CANADA
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TUESDAY, JAN. 7, 2014
Protesters use thrift-store Much of country still facing outfits to evade PM’s security bitter cold CLIMATE-CHANGE PROTESTERS QUICKLY REMOVED FROM EVENT
BY THE CANADIAN PRESS A pair of climate-change protesters wearing cheap, thrift-store dress clothing evaded RCMP officers tasked with protecting Stephen Harper during an event in Vancouver on Monday, walking onto a stage within touching distance of the prime minister before they were whisked away. The security breach happened at a Vancouver Board of Trade event at a downtown hotel, where Harper participated in a friendly question-and-answer session aimed at promoting his government’s economic agenda. Roughly a minute after Harper was welcomed to the stage, a man and woman walked behind the prime minister holding signs attacking the Conservatives’ environmental record. One sign said Climate Justice Now, while the other featured a dark line crossed through the phrase Conservatives Take Climate Change Seriously. The protesters were immediately taken off the stage and out of the room, prompting Harper to quip, “It wouldn’t be B.C. without it,” drawing laughter and applause from the audience. A group affiliated with Brigette DePape, the former page who walked onto the Senate floor holding a Stop Harper sign during a 2011 throne speech, immediately claimed responsibility, saying the stunt was designed to criticize Canada’s environmental policies. The event took place in a large hotel ballroom, where hundreds of people gathered for a breakfast event featuring the prime minister. While reporters and TV camera operators were forced to have their equipment examined by a police dog, there appeared to be little in place — such as a security checkpoint to check credentials or ID — that would have prevented anyone from just walking into the room. Indeed, one of the two protesters, local activist Sean Devlin, said he and his colleague weren’t stopped or approached by security at any point before they walked on stage. “We just happened to be wearing black dress shirts and black pants and black aprons that we
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
A protester rushes the stage as Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks at the Vancouver, Board of Trade in downtown Vancouver, Monday. bought at Value Village, and we simply walked into the hotel,” Devlin said in an interview. “As soon as we entered the room, people seemed to be treating us like we were supposed to be there. It was quite easy.” The outfit cost about $7, he said. Devlin was thrown down a small flight of stairs as he was forced off stage, while the young woman he was with was escorted away on foot. They were handcuffed and brought into a kitchen area to be questioned, said Devlin, but were quickly released without being charged. The prime minister’s office says it doesn’t comment on security matters and referred all calls to the RCMP. Cpl. Lucy Shorey of the RCMP said the force would be examining what happened, but she declined to discuss the incident in detail. “The RCMP takes the matter very seriously,” said Shorey. “We are currently reviewing the incident to decide what action
CANADA
BRIEFS
Montreal officer to be disciplined for threat against homeless man THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL — A Montreal police officer captured on video telling a homeless man he would tie him to a pole in frigid temperatures if his behaviour didn’t improve will be disciplined this week. A senior police spokesman confirmed Monday the unnamed officer met with his commanding officer last Friday. Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere says the matter will be dealt with internally this week. A video shot by a passerby and posted to YouTube shows part of the interaction between the officer and the homeless man. The officer can be heard saying that if another citizen complains to police about the man he would “tie him to a pole for an hour.” The homeless man was wearing only a short-sleeved T-shirt and jean shorts that reached his calves. Lafreniere describes the officer in question as a “good cop” who made an unacceptable comment. “The Montreal police were not happy with the words that were used,” Lafreniere said Monday. Lafreniere said last week the sanctions could range from a verbal warning to a suspension.
Spy watchdog chastised for registering to lobby on behalf of pipeline OTTAWA — The NDP is criticizing spy watchdog Chuck Strahl for registering to lobby on behalf of Northern Gateway Pipelines.
needs to be taken to ensure the safety of the prime minister. Obviously, we can’t discuss specific details on security measures.” Board of trade CEO Iain Black, who was on stage beside Harper, said event staff were in the room keeping a watch for anyone without one of the lanyards that were handed to ticketholders, but he said his group deferred to the RCMP when it came to security decisions. Black said the incident happened so quickly that it was pretty much over by the time he fully processed what was going on. “I didn’t really react, because there wasn’t a lot of time,” Black said in an interview. “I looked at the prime minister, and he didn’t look rattled at all. ... He’s clearly got a lot of confidence in the guys around him, so when he didn’t react, I didn’t ever really feel threatened.” Harper made several stops in the Vancouver area on Monday, but he did not field any questions from reporters.
As the federally appointed chairman of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, Strahl helps keep an eye on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. In a statement, New Democrat House leader Nathan Cullen says it should be common sense that Strahl — someone on the federal payroll — should not lobby for a pipeline seeking federal government approval. Strahl’s Dec. 6 registration with the B.C. Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists says he intends to arrange a meeting between the pipeline concern and B.C. Natural Gas Development Minister Rich Coleman. Strahl, an MP from 1993 to 2011, served in several cabinet portfolios in Stephen Harper’s cabinet, most recently as transport minister. The review committee’s last chairman, medical doctor Arthur Porter, resigned in November 2011 amid questions about his private business dealings. Strahl did not immediately return phone calls Monday. Regulators have conditionally approved Enbridge’s proposed $8-billion Northern Gateway pipeline, which would see Alberta crude flow to westward to Kitimat, B.C. The federal government has not yet said whether it will allow the project to proceed.
THE CANADIAN PRESS Some braced for blizzards, others dealt with precarious flash freezes, and still more faced bone-chilling temperatures — and then there were those who endured power outages dating back to earlier bitter weather. A mixed bag of nasty conditions led Environment Canada to issue warnings for vast swaths of the country on Monday, when many headed back to work for the first time since the holiday break. “It’s almost like the total meteorological lexicon of everything miserable in terms of winter is found somewhere in Canada,” said senior climatologist David Phillips. The sheer amount of varying warnings was considered somewhat unusual even by the national weather agency that put them out. Phillips listed some of the misery. “From wind chill to winter storm warnings to flash freezes to freezing rain to heavy rain to strong winds; snow squalls also.” The winter wallop created extra headaches for many resuming their weekday commutes on the first Monday of 2014. Some flights travelling into or out of Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax and St. John’s, N.L., were also cancelled or delayed. And freezing rain across Eastern Canada forced nearly 800 plane passengers to be diverted to Fredericton early Monday, putting a strain on the city’s airport. “Nature’s making it more difficult for us to get back to a regular normal life,” said Phillips. “The timing is unfortunate.” Southern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba experienced some of the most bitter cold, where communities longused to chilly conditions were lashed by frigid gusts which prompted a series of wind chill warnings. “We’re seeing wind chills that are into the minus 50, which would freeze flesh in less than five minutes,” said Phillips, who warned residents to bundle up. Meanwhile, communities in northern and southern Ontario were warned of flash freezes, wind chills and even snow squalls in some areas. The latest blast of winter came just a week after a wicked ice storm left hundreds of thousands without power in parts of Central and Eastern Canada. “In Ontario we’re seeing a whole plethora of
weather warnings,” said Phillips. “In some communities they’ve got four to choose from, it’s like pick your poison.” Toronto and Windsor, Ont., — which were expecting wind chills from -35 C to -40 C into Tuesday — were among some communities which issued extreme cold weather alerts while urging those who were homeless to seek shelter. It was a slightly different story in Quebec, where somewhat warmer temperatures meant Environment Canada issued rainfall and freezing rain warnings for southern parts of the province, although communities further north faced blizzard warnings. Freezing rain left more than 24,000 Quebec customers without power on Monday afternoon, with the Mauricie region in central Quebec hit hardest. Authorities in Ontario and Quebec urged caution on icy roads and slushy sidewalks and warned motorists to take care in communities that were expecting blowing snow and whiteout conditions. In Atlantic Canada, freezing rain and rainfall warnings were issued for much of New Brunswick, eastern Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and parts of Newfoundland. Those warnings added to the problems being faced by thousands in Newfoundland, who were experiencing their fourth day of power outages brought on by a combination of cold weather, a terminal station fire and a power plant that went offline. A mass of cold Arctic air, combined with a warmer weather system that had come up from the U.S., had led to much of the recent variety of inclement conditions, said Philips. Some communities, including Toronto, Halifax, Montreal and Quebec City, were expected to see a drastic drop in temperatures by today. ● Cattle are still chowing down as a deep freeze settles over much of the Prairies. Agriculture experts and ranchers know that when the temperature dips below -20 C, cattle need even more to eat so they can create extra energy to stay warm. “Most years the average hay out there is good enough to maintain a cow in wintertime, as long as she doesn’t have extra demands on her body, so she’s not heavy into pregnancy and she’s not lactating, she’s not providing milk for a calf,” Murray Feist, a ruminant nutrition specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture, said Monday.