‘Nothing like this': Sask. settlement worker hatched exit plan for alleged human trafficking victim
WATCH: We're learning more about what drove three political officials and a Saskatchewan immigration worker to intervene in an alleged case of human trafficking
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CTV News
31 minutes ago
- CTV News
B.C. launches campaign urging South Asian community to report extortion threats
A campaign urging victims and targets of extortion threats in B.C.'s South Asian community to come forward has launched, but critics want more action. A campaign urging victims and targets of extortion threats in B.C.'s South Asian community to come forward has launched, but critics say raising awareness isn't enough. The provincial government has launched a new campaign encouraging members of the South Asian community to report information tied to a disturbing rise in extortion threats, but some critics say the B.C. still isn't doing enough to protect people living in fear. The Crime Stoppers digital media campaign, unveiled Thursday, aims to raise awareness and urge victims and witnesses to come forward. It comes amid a wave of threats and violence targeting South Asian-owned businesses in Surrey. 'It is important that the police have the information to work so that they can do their job,' said Public Safety Minister Gary Begg. In recent months, several Surrey businesses have received chilling phone calls demanding millions of dollars, followed by targeted gunfire. Similar extortion patterns have been reported across Canada. Police made mass arrests linked to organized crime in Ontario and Edmonton earlier this year, but so far, no arrests have been made in Surrey. 'My message to the public is number one, report. But number two, know that we are working extremely hard to really find these people and hold them accountable,' said Surrey Police Service Chief Const. Norm Lipinski. Both Lipinski and Begg insist police have the resources they need, but not the co-operation. 'I don't think there is a shortage of expertise on the part of the police. I think there is a shortage of information,' Begg said. Still, some critics believe the province's new $100,000 campaign doesn't go far enough. 'One hundred thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket. It doesn't send a serious message to the South Asian community that it's really scared right now,' said Steve Kooner, a B.C. Conservative MLA and the party's critic for the Attorney General. 'If this government wants to take this matter seriously, it really needs to look to different levels of government, and it needs to come up with solutions that are legislation-based.' Begg says intelligence links the Lawrence Bishnoi gang — an organized criminal group — to some of the extortion cases. The premier has formally asked the federal government to label the group a terrorist organization. 'The federal designation would unlock additional tools and resources not just in British Columbia but across the country,' Begg said. Surrey Police have said they are actively investigating 12 extortion files, but believe many more have gone unreported. Lipinski also said some of the cases may be linked to individuals 'beyond the borders of Canada,' and that they're working with the RCMP on the complex cases. The new awareness campaign will run for 60 days and is also available in Punjabi.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Bills 5 and C-5 spur Six Nations teach-in on Haudenosaunee rights
Social Sharing Speakers at a Haudenosaunee community event last weekend say they know their inherent rights and will assert them if provincial or federal legislation infringes upon them. Protect the Tract, a Haudenosaunee-led environmental initiative, organized a Solidarity Teach-in on National Indigenous Peoples Day on Six Nations of the Grand River, near Hamilton, Ont., in response to Ontario's Bill 5 and Canada's Bill C-5. Ontario passed Bill 5, a law aimed at speeding up the building of large projects, particularly mines, on June 4. Canada's Bill C-5, which gives cabinet the ability to pick certain projects to speed through the regulatory process, passed the House of Commons last week and is before the Senate. Both have been criticized for allowing governments to disregard laws to expedite development and potentially infringe on Indigenous rights. Leroy Hill, secretary for the Council of Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs and a Cayuga sub-chief, said at the event that it's Indigenous people who will pay the price for bills' promise of economic growth. He said in his 41 years working with the traditional Haudenosaunee council, he's seen the community work hard to reconnect with their traditions and regain their language despite the exploitation of their lands and water, shortage of land and housing and lack of clean drinking water on the Six Nations reserve. "We'll continue with that because we know that's part of our strengthening and if that intersects with these decisions [governments] have made; our people will not stand still," Hill said. Terri Monture, who is Kanien'kehá ka, Wolf clan from Six Nations, and a volunteer with Protect the Tract, said both Bill 5 and C-5 could create trample Indigenous rights protected in Canada's Constitution under section 35. "We have inherent rights that we're going to exercise and we're not afraid to exercise them because we have that inherent responsibility to our coming generations, but also to our ancestors," she said. She said they have considered themselves stewards of the land, since the Haldimand Tract was granted to them in 1784 for allying with the British during the American Revolution. The tract ran along roughly 10 kilometres on each side of the Grand River from its source around Waterhen, Ont., to Lake Erie, covering roughly 384,451 hectares. The land allotted to Six Nations has since dwindled to about 19,425 hectares. "Everything east of the Number 6 highway still along the Grand River was never surrendered and was literally squatted upon and then taken by the Crown and given to settlers," she said. In 2021, Monture said the Confederacy chiefs declared a moratorium on development on the tract because of the land dispute that is before the courts. She said Canada's foundation is predicated upon agreements and treaties like these the Crown made with Indigenous nations. Ford's comments reflect a 'lack of awareness' Last Wednesday Ontario Premier Doug Ford said of Bill 5, "This is like handing an opportunity on a silver platter to First Nations that, by the way, I have treated like gold." "When I first came into office, I told [Indigenous Affairs] Minister (Greg) Rickford, 'Treat them well, give them what they need, whatever they want for them to prosper.' But there's going to be a point that you can't just keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government, you've got to be able to take care of yourselves." Ford apologized the following day for his comments saying, "I get passionate because I want prosperity for their communities. I want prosperity for their children and their grandchildren." Rick Monture, who is Kanien'kehá ka, Turtle Clan from Six Nations and an associate professor in Indigenous Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, said Ford's comments demonstrate a lack of awareness about treaty relationships. He said there was often diplomatic mishandling and a lack of good faith on part of settlers when they entered into these agreements, which continues to this day. The Trump administration's tariffs is the latest thing that "gives Canada licence to say, 'OK, we need to utilize all the resources in [our] own country," without consideration of Indigenous rights, he said. He said in Six Nations, it's land use for development and water protections that are the biggest concerns from the bills. Promises of prosperity by governments passing these bills are insincere, he said. Land claims need to be addressed meaningfully instead of each government just passing those obligations onto the next government.
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Debate rages at city hall over Oilers event-park funding in hearing on future of tax levy
Edmonton city council is divided over a directive from the province to use money from a special tax levy on projects on land owned by the Oilers. It was the Edmonton Oilers arena debate all over again at city hall on Thursday with a slightly different flavour. Most city councillors and business leaders agree a special tax program in the core is vital for the future prosperity of downtown. The sticking point is a directive from the provincial government to spend tens of millions of public dollars to build projects on land owned by the Oilers. City councillor and mayoral candidate Andrew Knack wants to halt a $250-million event park beside Rogers Place, the home of the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), which owns the site, is using it as their outdoor Fan Park. The event park is listed as one of the so-called catalyst projects city money would help fund through the downtown Community Revitalization Levy (CRL). 'I do support downtown revitalization, but I will not support a bad deal,' Knack, who represents the west-end Ward Nakota Isga, told media on Thursday morning. 'We don't even know if we need an event park yet ... there's just this assumption that something new and shiny will solve everything.' Event park rendering Conceptual rendering of the event park in downtown Edmonton. (Oilers Entertainment Group) The CRL was introduced in 2014 as part of the deal to build Rogers Place, which opened two years later with a final price tag of $613.7 million. The city paid $312 million of it in cash and through the levy, the team paid $165.5 million and the rest came via a ticket surcharge, the federal government and MacEwan University. The home arena of the Oilers opened in 2016, replacing Rexall Place, following years of debate and negotiation after Daryl Katz bought the National Hockey League team in 2008 from the Edmonton Investors Group for a reported $200 million. As the area within its boundary is redeveloped, the CRL is meant to reinvest that extra tax revenue into downtown. City staff have crunched the numbers and say extending the 20-year levy by an extra decade is worthwhile. Event park site The site of the proposed downtown Edmonton event park, right, that's currently being used by the Oilers Entertainment Group as its Fan Park, with Rogers Place in the background on June 26, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton) 'It is a comprehensive approach to developing downtown Edmonton, encompassing underground utilities, beautification of our streets and parks, creation and expansion of event spaces, improvement to transit stations and incentives for attainable housing,' Brett Latchford, the city's director of strategy and emerging economy, said at Thursday's public hearing. Kris Sims, the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, drove to Edmonton from Lethbridge to express her concerns about the deal along with those from several others. 'That's fine, go ahead and revitalize the downtown … but why are you tying it to one element of corporate welfare?' Sims said. 'That is not fair, and it's not right.' The provincial government has final say over the CRL. Municipal Affairs Minister Dan Williams says it won't be approved unless it includes the event park and site servicing for the housing planned north of Rogers Place. The province said it would contribute more than $100 million for those projects. CRL hearing People in attendance for a public hearing at Edmonton city hall about the future of the downtown Community Revitalization Levy on June 26, 2025. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton) Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said he understands why Edmontonians are upset but believes the deal would fall apart without the event park, which he says would be a major missed opportunity for downtown. '(The province is) a major funder of this, a major enabler of this plan, so they're definitely going to have a say in this,' Sohi told media between hearing sessions. 'Anyone who believes that we can find $175 million of new revenue or $103 million of grant funding I think is not living in reality.' A representative of the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG), which operates Rogers Place and the Ice District plaza as well as the NHL team among other sports and entertainment enterprises, said the corporation is proud of its contributions to the CRL. Edmonton Rogers Place downtown skyline spring/summer overcast An aerial image of Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton on June 17, 2025. (Cam Wiebe / CTV News Edmonton) 'It has been a powerful tool for revitalizing Edmonton's downtown core and helping to strengthen our education, arts, housing, and business districts,' Tim Shipton, OEG's executive vice-president of external affairs, said in a statement to CTV News Edmonton. 'The CRL has supported critical public infrastructure, attracted billions in private investment and created safer, more vibrant spaces for all Edmontonians. The MOU (memorandum of understanding) signed with the city and province represents a transformational city building opportunity, focused on additional housing when it's needed most, and a one-of-a-kind community event facility with vibrant public realm spaces — developments that will not just benefit downtown, but the city as a whole.' The public hearing is expected to be held all day Thursday and Friday. Edmonton city council Edmonton city council on June 26, 2025. (Jeremy Thompson/CTV News Edmonton) Michael Janz, the city councillor for south-side Ward papastew, told CTV News Edmonton he believes the deal isn't really about downtown, rather how a 'provincial tax grab' is going to be distributed, asking would it 'go back to Edmontonians, or is it going to go to one private business?' 'We don't even know the other options, because this was decided behind closed doors in a private negotiation between one business and our premier with the city of Edmonton along for the ride,' Janz said. 'When you can't walk away, when you're being told you have to accept this deal on terms acceptable to the OEG, that's not a negotiation.'
