Invasive and toxic hammerhead worms make themselves at home in Ontario
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
Holocaust denial is to be outlawed in Canada, in a further effort to stamp out rising antisemitism.
The federal government is set to make it a criminal offence to make a statement denying the Holocaust took place or condoning or downplaying the killing of Jews by the Nazi regime, except in a private conversation.
Ministers plan to use a bill enacting the budget to swiftly change the Criminal Code, budget documents show.
The move to outlaw Holocaust denial comes as MPs and anti-hate groups warn about the rise of white-supremacism and antisemitism in Canada.
"Jewish Canadians comprise one per cent of the Canadian population yet are the target of 62 per cent of all religiously motivated hate crimes," said Richard Marceau, vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. "We live in a time of rising antisemitism."
Canada will join a string of European countries, including Germany, Greece, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic, which have already prohibited Holocaust denial.
Six million Jews were systematically killed in Nazi-occupied Europe while Hitler was in power, along with other groups, such as Roma.
"Holocaust denial and distortion constitute a cruel assault on memory, truth, and justice -- an antisemitic libel to cover up the worst crime in history -- and thereby a cruel and mocking rebuke to Holocaust survivors and their legacy," said Irwin Cotler, the prime minister's special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism.
The budget earmarked $5.6 million over five years to support Cotler's office.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said "there is no place for antisemitism and Holocaust denial in Canada."
"That's why we've pledged to prohibit the wilful promotion of antisemitism through condoning, denying or downplaying the Holocaust," Mendicino added. "The Holocaust was one of the darkest chapters in human history. We must preserve its memory, combat contemporary antisemitism and be unequivocal when we say: never again."
The government move to change the law follows the introduction by Saskatoon Tory MP Kevin Waugh of a private member's bill prohibiting Holocaust denial earlier this year.
Waugh said the government proposal was "word for word" the same as in his bill and he was surprised to see it in the budget.
But the Conservative MP said having the government push through the law was a "win for everybody."
"There is no place for racism in this country," he said.
Waugh said he would not withdraw his bill, which has its second reading debate at the end of April in the Commons, even though banning Holocaust denial will be part of the budget bill.
He said he wanted to ensure the change to the Criminal Code is enacted as soon as possible.
The budget does not say what the penalty would be for a person convicted of Holocaust denial. Waugh's bill proposes up to two years in prison.
The NDP has said it will vote for the budget, under the terms of its confidence and supply pact with the Liberals, which will mean the bill will pass through the Commons.
If the law is changed through the budget bill first, Waugh's bill aiming to prohibit denying the Holocaust happened in statements will be rendered redundant.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond for a request for comment.
The budget set aside more than $70 million for initiatives benefiting Canada's Jewish community.
This includes $20 million for the relocation and expansion of the Montreal Holocaust Museum and $2.5 million to support the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2022.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Taking place in May in Malmo, Sweden, the 68th annual competition will see acts from 37 countries vie for the continent’s pop crown in a feelgood extravaganza that strives — not always successfully – to banish international strife and division. And you don’t have to be in Europe to watch, or to help pick the winner.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”