American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Relatives and neighbours of the Indian family who froze to death near the Canada-U.S. border last week said the father repeatedly failed to secure better paid jobs in recent years, prompting them to take a risky trip aided by an illegal migrant network.
The deaths amid sub-zero temperatures, described as a "mind blowing" tragedy by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have cast a spotlight on the economic pressures and human smuggling operations in Indian premier Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat.
Jagdish Patel, 39, his wife Vaishali and their two children aged 11 and 3, were trying to enter the U.S. illegally when they got caught in a blizzard and froze to death in Manitoba on Jan. 19, Canadian and Indian authorities said in a statement.
The victims, residents of Dingucha village in Gujarat, had left their ancestral home this month after they incurred severe financial losses while operating a small retail shop and were unable to make ends meet from their farm income.
"The couple felt they were struggling to run their home and the kids needed better education...they decided to leave India because they failed to find a good job here," said Sanjay Patel, a cousin of the victim who lives in Dingucha, home to more than 1,200 families.
Despite being a highly industrialized state, thousands of locals from Gujarat leave for the United States and Canada looking for better opportunities.
More than 2,000 residents of the village have migrated to the United States in the last 10 years, mainly working at gas stations, malls and restaurants, said Patel who is also a member of the village's self-governing council.
"People from our village and neighbouring areas believe prosperous lives can become a reality when we go abroad," said Patel, adding that three temples, two bank buildings, two schools and a medical center were funded by villagers living overseas.
"We are in state of shock after the incident but the government has not built our village, its only our people living in America who send money to establish better services here," he said.
Posters of travel and immigration agents advertising what they described as easy U.S., U.K. and Canadian visa facilities are pasted on several walls of the village square, where locals on Friday gathered to mourn the loss.
The U.S. authorities charged a Florida man, Steve Shand, with human trafficking after the four -- a man, a woman, a baby and a teenager - were found dead in Manitoba, a few yards north of the border with Minnesota.
The Indian police said they had detained 13 travel agents and were investigating the case to unearth illegal immigration networks running across Gujarat, a highly industrialized state with an influential diaspora based overseas.
An Indian police official investigating the case said the deceased Patel was one among tens of thousands of locals who immigrate to the West as they are reluctant to take up menial jobs which they consider beneath their social standing.
"The Patel community has historically chosen to settle abroad but now we are seeing increased number of cases where people are willing to sell their land, gold just to find a way to live in Canada or America," said the official, Ajay Parmar.
"Everyone wants better jobs and those are not easily available in India," he said.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
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.