Lack of detention space could force CBSA to release detainees, internal memo warns
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will accompany the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, on a brief Canadian visit later this month that will include stops in Montréal, Toronto and Stephenville in western Newfoundland, his office announced on Saturday.
Details of the visit were outlined in a release shared by the PMO, which said the Aug. 21-23 visit starts in Montreal, where meetings will take place with German and Canadian business leaders. A tour is also scheduled at a local artificial intelligence institute.
Trudeau and his government have faced criticism over a decision earlier this year to grant a permit exempting Siemens Canada from sanctions against Russia that allow it to return a turbine for use in a pipeline that supplies natural gas to Germany.
The turbine was repaired at a Siemens facility in Montreal and the government defended the move as necessary to secure gas supplies for Europe.
The statement announcing Scholz's tour notes the two leader's visit to Montreal will advance shared priorities between Canada and Germany "including our unwavering support for Ukraine, protecting peace and security in Europe and around the world, and addressing the broader global impacts of Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable invasion."
"The leaders will also continue collaboration on ways the two countries can work together to safeguard energy security, and accelerate the global transition to clean energy, including through secure access to key resources like clean hydrogen and critical minerals," the statement read.
The two leaders will then head to Toronto, where Trudeau will take part in the virtual summit about Russia's annexation of Crimea, followed by an appearance at the Canada-Germany Business Forum.
The trip will conclude with a stop in Stephenville, N.L., where Trudeau and Scholz will attend a hydrogen trade show. The statement notes the two countries also intend to "formally deepen" a shared goal of advancing a clean economy, but offered no other details.
"Germany and Canada are close friends on the world stage. We are tied by our shared commitments to democracy, peace and security, including our support for Ukraine, a clean, healthy future, and an economy that works for people," Trudeau said in the statement.
The statement says the two men will also talk about the automotive sector and climate change.
The prime minister and chancellor last met in June at the G7 Summit in Germany.
While the government's initial explanation for returning the turbine to Russian energy giant Gazprom was about gas supplies, a newly released document prepared by Global Affairs Canada for Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly suggests jobs and global inflation were also considerations.
The government submitted the "memorandum for action" and the permit itself in Federal Court in response to a legal challenge of the turbine decision filed by the Ukrainian World Congress.
The memo noted the specialized facility in Montreal working on the turbine employs over 400 "highly skilled" employees and is the only one in the world certified to do maintenance on the equipment.
It also cautioned that not returning the turbine could ultimately weaken support for the Western allies' strong stance on Russia. It said without the turbine, Russia could blame Western sanctions for limiting the Nord pipeline's ability to operate, and that would likely further increase world energy prices and global inflation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2022.
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, 'Ramblin' Man,' has died. He was 80.
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Ontario Provincial Police say they have 'disrupted' an organized crime group that allegedly used an emergency grandparent scam to defraud seniors across Canada out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Calgary police say Winston Campbell, 45, has been charged in the death of a two-year-old girl in 2022.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.