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Smith shuffles cabinet, expands health portfolio

Smith shuffles cabinet, expands health portfolio

CTV News17-05-2025
Calgary Watch
Premier Danielle Smith is making personnel changes, shuffling and expanding her cabinet as her mandate approaches the halfway mark.
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Edmonton's Air Canada union workers say arbitration order ‘defeats the purpose'
Edmonton's Air Canada union workers say arbitration order ‘defeats the purpose'

CTV News

time33 minutes ago

  • CTV News

Edmonton's Air Canada union workers say arbitration order ‘defeats the purpose'

A group of workers represented by Air Canada's union begin their strike outside the Edmonton International Airport on Aug. 16, 2025. (Brandon Lynch/CTV News Edmonton) As Federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu calls for binding arbitration in the Air Canada flight attendant strike, union workers in Edmonton say they aren't pleased. Designated strike captain Christine Langelle told CTV News Edmonton on Saturday that ordering workers back to the job 'defeats the purpose.' 'We're waiting to hear from our union leaders who are negotiating, so everything is status quo until then,' she said. 'We're not pleased with the arbitration order, but that's what it's come down to.' An arbitration order would mean that the existing collective agreement between Air Canada and flight attendants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) would be extended until a new agreement is reached. 'We've been living on a 10-year contract that finally expired. A lot has changed in the last 10 years,' Langelle said. Langelle has worked as a flight attendant for 30 years and commutes from Edmonton to Vancouver. She and a group of coworkers organized outside Edmonton International Airport. While Edmonton isn't one of the bigger bases, she said it was still important for them to come out and show their support. 'There are flight attendants living in major cities who are not even making minimum wage, visiting food banks and living numerous people to an apartment,' Langelle said. Representatives of the CUPE group that covers Air Canada sent a release early Saturday morning denouncing the invocation of section 107 of the Canada Labour Code to end the strike, saying it was 'crushing flight attendants' Charter rights.' 'The Liberals have talked out of both sides of their mouths. They said the best place for this is at the bargaining table. They refused to correct this historic injustice through legislation,' said President of Air Canada's union Wesley Lesosky in the release. Meanwhile, would-be Air Canada travellers are making alternate arrangements. 'The last couple of days have been super stressful,' said Trina Swan, who was at the YEG airport Saturday. Her son is playing in the Canada Summer Games in Newfoundland. 'I knew [the flight] was going to get cancelled, so I was looking for alternate routes, panicked as heck and crying a lot the last couple days,' she told CTV News Edmonton. She said she was lucky that an agent at the airport was able to rebook her as she couldn't get through to Air Canada by phone when she first got the cancellation. 'You can only do what you can do when people are only human, you can't get mad at the staff,' she said. Late Saturday afternoon, Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi released a statement calling the federal government's decision wrong and unfair to workers. 'It is wrong for the federal government to force these workers to go to work and not be paid. No one should stand for that. This move also sets a dangerous precedent and sends the wrong message to Air Canada instead of holding this very profitable company accountable,' read the release. Union representatives have said they will communicate 'detailed reactions' on Sunday. With files from CTV News National and CTV News Edmonton's Brandon Lynch

New Zealand mother and son released after being detained in U.S. for weeks due to Canada trip
New Zealand mother and son released after being detained in U.S. for weeks due to Canada trip

CTV News

time33 minutes ago

  • CTV News

New Zealand mother and son released after being detained in U.S. for weeks due to Canada trip

Immigrants walk through the ICE South Texas Family Residential Center, in Dilley, Texas on August 23, 2019. (Eric Gay/AP/File via CNN Newsource) A Washington state mother and her 6-year-old son have been released after spending more than three weeks in U.S. immigration detention due to a brief trip to Canada and a small paperwork mistake, her attorney told CNN on Saturday. Sarah Shaw, a New Zealand citizen who has lived legally in the U.S. since she arrived in 2021, was detained at the Blaine, Washington, Customs and Border Protection checkpoint when returning home after dropping her two oldest children off at the Vancouver airport for a flight to visit their grandparents in New Zealand. Shaw, 33, chose the flight out of Vancouver because it was direct and she didn't want her children to have to navigate a layover alone, her attorney Minda Thorward, told CNN. But Shaw didn't realize the travel permit that allowed her to exit and re-enter the U.S. had expired. That's when Shaw and her son, whose immigration documents were valid, were taken into custody by CBP. Shaw tried to get a humanitarian parole, which would have allowed her to enter the U.S. and return home, but she was denied, her attorney said. Shaw then asked if her boyfriend or a friend could pick up her son since his documents were up to date, but she was again denied, Thorward said. They were transported to the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, roughly 2,000 miles from their home. Shaw's detention is among the latest examples of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, which, despite pledges to focus on violent criminals, has also swept up lawful residents like Shaw. Shaw arrived in the U.S. as a tourist in 2021 and married a citizen that year. Shortly after, the marriage ended, and she filed an I-360 petition in April 2022, her lawyer told CNN. Her application remains under review after multiple delays. Shaw had been living in the U.S. under a 'combo card,' a dual document that serves as both a work permit and travel document. She secured the permit through her job working for Washington state, her lawyer said. When it came time to renew both parts of the combo card, Shaw paid to have the work permit renewed, but didn't renew the travel permit 'because she didn't have any plans for travel at that time and it's expensive,' Thorward said. In June, Shaw received confirmation of her work permit renewal, but mistakenly believed it also extended her travel authorization – a 'minor administrative paperwork error' – according to her lawyer. 'She had completely re-established herself. She had a full-time job, an apartment, adopted a dog, a new boyfriend, and the kids were in school and doing great,' Thorward said. 'She made a mistake, but she has no previous convictions – none. This is a very clean case.' Shaw told Thorward the Department of Homeland Security said she may be released on Friday, but Thorward said she has not received any direct updates from authorities. CNN has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding Shaw's case. New Zealand's foreign affairs ministry said it was in contact with Shaw but declined to provide further details for privacy reasons. Set to begin a master's program in psychology this month at Northwest University, Shaw is worried about whether she will be released from detention in time, her lawyer said. Thorward said border officials had the discretion to grant Shaw humanitarian parole rather than detaining her. 'It was not necessary, inappropriate and inhumane (to detain Shaw and her son),' Thorward said. 'She's lawfully in the country. She's been doing everything in good faith.' In a statement to CNN, a CBP spokesperson said that individuals with expired parole trying to re-enter the U.S. would be detained in compliance with immigration laws. 'If they are accompanied by a minor, CBP will follow all protocols to keep families together or arrange care with a legal guardian,' a spokesperson said. A facility for migrant families A friend of Shaw's, Victoria Besancon, told CNN Shaw has spent three weeks in a cramped detention facility, feeling 'incredibly isolated.' 'Each room contains 5 to 6 bunk beds, and rooms are locked from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.,' Besancon told CNN, adding that she has been able to phone Shaw daily and recently video chat. Besancon said they were among the few English speakers in the facility. Shaw's son has been 'very sad he lost his summer vacation to being locked in the facility.' Shaw has used commissary funds to buy him ice cream and colored pencils to make him feel at home. 'There's not a lot for kids to do. Maybe some coloring books. There's no time for them to be outside,' Thorward said, adding detainees were left sweltering in the South Texas heat, where summer temperatures can reach up to 97 degrees. The South Texas Family Residential Center, one of the largest of its kind in the US, primarily houses migrant women and children. After closing last year, it reopened in March under an agreement between a private prison operator and ICE, with a capacity to detain up to 2,400 people. Other mothers who have been detained with their children at family migrant facilities have similarly described their experiences as traumatic and said they will have lasting psychological effect on children. ICE says the detention centers are safe. On its website, the agency includes a list of safety and health standards for family residential centers. The Dilley facility is 'retrofitted for families,' an ICE spokesperson said. 'This includes medical, dental, and mental health intake screening' and access to medical care. By Hanna Park, CNN

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