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CTV News
32 minutes ago
- CTV News
Heated Hampstead council meeting ends with police removing former mayor
Former Hampstead mayor William Steinberg was removed by police during a heated council meeting after clashing with Mayor Jeremy Levi over spending and transparency. The mayor and former mayor of Hampstead went toe to toe during Monday's council meeting, hurling accusations of misappropriating public funds at each other in a heated exchange that ended with the latter being expelled by Montreal police (SPVM). According to the SPVM, the town of Hamstead requested police assistance in expelling a 77-year-old man who was behaving 'inappropriately or disruptively' during the meeting. The confrontation lasted about 15 minutes, during which both men continuously interrupted each other. 'The police intervened to remove this man. There was nothing criminal and no arrest was made,' said SPVM spokesperson Julien Lévesque. Former mayor William Steinberg called his removal 'disgraceful' and said that he was looking for answers. Former mayor of Hampstead William Steinberg During the exchange, Steinberg confronted Mayor Jeremy Levi about a 40.5 per cent salary increase for councillors, totalling $207,738, and questioned expensive travel and hotel stays, including a $900-a-night stay at the Dallas Omni hotel. 'I want to be clear, I'm not saying they did anything illegal. You elect people, they can pretty much do what they want, and it's too bad you elected them. So, 40 per cent salary increase, of course, it's outrageous,' said Steinberg in a recent interview. He said his wife was also kicked out of the meeting when she later 'called [Levi] on a lie. 'I mean, this is not transparent. This is not honest,' said Steinberg. Steinberg was mayor of Hampstead for 16 years until he lost to Levi in 2021. Hampstead Mayor Jeremy Levi Levi defended the salary increase, saying that Steinberg 'erroneously' advised the council that the mayor's salary has to be three times that of a councillor. 'We looked into that and that was never the case. It's factually incorrect. I looked at the amount of work that council puts in. You know better than anybody else the amount of work that gets involved with council,' Levi told Steinberg during the exchange. 'So, we thought it was perfectly acceptable for $38,000 for a councillor to have as their salary, which is very in line with other councillors throughout the city. I don't see why they would be required to pay it back.' As for the Dallas hotel stay, Levi said the conference took place at the Omni, and the rate was $480 U.S. a night. Levi then noted he looked into Steinberg's expense reimbursements during his mandate and found the former mayor claimed over $16,000 compared to $200 so far under his own term. Steinberg argued that Levi misrepresented his expenses by focusing only on reimbursements, some of which were purchases made on behalf of the town. Many of the allegations Steinberg has made against Levi and the rest of the council are found in his blog, where he also mentions a January 2024 report by the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) into the improper use of credit cards by municipal employees and 'inadequate control of the expenses incurred.' According to the former mayor, he obtained the financial information through numerous access to information requests. Levi has repeatedly defended Hampstead's director general, Richard Sun, claiming he did not engage in any wrongdoing and that the council has no grounds to suspect foul play or improper conduct. In a statement to CTV News, Levi's office said that several of the expenses cited in the blog post were incurred during the pandemic when traditional town-wide holiday gatherings were not feasible. 'Council instead authorized smaller, department-specific meals in local restaurants to recognize staff efforts—an approach aligned with the town's intent to maintain employee morale and support local businesses, in accordance with public health guidelines,' Hampstead spokesperson Sarah-Eve Longtin said. Additionally, she said that only a single adjustment of 29 per cent for a salary increase was approved in July 2022. In terms of the CMQ report, Longtin said the town has taken concrete action in response to the CMQ's recommendations, including the implementation of a strengthened policy framework governing the use of town credit cards. 'Internal procedures regarding expense approval, documentation, and accountability have been reinforced through revised protocols and staff training,' she added. Steinberg said that he plans on publishing a new blog post within the next few days. 'I have no plans to run. I want this council replaced by honest, ethical people who care about Hampstead,' he said.
Winnipeg Free Press
32 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
With Trump as ally, El Salvador's President ramps up crackdown on dissent
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Days before his arrest outside his daughter's house in the outskirts of San Salvador, constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya called Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele a 'dictator' and a 'despot' on live TV. This week, lawyer Jaime Quintanilla stood outside a detention facility in El Salvador's capital with a box of food and clothes for his client, unsure if Anaya would ever be released. The Saturday arrest of Anaya, a fierce critic of Bukele, marks the latest move in what watchdogs describe as a wave of crackdown on dissent by the Central American leader. They say Bukele is emboldened by his alliance with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has not only praised him but avoided criticizing actions human rights defenders, international authorities and legal experts deem authoritarian. Authorities in El Salvador have targeted outspoken lawyers like Anaya, journalists investigating Bukele's alleged deals with gangs and human rights defenders calling for the end of a three-year state of emergency, which has suspended fundamental civil rights. Some say they have been forced to flee the country. 'They're trying to silence anyone who voices an opinion — professionals, ideologues, anyone who is critical — now they're jailed.' Quintanilla said. 'It's a vendetta.' Bukele's office did not respond to a request for comment. 'I don't care if you call me a dictator' Observers see a worrisome escalation by the popular president, who enjoys extremely high approval ratings due to his crackdown on the country's gangs. By suspending fundamental rights, Bukele has severely weakened gangs but also locked up 87,000 people for alleged gang ties, often with little evidence or due process. A number of those detained were also critics. Bukele and his New Ideas party have taken control of all three branches of government, stacking the country's Supreme Court with loyalists. Last year, in a move considered unconstitutional, he ran for reelection, securing a resounding victory. 'I don't care if you call me a dictator,' Bukele said earlier this month in a speech. 'Better that than seeing Salvadorans killed on the streets.' In recent weeks, those who have long acted as a thorn in Bukele's side say looming threats have reached an inflection point. The crackdown comes as Bukele has garnered global attention for keeping some 200 Venezuelan deportees detained in a mega-prison built for gangs as part of an agreement with the Trump administration. 'Of course I'm scared' Anaya was detained by authorities on unproven accusations of money laundering. Prosecutors said he would be sent to 'relevant courts' in the coming days. Quintanilla, his lawyer, rejects the allegations, saying his arrest stems from years of vocally questioning Bukele. Quintanilla, a longtime colleague of Anaya, said he decided to represent his friend in part because many other lawyers in the country were now too afraid to show their faces. On Tuesday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights expressed 'deep concern' over Anaya's arrest. Anaya, 61, is a respected lawyer and commentator in El Salvador with a doctorate in constitutional law. He has criticized Bukele's crackdown on the gangs and Bukele stacking of El Salvador's high court. Last year, he was among those who unsuccessfully petitioned the country's top electoral authority to reject Bukele's re-election bid, saying it violated the constitution. Days before his arrest, Anaya railed on television against the detention of human rights lawyer Ruth López, who last week shouted, 'They're not going to silence me, I want a public trial,' as police escorted her shackled to court. 'Of course I'm scared,' Anaya told the broadcast anchor. 'I think that anyone here who dares to speak out, speaks in fear.' While some of Bukele's most vocal critics, like Anaya and López, have been publicly detained, other human rights defenders have quietly slipped out of the country, hoping to seek asylum elsewhere in the region. They declined to comment or be identified out of fear that they would be targeted even outside El Salvador. Fear and an ally in Trump Last month, a protest outside of Bukele's house was violently quashed by police and some of the protesters arrested. He also ordered the arrest of the heads of local bus companies for defying his order to offer free transport while a major highway was blocked. In late May, El Salvador's Congress passed a 'foreign agents' law, championed by the populist president. It resembles legislation implemented by governments in Nicaragua, Venezuela, Russia, Belarus and China to silence and criminalize dissent by exerting pressure on organizations that rely on overseas funding. Verónica Reyna, a human rights coordinator for the Salvadoran nonprofit Servicio Social Pasionista, said police cars now regularly wait outside her group's offices as a lingering threat. 'It's been little-by-little,' Reyna said. 'Since Trump came to power, we've seen (Bukele) feel like there's no government that's going to strongly criticize him or try to stop him.' Trump's influence extends beyond his vocal backing of Bukele, with his administration pushing legal boundaries to push his agenda, Reyna, other human rights defenders and journalists said. The U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, which once regularly denounced the government's actions, has remained silent throughout the arrests and lingering threats. It did not respond to a request for comment. In its final year, the Biden administration, too, dialed back its criticism of the Bukele government as El Salvador's government helped slow migration north in the lead up to the 2024 election. On Tuesday, Quintanilla visited Anaya in detention for the first time since his arrest while being watched by police officers. Despite the detention, neither Anaya nor Quintanilla have been officially informed of the charges. Quintanilla worries that authorities will use wide ranging powers granted to Bukele by the 'state of emergency' to keep him imprisoned indefinitely. Journalists stranded Óscar Martínez, editor-in-chief of news site El Faro, and four other journalists have left the country and are unable to return safely, as they face the prospect of arrest stemming from their reporting. At a time when many other reporters have fallen silent out of fear, Martínez's news site has investigated Bukele more rigorously than perhaps any other, exposing hidden corruption and human rights abuses under his crackdown on gangs. In May, El Faro published a three-part interview with a former gang leader who claimed he negotiated with Bukele's administration. Soon after, Martínez said the organization received news that authorities were preparing an arrest order for a half-dozen of their journalists. This has kept at least five El Faro journalists, including Martínez, stranded outside their country for over a month. On Saturday, when the reporters tried to return home on a flight, a diplomatic source and a government official informed them that police had been sent to the airport to wait for them and likely arrest them. The journalists later discovered that their names, along with other civil society leaders, appeared on a list of 'priority objectives' held by airport authorities. Martínez said Anaya's name was also on the list. Now in a nearby Central American nation, Martínez said he doesn't know when he will be able to board another flight home. And if he does, he doesn't know what will happen when he steps off. 'We fear that, if we return — because some of us surely will try — we'll be imprisoned,' he said. 'I am positive that if El Faro journalists are thrown in prison, we'll be tortured and, possibly, even killed.' ____ Janetsky reported from Mexico City. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Globe and Mail
41 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Protests over immigration raids spread across the U.S. with more planned into the weekend
Protests over federal immigration enforcement raids and President Donald Trump's move to mobilize the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles are spreading nationwide and are expected to continue into the weekend. While many demonstrations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have been peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs, others have led to clashes with police, hundreds of arrests and the use of chemical irritants to disperse crowds. In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott posted on social media that an unspecified number of National Guard troops 'will be deployed to locations across the state to ensure peace & order.' Los Angeles-area mayors demand that Trump administration stop stepped-up immigration raids Activists say they will hold even larger demonstrations in the coming days, with 'No Kings' events across the country on Saturday to coincide with Trump's planned military parade in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration said immigration raids and deportations will continue regardless. A look at some protests across the country: New York City Police detained more than 80 people during protests in lower Manhattan's Foley Square on Tuesday evening and early Wednesday. Protesters shouted and waved signs that included 'ICE out of NYC' as they rallied near an ICE facility and federal courthouses. Police estimated some 2,500 people participated. Some protesters jumped over metal barricades and clashed with officers who wrestled them to the ground. Video shows demonstrators throwing items at law enforcement vehicles. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said most of the demonstrators were peaceful and that just a few caused the disorder that required police intervention. 'We want to maintain everyone's right to protest peacefully in this city and in this country, but we will not tolerate chaos and disorder or violence,' Tisch said Wednesday morning during an appearance on Fox 5 New York. Police said they took 86 people into custody, including 52 who were released with criminal court summonses for minor crimes and 34 who were charged with assault, resisting arrest and other crimes. San Antonio More than 400 people gathered outside of city hall Wednesday evening for an anti-ICE demonstration, according to local authorities. The protest was largely peaceful, with many blasting music and some handing out water. Nearby streets were closed off as law enforcement officers watched from hundreds of feet away. Dozens walked there from the historic Alamo mission after police closed off the area before the protest began. San Antonio Police Chief William McManus encouraged peaceful demonstration but said his officers would respond if 'it turns violent.' Officers with the Texas Public Safety Department said the Texas National Guard was present at the protest. Members were not seen standing with law enforcement officers in front of a small crowd of demonstrators. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott declined to say how many soldiers would be sent or how, only that they would be deployed in 'strategic locations where they can provide the most robust response' necessary. He did not say whether he or the president mobilized them. 'There are others outside of this room who would like to know that. And I'm not going to tell them,' Abbott said. 'We want to make sure that what has happened in California does not happen in Texas.' Mayor Ron Nirenberg said he did not ask the governor to deploy the National Guard troops and officials said they did not know how many troops were being sent, where they would be stationed or what they would do. Opinion: Donald Trump campaigned on eroding democracy. Now, he's just fulfilling his promises 'I want to acknowledge the anger and frustration that's out there with the federal government's crude interpretations of immigration law and cruel approach to human rights,' Nirenberg said. 'Exercise your right to free speech, but I urge you to keep it lawful and peaceful.' Philadelphia About 150 protesters gathered outside the Federal Detention Center on Tuesday afternoon and marched to ICE headquarters then back to the detention center. Police ordered a group marching along a major road to disperse and when they ignored the orders officers arrested 15 of them. Several officers used force during the arrests and their conduct will be reviewed, police said, without detailing what kind of force was used. Two officers suffered minor injuries. San Francisco About 200 protesters gathered outside the San Francisco Immigration Court on Tuesday after activists said several people were arrested there. Protests in the city swelled to several thousand demonstrators Sunday and Monday, and more than 150 people were arrested after some vandalized buildings and damaged cars, police vehicles and buses. Police said two officers suffered non-life threatening injuries. Seattle About 50 people gathered outside the immigration court in downtown Tuesday, chanting with drums and holding up signs that said, 'Free Them All; Abolish ICE' and 'No to Deportations.' Protesters blocked building entrances until police arrived. Mathieu Chabaud, with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Washington, said they were there in solidarity with the Los Angeles protesters, 'and to show that we're opposed to ICE in our community.' Legal advocates who normally attend the immigration court hearings as observers and to provide support to immigrants were not allowed inside. Security guards also turned journalists away from the usually public hearings. Chicago Police said 17 people were arrested at a protest that jammed a downtown plaza and took over surrounding streets Tuesday evening. Some of those arrested were accused of vandalism, and four were charged with felonies including aggravated battery against an officer of the peace. Also Tuesday, a 66-year-old woman was treated for a fractured arm after being struck by a car. Video showed the vehicle speeding along a road filled with protesters. No other injuries were reported. Denver A group of protesters gathered before the Colorado state capitol, creating a sea of cardboard signs, one exhorting: 'Show your faces. ICE cowards.' The group then split in half, with hundreds chanting and marching down two thoroughfares and crowding out traffic. Police ordered them to disperse. Officers used smoke and pepper balls to control the crowd and 17 people were arrested, Denver police said Wednesday.
