An independent investigation has found that St. John's city councillor Ron Ellsworth breached the city's code of conduct by profiting after the city bought land from one of his clients, but the city says it won't lead to discipline.

The federal government, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have reached a deal for the Chignecto Isthmus. Upgrades to dikes that protect the low-lying strip of land could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The provinces have each agreed to pay a quarter of the cost and Ottawa will pay half. Taryn Grant has the story.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi is expected to run for the Liberal Party of Canada in the upcoming federal election, Radio-Canada has learned.

The herring spawn that turns the waters around Vancouver Island a turquoise blue came to Nanaimo this week with active spawns in the area around Neck Point Park and Pipers Lagoon Park.

It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon and the wind was brisk but wildlife enthusiasts and families were out to see the herring spawn and all of the birds, seals and sea lions that it attracts. 

For Hannah Christie, 7, it was her first time seeing the herring spawn along with her little sister Abby, 2, and her parents Jonathan and Emma.

She told The Discourse that she “loves the animals, especially the seals and eagles trying to catch the fish.”

When asked how she would describe it to her friends she said “it was super cool, it was blue, and we saw lots of seals.”

Her father Jonathan said that seeing the herring spawn is “beautiful” and that he was “overwhelmed by all the life and animals.”

Brittni Panter is a wildlife photographer who moved to Nanaimo 12 years ago from the Yukon and was shooting photos of the herring spawn at Pipers Lagoon Park on Tuesday. For the past two years, she has been busy photographing the herring spawn. 

“I’ve been spending some time in Comox for the last couple of weeks,” she said. “I’ve been making day trips up on the weekend to watch the spawning. I was excited to see that it finally made it to Nanaimo today.” 

Panter said she loves capturing all the action that happens at the herring spawn. 

“Between the seagulls and the sea lions and the eagles, you never know what you’re going to get,” she said. 

Tana Boyce and her husband Dave have been going “on the herring hunt” since they moved to Vancouver Island 26 years ago, and have only missed seeing them a few times.

“It’s unreal, the amount of fish and the beauty of the water and the fresh air, the smell of everything. Seeing the eggs, like snow on the shores, and the seaweed — it’s just incredible,” she said.

Like others, Tana follows the Pacific Herring Spawn Reporting page on Facebook that posts updates on spawning locations and aerial photos of the spawn from regular flights to monitor the spawning.

The Facebook page is a community outreach project by the Island Marine Aquatic Working Group, which helps Indigenous communities “report spawn observations in local territories” and share information “to help management of herring stocks.”

Tanna’s husband, Dave, told The Discourse he enjoys being outside, “seeing nature at its finest” and enjoying life on Vancouver Island. He was out at Neck Point Park with his camera.  

“Seeing the amount of sea life concentrated in one area is just incredible,” he said. “I really appreciate the herring themselves and seeing them bubbling along the shore and all the way up to the big mammals going after them.”

The post Herring Spawn arrives in Nanaimo appeared first on The Discourse..

Lawyers concluded oral arguments this week in Toronto as a sprawling, nine-week civil trial launched by the Métis National Council against former leaders, consultants and the Manitoba Métis Federation winds down.

OTTAWA — Former prime minister Stephen Harper told a conference in India last month that he doesn’t “entirely understand” why Canada has such a poor relationship with India, and suggested the Liberal party has become infiltrated by Sikh activists who want to carve a separate state out of India.

“Frankly, I have been heartbroken to watch the steady deterioration of this relationship under my successor. I don’t think I entirely understand why that is,” Harper said in his remarks to a Feb. 28 conference in New Delhi called the NXT Conclave.

His commentary was posted online on YouTube.

Ties between Ottawa and New Delhi have been in a deep freeze since fall 2023, when then-prime minister Justin Trudeau said his government had “credible allegations” linking agents of the Indian government to the murder of a Sikh activist near Vancouver.

A year later Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats after the RCMP alleged that New Delhi was behind widespread acts of murder, extortion and coercion across Canada.

New Delhi stands accused of playing a role in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian activist who called for the establishment of an independent Sikh state to be called Khalistan.

Harper alluded to the ongoing criminal investigations briefly in his remarks, saying, “I am certainly in no position to evaluate the accusations.”

New Delhi says the Khalistan movement threatens India’s national security. Ottawa has long said that it upholds India’s territorial integrity but won’t crack down on freedom of expression in Canada.

The issue had become an irritant during Trudeau’s time in government, as a series of separation referendums and parade floats depicting violence received scant mainstream media attention in Canada but were the subject of emotive news reports in India.

Trudeau also angered Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he expressed concern over the Modi government’s crackdown on farmers’ protests in India that included a large number of Sikhs.

Harper argued his government took a different approach to a “fringe minority” that supports Khalistan and is “injurious” to Canada’s relations with India. He said his government operated from the assumption that most Canadians have no interest in the secession movement.

“It is about time that all political parties and politicians in Canada made building those people-to-people ties, that represent the vast majority of our peoples, the priority — and not the priority of building relations with Khalistanis,” Harper said.

“I will give the government of Prime Minister Modi great credit for not disrupting those people-to-people ties given the current coolness between the governments.”

“In Canada, you have a right to be a Khalistani. It’s a democratic opinion,” Harper said. “But it should not be infiltrating our governing party, and it should not be inhibiting good people-to-people relations between India and Canada.”

Modi is known to be close to Harper, who chairs the International Democrat Union, a global coalition of conservative parties that used to include Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

In 2019, Harper visited Modi in India and on Twitter, the platform now known as X, called Modi a “friend” and the “most significant leader of India since Independence” who was “shaping every conversation on geopolitics and the global economy.”

In January, the national inquiry into foreign interference called India “the second most-active country engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada,” particularly on the Khalistan issue.

“India focuses its foreign interference activities on the Indo-Canadian community and on prominent non-Indo-Canadians to achieve its objectives,” the inquiry reported.

“A body of intelligence indicates that proxy agents may have, and may continue to be, clandestinely providing illicit financial support to various Canadian politicians in an attempt to secure the election of pro-India candidates or gain influence over candidates who take office,” the inquiry concluded, adding that some of those candidates might not be aware of India’s influence.

The Canadian Press has reached out to Harper through his consulting firm for comment but has not yet received a response.

In his comments at the conference, Harper also warned that the global order is unravelling and said middle powers like India and Canada should collaborate more on critical minerals and intelligence, instead of encouraging a world of hard-power spheres of influence.

“The world that is emerging is not a desirable state of affairs for humanity. In fact, this state of affairs ominously mirrors the rivalries of the pre-World War I period, and history tells us where that led,” he said.

“God help us as we enter a new such period with its combination of advanced weaponry and computer power.”

Harper said Trump’s proposed tariffs on Canada are unjustified, and he’s troubled by Trump’s “seemingly agnostic view” toward democratic nations, citing his “gratuitous attacks on countries like Canada and Denmark” while cozying up to Russia and Turkey.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A jury has convicted two men of plotting to assassinate Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad at her home in New York City in a murder-for-hire scheme that prosecutors said was financed by the Iranian government.

The verdict was returned at a federal court in New York on Thursday, ending a two-week trial that featured dramatic testimony from a hired gunman and Alinejad, an author, activist and contributor to Voice of America.

Prosecutors said the convicted men, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, were crime bosses in the Russian mob. Their lawyers argued that they were innocent and trial evidence was flawed.

Prosecutors said Alinejad, 48, was targeted by Iran for her online campaigns encouraging women there to record videos of themselves exposing their hair in violation of edicts requiring they cover it in public.

Iran offered $500,000 for a July 2022 killing of Alinejad after efforts to harass, smear and intimidate Alinejad failed, prosecutors said.

Iran continues to be looked at as a source of assassination plots in the United States, including against President Donald Trump when he was campaigning last year.

Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press

This year, CBC journalists are hitting the road with a special election project. We’re asking Canadians: What matters to you this campaign?

THE GREEN LINE
DOCUMENTERS NOTES

how this city councillor wants to close a ‘loophole’ to protect tenants facing demovictions

The Planning and Housing Committee met on March 18 at City Hall to discuss Councillor Diane Saxe’s motion on new protections for dwelling room tenants facing the threat of demoviction.

The owner of 262-266 St. George St. plans to replace 39 dwelling room units with 12 bachelor rental units and a one-bedroom rental unit.
: Bob Krawczyk/Architectural Conservancy of Ontario.

Sebastian Tansil

Caring mastermind based in Kensington-Chinatown who loves spending quality time with friends and family. Empathetic and precise economist by training. Loves amber yellow as it reminds him of people dearest to him.

March 19, 2025

These city meeting notes are part of Documenters Canada. Learn more about our program here. 

The City of Toronto is considering tougher regulations to protect dwelling room tenants in multi-tenant housing.

The Planning and Housing Committee met on March 18 at City Hall to discuss Coun. Dianne Saxe’s motion to introduce new protections for dwelling room tenants who face evictions due to demolitions or renovations.

A dwelling room tenant is someone who rents a room in a multi-tenant building with four or more rooms, where tenants may share a kitchen and/or bathrooms, but don’t live together as a single housekeeping unit.

Coun. Saxe sent a letter to the committee calling out a "loophole" in policies adopted back in 2019, which ensure that the city rejects developments that result in the loss of six or more dwelling rooms unless they are replaced with rental units — but not necessarily dwelling room units — over the same total area.

Coun. Saxe said that the owner’s obligation to preserve the same residential gross floor area instead of the same number of units caused those demovicted from dwelling rooms to lose their guaranteed right of return.

Saxe gave the example of 39 dwelling room tenants at 262-266 St. George St. While the new building will contain 30 bachelor units, the property owner is proposing only 12 bachelor units and a one-bedroom unit to be set aside as replacement units for the dwelling room tenants. Since only these 13 replacement units will be available at comparable rents to the current dwelling rooms, it will leave 26 of the dwelling room tenants unlikely to be able to afford units in the new building and with no right to return to their homes, Saxe said in her letter.

Corbin Sparks, a representative from the Federation of Metro Tenants' Association (FMTA) who works directly with people in unlicensed multi-tenant homes, said he supports Coun. Saxe’s motion, stating “tenants need this amendment in place now or as soon as possible.” He said the biggest challenge facing dwelling room tenants is a lack of affordable housing. Many dwelling room tenants, including folks at 7 Brenton St. in Scarborough are facing an eviction at the end of this month due to needed renovations. The landlord is offering them only one month’s worth of rent. Sparks said these tenants “told me personally…that they can’t find anywhere else affordable to live in the city” — and as a result, are on the brink of homelessness. Sparks also called on the committee to retroactively apply the amendment to dwelling room tenants who are facing the threat of demolition right now “to ensure they have a home to return to.”

Yaroslava Avila Montenegro, the executive director of FMTA , said dwelling room tenants are among the most vulnerable in the city and called the proposal a “step forward in the right direction.” Montenegro called on city planning to update its Tenant Relocation and Assistance policy to require developers to provide all displaced dwelling room tenants with replacement units or comparable housing at similar rents — retroactive to the implementation of the multi-tenant housing bylaw. This would protect tenants like the ones at 262-266 St. George St. Montenegro also called on the city to enhance performance reporting by annually tracking how many tenants have been able to move into replacement units or move back into their units after a renovation or demolition.

Coun. Gord Perks, who is also chair of the Planning and Housing Committee, asked what other policies and tools the city has to support renovicted dwelling room tenants. Doug Rollins, director of Housing Stability Services for the City of Toronto, said that the city has increased funding to existing partners such as the FMTA, the Center for Housing Rights, and invested in a $3 million fund for 2025 to support landlords who need to maintain or do repairs on multi-tenant homes.

As chair, Perks had the last words on the subject and didn’t mince them: “It continues to really grind my bones that we still don't have the kind of protections, the kind of guarantee of tenure that you would expect in…a fair and decent society here in Ontario. And largely that's because the two places where those decisions are ultimately made are [the] Landlord Tenant Tribunal [Board] and the Ontario Land Tribunal, both of which are entities controlled by and appointed by the province of Ontario.”

“I don't know what their animus is against people who don't have high incomes and people who don't own their own property but the animus is certainly there and it particularly shows up with people in [with] really low incomes who live in dwelling rooms,” Perks added.

What were the outcomes of the discussions? 

The Planning and Housing Committee passed a motion for City Council to direct the Chief Planner and Executive Director of City Planning in consultation with the Executive Director of the Housing Secretariat to report back to the committee by the first quarter of 2026 on whether to require those demolishing six or more dwelling rooms to provide replacement units for all their demovicted tenants.

Fact-Check Yourself

Sources and
further reading

Don't take our word for it —
check our sources for yourself.

City of Toronto

Replacement Units for Demovicted Dwelling Room Tenants

CITY OF TORONTO

Multi-tenant rooming houses

City of Toronto

Letter from Councillor Saxe - Replacement units for demovicted dwelling room tenants

No demovictions

Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan

CITY OF TORONTO

Multi-tenant rooming houses

City of Toronto

Addressing the loss of dwelling rooms

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The post How this city councillor wants to close a ‘loophole’ to protect tenants facing demovictions appeared first on The Green Line.

An Ilderton, Ont., woman is frustrated she and her husband are making insurance and loan payments on a truck that was damaged in a theft and will remain "in limbo" until an elusive part can be tracked down.

Manitoba is forecasting a deficit that could range from around $800 million to as high as $1.9 billion, as the uncertainty of ongoing tariff wars clouds the province's economic future, according to the NDP government's latest budget.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says that in her first meeting with the new prime minister on Thursday she gave him an earful on everything from wildfires to oil sales.

Scientific evidence is painting an unsettling picture: COVID infections, even if mild or asymptomatic, may be causing long-term cellular and organ damage, as well as increasing your risk of developing long COVID.

In this week's issue of our environmental newsletter, we look at an eco-friendly way to do laundry and water your garden, learn about the work of conservation activists through art, and find out what scientists predict would happen if all rooftops in the world had solar panels.

As we near the end of the holy month, CBC Radio’s The Signal hosted a conversation about how friends and co-workers can better understand their Muslim neighbours and navigate cultural differences.

A Saint John auction house has opened bidding for a collection of ancient megalodon shark teeth.

Today is the first day of spring and with little snow remaining and warmer temperatures recently, the City of St. John’s has announced the closure of the Loop at Bannerman Park.

The Loop closed for the season on Wednesday.

The Loop is an outdoor ice-skating trail that is open at no cost as weather conditions permit.

The 2026 Newfoundland and Labrador Summer Games will be held in Corner Brook.

The minister responsible for sports and recreation, Steve Crocker, was in the west coast city yesterday for the announcement.

The games are described as the largest multi-sport event in the province, with about 1,600 athletes, coaches, and staff, and 500 volunteers involved.

They are held once every two years, alternating between winter and summer.

The exact dates for the 2026 games will be worked out later.

BANGKOK (AP) — China’s leading supplier of LiDAR technology has denied a report saying it has links to the Chinese military, as the company awaits a U.S. court’s ruling on the U.S. government’s decision to include it in a Defense Department list of suppliers to the Chinese military .

Hesai is the industry’s global leader in sales of laser sensors known as LiDAR and a major supplier to Chinese electric vehicle makers. Its Nasdaq-traded shares surged last week after it reported it had reached profitability. They fell about 10% on Tuesday after the stock research group Blue Orca Capital issued its report, which also accused the company of misleading investors.

“We are aware of the report published by short-seller Blue Orca Capital,” Hesai said in an emailed statement. “Hesai is committed to stringent standards of business ethics and regulatory compliance. We strongly disagree with the allegations in the Blue Orca report and are of the view that they are without merit.”

Hesai sued the U.S. government last year after was added to a Defense Department list of companies considered to have Chinese military connections. The company says it has no such links.

According to court documents, a hearing was scheduled for Thursday in the District Court of the District of Columbia for Hesai’s case against the Department of Defense.

LiDAR is short for “light detection and ranging.” It uses lasers in remote sensing to measure distances and surfaces around a device, supplementing information detected by cameras and other sensors. It’s used in autonomous driving and other applications such as consumer robots and industrial automation.

Hesai is the main supplier of LiDAR to Chinese automakers including BYD. It also was a supplier to Cruise, which General Motors GM bought in 2016 with high hopes of developing a profitable fleet of robotaxis. GM retreated from that venture late last year, after investing billions, saying it would develop partially automated driver-assist systems like its Super Cruise, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel.

Hesai also supplies Amazon’s Zoox robotaxi service, which is hoping to begin offering driverless rides to the general public in Las Vegas at some point this year before also launching in San Francisco.

In the transcript of a recent earnings call, Hesai’s CEO David Li said the U.S. government “continued to falsely accuse us of associating with the Chinese military.”

“We can state definitely that DOD has not accused Hesai of being owned or controlled by any military bodies, selling products to any military bodies or otherwise directly supporting any military bodies,” he said. Instead it asserts that Hesai supports Chinese “military-civil fusion.”

The Blue Orca report includes still images of tanks shown on the Chinese national broadcaster CCTV or in other state-run media and at industry exhibitions that appear to be equipped with Hesai LiDAR units, with close-ups showing the brand name on the devices.

It also notes that U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments describing Chinese technology companies with ties to the military as a threat to national security raise the risk that Hesai faces risks to its business and investments in the U.S.

“Ultimately, we do not think that U.S. authorities will permit a Chinese military company whose products are equipped on Chinese military vehicles to take advantage of the privilege of American capital markets,” it said.

Hesai reported a 14 million yuan ($1.9 million) profit last year, reversing from a loss of 241 million yuan in 2023.

Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press

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A man who had racked up over $30,000 in fines spent the night in the lockup after being hauled over by metro police last night.

RNC stopped the car in the west end just after 9:30 and quickly realized the 55-year-old was on their wanted list.

Not only was there a warrant out for his arrest, his driver’s license was suspended and he was in debt to the tune of over $30,000.

Officers handed him four additional tickets and his vehicle was seized.

He was held for court.

A figure skating team based in Conception Bay South made history this month with their first competition. Blake Faulker, 19, started the synchronized skating team now known as Boys on Blades last October.

Adults looking for a psychological assessment for ADHD or autism through the public health-care system in Newfoundland and Labrador could have to wait for more than five years.