Latest news with #LavalUniversity
CBC
9 hours ago
- Sport
- CBC
Canadian star swimmer Aurélie Rivard will skip Para world championship to focus on studies
Canada's Aurélie Rivard has withdrawn from selection for the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in order to focus on her studies. The 29-year-old native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., said she remains passionate about the sport but wants to focus on earning her law degree at Laval University. "I've always put swimming first," Rivard said Sunday in a statement. "I took sabbatical sessions and built my life around this sport." Rivard has won six gold medals at the Paralympics since making her debut in 2012. "I'm still training and I'm still enjoying the process," Rivard said. "LA 2028 is still in the back of my mind. This is my fifth cycle, and I want to approach it slowly and thoughtfully, without burning out. I was excited about the worlds, but this time it didn't fit into my schedule." Rivard was scheduled to compete at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria on Monday and Tuesday.
Hamilton Spectator
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadian swimmer Aurelie Rivard to skip para world championship to focus on studies
VICTORIA - Canada's Aurelie Rivard has withdrawn from selection for the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in order to focus on her studies. The 29-year-old native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., said she remains passionate about the sport but wants to focus on earning her law degree at Laval University. 'I've always put swimming first,' Rivard said Sunday in a statement. 'I took sabbatical sessions and built my life around this sport.' 'But at this point, with just under a year to go in law school and the goal of graduating in April 2026, I didn't want to put off again.' Rivard has won six gold medals at the Paralympics since making her debut in 2012. 'I'm still training and I'm still enjoying the process,' Rivard said. 'LA 2028 is still in the back of my mind. This is my fifth cycle, and I want to approach it slowly and thoughtfully, without burning out. I was excited about the worlds, but this time it didn't fit into my schedule.' Rivard was scheduled to compete at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria on Monday and Tuesday. Singapore will host the Sept. 21-27 world championship. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Canadian swimmer Aurelie Rivard to skip para world championship to focus on studies
VICTORIA – Canada's Aurelie Rivard has withdrawn from selection for the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in order to focus on her studies. The 29-year-old native of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., said she remains passionate about the sport but wants to focus on earning her law degree at Laval University. 'I've always put swimming first,' Rivard said Sunday in a statement. 'I took sabbatical sessions and built my life around this sport.' 'But at this point, with just under a year to go in law school and the goal of graduating in April 2026, I didn't want to put off again.' Rivard has won six gold medals at the Paralympics since making her debut in 2012. 'I'm still training and I'm still enjoying the process,' Rivard said. 'LA 2028 is still in the back of my mind. This is my fifth cycle, and I want to approach it slowly and thoughtfully, without burning out. I was excited about the worlds, but this time it didn't fit into my schedule.' Rivard was scheduled to compete at the Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria on Monday and Tuesday. Singapore will host the Sept. 21-27 world championship. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2025.
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Province commits $1.8M to study Nunavik's landslides
The Quebec government is spending $1.85 million to research landslides in Nunavik. The Ministry of Public Security committed $1.15 million to Laval University to launch a research project studying the phenomenon in the region's clay soils, the ministry announced May 30. Work will involve the mapping and characterization of deposits untouched by water but which still present risk of landslide, and compiling an inventory of large landslides that have occurred in Nunavik. 'The results of this project will deepen our understanding of the geological and climatic conditions that control landslide initiation in cold regions such as Nunavik,' Laval University professor Patrick Lajeunesse said in the French-language release. The study 'will play an essential role in strengthening the resilience of northern communities to these processes of land surface change,' he added. Two landslides were confirmed in October 2022 near a river on the Hudson Coast about 60 kilometres south of Umiujaq. And in April 2021, a mudslide dumped 45 million cubic metres of debris into the Great Whale River, about eight kilometres from Kuujjuaraapik and Whapmagoostui, in what would later be described as the second-largest landslide recorded in Quebec history. The provincial government also gave $700,000 to Kativik Regional Government to improve its landslide risk management and increase community resilience. The work involves calculating the risk of landslides across Nunavik, using Inuit knowledge to make a risk management plan, and devising an education plan keeping Inuit culture in mind. Kativik Regional Government chairperson Hilda Snowball said in the release she's pleased the Quebec government 'recognizes the urgent need to further assist our regional government in strengthening its risk management capacity.' She said the funding will help all 14 communities 'deal with the potentially serious residential and environmental emergencies that come with living in Nunavik.' The funding commitment is part of Quebec's Nordic Action Plan 2023-28, which aims to improve knowledge and implement risk mitigation measures for hazards in the North. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Epoch Times
27-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Canada Faces ‘Massive Challenge' as NATO Eyes New 5% Spending Target: Expert
When representatives of NATO nations meet in The Hague late next month, they're expected to dramatically hike the alliance's defence spending target for members—the one Canada is failing to hit already. At the last NATO summit in Washington last year, allies lined up to call out Canada for failing to meet the alliance defence spending target of two percent of national GDP. When Prime Minister Mark Carney attends the NATO summit next month, he'll likely be under pressure to commit to a new defence spending target of five percent of national GDP. 'We're such an outlier now,' said David Perry, president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. He said Canada will face a 'massive challenge' in meeting the new target. U.S. President Donald Trump has said for months he wants to see NATO countries increase their defence spending to five percent of GDP. On Monday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he believes allied nations will agree at next month's gathering to a new target of five percent. Related Stories 4/4/2025 2/5/2025 Annual NATO data shows Canada is still failing to reach its current commitment; defence spending amounted to just 1.3 percent of GDP in 2024. Canada also failed to meet the alliance's target for equipment spending. 'The last time that there were reported stats, we were one of only two not meeting either (pledge). Everybody else meets at least one,' Perry said. 'We're increasingly, extraordinarily isolated in how far behind everyone else we are.' Laval University international relations professor Anessa Kimball said Canada should be preparing to argue that investing more in the military becomes much harder in the middle of a trade war. Kimball said Ottawa should prepare to leverage Trump's calls for higher military spending in the alliance and use that to press the case against his tariff agenda. Kimball, who wrote a book on defence burden-sharing among NATO members, also said Carney may have a ready-made excuse for missing the NATO target. As governor of the Bank of England, Carney was busy in the U.K. managing the economic fallout from Brexit when Justin Trudeau was in power and directing Canada's military spending. 'While I think that gives him an important level of macroeconomic credibility, it also gives him a little bit of an out. Essentially he can say, 'Trudeau and the Liberal Party left me a bit of a mess and they've known that they had to do this,'' Kimball said. 'Carney couldn't do worse at being convincing as Trudeau was. Trudeau was entirely unconvincing last year.' At the 2024 NATO summit in Washington, after a series of U.S. politicians blasted Canada for failing to meet its commitments, Trudeau pledged to reach the two percent target by 2032. His government suggested this could be done by buying up to 12 new submarines—a procurement project for which no deadline was ever given. Trudeau said at the time that Canada's defence spending was based on its needs, 'not some nominal targets that make for easy headlines and accounting practices, but don't actually make us automatically safer.' During the spring election campaign, Carney pledged to reach two percent by 2030. 'The government was elected on a strong mandate to rebuild Canada's defence capacity, rearm the Canadian Armed Forces and invest in the Canadian defence industry,' said Laurent de Casanove, a spokesperson for Defence Minister David McGuinty. 'The prime minister was clear that this government will invest to put Canada on track to exceed our NATO defence spending target before 2030.' But Perry said Carney likely will have very little wiggle room at The Hague, even in a room full of allies who know he's new to the job. 'I think, unfairly for him, there's probably not a lot (of room),' he said. 'Even though he's brand-new, this commitment for Canada isn't. It's over a decade old.'
