Ottawa man arrested in Barrie on child exploitation charges
On Thursday, members of the Barrie Police Service Internet Child Exploitation Unit worked with the Ottawa Police Service Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit to execute a search warrant at a Barrie residence.
Several computer devices were seized as a result of the investigation for forensic analysis.
The accused faces several criminal offences, including sexual assault, making child pornography, and making sexually explicit material available to a child. He will await a bail hearing in Ottawa.
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Winnipeg Free Press
15 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Workplace assessment of RCMP watchdog found ‘clear call for change,' documents show
OTTAWA – An independent assessment of the RCMP watchdog, prompted by an anonymous email from employees, uncovered concerns about favouritism, a lack of transparency, heavy workloads and 'a toxic environment.' The workplace assessment of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP found 'a clear call for change and action at the leadership level to restore credibility and trust within the organization.' The Canadian Press recently obtained a copy of the May 2024 assessment, almost six months after filing an Access to Information request with Public Safety Canada, which ordered the report. The Ottawa-based review commission is an independent agency created by Parliament to ensure public complaints about the conduct of RCMP members are examined fairly and impartially. Public Safety hired independent workplace investigator Robert Néron for the assessment after receiving an October 2023 email from review commission employees fearful of signing their names due to the watchdog's small size. In a June 2024 note to Public Safety summarizing his findings, Néron said the anonymous email had alleged the review commission was in total disarray because of a lack of leadership from the commission chairperson. Michelaine Lahaie was serving in the role at that time. Néron's summary, heavily redacted before release under the access law, rejected the pointed allegation against the chairperson — a conclusion he reached after interviewing commission employees, including Lahaie, and circulating a detailed questionnaire to staff. Néron found employees generally felt engaged with their work and that most believed leadership treated them fairly and provided constructive feedback. However, some staff expressed serious concerns. The report says a significant number felt overwhelmed by their workloads, causing stress and making them less satisfied with their jobs. It cites a 'notable communication gap' between the leadership and staff, with many employees saying organizational messaging was too infrequent and lacked clarity and consistency. The report says feedback from employees on methods of resolving conflict was mixed, 'with a distinct portion of the workforce feeling unsupported.' There were also multiple complaints of 'a toxic work environment' due to the behaviour and practices of leadership. 'The staff expresses a strong desire to address and resolve this toxic environment,' the report says. 'They seek an anonymous reporting system to report workplace misconduct, especially involving senior managers.' Employees also wanted additional support for mental health issues and a more compassionate means of accommodating staff needs. Many employees said supervisors and team managers should have more autonomy over decisions about investigative outcomes and allowing people to work remotely, the report adds. 'They believe some current leaders lack the necessary skills and hold positions due to favouritism.' The questionnaire, distributed to current and recently departed employees, revealed a consensus that the commission lacked vision, strategy and a cohesive plan for its future, the report says. 'Respondents feel there are no opportunities to discuss the broader mission or innovate.' The report makes several recommendations to improve employee well-being and promote stronger leadership at the commission. 'In our view, addressing these concerns is crucial to fostering a more inclusive, equitable and productive organizational culture,' Néron said in his letter last year to Public Safety. 'Employees' experiences demonstrate an urgent need for reforms in organizational management to address these issues.' Following completion of Néron's report, Public Safety took steps to help Lahaie communicate the findings to commission staff and implement the various recommendations, the records released under the access law show. Lahaie, a military veteran, was appointed chairperson of the complaints commission for a five-year term in 2019. Her tenure was later extended through early this year. The chairperson's job has been vacant since January and Lahaie is now vice-chairperson at Tribunals Ontario, a provincial government agency. Lahaie declined to comment on the workplace assessment, citing restrictions related to her new position. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. The review commission has put in place several initiatives to bolster employee well-being following the assessment, said Public Safety spokesperson Tim Warmington. The measures include better availability of wellness information on the organization's intranet and presentations to staff on stress resilience, conflict management and employee assistance, Warmington said in an emailed response to questions. The review commission's mandate is set to expand to cover the activities of the Canada Border Services Agency as well as the RCMP. Legislation establishing the Public Complaints and Review Commission received royal assent last year, though it is unclear when the new agency will be up and running. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2025.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Teacher says online misogyny seeping into classrooms in 'frightening' ways
"Shut up and make me a sandwich." "I don't have to listen to you, go get the man in charge." Those are some of the comments one Halifax teacher says she has heard from some of her male students in recent years. Christine Emberley said the comments range from sarcastic sniping about a woman's place in society to "grotesquely sexual" remarks. Sometimes, the students refuse to make eye contact, listen or acknowledge her. "It's frightening," she said. Emberley has been teaching for nearly two decades and says the sexist and offensive remarks started cropping up only in the last few years. She teaches drama in classrooms across all grade levels and said these attitudes are more common among boys in junior high and high school. She is not the only one noticing this rhetoric in the classroom. Luc Cousineau is a researcher at Dalhousie University and director of the Canadian Institute for Far-Right Studies. In a recent study, he analyzed what teachers said about their experiences on Reddit, a social media platform that hosts discussion boards for various communities, by filtering the teachers' discussion board for posts that mention Andrew Tate. Tate has millions of followers on social media, with a message of unapologetic misogyny that has drawn boys and young men to the luxurious lifestyle he projects. The 38-year-old influencer is also facing 10 charges in Britain related to three women that include rape, actual bodily harm, human trafficking and controlling prostitution for gain. A major component of Tate's rhetoric is the belief that women are subordinate to men. According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, just over 75 per cent of teachers are female in Canada. Cousineau said his research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Gender and Education, showed misogynistic comments from students are disrupting learning environments, as teachers deal with sexist and degrading comments, defiance and male-supremacist sentiments. "Teachers expressed that this content and these things that students were saying in class were making them feel unsafe," he said. Cousineau said boys are exposed to misogynistic influences, even if they don't want to be, because they're suggested by social media algorithms. He said not all content from the influencers focuses on misogyny. They also post about bodybuilding, politics or feeling misunderstood. "If young people are engaging with the messaging that doesn't feel contentious, then they're going to get that other [misogynistic] content as well." Lance McCready is an associate professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He said the issue of so-called "manosphere" influencers comes up in classrooms of soon-to-be-teachers. "It's definitely on a lot of people's minds," he told CBC News. He said young men and boys are looking for representation and relatable role models; they want to feel like their voice is heard. He said there needs to be more positive representations of masculinity for boys early in childhood. "We have to start having these conversations and discussing it in our curriculum, in our family," said McCready. "I would like to see more men willing to have these conversations." Responding to misogyny from students When a student makes a misogynistic comment, Emberley said she responds by saying it's inappropriate and talks to the student. "The way that we need to deal with it, from my perspective, is curiosity and empathy," she said. "Shame is just going to make somebody double down on that belief. "They need guidance. They need someone who's offering an attractive or a palatable alternative to what they're consuming online." Depending on the severity of the comment, the consequences can escalate, Emberley said. In her experience, some students adjust their behaviour after an intervention while others don't. "When you have a kid who's really into that messaging, are they even going to listen?" Emberley said it's a minority of boys who hold these anti-women opinions, but other boys rarely speak out against their peers. "Not everybody is comfortable doing that, so sometimes it ends up feeling like the majority." Emberley said she's heard from female students about their peers' behaviour. "There's a lot of helplessness that they're feeling and a lot of disgust." Emberley said teachers and parents should talk to boys about what they're seeing online, but the issue requires a larger solution. She said creating a framework to guide teachers' responses to misogyny would help, but the process is falling behind the growth of the problem. Curriculum updates around gender-based violence are ongoing for Nova Scotia schools following recommendations in the Mass Casualty Report in response to the province's 2020 mass shooting. More changes to the curriculum are expected to be implemented in the fall. Cousineau said social conditions, media and tech infrastructure make it easy for boys to latch onto these ideas. He said solutions will require more research. "We're talking about a global phenomenon here," he said. "If we are going to only have country-by-country or province-by-province actions, then we're fighting a battle on a different playing field." Cornelia Schneider, an associate professor at the Mount Saint Vincent University department of education, specializes in inclusive practices in education. She said this behaviour is likely amplified by the success of political movements, like MAGA. "These voices, that might always have existed but were more underground, now have a legitimate outlet and are allowed and applauded." She said responses to the influence of social media can only be so effective because of how rapid its presence has grown. She said we're only learning about the effects of social media "in real time." "[It's] this tool that we're developing and using at the same time."
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
A beaver's warning slap
Steven Hiltz was kayaking on Darlings Lake on Darlings Island when a beaver disturbed the once-calm waters.
