Latest news with #Chartier
Montreal Gazette
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Handling protests requires ‘fine balance' between rights and maintaining order, Montreal police say
News With the summer season drawing closer, the Montreal police department says it is prepared for the increase in protests and public gatherings the warmer weather usually brings. Speaking from police headquarters on Thursday, Insp. Sébastien Chartier stressed the department's role is to strike the right balance between respecting people's rights to protest and maintaining order. 'It is a fine balance between the two, which isn't always easy,' Chartier said, noting that protests and large public events have always been part of the city's fabric. Chartier was speaking the same day as thousands were expected to attend a May Day march in Montreal on Thursday evening, and pro-Palestinian advocates planned to counter-protest Israel Independence Day celebrations. According to the police department, the number of 'public order events' it handled increased by 33 per cent last year, reaching 3,422. The figure includes protests, but also any public events requiring a police presence. Much of the increase was due to the number of demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war, which the department says occurred on a near-daily basis following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The police force has faced criticism from both sides of the conflict since protests began in Montreal. While some have argued speeches made at certain demonstrations have amounted to hate speech, pro-Palestinian activists contend they've been subject to excessive policing and violent arrests. In terms of policing hate speech at protests, Chartier said it can be difficult for officers to do so while focused on maintaining order in what are often tense situations. 'When it comes to speech, it's not black or white — there is a fine line which is hard to determine in the field,' Chartier said, adding that officers follow the Criminal Code to determine what crosses the line. The department also came under fire after anti-NATO protests in November that saw cars torched and windows smashed at Montreal's Palais des congrès. Though police clashed with protesters and made arrests, many questioned how a protest was allowed to turn so destructive in the first place. On Thursday, Chartier said he couldn't comment on specific cases, but noted the department is always careful in how and when it chooses to intervene during a protest. If a small group of people is being destructive during a larger protest, he explained, police moving in to make targeted arrests can complicate matters and could be perceived as an escalation against the entire protest. 'We do what we can to rectify the situation while, at the same time, letting people express themselves,' Chartier said. 'When it's an intervention on (an entire) crowd, which is very rare, we do it in the most specific manner, with the least use of force as we can.' In 2023, the City of Montreal agreed to pay $6 million and publicly apologize to settle several class-action lawsuits brought against it over the department's handling of protests between 2012 and 2015. During the so-called Maple Spring protests of 2012, thousands of students took to the streets in Montreal against tuition fee increases, with some turning destructive. Plaintiffs had claimed that the mass detentions police carried out during the protests — and the many arrests that followed — were illegal and prevented them from exercising their fundamental rights. Asked on Thursday about the police department's current approach to handling protests, Chartier said the main goal is always to ensure they proceed smoothly. That objective is met in most cases, he said. 'We do have a lot of protests and a lot of public events,' he said. 'And one of the (beautiful things) about our city is that 99 per cent of those events are fun, they're peaceful and people get to express what they want.' This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 2:51 PM.
Ottawa Citizen
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Ottawa Citizen
Greater Sudbury Cubs become back-to-back NOJHL champions
Article content Daks Klinkhammer was a bulldozer as he powered his way toward the goal on Wednesday night, shrugging off a defender and pushing the puck into the empty net. Article content Players on the Greater Sudbury Cubs bench and fans in the stands at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex erupted in celebration as the home side took a 6-4 lead, while at the other end of the ice, goaltender Karsen Chartier motioned for his teammates to stay calm. He knew the Hearst Lumberjacks were very much still in the fight, as they had been for all seven games of a gruelling NOJHL final. Article content Article content Thirty-seven more hard-fought seconds later, the horn finally sounded and the Cubs could finally celebrate winning back-to-back championships. Article content Article content 'All glory to God — it was a tough series, a good playoff run and a great group, really resilient,' said Klinkhammer, his smile as bright as the championship medal around his neck. 'I'm just super happy to get the job done, especially at home, in front of such an amazing group of fans.' Article content Klinkhammer scored twice and Noah Kohan, Cameron Shanks, Spencer Horgan and Alex Valade once each, while Chartier made 32 saves to help the Cubs shake off a determined Hearst crew, backed by its own sizeable cheering section, that had battled back from a three-game deficit in the series. Article content 'I can't even explain it right now,' said 19-year-old forward Nolan Newton, who recorded three assists, including one on Valade's eventual game-winner. 'All the boys came to play today. We played our system, everyone worked hard — it was just great. Article content Article content 'I can't even speak right now.' Article content Having dispatched their first two playoff opponents in short, if not easy series, the top-seeded Cubs were tested like never before by the Lumberjacks, who trailed 5-2 on Wednesday before battling back with goals in the late second and early third frames and perhaps evoking memories of their wild comeback win in Game 5. Article content This time, however, Greater Sudbury held up Hearst's relentless pressure, even with veteran defenders such as captain Mason Chitaroni and William Haley injured, and Chartier made some of his better stops as time ticked away. Article content 'You look in that room and we have had our ups and downs, whether on ice or off ice,' said Cubs head coach Darryl Moxam, the reigning NOJHL Coach of the Year, who rated the series as the most difficult and certainly most nerve-wracking of his career. 'We just found a way to come back and stay the course.
CBC
31-01-2025
- Business
- CBC
'We had concerns:' Subpoenaed Veterans Affairs officials testify in Métis National Council trial
Federal officials testified under subpoena this week about whether former Métis National Council (MNC) leaders mismanaged millions of dollars earmarked for the recognition of Métis war veterans, as a high-stakes civil trial continues in Toronto. A senior official testified Friday that Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) was immediately concerned when it learned of a "service delivery agreement" transferring control of the publicly funded program from MNC to the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) in 2021. "We had concerns over whether it was aligned with the contribution agreement or not," said Dennis Manning, a senior director of financial and re-establishment policy at VAC, in Ontario Superior Court. MNC's current leaders dispute the service agreement. They allege a past administration improperly diverted nearly $9 million to the MMF as part of a broader conspiracy to harm the council and benefit themselves shortly before MMF broke from the national group in September 2021. The money came from a $30-million recognition fund for Métis Second World War veterans, which VAC provided to the MNC under a 2019 contribution agreement. Manning said Canada was concerned the contribution agreement may have been breached. Poring over documents in the witness box, the public servant testified Canada only learned of the service delivery agreement when newly elected MNC president Cassidy Caron reached out in November 2021. Caron's administration sued in January 2022, alleging former MNC president Clément Chartier and David Chartrand, who is MMF president and was also MNC's minister for finance and veterans, orchestrated the program transfer as part of a "scorched earth policy." The statement of claim seeks $15 million in damages, $1 million in punitive damages and return of the veterans fund and other disputed assets. The sweeping claim names about a half dozen other former employees and consultants as defendants. MMF co-founded the MNC in 1983 to advocate for Métis rights on the national stage. Chartier and Chartrand, both long-time politicians, deny any wrongdoing, arguing the service delivery agreement validly outsourced program administration to the MMF. "Not one cent of the veterans fund has been paid to the MMF, Mr. Chartier, Mr. Chartrand or any other defendant. Rather, the funds have exclusively been used for the purposes contemplated," reads Chartier's defence. In cross-examination, Manning clarified VAC hasn't seen the disputed service delivery agreement and based its concerns on information the Caron administration provided. He acknowledged that the minister retains the right to audit the program, yet has never done so. VAC hasn't officially taken a stance on whether the contribution agreement was breached, he added, while agreeing that nothing in it bars consulting or contracting for services. 'Major political ramifications' On Thursday, VAC manager Jeff Gallant testified the department was granted authority to enter into an agreement with MNC — and only MNC — to facilitate $20,000 individual recognition payments and approve commemoration projects. "They were the recipient of the funds, and it was expected that they would be delivering the program," he said in direct examination by MNC's lawyer. "VAC did not expect any other party to be involved." In cross-examination, however, Gallant confirmed VAC dealt mainly with MMF officials from the outset, but he said this raised no questions because MMF was perceived as representing the national organization at the time. Before MMF's withdrawal, MNC had five members but now counts just two. Saskatchewan and British Columbia withdrew last year, leaving only Alberta and Ontario. The MNC's lawyer Robert Cohen previously described the conflict as a "political civil war." The nine-week trial began earlier this month and already put years of political infighting and governance gridlock under the microscope. The dispute dates back to at least 2018, when the Chartier administration sought to suspend the Métis Nation of Ontario over concerns it had allowed thousands of non-Métis to join. That led to a long struggle over Ontario's status in the council, culminating in the court-ordered 2021 election. Evidence presented Thursday suggests officials in Ottawa were well aware of the political aspect to the feud. Gallant was asked about a September 2020 internal document that said the MNC designated MMF as program administrator "without approval from the board of governors." "This means that MMF has been making decisions on program administration without including governing members with whom they are currently in disputes with," said the document, as read in court. "This in turn has major political ramifications." Gallant said he wasn't involved directly at this time and couldn't elaborate on those political ramifications. The other VAC witness wasn't asked to elaborate. MNC also alleges the former administration offered lucrative payouts for consultants and engaged in excessive or inappropriate spending on gifts and benefits for themselves and their associates, among other things. The defendants categorically deny the allegations, with the MMF and Chartrand calling the case attempted character assassination and a legally baseless political vendetta. The trial continues.
