Emergencies Act inquiry, Maj.-Gen. Fortin back in court : In The News for Oct. 24

He has been the city’s interim chief ever since Peter Sloly resigned in mid-February.

Bell previously said he did not ask the federal government to invoke the Emergencies Act.

Sloly is also expected to testify this week before the commission, which is looking into whether Ottawa was justified in invoking the act.

Last week, Ottawa’s police services board announced they had selected a new chief of police who will start Nov. 17, despite the city council election taking place today.

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Also this …

The sexual assault trial against Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin is set to resume for a third day in a Gatineau courtroom this morning.

Fortin took to the stand in September and denied any guilt in the case, saying that he never had physical contact with a woman who had made detailed allegations against him in court.

A woman whose identity is protected under a publication ban told the judge presiding over the case that she is “without a doubt” that she recognized Fortin as the person who attacked her one night in 1988.

The complainant said she woke up in her dorm room at the military college in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., to find Fortin masturbating himself with one of her hands.

Fortin’s defence lawyer said that she would vigorously contest the complainant’s identification of Fortin.

He was the military officer in charge of the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine campaign until his removal in May 2021 over an investigation of the allegation, which he is also challenging in Federal Court.

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And this too …

Members of the Vancouver Police Department are expected to take part in an apology ceremony today in an expression of regret for arresting and handcuffing an Indigenous man and his granddaughter when they tried to open a bank account.

The apology is part of a settlement agreement arising from a human rights complaint against the Vancouver Police Board filed by Maxwell Johnson of the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella, on B.C.’s central coast.

A Bank of Montreal employee called police under the mistaken assumption that Johnson and his then-12-year-old granddaughter’s Indian status cards were fake, setting off the public arrest in December 2019.

The settlement included an undisclosed financial award to Johnson, $100,000 to fund the nation’s restorative justice department, and the development of a plan to improve police training on anti-Indigenous racism and “cultural humility.”

However, the Heiltsuk Nation issued a statement Sunday saying it is possible the two arresting officers won’t be attending, and the traditional ceremony can’t be carried out unless those who caused the harm are present.

It says the absence of constables Canon Wong and Mitchel Tong would be another hurtful chapter in Johnson’s long journey to address the discrimination he and his granddaughter faced.

Johnson’s granddaughter, Tori-Anne, told a news conference last month that she hoped the story of her arrest would encourage more people to stand up against injustice and discrimination.

The nation says the ceremony is a prerequisite for true reconciliation and is intended to be an uplifting experience for everyone.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

NEW YORK _ Donald Trump’s company goes on trial Monday in a criminal tax case and the first task facing the court is a big one: Picking a jury of New Yorkers who don’t have a strong opinion about the former president.

Manhattan prosecutors say the Trump Organization helped top executives avoid income taxes on job perks such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars.

Trump himself isn’t on trial and isn’t expected to testify. But the judge and lawyers in the case will likely be looking to keep people off the jury if they have unshakably strong feelings about the Republican, who isn’t liked in his hometown.

In the 2020 presidential election, 87 per cent of Manhattan voters supported Democrat Joe Biden for president. Trump got 12 per cent of the vote.

Once jury selection is complete, Judge Juan Manuel Merchan has said he expects the trial to last at least four weeks.

The trial is expected to centre on the actions and testimony of longtime Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty in August to taking in more than $1.7 million worth of untaxed perks from the company.

Trump has decried the probe as a “political witch hunt.” The company’s lawyers have said it played by the rules.

If convicted, the Trump Organization could be fined more than $1 million. A guilty verdict could hamper the company’s ability to get loans and make deals.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

MANILA, Philippines _ A damaged Korean Air plane remained stuck in the grass at a central Philippine airport Monday after it overshot a runway in rainy weather the night before. No injuries were reported among the 162 passengers and 11 crew members who escaped from the aircraft using emergency slides.

Dozens of flights have been cancelled and Mactan-Cebu International Airport, one of the country’s busiest, remained closed due to the stalled aircraft at the end of its lone usable runway.

The terrifying close call prompted a public apology from Korean Air’s president and a vow from one of Asia’s most prominent airlines to take steps to prevent a recurrence.

“We always prioritize safety in all of our operations, and we truly regret the stress and inconvenience brought to our passengers,” Korean Air President Woo Keehong said in a statement.

The front underbelly of the plane was sheared off and its nose was heavily damaged. The plane lay tipped forward on a grassy area with its front landing wheel not visible and emergency slides deployed at the doors. A ripped-open hole was also visible at the top of the plane near a front door.

Philippine officials said the plane’s remaining fuel would be siphoned off before efforts begin to remove the aircraft at the runway’s end. Authorities were also assessing if the other aircraft that are stranded at the airport could be allowed to fly out safely.

Dozens of flights to and from Cebu province were cancelled, including those of flag carrier Philippine Airlines, which initially announced more than 50 cancelled domestic flights.

The Airbus A330 flying from Incheon, South Korea, attempted to land twice before overrunning the runway on the third attempt, Korean Air Lines Co. said in a statement.

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On this day in 1992 …

The Toronto Blue Jays became the first team from outside the U.S. to win the World Series. They defeated the Atlanta Braves four games to two. Dave Winfield’s two-run double in the 11th inning knocked in the winning run in the Jays 4-3 victory. The game ended after midnight (ET) and some purists might argue the Series was won Oct. 25.

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In entertainment …

BERLIN _ Climate protesters threw mashed potatoes at a Claude Monet painting in a German museum to protest fossil fuel extraction on Sunday, but caused no damage to the artwork.

Two activists from the group Last Generation, which has called on the German government to take drastic action to protect the climate and stop using fossil fuels, approached Monet’s “Les Meules” at Potsdam’s Barberini Museum and threw a thick substance over the painting and its gold frame.

The group later confirmed via a post on Twitter that the mixture was mashed potatoes. The two activists, both wearing orange high-visibility vests, also glued themselves to the wall below the painting.

“If it takes a painting _ with MashedPotatoes or TomatoSoup thrown at it _ to make society remember that the fossil fuel course is killing us all: Then we’ll give you MashedPotatoes on a painting!” the group wrote on Twitter, along with a video of the incident.

The Barberini Museum said later Sunday that because the painting was enclosed in glass, the mashed potatoes didn’t cause any damage. The painting, part of Monet’s “Haystacks” series, is expected to be back on display on Wednesday.

“While I understand the activists’ urgent concern in the face of the climate catastrophe, I am shocked by the means with which they are trying to lend weight to their demands,” museum director Ortrud Westheider said in a statement.

The Monet painting is the latest artwork in a museum to be targeted by climate activists to draw attention to global warming.

The British group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” in London’s National Gallery earlier this month.

Just Stop Oil activists also glued themselves to the frame of an early copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and to John Constable’s “The Hay Wain” in the National Gallery.

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Did you see this?

Canada’s premier medical journal says it’s eager to address the role it plays in perpetuating anti-Black racism in health care and spark the broader change needed to dismantle structural barriers to equitable care.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal says a special edition released Monday is the first of two spotlighting papers by Black authors, examining system-wide failures and urging change.

Editor-in-chief Kirsten Patrick says the peer-reviewed publication is also working on ways to ensure future issues better represent the work of Black experts and the needs of Black patients, many of whom routinely face overt and subconscious biases that compromise their care.

She credits a working group of Black academics and medical professionals with helping her and the staff confront harmful practices, noting: “I really see things that I didn’t see before.”

“I’m a white woman, I think of myself as progressive and feminist,” she says from Ottawa.

“And I learned new things about my own internalized anti-Black racism from doing this special issue and definitely have reflected on the way that CMAJ’s processes undermine minority engagements, I would say, and put barriers sometimes to people who are not white.”

The two special editions follow years of advocacy by a group known as the Black Health Education Collaborative, co-led by OmiSoore Dryden, an associate professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University who specializes in medical anti-Black racism, and Dr. Onye Nnorom, a family doctor and public health specialist with the University of Toronto.

Dryden says work on the special issues began more than a year ago when discussions began on how anti-Black racism manifests in structural and systemic ways that ultimately prevent research from being shared. They hope the editions can help the journal’s audience — largely educators and practitioners — understand the vast scope of the problem.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2022.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Emergencies Act inquiry, Maj.-Gen. Fortin back in court : In The News for Oct. 24

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