What province? Alberta, of course

One recent article referred to President Trump as “Big Tech’s Personal Lobbyist,” for his efforts to undermine U.S. state and international efforts to regulate or tax the enormous wealth of digital economy giants.

Upwards of 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants could go on strike as soon as August 19. Flight attendants, represented by CUPE’s Airline Component (AC), voted 99.7% in favour of job action with 94% voter turnout.

According to CUPE AC’s bargaining briefing notes, the average full-time entry-level flight attendant makes $27,000 annually—less than the federal minimum wage, $36,000 per year.

Polling shows Canadians are fed up with the constant harassment from Washington. They want our leaders to go back at Washington hard, even if it hurts us economically.

And rarely do you get the two polar opposites — the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the United Steelworkers — both stating that it's better to have no deal than a bad deal.

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Canada, however, has finally shown the leadership that reflects our long tradition of international justice and opposition to genocide. And for this, Trump is threatening to inflict serious damage on our economy unless we back down. What’s on the table is our right to maintain an independent foreign policy.

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Canada and the west have lined up to support the democratic resistance in Ukraine but Trump has always lined up behind Putin. When he first heard about the invasion, Trump declared Putin a "savvy genius". He blamed President Zelensky for the war. In Trump's worldview, the oligarch empires have the arbitrary right to reduce their neighbours to vassal state conditions — by economic pressure or by force.

EDMONTON - Alberta's police watchdog says a retired RCMP officer has been charged six years after shooting a man in the face.

The officer is facing one count of aggravated assault and has been released before a court date next month in Red Deer.

Mounties previously told the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, or ASIRT, that the issue began when they were tipped off about stolen oilfield property on the north side of Eckville, west of Red Deer.

While checking four vehicles parked behind a business strip, an officer found a man sleeping in a pickup truck that had been stolen from Saskatoon almost one week prior.

RCMP told ASIRT the officer called for backup and laid down a spike belt, but there was an altercation and the man was shot in the cheek, sending him to hospital with serious injuries.

It's not known when the officer retired, but investigators say no further details will be released as the matter is now before the courts.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2025.

The discussion paper sets out a range of possible housing deductions employers could charge for shelter. At the highest end of that range, the government is considering a deduction of 30 per cent of pre-tax income — about $1,000 per month, according to the discussion paper.

A migrant worker from Jamaica — The Canadian Press has agreed not to name him, due to his fear of reprisal from his employer — said that if the highest level of deduction is implemented, his $600 after-tax weekly pay packet will be stretched even thinner.

"That is wickedness. I am working for $17.23 per hour," he said.

Syed Hussan, executive director of the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said a 30 per cent housing deduction would be "a massive theft" of wages "without improvement in their lives."

"It's incredibly hypocritical that it's being framed as improvements and a response to the United Nations calling Canada's temporary immigration system a breeding ground for exploitation and slavery," he said.

Last year, the UN released a report saying Canada's temporary worker program is a "breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery" because it ties work permits to jobs.

The report said this creates an institutionalized power imbalance because workers may be deported if they are fired and employers have "limited incentive to ensure decent working conditions."

The Jamaican migrant worker said that he's been told he needs to keep working and stay in line because there are "10 more Jamaicans waiting for your job."

Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo was one of multiple attendees to walk out of a meeting with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney last week, in an event that Diabo characterized as more of a PR stunt than a meaningful consultation.

“I refuse to be a photo op or have Kahnawake be a campaign tool for any foreign governments,” Diabo said. “I was very, very disappointed with the event overall.”

A lack of meaningful consultation was a major topic before the passing of the Bill, with many Indigenous groups, including the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) arguing that the legislation was being rushed through with little regard for Indigenous input.

The summit in Gatineau was pitched as a way for community leaders to have facetime with Carney and voice their concerns, Diabo said, but instead felt like a slap in the face.

He waited six-and-a-half hours before an opportunity arose to say anything at the meeting.

“It almost felt like we were in some kind of high school thing, where it’s like, ‘You sit down, you answer these questions, and you answer only when you’re called upon, when you’re picked, and if you’re not picked, you don’t have an ability to speak,’” he said. “It was very disheartening. I’m very disappointed.”

August 5 will mark the eighth month of lockout for the fifty workers at Béton Provincial (BP) in LaSalle and Longueuil. The lockout was triggered by the employer after the workers unanimously rejected a management offer they deemed unacceptable. Concrete industry workers across the province are watching this fight closely, as the contract that these workers obtain will likely serve as a precedent.

During negotiations, the LaSalle and Longueuil workers are asking for an 18% wage increase over four years. For its part, the employer is offering nothing less than a complete wage freeze until 2027, followed by a 2% annual increase in 2028 and 2029, as well as the abolition of pension and group insurance plans.

It should be noted that the consumer price index in Quebec has risen by 15.5% over the past four years.

According to workers at the LaSalle plant interviewed by North Star, the hardline stance of controversial CEO André Bélanger can be explained by the fact that the company is seeking to set an example by “cutting off the head” of one of the industry's “strongest” unions:

The feedback from the First Nations leadership summit on the federal government’s push to build big projects — first introduced under Bill C-5 — has been almost universally negative. After attending last week’s gathering in Gatineau, Que., Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs provided a scathing, albeit representative, summary.

“The sole purpose of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s First Nations summit was to serve notice on Canada’s First Nations that Bill C-5 is now the law of the land,” Phillip said in a statement. “Further, First Nations are now expected to fully accept and accommodate that reality.” Or even more pointedly, Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation Chief Craig Nootchtai called it a “subjugation session — not a consultation session.”

Neither of them were wrong.

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But the day before I was due to depart, I received a notice from the organizers cancelling my participation, and apparently reneging on the commitment to reimburse me for my non-refundable flights and hotel.

And I wasn’t the only one. Chiefs of Ontario told the Canadian Press in a statement, “It’s disappointing that technical staff, experts and lawyers from organizations and First Nations who were going to attend this meeting were uninvited after they were allowed to register. They all spent money on travel and accommodations to support chiefs during this critical discussion.”

July 21, 2025 – Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the European Union Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, today issued the following statement:

“We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now.

“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.

“The hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 continue to suffer terribly. We condemn their continued detention and call for their immediate and unconditional release. A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families.

“We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life-saving work safely and effectively.

“We call on all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law. Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a ‘humanitarian city’ are completely unacceptable. Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law.

“We strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel’s Civil Administration, if implemented, would divide a future Palestinian state in two, marking a flagrant breach of international law, and critically undermine the two-state solution. Meanwhile, settlement building across the West Bank and East Jerusalem has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop.

“We urge the parties and the international community to unite in a common effort to bring this terrible conflict to an end, through an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. Further bloodshed serves no purpose. We reaffirm our complete support to the efforts of the US, Qatar and Egypt to achieve this.

“We are prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.”

This statement has been signed by:

• The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK
• The EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management

It’s been two decades since the government of Canada passed the Civil Marriage Act — an official nod to approve same-sex marriage in the country.

The act passed July 20, 2005, following the Supreme Court of Canada upholding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 2003.

Not too many news outlets carrying this story. I can't say I'd heard of Simcoe.com before - but good on them for covering it. Given the surging rise in bigotry around the globe these days, Canada becoming the 4th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage 20 years ago yesterday is something I'm proud of