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McCarthy becomes the first speaker ever to be ousted from the job in a House vote

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

By LISA MASCARO and FARNOUSH AMIRI (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job Tuesday in an extraordinary showdown, a first in U.S. history that was forced by a contingent of hard-right conservatives and threw the House and its Republican leadership into chaos.McCarthy’s chief rival, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, forced the vote on the “motion to vacate,” drawing together more than a handful of conservative Republican critics of the speaker and many Democrats who say he is unworthy of leadership.Next steps are uncertain, but there is no obvious successor to lead the House Republican majority.Stillness fell as the presiding officer gaveled the vote closed, 216-210, saying the office of the speaker “is hereby declared vacant.”Moments later, a top McCarthy ally, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., took the gavel and, according to House rules, was named speaker pro tempore, to serve in the office until a new speak...

Crown says former RCMP intelligence official improperly disclosed secrets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

OTTAWA — Former intelligence official Cameron Jay Ortis violated Canada’s secrets law by sending sensitive information to several individuals who were investigative targets of the police, a federal lawyer said Tuesday.In an opening statement, Crown prosecutor Judy Kliewer sketched out the case against Ortis as a multi-week judge and jury trial got underway Tuesday in Ontario Superior Court.As a senior RCMP intelligence official, Ortis had access to some of the country’s most closely held information.He is charged with violating the Security of Information Act by allegedly revealing secrets to three individuals in 2015 and trying to do so in a fourth instance, as well as breach of trust and a computer-related offence.Ortis, 51, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.He was taken into custody in Ottawa in September 2019 — an arrest that deeply shocked the national police force.Kliewer gave the jury a sense of how the case began, noting an RCMP effort known as Project Satura...

Alberta mountain town to allow two major developments to go ahead after losing appeal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

CALGARY — Two major developments that could almost double the population of an Alberta mountain community will go ahead after Alberta’s highest court dismissed an appeal by the town.Canmore town council had rejected the proposed Three Sisters Village and Smith Creek projects, but the Land and Property Rights Tribunal of Alberta ruled in May 2022 that both developments could go ahead.The town, west of Calgary, had applied for permission to appeal that decision to the Court of Appeal of Alberta and it was allowed to proceed on questions of law and jurisdiction.“The town has not established a basis upon which we can interfere with the tribunal’s decisions,” said the decision by three justices released Tuesday. “The appeals are dismissed.”The two proposals on Canmore’s eastern edge include about 80 per cent of the town’s remaining developable land and raised concerns about affordable housing and wildlife.The decisions by the tribunal, howe...

GO Transit trains, UP Express slowly resume service after CN system outage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

Commuters across the Greater Toronto Area saw their afternoon rush-hour travel thrown into chaos Tuesday after a network-wide system failure at CN Rail halted all GO Transit trains, as well as a rail link to Toronto’s main airport. At around 4:30 p.m. — three-and-a-half hours after the problems began — GO Transit said “limited service” from downtown Toronto’s Union Station was resuming, with outbound trains every 30 minutes.“There is an ongoing CN networkwide system failure that is affecting all of our rail corridors. We are beginning to slowly resume service,” Metrolinx, which operates GO Transit, wrote in a statement. “As we work with our rail partner on this issue and restore full service, there will be continued cancellations and potentially delays this evening.”The regional transit operator warned commuters that available trains were expected to be “very busy” and suggested exploring alternatives. At Toronto’s Un...

Class-action claims foreign workers exploited by Quebec recruiter, airline caterer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

MONTREAL — An international aviation catering company and a Quebec recruitment firm allegedly lured foreign workers to Canada under false pretences and exploited them, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit. The Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal is seeking authorization to launch the suit against Laval, Que.-based placement firm Trésor and inflight catering company Newrest, along with several affiliated companies. The workers centre is acting on behalf of more than 400 people since 2021 who it says were falsely promised they would be given work permits and legitimate jobs in Canada by Trésor — but were instead encouraged to work illegally.“The defendants treated the members of the class like objects: controllable, disposable, replaceable and exploitable. These experiences were profoundly degrading and dehumanizing for the members of the class and undermined their dignity, their psychological security and their self-esteem,” says the request for authorization fil...

‘Photography not allowed,’ Poilievre says of ceremony with Algonquin leaders

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he did not share photos of a ceremony he participated in with Algonquin leaders on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation out of respect for their traditional customs.Poilievre shared two photos on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday with a post about joining Algonquin elders and leaders at the eternal flame on Parliament Hill to mark the occasion.The women in the photos were not Algonquin but Inuit, including Manitok Thompson, who was a cabinet minister in the Northwest Territories and then in Nunavut after the territory was created in 1999.A spokesman for Poilievre said on Saturday that the Tory leader had been at an earlier event led by Algonquin leaders to commemorate the day and that he had also spoken with other Indigenous Peoples there, including the Inuit women in the photos, whom he did not name.Poilievre told reporters today that it was a “beautiful, touching ceremony” and that his tea...

A bus crash near the Italian city of Venice kills at least 21 people, including Ukrainian tourists

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

ROME (AP) — A bus carrying foreign tourists including Ukrainians crashed near the Italian city of Venice when it fell from an elevated street Tuesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring 18 others, authorities said.Four of the injured were in serious condition following the accident in the Mestre borough, on the mainland opposite the historic old city of Venice, said Renato Boraso, a Venice city official. Two of the dead were children, Venice prefect Michele Di Bari said.Boraso confirmed that some of the victims are Ukrainians, and said the bus was bringing tourists to a camping site.Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the scene of the crash was “apocalyptic” and that he had already declared the “city’s mourning” for the “numerous victims” who were on the bus. According to local media, the bus fell a few meters before crashing close to Mestre’s railway tracks, where it caught fire. Emergency crews were on the scene.Premier Giorgia Mel...

Alberta CEOs in Ottawa to find common ground on energy, climate and economy

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

CALGARY — More than 50 Alberta CEOs, entrepreneurs and industry leaders are in Ottawa this week in an effort to raise the profile of their province and promote “collaboration” on issues related to energy, climate and the economy.Led by a consortium of Alberta economic development agencies, chambers of commerce and policy organizations, the delegation includes executives from some of the province’s biggest corporations as well as startups from a range of industries.Organizers say it is the largest business delegation to Ottawa from Alberta in recent memory. The group — which has dubbed itself the “One Alberta, One Canada” delegation — has meetings and events scheduled with a number of cabinet ministers, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was slated to address the delegation at an evening reception.“I don’t know the last time I ever recall this big a group of executives and companies coming to Ottawa,” said Cenovus Energy executive chair ...

Major fire strikes Detroit-area apartment complex for seniors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

SOUTHGATE, Mich. (AP) — A major fire spread through an apartment complex for older residents in suburban Detroit on Tuesday, severely damaging the roof and forcing crews to fight the flames with aerial hoses.TV stations posted video of fire ripping through the roof at a cross-shaped complex known as the Meadows of Southgate. It appears to have three floors.It was not immediately known how many people live there or whether there were any injuries. Fire trucks and ambulances were at the scene, WDIV-TV reported.The Associated Press

Federal government to conduct nationwide emergency alert test Wednesday via mobile phones, cable TV

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:30:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — “THIS IS A TEST:” If you have a cell phone or are watching television Wednesday that message will flash across your screen as the federal government tests its emergency alert system used to tell people about emergencies.The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System sends out messages via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts. The Emergency Alert System is a national public warning system that’s designed to allow the president to speak to the American people within ten minutes during a national emergency via specific outlets such as radio and television. And Wireless Emergency Alerts are short messages — 360 characters or less — that go to mobile phones to alert their owner to important information.While these types of alerts are frequently used in targeted areas to alert people in the area to thing like tornadoes, Wednesday’s test is being done across the country.The test is slated to start at 2:20 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday. ...