Afua Hagan: King Charles and Queen Camilla's visit to Canada a masterclass in ‘soft power'
King Charles says Canada faces a pivotal moment as global trade and key partnerships evolve with economic change ahead.
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CTV News
26 minutes ago
- CTV News
E-bikes prove popular in Halifax while raising concerns for advocacy group
Bird Canada has brought 300 e-scooters and 200 e-bikes to the Halifax region and says in the first 20 days these devices have received more usage here than when the company first introduced them to other cities. Austin Spademan with Bird Canada even says it's 'record breaking' in terms of initial usage. 'We have already clocked over 24,000 kilometers, which is crazy, and across 3,600 Haligonians have used our service. They are riding an average of 2.36 rides per rider,' says Spademan. 'I think it's great to have more active transportation options,' says Alex Setchell, a Halifax resident. Bird Canada, a Canadian company, has a goal of getting people out of their vehicles. 'Both e-scooters and e-bikes are important tools in the tool kits to give people compelling alternatives to either get straight from where they live to run errands within the community or more importantly connect more with other transit options to completely decouple from completely needing a car to get from point A to point B,' says Spademan. Brynn Budden, public affairs advisor with the Halifax Regional Municipality, says the pilot projects for the e-scooters and e-bikes aim to provide mobility options to residents. 'The system is designed to be affordable and easy to use for both residents and visitors and will complement other existing modes of transportation including Halifax Transit,' says Budden. Bird Canada hopes to grow north of Highway 102 and into Burnside, but for now they are taking things slow. 'We have entered a smaller operating area more, it mainly covers downtown and a few other main areas that are those flex flare zones that I mentioned that we built with the United Way. We are going to grow from here with fleet increases over time as the usage dictates that we could use more vehicles. We are going to do this in partnership with HR,' says Spademan. Anyone can use them but there are rules. 'Definitely should be using the road and all the bike infrastructure, not the sidewalk. In fact, if you are riding on the sidewalk, we can tell,' says Spademan. The devices have sensors that can detect if it's in an area where it's not permitted. They also automatically reduce their speed in designated slow zones. There are consequences for riders who don't follow the guidelines. 'We may give you an email as a rider saying, 'Hey, you know, that's not allowed and you might get in trouble for it so do not be riding on the sidewalks,'' says Spademan. The CNIB Foundation feels those consequences are not enough, and it has concerned for visually-impaired people. 'CNIB has done a lot of advocacies nationwide with e-scooter companies as well as municipal officials and the issues seem to be persisting so I am planning on reaching out to the city to discuss the issue further,' says Shelley Adams, CNIB manager for Atlantic Canada. Tara Niecamp, strategic leadership council co-chair with CNIB, feels not everyone is going to follow the rules. 'For those cases where the policy is not enough, there needs to be really strict penalties, whether that comes down to a financial penalty or revoking of the account for those that don't follow the rules.' says Niecamp. 'For individuals with low vision or who are blind, it's not that easy. Walking, you may not see the device which means that you could trip and fall.' Bird Canada says when they introduced these devices in Ottawa, they worked with groups like the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and have developed a lot of features to make their products less of a potential conflict. 'A lot of that revolves around that parking technology I mentioned, just making sure when our devices are parked that they are out of the public right of way,' says Spademan. The CNIB wants people held accountable. 'The municipality needs to hold the e scooter companies accountable for that and in order to do that the municipality needs to have a system in place where they can track the e-scooters being improperly used,' says Niecamp. 'When you are living with a disability, you are encountering barriers constantly and it is requiring a lot of mental energy even to advocate and report them.' Some Halifax residents say they love the idea, but feel there are a few drawbacks. 'I love this idea of having more transportation options like that aren't vehicles in the city but it was way too expensive and it cost about $15 just to get from the commons down to the waterfront and it was pretty direct and I didn't have to wait a whole lot and also it's not a comfortable ride,' says Shannon Kam. 'The cost goes up pretty quickly if you don't think about it. It will be about $3 a minute sometimes, which is a lot, you know,' says Quinn Marnitz. The municipality admits the project is still in the early stages so components like parking locations and sidewalk detection technologies are still being fine-tuned. E-scooters Hundreds of e-scooters and e-bikes have arrived in Halifax. (Source: Emma Convey/CTV News Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
Globe and Mail
32 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
NS Power CEO, staff questioned over data breach that saw 280,000 customers' data stolen
Nova Scotians have lost trust in the province's largest electric utility, provincial politicians said Wednesday during a heated committee meeting that raised tough questions about the recent ransomware attack on Nova Scotia Power. The cybersecurity breach gave thieves access to personal and financial data belonging to 280,000 ratepayers – about half of the utility's customers. Members of the public accounts committee grilled Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg and two other senior staff members, asking them how the breach happened and what the company will do to protect ratepayers from financial harm. 'We understand it is very concerning, and we're working hard to address customer issues and to continue to strengthen our systems as we work to restore and rebuild,' Gregg told the committee. Hackers may have stolen up to 140,000 social insurance numbers in NS Power database breach By the time the meeting was over, however, the executives had very little new information to share. 'We have, as far as we understand, 140,000 Nova Scotians who have had their social insurance numbers stolen, and those people are furious,' NDP Leader Claudia Chender told the committee. Gregg said the company, a subsidiary of Halifax-based Emera Inc. EMA-T, identified unusual activity on their servers on April 25, but they later determined the cyber-thieves had accessed the system as early as March 19. The utility has since sent letters to customers informing them the stolen data may include their names, birth dates, e-mail addresses, home addresses, customer account information, driver's licence numbers and, in some cases, bank account numbers and social insurance numbers. The cyberattack affected almost half of the utility's 525,000 customers. Gregg confirmed the company had previously collected social insurance numbers to authenticate customers' identities in cases where multiple customers had the same name, but he said that practice has stopped. The utility now requests only the last three digits of each customer's social insurance number, which is not stored. Still, Chender pressed utility executives to explain why Nova Scotia Power continues to store the full social insurance numbers it had previously collected. But they declined to say, citing an ongoing investigation. 'I don't have an answer for you today,' Gregg said. Chender said Gregg's response was disappointing. 'With stronger safety protocols, Nova Scotians would be protected,' she said. The NDP leader went on to ask how affected ratepayers would be compensated for potential losses. Again, Gregg did not directly answer, saying the utility is offering customers a two-year subscription for credit monitoring, which might be extended. Progressive Conservative member Brian Wong said Nova Scotians deserve better. 'We have Nova Scotians that aren't just scared, they're angry,' he told Gregg. When asked by multiple committee members if Nova Scotia Power would commit to covering the costs of the breach internally rather than handing the bill to ratepayers, Gregg again avoided a direct answer. He said Nova Scotia Power's cybersecurity insurance would likely cover many expenses, but he said the utility doesn't yet know the cost of the breach. 'Until we get further into this investigation and determine total cost, I can't give you a yes or no answer.' Liberal member Derek Mombourquette said Nova Scotia Power's first step toward rebuilding public trust should be promising not to pass on costs to consumers who have long complained about soaring electricity bills and frequent power outages. 'There is no trust with Nova Scotia Power right now,' Mombourquette said after the meeting. 'I don't believe what we heard in the committee today has done any more to reassure the customers.' As the meeting concluded, Chender put forward a motion to request the province's auditor general investigate the breach, which was adopted. Meanwhile, the federal privacy commissioner has already launched an investigation. Philippe Dufresne issued a statement last week saying he started the probe after receiving complaints about the security breach in April.
CTV News
32 minutes ago
- CTV News
Toronto hit with $50M class action lawsuit over decision to deny refugees shelter beds
A proposed class action has been launched against the City of Toronto on behalf of refugees, refugee claimants, and asylum seekers who were denied access to shelter beds between November 2022 and October 2023. The lawsuit was filed on May 30 by the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC), Lewis Litigation PC and Stieber Berlach LLP, on behalf of 40-year-old Nigerian refugee claimant Wasiu Adekanmbi, who is a member of the Black and LGBTQ+ communities. Adekanmbi arrived in Toronto on Sept. 11, 2023 and knew no one and did not have a place to stay, the lawsuit's statement of claim said. He's since found work and is now living in Niagara Falls, Ont. It claims that, among other things, the city violated the plaintiff and the class members' right to life, liberty, and security of the person as well as the right not to be deprived of these as well as equality before and under the law and equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination. The lawsuit also charges that the city failed to uphold their rights under the Ontario Human Rights Code and breached the Access to City Services for Undocumented Torontonians policy, known as Access T.O., as well as Toronto Shelter Standards. 'This action is for damages as a result of the systemic negligence, negligent misrepresentation, breaches of duty, breaches of the Human Rights Code, and violations of sections 7 and 15 of the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms),' the statement read, noting the lawsuit 'arises from the systemic and intentional exclusion of refugees, refugee claimants, and asylum seekers' by the defendant 'on improper and discriminatory grounds' in regards to the vast majority of available city shelter beds between the aforementioned time frame. crowded shelters Asylum seekers are seen camping out outside a shelter intake centre in downtown Toronto. (Joshua Freeman /CP24) It further noted that the city had both statutory and Charted-based obligations and duties during that period (Nov. 7, 2022 to Oct. 1, 2023) and that it ought to have known that 'restricting the availability of shelter beds for refugee claimants was discriminatory.' 'Despite this knowledge and the observable impacts once the policy was enacted, including the exposure of thousands of vulnerable members of our society to homelessness, insecurity, and other adverse effects, the Defendant failed to act promptly and reasonably to reverse its practices,' the statement of claim said, adding these actions were 'systemically racist' as the city knew that many of the countries where the refugee claimants were from has large Black populations. 'As a result of the Defendant's breaches the Class Members suffered significant harms including but not limited to harm to their dignity, physical and psychological harm, and financial loss,' it said. The lawsuit, which requires certification from a judge to move forward, also applies to those who received 'erroneous' referrals to Service Canada and Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada for housing help. Refugees outside 129 Peter Refugee claimants and asylum claimants gather outside Toronto's Central Intake centre at 129 Peter St. on Oct. 5. (Ken Enlow/CP24) It is seeking $50,000,000 plus special damages to be determined as the action progresses, Linette King, of Stieber Berlach LLP, told CP24. 'This amount is to be shared amongst the class members – we do not yet have a head count on class members, but we understand from the data that thousands of refugee claimants would have been turned away [between Nov. 7, 2022 to Oct. 1, 2023.]' The City of Toronto, meanwhile, would only say that it has received the statement of claim and will respond in due course. 'We have no further comment as the matter is before the courts,' spokesperson Elise von Scheel wrote in an email to CP24. Proposed lawsuit follows Ombudsman report on decision to turn away refugees from shelters This proposed class action comes about seven months after a scathing December 2024 report by Ombudsman Toronto that called out the city for its decision to turn away refugee claimants and asylum seekers from its emergency shelter system. That decision was reversed on July 19, 2023. The ombudsman said that choice lacked fairness and caused harm, adding that the city erred in its decision-making and implementation process when it began referring refugees arriving at Toronto's shelters to federal programs in June 2023. It would take two more two more months for the city to restore universal access to those in need of a shelter bed. At the time the 129-page report was released, City Manager Paul Johnson disagreed with its findings, saying that he was 'disheartened' by its 'accusatory' tone and adding that it demonstrates a 'lack of understanding of the context the city was in at the time' as well as the 'roles and responsibilities of other orders of government.' He later said that he would receive the report, however there would be no further action as its recommendations 'require effort by staff' that is 'beyond work the city already has underway.' 'I happen to disagree with some of the findings in this report and the need for us to action those recommendations,' he told reporters, adding that despite disagreeing with it, he respects the work of the ombudsman and its office. Johnson went on to say that he'd 'learn from [the report]' while continuing to 'build a better shelter system here in Toronto.' Toronto city council did not debate the Ombudsman report at its December 2024 meeting. With files from The Canadian Press
