Canadian News

Paying and receiving interest is prohibited in the Islamic faith, which means traditional interest-based mortgages aren't an option for many Muslims in Canada.

Aivilik MLA Solomon Malliki issued a notice of a motion during Monday's sitting of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly that he plans to bring a motion to have Akeeagok removed from his position.

As Saskatchewan’s civic elections get underway – voters may be unfamiliar with positions on their ballots like school board trustees.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has for years called for UNRWA to be dismantled, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement.

On Sunday Nov. 3 at 2:30 p.m., Surrey RCMP officers were at the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir to maintain public safety during consular camps.

Brantford police are investigating a butter theft at a grocery store. They're also working with police in Guelph to see if this case is connected to thefts there.

Elections BC says it has discovered that a ballot box containing 861 votes wasn't counted in the recent provincial election, as well as other mistakes.

Canada's short track team reached the podium four times on Sunday, winning both the men's and mixed gender relays to close out the ISU Short Track World Tour in Montreal. Read More

A statement from the family of Murray Sinclair announced that the former senator, judge and lawyer passed away on Monday morning, November 4 “peacefully and surrounded by love,” the family said in a statement. He was 73-years-old.

Sinclair was of the Anishinaabe Indigenous peoples and his family said that he dedicated his life to public service.

“Mazina Giizhik (the One Who Speaks of Pictures in the Sky) committed his life in service to the people: creating change, revealing truth, and leading with fairness throughout his career,” reads the family’s statement. Mazina Giizhik was Sinclair’s Indigenous name.

Manitoba’s first Indigenous judge, Sinclair served for five years as a Canadian Senator.

A cause of death has not been made public, and the family is asking for privacy at this time.

Truth and Reconciliation

Perhaps what Sinclair will most be remembered for was presiding over the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).

Setup in 2009, the TRC was aimed at reconciling Canada’s past with Indian Residential Schools.

For more than six years, the TRC interviewed over 6,000 residential school survivors and documented the physical, sexual, and emotional violence that Indigenous peoples suffered at these institutions.

In the conclusion of the report, the TRC found that those responsible for Indian Residential Schools, including the government of Canada, had committed cultural genocide.

The TRC issued 94 Calls to Action to help heal and reconcile the history of residential schools. 

When the report was released in 2015, Sinclair said that the process of reconciliation would be a long one.

“Achieving reconciliation is like climbing a mountain — we must proceed a step at a time. It will not always be easy. There will be storms, there will be obstacles, but we cannot allow ourselves to be daunted by the task because our goal is Just and and it also necessary,” he had said at a press conference following the report’s release.

Of the 94 Calls to Action, 10 years later, 11 have been completed, with 39 underway and the rest not started yet.

LISTEN: Truth and reconciliation: How is Canada doing?

A life celebrated

Indigenous writer and activist Cindy Blackstock remembered Sinclair as someone who was unafraid to shine a little on injustice.

The Honourable Murray Sinclair always walked into dark places with a flashlight so that we can safely follow. A beam of light that cut through injustice and shows the way to hope.Sending prayers and gratitude to his loving family pic.twitter.com/hOWnFy3ZBc

— Cindy Blackstock (@cblackst) November 4, 2024

Manitoba premier Wab Kinew issued a statement celebrating Sinclair’s career and lifelong commitment to the truth.

“It will be a long time before our nation produces another person the calibre of Murray Sinclair. He showed us there is no reconciliation without truth. We should hold dear in our hearts his words that our nation is on the cusp of a great new era and we must all ‘dare to live greatly together,’ reads a statement from Kinew.

Sinclair was passionate about his community, and in his memory, his family is asking that in lieu of flowers, that members of the public donate to a fund setup in his memory.

“In lieu of flowers, and if you are able, please donate to The Murray Sinclair Memorial Fund at The Winnipeg Foundation. Our dad loved and supported many community organizations and your funds will prioritize Indigenous women, children, families, and Survivors,” reads a statement from his family.

Furthermore, a sacred fire will be lit in Sinclair’s memory in front of the Manitoba Legislature.

“Everyone is welcome to visit his sacred fire to make an offering of tobacco and send him your best wishes. Out of respect for his journey for the next few days, the family respectfully asks others across the country to please DO NOT light any other fires for him,” the family’s statement concludes.

The post Murray Sinclair, who led Truth and Reconciliation Commission, dies at 73 appeared first on rabble.ca.

Despite the threat of legal action and a last-minute relocation, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories spoke to a packed ballroom at McGill University on Monday. Read More

A year has elapsed since Israel began its relentless bombardment of Gaza. As of August 2024, 40,000 people were confirmed to be dead, though the actual death toll was estimated to be as high as 186,000.  Approximately 1.7 million people have been displaced. Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure has been all but destroyed and Gaza now has the highest rate of child amputees in the world. The destruction of Gaza’s wastewater management systems and blockade on humanitarian aid has contributed to rising rates of famine and disease. 

These horrors have unfolded with the knowledge and complicity of the international community, including Canada, who continues to supply arms to Israel. Though Canada voted in favor of the UN resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire in December 2023—a decision that was applauded by numerous human rights organizations—it has taken few, if any, meaningful steps to bring an end to Israel’s siege on Gaza and killing of Palestinians. 

The same month as it voted in favour of a ceasefire, Canada also opposed South Africa’s application to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023 seeking the imposition of provisional measures to prevent Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Despite being a signatory to the Genocide Convention, Canada stated that “compelling evidence” would be required to demonstrate an intention to destroy or partly destroy a group because of nationality, ethnicity, race or religion. 

In January 2024, the ICJ ordered six provisional measures including an order for Israel to refrain from acts under the Genocide Convention, prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to genocide, and take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza. Canada maintained its objection to the ICJ application, reiterating that its “support for the ICJ does not mean that we accept the premise of the case brought by South Africa” while counter-intuitively registering its position that “parties to any conflict must protect civilians and respect international law”. 

Despite the ICJ’s follow-up report in March 2024 in which it ordered Israel to take all necessary steps to ensure the unhindered provision of food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and medical supplies to Palestinians, Canada has maintained its opposition to the application.

In addition to preventing Israel from being held accountable before the ICJ, Canada has continued to lend financial support to Israel. In the first two months of Israel’s attack on Gaza, Canada is estimated to have authorised $28.5 million of new permits for arms exports to Israel. As one report notes, this exceeds the 2021 record high of $26 million in Canadian military exports to Israel in 2021. More recently, Canada was said to have “blocked” arms exports to Israel; however, this does not include the cancellation of existing permits, which may be in the range of 200.

As long as America continues to supply Israel with military aid (which is estimated to be in the range of $3.8 billion, annually), the actions of other global actors are unlikely to bring an end to the cycle of violence. But that is no excuse for the continued contravention of international law. As a party to the Genocide Convention, Canada is obligated to take measures to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. Customary international law and the Geneva Convention prohibit states from transferring weapons or parts if it is expected that they could be used to violate international law. Canada must make good on its commitment to ensuring the protection of human rights by immediately ending the transfer of weapons to Israel and advocating for the protection of human rights in Gaza.

The post Canadian Complicity in Israel’s Siege on Gaza appeared first on rabble.ca.

For the Ottawa Redblacks, the off-season began Sunday, a couple of weeks earlier than they wanted and mere hours after their disappointing loss to the Toronto Argos in the Eastern Division semifinal. Read More

One of them has grey hair. The other bears a nickname, “Sid the Kid,” that no longer fits. Read More

Concordia University has closed its research centre for Genocide and Human Rights Studies because of “budgetary constraints.” Read More

The Canadiens have struggled in the faceoff circle this season, winning only 47.6 per cent of their faceoffs to rank 25th in the NHL heading into Tuesday's game against the Calgary Flames at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS). Read More

Help could be on the way for the Ottawa Senators. Read More

Former Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien would often say a team needs to score at least three goals to win a game in the NHL. Read More

Jacques Villeneuve, the son of late Canadian Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, is lashing out at thieves who stole a bronze statue of his father from outside a Quebec museum in his honour, calling them "idiots."

In 1977, Morgan Perigo, a graduate of Hamilton's McMaster University, lost his class ring in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Barbados. Last month, free diver Alex Davis found it buried in the sand.

There has been an increase in “atypical” pneumonia, especially among school-age children and teenagers, warns an expert who says this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Read More