Volunteer medical students are working in COVID-19 wards across Bulgaria.
ROME — A bishop in Minnesota resigned Tuesday at the request of Pope Francis after he was investigated by the Vatican for allegedly interfering with past investigations into clergy sexual abuse, officials said. The Vatican said Francis accepted the resignation of Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner and named a temporary replacement to run the diocese. Hoeppner is 71, four years shy of the normal retirement age for bishops. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Crookston said the pontiff asked Hoeppner to resign following the Vatican probe, which it said arose from reports that the bishop "had at times failed to observe applicable norms when presented with allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy." The Vatican and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops simultaneously announced Hoeppner’s resignation and the appointment of the Most Rev. Richard E. Pate, the retired bishop of Des Moines, as a temporary administrator without commenting on the reason for the change. The diocese of Crookston counts nearly 35,000 Catholics in northern Minnesota. The Vatican had tasked St. Paul-Minneapolis Archbishop Bernard Hebda with conducting a preliminary investigation. Last year, Hebda's office announced that the Holy See had authorized a more in-depth probe. Hoeppner is accused of stating that a priest was fit for ministry despite allegedly knowing the priest had abused a 16-year-old boy in the early 1970s. The victim, Ron Vasek, later sued the diocese, alleging that Hoeppner blackmailed him into retracting his allegations against Monsignor Roger Grundhaus. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum in 2017. Hoeppner was the first bishop known to be investigated by the Vatican under a 2019 law that Francis approved laying out the procedures to conduct preliminary investigations against bishops accused of sex abuse or coverup. He has said in sworn testimony that he was trying to protect the victim's confidentiality by stating that Grundhaus was fit for ministry. He has said Grundhaus continues to deny Vasek's allegations. Hebda's office said the investigation took 2,000 hours, involved interviews with 38 people and that Hoeppner was interviewed more than once. The resulting reports totalled 1,533 pages, including recommendations, and were reviewed by two lay experts who determined the probe was thorough and had been “conducted in a fair and impartial manner," the archdiocese said. A survivor advocacy group, SNAP, said it was pleased with the outcome, but said Francis could have simply fired Hoeppner rather than asked him to resign. “While the result is the same, we feel that a stronger message would have been sent by ousting Bishop Hoeppner instead of asking him to leave, as there is a difference in forcing someone out versus asking them to remove themselves," SNAP said. Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
B.C. health officials announced 873 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths on Tuesday, as Premier John Horgan suggested more restrictions could be coming to stem the third wave of the pandemic. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said there are 9,756 active cases of people infected with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus in B.C. A total of 377 people are in hospital, with 117 in intensive care. Hospitalizations, which typically lag behind spikes and dips in new cases, are up 15 per cent from a week ago, when 328 people were in hospital. The news came not long after Horgan told reporters that the possibility of travel restrictions will be discussed Wednesday by the provincial cabinet and those talks will also likely examine the status of bookings for hotels, bed and breakfasts and camping sites. "We've not taken anything off the table, but practicality is first and foremost in our mind," said Horgan. "We will use the tools that are available to us if we believe they are effective, but deployment of those tools is a challenge. We haven't taken travel restrictions off the board, quite frankly." The premier said Henry will provide any update of possible new restrictions Thursday during a briefing where the province's latest COVID-19 modelling data will be presented. Horgan said he's troubled by the recent COVID-19 case counts in B.C. and is looking to Thursday's release of information for a better sense of where the province stands. As of Tuesday, 1,148,993 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in B.C., including 87,785 second doses. Earlier this week, Dix noted that the province has the capacity to deliver many more doses daily than it is right now, but the supply is not there yet. "We are adapting our vaccine delivery in step with our supply and will continue to do that moving forward. If needed, we will pivot, pause or shift our delivery to maximize protection to as many people as possible," Henry and Dix said Tuesday. The provincial death toll from the disease to date is 1,515 people out of 113,702 confirmed cases. Public health is actively monitoring 16,290 people across the province who are in self-isolation because of COVID-19 exposure. B.C. has now recorded 5,221 cases that involve variants of concern — the majority have been the B117 variant first reported in the U.K. On Monday, Dix said high occupancy rates are beginning to affect the surgical capacity of local hospitals in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and that while there is still space in intensive care units provincewide, things are starting to get tight in the Lower Mainland. Spike in cases complicates work of contact tracers. Also on Tuesday, the B.C. government once again extended the provincial state of emergency that has been in place since March 18, 2020. "With the vaccine program well underway, we can see hope on the horizon, but higher case numbers and variants mean that we need to draw back in some places instead of opening up," Horgan said in a news release. The state of emergency will now remain in place until at least April 27. The recent surge in cases has made the job of contact tracers at Fraser Health increasingly complicated, according to team leader Dr. Amir Bharmal. Over the last weekend alone, 1,957 cases were confirmed in the region. "It's not only the increased volume, but it's also the fact that we have just a lot more complexity and diversity in terms of the places where people can get exposed to COVID." he told Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition. "On any given day, we're dealing with over 150 clusters that are occurring in different workplaces." The average number of close contacts for each infected person has stayed relatively stable at between 2.5 and three, Bharmal said. Right now, his team is able to trace about 80 per cent of new positive tests to previously known cases. Vaccine rollout continues B.C. is currently vaccinating eligible adults in transmission hot spots like Whistler and Prince Rupert, while the age-based program slowly rolls on. The province has announced dates for those aged 40 and older to register for their vaccine: Monday, April 12 — born 1966 or earlier (55+) Wednesday, April 14 — born 1971 or earlier (50+) Friday, April 16 — born 1976 or earlier (45+) Monday, April 19 — born 1981 or earlier (40+) Registering for a vaccine is not the same as booking the appointment to get your shot. Once registered, users receive a confirmation code, followed by an email, a text or a call telling them when they're eligible to use the code to make an appointment. You can register to get vaccinated here. The information on this page is available in 12 languages. If your prefer to register by phone, the number to call is 1-833-838-2323. Service by phone is available in more than 110 languages.
Anti-Asian hate is something that Alison Singharath knows all too well. From anti-Asian hate over COVID-19 to the shooting in Atlanta that left six people of Asian descent dead, it seems like there has been a surge of anti-Asian hate over the past year. However, 30-year-old Laos descendant Singharath says that anti-Asian hate is something she's always experienced. "These issues within the Asian community have been around for a long time," she said. "I would get made fun of because of my eyes. There were many times growing up I didn't want to be different with the shape of my eyes or the colour of my skin. That took away from me wanting to be me and embracing my culture and tradition." As an adult, she said she no longer experiences name-calling, but the lack of education and stereotypes about the Asian community often leaves her "speechless." "People will often assume that we are from China or assume that we eat certain foods," she said. Singharath and her sisters, Melissa Phillips and Rita Hurrell, have decided to reclaim their power by doing something about this new wave of Asian hate. They are producing and selling t-shirts that carry powerful messages such as "Hate is a virus," "Asian Proud" and "Stop Asian Hate." The profits from the shirt goes to support local Asian businesses and communities in Canada. "We've just been seeing too much violence and attack and we kind of hit a breaking point," she said. "We couldn't just sit by and not try to help in some way, so within less than a week we thought the best way we could help take a stand was these t-shirts." The three shirts made by Alison Singharath and her sisters.(Submitted by Alison Singharath) According to Singharath, the response to the shirt has exceeded her expectations. For her and her sisters, this shows them that "there are people out there that want to support and are helping us raise awareness which makes us grateful that we are taking one step forward and making a change," she said. Local Asian businesses in Regina like the Great Asian Market, Hoa An Market and Ngoy Hoa Asian Foods will be beneficiaries of profits from the shirts. Alison and her sisters, Melissa Phillips and Rita Hurriell, have decided to reclaim their power by doing something about this new wave of Asian hate.(Submitted by Alison Singharath) The sisters will also be donating the foods purchased from the businesses to the community fridges in Regina. Money for the shirts will also be going toward the Chinese Canadian National Council, a non-profit organization. Production of the shirts stopped last Friday but they may start again soon.
EDMONTON — Alberta’s chief medical officer of health says new public-health restrictions might be needed if high daily COVID-19 case counts continue. Dr. Deena Hinshaw says high numbers of infections usually start affecting hospitals three to four weeks afterward. She said it’s imperative not to overwhelm hospitals so that they can still handle other emergencies and surgeries during the pandemic. “We don’t have, right now, the level of vaccine protection to prevent people who get sick from needing to go to hospital,” Hinshaw said Tuesday. “We have to make sure that we’re watching within the coming week to 10 days about what those cases look like and consider -- if our trajectory continues on a steep upward climb -- whether those additional measures will be needed.” Hinshaw declined to speculate on what the restrictions could be. She said that would depend on data and other factors. Hinshaw reported 1,081 new cases on Tuesday, the seventh consecutive day of counts above 1,000. The rise is being driven by more contagious variants, which now make up 52 per cent of the province's 15,087 active cases. There were 402 people in hospital, 88 of them in intensive care. The numbers are inching into the red-line territory reached before Christmas when total active cases soared past 21,000 and there were close to 900 people in hospital. That forced health officials to cancel surgeries, move patients, double-bunk critical care cases, and prep a field hospital at the University of Alberta. Currently, Alberta does not allow indoor social gatherings and outdoor get-togethers are capped at 10 people. Retail store customer capacity is at 15 per cent and restaurants are closed to dine-in service, although patios remain open. Entertainment venues, including casinos, museums, movie theatres and libraries, remain closed. Gyms cannot hold group fitness activities. Premier Jason Kenney faces opposition from some quarters — even within his own caucus — and is being pressed to ease up on public-health measures on the grounds they are onerous and unnecessary. Kenney said restrictions need to be in place a bit longer until vaccination rates reach critical mass. Alberta has delivered 970,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses. “We’ve ramped up our vaccination campaign to deliver up to 40,000 doses a day and we’ll soon be able to deliver as many as 70,000 a day,” Kenney said earlier Tuesday. “With natural immunity from those who have already been infected and the protective shield of vaccines, we will hopefully be able to see a return to normal by summer.” Kenney, answering questions from the Opposition NDP in the house, also announced that COVID-19 had reached into his office. “I’m aware of two members of my staff who have tested positive and are in self-isolation, as are their close contacts,” said Kenney. “They’re rigorously following all of the appropriate protocols.” Kenney also announced businesses affected by COVID-19 shutdowns will soon be able to apply for more aid -- another payment of up to $10,000 from the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant program. That is on top of the maximum $20,000 made available under previous phases of the program. The money will also be available to businesses that began operating since March 2020, as well as to hotels, taxis, and ride-hailing services. NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the money is not enough, pointing out that Ontario offers up to $40,000 per business. “(Alberta’s program) is a mile wide and an inch deep,” Notley told the house. Kenney countered by saying his government has provided other supports, such as deferring and freezing property taxes, and deferrals for utility payments and workers' compensation premiums. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2021 Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press
The chief and council of a Vancouver Island First Nation at the centre of a protest over old-growth logging are asking outside activists to stand down and leave the community to decide how to use local forestry resources. In a statement issued on Monday, Pacheedaht Hereditary Chief Frank Queesto Jones and Chief Coun. Jeff Jones addressed the blockade in the nation's traditional territory in the Fairy Creek area of the southern island. "All parties need to respect that it is up to Pacheedaht people to determine how our forestry resources will be used," reads the statement. "We do not welcome or support unsolicited involvement or interference by others in our territory, including third-party activism. Pacheedaht needs to be left in peace to engage in our community-led stewardship planning process, so that we can determine our own way forward as a strong and independent Nation." Since August, dozens of people have blocked access to logging activities in Fairy Creek to prevent Teal Cedar, a division of the Teal-Jones Group, from logging certain areas of its 595-square-kilometre tenure. The logging company has signed agreements with the Pacheedaht, and the nation signed a revenue-sharing agreement with the province in 2017 for all timber cut on its land. In early April, the B.C. Supreme Court granted Teal-Jones an injunction against the protesters. In his written decision, Justice Frits Verhoeven said police enforcement terms would be required since "there appears to be little or no likelihood that the injunction order will be respected otherwise." Monday's statement from Pacheedaht chief and council expresses concern about the "increasing polarization" over forestry within the First Nation's territory. It says the nation is currently developing a plan for stewardship of its resources, which will guide future logging. While that plan is being developed, the Pacheedaht leaders say they have secured agreements from tenure holders and the B.C. government to suspend third-party forestry activities in certain areas. "Pacheedaht has always harvested and managed our forestry resources, including old-growth cedar, for cultural, ceremonial, domestic and economic purposes. Our constitutional right to make decisions about forestry resources in our territory, as governing authority in our territory, must be respected," the statement says.
The parents of a Nova Scotia teen with autism who has complex care needs want to know why some families are being told by the Department of Community Services to give up custody of their children in order to get them into group homes. The option is used in only a handful of cases, but can present a devastating choice for those families. "That was the shock of our lives that we would have to potentially give up our parental rights to give our child the care that they needed," the teen's mother said. "We adamantly, adamantly want to participate in his care." The teen's mother says she doesn't believe the Nova Scotia system has the flexibility to support families who have children with high-care needs while retaining their parental rights. The family wants to keep custody of their son, not only because they love him but because they want to continue to be his advocate and be involved in any decision-making while he's in a group home. Because he is a child in the care of the province, neither the teen in this story nor his parents can have their identities published by CBC News. The teen's mother says she doesn't believe the Nova Scotia system has enough flexibility to accommodate families with children with high care needs while retaining their parental rights. (David Laughlin/CBC) The boy's parents say they were able to care for him at home until he was 14, but he became aggressive and would sometimes scratch or hit people. "There's other family members, pets, people in the household, and they weren't necessarily safe," the teen's mother said. There were times when she said her son would run out of the house and into the street unless he was watched constantly. "You're in the kitchen washing dishes, and there's no reasonable way that you can supervise a child that intensely [in order] to keep everybody safe," she said. In September 2020, the family made an agreement with the Department of Community Services to place their son in a group home where he could receive specialized care. However, the parents say they made it clear to department staff they were not prepared to sign away their custodial rights. 3 options According to regulations attached to the province's Child and Family Services Act, families with children who've been diagnosed as having physical or intellectual disabilities that prevent them from living at home may enter into a "special needs agreement" with the department. There are three options under the regulations, according to an emailed statement from the Department of Community Services. "We work with the family throughout this process to determine what type of special needs agreement would be most appropriate," the statement said. "This could mean agreeing to transfer care and custody of the child to the minister, [the family] retaining care and custody of the child while the child is placed in a child-caring program, or receiving supports and services while the child remains home with their family." The statement said the department's goal is always to ensure children and youth are protected and families are supported. "We know children do better if they can stay in a loving home with people they already know, but in some cases, when a child has high-care needs and requires specialized care, a placement may be necessary." The options presented to the family may depend on whether there's a spot open at a licensed facility and what sort of support the parents can continue to offer a child while they're in care, the statement said. Community Services Minister Kelly Regan and her department are responsible for children in group homes if custody is turned over to the province.(Craig Paisley/CBC) The parents of the teen say they feel that provincial staff pressured them to accept the option to give up custody. But the family pushed back until department staff eventually agreed to the option to retain custody, the parents told CBC. The mother says her understanding is that it would be easier for the department to fund the teen's placement if the family turned over custody. Under the regulations, the period of agreement for transferring the care and custody of a child to the Minister of Community Services cannot be longer than one year, although the agreement can be renewed. 'It was mortifying' For a few months after the teen was placed in a group home last September things went well. His parents say he was "thriving" and making friends. But in the last few months the home began to have some challenges getting enough staff to fill all the shifts required to supervise their son, his parents say. Just before the Easter weekend they were told that the boy would have to return home, but the family says they responded that they weren't able to safely take him home with the support they currently have in place. "There's just myself and my husband here. We have another child, and our house isn't a secured facility," his mother said. She said her husband instead volunteered to work at their son's facility to supplement his care. The mother says at that point they again felt pressured to give up custody of their son. "We were at that point again, where they were telling us that we would have to do that potentially to provide him with support," she said. "It was mortifying. Because it's not like we didn't want to [provide support]. We desperately wanted to. We made that abundantly clear." The mother says their son was moved twice in the days around the Easter weekend, and they were not told where he was going. They spent the weekend making repeated calls and sending emails to find out where their son was. They didn't learn of his whereabouts until the Tuesday following the long weekend, according to the family. CBC asked the Department of Community Services for a breakdown on how many special needs agreements have been made in each category and received the following breakdown of current cases: Transfer care and custody to the Minister while placed in a facility: 3. Placed in a facility but custody retained by parents: 2. Services provided in child's home: 654. CBC reached another family with a child with high-needs autism who was also presented with the choice of giving up rights to their child to gain a placement in a group home. In that case, they also did not give up custody of their daughter. Planning for the future The teen's mother acknowledges her son's care needs are complicated; he needs two employees to supervise him at all times. She and her husband worry if their son does not receive intensive care when he's young, he may not develop skills that could help him live more independently later in life. "If your child needed to be on a ventilator and have complex medical issues, physical medical care, they would be in a hospital without question, with specialists and support," she said. "But because it's autism, and it's behavioural, it's viewed very differently." MORE TOP STORIES
HARTFORD, Conn. — Pilot error probably caused the 2019 crash of a World War II-era bomber in Connecticut that killed seven people and wounded six others, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Tuesday. It also cited inadequate maintenance as a contributing factor. The four-engine, propeller-driven B-17G Flying Fortress bomber with 13 people aboard crashed at Bradley International Airport, north of Hartford, during a travelling vintage aircraft show on Oct. 2, 2019. The pilot, Ernest “Mac” McCauley, reported a problem with one of the engines shortly after takeoff, and the plane crashed into a maintenance building and burst into flames after striking the runway lights during a landing attempt. The NTSB said the flight data indicated that the landing gear was extended too early, adding drag that slowed the plane, and it was travelling too slow on its return to the airport. “The B-17 could likely have overflown the approach lights and landed on the runway had the pilot kept the landing gear retracted and accelerated to 120 mph until it was evident the airplane would reach the runway,” the NTSB said. In the report, there was also a call on the Federal Aviation Administration to adopt tighter regulations on vintage aircraft flights offered to the public. McCauley, 75, of Long Beach, California, was a veteran pilot who colleagues said had great skills flying the B-17G. He and co-pilot Michael Foster, 71, of Jacksonville, Florida, were killed in the crash, along with five of the 10 passengers. The plane's mechanic, Mitchell Melton, of Hawkins, Texas, was the only crew member to survive. The NTSB said there was a power loss in two of the four engines during the flight, a problem it blamed on McCauley's “inadequate maintenance." McCauley also served as the maintenance director of the plane's owner, the Collings Foundation, based in Stow, Massachusetts. The NTSB also said the Collings Foundation had an ineffective safety management system that failed to identify hazards, including the inadequate maintenance of the plane. Investigators said the system, as well as the FAA's ineffective oversight of the system, also contributed to the accident. The Collings Foundation said in a statement Tuesday that it is reviewing the NTSB's findings. It did not directly address the NTSB's findings. “We knew Ernest “Mac” McCauley to be the most experienced B-17 pilot in the world who was passionate about the care and condition of all aircraft,” the foundation said. “Responsible flight and maintenance operations have always been a top priority of the Collings Foundation, reflected by over thirty years’ worth of a safe operating record, and always will be.” Melton, the mechanic, from Hawkins, Texas, told investigators the No. 4 engine began losing power after takeoff and McCauley shut it off, despite Melton telling him there was no need to shut if off, according to NTSB documents. Lawyers for relatives of people killed in the crash and survivors said in a statement that the NTSB report will help the families get some closure and prevent similar tragedies. The families and survivors are suing the Collings Foundation over the deaths and injuries. The foundation has denied wrongdoing. “Unfortunately, our clients’ lives were forever changed when the Collings Foundation’s B-17 crashed at Bradley International Airport,” the lawyers said. “At the appropriate time ... we will present evidence to a Connecticut jury that the Collings Foundation’s failures as detailed in the NTSB report, caused the horrific injuries and deaths suffered by our clients.” The passengers killed in the crash, who paid $450 apiece for the flight, included Gary Mazzone, of East Windsor, Connecticut; Robert Riddell, of East Granby, Connecticut, James Roberts, of Ludlow, Massachusetts; David Broderick, of West Springfield, Massachusetts; and Robert Rubner, of Tolland, Connecticut. After the crash, the foundation suspended its flights and tour for the rest of the year. In March 2020, the FAA revoked the Collings Foundation’s permission to carry passengers aboard its World War II-era planes because of safety concerns stemming from the Bradley accident. The FAA said in a statement Tuesday that it has a number of initiatives under way to improve the safety of vintage aircraft flights offered to the public. It has issued new guidance to safety inspectors, required them to inspect all operators of such flights by Sept. 30 and will be issuing new rules for operators' safety management systems. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, called on the FAA to immediately implement the NTSB's recommendations. Dave Collins, The Associated Press
EDMONTON — An Opposition bill that would preserve Alberta's Rocky Mountains from open-pit coal mines could be debated in the legislature after a government-dominated committee on Tuesday gave unanimous consent for it to move forward. NDP Leader Rachel Notley, the bill's sponsor, immediately challenged government members to approve a motion to debate the bill next Monday instead of letting it die on the order paper. "Are they just going through the motions or are they really prepared to do what it takes and stand up for and represent the views of their constituents?" Notley asked after a meeting of the committee that screens private members' bills and decides which of them goes ahead. Earlier in the day, the committee voted unanimously to send Notley's proposed Eastern Slopes Protection Act to the legislature for further debate. All six United Conservative members and four New Democrats supported the recommendation. Committee clerk Warren Huffman confirmed it's the first Opposition-sponsored private member's bill the committee hasn't rejected since the UCP came to power in 2019. The bill calls for the cancellation of leases issued after the government scrapped a policy last May that once protected a vast swath of summits and foothills down the western spine of the province. If passed, the bill would also stop the province's energy regulator from issuing development permits. Open-pit mines would be permanently prohibited in the most environmentally sensitive areas and mines elsewhere would not receive the go-ahead until a land-use plan for the region was developed. The government has already sold coal exploration leases for vast tracts of the area, a landscape close to the hearts of many Albertans and the source of much of the province's fresh water. Public backlash forced it to reinstate the policy and stop sales, but drilling and road-building continue on leases already sold. Notley said that backlash was probably behind Tuesday's recommendation. "Even UCP members had to understand the degree to which their own constituents don't want to see this happen." But she said that under current scheduling, the bill wouldn't come before the house before the end of the sitting and would quietly disappear. Paul Hamnett, spokesman for government house leader Jason Nixon, said private members bills are scheduled by the legislature. "Private members bills are assigned based on a random draw to be heard on Monday in the order they are drawn," he said. The legislature is currently on private member's Bill 207. The proposed coal legislation is Bill 214. Notley said the NDP will ask for a unanimous vote to move the bill up for debate. "They can absolutely do that if they truly want to give voice to their constituents' concerns." The government is asking Albertans to complete a survey on how, or if, they want development on the land in question. It has also struck a committee to seek input. It is expected to report in November. That's not quick enough, said Notley. "While that so-called consultation is winding its way down whatever road it may take, development and exploration is ongoing, jeopardizing the very integrity that so many Albertans are desperate to see us protect." While some coal companies have said they will suspend this summer's exploration program, others have not, saying their leases require them to complete work within two years. Cabin Ridge Project Ltd. plans to drill 96 holes in its leases north of Coleman, Alta., near the British Columbia boundary. That work is to begin in May. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2021. — Follow @row1960 on Twitter Bob Weber, The Canadian Press
One of three American bulldogs that were stolen during a break-and-enter in Surrey has been recovered, according to Surrey RCMP, but the dogs' owners are still trying to find the other two puppies. The theft happened Saturday afternoon at a house on 8 Avenue, near 176 Street, while the residents weren't home. According to police, a member of the public got in touch after realizing the puppy they bought at a car show in Mission over the weekend was one of the stolen dogs, Rosie. "We're glad that we got this one puppy back for the family," said Sgt. Elanore Sturko. "We're grateful that this person who had the puppy reached out to us." Sturko said the person also provided further information to investigators, and it's possible the two dogs that remain at large were also sold at the car show. Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey RCMP or Crime Stoppers if they wish to remain anonymous.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was justified in using his knees to pin down George Floyd, a use-of-force expert testified on Tuesday, contradicting testimony by former and current city police officers who said Chauvin's actions violated policy and were excessive. "I felt that Derek Chauvin was justified, was acting with objective reasonableness, following Minneapolis Police Department policy and current standards of law enforcement in his interactions with Mr. Floyd," Barry Brodd, a former officer in Santa Rosa, Calif., told the Hennepin County District Court in downtown Minneapolis. Brodd, one of a series of witnesses who testified for the defence on Tuesday in the murder trial of Chauvin, also claimed that putting Floyd in the prone position — handcuffed while placed on his stomach, and face first to the pavement — was not a use of force. "It's a control technique. it doesn't hurt," he said. "You've put the suspect in a position where it's safe for you, the officer, safe for them, the suspect, and you're using minimal effort to keep them on the ground." Defence lays out case Chauvin's lawyer, Eric Nelson, began to lay out the defence's case on Tuesday after 11 days of testimony from prosecution witnesses. Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on the back of his neck for about nine minutes as two other officers held him down face first to the pavement, while he was handcuffed. He had been detained outside a convenience store after being suspected of paying with a counterfeit bill. Chauvin is on trial on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of the 46-year-old Black man. The prosecution says Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd's neck caused his death. But the defence argues it was a combination of Floyd's underlying medical conditions, drug use and adrenaline flowing through his system that ultimately killed him. Defence lawyer Eric Nelson begins to lay out Chauvin's case in his murder trial on Tuesday after 11 days of testimony from prosecution witnesses in a Minneapolis courtroom. (Court TV/The Associated Press) Several top Minneapolis police officials, including Chief Medaria Arradondo, have testified for the prosecution that Chauvin used excessive force and violated his training. And medical experts called by prosecutors have said that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen because of the way he was restrained. But the defence claims Chauvin did what his training taught him to do. Brodd said that once Floyd was pinned to the ground, he was still engaged in "active resistance" and struggling against the efforts of the officers. "Officers are trained that any time you get resistance from a suspect or you're dealing with a high-risk suspect, it's safer for you, the officer and for the suspect to put him on the ground in a prone position face down for a variety of reasons, some of which are it makes the suspect's mobility diminished." WATCH | Prosecutor cross-examines use-of-force witness The fact that Floyd was handcuffed at that point didn't matter, Brodd said, because any resistor, handcuffed or not, should go to the ground to a controlled position. He said there were a number of valid reasons to keep Floyd in that position, including space limitation, traffic on the street, crowd issues and the fact that Floyd was "still somewhat resisting." Crowd distraction Chauvin's defence has also raised the issue that the officer may have been distracted about Floyd's declining condition due to the growing anger of the crowd. Brodd concurred that, based on his review of the video evidence, Chauvin's focus started to move from Floyd to the crowd "I think Officer Chauvin felt threatened enough that he withdrew his pepper spray canister and gave verbal commands to the crowd to stay back. So now he's dealing with the bigger threat," he said. Tense cross-examination Cross-examination under prosecutor Steve Schleicher was tense at times, as he struck an incredulous tone with some of Brodd's assertions. He seized on Brodd's contention that the further restraint of Floyd was not a use of force. Prosecutor Steve Schleicher questions Brodd during cross-examination.(Court TV/The Associated Press) "I need to ask you if you believe that it is unlikely that orienting yourself on top of a person, on the pavement with both legs is unlikely to produce pain," Schleicher asked. "It could," Brodd responded. "What do you mean it could? Is it unlikely to produce pain or is it likely to produce pain," Schleicher asked. "I'm saying it could produce pain." But Brodd acknowledged that based on one of the photos showing Chauvin applying his knee into Floyd, "that could be a use of force." Schleicher asked Brodd whether a reasonable officer would know that placing someone in that prone position could cause positional asphyxia. "A reasonable police officer would at least acknowledge and consider the possibility that what they're doing is causing a problem, wouldn't they?" However, Brodd said that according to video, it appeared Floyd was still struggling. "Struggling or writhing," Schleicher asked. "I don't know the difference," Brodd said. WATCH | Scheicher grills Brodd over 'resting comfortably' comment Brodd argued that Floyd kept on struggling, and he suggested that if Floyd was being compliant, he would have had both hands in the small of his back "and just be resting comfortably." "Did you say 'resting comfortably'?" Schleicher asked. Brodd: "Or laying comfortably." Schleicher: "Resting comfortably on the pavement?" Brodd said yes and added that he was describing the signs of a perfectly compliant person. "So attempting to breathe, while restrained, is being slightly non-compliant now," Schleicher said. "No," Brodd said. Schleicher argued that the only struggling by Floyd was as a result of him trying to breathe. "I don't know, if he was struggling or if he was struggling to catch a breath ... I can't tell," Brodd said. Other witnesses Earlier in the day, court heard from Shawanda Hill, a friend of Floyd's who was in the SUV with him before his encounter and arrest by police. Hill testified that she had met Floyd in the convenience store and that he was alert and happy, but by the time they got back to the car, he suddenly fell asleep and that she repeatedly tried to wake him up. Shawanda Hill, who was in the car with Floyd at the time of his initial arrest, testifies at Chauvin's trial on Tuesday. (Court TV/The Associated Press) Her testimony was important for the defence as they try to prove Floyd was potentially reacting to fentanyl in his system. Nelson also put on the stand a former police officer and paramedic who testified about a 2019 arrest in which Floyd suffered from dangerously high blood pressure and confessed to heavy use of opioids. Also testifying was Minneapolis Park Police Officer Peter Chang, who helped at the scene that day. He said he saw a "crowd" growing across the street that "was becoming more loud and aggressive, a lot of yelling across the street." "Did that cause you any concern?" Nelson asked. "Concern for the officers' safety, yes," Chang replied.
An epidemiologist says it's "a bit surprising" three people hospitalized in New Brunswick for COVID-19 had been vaccinated, including someone who had two doses before the onset of symptoms. Raywat Deonandan, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa, says the clinical trials showed some vaccinated people still got sick, but that the vaccines "had a 100 per cent chance of keeping vaccinated people out of the hospital." But clinical trial numbers are always more optimistic than real-life situations, he said, noting the COVID-19 vaccines were tested on only tens of thousands of people, and now they're being distributed to tens of millions of people globally. So some hospitalizations were "bound to happen eventually," said Deonandan. Three hospitalizations out of the more than 120,000 adult New Brunswickers who received at least one dose as of last week — or roughly 0.002 per cent — is about the rate he would expect, he said. Deonandan anticipates a "vanishingly small number" of vaccinated people may also eventually die from COVID-19. "This is all about probability, not certainties," he said. "What we have done a poor job of explaining is vaccines are not bulletproof vests." They're merely a mitigation tool. And until we achieve so-called herd immunity, with between 70 and 90 per cent of the population inoculated to protect others who aren't immunized, they're the best one we've got. "The message is, if you get vaccinated, your probability of anything bad happening to you, COVID-related, is now vanishingly small, but not zero." Have a question or something to say? CBC News is live in the comments now. Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province's chief medical officer of health, said the risk of hospitalization, ICU admission and death from COVID-19 are greatly reduced by the vaccine, but all New Brunswickers will continue to be at risk until around June 15, when the province hopes to have everybody vaccinated with one dose.(Government of New Brunswick) It's a message the province's chief medical officer of health has stressed in recent days since she took many people by surprise by announcing last Thursday that three hospitalized COVID patients were vaccinated. It takes two to three weeks for the vaccine to take effect and for the person to build up immunity, Dr. Jennifer Russell had said. "I don't want people to get a false sense of security that they're immune to COVID-19 once they've had a vaccine," she told CBC News on Friday. "And even after two doses of vaccine, we know that the risk of getting COVID is not zero." People need to continue to follow Public Health guidelines, such as wearing a mask and physical distancing, even if they've been vaccinated, she said. On Saturday, when CBC News asked how many of the hospitalized patients had been fully vaccinated, Russell confirmed the even more surprising news that one person had received both doses. On Tuesday, pressed for clarification on conflicting information, Department of Health spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane said the person received the first dose more than 14 days before the onset of symptoms, but the second shot was less than seven days prior to symptom onset. "In this case the second dose is not considered active yet, so the person still has the equivalent of one dose protection," Macfarlane said in an email. The other two people had received a single dose each — one of them more than 14 days before symptom onset and the other, less than 14 days prior, he said. 'Very unlikely' 3 are young, healthy Michael Grant, a professor of immunology and associate dean of biomedical science at Memorial University in St. John's, acknowledged it's "a concern" people are still being hospitalized when the vaccine rollout is underway. And it comes when there's already "skepticism" about vaccines, he said. "It's been a bit of a public relations nightmare with the AstraZeneca vaccine, with what would appear to be a bit of flip-flopping as better information becomes available." But Grant thinks it's "very unlikely" these cases are due to a vaccine failure in young, healthy people. He contends there's "very little evidence anywhere else" that people who have been fully vaccinated and developed immunity from that vaccination are at risk for severe infection. "So unless there's something very peculiar occurring in New Brunswick, I don't think there should be any sort of generalization that people can be fully vaccinated, develop a good immune response and still be at risk for severe illness," said Grant. Dr. Michael Grant, a professor of immunology at Memorial University in St. John's, said it's been a 'hard psychological blow' for the population to be told once everybody's had the vaccine, we can start to go back to to a normal life, and then to hear some restrictions may have to remain in place even after most people have been vaccinated. (CBC) Why some vaccinated people are ending up in hospital and what kind of people this happens to is more difficult to nail down, however. Grant noted the vaccine studies were conducted on otherwise healthy individuals, so it's still too soon to know how some groups of people will respond. But there is some evidence that older people do not respond as well to the vaccine, so they may remain "somewhat susceptible" to the coronavirus, he said. If people are taking immunosuppressive or anti-inflammatory medications to treat certain conditions at the time they receive the vaccine, the drugs can reduce the response they make against the vaccine, said Grant. A couple of studies with cancer survivors who are on some form of maintenance therapy or whose immune system hasn't recovered from chemotherapy have shown they respond "very poorly" to one dose of the vaccine. "And there will be very, very rare cases where people do make an immune response against the vaccine and still get infected with the virus somehow and develop illness," he said. No vaccine's perfect Deonandan said all vaccines have a failure rate. He pointed to the annual flu vaccine, which usually has an efficacy of 40 to 70 per cent. "And yet we never complained when we got the flu vaccine and saw hey, some people got the flu," he said. "But, you know, people aren't afraid of the flu because we don't hear about the thousands who die every year of the flu." The probability of vaccine failure — or the probability of detecting vaccine failure — increases as the prevalence of the disease increases, said Deonandan. Every vaccinated person still has a very small chance of transmitting and getting the disease. This may increase with the highly transmissible COVID variants, including the two now confirmed in New Brunswick — the variant first reported in the U.K. and the variant first detected in South Africa. But they have to be exposed to the disease first. Their chance of being exposed varies with the prevalence of the disease in the community. So if the prevalence is high, then the risk of exposure is high. "So this is all a population game. This is getting sufficient immunity into a sufficient number of people with the understanding that not everybody is going to be perfectly immune." Interpret numbers carefully How we interpret and communicate the numbers is important, said Deonandan. He offered as an example a high school of 100 people, where 99 of them are vaccinated against the measles with a vaccine that has a one per cent failure rate. If an outbreak infects the one person who didn't get vaccinated and the one person whom the vaccine failed to protect, half of those two people were vaccinated. "So you could look at that statistic and say, 'Oh, my God, I've got a 50-50 chance of getting measles if I got vaccinated," he said. But that's incorrect. "You have a one per cent chance of getting measles if you got vaccinated. So it depends on how you view the numbers. This is really important." A couple of months after more than half the population has been immunized, Deonandan expects the probability of community transmission will be so low that the vaccine failure rates will be "irrelevant." Grant encourages people to continue to get immunized. "The vast majority of cases, there's very strong evidence that having the vaccine is going to protect you against developing severe illness," he said. Have questions about this story? We're answering as many as we can in the comments.
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge, experts say Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19 will likely exceed that of the U.S., but President Jair Bolsonaro refuses to implement a lockdown.
Canada's Liberal government will deliver on its promise to spend big when it presents its first budget in two years next week amid a fast-rising third wave of COVID-19 infections and ahead of an election expected in coming months. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has pledged to do "whatever it takes" to support Canadians, and in November promised up to C$100 billion ($79.8 billion) in stimulus over three years to "jump-start" an economic recovery in what is likely to be a crucial year for her party. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals depend on the support of at least one opposition group to pass laws, and senior party members have said an election is likely within months as it seeks a clear majority and a free hand to legislate.
The Saskatchewan government is tightening some public health rules across the province and also expanding access to vaccines as the number of coronavirus variants continues to increase in several regions, particularly in Saskatoon, where a bar was flagged late Tuesday as a potential site of coronavirus variant exposures. Effective immediately throughout the province, bubbles are limited to people's immediate households, no matter the region. Previously, that tightened rule was only in place in Regina. There are "limited exceptions for co-parenting arrangements, caregivers and service people," Health Minister Paul Merriman said. "Be very cautious if we work outside the home," added Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer. In another step, as of Friday all churches and other places of worship will be limited to 30 people. Some stricter measures in Regina are not being extended elsewhere, including a strong recommendation to avoid unnecessary travel in and out of the city, and limiting restaurants to take-out service. Merriman said he's hopeful the case numbers in Saskatoon will stabilize even without those extra steps, based on what's happened in Regina. "I think we've done a very good job in Regina," he said. "Residents have done an extremely good job of adhering to [the rules] because the numbers haven't gone anywhere near where they were projected to go." Vaccine access widened to new groups The province is also opening up vaccine access to people by lowering the age requirement for walk-in appointments to 52 from 55. That change will kick in on Wednesday. More vulnerable groups are also being added to the priority vaccine queue and are therefore immediately eligible for vaccination: All pregnant women. 16- and 17-year-olds who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable. Everyone over the age of 40 in the province's far north. Pregnant women and vulnerable 16- and 17-year-olds will receive an eligibility letter from their physician and will need to use the 1-833-SASK-VAX telephone number to book. The changes come as some areas continue to see a rise in coronavirus variants. The Saskatoon area in particular stood out on Tuesday as it reported a cumulative 302 virus variant cases, up from 181 on Monday. Shahab said if the numbers don't improve soon in Saskatoon, more restrictions will be necessary there. He said the proportion of cases in the area that are coronavirus variants has risen in recent weeks to between 30 and 40 per cent, and called that trend "very concerning." "Saskatoon really has to work hard to avoid following Regina's trajectory," Shahab said, pointing to the rapid initial rise of variants in the latter city several weeks ago. Saqib Shahab, chief medical health officer, speaks at a COVID-19 news update.(Michael Bell/The Canadian Press) Variant cases in the Regina, southwest, south central and southeast areas increased day-over-day Tuesday by 82, seven, 20 and 23 cases, respectively. Merriman noted that Regina's daily variant numbers have settled at a worryingly high level. The Saskatchewan NDP said the changes announced Tuesday came too late. "Scott Moe saw the modelling and knew the variants were on the rise. Instead of acting to win the race between the vaccines and the variants, he gave the variants a head start," the party's chief health critic, Vicki Mowat, said in a statement. "Just like in November, we are seeing a premier unwilling to take serious steps when they are needed." 2 more deaths reported in Regina area Health officials reported a total of 288 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, based on 3,007 tests, while two more deaths were reported. Both deaths were recorded in the Regina area: one person in their 30s and one in their 60s. The new cases were found in the following areas: Far northwest: four. Northwest: 31. North central: five. Northeast: three. Saskatoon: 44. Central west: two. Central east: 22. Regina: 117. Southwest: 18. South central: 17 Southeast: 17 Pending residence information: eight. Seven cases with pending residence information have been assigned to the North central (two), Saskatoon (one), Regina (one), South central (one) and Southeast (two) areas. (CBC) There are 202 people with COVID-19 in hospital, including 41 people under intensive care. On the vaccine front, 7,846 more doses were administered on Monday. That's well below the daily rate that a recent CBC News analysis found is needed in order for the province to meet its new target of getting all adults aged 18 and over access to their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by mid-May.
RCMP in Burnaby, B.C., are again warning the public about the risk of using illegal ride-hailing apps after busting a number of drivers in the city on Friday. Seven drivers were caught offering rides through illegal ride-hailing apps in one night, according to RCMP. Officers handed out 24 violation tickets totalling nearly $14,000 in fines. Seven tickets were handed out for operating without a proper licence or permit under the Passenger Transportation Board Act. Six were for failing to have a proper commercial vehicle inspection and five were for having the wrong class of driver's licence. Four more tickets were for operating without a business licence from the city. Ride-hailing is only legal in Metro Vancouver if drivers abide by regulations and have the proper permits, including one from the province, in order to run their business. Providers and drivers need to have the right driver's licence, vehicle inspections, insurance coverage and record checks, among other requirements. RCMP said passengers shouldn't trust drivers who haven't been properly approved. "You need to be mindful that, whenever you do get into the back of any car [through an illegal app], you don't know who this person is ... if they're even able to drive in the province ... that is giving a lot of power and control to the driver that you're trusting," said Burnaby RCMP Const. Kevin Connolly. "Choosing an illegal app, you don't have those checks and balances that are meant to protect [passengers]." "More often than not, these drivers will openly ignore direction from police, they will attempt to flee from police when they're being stopped ... that's an example of the type of people that members of the public are trusting with their safety and, to me, that's quite the dangerous situation," the officer continued. "If they're acting that way with police, I could only imagine how it could be with some innocent individual." Connolly added that illegal ride-hailing apps won't have insurance coverage, so passengers won't be covered if they're injured in a crash.
Cuba is poised to enter the post-Castro era with Raul Castro due to step down as head of the ruling Communist Party at its congress this week, which will also address the island's severe economic crisis, pandemic response and signs of growing dissent. Castro, 89, and his late older brother Fidel have successively ruled Cuba ever since leading a 1959 revolution that toppled a U.S.-backed dictator and installed a Communist-run country on the doorstep of the United States. The congress, which takes place every five years, is the Communist party's most important meeting electing party leadership and setting policy guidelines.
A judge has sentenced a Vancouver man to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 15 years for stabbing and killing a 34-year-old woman in 2018. Jan Poepl, 31, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Nicole Porciello. She was killed when Poepl, her ex-partner stabbed her and then crashed the vehicle they were riding in into a light pole on the Barnet Highway in November 2018. "The nicest word that I can say is probably disappointing," said Porciello's cousin Gina Iuliano outside the Vancouver courthouse after the sentence was handed down Tuesday afternoon. "I'm trying to understand what it takes to get a life sentence in Canada [without parole] based on the horrific circumstances of what happened to Nicole. Even the judge described it as something horrific." Porciello, who worked at Templeton Secondary School in Vancouver, left behind a 10-year-old son. The judge also ordered a lifetime firearm prohibition for Poepl. Over the course of the sentencing hearings that began in March, the judge heard victim impact statements from Porciello's family and friends — all of which had a similar theme, according to her cousin. "She was pure love. She was fierce. She was smart. She was intelligent. She believed in everybody," Iuliano said. Porciello's brother has previously said that she and Poepl had an on-and-off relationship but Nicole had broken things off in the months before her death. Family members also noted on Tuesday that they hope to see a societal change that puts an end to violence against women. Iuliano says there were signs before Porciello's murder that Poepl was dangerous. "If we had done something in advance of this Nicole would still be here because we would have seen the behaviours that Jan exuded and brought us to the situation today."
Formula One officials are appealing to various levels of government to invest $6 million to bring the Canadian Grand Prix back to Montreal in June but it's unclear how Ottawa will respond. The race was first postponed and then nixed last year, and now F1 needs the money to offset the costs of presenting the event this year without spectators on site. The race usually attracts thousands of tourists from around the world, but with the third wave of COVID-19 picking up steam, bringing all those people together in one place to watch cars zip around the Gilles-Villeneuve track is out of the question. F1 officials are also asking to bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine for the hundreds of staff, crew members and drivers. They would instead rely on private medical staff to keep COVID from spreading among the personnel. Radio-Canada has learned that Quebec public health would be ready to authorize the holding of the Grand Prix without spectators if certain measures are applied. For now, the event is scheduled for June 13, but it is still up to upper levels of government to approve and fund it. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has made it clear that the city can't invest. Premier François Legault said "nothing is settled" on Tuesday. "We are told that because there will be no spectators, there should be compensation from the government, when we have already given a lot," he said. If it weren't for the concern over the 2022-2029 agreement with F1, Legault said, "I don't see why we need this — the Grand Prix — here this year." Legault said the Grand Prix is an important event with real economic benefits "because it is money that comes from abroad and is spent here in Quebec." He said the event is the subject of discussion at the moment. Trudeau not committing just yet Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remained vague on the subject. "I know that talks are underway right now, but at every stage, our priority is the health of Canadians. And that is the basis on which we will make the decisions," said Trudeau. Even if there are no spectators, the health concern is that hundreds of F1 staff will arrive on scene, most flying in from Baku, Azerbaijan, where a race is scheduled the weekend before. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal has other uses when high-performance race cars aren't roaring around the track.(Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press) Quebec Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda said on Tuesday it could be possible to hold the event safely but there is much to discuss beforehand. He said the study of ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is underway. "There is a way to hold it in terms of public health with well-thought-out protocols," he said. "As for the importation of the virus by people who come from outside without quarantines, these are discussions that are taking place between Quebec and Canada." F1 says it can be done safely F1's top brass has made it clear that holding events without spectators isn't financially feasible as the organization relies on ticket sales. On March 27, F1 group president Stefano Domenicali challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office on the issue of mandatory quarantine for travellers flying into the country. In a letter that Radio-Canada has obtained a copy of, the F1 boss outlines the measures put in place to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 throughout the season. In 2020, 78,000 PCR tests were carried out and only 78 tested positive. The F1 president says that is a rate of 0.1 per cent. If Montreal loses the annual event, F1 has already picked Istanbul, Turkey, to host it in the future instead.
OTTAWA — The commander of Canada's military police found himself defending the independence and professionalism of his investigators on Tuesday as members of a parliamentary committee grilled him over how they deal with cases of sexual misconduct. Provost Marshal Brig.-Gen. Simon Trudeau repeatedly asserted during an hour of testimony to the House of Commons' committee on the status of women that his military police officersc were not beholden to the top brass. And he suggested the process of charging a chief of the defence staff or any other senior leader would be no different than for the lowest-ranking member of the Canadian Armed Forces. "If there was an allegation against the vice-chief of defence or the (chief of the defence staff), then being independent from the chain of command, the investigation takes place as it would (for) anybody else, regardless of rank or status," Trudeau said. The Canadian military has long been criticized by survivors of sexual misconduct and others of not properly handling such cases, but those complaints and concerns have escalated following allegations of inappropriate behaviour by several top officers. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service, which falls under Trudeau's purview, is now investigating several of those senior military officers. Those include former defence chief Gen. Jonathan Vance and his successor, Admiral Art McDonald. Both have denied any wrongdoing. While the allegations against senior officers prompted two separate committee investigations in recent months, Liberal and Bloc Quebecois MPs voted on Monday to shut down the study being conducted by the Commons' defence committee. That study was specifically looking at the government's handling of the allegations involving Vance, whereas the status of women committee is looking at the larger question of how the military handles sexual misconduct in the ranks. Many of the questions put forward by committee members on Tuesday nonetheless danced around the military police investigations into Vance and McDonald, and the independence of Trudeau's investigators. The provost marshal acknowledged he reports to the vice-chief of the defence staff, but suggested the relationship was more administrative and did not include police investigations. "Our investigations are carried out independently to ensure investigate integrity and due process for both the victims and the subjects," he said. Trudeau also defended the way his officers conduct investigations and determine whether to lay charges, saying all cases include a rigorous vetting and quality control process and investigators do not need to seek permission to lay charges against top officers. "CFNIS is an independent charging authority, and they do not need to ask permission to do so," he said. Trudeau also said that an allegation or complaint of criminal or inappropriate behaviour can be made to military police without the complainant having to identify themselves, and he encouraged people who have been wronged to come forward. This has emerged as a key issue as the allegations against Vance only came to light following a Global News report in February. Other reports have since been made through the media, which many has interpreted as a lack of trust in the system. Conservative member Leona Alleslev at one point during the committee meeting demanded to know who is responsible for auditing or double-checking the work of military investigators to ensure all proper steps and decisions have been taken. Trudeau indicated he and other military police commanders are ultimately responsible. Tuesday’s testimony coincided with fresh calls from military ombudsman Greg Lick for the government to establish an independent body enshrined in law to provide oversight of Canada's military. Lick suggested it was a "disgrace" that Canada is the only member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network, which includes the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, not to have such an outside organization. "It is untenable that another sexual misconduct scandal had to serve as a catalyst for institutional change," Lick said in a letter to member of the Commons' defence and status of women committees. "Yet here we are. Other nations, faced with similar issues, opted to give their military oversight-bodies proper legislated authorities, ensuring that their recommendations have sufficient teeth to be actioned." Lick is only the latest military ombudsman to complain about his office's lack of independence and ability to properly monitor the Armed Forces and hold it accountable. The Liberal government has indicated it is looking at some sort of independent oversight body following the explosion of allegations against senior military leaders, but has provided no details except to say all options are on the table. Tuesday also saw fresh bickering between political parties over Monday's decision by the Liberals and Bloc to end the defence committee's investigation into the government's handling of allegations involving Vance. The committee will have one more day of hearings on Friday before members begin writing a report. Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet defended his party's decision to support the Liberals' motion to end the study, saying he was worried the committee could not have time to finish a report if the issue dragged on. "What is important in that regard is some real and transparent actions within the army, and that requires, first, a report," he said. "My fear is that the Conservatives, making it longer and longer and longer, are actually protecting the military establishment." NDP deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice in turn accused the Liberals and Bloc of failing Canada's men and women in uniform by ending the study before it was able to finish digging into how the allegations involving Vance were handled. "The Liberals promised to reform this institution, but they have failed miserably and are letting down thousands of women and men who have been sexually harassed or assaulted and are still suffering the devastating consequences today," he said in a statement. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Apr. 13, 2021. Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Ten people are infected in a coronavirus variant outbreak at Saskatoon's Sports on Tap bar, the Saskatchewan Health Authority says. The SHA declared an outbreak at the bar — which coincidentally is located just southeast of a COVID-19 drive-in and appointment-only vaccination clinic — on Tuesday. The specific variant has not been identified yet. "Additional testing is required," a spokesperson said. The infections found during contact tracing so far are among both staff and patrons. The SHA issued a public exposure notice about the bar Tuesday at around 7 p.m., just hours after the province hosted its latest COVID-19 news conference. The bar was not mentioned at the news conference, though Dr. Saqib Shahab, Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, warned that Saskatoon was "on the cusp" of having a larger number of variant cases. Customers and staff who were at Sports on Tap during the following hours are being told to immediately self-isolate for 14 days: April 5, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. April 9, 11:25 a.m. to 5:25 p.m. April 10, 11:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. One or more people were at the bar during those hours while infectious, according to the release. People are to call the 811 HealthLine or their doctor's office if they develop symptoms. Avoid unnecessary travel, SHA says In its release, the SHA cited an "increased risk of COVID-19 variants of concern in Saskatoon" and reminded residents to follow long-established precautions such as keeping two metres distance from other people. The health authority urged people to stick to their immediate household bubbles, as people province-wide are now required to do under a tightened rule added to Saskatchewan's public health orders earlier on Tuesday. The release also went one step further in urging Saskatoon residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Before, health officials had only called for restricted travel in and out of Regina, Weyburn and Moose Jaw. The SHA also recommended that people get vaccinated when they are eligible to do so. Saskatoon had a cumulative 302 variants of concern on Tuesday, up from 181 the day before.
