Canada Revenue Agency mailed SIN numbers to wrong people—twice
OTTAWA—NDP MP Charlie Angus says the Canada Revenue Agency twice mailed batches of private information—including names and social insurance numbers—to the wrong people in his riding.
Angus has asked the office of federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien to investigate the apparent privacy violations.
In a letter to the commissioner’s office, Angus says the revenue agency mailed a package April 6 to several constituents in Kirkland Lake, Ont., containing the names, SINs, addresses, and phone numbers of five people. Five days later, the same constituents were mailed a second package with similar personal information about 11 people.
Angus, who has often criticized the federal agency over privacy lapses, calls the latest incidents completely unacceptable.
Mounties investigating murder of Canadian hostage in the Philippines
OTTAWA—The RCMP is conducting a criminal investigation into the murder of hostage John Ridsdel in the Philippines.
A senior official says the Mounties are relying on the extraterritorial provisions of the Criminal Code in pursuing the overseas investigation. It means the perpetrators, if found and charged, could one day face justice under Canadian law. The official spoke with The Canadian Press on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the ongoing hostage case.
Ridsdel, 68, of Calgary, was beheaded earlier this week after a large ransom demand from his captors, members of the Abu Sayyaf militant group, went unmet. Canadian Robert Hall, abducted with Ridsdel from a marina in September, is still being held along with several others.
Aboriginals overrepresented in youth justice system
OTTAWA—Figures from the Justice Department paint a dark picture of the state of indigenous incarceration, with aboriginals seriously overrepresented in the youth criminal justice system.
Data recently provided by the department to brief Justice Minister Jody Wilson Raybould says indigenous youth account for only seven percent of the overall population, but make up 41 percent of those entering the justice system.
The documents also say the problem has ballooned over the last decade and point to bias in the policing, justice, and corrections systems. Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers calls the figures atrocious and says they reflect systemic failures.
NS sex assault centre tries crowdfunding after post-Ghomeshi surge in business
HALIFAX—A Halifax sexual assault centre has become the first in Canada to crowdfund online, saying a string of high-profile cases has tripled wait times for some services.
Jackie Stevens, executive director of the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, said the centre is underresourced and overburdened, even with support from the Nova Scotia government’s $6 million sexual violence initiative announced last year.
The centre said it saw an increase in demand following former broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi’s acquittal on sex assault charges last month, as it had after the 2013 death of teenager Rehtaeh Parsons. Avalon is the only sexual assault centre in the city.
Complaint against naturopath in toddler case being investigated
LETHBRIDGE, Alta.—The College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta is investigating a complaint about a naturopathic doctor involved in the case of a toddler who died of meningitis.
A letter of concern about the conduct of Tracey Tannis, with the names of 43 medical doctors attached, was sent to the college, which responded that there will be an investigation.
A jury convicted David and Collet Stephan on April 26 of failing to provide the necessaries of life for their 19-month-old son Ezekiel. Court heard the couple thought the boy had croup or the flu and treated him with home remedies. The mother also took the boy to Tannis’s clinic in Lethbridge and picked up an echinacea mixture for him.
Green party members give May 93.6 percent leadership endorsement
OTTAWA—Green party Leader Elizabeth May has won a ringing endorsement from her party members in an online leadership review vote. The party says May earned the support of 93.6 percent of those who voted in the yes-or-no leadership review questionnaire.
The Green party says it now has more than 20,000 members and that the 5,324 people who voted in the leadership review mark an all-time high participation rate for the month-long exercise.
Both the party’s membership numbers overall and the leadership vote totals have doubled since the last review in 2011. In a release, May said she’s humbled by the strong endorsement.
Harper didn’t impact RCMP decision to charge Duffy, says his lawyer
OTTAWA—Stephen Harper’s lawyer says the former prime minister played no role in the decision by the RCMP and Crown attorneys to charge and prosecute Sen. Mike Duffy.
In an op-ed written for Postmedia newspapers, Robert Staley says it’s impossible to believe Harper’s interests were well-served by a raft of criminal charges that culminated in a politically charged, high-profile trial in an election year.
Ontario Court Justice Charles Vaillancourt acquitted Duffy of all 31 fraud, breach of trust and bribery charges last week, saying the Crown failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Staley says Harper never asserted that Duffy had been engaged in criminal wrongdoing—only that his spending habits were politically unacceptable.
Yukon River ice breakup shatters previous record for spring thaw
DAWSON CITY, Yukon—Residents of Yukon have experienced something that has only happened a handful of times in the last 120 years. Ice breakup has occurred on the Yukon River at Dawson City, about 500 kilometres north of Whitehorse— the earliest breakup since record keeping began in 1896.
The ice officially began to move on Saturday, April 23, at 11:15 a.m., shaving five days off the previous record of April 28, 1940. It’s only the tenth time in 120 years that the Yukon River has flowed freely in April.
With files from The Canadian Press
