Further, sales of diesel vehicles which may have had doped software have been suspended in Canada and the US.
"Volkswagen Canada has issued a stop-sale order to our dealers for all of the affected vehicles pending resolution of this matter," company spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff" - CBC News The affected vehicles that may be affected are as old as 2009 models. The 2015 models are also affected. Included are VW models Jetta, Golf, Beetle, Passat and Sportswagon. About one fifth of VWs sales in Canada are diesels. Both environmental protection agencies in Canada and the US have stressed that the vehicles in question are not unsafe to drive, but they are emitting unsafe levels of pollutants. One of diesel’s exhaust emissions is benzene, a carcinogen. Criminal investigations have begun. The troubles for VW continue as law firms in both countries have already begun organizing class action suits. The Guardian has reported that the whistleblower who broke the scandal has intimated that more firms may have been involved with spoofing the EPA results and that it’s time that they are also looked at critically. [Wednesday update - Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigns] Sources: Al Jazeera CBC News The Guardian
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His visit to his grandparents in Toronto may include a long car or bus ride. Canada’s security agency maintains a list of people who are banned from flying. It is called the Specified Persons List and the names are kept secret. The criteria for being placed on the list may be a “reasonable suspicion” of bad behavior. Unfortunately, a person who has had their name placed on the list will only find out that they are banned from a flight after they have bought a ticket and attempted to clear security.
Khadr’s permission to visit his grandparents in the company of his lawyer must be undertaken before the end of 2015. He has two weeks to complete the visit. Khadr’s family had been supporters of the Al Qaeda movement and personal friends of the Bin Ladens. His father was killed in Afghanistan and a brother severely wounded. His mother and sister were active in the press denouncing Canada and our way of life which garnered little sympathy for their youngest son. The CBC has reported that Khadr’s mother and sister are not currently living in Canada. This is a complex situation where there are no winners, only losers. Khadr was taken to Afghanistan by his jihadist parents. He was present during a fire fight there in which he was severely wounded. He spent his teen years in a ‘black’ prison among jihadists. A US medic lost his life and his young family mourns his death. The harm and loss go on and on. Related reading; Omar Khadr granted bail by Alberta judge Omar Khadr granted bail Sources; CBC News Macleans Public Safety Canada He made the plea while attending the Toronto International Film Festival(TIFF). As it happens, Clooney’s wife, Amal Clooney, is one of Fahmy’s lawyers.
Many in Canada are wondering what the Canadian government has done over the past year and a half to free Fahmy, a Canadian citizen. There was some publicized diplomatic intervention early in the men’s ordeal, but little has been seen lately. The minister of foreign affairs who was handling the case, resigned before the upcoming federal election. Since the second trial and subsequent sentencing, the Canadian government has applied for Fahmy to be deported, but he still remains in prison. The imprisonment of the three journalist employed by Qatar based Al Jazeera News may not be about the conduct real or imagined of the journalists, but an attempt to strike at the network itself. Egypt has accused the rulers of Qatar of being sympathetic to the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Sources: CBC News The Guardian 570 News There is a tsunami watch in Hawaii.
Coastal areas of Chile and Peru are also on tsunami watch. Chile is on the seismically active Ring of Fire which traces an arc in the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand through Japan, along the Aleutian Islands and down the coast of Canada and the US, south along S. America. In 2010 an 8.8 quake hit Chile causing many deaths and much damage. The government has taken effective steps to cope with the evacuations and maintenance of order. An earthquake off the coast of Japan in 2011 was measured at 9.0. It resulted in a massive tsunami. The combination killed an estimated 15000 people and swept whole towns out to sea. The Fukumshima Daiichi atomic power plant was crippled by the tsumani and remains a radioactive hotspot still. Earthquakes are caused by large, solid plates(tectonic plates) that move slowly. Some of the plate edges slide under other plates. The movement is not smooth, but the plate ‘catches’ and then releases suddenly, causing the surface movement that we call an earthquake. The Pacific Plate is moving under the S. American plate. Some of the land is uplifted, as evidenced in the Andes Mountains. Sources: ITV BBC
The PM’s office alerted the RCMP to the possible illegalities. But that was after the Aboriginal Peoples Network broke the story.
While this makes for some titillating reading, it does pose some important questions about how a person with a criminal record and disbarment from the Law Society of Upper Canada could become a senior advisor to the top politician in the country. Other current scandals that the Conservative campaigners are dealing with involve the senators who are alleged to have made inappropriate expense claims – Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau. Brazeau has recently pleaded guilty to simple assault and possession of cocaine. He is facing impaired operating of a vehicle. All three senators have had their pay reinstated during the federal campaign. Another insider, Dean Del Mastro, is facing jail time for election fraud. He is appealing his sentence. Sources: CBC |
Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
October 2016
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