Latest news with #PublicSafetyCanada
National Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
'Toxic environment' and favouritism plague RCMP watchdog, review finds
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.' Article content 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.' Article content Article content 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. Article content Article content 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. Article content In a June 2024 note to Public Safety summarizing his findings, Neron said the anonymous email had alleged the review commission was in total disarray because of a lack of leadership from the commission chairperson. Article content Michelaine Lahaie was serving in the role at that time. Article content Neron'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. Article content Article content Neron found employees generally felt engaged with their work and that most believed leadership treated them fairly and provided constructive feedback. Article content Article content The report says a significant number felt overwhelmed by their workloads, causing stress and making them less satisfied with their jobs. Article content 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. Article content The report says feedback from employees on methods of resolving conflict was mixed, 'with a distinct portion of the workforce feeling unsupported.' Article content There were also multiple complaints of 'a toxic work environment' due to the behaviour and practices of leadership. Article content '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.'
Associated Press
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Statement from Minister Olszewski regarding wildfires in Manitoba
OTTAWA, ON, July 13, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Eleanor Olszewski, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, issued the following statement: 'Major wildfires continue to spread in Manitoba, threatening communities and forcing the need for evacuations across the province. Yesterday evening, in my capacity as Minister of Emergency Management, I approved an additional Request for Federal Assistance from the Government of Manitoba, this one to provide humanitarian workforce support for emergency evacuation and sheltering activities. The Government Operations Centre continues to work with the Canadian Armed Forces, federal and provincial partners, and humanitarian organizations to deliver the support Manitoba needs. On behalf of all Canadians, I once again wish to thank everyone helping to keep people across the country safe during this wildfire season, including firefighters, first responders, emergency management officials, humanitarian organizations and local volunteers. I am in regular contact with my counterpart in Manitoba. Our government will act fast if more help is needed.' Associated Links Stay Connected Follow Public Safety Canada on X, LinkedIn and YouTube Follow Get Prepared on X Follow Emergency Ready in Canada on Facebook SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
National Post
26-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
FIRST READING: Internal report shows Ottawa doubtful that wildly overbudget gun 'buy back' will ever work
Article content As far back as 2021, the Parliamentary Budget Officer calculated that $200 million was a wild underestimate for the scale of the buy-back program being suggested. A report estimated that it would end up costing $756 million just for compensation fees, in addition to the bureaucratic expenses of administering the program. Article content A fiscal analysis released earlier this month by the publication Calibre Magazine found that federal funds earmarked for the buy-back program would blow past the $500 million mark this year. Given the small quantity of prohibited firearms that have actually been captured by the program, Calibre Magazine calculated that the cost thus far works out to about $24,000 per gun. Article content According to a departmental plan released last week by Public Safety Canada, the government is planning to spend $459.8 million on the Assault-Style Firearms Compensation Program over the next fiscal year. Article content For the current fiscal year, this makes the gun buyback program one of the Liberal government's largest single expenditures on public safety. Article content Article content For comparison, a package of new spending to combat fentanyl trafficking announced earlier this year came to $200 million. In December, when the Trudeau government caved to U.S. demands to strengthen border security, the result was $355.4 million in new spending for the Canada Border Services Agency. Article content The ballooning expense of the buyback program is occurring in tandem with growing evidence that a recent rise in Canadian gun crime is due almost entirely to illegal guns smuggled in from the United States. Article content The Toronto Police Service now estimates that 90 per cent of the crime guns it is encountering are U.S. firearms that never had any connection to the Canadian legal firearm market. Article content Illegal U.S. guns were also the primary weapons used in the mass-shooting that directly preceded the May 2020 'assault style' ban. Although the ban was issued as a direct response to an April 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting that saw 22 people murdered, a probe would determine that the firearms employed were all illegal at the time of the massacre, and three had been smuggled in from the United States. Article content Article content The federal government appears to be staffing up an unofficial 'stop Alberta from separating' department. That comes via a Freedom of Information and Privacy Act filed by True North, which returned heavily blacked-out correspondence seeming to show that the Department of Justice is rounding up a team of constitutional experts to counter any future Alberta sovereignty claims. Article content Article content Article content In other Alberta separatism news, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said this week that it's up to Prime Minister Mark Carney to tamp down the record-high separatist sentiments in the province. This wasn't an appeal for Carney to bring the hammer down on 'Free Alberta' types. Rather, Smith was claiming that the sentiment will go away if Ottawa can just slacken the leash on its latticework of oil and gas restrictions. 'I'm telling him what the pathway is to have (separatism sentiments) subside, and I guess it'll be up to him to choose whether or not he takes that pathway,' she said. Article content Article content Article content
Calgary Herald
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
No arrests at G7 summit protests, says security group
Article content 'Thankfully we were able to have that pilot safely exit the controlled airspace, land and then an investigation started into exactly what happened there,' he said. Article content 'Some of our partner agencies are looking at applicable regulatory offences, but at this time, it's not my understanding that any charges have been laid.' Article content Airspace restrictions in effect during the summit were lifted at noon Wednesday, while the Controlled Access Zone established around key summit venues is also no longer in effect. Article content Motorized vehicles are again able to access Highway 40 from the intersection on Highway 1 to the closure gate at the junction of the Kananaskis Lakes Trail. Article content The tunnel on Airport Trail N.E. in Calgary was expected to reopen Wednesday afternoon and the designated demonstration zones in Calgary and Banff are no longer in effect. Article content Article content However, the Highwood Pass/Highway 40 will not reopen to all vehicular traffic until this Saturday, according to ISSG. Article content Article content 'As foreign dignitaries continue to depart Alberta, residents in these communities may see some continued security presence for the coming days as the ISSG clears equipment, and police vehicles, and assists with clean-up duties at designated sites,' the security group said in a news release. Article content 'It's important to remember we're not finished,' Hall said. 'We have a lot of work to do to demobilize our security posture and all of our respective organizations need to wind down their operations. At some point, we'll tally all those costs and those will be made publicly available.' Article content In 2002, when the then-G8 summit was last held in Kananaskis Country, the City of Calgary's security-related costs totaled $34 million, according to Calgary Herald archives. That was the first summit held after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, which led to a more robust approach to security and policing in general, and the first held after a protester was shot dead by police in Genoa, Italy during the 2001 summit. Article content Article content This year's G7 gathering saw several security protocols in effect, including checkpoints blocking traffic, the closure of nearby hiking trails and common areas, motorcade training drills, temporary road closures in Calgary, airspace restrictions, the establishment of four designated protest zones in Calgary and Banff, and even wildlife monitoring. Article content At the summit itself, snipers were positioned on rooftops, adjacent businesses were sequestered and soldiers or police officers were stationed at trailhead parking lots in the G7 exclusion zone. Article content Costs for hosting the summit will be provided by Public Safety Canada, and operational costs incurred by the event will be covered federally through the Major International Event Security Cost Framework, according to a statement from the City of Calgary.
National Post
15-06-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Pace and scale of Canadian wildfires could reshape the landscape, experts say
Article content 'I used to think, 'Oh my God, the trees are gone, it's so bad,'' he said. 'But I've changed my mind. Maybe in a lot of cases it's not so bad.' Article content In the early 20th century, as people began to settle and build deeper in the forests, fires were more often suppressed. Article content 'You have to protect the people by putting out the fires,' said Parisien. 'But putting out the fires today may leave issues tomorrow.' Article content Still, researchers acknowledge we can't just go back to how things were. Article content 'We're moving to a place that has no historical analogue,' said Mike Flannigan, the science director of the Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire Science at the University of Alberta. 'We're in new territory, uncharted territory,' as climate change has exacerbated wildfires' pace and scale. Article content Article content This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Wanless, Manitoba, Canada on May 29. Public Safety Canada said the 2025 wildfire season is on track to the second-largest on fires are burning as Canada will host the Group of Seven Summit on Monday in Calgary, Alberta. It will not feature a specific session on climate change. The topic irritated President Donald Trump at the first G-7 meeting he attended in Italy. A senior Canadian government official said that the subject would be integrated into other sessions on wildfires and building the critical mineral supply chains needed for the energy transition. Article content Article content Those most affected by the blazes in Canada feel they have the least input in managing and preventing them. Article content Although Indigenous people represent only about five per cent of Canada's population, 42 per cent of wildfire evacuations between 1980 and 2021 occurred in Indigenous communities, according to an article published last year in the International Journal of Wildland Fire. Article content 'Even though Indigenous people are the most impacted, we have very little power to change the situation,' said Amy Cardinal Christianson, a senior fire analyst of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. Article content She expressed frustration over permits needed to do intentional burning and said Indigenous communities aren't involved enough in budget decisions or decisions on fire suppression. She said that some fire managers have tended to dismiss their knowledge of the land as outdated. But they stand to lose the most from these catastrophic burns. Article content 'For us as Indigenous people, if we don't have culture, we don't have anything,' Christianson said. 'And our culture is connected to the land.' Article content
