Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
After a tiny radioactive capsule went missing in the Australian outback, an expert in Canada says the likelihood of the same happening in this country is unlikely, given our strong regulations governing the handling of radioactive materials.
The capsule was reported missing on Jan. 25 after it fell off a truck while being transported along a 1,400-kilometre stretch of highway in Western Australia. Authorities in the region announced on Wednesday the capsule had been retrieved after days of searching
Here's what you need to know about the handling of radioactive devices in Canada and whether the same could happen here.
The capsule that went missing in Australia was just six millimetres in diameter and eight millimetres long. It was part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore feed at Rio Tinto's Gudai-Darri mine in Western Australia. It contains the caesium 137 ceramic source, which emits dangerous amounts of radiation, the equivalent of receiving 10 X-rays in an hour.
Laura Boksman, senior consulting scientist at the Radiation Safety Institute of Canada, says such devices containing similarly radioactive material are common in Canada.
"We would have that sort of type of radioactive material device in all sorts of industries in Canada—in mining, in processing. You could have it in pulp and paper, you could have it in the steel industry, you can have them in bottling plants," she told CTVNews.ca on Wednesday in a phone interview. "They're very common, actually."
In order to posess or use radioactive material, individuals have to apply for a licence from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), the federal regulator in charge of nuclear power and radioactive materials.
Applications must include a rundown of all the safety protocols that are planned, such as the training of the people transporting it, how the material is being packaged, what safety audits are being done on a regular basis, and what emergency plans are in place if the material gets lost or stolen.
"You have to submit a lot of information to the regulator to show that you're a committed to working safely and that your plans are adequate for what you want and plan to do with the type of radioactive material that you have," Boksman said
Licences to transport are typically granted for a period of five or 10 years, and they come with additional reporting requirements. On top of that, the CNSC also performs routine inspections.
"There are annual reports that have to be submitted. There are financial guarantees that have to be provided … so that if you go belly up and you just leave, the government has some financial compensation in order to deal with the problems of what you left behind," Boksman added. "To use radioactive material, it's very highly regulated with the CNSC."
Failure to properly handle radioactive material can result in thousands of dollars in fines, even jail time in Canada. But in Australia, the penalties are capped at A$1,000 (C$949), something that the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called "ridiculously low."
Given Canada's regulations, Boksman says it's "extremely unusual" for a radioactive source to go missing without being housed in a device or packaging.
"This sort of type of source would have been in in a gauge of some type, and they definitely don't come apart. And then when you look at the way they're transported, they have to be transported in specific packaging," Boksman said.
In 2022, there were five instances of lost or stolen sources or radiation devices, according the CNSC. Three of these cases involved the theft of portable gauge devices, two of which were recovered. In the other two cases, capsules of iodine-125 were lost in Montreal, but the CNSC classified these as Category 5 sources, or "very low risk."
Boksman says five instances of lost or stolen sources per year is "really, really quite small."
"There are thousands and thousands of shipments of radioactive material every year. We've got such a small number in proportion to the number of shipments that are out there," she said.
With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
With carriers' flight volumes above the 60th parallel hovering below pre-pandemic levels, Canadian North’s first Inuk CEO now bears the task of balancing those financial and logistical challenges with the needs of communities for which she feels a deep affinity.
One of greatest climbing guides on Mount Everest has scaled the world's highest peak for the 29th time, extending his own record for most times to the summit, expedition organizers said Sunday.
Amid significant criticism from advocates, Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Minister Kamal Khera is defending her government's long-promised, newly unveiled Canada Disability Benefit, calling the funds an "initial step," but without laying out a timeline for future expansion of the program.
RCMP commissioner Mike Duheme says he wants the government to look at drafting a new law that would make it easier for police to pursue charges against people who threaten elected officials.
Homicide investigators in B.C. say murder charges have been laid against a fourth Indian national in connection to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey gurdwara last year.
Past left-leaning presidents who enacted some of the most socially liberal policies on the continent have given way to a self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" whose fiery appraisals of social justice and efforts to dismantle diversity and equity programs have made him into a global far-right icon.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.