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Bob Mackin

The B.C. NDP submitted $4,438,722.64 in expense claims to Elections BC after eking out a narrow victory in last October’s provincial election.

Under the NDP-amended Election Act, parties that receive at least 5% of province-wide votes can be reimbursed for up to 50% of eligible expenses after an election. Candidates are also eligible for the same 50% reimbursement, if they receive at least 10% of votes in their riding.

The NDP qualified for $2,219,361.32 in taxpayer funds. The Conservatives $2,537,137.37.

Premier David Eby’s party spent a total of almost $13.5 million, $4.15 million more than the Conservatives, who became the opposition party after spending $9.34 million.

Highlights of aggregate payments from the NDP’s 2024 election expense claim:

David Eby disembarking from a private jet during the 2024 election. Mondial Aviation was the supplier, according to documents filed with Elections BC. (NDP/Flickr)

$1,770,979.14: for Now Communications Group, the party’s longtime ad agency. NDP campaign director Marie Della Mattia is Now’s former CEO. Her sister Michele is a partner and Now’s vice-president of operations.

$498,750: for Captus Advertising, agency that specializes in targeting Chinese and South Asian communities.

$266,800: for Level Hotels, the hospitality division of developer Onni. Locations in Yaletown, Downtown South, Richmond and Port Moody.

$234,132.65: for Mail-o-Matic Services full-service direct mail marketing.

$227,266.20: for Project X Productions, Ottawa-based event production and labour.

$97,894.35: for Facebook ads.

$84,493.50: for Victoria-based Mondial Aviation private jet charter.

$71,479.60: to Wilson’s Transportation, the motorcoach charter company that supplied Eby’s campaign bus. CEO John Wilson was a Conservative candidate in Esquimalt-Colwood.

$69,736.31: to Public Outreach Consultancy Inc., a Calgary agency that specializes in door-to-door, phone and digital fundraising.

$49,742.47: to CiviTech Textout text messages.

$39,342.09: for Viewpoints Research, Winnipeg-based polling firm.

$28,607.66: to Strategic Communications Inc., the NDP’s longtime Vancouver polling firm.

$12,302.85: for Data Sciences Inc., the Montreal agency run by Justin Trudeau’s digital campaign czar Tom Pitfield.

$5,931.75: for Airbnb accommodation.

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Bob Mackin The B.C. NDP submitted $4,438,722.64 in

Bob Mackin

A compilation of reaction to Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue’s Jan. 28-released, final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions.

Cover of the Hogue Commission final report, released Jan. 28, 2025.

Canadian Friends of Hong Kong

By bragging how our democratic institutions have remained “robust” and downplaying the foreign interference as “isolated cases” and “may have some impact,” Justice Hogue and her team stand in sharp contrast with the Canadian general public in that we think even one such case is too many for a democracy like ours. Their wilful blindness to this issue and to address the public concern is mind-blowing.

Justice Hogue further shows that she has not been listening to the concern of the Canadian public, or that she has been listening but not understanding, when she says she is “not aware of any federal legislation, regulations or policies that have been enacted or repealed on account of foreign interference.” The biggest Canadian concern expressed so far has always been about the interference into our democratic institutions and processes, not the legislative or electoral results. Again, their wilful blindness to the issue is eye-popping.

By describing transnational repression as “a genuine scourge” but not as a real threat, she adds another blow to the confidence of the diaspora communities, members of which are under constant fear and threats because they practice and exercise, in Justice Hogue’s words, “the fundamental values that our democracy embodies, namely, freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, freedom of expression and the right to privacy.”

Conservative Party

All this evidence amounts to proof that the Liberal government failed to protect our democracy from foreign meddling in the 2019 and 2021 general elections. It also leaves Canadians with concerns that the government failed to inform the public or take appropriate action to stop this interference because it was in the political interest of the Liberal Party.

Commissioner Hogue highlights that the government’s response has “been far from perfect,” that the government has “taken too long to act” and that the government has been “insufficiently transparent when it comes to foreign interference.”

Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue (CPAC)

Former MP Kenny Chiu (Conservative, Steveston-Richmond East)

One of the criticisms that I have with [Hogue] is that there is very little accountability that she addressed in the report in the whole commission, let alone political accountability…

It is my thinking that we need to look at the 51 recommendations that Judge Hogue had provided very seriously and start implementing many of them, and especially the ones that do not require legislative changes. Any government should look into tightening them up.

When we discuss about this topic, it’s almost like I assume there is no federal government in Ottawa anymore. Unfortunately, sadly, that’s exactly the problem that we’re facing. Ottawa, it’s in complete chaos right now. So even if we had a federal government that is fully in charge with undivided attention, with their track record, people should not be holding too much hope on their implementation.

Democracy Watch

Disturbingly, Commissioner Hogue concludes that foreign interference activities have had “minimal impact” on Canadian politics, which no one should claim because it is impossible to know that given it is legal to do many of the activities in secret.

Also disturbingly, Commissioner Hogue writes that she had “access to all the documents I deemed relevant, without redactions for national security reasons,” but the final report does not make it clear how many documents the Trudeau Cabinet withheld completely from the Inquiry. As of last June, the Trudeau Cabinet was withholding an unknown number of documents, and had redacted about 3,000 documents submitted to the inquiry. How can Commissioner Hogue conclude she had access to all relevant documents if she didn’t even see some of the Trudeau Cabinet documents?

Commissioner Hogue cannot claim that she did not know about all the dozen loopholes in laws and 10 systemic weaknesses in Canada’s anti-interference enforcement system that make foreign interference easy to get away with and cover up.

MP Jenny Kwan (NDP, Vancouver-East)

As indicated in the final report, misinformation and disinformation pose some of the greatest threats to democracy. Commissioner Hogue rightly recognized that building digital literacy is a key element of any strategy to combat disinformation and misinformation. More than ever, digital literacy is needed. Concerted action and publicly available tools are required to help verify the authenticity of digital content. Educating and empowering the public to identify fabricated or altered content will enhance the resilience of our democracy.

We are now on the eve of an election. Parliament worked across party lines to expedite the passage of Bill C-70, the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act. Yet despite the enactment of Bill C-70, the Liberal government has not issued the regulations needed to effectively implement the Act. Time is of the essence. Canada needs a comprehensive plan to combat foreign interference. It is urgent that the Liberals release the regulations and plan now.

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Bob Mackin A compilation of reaction to Commissioner

Bob Mackin

The Quebec judge who investigated foreign interference found no evidence that Canadian politicians are traitors and she decided that foreign interference did not change the results of the 2019 or 2021 elections.

But foreign interference was felt at the riding level and has undermined confidence in Canadian democracy, according to Marie-Josee Hogue. She also called the Trudeau Liberal government slow to act, uncoordinated, a poor communicator and “insufficiently transparent.”

Hogue finished her one-year crash-course in foreign interference on Jan. 28, with the release of the final report of the Public Inquiry Into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions.

What else did her seven-volume report say?

Cover of the Hogue Commission final report, released Jan. 28, 2025.

Disclaimer

The report warned at the start that “information may be incomplete.” It was sanitized for public release in order to protect information that could be “injurious to the critical interests of Canada or its allies, national defence or national security.”

On the 2019 General Election

“There is intelligence indicating that in the Vancouver area some PRC officials coordinated the exclusion of some political candidates, perceived as anti-China, from attending local community events related to the election.”

On Steveston-Richmond East in the 2021 General Election

The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections investigated Trudeau Liberal candidate Parm Bains’ upset of Conservative incumbent Kenny Chiu. Earlier in the year, Hong Kong-native Chiu had proposed a registry of foreign agents and voted to condemn China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims.

OCCE looked at the Chinese-Canadians Goto Vote campaign and a pivotal meeting in Steveston between Bains and prominent members of local United Front groups.

“Although information received during the review led to suspicions that attempts to influence the Chinese Canadian community existed, the [OCCE] did not obtain sufficient evidence to support any of the elements of undue foreign influence or other contraventions of the Act.

“Investigators did, however, find indications that PRC officials gave impetus and direction to an anti-Conservative Party campaign, which was then carried out and amplified by an array of associations and individuals using various communication channels.”

On Vancouver-East in 2019 and 2021

NDP MP Jenny Kwan was shunned from Chinese-Canadian community events since 2019 and observed constituents being more fearful of voting, due to concerns about their families in China.

“Intelligence holdings indicate that the PRC worked to exclude particular political candidates from public events in 2019, and that this strategy continued in 2021.

“Ms. Kwan also raised concerns about a prominent member of the Chinese Canadian community in Vancouver hosting a free lunch in support of her Liberal Party opponent. The NDP filed a complaint with OCCE alleging a violation of third party election rules. The OCCE concluded that there was no violation but imposed an administrative monetary penalty to the Liberal Party campaign for not reporting the lunch as a contribution.

“Ms. Kwan also reported the lunch to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) and CSIS but, in her opinion, none of them seemed interested in the issue.”

On China

Hogue called it “…the most active perpetrator of foreign interference targeting Canada’s democratic institutions. The PRC views Canada as a high-priority target.”

China “targets all levels of government in Canada,” and supports those parties that it believes are helpful to its interests, “those it believes are likely to have power, no matter their political party.”

China relies on proxies, individuals and organizations and poses a sophisticated cyberthreat. It works internationally through the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security, also acting through diplomatic officials.

“The United Front Work Department, formally a department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), tries to control and influence Chinese diaspora communities, shape international opinions and influence politicians to support PRC policies.”

On India

Intelligence reports indicate India “may have attempted to clandestinely provide financial support during the 2021 election without the candidates’ knowledge.”

“India perceives Canada as not taking India’s national security concerns about Khalistani separatism sufficiently seriously.”

Hogue’s report mentions the 2023 assassination of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the expulsion of six Indian diplomats and consular officials last October. 

Commissioner Marie-Josee Hogue (CPAC)

On Russia

Hogue found no evidence of a Russian disinformation campaign in 2021.

On Iran

Iran has, historically, not meddled in Canadian elections or democratic institutions, focusing instead on “transnational repression to prevent criticism of its government.”

“Iran relies on criminal groups to carry out its activities and conducts psychological harassment online.”

Hogue speculated that the 2024 listing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group could result in increased foreign interference activity.

Foreign Interference Tactics

Hogue said there are nine key strategies countries employ, directly or through proxies or co-optees:

  • long-term cultivation of long-lasting relationships with their target

  • eliciting information from targets

  • covert financial support

  • mobilizing and leveraging community organizations

  • exploiting opportunities in political party processes

  • extortion

  • threats

  • cyber threats

  • media influence, misinformation and disinformation.

Recommendations

There are 51 of them, including suggestions for democratic reforms for political parties and third party campaigns.

Hogue said voting in nomination and leadership contests should be restricted to Canadian citizens and permanent residents, with a declaration of status from members.

The Canada Elections Act should be expanded to ban voter bribery and intimidation in nomination and leadership contests.

Third party campaigners should be required to file audited financial statements and foreign entities should be banned from contributing to a third party.

The federal government should collaborate more with other levels of government to counter foreign interference; it should publish a guide to help political parties guard against foreign interference and parties should use it to train staff and candidates.

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Bob Mackin The Quebec judge who investigated foreign

Bob Mackin

Five-hundred days until B.C. Place Stadium’s first FIFA World Cup 26 match on June 13, 2026.

But the Vancouver host city committee’s top executive is not talking about the milestone.

FIFA vice-president Vic Montagliani (left), FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Vancouver host city committee lead Jessie Adcock, Oct. 15, 2024 at B.C. Place Stadium (FIFA)

theBreaker.news unsuccessfully requested an interview with Jessie Adcock, who is entering the second year of a $270,000-a-year contract.

“Our host committee lead is currently focused on project delivery,” replied spokesperson Natasha Qereshniku.

Like Vancouver, Miami is scheduled to host seven matches.

Unlike Vancouver, Miami officials spoke to local media after last week’s two-day workshop for heads of the 16 North American host city committees. They gathered at tournament headquarters in Coral Gables, Fla., where FIFA president Gianni Infantino headlined the meetings.

Rodney Barreto, chair of the Miami host city committee, told the Miami Herald there is confusion about the number of tickets and suites available under FIFA’s new program that allows host cities to sell up to 10 local sponsorships. The local sponsors, however, must not be in categories that conflict with any of FIFA’s existing or prospective commercial relationships. They are not allowed to use FIFA branding.

“To be honest, we’re a little frustrated with FIFA because they haven’t cut us loose yet; they’ve kind of tied our hands with respect to what we can offer sponsors,” Barreto told the Herald.

More questions than answers

With 500 days to go, there are more questions than answers for Vancouverites in three key operational areas.

Security: How much will it cost?

theBreaker.news was first to report that city hall seeks a contractor to supply 200 surveillance cameras and integrate them in a network with as many as 1,000 existing cameras. Drones were identified as a major security risk in an affidavit last year to an Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner adjudication.

That fence around B.C. Place during the Taylor Swift Eras Tour finale weekend? A bigger one is coming in 2026. Also expect to see more barriers and bollards to prevent a repeat of the New Orleans New Year’s Day truck attack.

Transportation: Do you live, work or play around Northeast False Creek? Brace yourself for road closures on each match day and the day preceding each match day. B.C. Place general manager Chris May’s map in a Twitter photo last year conjured memories of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics closures.

Accommodation: It might be easier to score a ticket than a room in the city in June and July 2026. Even before FIFA picked Vancouver in 2022, the city was struggling with a hotel room shortage.

An MNP report for Destination Vancouver said inventory had fallen from 15,242 rooms in 2002 to 13,290 in 2022. The province cracked down last year on short-term rentals, limiting Airbnb and Vrbo hosts to renting one room in their principal residence plus one additional unit.

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Bob Mackin Five-hundred days until B.C. Place Stadium’s

Bob Mackin

The David Eby-led NDP spent almost $13.5 million to cling to power in the 2024 provincial election.

Campaign financing returns, released Jan. 28 by Elections BC, show the NDP spent $4.15 million more than the Conservatives, who reported $9.34 million in expenses.

Elections BC sign (Mackin)

John Rustad’s party went from two seats to 44 in the space of a year, while Eby’s fell from 55 to 47.

The BC Green Party missed the Jan. 17 deadline. It must pay a $500 fine and file no later than Feb. 18.

The NDP reported $10.2 million income, including $7.66 million in donations.

The Conservatives reported $8.68 million income, including $6.13 million in donations.

Both qualified for partial reimbursement from taxpayers for campaign expenses: $2.54 million to the Conservatives and $2.2 million to the NDP.

Elections BC gave Rustad an extension to Feb. 18 “due to extenuating circumstances” for his Nechako Lakes riding campaign return. The Jan. 28-resigned Green leader Sonia Furstenau, who lost in Victoria-Beacon Hill, received an extension, but filed on Jan. 24.

The Hospital Employees’ Union was the biggest spender among registered third parties that filed on-time, at $470,401.04. Nearly all of that, $460,124.74, was spent before the election campaign period.

National Police Federation ($152,668.26), Canadian Labour Congress ($100,000) and TransLink Mayors’ Council ($68,421.48) completed the top four.

B.C. Nurses Union, B.C. Assembly of First Nations and Unifor missed the first deadline.

The champion for best return on investment among all participants in the 2024 election?

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson and his attention-grabbing (and vandal-targeted) sign outside his Point Grey Road mansion.

According to his third party spending return, Wilson shelled out the grand total of $1,650.70.

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Bob Mackin The David Eby-led NDP spent almost

Bob Mackin

Vancouver city hall plans to deploy up to 200 new remotely monitored surveillance cameras and integrate as many as 1,000 existing cameras to fulfill FIFA security requirements for the 2026 World Cup.

That is according to a call for companies to bid on contracts under a “Digital Infrastructure and innovation for FIFA Games” program.

“Provide modern public surveillance cameras designed for effective identification of incidents and monitoring of crowd movements and behaviour,” reads the Jan. 23 request for proposals. “A secure, centralized platform for live viewing, recording, and archival footage.”

More than 200 cameras will be watching in 2026 City of Vancouver)

The system would comply with Canadian privacy laws and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and vendors be responsible for hardware procurement, installation, configuration and integration with the city’s existing systems.

“The city will provide access to poles, buildings, or other suitable mounting locations, subject to permits and safety guidelines. Vendors may also propose to use their own or third-party rooftop sites, cell towers, or similar infrastructure, as appropriate.”

It is not mandatory, but the city indicated it is welcome to proposals for artificial intelligence-assisted “threat detection or advanced analytics.”

The overall number of cameras could exceed the 900 Honeywell supplied for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, which Queen’s University sociology Prof. David Lyon dubbed the “surveillance Games.” Honeywell spent at least $30.5 million and subcontracted some of the work to American military contractor Science Applications International Corporation.

Vancouver 2010 had a $900 million, taxpayer-funded security budget. The all-in cost of securing Vancouver and Toronto in June and July 2026 has not been announced. One of the biggest critics of Vancouver 2010 was civil liberties activist David Eby, who is now British Columbia’s premier.

Under the same program, the city is seeking proposals for other turnkey solutions such as public wifi, fibre Internet and IT support.

“The city requires end-to-end service, including design, deployment, management, support, as well as post-event teardown or removal of all temporary infrastructure.”

City hall said it would give successful bidders a chance to become tier one “Host City Supporters,” under a new FIFA local sponsorship program, “providing enhanced brand visibility across B.C. and Yukon.”

Deadline for bids is Feb. 25.

B.C. Place Stadium is scheduled to host seven matches between June 13 and July 7, 2026. A Fan Festival will operate throughout the 39-day, 16-city tournament at the PNE grounds on Hastings Park. The cost to taxpayers for hosting FIFA 26 in Vancouver could be as high as $581 million.

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Bob Mackin Vancouver city hall plans to deploy

Bob Mackin

One year ago today, B.C. Premier David Eby’s X and Instagram accounts displayed messages against Islamophobia instead of commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The Jan. 27, 2024 incident gained international attention almost four months after Hamas terrorists sparked the war in Gaza by killing 1,200 people in Israel. Oct. 7, 2023 was the worst day for Jews since the Holocaust.

It took two days for Eby to personally address the controversy. He apologized and called it unacceptable, but refused to discuss what he deemed a personnel matter. The identity of the person responsible remains a mystery.

David Eby’s Jan. 27 error on X. (@Dave_Eby)

Coincidentally, Eby apologized while visiting Ottawa on Jan. 29 — the Day of Action Against Islamophobia and anniversary of the 2017 murder of six people at a Quebec City mosque.

Was it an honest mistake or deliberate?

A freedom of information request to the Office of the Premier, filed by theBreaker.news, sought copies of the schedule of Eby’s social media posts for Jan. 27-29, 2024, the approved text and related correspondence about the approval for each post, and copies of correspondence about the error and the correction.

The request asked for a search of accounts and devices of the NDP premier’s chief of staff Matt Smith and communications staff George Smith, Manveer Sihota, Bhinder Sajan and Jimmy Smith. The Office of the Premier said no records were located. (All the above named officials remain employed in the government, except for Matt Smith, who left Eby’s office just before Christmas with a $278,629 severance.)

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) opened a file in April after theBreaker.news complained. During last fall’s provincial election campaign, an OIPC investigator closed the file without interviewing any of the persons named in the request.

The investigator, Ryan Graves, formerly worked inside the NDP government as a senior analyst for the Ministry of Citizens’ Services, which processes government-wide FOI requests.

“I understand that you believe there should be records responsive to your request: however, the OIPC has no authority to compel a public body to explain why it does not have a copy of records that an applicant believes should exist,” Graves wrote in an email on Oct. 1, eight days before he closed the file.

In fact, section 44 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act does give the OIPC the power to order someone to answer questions under oath or affirmation and to hand over records. It did so when a previous commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, found evidence in 2015 of mass-deleting throughout Christy Clark’s BC Liberal government.

NDP amendments to the law make it an offence to wilfully mislead or obstruct the OIPC or wilfully evade the public records law. The maximum fine upon conviction is $50,000.

The OIPC is officially an independent office of the Legislative Assembly, but it relies on the NDP-majority Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services for its annual funding. In 2023-2024, the OIPC reported $10.8 million in operating expenses. Eby’s office, by comparison, was allotted $17 million for the current fiscal year.

In January 2024, Commissioner Michael McEvoy reported that the NDP government had continuously broken the FOI law. The government was taking an average 85 business days to respond to requests, the worst performance since McEvoy’s office began reporting on timeliness of responses 13 years earlier.

In 5,100 cases between 2020 and 2023, the government exceeded deadlines without legal authority. By the 2022-23 fiscal year, applicants were forced to wait an average 192 additional business days for a response.

McEvoy’s six-year term ended in 2024. His successor is former Newfoundland and Labrador commissioner Michael Harvey.

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Bob Mackin One year ago today, B.C. Premier

For the week of Jan. 26, 2025:

It didn’t happen the day he was sworn-in, but President Donald Trump said  tariffs on Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S. are coming Feb. 1.

Donald Trump and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith (Smith/IG)

British Columbia’s lumber, mines and petroleum industries and the communities that rely on them are bracing for impact. Political leaders are plotting retaliation. 

This week’s guest is Barry Penner, the chair of the Energy Futures Institute, former president of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region and former B.C. Minister of Environment, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Attorney General. 

Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.

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For the week of Jan. 26, 2025: It

Bob Mackin

Jan. 26 is the day that a Pakistani citizen who violated the terms of his student visa faces deportation, according to a Federal Court judge’s decision.

On Jan. 23, Justice Catherine Kane rejected Muhammad Zain Ul Haq’s application to stay his removal from Canada for being criminally inadmissible. Haq had sought leave for a judicial review of a Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) Inland Enforcement Officer’s Jan. 6 decision against deferral.

Muhammad Zain Ul-Haq, a Pakistani national outside the North Fraser Pretrial Centre (Save Old Growth)

Kane heard Haq’s appeal in a Jan. 22 videoconference, but found that he reiterated many of the same arguments from his failed April 2024 application. Haq was spared deportation with a six-month temporary resident permit after intervention by Liberal MP Joyce Murray and immigration minister Marc Miller. That expired in October.

Haq came to Canada to study at Simon Fraser University in 2019, but became a paid organizer of illegal protests in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. He pleaded guilty in January 2023 to five charges of mischief for his role in Extinction Rebellion blockades in 2021 in Vancouver and Richmond. Haq also pleaded guilty in November 2022 for breaching a release order for the August 2022 Stop Fracking Around protest that blocked the Cambie Bridge.

Haq, Kane wrote, “has not provided any clear, convincing and non‑speculative evidence to establish any irreparable harm that amounts to exposing him ‘to the risk of death, extreme sanction or inhumane treatment’; but rather raises speculative risks and other harms that are related to the inherent consequences of removal, including the impact on his spouse, who relies on him for valid reasons and, although this impact may be difficult, it remains an unfortunate yet inherent consequence of removal.”

In April 2023, Haq married fellow protester Sophia Papp in a bid to gain spousal sponsorship status. Haq’s lawyer argued that the application is in the later stages of processing. But a lawyer for the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness argued that the decision is not certain nor necessarily imminent.

“The [Minister] is tasked with ensuring the integrity and confidence in Canada’s immigration system, which includes ensuring that the provisions of the Act are carried out including the statutory duty under section 48 of the Act is to enforce a removal order as soon as possible,” Kane wrote.

Kane’s decision noted that Haq’s offences were non-violent and that he has complied with conditions of his CBSA bail.

In July 2023, Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris sentenced Haq to seven days in jail, 30 days house arrest, 31 days of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and 75 hours of community work service, plus a 12-month probation.

“His conduct speaks to an arrogance of his ideals at the expense of the democratic process and pro-social dialogue,” Harris said in his sentencing decision.

Harris mentioned that Haq twice organized protests that blocked emergency routes to St. Paul’s Hospital in downtown Vancouver.

Haq was a director of the January 2022-founded Eco-Mobilization Canada, the federal not-for-profit company behind Extinction Rebellion splinter group Save Old Growth(SOG). Haq had boasted in August 2022 in a New York Times story that SOG received US$170,000 in grants from the California-based Climate Emergency Fund (CEF). Haq later appeared on the non-profit’s website as a member of the CEF advisory board.

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Bob Mackin Jan. 26 is the day that

Bob Mackin

More than 70,000 people could be involved in organized crime groups across Canada, according to an estimate from the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.

A Canada Border Service Agency drug-sniffing dog was involved in major cocaine busts at the Canadian border last fall. (CBSA)

The agency’s 2024 Public Report on Organized Crime in Canada said it has assigned threat ratings to 668, of which seven are deemed high-level threats and 128 medium-level threats. More than 20 street gangs are evolving into higher threats and more than 70 are involved in smuggling firearms from the U.S.

Most are in the cocaine racket, but a whopping 235 are in fentanyl.

The 668 known groups include a combined 12,075 criminal actors, “many of whom interact within more than one group.”

No surprise, the three most-populated provinces, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, are where three-quarters of the groups are based, because they can access densely populated cities, international airports, ports and major highways necessary to import and transport illicit goods.

The report said organized crime groups in Canada were linked to 48 countries, with U.S., Mexico and Colombia at the top of the list, “all of which are generally source and transit countries for illicit drugs, such as methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. The U.S. also remains the primary source for firearms smuggled into Canada.”

Vancouver, which lacks a dedicated policing agency at its ports, is a key hub for illicit trade with Asian markets.

Most organized crime groups continue to be heavily involved in cocaine, “with pricing at its lowest in 25 years.”

“Fentanyl and methamphetamine activities continue to expand; involvement in fentanyl has increased by 42% since 2019,” the report said. “Organized crime groups continue to be involved in illicit cannabis production and trafficking activities. They have also infiltrated and exploited the legal framework to continue to profit from high consumer demand.”

Vehicle theft remained steady last year, after doubling the previous year. The crackdown in Eastern Canada has increased theft in Western Canada.

Organized crime involvement in human trafficking has grown 24% since 2020, with Indigenous and gender and sexual minorities the most-targeted. “Some then groomed into recruiters.” Online platforms like Snapchat are used to approach victims, then criminals use online escort or classified profiles to control and exploit the recruits.

The report summarized activities of five Western Canada-based networks, but did not name them, disclose their geographic base or number of members. One that is connected to North American and Asian countries, “is involved in cocaine, fentanyl, precursor chemicals, cannabis, fraud, money laundering, loansharking, bookmaking, and intimidation/extortion. It uses individuals with specialized skills, using a hierarchy of roles depending on the specific job to optimize the group’s overall proficiency.”

In its 2021 report, CISC said high-level national threat groups had infiltrated the public sector in Canada.

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Bob Mackin More than 70,000 people could be