Latest news with #CharlotteMacLeod
Edmonton Journal
6 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
Canadian man who disappeared after going swimming in Mexico washes up dead
Article content Ankele has been missing since Sunday, Mexican publication Milenio reported. Search and rescue efforts began later that evening. The beach is a well-known surfing spot, per travel website Lonely Planet's review of the location. 'Nonsurfers beware: the waters here have a lethal undertow and are not safe for the boardless, or beginner surfers either,' the site warns. According to authorities, Zicatela is not suitable for swimming, 'especially during swells, which cause dangerous currents and waves up to three meters high,' local publication El Tiempo reported. In a statement to National Post, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said the agency 'is aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in Mexico' and 'extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.' 'Consular officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance,' said MacLeod, adding that no more information can be disclosed at this time due to privacy considerations. On May 26, Puerto Escondido Lifeguards said there were two people missing at sea in a social media post. They cautioned beach-goers against walking along Zicatela Beach and said to avoid getting into the water. Videos shared by the account on Instagram showed white-capped waves slamming down onto the shore.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Canada says China executed an unspecified number of Canadians earlier this year
TORONTO (AP) — China executed an unspecified number of Canadians earlier this year, Canada's government said Wednesday. Such executions of Westerners are relatively rare. Canada's Global Affairs office declined to say how many people or give names. Beijing's embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes but declined to provide details. The embassy noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship. 'Canada repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere,' Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said in a statement. MacLeod said they continue to provide consular assistance to families and requested that media respect their privacy. She said Ottawa continues to advocate for clemency for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling. 'China always impose severe penalties on drug-related crimes,' a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said. 'The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient.' China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the total is a state secret. Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have been introduced in recent years. The embassy spokesperson said Beijing 'fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned," and urged Canada's government to 'stop making irresponsible remarks.' The two countries have some tensions. China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports earlier this month, after Canada imposed duties in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products. The tariffs add to global trade tensions amid rounds of tariff announcements by the United States, China, Canada and Mexico. 'China is sending us a message that we have to take steps if we want to see an improvement in the relationship,' said a former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques. China is Canada's second largest trading partner, but relations been bad since Canadian authorities in 2018 arrested a former Huawei executive who the U.S. had charged with fraud. China jailed two Canadians shortly after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the company's founder, on a U.S. extradition request. They were sent back to Canada in 2021, the same day Meng returned to China after reaching a deal with U.S. authorities in her case. Many countries called China's action 'hostage politics,' while China described the charges against Huawei and Meng as a politically motivated attempt to hold back China's economic and technological development.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Canada ministry ‘strongly condemns' China's executions of several Canadians
Canada's foreign affairs ministry has said it 'strongly condemns' the execution of several of the country's citizens in China this year, highlighting sustained tensions between the two countries. Global Affairs Canada confirmed on Wednesday that an unspecified number of citizens were executed earlier this year. The revelations were first reported by the Globe and Mail. 'Canada strongly condemns China's use of the death penalty, which is irreversible and inconsistent with basic human dignity,' a GAC spokesperson, Charlotte MacLeod, said in a statement to the Guardian. 'Canada repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere.' McLeod said Canada was providing consular assistance to the victims' families and asked media 'respect the family's privacy during this difficult time'. China's embassy in Canada said in a statement it is a 'rule of law' nation and that anyone convicted of breaking laws 'must be held accountable'. 'Drug-related crime is a severe crime recognized worldwide as extremely harmful to the society, and will be faced with severe penalties in all countries. China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes and maintains a 'zero tolerance' attitude towards the drug problem,' the embassy said, adding it had 'solid and sufficient' evidence in all the cases in which prisoners were executed. 'The Chinese judicial authorities have handled the cases in strict accordance with the law, and have fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned.' China has a conviction rate of more than 99%, a result that has elicited skepticism and criticism from human rights groups over the years. The embassy called on Canada to 'respect the rule of law and China's judicial sovereignty' and to 'stop making irresponsible remarks' in order to improve relationship between to the two countries. Relations between the two countries hit a low point between 2018 and 2022, after the prominent Huawei telecoms executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver at the request of US authorities. Her detention in Canada prompted China to quickly detain and charge two Canadians living in the country, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, eventually charing the pair with espionage. But the upgrading of charges against a Canadian in prison further cemented views in Canada that China was engaged in 'hostage diplomacy'. In 2014, the Canadian citizen Robert Schellenberg was accused of attempting to smuggle 225kg of methamphetamine to Australia. He has maintained his innocence, but in December 2018 he was sentenced to 15 years. That charge was upgraded to execution in 2019, during the fervour of China's diplomatic spat with Canada. At the time, Canada issued a travel warning to its citizens going to China. MacLeod confirmed on Wednesday that Schellenberg was still detained and said the federal government 'continues to advocate for clemency'.
CBC
19-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Canada condemns China after it executes Canadians over 'drug-related crime'
Social Sharing Global Affairs Canada is condemning China after the country executed an unspecified number of Canadian citizens earlier this year in an act that violates "basic human dignity." Spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod told CBC News in an email that Canada had "repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels." She said Canada "remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere." MacLeod said the federal department is continuing to provide consular assistance to the families of those who were executed, but would not provide the identities of the victims, or how many of them there were. China's embassy in Ottawa defended the executions on Wednesday, telling CBC News in an email that "whoever violates the law of China must be held accountable in accordance with the law." The embassy would not provide the names of the executed Canadians or the specific crimes they were alleged to have committed, beyond that they were "drug related." It also declined to say how many Canadians were killed. "China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes and maintains a 'zero-tolerance' attitude toward the drug problem," the embassy said. "The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient." The embassy said the cases were handled "in strict accordance with the law" and that the rights and interests of the Canadians were "fully guaranteed." 'A clear, disturbing development' Vina Nadjibulla, the vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said the executions are a "deeply troubling development. "The execution of foreigners is extremely rare even in the Chinese criminal justice system which has a 99 per cent conviction rate and carries out more executions than any other country in the world," she said. Nadjibulla said the last time China executed a foreign citizen was more than 10 years ago, and this decision by China, despite Canada's efforts to secure clemency through diplomatic means, suggests the two countries are still very far apart. "For those people who were hoping that in the current climate China may wish to strengthen relations with Canada, may wish to deepen partnerships, this shows that that is really not the case," she said. "This is a clear, disturbing development in the bilateral relationship." Canada-China relations remain sour The embassy pushed back against Global Affairs Canada's condemnation of the executions and said Canada should accept the decisions made by China's judicial system if it wants to improve ties between the two countries. "We urge the Canadian side to respect the rule of law and China's judicial sovereignty, stop making irresponsible remarks, work in the same direction with China and jointly promote the improvement and development of China-Canada relations with concrete actions," the embassy said. Relations between Canada and China have been strained since the December 2018 detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by Beijing, on vague national security allegations. Their arrests were widely seen as retaliation for the Vancouver arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, just days before, at the behest of the U.S. to face fraud charges related to American sanctions against Iran. Watch | What could Canada have done better to help Michael Kovrig?: What could Canada have done better to help Michael Kovrig? | Canada Tonight 6 months ago Duration 14:29 Michael Kovrig, one of the 'Two Michaels' held by China for more than 1,000 days, says Ottawa 'was not prepared' for his detention. Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a board member of the China Strategic Risks Institute, explains to Canada Tonight what the government could've done better. Guy Saint-Jacques, the former Canadian ambassador to China, also describes the conditions of Chinese detention. Although all three were released in 2021, the two countries have continued to butt heads. On Thursday, China is expected to institute 100 per cent tariffs on Canadian canola, along with 25 per cent tariffs on other goods like seafood and pork. The Chinese tariffs come in response to Canada's 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25-per-cent levy on Chinese aluminum and steel products imposed on Oct. 1. The move was meant to keep cheap electric cars from China at bay to grow and protect Canada's nascent EV sector. Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was sentenced in November 2018 to a 15-year prison term in China over allegations of drug smuggling. In January 2019, Canada reached out to China's ambassador to Canada to ask for clemency for Schellenberg. But early that year, about a month after Meng was detained, Schellenberg was retried and sentenced to death.
Associated Press
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Canada says China executed an unspecified number of Canadians earlier this year
TORONTO (AP) — China executed an unspecified number of Canadians earlier this year, Canada's government said Wednesday. Such executions of Westerners are relatively rare. Canada's Global Affairs office declined to say how many people or give names. Beijing's embassy in Ottawa said the executions were due to drug crimes but declined to provide details. The embassy noted that China does not recognize dual citizenship. 'Canada repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere,' Global Affairs spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said in a statement. MacLeod said they continue to provide consular assistance to families and requested that media respect their privacy. She said Ottawa continues to advocate for clemency for Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian who was sentenced to death for drug smuggling. 'China always impose severe penalties on drug-related crimes,' a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said. 'The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient.' China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the total is a state secret. Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have been introduced in recent years. The embassy spokesperson said Beijing 'fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned,' and urged Canada's government to 'stop making irresponsible remarks.' China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports earlier this month, after Canada imposed duties in October on Chinese-made electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products. The tariffs add to global trade tensions amid rounds of tariff announcements by the United States, China, Canada and Mexico.
