trend.

The Economic domain, by contrast, declined slightly for Canada between 2022 and 2024. This may reflect Ottawa’s incremental steps to tighten foreign investment reviews and limit acquisitions in sensitive sectors. Still, the decline in the economic category did not offset the steep rise in politics and technology, which now dominate Canada’s dependence profile.

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MP says group 'has engaged in actions and have made statements that are contrary to Canadian values and laws'

It sounds like there are more doctors moving from the US to Canada, but not a huge number. The numbers are up from last year, but not by a lot.

It would be interesting to know if Canadian healthcare workers are still moving to the US in a big way, but the article doesn't explore that.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-interest-from-us-doctors-looking-to-work-in-canada-has-spiked-but-few/

Proposals to expand the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba could bring an increase in shipping traffic and commercial activity — and some experts suggest that could affect the behaviour of the whales that are not only a major draw in the area's nearly $100-million tourism industry, but an important food source for some in the North.

"Living up north is so expensive, the food we buy is so expensive — that's why we need to hunt to survive up north."

(Johnny Mamgark, an Inuk [who] grew up in Arviat, Nunavut) is worried more shipping and marine traffic around the Port of Churchill would disrupt the beluga whale population in the area where his family and ancestors have hunted them for centuries.

All settlements in the Israeli-occupied territories are considered illegal under international law. But the planned expansion of Ma'ale Adumim is especially controversial, not least because the Israeli government has boasted it will bury the idea of a Palestinian state — as countries including Canada prepare to recognize one at the United Nations General Assembly next week.

"It is a retaliation, in a way, to the announcement by Canada and other Western states," Palestinian lawyer Hiba Husseini said in an interview at her law offices in Ramallah, a city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"[It] sends a strong message to the West: 'If you recognize the State of Palestine, it's really irrelevant for us on the ground. We do whatever we want to do because we control this entire land.'"

(Doug Kobayashi, mayor of Colwood, B.C.) idea was straightforward. After talking to doctors in 2022 about what was important to them, many said less paperwork, more financial stability and a better work/life balance.

Kobayashi's response: Make them municipal employees. This differs from the usual system where many family doctors in Canada are independent contractors and responsible for all aspects of the business plus seeing patients.

"As an employee, we want you to be a doctor 100 per cent of the time. No more administration, we'll look after this. We'll look after hiring your medical office assistants. We will give you a salary, a fixed salary. We will give you benefits, all the benefits," Kobayashi said.

Irish rap trio Kneecap have announced they are initiating legal action after Canadian MP Vince Gasparro announced "Kneecap ineligible to enter our country" based on dubious reasoning.

The owners and location are pretty-much doxxed in the article.

Fuck nazis.