Canada's House of Commons elects first Black speaker
Source: ABC News/AP
October 3, 2023, 7:37 PM
OTTAWA, Ontario -- Canada’s House of Commons on Tuesday elected Greg Fergus as its new speaker, making the Liberal lawmaker the first Black Canadian to hold the position.
The election was triggered by the resignation of Anthony Rota, who stepped down last week after he invited — and honored — a man who fought for a Nazi military unit during World War II.
Just after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke before the Canadian parliament last month, Canadian lawmakers gave 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka a standing ovation when Rota drew attention to him. Rota introduced Hunka as a war hero who fought for the First Ukrainian Division.
Observers later began to publicize the fact that the First Ukrainian Division also was known as the Waffen-SS Galicia Division, or the SS 14th Waffen Division, a voluntary unit that was under the command of the Nazis. Rota later apologized saying he had not been aware of that. Fergus, 54, is a Quebec Liberal lawmaker.
Supreme Court of Canada Voids Most of Trudeau Environment Law
Source: Bloomberg
October 13, 2023 at 9:45 AM EDT
A law passed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to review major resource and infrastructure projects was largely struck down by Canada’s top court, which ruled it intrudes on provinces’ jurisdiction.
The law, known as the Impact Assessment Act, had been opposed by Canada’s oil industry, which argued that it increased the complexity of the approval process for major projects like pipelines and gave too much weight to input from parties that aren’t directly affected by the projects.
Trudeau and his government said that a tougher approval process would make projects more likely to survive court challenges, increasing certainty for companies and investors.
While a portion of the law that applies to federal projects is constitutional and can be separated from the remainder of the law, the bulk of the measure “exceeds the bounds of federal jurisdiction” and “intrudes more than incidentally into the provinces’ sphere,” the Supreme Court of Canada ruled.
New Humanitarian Pathway in Canada November 21, 2023
Introduction:
(Amjambo Africa) “We are determined to uphold our humanitarian tradition and support those in need. Providing safe, legal pathways for displaced people to start new lives in Canada not only delivers on that commitment, but also strengthens our country through the profound contributions newcomers make in their communities, including growing our economy and filling labour market gaps.”
– The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
A new pathway
With record numbers of people displaced internationally, Canada is providing an alternative to irregular migration through a family-based humanitarian pathway that would provide permanent residence to Colombian, Haitian, and Venezuelan foreign nationals.
To qualify for the pathway, the principal applicant must be a child (regardless of age), grandchild, spouse, common-law partner, parent, grandparent or sibling of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who agrees to support them and their family members as an anchor for one year.
Those coming to Canada through the new humanitarian pathway will receive pre arrival services, including an employment skills assessment and a referral to a settlement service provider organization in their community. They may also be eligible for transitional financial assistance from the Resettlement Assistance Program.
