Canada

The CBC reports: A Roman Catholic priest has been arrested in connection with the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl in Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba RCMP say. Arul Savari, 48, is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, sexual exploitation of a young person, luring a child and forcible confinement. He remains in custody, Supt. Scott McMurchy, Manitoba acting …

The CBC reports: Alberta’s ethics commissioner says Danielle Smith, in her capacity as premier, contravened the Conflicts of Interest Act in her interactions with the minister of justice and attorney general in relation to criminal charges faced by Calgary street preacher Artur Pawlowski. “In the whole scheme of things, it is a threat to democracy to interfere with the administration …

Global News reports: “Possible hate-motivated” assaults outside of a Vaughan liquor store last weekend were likely initiated over a suspected Bud Light purchase, police say. York Regional Police issued a news release about the incident, which happened at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday. A man and a woman were allegedly accosted by several males outside of a store located in the …

Billboard Magazine reports: Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian singer/songwriter behind the folk hits “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind,” died at age 84 on Monday (May 1), his family has announced. Lightfoot’s six-decade career began in the early 1960s on the Toronto folk circuit and went worldwide in the 1970s thanks to a …

CTV News reports: Canada’s families minister says the federal government is prepared to offer Americans access to a widely used abortion pill that could be restricted in the United States. Speaking to the host of CTV’s Power Play, Vassy Kapelos, on Thursday, Families Minister Karina Gould said the federal government “would work to provide that for American women” should the …

The National Observer reports: Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, in a leaked cellphone call, commiserated with a COVID-19 protester about his trial while divulging to him there was an internal dispute over how Crown prosecutors were handling COVID-19 cases. Smith also promised on the call to intervene as best she could on Artur Pawlowski’s behalf and said she was reminding prosecutors …

Reuters reports: Canada has expunged historic indecency and anti-abortion laws targeting women and the LGBTQ community, the government said on Tuesday, in a criminal justice system reform that will allow people convicted under such offences to clear their records. The repealed laws had targeted women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals’ access to abortion as well as …

Vice News reports: The QAnon Queen of Canada gave a gracious thank you to her followers who—with their hard-earned, real-world cash—funded her most recent venture: so-called “loyalty” money. “Thank you to those who sent money to help print your loyalty money,” the self-proclaimed queen Romana Didulo said in a Telegram live stream. In chat rooms dedicated to Didulo, her fans …

The Guardian reports: For decades, wild pigs have been antagonizing flora and fauna in the US: gobbling up crops, spreading disease and even killing deer and elk. Now, as fears over the potential of the pig impact in the US grow, North America is also facing a new swine-related threat, as a Canadian “super pig”, a giant, “incredibly intelligent, highly …

The CBC reports: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is monitoring another “high-altitude airborne object” over northern Canada, the organization confirmed Saturday. “Military aircraft are currently operating from Alaska and Canada in support of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) activities. “NORAD confirms that we have positively identified a high-altitude airborne object over Northern Canada,” a spokesperson for the …

ABC News reports: The mayor of Canada’s largest city has stepped down after acknowledging he had an affair with a former staffer. Toronto Mayor John Tory said at a late Friday night news conference that he developed a relationship with an employee in his office. The 68-year-old was known as a straight-laced, button down moderate conservative — almost the polar …

Yahoo Entertainment reports: As Netflix begins its crackdown on password sharing, the streaming giant’s Canadian division has introduced a new way to stop people from sharing. Netflix Canada confirmed via a release on its website stating the new procedure. Users will have to set a primary location where anyone living in that household can access Netflix. Any additional users on …

“I have to ask you about Canada, and what we saw happen there last winter – the trucker protest and then the crackdown by the authoritarian government of Canada. “I’m completely in favor of a Bay of Pigs operation to liberate that country. Why should we stand back and let our biggest trading partner, the country with which we share …

The CBC reports: A pastor is charged with sexually touching or assaulting children at a small Metro Vancouver church on at least six occasions. Pastor Edwin Alvarez was arrested in Saanich on Jan. 4, where he now lives, after a close to year-long investigation into numerous allegations made against him. The New Westminster Police Department says it and the Saanich …

CTV News reports: In her address to Albertans on Tuesday, Premier Danielle Smith admitted she is “far from perfect” and said she can “make mistakes” – though she hasn’t yet said which mistakes or positions she was referring to. “Having spent decades in media and hosting talk shows I discussed hundreds of different topics and sometimes took controversial positions, many …

The Christian Post reports: Canadian megachurch Pastor Leon Fontaine, who garnered recent attention for his refusal to adhere to ongoing and restrictive COVID-19 lockdown orders banning churches from holding in-person or drive-in worship gatherings, has died at age 59. A video posted online featuring Fontaine’s five children confirmed that he passed away on Saturday evening, though it did not mention …

The CBC reports: A First Nations leader in Alberta is questioning Premier Danielle Smith’s claim of Indigenous heritage. Smith has said she has some Cherokee roots and years ago declared herself as a person of mixed race. A story this week by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network looked into Smith’s family tree and found no evidence of the premier being …

Fox News reports: The premier of Alberta, Canada, said she is working on a plan to pardon residents who were fined or arrested over breaking coronavirus protocols, and apologized to unvaccinated Canadians who faced “discrimination.” “It was a political decision to throw out the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to put those fines in place in the first place, and …

The Washington Post reports: Advocates told Canada’s top court on Thursday that a nearly 20-year-old deal under which Canada and the United States share responsibility for migrants in need of protection should be struck down because the United States is not a safe destination for asylum seekers. At issue in the hearing, which was being closely watched in Ottawa and …

Reuters reports: Alberta’s incoming premier has set the stage for a showdown with Canada’s federal government and push back against federal laws which is likely to set the oil-rich province on a collision course with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Danielle Smith, 51, was chosen by members to lead Alberta’s ruling United Conservative Party (UCP) on Thursday, just seven months ahead …