CTV National News: U.S. court rulings add to uncertainty fuelled by Trump's trade war
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The flip-flop by U.S. federal courts over the lawfulness of Donald Trump's tariffs is compounding uncertainty for Canadian businesses. Mike Le Couteur explains.
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CTV News
43 minutes ago
- CTV News
Accountant hired by Ramal to confirm accuracy of campaign finances fined by CPA Ontario
The Khalil Ramal election spending scandal reveals his auditor was not licenced and has faced discipline for involvement. CTV London's Daryl Newcombe reports. Salah Hassan's failure to cooperate with an investigation by Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) of Ontario has resulted in fines and penalties totaling $13,500 from the profession's disciplinary committee. Hassan provided a written auditor's report confirming the 2022 campaign finances of former mayoral candidate Khalil Ramal. Every candidate who receives contributions or incurs expenses in excess of $10,000 must attach an auditor's report to their financial filing. In August 2023, an anonymous complaint to CPA Ontario, a professional regulatory body, alleged Hassan's work confirming the accuracy of Ramal's campaign finances 'did not meet the standards of the profession'. It cited a story from August 2, 2023 that appeared on CTV News about a meeting of London's Compliance Audit Committee. The news story referred to the unsigned auditor's report included in the campaign's financial filing. The unsigned document read: 'Hi, I am Salah Hassan a Chartered Professional Accountant Licensed by Professional Accountants of Canada, license number 2086643. According to the information provided by Mr. Khalil Ramal, the Mayoral candidate for the City of London, Ontario, for the year 2022 election, after examining the bank statement, donation expenses and Form 4, it appears to me that all the information are correctly entered in the Financial Statement - Auditor's Report candidate - Form 4n. Best regards, Salah Hassan, CPA." 060625 - Ramal Audit Report included by Khalil Ramal with his 2022 campaign finances. (City of London) In September 2024, a ruling by the CPA Discipline Committee determined Hassan committed professional misconduct by not responding to multiple emails and telephone messages from its investigator. 'The nature of the misconduct, being the Member's complete failure to respond to the inquiries of Standards Enforcement, raised concerns about public confidence in the profession's ability to govern its own members,' the ruling reads. He was fined $5,000 for failing to cooperate with a regulatory process plus he was required to pay $8,500 in fees for the hearing. Eventually Hassan contacted CPA Ontario and blamed his failure to respond on health issues, an ill spouse, travel, and a misinterpretation: 'I was in the hospital with my wife and I was so busy with her during the month of September and October and I travelled to Egypt on November 1 for emergency family issues and I returned back on December 26, 2023. I did not have my Canada phone number with me. Please note that I did not violate any rules or regulations in my life or caused any harm to any human being or animals on earth.' The ruling by CPA Ontario states Hassan '… blamed CPA Ontario for the harm to his reputation, reflected a completed absence of insight or remorse.' Subsequently, a Compliance Audit of Ramal's campaign finances by William Molson CPA in April found a number of apparent violations of the Municipal Elections Act including not filing the names/addresses of donors who gave over $100, exceeding the candidate contribution limit ($25,000) by $11,916.27, and using an unlicensed accountant to confirm the accuracy of the document submitted to the city clerk. Molson wrote, 'Hassan did not hold a license at March 31, 2022 or March 31, 2023.' The findings of the Compliance Audit are being forwarded to a prosecutor for possible legal action against Ramal. Hassan's LinkedIn page lists his most recent position as Director of Finance for a business called EK Tech Software Solution. A company by that same name is based in Houston, Texas. However, there is a similarly named company called EK Tech Solutions on Waterloo Street in London. When CTV News called the telephone number included on EK Tech Solutions' website— Khalil Ramal answered. After being asked why Hassan described himself as Director of Finance for the company Ramal replied, 'Yes he did, he did it for a while, for three (or) four months. He did what he did, but he didn't finish. I'm not sure what he did do, but he didn't complete the work for us back then.' A week prior, Ramal was asked by the Compliance Audit Committee what steps he took to verify Hassan was a licensed CPA. At the time he responded, 'The person who I went to was the auditor of a company called Global Financial. I met him there. I know him from there. He has, you know, was an auditor. And also I went to him after that three or four times to audit a few companies.' CPA Ontario confirms Hassan is currently an 'active member', but would not disclose the status of the original investigation about whether his work for Ramal's campaign met the standards of the profession. Unable to find a phone number or email address for Hassan, CTV News accepted Ramal's offer to try to provide Hassan with a reporter's contact information. There has yet to be a response from Hassan.
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
U.S. ambassador says Canadians facing device searches, detainment 'not a pattern'
Article content OTTAWA — The American ambassador to Canada is pushing back on Ottawa's travel advice, saying his country doesn't search phones at the border and arguing some Americans travelling here are having a tough time. Article content 'We welcome Canadians to come in and invest, to spend their hard-earned Canadian dollars at U.S. businesses,' U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra told The Canadian Press in an interview Friday. Article content Article content Article content 'If a Canadian has had a disappointing experience coming into the United States, I'm not denying that it happened, but I'm saying it's an isolated event and it is not a pattern.' Article content Article content 'Expect scrutiny at ports of entry, including of electronic devices,' reads the new guidance. Article content There have been reports of Canadians facing intensified scrutiny at the border, having phones searched and, in some cases, being detained. Article content Hoekstra insisted concerns about device searches are not grounded in reality. Article content 'Coming to the U.S., that's a decision for the Canadians to make. Searching devices and all of that is not a well-founded fear. We don't do that. America is a welcoming place,' he said. Article content He said some Americans have expressed similar concerns about Canada. Article content 'I've heard that from Americans coming into Canada as well, OK? Saying, 'You know, we've not received a warm reception when we've gotten to Canadian customs,'' he said. Article content Article content When asked if these reports from American travellers involve arbitrary phone searches and lengthy detainment, Hoekstra said there are consular cases of Americans complaining to the embassy about the Canada Border Services Agency. Article content Article content 'We've said, 'OK this may have been an isolated event. There may have been a Canadian border person who was having a bad day, and thought they'd take it out on, you know, somebody across the border,'' he said. Article content In a statement, the CBSA said its officers follow a code of conduct and the federal ethics code that both require them to treat everyone equally, and the agency investigates any complaints of mistreatment. Article content 'Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a way that upholds the values of integrity, respect and professionalism at all times,' wrote spokeswoman Karine Martel. Article content 'Treating people with respect, dignity and fairness is fundamental to our border services officers' relationship with the public and a key part of this is serving all travellers in a non-discriminatory way.'
Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Company that worked on ArriveCan app banned from government contracts for 7 years
Ottawa says it has banned the largest contractor that worked on the ArriveCan app from entering into contracts or real property agreements with the government for seven years. Public Services and Procurement Canada has announced that GC Strategies Inc. has been deemed 'ineligible' after an assessment of the supplier's conduct. Last year, the department suspended the security status of GC Strategies, which the auditor general says was awarded more than $19 million for the project. That move followed an earlier decision to suspend the company from procurement processes within the department. The government also barred two other companies that contributed to the ArriveCan project, Dalian Enterprises and Coradix Technology Consulting, from participating in procurement opportunities. The federal government launched the app in April, 2020 as a way to track health and contact information for people entering Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to digitize customs and immigration declarations. A report by Canada's Auditor General Karen Hogan found the government's record-keeping was poor and its reliance on outside contractors allowed the cost of the project to balloon to $60 million. The first ArriveCan contract was initially valued at just $2.35 million. On Tuesday, Hogan is set to deliver an audit focusing on whether the contracts awarded and the payments made to GC Strategies and other incorporated companies were 'in accordance with applicable policy instruments' and were good value for money. Public Services and Procurement Canada says the government continues to take action to 'strengthen the integrity of the procurement process.' The Canadian Press has reached out to GC Strategies and to Public Services and Procurement Canada for comment. GC Strategies partner Kristian Firth was ordered to appear before the bar of the House of Commons last year after refusing to answer questions at a committee hearing. Firth was grilled by MPs for two hours, though Liberals opted out of questioning after a doctor's note provided to the clerk of the House recommended that he not appear because of mental-health issues. GC Strategies did not develop or manage the ArriveCan app, but it was tasked by the federal government to assemble a team to complete some parts of the project.
