B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
The European Union stepped up its rule-of-law fight with member state Poland on Monday when the bloc's highest court confirmed that Warsaw had refused to comply with EU rules on judicial independence for which it has already lost over half a billion euros in fines.
The European Court of Justice ruled on Monday that Poland's 2019 justice reform infringed EU law after the European Commission, the bloc's executive branch, claimed that the Polish Supreme Court lacked the necessary independence and impartiality.
"By today's judgment, the Court upholds the Commission's action," a court statement said.
It added that "the value of the rule of law is an integral part of the very identity of the European Union as a common legal order and is given concrete expression in principles containing legally binding obligations for the Member States." It said Poland did not meet these obligations.
Amid a plethora of condemnation and criticism, the court said that "the measures thus adopted by the Polish legislature are incompatible with the guarantees of access to an independent and impartial tribunal."
The Polish law requires judges to divulge membership of an association or party and allows that information to be made public. The ECJ ruling said the provisions were "liable to expose judges to risks of undue stigmatization."
The disagreement over the functioning of the Supreme Court is only one of several disputes that the right-wing government in Warsaw has with the EU institutions. It claims the bloc is undermining Poland's inalienable rights to make independent decisions.
The EU institutions have insisted that Poland under the populist Law and Justice party has been on a slippery slope away from the EU's rule of law principles.
This dispute centres on the independence of Polish Supreme Court judges when they review EU law.
Only last week, the United States and the EU's top justice official criticized Polish plans for another law that could keep political opponents from holding public office without full legal recourse. The EU threatened to take measures if it became fully clear such a law would undermine democratic standards.
The criticism does not only come from the EU itself. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in an anti-government protest in Poland's capital on Sunday, with citizens traveling from across the country to voice their anger at officials who they say have eroded democratic norms and created fears that the nation is following Hungary and Turkey down the path to autocracy.
Organizers estimated that 500,000 people took part in the march, which was probably the largest of recent decades.
In the standoff centering on Monday's ruling by the Luxembourg court, Polish authorities already have had to pay about 550 million euros in fines since October 2021, when the system of 1 million euros in daily fines started. The daily fines were halved in April.
In the legal standoff between Brussels and Warsaw, EU authorities are also withholding the release of some 35 billion euros in pandemic recovery funds.
After the collapse of the Soviet empire, Poland joined the EU along with a slew of other Central and Eastern European nations. Since they emerged from autocracy, they were long expected to be models to thrive to become models of Western liberal democracies. Critics now say that Poland, and Hungary, are slipping again toward one-party authoritarian rule.
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.
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.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.