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A violent offender who was released from custody last year to attend rehab in Montreal for mental-health and addiction issues didn’t appear in Fredericton court as required for sentencing Thursday.

Liban Ali Ahmed-Shardi, 31, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty last year to charges of assault with a weapon on two victims, mischief causing damage to property and breach of probation, stemming from a bizarre incident at the NB Liquor store on York Street on June 7.

Ahmed-Shardi was scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 25, but he wasn’t present in court. However, he had contacted the court office ahead of time and appeared by telephone, explaining he couldn’t get from Montreal to Fredericton due to weather and illness.

Judge Lyne Raymond, while expressing doubt about his claims, rescheduled his sentencing hearing for March 13 and told him he’d better make his way to Fredericton for that proceeding.

When she called the case Thursday afternoon, though, Ahmed-Shardi wasn’t present.

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As provincial and territorial governments announced their share of court-approved compensation from the tobacco industry earlier this month, some anti-tobacco advocates said the governments didn’t get what they were fighting for.

“They settled for pennies on the dollar,” said Garfield Mahood in an interview with Nunatsiaq News.

Mahood is a long-time activist who in 2007 was made an officer of the Order of Canada for his anti-tobacco advocacy.

The Ontario Superior Court approved a $32.5-billion settlement in a ruling released March 6.

It’s part of a decades-long legal battle the provinces and territories launched in 1998 against Canada’s three largest tobacco distributors: Imperial Tobacco Ltd.; Rothmans, Benson & Hedges; and JTI-Macdonald Corp.

The settled sum is 15 times lower than the original $500 billion in tobacco-related health-care costs the governments were seeking, Mahood said, adding the real total harm caused by tobacco is much larger.

“It’s an embarrassment,” he said. “You can hardly describe that as a win.”

As part of the settlement, Nunavut will receive $97 million to help strengthen health-care services, support research into smoking-related diseases, and hold tobacco companies accountable for their past actions, the Nunavut government said March 7 in a news release.

As well, individual Nunavummiut, like the rest of Canadians, will be able to apply for compensation for the harm they suffered from smoking.

To be eligible, a claimant must have smoked at least 87,600 cigarettes sold by the involved Canadian tobacco companies between Jan. 1, 1950, and Nov. 20, 1998, and must have been alive on March 8, 2019. For someone who smoked for that entire period, it averages about five cigarettes a day.

They must have also been diagnosed in Canada with emphysema, lung cancer or throat cancer between March 8, 2015, and March 8, 2019.

Emphysema patients can receive up to $18,000, and lung or throat cancer patients are eligible for up to $60,000, Rob Cunningham, a senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society, said in a phone interview.

The society took part in the litigations.

“We wanted there to be more public health measures to reduce tobacco use in the settlement, and in the end those measures are very inadequate,” Cunningham said.

He added public health measures are especially needed in places like Nunavut, with the highest smoking rates.

In 2018, 70 per cent of Nunavummiut age 16 and older smoked tobacco, with some communities reaching 84 per cent.

By comparison, that year the average smoking rate across the provinces was 16 per cent for people age 12 and older, according to the Canadian Community Health Survey.

Smoking causes an increased risk for cancers and leukemia and kills more than 46,000 people each year, according to the Cancer Society.

Vancouver police have issued an amber alert for a two-year-old boy missing from Vancouver.

New, Indigenous artwork was unveiled at Confederation Building this week.

Inuit artist Bronson Jacque was commissioned to create a nearly four-foot-long mural depicting Indigenous culture, which was presented to the government this week.

Titled “The Journey,” the painting features the colors of the Northern Lights along with representations of Indigenous dancers and native animals.

Jacque says the piece, which was completed over the course of five years, reflects his early memories of Postville, Labrador.

“The way I built it, it was very circular, as if you were being embraced by all of the symbolism and all of the imagery in the painting,” he said. “So there’s a lot of wildlife in a circular formation that’s meant to evoke the feeling of being embraced by nature.”

The artwork will be installed and on display for the public to see in the lobby of the East Block of Confederation Building at a later date.

Three members of the Swift Current Innovation Federal Credit Union Wildcats are all-stars. 

Forward Raela Packet, defender Charlize Hillmer, and goaltender Jordyn Ottenbreit made the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League's second all-star team.

"All three kids well deserved," said Wildcats Head Coach Terry Pavely. "The people that surround those players own a bit of that award.  Your D partner, your linemate, they've all done things to help you achieve this success. When you have three players recognized it's great for them, but I also think their teammates need to be proud of the fact you don't win awards without quality teammates helping you out."

Ottenbreit, a native of Grayson, had a 2.94 goals against average and 0.910 save percentage for the Wildcats this season.

"Night in and night out when she was in the net she gave us an opportunity to win," Pavely said. "You look at the Notre Dame tournament she had the best numbers in the tournament when we were there. She was really solid in the NAX event."

Ottenbreit shone in the first round of the playoffs stopping 69 of the 72 shots she faced in two overtime wins.

Hillmer, an Assiniboia product, is a rookie on the blue line who put up 14 points in 30 games while playing against difficult match-ups.

"Got better and better as the year went on," Pavely said. "Became more confident playing tough minutes against some tough players. For a young kid to be able to handle that responsibility is probably one of the reasons she was recognized."

Packet led the Wildcats with 22 points in 27 games. The Lafleche native also played for Team Saskatchewan at the Women's U18 Nationals in New Brunswick.

"You watch Raela play and she's just a buzz saw," Pavely said. "She works hard every single time she's on the ice. Competes for every loose puck. She's got that skillset where she can make some nice passes... and she's got a really good shot."

The Wildcats start their league semifinal series with the Saskatoon Stars tomorrow on the road.

Game 2 is set for the S3 Arenas West on Monday night. We will have it for you on Country 94.1 FM's Local Sports Live powered by OMT Projects.

The aquaculture industry in the Atlantic region is getting a financial boost from Ottawa to support a two-year project to "expand markets, strengthen sustainability and improve innovation" within the industry, ACOA announced Thursday in Saint John.

It’s a tough time for Canadians to start a new business. A looming recession, intensifying trade war with the United States and geopolitical uncertainty are making the economic landscape difficult for many business owners.

While all Canadian entrepreneurs face these risks to a greater or lesser degree, Indigenous entrepreneurs may be most affected.

Indigenous people make up only five per cent of the Canadian population despite being the fastest growing demographic, with 30 per cent growth compared to nine per cent for non-Indigenous people.

Indigenous people start entrepreneurial ventures five times more often than non-Indigenous Canadians. The Canada-U.S. trade war threatens the future of these Indigenous entrepreneurs across Turtle Island (North America), potentially undermining the pursuit of reconciliation.

Indigenous entrepreneurship in Canada

Indigenous-owned businesses contribute approximately $50 billion annually to the Canadian economy from an estimated 50,000 businesses. While this contribution is significant, starting a new venture can be difficult for Indigenous entrepreneurs due to a variety of barriers.

Unlike large businesses that may find workarounds or absorb costs, Indigenous businesses may find it harder to adapt to tariffs or an economic downturn due to poor access to capital, barriers to digital access, infrastructure challenges and a lack of financial slack (a company’s unused financial resources).

These constraints can increase Indigenous people’s dependence on external organizations and may weaken the control Indigenous people and nations have when making decisions about their money and economies. This is something Indigenous people have long been fighting for.

Industries such as oil and gas, forestry and mining are expected to be hit hard by the tariffs — industries that Indigenous communities are becoming increasingly involved in, through employment, revenue sharing and equity participation agreements.

The longer tariffs remain in place, the more Indigenous-owned small- and medium-sized businesses are likely to be disproportionately affected.

Trade agreements

Under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is set to be reviewed in 2026, there are rules that lessen the effect of trade barriers on Indigenous entrepreneurs dealing in textile and apparel goods.

Article 6.2 allows Indigenous handiwork, such as moccasins, to cross borders duty-free. While this offers some protection against tariffs, only 7.2 per cent of small- and medium-sized Indigenous businesses sell their products to other countries. On average, 12.1 per cent of Canadian small businesses are exporters.

Indigenous businesses come from many industries. Construction, retail trade and professional services make up almost 40 per cent of Indigenous small businesses in Canada. Because of this, Article 6.2 only applies to some Indigenous firms.

These provisions must stay in effect. Raw materials brought in for making products are not included under the USMCA’s Indigenous trade rules, leaving an important gap that must be addressed by the Canadian government.

Firms that pay retaliatory tariffs to the Canadian government on imports may apply for a remissions process. The federal government will provide relief to firms that pay import tariffs on a case-by-case basis. It will check whether there are Canadian alternatives to the U.S.-sourced raw materials. If the answer is yes, it may be harder to get money back for tariffs paid.

Indirect financial impacts could also be damaging. The Canadian economic outlook is not good, with expected job losses, reduced investment, weaker productivity and lower consumer spending. These economic effects are likely to impact Indigenous businesses, too.

There is also growing concern about the U.S. potentially sidestepping USMCA rules. Ratified trade pacts have not stopped Donald Trump’s administration from levying taxes on imports, such as those on steel and aluminium. Some experts argue these measures break World Trade Organization laws, raising concerns about future American actions that could erode the benefits of the USMCA for Indigenous businesses.

Social and cultural impacts

The Canada-U.S. trade war could lead to some Indigenous businesses shutting down. In turn, this could have significant sociocultural impacts on Indigenous entrepreneurs and their communities.

Many Indigenous entrepreneurs start businesses in line with their cultural practices, and as a way to contribute to their community’s economic and overall well-being. If a business fails, the entrepreneur may have to leave their community and work for a non-Indigenous firm. This may impact their ability to maintain cultural connection and support.

Many Indigenous businesses prioritize hiring Indigenous people, and closures can result in fewer culturally affirming work environments for Indigenous workers. For youth, this may present as fewer opportunities for community-based professional and interpersonal knowledge transfer through apprenticeships, mentoring and skill-building.

It can also further embed colonial economic structures in Indigenous communities by forcing them to rely more heavily on external businesses.

In addition, more non-Indigenous people are buying Indigenous products, such as hand-carved sculptures and jewellery. These sales are a way of sharing Indigenous culture more broadly. When Indigenous firms close, their owners lose an important way of sharing cultural knowledge.

Action is needed

The growing trade barriers resulting from Trump’s tariffs raise concerns about the future of Indigenous entrepreneurship as a tool for sovereignty and independence. If the right choices are not made, Canada risks undoing progress made towards reconciliation.

The Canadian Council for Indigenous Business has proposed steps to fix the unequal effects of the tariffs. These include more infrastructure investment in Indigenous communities and greater access to funding for Indigenous businesses. It also encourages Canadians to prioritize buying Indigenous products and services.

Removing trade barriers within Canada may also help grow local markets by making it easier for Canadians to trade and do business with one other.

Read more: Canada, the 51st state? Eliminating interprovincial trade barriers could ward off Donald Trump

The business community as a whole faces uncertainty and harm from ongoing geopolitical and trade risks. Weakened Canadian companies are easier targets for hostile takeovers by foreign corporations — a concern that recently prompted Ottawa to change the Investment Canada Act to block predatory investment behaviour.

Encouragingly, Gary Anandasangaree, the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations, recently pledged government programs and support to Indigenous businesses affected by the tariffs. However, some Indigenous leaders feel they are not receiving a seat at the table in negotiating a “Team Canada” response to trade challenges.

Indigenous voices need to be heard and considered in economic decision-making and policy development. Indigenous people and communities are up against unequal and harmful effects that are not only economic, but also social and cultural. Public policymakers, institutions and activists would do well to remember this.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Fredericton firefighters remain on the scene of a blaze at an industrial recycling facility on the city’s north side Thursday afternoon.

A Fredericton police cruiser was blocking a portion of Carman Avenue, just past Barkers Point Elementary School, on Thursday afternoon to keep people away from the site of a fire being tended to by Fredericton Fire Department personnel.

In an email to the Fredericton Independent, assistant deputy fire chief Dave McKinley confirmed the fire was at the AIM Recycling facility located at 400 Carman Ave. He said further details about the situation would be forthcoming in a media release later in the day.

At 3:25 p.m., the fire department warned people of an air-quality problem in the area due to the AIM fire.

“Due to the nature of the materials involved in the fire on Carman Avenue, residents are advised to avoid the smoke issuing from the fire,” it reported on social media.

The department noted that the fire was contained at 4:30 p.m. and that firefighters remained on the scene to deal with hot spots.

The air advisory was lifted at 4:50 p.m.

AIM Recycling, a Quebec-based company that’s a division of American Iron & Metal, has been the source of controversy and catastrophe in New Brunswick in recent years.

There were explosions at its Saint John port facility in recent years and workplace deaths, and a huge fire that burned for two days in September 2023 at the same site gave rise to concerns among nearby residents over safety and pollutants.

The company also operates a scrapyard in Moncton that’s been the focus of noise complaints.

That led the company to erect a wall of shipping containers to block the noise, but residents reported it remains an issue.

The province gave the company more time by way of an operating approval to assess the effectiveness of the measure as a means to reduce the noise.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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Watch this U Sports women's basketball quarter-final between the Carleton University Ravens and the Bishop's University Gaiters from the University of British Columbia's War Memorial Gym in Vancouver.

Alberta public safety minister Mike Ellis dodged an NDP MLA’s question at a March 13 committee meeting about The Orchard’s exclusive reporting on his government’s apparent cover-up of police violence against the University of Calgary’s short-lived pro-Palestine encampment.

As this outlet reported last week, according to Calgary police chief Mark Neufeld’s hand-written notes, he received a May 13 phone call from Ellis informing him that the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was investigating allegations of police misconduct regarding the forced dismantling of the encampment on May 9.

Half an hour later, Neufeld received a phone call from Premier Danielle Smith’s then-chief of staff, Marshall Smith (no relation), informing him that “ASIRT won’t investigate,” but would instead focus narrowly on whether there was “serious injury” resulting from police action.

“I can’t speak to a conversation that I was not a part of, or what may or may not have been said between two individuals,” Minister Ellis, a former Calgary cop, said at Thursday’s Standing Committee on Families and Communities meeting.

This was in response to a question from Edmonton-City Centre MLA David Shepherd, who serves as the NDP’s shadow public safety minister.

Shepherd brought up The Orchard’s reporting, referring to “a journalist” who obtained the chief’s notes of his conversations with members of the government “in response to a student protest at the University of Calgary.”

He asked Ellis how Marshall Smith’s intervention squares with the minister’s stated commitment to a “broader paradigm shift that reimagines police as an extension of the community rather than as an arm of the state.”

“Having a chief of staff of the premier call to tell the chief whether or not an investigation would take place sure seems like the arm of the state,” said Shepherd.

Ellis, whose office didn’t acknowledge The Orchard’s initial request for comment, was cagey, but added that “this is the exact reason” his government has ordered the establishment of the Police Review Commission to independently address allegations of police misconduct.

The commission isn’t expected to begin operations until December.

“If I were the minister of public safety,” Shepherd replied, “having the premier’s chief of staff interfere to comment on what is going to be the scope of an investigation, that would certainly concern me.”

Before Shepherd could ask his question, Calgary-East UCP MLA Peter Singh tried to shut him down, arguing that Shepherd’s line of questioning was out of order, since the committee meeting was focused on the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness’s 2025/26 budget.

“We aren’t here to discuss media reporting,” said Singh.

But Shepherd did connect the question to specific budget items before Singh cut him off.

From the budget estimates, he specifically cited line items for funding ASIRT ($5.7 million) and “Contract Policing and Police Oversight” ($397.2 million).

From the ministry’s business plan, Shepherd cited key objective 1.3, which states:

Implement strategies to improve the delivery of policing services in the province to ensure Albertans are safe and police are accountable to the communities they serve, including support for municipalities and Indigenous communities in the development of new models of policing and public safety.

Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely, the committee chair, deferred to Minister Ellis to determine “whether he chooses to answer and how he answers.”

In addition to Minister Ellis and Marshall Smith, Chief Neufeld’s notes include summaries of conversations about the encampment response with Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney and Justice Minister Mickey Amery.

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A pillar of Newfoundland and Labrador's musical landscape is at risk of collapsing.  The Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society launched a "Save our Festival" campaign Thursday, appealing to corporations and the public for donations to help keep it and its annual folk festival running.

A Toronto man who became homeless in 2023 answers questions from callers to CBC Radio's Just Asking. Justin Laflamme spent several months living in a tent at a small park in the city before moving to a respite site.

Calgary police have arrested a 24-year-old man in relation to a fatal hit and run that happened nearly 10 months ago in the city's southeast.

The attorney general says additional powers would expire in mid-2027.

The company behind a green hydrogen proposal says new tugboats are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and modernize the fleet that supports shipping in the Strait of Canso.