B.C. teacher put on leave after using N-word in presence of Black students
A Prince George teacher has been put on leave after he was caught using the N-word twice. The incident was captured on video and shared by a pair of Black high school students. CBC's Andrew Kurjata reports.
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Winnipeg Free Press
21 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
LA protests far different from '92 Rodney King riots
The images of cars set ablaze, protesters tossing rocks at police and officers firing nonlethal rounds and tear gas at protesters hearkens back to the last time a president sent the National Guard to respond to violence on Los Angeles streets. But the unrest during several days of protests over immigration enforcement is far different in scale from the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of white police officers who were videotaped beating Black motorist Rodney King. President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act to call in the National Guard after requests from Mayor Tom Bradley and Gov. Pete Wilson. After the current protests began Friday over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 4,100 National Guard troops and 700 Marines despite strident opposition from Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Trump cited a legal provision to mobilize federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.' California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday saying Trump had overstepped his authority. Outrage over the verdicts on April 29, 1992 led to nearly a week of widespread violence that was one of the deadliest riots in American history. Hundreds of businesses were looted. Entire blocks of homes and stores were torched. More than 60 people died in shootings and other violence, mostly in South Los Angeles, an area with a heavily Black population at the time. Unlike the 1992 riots, protests have mainly been peaceful and been confined to a roughly five-block stretch of downtown LA, a tiny patch in the sprawling city of nearly 4 million people. No one has died. There's been vandalism and some cars set on fire but no homes or buildings have burned. At least 50 people have been arrested for everything from failing to follow orders to leave to looting, assault on a police officer and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail. Several officers have had minor injuries and protesters and some journalists have been struck by some of the more than 600 rubber bullets and other 'less-lethal' munitions fired by police. The 1992 uprising took many by surprise, including the Los Angeles Police Department, but the King verdict was a catalyst for racial tensions that had been building in the city for years. In addition to frustration with their treatment by police, some directed their anger at Korean merchants who owned many of the local stores. Black residents felt the owners treated them more like shoplifters than shoppers. As looting and fires spread toward Koreatown, some merchants protected their stores with shotguns and rifles.
a day ago
She came to Canada for university, but she'd never been accepted. The scam cost her $7K
With an admission letter to a Quebec university in hand, Aminata flew from Benin, west Africa, to Montreal with $2,000 in her pocket to fulfil her dream of pursuing higher education in Canada. Back in 2022, she'd connected with a man who she says positioned himself as a consultant who could process her documents and submit her university and immigration applications. But not long after she landed in Montreal and made her way to Chicoutimi, Que., she realized it was all a scam. She had not been accepted to university. She did not have a scholarship. Her immigration papers were fraudulent and based on a falsified acceptance letter. My dream turned into a nightmare, Aminata said. CBC is using a pseudonym to protect her identity because, due to her falsified immigration papers, she is without legal status in Canada. Clasping her hands while sitting in her apartment in Chicoutimi, nearly two years after the ordeal, the 30-year-old Beninois still doesn't feel settled or safe. I'm living with the fear that at any time I can get deported, she said. This is not a life. Aminata doesn't want to go back home now, saying she would have to completely start again in Benin. CBC News is using a pseudonym to protect her identity because of her immigration status. (CBC) Photo: CBC / Rachel Watts Aminata was not the only victim of the scam. CBC News has spoken to another woman who says the same man who presented himself as a consultant took her money after he was hired to submit her university applications. According to an expert, not only is this type of fraud becoming common, but prospective students in Africa are among those targeted by scammers in high numbers. 'I gave him all my money' For Aminata, it all started when she came into contact with the consultant through her uncle. She said the pair agreed on $4,000 before the price for the agent's service went up. I gave him all my money, she said, adding that it totalled about $7,000 in the end. She sent along the required documents — her birth certificate and diplomas. Within a few months, she was emailed an acceptance letter into the master of organization management program at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. She says the man also managed to get her the Quebec Acceptance Certificate (new window) (CAQ) — the province's mandatory document which permits international students to apply for a study permit. Although she considered deferring her acceptance to stay in Benin to save up money, she says the agent, who is also from Benin and studied in Chicoutimi, pressured her to book the flights and start school immediately. He asked me to not worry. [That] everything is under control, she said. But something was off. She arrived in Montreal on Aug. 28, 2023, and in mere days, the whole scheme unraveled. WATCH | Aminata says her dream turned into a nightmare: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? They paid a consultant thousands to help them go to university in Canada. It was a scam Two women who came from West Africa to study in Quebec say they found out after they arrived that the university acceptance letters arranged for them by a consultant, which their immigration papers were based on, were fraudulent. She says the consultant suddenly informed her he was deferring her acceptance. A fellow Chicoutimi student in whom she confided about her situation told Aminata she needed to go to the administration to sort out her status as a student. She says the consultant wouldn't answer her calls but when she finally got him on the line, he became defensive, started shouting, and told her not to give the school the documentation and acceptance letter he provided. They told me that they feel like I have been scammed, she recalled the school's administration saying, adding that she found out her real application file was open but incomplete. She says the consultant had submitted fraudulent paperwork. That day, I was feeling like this is not true, she said. Another victim, same story Fatim only realized she was a victim of a scam after seeing Aminata's story in a Radio-Canada report. (new window) Her story was the same as mine, said Fatim, who travelled to Quebec from Benin in July 2023. CBC News is also using a pseudonym to protect her identity because of her concerns over her immigration status. She arrived with the intention of starting university in Chicoutimi after receiving an admission letter and documentation from the same consultant as Aminata. Aminata pictured with her university acceptance letter. She believed it was authentic until she approached the school's administration. Photo: Radio-Canada / Priscilla Plamondon Lalancette Upon arrival, she says the consultant abandoned her despite promises to help her defer her acceptance. I didn't know it was fraud but I had felt that something was not normal, said Fatim, who says she still feels overwhelmed and imprisoned by her situation. Her father, who was responsible for connecting with the consultant, sent him thousands of dollars to help secure the university applications — even selling a property to afford it. Knowing the effort and money he put into helping her, Fatim says she tried to keep the truth from him after her schooling fell through. One day my dad said, 'my girl, tell me what's really going on?' said Fatim. I remember it like it was yesterday. She said once her father found out what happened, his health took a turn for the worse. He felt responsible for getting his daughter into trouble without even knowing it. He died in December 2024, and Fatim couldn't get back home. Although she considered returning to Benin to her family and husband — whom she hasn't seen in nearly two years — she says she wants to build a life for herself in Canada and prove to Immigration Canada that this was truly not her fault. She says the agent had previously told her she could apply for asylum in Canada to secure her immigration status — a step she said didn't feel right. She says she didn't want to abuse Canada's system. Fatim recalled telling the consultant, I want another way out of this mess you've gotten me into. CBC News contacted the man who Aminata and Fatim say scammed them. In a brief phone call, he denied allegations that he is an agent who helps people submit applications to university. He also denied having taken any money. CBC has not been able to reach him for follow up questions or an interview. His number has since been deactivated. Dozens of fraudulent admission letters The way things are, victims of immigration fraud often have little recourse, says Richard Kurland, an immigration lawyer and policy analyst based in Vancouver. He says it's also more difficult for people to do their due diligence because they are less familiar with the Canadian college system. The communication infrastructure is not the same, he said. And literally some people have sold the farm to get to Canada to study. Now those are tragedies. In his career, he says scams for immigration foreign study permits have become as common as Vancouver rain. The Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) says 44 cases of fraudulent admission letters were identified by the registrar's office between June and December 2023. While most of the individuals who received these letters did not show up on campus, 12 did, said a university spokesperson in an emailed statement. In cases where individuals showed up on campus with a CAQ document and study permit obtained through the falsified letter, UQAC says they took the necessary precautions to advise the authorities. UQAC says several calls were made to Quebec's Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration to question the validity of the CAQ paperwork obtained by these students. In an emailed statement, the ministry told CBC that in the past few years, admission letters containing irregular elements and inauthentic parts have been detected in several files. The Université du Québec à Chicoutimi says between June and December 2023, 44 cases of fraudulent admission letters were identified by the registrar's office. Photo: Radio-Canada / Julien Gagnon Although these situations remain marginal in relation to the overall volume of requests processed, they are rigorously monitored, read the statement. The ministry also confirmed that in order to act as an immigration consultant, an individual must be recognized as such by the government. When an immigration consultant obtains this recognition, his or her name is entered in the register of immigration consultants (new window) . The name of the consultant both women used is not part of the province's list. 1,550 study permit applications linked to fraud In 2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that investigations uncovered nearly 1,550 study permit applications were linked to fraudulent letters of acceptance. This number also includes those that were detected two to three years prior, it says. These applications were intended for designated learning institutions (new window) (DLIs) — a school approved by a provincial or territorial government to host international students, read the statement. In most of these cases, the fraud was detected and subsequent applications were refused, it said. IRCC says the verification process for acceptance letters requires that DLIs verify the authenticity of all letters. To date, the improved letter of acceptance verification system has intercepted more than 10,000 potentially fraudulent letters of acceptance, IRCC says. 'Nobody is doing anything' Both Fatim and Aminata have blocked the consultant's number and are being represented by the same lawyer in their attempt to find a solution for their cases and move forward. Aminata says when she was first informed about the scam, she told UQAC that the agent who falsified her acceptance was a student. UQAC confirmed to Radio-Canada that he was then expelled from his university program. Aminata applied to the university again, contacted the prime minister, the federal minister of immigration, provincial politicians, the anti-fraud service and local police. After that, there was a silence, she said. Saguenay police confirmed to Radio-Canada that they could not take on Aminata's file because the fraud happened overseas. In an emailed statement, it says the victim was referred to her embassy and local police force. They asked me to talk and I talked and nobody is doing anything, Aminata said. I still have that little bit of light … hope that things will change. Rachel Watts (new window) · CBC News
2 days ago
Widow takes on CIBC after husband's $15K pension sent to stranger's account
When longtime Edmonton lawyer and retired family court judge James Koshman died last fall, his family never imagined a simple transfer of his survivor's pension benefit to his widow would go so wrong. But soon after the $15,000 survivor benefit was issued, the money was gone — deposited into a stranger's account. CIBC blamed the Koshmans, saying they used the wrong transit number — a five-digit code that directs deposits to specific bank branches. The family was floored. They say that number came directly from a CIBC employee — confirmed during a call to the local branch. The Koshmans later discovered CIBC had sent crucial instructions about when to use the transit number, but it went to James's email account — weeks after he died. Another serious blunder, the family says. WATCH | Bank blames family after deposit goes to a stranger: Début du widget Widget. Passer le widget ? Fin du widget Widget. Retourner au début du widget ? Widow takes on CIBC after pension transfer sent to stranger | Go Public A grieving Edmonton woman got a nasty surprise when CIBC put her deceased husband's pension transfer into someone else's account — and then blamed the family. CBC's Go Public team looked into what went wrong and the limits of Canada's banking complaint system. There's something very wrong about what's going on, said the couple's son, Jason Koshman, who helped his mother apply for the benefit. The money should have been moved from Alberta Pensions Services Corporation to one of the Koshmans' CIBC accounts. CIBC told the Koshmans it could only recover $3,200 of the misdirected funds — and Yvette Koshman, James's widow, would have to swallow the nearly $12,000 loss. What followed was months of back and forth with the bank — until CIBC told the family there was nothing more it could do. Consumer advocate Duff Conacher, co-founder of the non-profit consumer advocacy organization Democracy Watch, says the case reveals troubling gaps in bank accountability — and cracks in Canada's system for handling complaints. The marketplace is completely out of balance, tilted totally in favour of the powerful banks who have all the money, he said, and totally against the customers who are on their own, frustrated, having lost money. In an email to Go Public, CIBC says its process for handling complaints is clear and meets all the requirements for financial institutions in Canada. Key email sent to deceased man This all started because the branch where James Koshman had banked for decades was in the process of closing. All accounts were being automatically transferred to another location with a different transit number. The Koshmans say weeks after they called CIBC and were given the transit number, the bank sent an email explaining that number shouldn't be used until after Nov. 21. But because the message was sent to James Koshman's email account — after he died — his family says they didn't see it until it was too late. The paperwork had already been filed. They know he's passed away. They still sent him emails, said Jason. Frustrated and out thousands of dollars, the Koshmans tried to resolve things through CIBC's official complaints process — first with CIBC's main customer service department, then escalating to the bank's Client Complaint Appeals Office. The family got the same response from both: The wrong transit number had been used, only a fraction of the funds could be recovered, and there was nothing more the bank could do. I just don't think it's right or it's fair that CIBC can just do what they want, said Yvette Koshman. Banking watchdog can't force banks to pay The family then escalated the issue to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), which opened an investigation. CIBC reversed its decision and reimbursed the Koshmans in full — but only after Go Public reached out to the bank. OBSI says that, generally, when a problem is resolved before an investigation is complete, it closes the file. Going to the media was the right move, says Conacher, because even if OBSI had ruled in the family's favour, the federal watchdog has no power to force banks to pay. OBSI can review complaints but can't force banks to follow its recommendations — something the Liberals promised to fix during the 2021 election. Years later, it still hasn't happened. It's completely negligent that no federal government, no federal finance minister, has done anything to correct this over the past decades, said Conacher. It seems unlikely the Finance Ministry will change that. In an email to Go Public, it said only that it had recently introduced guardrails to encourage banks to follow OBSI's recommendations. When asked why it twice denied the Koshmans compensation, only to reverse course and compensate the family after Go Public's inquiries, CIBC said, Given the unique circumstances, and after further review, we've decided to reimburse our client for the remaining amount. No answers on missing money The Koshmans are also frustrated that it appears a stranger was able to keep money that clearly didn't belong to them. It's a fraud, said Yvette. Jason says the fact that CIBC recovered some of the missing money suggests the bank knows who received it. But when he asked what steps were taken to hold that person accountable, he said CIBC refused to say, citing privacy laws. The bank should be compensating the people whose money was lost and then pursuing the people who… took the money out of the account, Jason said. Go Public asked CIBC what steps it took to recover the missing money. The bank didn't answer that question, but confirmed it has since apologized and fully reimbursed the Koshmans. Jason says they're grateful — but worries about others in similar situations who may not be so lucky. My family is fortunate, he said. But what if this was a widow relying on that money to pay rent? To eat? Banks need to be held accountable. And this shouldn't be allowed to happen to anyone else. Rosa Marchitelli (new window) , Marnie Luke (new window) · CBC News ·
