From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A lawmaker from Britain's governing Conservatives accused the government on Thursday of blackmailing opponents of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the party's internal rifts over its beleaguered leader deepened.
William Wragg, a Conservative member of Parliament, said legislators calling for a challenge to Johnson's leadership have faced "intimidation," and urged them to contact the police.
Wragg accused Johnson's staff, government ministers and others of "encouraging the publication of stories in the press seeking to embarrass those they suspect of lacking confidence in the prime minister." He also alleged that rebellious lawmakers had been threatened with a loss of public funding for their constituencies.
Wragg told a parliamentary committee session that such actions "would seem to constitute blackmail. As such it would be my general advice to colleagues to report these matters to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Commissioner of Metropolitan Police."
Johnson brushed aside the blackmail claim as he visited a medical diagnostics centre in southwest England on Thursday.
"I've seen no evidence to support any of those allegations," he said, though he added that he would "of course" look into it.
Whips, the officials responsible for maintaining discipline in Britain's political parties, have long deployed persuasion to keep lawmakers in line, and have sometimes been accused of crossing a line and using threats.
Christian Wakeford, a lawmaker who defected from the Conservatives to the opposition Labour Party on Wednesday, said he was told he would not get a new high school for his constituency "if I did not vote in one particular way."
He said the threat of "holding back regeneration of a town for a vote" had made him start to "question my place" in the Conservative Party,
The allegations are the latest outburst in a Conservative battle over Johnson's future, sparked by claims of lockdown-breaching parties by the prime minister's staff during the pandemic.
Wragg is one of a handful of Tory lawmakers openly calling for Johnson to face a no-confidence vote over the "partygate" scandal, which centers on allegations that Johnson and his staff broke restrictions the government imposed on the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray is investigating claims that government staff held late-night soirees, boozy parties and "wine time Fridays" while Britain was under coronavirus restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
Johnson has apologized for attending a "bring your own booze" gathering in the garden of his Downing Street offices in May 2020, but said he had considered the party a work gathering that fell within the rules.
He has urged critics to wait for Gray's report, which is expected to be published next week.
Johnson and his supporters hope a defiant performance at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday, combined with anger at the defection of a Conservative lawmaker to the opposition Labour Party, has helped dissuade party legislators from trying to topple the prime minister.
"I think people have recognized that, actually, this constant navel-gazing and internal debating is only to the advantage of our political opponents," Conservative lawmaker Andrew Percy told the BBC.
But David Davis, a former Cabinet minister who in Parliament on Wednesday dramatically urged Johnson to "In the name of God, go," said any reprieve was likely temporary.
"The party is going to have to make a decision or we face dying a death of 1,000 cuts," he told the Daily Telegraph.
Steve Baker, leader of a group of hardline pro-Brexit Tories who formerly backed Johnson, said the party was in a "sorry situation."
"We didn't make Boris Johnson prime minister for his meticulous grasp of tedious rules but this is appalling and the public are rightly furious," he told the BBC. "At the moment I'm afraid it does look like checkmate but whether he can save himself, we'll see."
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.
Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year, police say.
Careful attention to government statements and legislation is required to get a handle on the level of risk British Columbians’ information is under, as investigators probe multiple breaches under a continued barrage of attacks.
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
A Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre would not legislate on, nor use the notwithstanding clause, on abortion, his office says, as anti-abortion protesters gather on Parliament Hill.
Hailey and Justin Bieber are going to be parents. The couple announced the news on Thursday on Instagram, both sharing a video that showcases Hailey Bieber's growing belly.
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The Oscar-winning team behind the nearly US$6 billion blockbuster 'Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' trilogies is reuniting to produce two new films.
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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.
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.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.