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Author Topic: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act  (Read 33639 times)

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #104 on: July 14, 2022, 04:49:36 AM »
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Trudeau announces deal to build $1.5B electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario

$1.5-billion investment by Umicore will make Canada a global player in electric vehicles, PM says



Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that Ottawa and Ontario have signed a deal with Umicore, a global metals refiner, to build a new battery materials facility in the province's Loyalist Township.

Speaking at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., the prime minister said the facility will supply materials for one million electric vehicles a year.

Umicore, a multinational corporation based in Belgium, will transform metals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium into cathode active battery materials (CAM) at the new eastern Ontario site — materials that are critical to producing lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.

Trudeau said the new plant will create 1,000 jobs while it is being built and hundreds of long-term positions once it is up and running.

He said the government and industry investments are part of a "big bet" that Canada can be a key international player in electric-vehicle supply chains.

"Today's announcement is about creating jobs, cutting pollution and building a stronger, cleaner economy for Canadians. Umicore's intention to establish its new facility in Loyalist Township is another major step forward as we make Canada a global leader in producing electric vehicles, from minerals to manufacturing," Trudeau said.

Ontario's Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said the $1.5-billion investment will build the first industrial-scale manufacturing plant of its kind in North America.

"With recent success attracting major investments to the province, our government is staking Ontario's claim to developing and building the batteries that will power vehicles of the future," Fedeli said.

Federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the plant will fill a gap in the Canadian electric-vehicle system by shoring up a key part of the battery-making process.

"The auto sector is spreading across the country now," Champagne said. "It's not just concentrated, but now Kingston is going to be part of the auto sector in Canada."

The plant will be built with some financial support from both levels of government but a dollar figure wasn't immediately available.

Ottawa and the province have plowed hundreds of millions of dollars in public money into similar projects in recent months.

In a statement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who was not at Wednesday's announcement, said these multi-billion dollar investments are paying off, helping the province to "strengthen its position as a North American auto manufacturing powerhouse."

Umicore said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ottawa, which will allow it to tap funds from the federal Strategic Innovation Fund to help offset some of the construction costs associated with building a plant of this size.

The company already has penned an agreement with Loyalist Township for a 140-hectare parcel of land that eventually will house the plant.

The company will start on construction in 2023, with the site expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025 — pumping out the materials that will help drive the global transition from cars and trucks powered by internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.

"We are most grateful to the Canadian and Ontario governments for their support and for their readiness to co-fund this planned project. The facility will help Canada and Umicore in their shared objective of achieving a carbon-neutral battery supply chain," said Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore.

Carmakers General Motors, Honda and Stellantis, the company that makes Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, have also promised recently to spend billions of dollars in the coming years to build battery and electric vehicle manufacturing facilities in Ontario — investments that have breathed new life into Canada's long-stagnant auto sector.

According to government data, Canada's auto sector supports nearly 500,000 workers, contributes $16 billion annually to the country's gross domestic product and is one of the largest export industries.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-ev-battery-materials-plant-1.6519260

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #104 on: July 14, 2022, 04:49:36 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #105 on: July 16, 2022, 05:49:28 AM »
Of course they did. Russia wants instability in our countries with democracy and it's been speculated that Russian dark money was behind the funding of these convoys which came from groups in the United States.

Russia Today covered ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests more than any foreign outlet: research

Russia Today (RT) covered Canada’s so-called “Freedom Convoy” protests far more closely than any other international outlet, according to new research.

The Russian state-controlled television network used key words associated with the convoy protest during more than four and half hours of broadcasts between Jan. 13 and Feb. 12 — dwarfing the rate of any other international outlet’s coverage of the anti-mandate occupation that snarled Ottawa streets earlier this year.

That’s according to an analysis of Google Jigsaw’s Global Database of Events, Language and Tone (GDELT), which Ahmed Al-Rawi, director of Simon Fraser University’s Disinformation Project, published on his website on Tuesday. The analysis has not been peer-reviewed.

“I was surprised to see that Russia Today, the Russian government-run television channel, was well ahead of so many other news channels in covering the convoy protests,” Al-Rawi told Global News in an interview.

The only other outlet that came close to covering the protests this closely was Fox News, which dedicated two and a half hours of coverage to the so-called “freedom convoy.”

Al Jazeera devoted the third-most time to the topic, with just over an hour of coverage over the course of the month, while CNN, MSNBC, Deutsche Welle, BBC News and CBS spent less than 30 minutes on the topics.

Why was Russia Today so interested in the convoy?

The Russian network’s interest in Canada’s convoy protests wasn’t surprising to intelligence community experts who have followed the Kremlin’s tactics in recent months.

That’s because, recently, Russia has focused less on tipping the scale towards specific electoral outcomes. Rather, according to an FBI official who spoke out earlier this year, the country has focused on sowing chaos and distrust abroad.

"The primary objective is not to create a particular version of the truth but rather cloud the truth and erode our ability to find it, creating a sentiment that no narrative or news source can be trusted at all,” David Porter, an assistant section chief with the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, told a U.S. election security conference in March.

“To put it simply, in this space, Russia wants to watch us tear ourselves apart.”

“The primary objective is not to create a particular version of the truth but rather cloud the truth and erode our ability to find it, creating a sentiment that no narrative or news source can be trusted at all,” David Porter, an assistant section chief with the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force, told a U.S. election security conference in March.

makes sense that Russia would see the so-called “Freedom Convoy” as an opportune moment to sow this kind of division, according to Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst and assistant professor at Carleton University.

She pointed to the protesters’ repeated critiques of the Canadian government as “corrupt” as evidence that anti-government seeds were already planted in the movement — and with the right amount of nurturing, Russia could help those ideas grow.

“(U.S. intelligence officials) think the Russian government is trying to … target democratic institutions, trying to target and amplify mistrust so that people no longer believe in democracy, that they believe their institutions are corrupt,” Carvin said.

For RT, the trucker convoy protests had “a dovetail of interests,” she said.

“It makes sense for RT to promote events like this.”

RT has a “history” of sowing dissension and spreading disinformation, according to Carmen Celestini, a lecturer at the University of Waterloo who used to work with Al-Rawi’s Disinformation Project.

The convoy protests earlier this year were “based on disinformation,” she said — from their unscientific claims about vaccines to their belief they could demand the government resign en masse.

“All of those things are notions that Russia is going to try and promote, just because that dissension everywhere else in the world pulls away from dissension in (Russia) and puts them in a stronger position,” Celestini said.

RT also chose to frame the protests in a specific way, Al-Rawi found after sifting through the terms different outlets used to describe the protests.

Rather than referring to the event as a “trucker protest” or “trucker convoy,” RT most often used the convoy’s own terminology, calling it the “Freedom Convoy.”

The Russian outlet used the term 1,032 times — five times more often than its next most-used term: “convoy protest.”

Fox News and the 'freedom convoy'

RT devoted a disproportionate amount of its time to covering the convoy protests — but experts think another outlet might have been able to have a much bigger impact on Canada, despite boasting fewer convoy-related broadcasts: Fox News.

Without clear sources, RT’s website claims its channel is available in more than 700 million households around the world. It’s unclear whether that number has changed since Canada banned RT from the airwaves in March.

Fox News, on the other hand, says it reaches 200 million people every single month.

“RT may have played a role in generating lots of content, possibly feeding content into the U.S. media ecosystem, but really, it was Fox News that was promoting this convoy,” Carvin said.

American news outlets have far more of a role in Canada’s media ecosystem than Russia’s outlets, Carvin added.

Convoy protesters used American rhetoric and symbols throughout their protests in Ottawa, with many carrying U.S. flags and other regalia that shows their support for former U.S. president Donald Trump.

“We have to remember this was, in effect, a Canadian movement led by Canadians, cheered on by Americans,” Carvin said.

It was a “homegrown movement” that Russia tried to amplify.

“This wasn’t something that was created by Russia…. The fact that RT was reporting on it is just kind of consistent with their overall goals,” she explained.

Navigating the media landscape

When pressed on how Canadians should navigate an information environment where foreign media may try to skew stories, Al-Rawi said he’s not suggesting everyone stop watching Fox News, or even RT.

Rather, we should try to “consume as many diverse channels as possible.”

“Watching them is important to compare and see their perspective,” he said.

“And from that, they would have a better idea about how different channels frame an event like this one — a very important event, actually — in our history.”

Wherever you get your information, it’s important to be mindful of the source you’re reading, Carvin said.

“People really do need to sit down and think, you know, ‘I’m on Facebook and I’m reading a story. Now, does it come from a reputable news source?'”

Canadians have a tendency to build social media bubbles where they get their information from sources that all think the same way they do — a reality that makes navigating the information ecosystem such a  “vexing problem” in 2022, according to Carvin.

“Getting through that, it’s a very, very hard thing to do.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/8983352/freedom-convoy-russia-today-disinformation/

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #106 on: July 16, 2022, 09:30:38 AM »
'Freedom Convoy' organizers discussed playing 'race card' with Metis heritage

OTTAWA - Organizers of the "Freedom Convoy" discussed using their ties to Métis identity to play the "race card" as part of an overall strategy to control their public image and garner sympathy for their cause, text messages suggest.
The messages between Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, obtained by Ottawa police and entered as evidence by the Crown in Lich's bail hearing this week, indicate how acutely aware the organizers were of the optics of the protest.

The convoy's connection to Pat King, who has spread racist conspiracy theories, as well as the appearance of Nazi and Confederate flags in the early days of the protest, prompted accusations that it was sympathetic to white nationalist causes.

While planning the convoy, Lich and Barber appeared aware that racial identity could be raised in criticisms of it. Lich has described herself as Métis, and on Jan. 20, about a week before demonstrators arrived in Ottawa, Barber texted Lich that his wife was Métis as well.

"It's going to work in our favour," replied Lich. "Playing the race card works both ways lol."

That same day, Lich congratulated Barber on his interview on a podcast, describing it as very "PC"⁠ — or politically correct⁠ — "but also direct."

Barber said to Lich on Jan. 22 that all of his years of "social media trolling" were going to pay off. "I'll spin and use it all against them," he said in reference to those critiquing the convoy.

The protest against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government swarmed the capital's downtown with large trucks, blocking streets and blaring loud horns for more than three weeks. Protesters also blockaded multiple border crossings. It all prompted the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Act and the police to use force to clear the crowd.

For their role in the protest, Lich and Barber have been charged with mischief, obstructing police, counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation.

Barber remains out on bail, while a justice of the peace ruled Friday that Lich had breached a release condition and revoked her bail.

At Lich’s bail hearing this week, Barber’s lawyer was granted a publication ban on court documents showing his cellphone communications, except for those with Lich.

Diane Magas, counsel for Barber, said the Crown’s submission may lack the full context or intent of the messages, and could be misleading or inaccurately interpreted.

The 4,000-page document filed with the court says it includes all messages — numbering in the thousands — found on Barber’s phone. Dozens are directly between Barber and Lich, not including group chats.

Lich's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, declined to comment on the messages outside court on Friday.

The conversations between the pair appear to illuminate their shifting feelings about King. He is known for boosting the white nationalist "great replacement theory," predicated on an anxiety that white people are being replaced.

King remains in an Ottawa jail on charges of mischief, intimidation, obstructing police, disobeying a court order, perjury and obstruction of justice.

His lawyer has not yet responded to requests for comment.

On Jan. 22, Lich told Barber they need to have "a very frank discussion" with King, raising concerns about past allegations against him.

Despite these concerns, Lich also said he was needed by the movement — in apparent contrast to later statements in which the convoy tried to distance itself from King.

"We need him and I don't care about his past but it only takes one," she said. "We have to control his rhetoric. Not even threatening to throw snowballs at the parliament (sic)."

"I know he's had issues. I've got skeletons in the closet to (sic)," Barber replied.

But a few days later, on Jan. 26, Lich said if King "doesn't stop now and right now he needs to go home."

"Honestly I hate to do it. I believe a part of his heart is in this for the right reasons but he will bring down this whole thing."

On Jan. 29, the day after the convoy arrived in the capital, Barber messaged Lich about an interview King had done.

"I'm concerned he is putting us in a bad light. Is he supposed to speak today?? I'm nervous what he's gonna say," he said.

"No. He is not speaking. Period. We have people that will look after him," said Lich.

A text message from Lich to Barber on Jan. 30 said she had received a call from the "command centre" that had a "strategy to gridlock the city."

"Can you head over there with me soon," she asked Barber. "I don't want to make those decisions on my own."

During this period, some Conservative MPs cheered the arrival of the convoy, as the party opposed the Trudeau government’s vaccine mandates for federal workers and travellers.

On Jan. 31, Tory MP Marilyn Gladu posted a photo to social media of herself and caucus colleague Candice Bergen at a restaurant with two men Gladu described as "hard-working truckers in Ottawa."

Erin O’Toole’s reluctance to stake out a clear position on the protest was among the reasons a majority of his caucus ousted him on Feb. 2 and replaced him with Bergen as interim leader.

A couple days later, Lich wrote, “Candace Bergen (sic) wants to meet soon. What (do) you think?”

Barber didn’t directly respond to the question. The next day, Lich expressed enthusiasm for appearing on an American media outlet.

“We must be on Fox at 6:30,” she wrote.

Christopher Martin-Chan, a spokesman for Bergen, said ultimately no meeting took place between convoy representatives and the interim leader.

Conservative MP Glen Motz had been speaking with Lich and was willing to act as liaison to have MPs listen to her concerns. He suggested meetings with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, said Martin-Chan.

Motz confirmed he spoke directly with Lich "in an effort to resolve the ongoing protest," and tried to facilitate a meeting with the ministers.

"Unfortunately, after several conversations with both ministers, they declined any resolution meeting with the protest organizer," he said, adding he believes if the Liberal government had taken that meeting, the protest would have been resolved differently.

Alghabra's office said in a statement that it was not “not appropriate or responsible to Canadians to meet with individuals who blocked our borders, hurt our economy, and terrorized the residents of downtown Ottawa.”

A spokesman for Mendicino echoed those sentiments.

After the ministers declined to meet, Motz said he tried setting up a meeting between Lich and Bergen, which Lich's legal team declined as "resolution would only be beneficial if it included the government."

Ottawa police, with help from police forces from across Canada, cleared the protesters out of the capital in a massive operation beginning Feb. 18.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/freedom-convoy-organizers-discussed-playing-race-card-with-metis-heritage-1.5980936

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #106 on: July 16, 2022, 09:30:38 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #107 on: July 24, 2022, 07:36:54 PM »

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #108 on: July 26, 2022, 06:03:31 PM »
'Freedom Convoy’ organizer Tamara Lich back in court for bail review



“Freedom Convoy” organizer Tamara Lich is once again arguing to be released from jail after a justice of the peace denied her bail earlier this month.

Lich was ordered to remain in jail to await trial for her role in the protest that paralyzed downtown Ottawa in February, after the court decided she had breached her bail conditions.

She had been ordered not to communicate with key convoy organizers except through counsel or in the presence of counsel, but was re-arrested after having contact with fellow protest leader Tom Marazzo at an awards gala in Toronto last month.

In court Monday, her lawyer Lawrence Greenspon argues the two organizers did nothing more than shake hands and pose for a photo together at the gala.

Marazzo is also a leader of a group called Veterans 4 Freedom, which staged several rallies in Ottawa over the Canada Day weekend.

Lich faces charges of mischief, obstructing police, counselling others to commit mischief and intimidation for her role in the massive protest against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government.

Failing to comply with bail was more recently added to the list.

Lich appeared in court in person, with her hands neatly folded in her lap as she sat in the prisoner’s box of the Ottawa courtroom.

She has now spent 48 days in jail while she waits to answer to non-violent charges, Greenspon said. He added that she may end up spending more time in custody before her trial than she would ultimately have to serve if she is found guilty.

“We’re asking your honour to put an end to this injustice,” Greenspon said to Justice Andrew Goodman at the end of the defence’s arguments.

Crown counsel Moiz Karimjee disagreed, saying there’s the potential for Lich to serve a lengthy prison sentence for her role in gridlocking Ottawa.

Justice Goodman challenged the Crown about whether he has found a case of mischief that’s come close to the maximum sentence of 10 years.

“The answer to that is no, because there’s never been an occupation of a city, the capital of Canada, for three weeks,” Karimjee said. “If not in a situation such as this, then what other situation?”

This was the fifth time Lich was before the court to argue for her freedom from jail while she awaits a trial.

The convoy organizer was originally arrested and charged in February, the day before police moved in to remove the three-week protest from Ottawa’s streets.

She was released the next month with a long list of conditions, including a ban from using all social media.

This is the second time the Crown has argued she breached those conditions. The first time, the judge not only allowed her to remain out of jail but also allowed her to come back to Ontario to attend the award gala, where Lich was a guest of honour.

At the Toronto event, Lich received an “Freedom Award” from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms in recognition of her leadership role during the convoy.

After Lich was caught on video with Marazzo, police sought a Canada-wide warrant for the alleged breach of her bail conditions. She was arrested in her home town of Medicine Hat, Alta.

The Crown told the court Monday that the case is not about politics.

“It’s not about what views one espouses, whether we believe in vaccination or not,” Karimjee said. “It is about the rule of law.”

Lich’s trial date has not been set.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9013662/tamara-lich-freedom-convoy-bail-hearing-ottawa/

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #108 on: July 26, 2022, 06:03:31 PM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #109 on: July 27, 2022, 04:25:23 AM »
Canada's inflation rate accelerates again 8.1%, but not as sharply as forecast

OTTAWA, (Reuters) - Inflation in Canada picked up speed again in June with prices rising at their fastest pace since January 1983, official data showed on Wednesday, but the rise was not as steep as forecast, leaving analysts unsure about how forcefully the Bank of Canada would respond.

Canada's annual inflation rate hit 8.1% in June, up from 7.7% in May, driven by higher costs at the gas pump and almost everywhere else, Statistics Canada said, but short of forecasts it would accelerate to 8.4%.

"For one of the rare times in the last two years, we've actually got a number that's below expectations," said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. "The bad news is we still got the highest inflation in roughly forty years."

Gas prices rose 54.6% in June compared with a 48.0% gain in May, though "price increases remained broad-based with seven of eight major components rising by 3% or more."

Indeed, all three core measures of inflation, which the Bank of Canada watches carefully, rose in June. CPI Common, which the central bank says is the best gauge of the economy's performance, hit 4.6% from a upwardly revised 4.5% in May.

The central bank last week said it expected headline inflation to be around 8% for the next few months. It also surprised with a rare 100 basis points rate increase, a move aimed at fending off a price spiral.

Later on Wednesday, in an interview with broadcaster CTV, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said inflation is likely to remain "painfully high" and above 7% for the rest of 2022, though it probably will ease back in July compared with June.

With inflation quadruple the 2% target, economists and money markets both see more oversized hikes coming, though not another 100-bp surprise.

"It's no time for complacency from the Bank of Canada and we expect them to maintain a relatively forceful policy stance in September," said Andrew Kelvin, chief Canada strategist at TD Securities. "The debate for September should really be between a 50 or a 75-basis-point move."

Money markets are betting on a 50-bp increase on Sept. 7, with two further hikes in October and December to bring the policy rate to 3.5%, up from a record low 0.25% at the beginning of the year.

The June data was not all negative, with grocery and shelter price gains easing after months of acceleration. Looking ahead, economists noted gas prices have fallen so far in July, giving Canadian consumers a bit of relief.

"Gasoline prices are currently tracking almost a 9% decline in July, so we know we're going to go the other way next month," said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.

The Canadian dollar was trading down at 1.2871 to the Greenback, or 77.69 U.S. cents.

© 2022 Reuters

Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #110 on: July 28, 2022, 12:48:04 AM »
CanadianPM @CanadianPM

Live from Quebec City: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and @GGCanada, Mary Simon, welcome His Holiness Pope Francis to the Citadelle of Quebec and deliver remarks. Tune in: http://ow.ly/CKR350K5QJI



https://twitter.com/CanadianPM/status/1552417265148207105

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #110 on: July 28, 2022, 12:48:04 AM »


Offline Rick Plant

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Re: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Invokes The Emergencies Act
« Reply #111 on: July 29, 2022, 04:01:46 AM »
Pope arrives in Quebec City for meetings with Trudeau, Indigenous leaders

Pope Francis arrives in Quebec City on Wednesday, July 27, where he is expected to meet Gov. Gen. Mary Simon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as well as Indigenous leaders and other dignitaries at the Citadelle of Quebec. Following his meetings at the Citadelle, the Pope will ride through the Plains of Abraham in his Popemobile and greet the public. Pope Francis has said he hopes that this week-long trip to Canada, which started on Sunday, July 24, can help to heal the wrongs done to Indigenous people by the Roman Catholic Church.

Watch: