In the news today: Canada mulling patrol changes at U.S. Border

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

Canada mulling patrol changes at U.S. Border

Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc says his department is considering giving additional powers to the Canada Border Services Agency to patrol the U.S. Border.

He also says the RCMP and CBSA are working on a list of new equipment that could help supplement their existing enforcement at the border.

LeBlanc’s comments come as Canada tries to quickly beef up border security following a threat by president-elect Donald Trump to impose punishing tariffs on Canada and Mexico over border security concerns.

He and Trudeau were in Florida Friday dining with Trump at Mar-a-Lago but LeBlanc says the meeting was just the beginning of a conversation where no specific promises were made.

That dinner came just five days after Trump threatened Canada with 25 per cent tariffs if it didn’t do more, in his view, to secure the border from illegal migrant crossings and fentanyl entering the U.S.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

AFN special chiefs assembly kicks off in Ottawa

The Assembly of First Nations is hosting a special chiefs assembly in Ottawa today with child welfare, economic reconciliation and First Nations policing on the agenda.

The gathering comes after a testy October assembly where chiefs were divided on how to reform the First Nations child welfare system.

More than 1,700 chiefs, proxies and participants are registered to attend the three-day gathering.

An emergency resolution slated for discussion today calls for a national inquiry into systemic racism in policing.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says she expects policing legislation to be a major topic of discussion, saying First Nations are always an afterthought even though they are constantly dealing with those issues.

Alberta town votes in favour of crosswalk bylaw

Residents of a northern Alberta town have voted in favour of a bylaw banning Pride flags and rainbow crosswalks from municipal property.

The town of Barrhead, located about 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, says 1,145 votes were cast in the plebiscite, with 653 in favour of the proposed bylaw and 492 opposed to it.

A petition for the bylaw received about 712 validated signatures in July, almost double what it needed to go before council.

The town says in a post on X that council will now go forward with second and third readings for the bylaw.

The town also says it will be going ahead with removing existing crosswalks or flags that violate the bylaw.

The Town of Westlock passed a similar bylaw in February after it was argued that governments should not promote some groups over others.

Retirement voids B.C. police discipline ruling

A disciplinary decision against a former Vancouver police sergeant, who was found to have improperly shared degrading messages about a colleague who was sexually assaulted, has been voided after authorities realized the senior officer who oversaw the investigation retired a week before it was issued.

The disciplinary decision must now be reissued, dragging out the victim’s pursuit of justice over how she was treated by colleagues in the wake of the 2019 attack.

She called the situation a “screw-up” by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, which she said had failed its oversight mission.

Former New Westminster police chief Dave Jansen had been appointed by the office as the discipline authority in the investigation of former sergeant Narinder Dosanjh.

Jansen found Dosanjh committed “discreditable conduct” by sharing “disrespectful” commentary written by someone else about the 2021 court testimony by the woman, whose attacker was fellow Vancouver police officer Jagraj Roger Berar.

Ontario auditor to release annual report

Ontario’s auditor general is set to release her annual report today, with sections on the redevelopment of Ontario Place and on the province’s opioid strategy likely to garner a lot of attention.

This will be the first annual report from the province’s new auditor general, Shelley Spence, who was appointed around this time last year.

The report is set to contain nine value-for-money audits, along with a section looking at government advertising and followups on previous audits.

This year’s audits include Ontario Place redevelopment, implementation and oversight of Ontario’s opioid strategy, and the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program.

Premier Doug Ford’s government has already faced a lot of criticism over the redevelopment of Ontario Place, from the relocation of the Ontario Science Centre, to the awarding of contracts, to the destruction of trees there.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024.

The Canadian Press