Ontario Premier Doug Ford appeared on CNN on Monday, hours following Justin Trudeau’s decision to step down as Canada’s Liberal Party leader.

Premier Ford used his time with CNN’s Erin Burnett to respond to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s assertions that Canadians “love being the 51st state,” which Trump proclaimed in a social media post and reaction to Trudeau’s announcement.

“I appreciate his sense of humour… You know something, but it’s not realistic. We’re a sovereign country. We’re proud, and Canadians, just like Americans, are proud,” the premier said.

Trump also stated in his social media post that if Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no tariffs imposed, taxes would “go way down,” and the country would be “totally secure from the threat of the Russian and Chinese ships that are constantly surrounding them.”

Trump’s proposal to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all goods and services from Canada and Mexico was framed as a strategy to pressure the two nations into taking more decisive action against cross-border smuggling of drugs and people.

Before speaking on CNN, Premier Ford spoke to reporters at Queen’s Park and quipped that Canada ought to buy Alaska from the U.S., along with Minnesota and Minneapolis.

Premier Ford added that the U.S. and Canada should be united against China, which he accused of using Mexican supply chains to undercut American and Canadian prices.

“The problem isn’t Canada. I’ve talked to so many governors, congresspeople, and senators. Never once did they say Canada is the problem,” Premier Ford said on CNN. “China’s the problem. China ships cheap parts, puts them in through Mexico, slaps a ‘made in Mexico’ sticker on them and ships them up through the U.S. and Canada, costing jobs. We need to work on a unilateral deal with the U.S.”

Chances of an early election in Ontario

Premier Ford was also asked about the possibility of an early provincial election.

“What I can tell you today is that I am 100 per cent focused on the tariffs,” he said. “My main focus is these tariffs right now.

“God forbid president-elect Trump gets in there and puts tariffs. We have to retaliate. We have to retaliate hard against our friends south of the border, which is unfortunate,” the premier added.

Although Premier Ford didn’t explicitly state he wouldn’t call an early election, analysts say it is improbable given the current federal political landscape.

The next scheduled Ontario general election is set for June 4, 2026.

Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie pressed Premier Ford to immediately reconvene the legislature, which is adjourned until March 3, to resume its work.

“This is a time for stability, not political posturing,” said Crombie.

A 50-year-old male was arrested and charged with uttering threats at a hospital in the captial city on Monday evening.

The man was taken into custody and was held at the lock-up to appear in court.

Police are investigating a break-in at a convenience store in downtown St. John’s.

RNC were called just after 3:00 this morning after someone forced their way inside the shop and made off with merchandise.

The suspect fled on foot before police arrived. The investigation continues.

Better screening is only a small piece of the puzzle

Good morning. We’re unpacking Justin Trudeau’s resignation, the leading contenders for Liberal leadership, and how this power shift could shape Canada’s future. Let’s get straight to it.

Politics

Residents west and southwest of Central Butte will be dealing with a power outage tomorrow. 

"We have a planned outage set for 10:30am to 1:00pm," said SaskPower spokesperson Joel Cherry. "It will be affecting 51 customers. We need to do some switching in order to fix an underground cable fault there."

Cherry notes it could take less time than they've planned for.

"We want to make sure we give people a good sense of when we could have the power off," he said. "We always appreciate our customers' patience. Any outages are inconvenient, but by taking care of these issues in a proactive way we can prevent unplanned outages later."

With the new year in full swing, there is new legislation in place for towns and local service districts and the Municipalities Act was replaced with the Towns and Local Service Districts Act.

Under the new act there are new methods for towns to generate tax revenue. There is a reduction in unnecessary ministerial oversight and red tape.

There is clarity in the new act and there will be an increase in readability and the language is gender neutral.

The new legislation also acknowledges the role of local service districts in providing services to residents.

A strong earthquake killed at least 95 people in Tibet on Tuesday and left many others trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the high-altitude region of western China and across the border in Nepal.

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A Lake George man will return to court later this month to schedule trial dates on narcotics-possession and stolen-copper charges after denying them in court this week.

Joseph Vernon Murphy, 44, of Route 635, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Monday accompanied by lawyer Emily Cochrane, who was acting as an agent for defence counsel T.J. Burke.

Court heard Murphy was electing to be tried in provincial court and pleading not guilty to Oct. 31 charges of possessing cocaine, methamphetamines, fentanyl, hydromorphone and clonazepam for the purpose of trafficking; possessing $11,485 believed to be the proceeds of crime; carelessly storing three shotgun shells; and violating a court order barring him from possessing firearms and ammunition.

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The world outside the window is still dark and asleep when Clayton Dreger's 2:30 a.m. alarm rings, calling him to work.

For four decades, Dreger has left the comfort of his warm bed in the middle of the night and, for most of those years, travelled an hour from his home in St. Norbert to Golden West's headquarters in Altona to gather the latest in local sports news and scores in time for us to catch them in the 6 a.m. sportscast on CFAM 950, CHSM 1250 and CJRB 1220 every weekday. 

This morning, however, is different. 

After a 40-year career of “connecting communities” at southern Manitoba arenas, baseball diamonds, curling rinks, gyms and golf courses, Dreger is preparing to turn off his microphone and hang up his headphones for the last time and retiring. 

It all started for Dreger when he was 20 years old, living in Morris and serving on the Board of Directors for the Morris Curling Club.

"CFAM Radio sent the Club a letter saying they would like somebody to do reports from the Morris Men's bonspiel, and everybody's looking at each other so I said I'd do it. So, when the bonspiel started, I did two reports a day and a wrap up report on Monday," reflected Dreger. "We went to the restaurant in Morris, and they had the radio on and we heard it on Monday morning and had good laugh about that. 

But, through that, I got to know Al Friesen, who was Program Director at the time. He was also the President of the Southern Manitoba Super Curling League and their first draw in the fall of 1984 was in Morris. So, it's a Saturday afternoon and I decide to go to the club for lunch and I see Al, say 'hi', and then he asked the question, what are you doing? 'Well, I'm working construction in Winnipeg, but I really want to get into radio, and he looked at me with this kind of blank look on his face and says, 'well, we're looking for somebody'."

Friesen encouraged Dreger to give the news director, Ken Klassen, a call.

"I continued on with the construction for a bit until it got way too cold for my liking and called Ken. He said, 'come on in'. We had the interview, and I read for him and went back home, and then he called me back and said, 'can you come in on January 7th?'. And that was Day 1, 1985."

"It was magical," said Dreger, of the opportunity to get his foot in the door. 

"The voice of Jim McSweeney on the Morning Show. Just to watch Jim come in and do what he did was just so special. But then to learn from Ken and Harv Kroeker in the Newsroom, was just so good." 

After what seemed like weeks of reading copy and reviewing the recordings, Dreger stepped into the sportscaster role. 

"You realize then (that) it's real. That now you need to understand what's happening in each region of the province where our stations are, and that was so much fun. You know, you're in your mid-20s and it's your dream job. Of course, you're just thrilled to have gotten into the business and you're getting paid to talk. That was just way too cool." 

Starting out with a typewriter and reel-to-reel recording devices to using computers and digital editing software to get his sportscasts to air, Dreger has experienced many changes throughout his four-decade career. 

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is Dreger's belief in the importance of having local high school or young amateur athletes on the air. 

"I just think it's so special. You go on the radio, and you say that in the Zone 4 High School Hockey League, Sam Hildebrandt stopped 32 shots as the Morden Thunder beat the Carman Cougars, on CFAM. In Steinbach, you mention that Cole Mistlebacher scored in overtime as Steinbach Regional beat Lord Selkirk, or Landon Lockhart had a hat trick as Killarney/Wawanessa beat the Neepawa Tigers. And then for someone to maybe go up to Sam, Cole and Landon at school and say they heard their names on the radio or saw it in our sports update page on our online portals. That is just - it's so great." 

Not only has Dreger's name become synonymous in local sports venues across Southern Manitoba, but he's been welcomed into locker rooms of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Winnipeg Jets, to name a few. You've also likely spotted his Radio Southern Manitoba microphone flasher front and centre at any provincial-level sports news conference. 

However, it's rubbing elbows with the likes of Manitoba sports legends like Bob Picken, Bob Irving, Jack Matheson and Jack Wells that Dreger says are some of the highlights of his career.

"In the business back in 1985, here's this 25-year-old from Morris working for Radio Southern Manitoba who knows them, but now he's associated, if you like, with them. That was so special, to get to meet them and then become a Member of the Mantle of Sports Writers and Sportscasters Association. Just to be with them was so, so much fun."

As well, Dreger got to watch the greatest golfer ever, Jack Nicklaus, play at St. Charles in the Canadian Senior Men's Open Championship, and interviewed one of the greatest hockey players of all time, Bobby Orr at Assiniboia Downs.

With 40 years in the business, Dreger's advice to young people looking to get into broadcasting is, get your foot in the door.

"[...} and then just work so hard and keep at it. Either through interviewing who you need to interview, whether it's athlete or student athlete, or coach, just get better and keep working hard. You never know. Someone might hear you or see what you wrote and get a phone call and say, 'hey, can we talk?'

Looking back, Dreger says it was a dream job. 

"It's hard to put into words," he said, getting emotional. "[It's] something you hope to and then do. That's what made it so special. That I got the chance. The chance to work for Elmer (Hildebrand) and then, over the years, your coworkers. It's just fabulous."

Listen to Dreger's full interview below.

With files from Chris Sumner and Robyn Wiebe

"We had record prices in 2024,” says Manitoba Livestock Marketing Association Executive Administrator, Rick Wright. "For the cow/calf breeders in Manitoba, across Western Canada, it's the best year we've ever had."

“I've been in the business 45 years, and we've never seen cattle prices where they were this fall. And the good news is that looking ahead into 2025, it looks like these prices have the potential to carry on for next year and possibly the year after,” he says. 

“So, I think as cow-calf operators who have been in the business for a long time, they're finally being rewarded for their hard work and as we put it on our side of the business, they're in the driver's seat right now,” says Wright. “We’ve got a short supply and all the indicators and fundamentals in the formulas look like we've got strong prices ahead.” 

Noting how cattle prices and grain prices work together like a tip-scale, when one goes high the other goes low, Wright says over the past year, beef prices remained high, however grain prices were lower than what we’ve seen for years which was a favorable combination for cattle producers. 

To what’s going to happen in the future he says there are 5 fundamentals that cattle producers are watching very closely.

"One is the supply of cattle that are out there," he explains, “and the weather conditions, especially drought. There's a lot of drought in the US right now and in some areas of Canada, although we’re not bad as we were. One of the big factors is going to be the value of the Canadian dollar. That’s certainly going to have a major impact on all the agriculture commodities moving forward.” 

The Canadian dollar dipped below $0.70 US on Tuesday, December 17th.  It was the first time since the onset of Covid in March 2020, according to Bloomberg data.

“On the beef side, "Wright continues, "we're looking at consumer demand and resistance in our export markets, which are critical for us in Canada. And the last one we're going to watch in the next year are going to be the government policies.” 

President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the United States' 47th president on Monday, January 20. With this new U.S. administration coming and an election coming up in Canada with a possible change there, Wright says the government policies, such as the proposed tariffs in the US at 25%, have a big impact on what's going to be happening in the agricultural market, especially the cattle and grain side. 

"Those are the things that I'm going to watch as a market analyst very closely for the next year when I make decisions and we're giving out some consulting advice to our customers," he adds. "So, we're going to watch all this really close over the next 12 months and that will help us formulate plans for moving forward in the future."

Please listen to more with Rick Wright below as he delves deeper into the Canada-U.S. trade agreements, and immigration dynamics and cattle imports into the U.S.

The Federation of Labour is calling on government to come up with a comprehensive strategy to meet future labour needs.

The provincial government signed an MOU with the province of Quebec just before Christmas, with projections that the agreement could result in the creation of 5,000 direct, and 4,500 indirect jobs.

Federation President Jessica McCormick says they want to make sure that the educational needs of future skilled workers are met.

“We want to ensure that the province and our workforce is prepared to meet the demand that we’ll have once these projects come online,” says McCormick. And that means meaningful consultation and collaboration with industry, government officials and workers.

The Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation (BRHC Foundation) is launching their first Thrive Conference to take place in early May of 2025.  The Conference is dedicated to supporting and inspiring regional healthcare workers from across the Westman Region.

"We were looking at 2025 and fundraisers and were wondering if there was anything we could do that has a dual purpose where we're still raising funds for the Foundation that goes back into our hospital but also may be doing something else at the same time that can have a bigger impact," shares BRHC Foundation Communications and Development Coordinator, Jessica Saler.

Ideas came forward to hold an event specifically for healthcare workers, one that would benefit both private and public health care workers, and a plan was set in motion.

"In these challenging times of healthcare, it's easy to lose sight of the passion and motivation that might have originally drawn many people into the field of healthcare,' says Saler. "So, Thrive is designed to reignite that spark and provide an opportunity for healthcare professionals to develop both professionally and personally." 

Saler notes the Thrive Conference is the first of its kind in the Westman Region where the BRHC Foundation is hosting a conference specifically for healthcare workers, as a well as making it a fundraiser for the Brandon hospital, "where the proceeds can be reinvested back into our local healthcare system," she adds.

"A lot of the time for personal or professional development in your industry you have to go to Winnipeg or a bigger city, you have to travel to do it. So, we're really excited to bring something here that's closer to all our rural communities," says Saler.

The event will feature three nationally recognized speakers with topics to be finalized over the next few months:

Deri Latimer - A TEDx Speaker, Author and Organizational Consultant

Latimer will inspire her audience to discover how their brains work, and what one can do to create more opportunities for insight, handle pressure effectively, and facilitate positive change in themselves and others.

Jane Helbrecht - TEDx Speaker, HR Expert & Certified Leadership Coach

Helbrecht speaks on leadership, organizational culture and flexible work topics that will impact leaders, emerging leaders and HR professionals.  She also speaks on helping others find and unleash their Big Work Energy.

Amy Oliver - MBA, BSCPH, RPH, PMP, CLC

Oliver holds an MBA with a dual concentration in Organizational Leadership and Health Administration. Among her numerous credentials, she is a licensed pharmacist and Certified Leadership Coach.

On Monday, January 13th tickets will be available for the May 8th Thrive Conference to be held at the Keystone Centre.  Visit the BRHC Foundation website HERE!

Steinbach Community Outreach reflects on the highlights, hurdles, and hopes for the future while serving vulnerable individuals in Steinbach. 

Center Director Myra Gerbrandt says a highlight of 2024 was celebrating one year since ‘The Bridge’ got up and running. 

“That is our affordable housing complex. It’s been a success, but also a super high learning curve for everyone. Landlords learning what it is to be landlords, and tenants learning what it is to be tenants in a community setting. So, lots of challenges, but lots of rewards there as well.” 

Madeleine Thiessen from SCO shares that another standout moment was the community support.  

“There’s a lot of community involvement in Outreach. We had the Holiday Harmony Jingle Jam from the Janzen Boys. They came to us and asked if they could throw a concert with the proceeds coming to us, and we said, ‘Yes, please!’” 

Schools, churches, and local businesses also pitched in with donation drives which has helped SCO immensely. However, the year was not without sorrow. 

 “We’ve had three deaths at Community Outreach in the last year, and it’s been very devastating for our people and for us,” Thiessen shares. “We get to know them, and we love them, and it’s really hard to let that go.” 

Unfortunately, the last loss was just this past month.  

“We’ve shed some tears this last year for sure. Even just with the Christmas season, it’s like joy, hope, and peace, but all those things sit together with grief, sorrow, and some darkness,” Gerbrandt explains. 

She says the SCO volunteers have been able to talk and grieve together, doing their best to heal and get through the hard times.  

Homelessness remains an issue in Steinbach, and it has been more visible since the summer. 

“More people are talking about it and asking questions,” says Gerbrandt. “It’s partly good and it’s partly a challenge. It’s good that awareness is being brought up, like there is homelessness in Steinbach. Now many of you have seen it. The challenge is dealing with it.” 

She continues, “It’s never just a band-aid solution, it’s always very intricate. There’s so many challenges in figuring out how to best help the immediate need but also getting to the roots.” 

Another challenge is the months during the cold Manitoba winter, leaving clients with icicles in beards and huddling together to get warmth.  

“The hardest thing is every day at 3:30, we have to send them out, and they don’t know where they’re going to be sleeping, and it’s been cold. It’s heartbreaking and we shed tears over that because we know them, and we love them. And then when we show up in the morning to open the doors, there’s four or five of them all huddled.” 

Thiessen says a recent tally shows that 11 people are living on the streets of Steinbach with many more forced to couch surf and she adds that they are doing what they can to keep them warm. 

“We give them hand warmers, if we had thermoses, we would give them thermoses of coffee to send out with them. We’ve given gift cards to Tim Hortons, so they could have a warm place to sit for the night as long as they order something.” 

Despite the challenges, there have been highlights including many individual successes. 

“We’ve seen a handful of people get sober and get on the path of healthy, productive living,” says Gerbrandt. “Now to see them come into Outreach with a light face and light in their eyes. One of them has even started a Narcotics Anonymous group. It’s so exciting to experience success in the midst of the hardships.” 

Community members have also been showing their support by donating to events like Soap for Hope. 

“The community just banded together, and they did it all for us, it was so exciting,” Thiessen shares. 

As SCO looks forward to 2025, there are big dreams on the horizon with the hopes of Outreach finding a new home, but their focus will be on seeing more client successes. 

“We want to see everybody off the streets, obviously. I don’t know if that is going to happen, but it’s a goal.” 

Although there aren’t any immediate challenges, 2025 certainly will not be easy. 

“Almost every day there are new people who are finding themselves in a precarious situation,” Gerbrandt shares. “We try to keep our freezers full, so that’s always a challenge.” 

Steinbach Community Outreach celebrates their successes and mourns their losses from 2024. In the new year, they remain committed to serving those in need. 

With files from Kenton Dyck

Starting as a young, wide-eyed coach and securing his first victory on December 18, 2011, to achieving his 500th win as a seasoned veteran on January 4, 2025, Paul Dyck's journey with the Steinbach Pistons has been nothing short of exciting. 

The General Manager and Head Coach says he feels fortunate to be a part of the Pistons organization and to be surrounded by great staff. 

He adds that they have a commitment to winning but didn’t know if getting 500 wins would be possible. 

“I was just trying to get to 5 that first year. I just told the boys now, I said it's great and obviously we've had some good teams and it's been a fun ride, no doubt. You enjoy that journey.”  

Dyck reflects on the many people he has met during his coaching career and the great influence they have had on him. 

“When I was starting, I really didn't have any experience in coaching. I had worked with Rich Gosselin as an assistant, largely, and then when he resigned, I took over and I was by myself. It was a tough slug in that first year.” 

Since then, assistant coaches have come and gone, each one teaching and leaving a great impact on Dyck. Now, Calvin Bugyik has stood with Dyck for six years and they complement each other well. 

“We're starting to think what the other persons thinking or say what the other persons thinking so we're kind of like an old married couple, I think.” 

Dyck takes pride in being a part of the Steinbach Pistons legacy and he says receiving congratulations from former Pistons means a lot. 

“That's one of the best parts about it, that guys want to come back, and I’ve been able to maintain some relationships with some of the young guys. It's pretty special that they want to stay in touch.” 

When he first joined the organization, it became a goal to change some of the dynamics, making it important to build long-lasting relationships with the players. 

“We identified changing the culture and establishing a healthy one. One where guys would be excited to come to the rink and that they wanted to come play in Steinbach. So that's been one of the most rewarding parts about it all. Winning becomes a bit of a byproduct of that.” 

Dyck adds that achieving and maintaining that goal doesn’t happen without a lot of really good people. 

“Our Board of Directors and the support that they've given us and then working with Graham (Pollock) all these years, we've had tremendous familiarity with one another. He's worked on the video side and there's very little communication that needs to take place. The clips the next day are spot on what we were both thinking.” 

He continues, “It’s been a fun ride, no question. But the culture part of it has definitely been the driver to success.” 

After marking 700 games with the Pistons in November 2024, and exactly 10 years after his 100th win on January 4, 2015, Dyck is now celebrating 500 wins as an admired coach in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.  

“You feel like you don't really belong and there were guys in the league that are in the league now that had been around for a long time,” he says. “In league meetings, I remember initially I would sit in the meetings and didn't have an awful lot to contribute and not necessarily the first one to speak up in those meetings. Now when you're a little longer in the tooth, people are thinking you might have something to say, there's a different expectation.” 

Dyck has enjoyed the experience of watching the league grow and is hoping to have more conversations with young coaches, helping them feel more comfortable and welcome in the league. 

Looking ahead to the next 100 wins, Dyck is looking forward to the first win in the new Southeast Events Centre, along with hoping for a fourth championship. 

“It would be cool to attain it with this group. We've got a great group here, but number four is the one we're really looking for.” 

With files from Dave Anthony

As the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie prepares to welcome 2025, excitement is building for new opportunities and progress. While there are challenges, council is optimistic about the year ahead. 

Reeve Ivan Normandeau says one of the key projects set to take shape is La Broquerie’s participation in the Red-Seine-Rat Wastewater Cooperative. 

In addition, La Broquerie will focus on maintaining services and infrastructure across the municipality.  

“In the following year we’re trying to maintain. We’ll have a few road projects, we are currently working on in our budget discussions and just keep trying to keep the level of services for the whole municipality where they should be,” Normandeau explains. 

La Broquerie continues to grow and develop, with signs of expansion seen all around the area. 

“The whole municipality is expanding, and it’s nice to see,” he says. “For the next year, we’ve got a few projects that we are doing out in Marchand, which will be great for that area.” 

As with every new year, challenges are expected. Normandeau acknowledges that unpredictable spring weather could create difficulties for residents.  

“Unfortunately, we have no control over it. We’ll see what Mother Nature sends us in springtime, and hopefully everything works out.” 

Normandeau explains that maintaining infrastructure and ensuring residents’ needs are met will remain top priorities for council. 

Building and strengthening relationships with residents and neighboring communities is also a focus for 2025.  

Normandeau admits the past year brought its share of difficulties in this regard, but they are determined to move forward positively.  

“We did strain some relationships in the last year, and we’re certainly working hard to get those relationships back. The municipal council is the one closest to the ratepayer. This is the one where you deal with your neighbors, you deal with your friends, you deal with your cousins. It was difficult, but we’re certainly working hard to gain people’s trust back.” 

With a combination of new projects, steady maintenance, and a focus on community trust, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of growth and opportunity for La Broquerie.  

With files from Kenton Dyck

Another cold day is on tap for Manitoba. Winnipeg is a looking at an afternoon high of around –17 C, while extreme wind chill values will be an issue along the Hudson Bay coast again. Looking ahead, watch for some snow on Thursday.

The Thompson Humane Society and Winnipeg Humane Society are working together to get more animals vaccinated against deadly diseases through a new Lay Vaccination Program. Thompson Humane Society's chair says it's a piece of the puzzle when it comes to boosting basic animal health in communities.

The hockey arena in Red Sucker Lake First Nation has the potential to offer much-needed recreation in one of the province's most remote communities — but it sits half-finished, without dressing rooms, bleachers or heat.

The unexpected but long-awaited resignation of Canada's prime minister has ushered in a series of economic questions and uncertainties, including in Manitoba.

Justin Trudeau's resignation as Liberal Leader, the leadership race it is triggering, and a subsequent federal election mean not only upheaval and uncertainty in Ottawa, but also for municipalities that rely on federal money to fund major priorities. 

The baby name Henry climbed the charts in Saskatchewan in 2024, and the name Sophia jumped slightly compared to the year before, both landing as the top baby names.

Swift Current families and residents can enjoy snowshoeing around the area or on the golf courses this winter, whether they own snowshoes or not.

The Swift Current Branch Library is offering snowshoes this season for people to borrow for up to two days, free of charge. 

Olivia Brotzell, public services manager for the Swift Current Branch Library and Chinook Regional Library, highlighted a big thank you to Canadian Tire in Swift Current for generously supplying the snowshoes. 

"The library has partnered with the City of Swift Current Community Services to once again offer snowshoes this year," she shared. "The snowshoes and snowshoe activity packs can be signed out for periods of 48 hours."

Snowshoes are available in a wide variety of sizes, all the way from children to adults and are suitable for everyone to enjoy. 

"Don't let the snow stop you from going for some lovely winter walks this season, stop by the library and pick up some snowshoes," Brotzell concluded.

Anyone looking for more information or interested in borrowing some snowshoes can call (306) 778 - 2752 or stop by the Swift Current Branch Library on Herbert Street East. 

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The European Court of Human Rights, in a landmark ruling Tuesday, found that Greece had illegally deported a woman back to neighboring Turkey and described the use of summary expulsions or “pushbacks” as systematic.

The decision at the court in Strasbourg, France could impact how Europe handles migrants at its borders, at a time when Greece and several European Union member states are seeking tougher immigration controls.

A Turkish woman — identified only by her initials A.R.E. — was awarded damages of 20,000 euros ($21,000) after the court ruled that she had been improperly expelled in 2019 after crossing the Greek-Turkish border, having been presented no opportunity to make an asylum claim.

“The court considered that there were strong indications to suggest that there had existed, at the time of the events alleged, a systematic practice of ‘pushbacks’ of third-country nationals by the Greek authorities, from the Evros region (on the Greek border) to Turkey,” the decision said.

Citing a lack of evidence, the court rejected a second claim made by an Afghan man, who said he had been illegally returned to Turkey from the Greek island of Samos in 2020 when he was 15.

Greek government representatives at the hearings had denied the allegations, challenging the authenticity of the evidence presented and arguing that Greece’s border policies comply with international law.

The U.N. refugee agency has urged Greece to more thoroughly investigate multiple pushback allegations, while several major human rights groups have described the alleged irregular deportations as a systematic practice.

Greece’s National Transparency Authority, a publicly-funded corruption watchdog, said that it found no evidence to support the pushback allegations following a four-month investigation in 2022.

The European Court of Human Rights is an international court based in Strasbourg, France, that adjudicates human rights violations by 46 member states of the Council of Europe, a body older than the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Derek Gatopoulos, The Associated Press