Canada

The TL/DR is this: The allegation that David Pugliese is a Russian asset has floated around Ottawa for about a decade — often with various degrees of evidence behind it. It was in recent years that these documents, which appear to be real and which were furnished by Kyiv, were sent to Canadian intelligence agencies and were seriously investigated. While Pugliese has proved himself to be a willing customer for Russian disinformation, and while I believe he hasn’t appropriately disclosed his relationship with the Russian embassy, the idea that he is a paid agent of the Russian government is probably false.

But recent Kremlin influence operations have blurred the lines between asset and useful idiot. They invite us to, as I said repeatedly during my statement at committee, get serious.

A deputy fire chief in Cape Breton has apologized after some guests attended a Halloween dance at a fire hall dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Photos circulating on social media from Saturday's event at the North Sydney Firefighters Club show four people wearing white sheets and white pointed hoods — garb synonymous with the American white supremacist group. One of the partygoers is holding a large cross.

MacLean said he was frustrated that the four guests were not only admitted into the dance but allowed to stay.

Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor, who sits on both Brampton city council and Peel regional council, denies owning the house on Gardenbrooke Trail, in the northeast of the city. But property records show he has been on the title since 2021, and information obtained through a freedom-of-information request reveals the basement has been rented out illegally that entire time.

Toor's sister has owned the property since 2012, according to the records, and transferred him a one per cent share in 2021, making him a co-owner. It's one of at least four properties that Toor owns — property records show he also owns three houses in Caledon, Ont.

The city first inspected the Brampton property and issued a compliance notice in September, along with a $750 fine, noting that unregistered apartments could pose safety risks to occupants.

"Obviously the door is open and some people are infiltrating the system," André Lareau, an associate tax professor at Laval University in Quebec City, said in an interview. "But the CRA does not seem to have found the key to lock the door."

cross-posted from: /c/britishcolumbia

The British Columbia NDP appears to have fended off the Conservative surge by a razor thin margin and will form the next provincial government, CBC News projects.

Whether the party forms a minority or majority government is still uncertain.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/31762027

Signatures is at 22,853.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.vg/post/865515