RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
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."
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
Police in the U.K. are searching for a group of suspects seen on video using a forklift to steal a cash machine from a bank.
A tower crane operator alerted emergency crews after noticing a fire on a construction site in Halifax Tuesday morning.
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.
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 4 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.