crime

23 criminal charges laid in Ottawa human trafficking ring

Leave a Comment / crime, Canada News /

An Ontario Provincial Police logo is shown during a press conference in Barrie, Ont., Wednesday, April 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette Ontario Provincial Police has arrested four young adults from Ottawa and laid 23 criminal charges related to human trafficking. Police say the ten-month investigation began in October 2022, where OPP was made aware of a young girl being human trafficked across Ontario and Quebec. Evidence revealed that the victim had been sexually exploited since 2019. The victim is now in a place of safety. The investigation was conducted by the Provincial Human Trafficking Intelligence-led Joint Forces Strategy (IJFS), OPP’s Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, the Ottawa Police Service, the Kingston Police Service and the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service.  Police believe there could be other victims. Devin Ronald Jessy Huff, 26-years-old from Ottawa, has been charged with:  Possession of a Prohibited Weapon, as per Section 117.01(1);  Sexual Assault, as per Section 271;  Assault, as per Section 266;  Procuring, as per Section 286.3 (1), two counts;  Traffic in Persons, as per Section 279.01;  Material Benefit Resulting from Trafficking in Persons, as per Section 279.02(1);  Material Benefit from Sexual Services, as per Section 286.2(1);  Advertising Sexual Services, as per Section 286.4 C.C;  Possession of a Prohibited device or ammunition, as per Section 92(2); and,  Possession of a Schedule I substance for the Purpose of Trafficking, Section 5(2) CDSA. Huff remains in custody following a bail hearing. Hayl Collis, 22-years-old from Vanier, has been charged with:  Traffic in Persons, as per Section 279.01;  Material Benefit Resulting from Trafficking in Persons, as per Section 279.02(1);  Material Benefit from Sexual Services, as per Section 286.2(1);  Procuring, as per Section 286.3 (1); and,  Advertising Sexual Services, as per Section 286.4. Collis remains in custody following a bail hearing. Alexia Zoe Simard, 26-years-old from Ottawa, has been charged with:  Traffic in Persons, as per Section 279.01;  Procuring, as per Section 286.3(1), and;  Advertising Sexual Services, as per Section 286.4. Simard has been released from custody. She is scheduled to appear on December 12, 2023, at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa. Haileigh Brooke Devlin, 23-years-old from Ottawa, has been charged with:    Traffic in Persons, as per Section 279.01;  Material Benefit Resulting from Trafficking in Persons, as per Section 279.02(1);  Material Benefit from Sexual Services, as per Section 286.2(1), and;  Procuring, as per Section 286.3 (1). Devlin has been released from custody and is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa on Dec. 12. Police are urging anyone with any additional information to contact the OPP non-emergency number at 1-888-310-1122 or their local police. The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 1-833-900-1010. Human trafficking resources are available at canadiancentretoendhumantrafficking.ca Police arrested a fourth person wanted in connection with a human trafficking investigation dubbed Project Chameleon. Earlier this month, police raided an Innisfil property at Yonge Street and the 7th Line on Nov. 1 and said they seized $30,000 worth of drugs and arrested three individuals after receiving a tip that a female was being held for sexual services. Tyrone Aaron DIAS, 38, of Innisfil (L), Jashyna SINGH, 29, of Brampton (C), and Royden REIS, 38, of Barrie (R), face charges in connection with a human trafficking investigation. (Source: South Simcoe Police Services) Police say three female victims were rescued from the Innisfil residence. A second search warrant was carried out in Newmarket. On Monday, police confirmed 37-year-old Burnel Hopkinson surrendered himself to police without incident. Police had issued an arrest warrant for the capture of Hopkinson following the Innisfil raid. He faces charges of human trafficking, material benefit from the trafficking of persons, material benefit from sexual services, advertising sexual services, and sexual assault, and has been held in police custody pending a bail hearing. The allegations against each of the accused have not been tested in court. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtEWmkwLVgU Accused human trafficker Kevin Kielty has taken a guilty plea in a Barrie courtroom on Tuesday, admitting to illegally employing four foreign nationals from Mexico between 2017 and 2019 under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. “Mr. Kielty continues to deny any allegation of mistreatment of those people,” said Carson Hurley, Kielty’s lawyer. Kielty’s plea deal is a victory for the defence, with all criminal charges, including human trafficking, against the former Barrie man and his wife, Patricia Zuniga-Rojas, being stayed. Zuniga-Rojas’ lawyer, Peter Thorning, said she never should have been charged. “And had there been a trial, there’s no doubt she would’ve been acquitted,” he said outside the Barrie courthouse. Kielty, Zuniga-Rojas and her two daughters, Ashley and Patty Camacho Zuniga, initially faced 27 charges each, including the alleged human labour trafficking of 48 Mexican nationals who claimed in 2019 that they were tricked into working for a cleaning company that used them as cheap labour at local resorts and hotels. In 2019, CTV News reported that when Canada Border Services, the OPP and Barrie police announced the bust, some of the workers claimed they were paid $50 a month and lived in terrible conditions in Barrie and Wasaga Beach. Police referred to the workers from Mexico as “modern-day slaves” who were lured to Canada with promises of educational opportunities and good-paying jobs. The four counts Kielty pleaded guilty to on Tuesday carried a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment. He was ordered to serve a conditional sentence of 18 months, which includes house arrest following a joint submission by the Crown and the defence. Kielty pleading guilty to the regulatory charges means his wife and her daughters – who faced the prospect of deportation had Zuniga-Rojas been convicted- can remain in Canada. Charges against Zuniga-Rojas’ daughters were dropped before the trial dates were set. The court heard Kielty ran RTL Services, a cleaning company with an office in Barrie, out of which police said illegal workers were supplied to clean local hotels and resorts in Collingwood and the Blue Mountains. The defence told the court Kielty was very remorseful for his actions. “It’s

23 criminal charges laid in Ottawa human trafficking ring Read More »

Windsor woman thought her belongings were safe in a gym locker. Then her car was stolen

Leave a Comment / crime, Canada News /

Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton The GoodLife gym at Tecumseh Mall in Windsor, Ont. A Windsor woman says her gym bag was stolen out of her locked locker, and her car stolen from the parking lot. (Dax Melmer/CBC) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton It was a brazen theft from under her nose: A Windsor woman says her car was missing for days and she’s out thousands of dollars after her bag was stolen from a gym locker this week.  Kelly Rincon said her ordeal started on Saturday, when she went to the GoodLife gym at Tecumseh Mall. She locked her bag into a locker and did her workout. When she returned, her belongings weren’t where she’d left them, the lock having apparently been cut off.  “So I immediately panicked because I said, ‘Oh my God, like, somebody took my bag,’” Rincon said.  Rincon said she immediately went to check on her car to see if it was still in the lot, because her keys were in the bag. It was, and she continued to keep an eye on it as she alerted staff and started calling the police. It was when mall security got there and insisted she speak to them inside that Rincon said she left the car alone. She saw what happened next play out on parking lot surveillance footage after the fact.  “You can clearly see like these people were waiting outside, inside of a black Ford pickup truck,” Rincon said.  “Five minutes later, you see me running outside. They watch me [check on my car] to see if it’s still there. They see me  trying to open the doors.  “When the security guards brought me inside … that’s when you can see them pull up to my car, one of the men get inside the car and drives off with the car.” Rincon said she’s “so frustrated” by the theft.  “It’s honestly one of the [worst] feelings in the world to know that you work so hard for what you have … and then people out there don’t care.” Rincon said she was told her belongings, as well as another woman’s purse, were stolen by a woman who signed up for a day pass. She says staff told her they didn’t take the woman’s identification because she didn’t have it on her. Rincon said she’s been in touch with GoodLife management, who were apologetic even as they told her they’re not liable for any loss or theft — even though she said members are encouraged to use the lockers to prevent tripping hazards on the gym floor.  A spokesperson for GoodLife confirmed that guests must show ID, but couldn’t confirm whether that policy was violated in this case, citing the ongoing police and internal investigations. The fitness chain said, however, that it’s taking steps in response to the theft, including ensuring that staff “are enforcing our secure check-in processes when guests and members enter our clubs.” “GoodLife is taking this criminal behaviour very seriously. It’s upsetting that an individual would target our members in this way,” Kelly Musovic, senior director of experience and safety with the company, said in a statement. Rincon said she is frustrated with police, as she’s been calling constantly trying to get action taken on her case, even now that her car was recovered.  “I’m not getting answers from the cops. Like, I’m not saying they’re not doing their job, but I just think that they don’t think that car theft or any of these things like stealing documents … is high priority.  “I don’t think they understand what this does to us.” Windsor police did not provide comment by deadline. But the service was recently involved in a wide-ranging effort to tackle car thefts in Ontario. Last week, police announced 23 people had been charged — and 279 charges laid — in an auto theft investigation spanning five law enforcement agencies. Cars were destined for illegal sale in five countries.  In Rincon’s case, her vehicle was dumped behind another local gym and has since been recovered by police. She doesn’t have the keys, and said the interior is likely ruined.  And because her permanent resident card was in her wallet, it, too, is gone and a pricey vacation cancelled without recourse.  “It takes up to three months to get a PR card. Unfortunately I needed one for Friday,” Rincon said. “I lost my airline ticket which was $4,000 on top of everything else that I lost.” It’s cost her about $200 in replacement cards, she said, as well as putting blocks on her credit so that the thieves can’t apply for credit in her name. Rincon said she’s afraid for her safety and the possibility of the thieves coming to her home.  “Basically they have my identity with them. So like, they could do anything at this point.” Rincon said years ago her car was stolen and was missing for nearly nine months. As far as she’s aware, the perpetrators weren’t caught in that case.  “It has happened more than once to me and I’m just sick of it,” she said. Accused in thefts involving vehicles later sold abroad also come from London, Toronto area Home CCTV Camera in Brmapton Det.-Insp. Andy Bradford from Ontario Provincial Police speaks to the media at a Project Fairfield news conference Thursday in Windsor. (TJ Dhir/CBC) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Twenty-three people from Ontario face 279 charges after a widespread investigation into a large string of auto thefts related to a “sophisticated crime group.” Windsor police, Ontario Provincial Police and other law enforcement agencies made the announcement in Windsor on Thursday. Investigators say the cases involve 138 stolen vehicles and more than $500,000 in illicit drugs.  Border services, police from London and the Regional Municipality of Peel, and the anti-fraud firm Équité Association were involved in the effort, dubbed Project Fairfield.  Police said the luxury vehicles, newer model pickup trucks, SUVs and other vehicles were stolen from the Windsor area. The culprits modified the vehicle identification numbers, known as “re-vinning,” police said. The vehicles were exported to countries including Kuwait, Lebanon, Colombia and the Congo, and sold through private sales. The investigation saw a breakthrough when police stopped a known “re-vinned” vehicle on Highway

Windsor woman thought her belongings were safe in a gym locker. Then her car was stolen Read More »

22-year-old mother of 2 identified as homicide victim as B.C. city sets new homicide record

Leave a Comment / crime, Canada News /

Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Friends and family have identified 22-year-old Isabelle Thomas as the victim of a recent Prince George homicide. (Submitted by Leslie Thomas) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Family and friends have identified a Prince George homicide victim as Isabelle Thomas, describing her as a loving and outgoing mother of two who “always had a smile on her face.”  Thomas was the victim of one of two unrelated and, at the time, suspicious deaths that happened in the B.C. community in mid-July within a 24-hour period — both of which are now being investigated as homicides, helping push the deadly crime rate in the city to the highest on record.  Thomas’s family has identified her as the victim in the second death, which police said resulted from a home invasion on July 18.  One man has been arrested, but police have not announced any charges. Thomas, who was born and raised in Prince George, had six-year-old and six-month-old daughters. “The girls meant the world to her,” said Leslie Thomas, Isabelle’s mother. “She did everything in her power to make sure they were happy, that they were taken care of.”  Isabelle Thomas was outgoing, loyal and always willing to help a friend out, according to her mother.  She had many different interests and loved learning new things. As a member of the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, Isabelle Thomas liked learning about her culture and participated in community activities. She took classes in ribbon skirt making and drum making, her mother said.  She said her daughter was also very outspoken and upfront.  “She told you how it is, and she showed the same amount of love in return.” Thomas said her daughter’s children were in the room with her when she died.  “To have both of her babies with her while that thing was happening to her was just unimaginable and so maddening that they had to be put through that,” she said.  Thomas said both children are in the care of immediate family now, and the family is fundraising to be able to send the older daughter to a child trauma therapy specialist in Vancouver.  “The babies needed their mother,” Thomas said.  Thomas said she has received an outpouring of support from the community as several hundred people came out to a memorial service for her daughter last weekend.  Isabelle Thomas is survived by her two daughters, Addelynn and Eleanore, as well as her siblings, Aleynna Pedersen, Anabelle Pedersen, Jeff Pedersen, Dan Pedersen, Wesley Pedersen, Jasmaine Thomas, and Dakota Thomas, and her parents, Kent Pedersen and Leslie Thomas.  With the death of Isabelle Thomas, the City of Prince George is now recording its deadliest year ever, with eight confirmed homicides since January. That’s more than the previous high set in 2010, when the city recorded seven homicides — and was labelled Canada’s most dangerous city by Maclean’s magazine for the first of three consecutive years, based on the publication’s use of data provided by Statistics Canada. The same year also saw two additional homicides in rural areas outside municipal boundaries. In a report released Thursday, Statistics Canada found that violent crime in Prince George in 2022 was the highest of any city in B.C., with a population of more than 15,000 people. The agency makes the determination using the Crime Severity Index (CSI), based on police-reported incidents of violent crimes across Canada. Cpl. Jenn Cooper with the Prince George RCMP said in a statement to CBC News that all of the eight homicides in 2023 appear targeted, and there is no increased risk to the community.  “We are working diligently to identify those responsible for the recent spike in violence and have units throughout the detachment focusing their efforts on these and other supporting investigations,” Cooper wrote.  According to police, five of this year’s homicides are connected to the drug trade, with Supt. Shaun Wright telling CBC News earlier in the year that there has been competition among different organizations and individuals aiming to control the region. However, the two victims from the July homicides were not engaged in criminal activity at the time of their deaths, said Cooper. In a report commissioned and presented to Prince George council last year, a trio of criminologists found that Prince George RCMP are dealing with more crime than almost any other city in the province, leading to high levels of burnout and an inability to effectively police the community. In response, council approved funding for four additional officers and two civilian support staff at a cost of more than $1 million. Provincially, the city has been earmarked as one of 12 communities to pilot a project that will see police, prosecutors and probation officers work together to target violent offenders.  Feb. 4: A woman is found dead in her home on 17th Avenue at Fir Street in the city’s Millar Addition area between midnight and 1 a.m. Police say the death appears to have been targeted and connected to the city’s drug trade. Feb. 14: A woman is found dead inside a home in the Sunrise Valley Mobile Park between midnight and 1 a.m. One woman is charged with second-degree murder in the death. RCMP say the death appears to be targeted and connected to the city’s drug trade. March 7: RCMP are called to an “altercation” at the Connaught Hill Residences, a highrise apartment block less than 500 metres from city hall, around 9 p.m. A man is found dead, and RCMP later charged a man with manslaughter with a firearm. RCMP link this death to the drug trade, as well. April 1: A man is found dead in a private residence in the 2200 block of Quince Street just before 8:30 p.m. RCMP say the death is being treated as a homicide victim connected to the city’s drug trade. April 19: A man identified as James Archibald Webb is found deceased in a rural location approximately 80 kilometres northeast of Prince George. RCMP say Webb’s death was a targeted killing with links to the drug trade. June 19: RCMP are called to a report of a home invasion shortly after 8 p.m. in the 300-block of Nicholson St.

22-year-old mother of 2 identified as homicide victim as B.C. city sets new homicide record Read More »

Ontario man smuggled people from India to U.S., through Calgary, Toronto, Montreal

Leave a Comment / Canidan Security policy Issues, crime /

Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Simranjit Singh, a 41-year-old man from Brampton, Ont., pleaded guilty to nine counts of human smuggling before the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of New York on Friday. The case has revealed more information on a network that potentially moved hundreds of people from India across the Canada-U.S. border. Best CCTV Camera in Brampton An Indian national from Brampton, Ont., pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court on Friday to human smuggling as part of a network that potentially moved hundreds of people from India across the Canada-U.S. border. Simranjit (Shally) Singh, 41, pleaded guilty to six counts of alien smuggling and three counts of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling during an appearance in Albany, N.Y., before Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.  Singh appeared in a short-sleeved orange jumpsuit with “ACCF Inmate” written on the back, which stands for Albany County Correctional Facility. He wore black-rimmed glasses, with salt and pepper stubble spread down his cheeks and chin. There was a small tattoo behind his left ear and another scrawled down his left forearm.  None of Singh’s family or friends appeared at the hearing. Singh’s plea agreement included an admission that he arranged to smuggle people into the U.S. from India by flying them to Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, before transporting them to Cornwall, Ont. Singh then moved the Indian nationals by boat across the St. Lawrence River through Akwesasne, a Haudenosaunee community that straddles the Canada-U.S. border and sits about 120 kilometres west of Montreal. U.S. authorities said Singh bragged he smuggled more than 1,000 people into the U.S. from Canada. The case against Singh was based on evidence gathered through surveillance, Facebook messages and human sources related to four failed smuggling attempts across the St. Lawrence River between March 2020 and April 2022, according to court records.  Singh acted as a broker, charging $5,000 to $35,000 per person to smuggle mainly Indian nationals into the U.S. He then paid people in Akwesasne between $2,000 to $3,000 per person to take them across the river through the community’s territory. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Crews search for bodies on the St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne on March 31, 2023, following a fatal smuggling attempt that left eight people dead. (Christinne Muschi/Reuters) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton Singh’s indictment is not connected to the deaths of eight suspected migrants — including four Indian citizens — on the St. Lawrence in March.  However, there are similarities in Singh’s routes and tactics, and those used by the network behind the fatal human smuggling attempt, which also left a Romanian family of four dead. The plea agreement included the admission that Singh, using locals, loaded Indian nationals on boats which launched from Cornwall Island in Akwesasne, across the water to the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River, where they were picked up in vehicles and taken to nearby New York state motels. This was the same route followed by the Indian and Romanian families who died in March. After the hearing, Singh’s lawyer, Lee Kindlon, told CBC News that his client was likely exaggerating when he claimed he smuggled 1,000 people over the border. Kindlon said Singh was just a cog in a much bigger network.  “Hopefully through sentencing, we can show that his role in this larger enterprise was actually quite small,” said Kindlon, with the Albany-based Kindlon Law Firm. “I’m not sure how much he entirely knows about the larger network. Everyone answers to somebody else, but who is on top of the food chain, I am not sure he knew or understood.”  Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Defence lawyer Lee Kindlon says his client, Simranjit Singh, was just a cog in a much larger network. (Jorge Barrera/CBC) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Singh was also suffering from depression and anxiety in jail, Kindlon said. Singh’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 28, 2023. He faces a potential prison sentence ranging from five to 15 years and deportation to India. “He has always been regretful about getting carried away in this whole thing,” said Kindlon. “Saying guilty here is the first step toward redemption and ultimately acceptance of punishment and responsibility.” Evidence gathered by U.S. authorities shows Singh exploited vulnerable Akwesasne members facing addiction and poverty as part of his operation.  Singh, who was facing deportation from Canada when he was arrested and extradited, originally arrived in Montreal from India in 2010 with his then-wife and one child, and filed refugee claims. His mother then arrived with his other child and also filed refugee claims. All five were ultimately rejected, according to court records. Canadian authorities could not return them to India because the Indian Consulate refused to provide travel documents.  Singh attempted to stay in Canada after marrying a second wife, who sponsored him. That application was pending at the time of his arrest in the summer of 2022. The U.S. case against Singh grew from his failed attempt to smuggle three Indian nationals into the U.S. in March 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a shutdown of the border.  In this instance, he used a single mother of two from Akwesasne dealing with severe trauma and facing care-related costs for one of her children, who required extensive hospitalization, according to court records.  The woman is said to have picked up three Indian nationals after they crossed the St. Lawrence River, driving them to a motel over the eastern border of Akwesasne, which was under watch by U.S. Border Patrol.  Agents stopped her vehicle the next day, after she returned and picked up the three Indian nationals, who tried running from the traffic stop. The woman also tried to flee, eventually crashing into four Border Patrol vehicles.  In another case in late winter 2021, a family in India allegedly paid Singh thousands of dollars to smuggle a family member into the U.S. Singh drove the individual to a motel in Cornwall, Ont. “Singh bragged about smuggling over 1,000 people and that [the Indian national] had nothing to worry about,” according to U.S. records. The Indian national boarded a boat on March 4 with three other migrants, and landed on a U.S. portion of Akwesasne governed by

Ontario man smuggled people from India to U.S., through Calgary, Toronto, Montreal Read More »

How Indigenous services leaders are teaching youth on reserves to help their communities cope with disasters

Leave a Comment / News, social issues /

Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton A group of mentors and mentees stand together at the Preparing Our Home gathering in Osoyoos, B.C., on Oct. 18, 2022. The program approaches emergency preparedness from Indigenous services perspectives, accounting for the unique needs of First Nations communities. (Devin Naveau) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton In the face of Canada’s worst wildfire season on record, a national program that teaches Indigenous youth to become emergency preparedness leaders is more important than ever, say its founders. The Preparing Our Home program aims to improve disaster management on reserve by sharing practices geared towards Indigenous services communities – communities that are increasingly and disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change. “With Preparing Our Home, there’s been a real awareness and education [about] disasters and evacuations, how to work with your community when those incidents happen,” program co-founder and mentor Darlene Yellow Old Woman-Munro told CBC’s What On Earth. As part of the program, Yellow Old Woman-Munro shares lessons learned during the climate-linked disaster that struck her own nation: the 2013 flood that hit the Siksika Nation and other parts of southern Alberta. In its aftermath, Yellow Old Woman-Munro developed the Dancing Deer Disaster Recovery Centre to support evacuees spread out around the large reserve. Evacuees were usually expected to travel to a central location for support, but Yellow Old Woman-Munro said she knew her community needed a different approach. She put together a team of health-care workers and youth to visit evacuees in the temporary sites where they were living instead. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Yellow Old Woman-Munro, centre, stands with members of the Dancing Deer Disaster Recovery Centre, a team created to assist evacuees from the flood that struck the Siksika Nation in Alberta in 2013. (Dancing Deer Disaster Recovery Centre) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton “For evacuees, to travel was an issue,” Yellow Old Woman-Munro said. “So it was easier for us … to go out and meet with the evacuees, find out what they needed, bring food, bring water, blankets, tents to them.” The Preparing Our Home Program, which has been running for seven years, shares these kinds of community-focused practices with Indigenous youth across Canada. Program co-founder and director Lilia Yumagulova said conventional disaster response is inappropriate for many living on reserve. For example, being taken on a bus and housed in evacuation centres, such as gymnasiums with rows of cots and bright lights, can be a “traumatic triggering event,” for residential school survivors, she said. “There is a lot … that needs to be changed to make it much more culturally safe,” she said. When it comes to emergency preparedness, Yumagulova said, conventional messaging is aimed at middle class, able-bodied people who can afford an emergency preparedness kit and a vehicle. “There is this silent majority that actually falls outside of those spaces and that’s where a lot of preparedness efforts should be directed,” she said. Preparing Our Home holds an annual gathering in Osoyoos, B.C. in the fall, during which youth learn from elders and emergency management professionals. “We really begin with understanding why communities are at such a disproportionate amount of risk,” said Yumagulova. “So you begin with the Indian Act and the forced displacement that many communities went through.” Then, she said, they explore solutions from Indigenous services communities across the country. “The youth say that it’s just amazing to know that you’re not alone facing these issues,” she said. Michelle Vandevord, a Muskoday First Nation firefighter and associate director for Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management, is a mentor with the program. She teaches youth about wildfire management and Indigenous-led evacuation practices. Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Michelle Vandevord, a Muskoday First Nation firefighter and associate director for Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management, is a mentor with the Preparing Our Home program. (Aboriginal Firefighters Association of Canada) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton One example: a cultural camp held in Prince Albert, Sask., in May for evacuees from the fire that threatened the community at Deschambault Lake in the province’s northeast. “When you think about our First Nation people going to hotels and the foods that are being served, it’s not something that people are used to,” Vandevord said. Fast food can have health impacts for people from remote communities, especially diabetics, she added. The cultural camp in Prince Albert, she said, served fish, caribou, and moose, offering evacuees a familiar meal of traditional foods. “[It was] very First Nations-led, solving a problem that we see on the ground,” Vandevord said. Such practices are vital for community wellbeing during disasters, say Preparing Our Home mentors. The goal of the annual gathering is for youth to return to their communities and teach others what they’ve learned about emergency preparedness. The event can also lead to careers in emergency management for some of the young participants. Home CCTV Camera in Brampton Brent Boissoneau, 24, has attended the Preparing Our Home gathering and was hired as the emergency management co-ordinator for his community, Mattagmi First Nation in Ontario, earlier this year. (Preparing Our Home) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Brent Boissoneau, 24, is one of them. He attended the gathering several years ago and was hired as the emergency management co-ordinator for his community, Mattagami First Nation in Ontario, earlier this year. It’s a federally funded role that many, including Canada’s Auditor General, say is critical for Indigenous services communities during disasters. “You learn so much from other people that are there,” Boissoneau said of the gathering. “And building that relationship to see what [disaster management strategies] can we take from them and what can we give to them as well?” A 2022 Auditor General’s report said the federal government is failing to provide the support First Nations need to manage emergencies. The report says many problems were identified a decade ago, but Indigenous Services Canada has not solved them. Lilia Yumagulova said there has been some progress. “Indigenous peoples within these colonial structures … are making [an] enormous difference in moving these files forward,” she

How Indigenous services leaders are teaching youth on reserves to help their communities cope with disasters Read More »

“India’s export ban on non-basmati rice triggers panic buying at Sask. grocery stores”

Leave a Comment / Economy, News /

Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Sriram Ramamurthy, Manager of Iqbal Halal Foods in Toronto, says customers have been stockpiling rice after India moved to ban export on non-basmati rice. (Nisha Patel/CBC) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton India’s decision to ban the export of non-basmati rice has led to consumers panic-buying and stockpiling Indian rice around the world, driving up prices in the process. In Canada, the U.S. and abroad, reports of panic-buying are flourishing on social media, with stores that cater to South Asian communities implementing caps on the amount that any customer can buy, and adjusting prices. Sriram Ramamurthy, the manager of Iqbal Halal Foods in Toronto, told CBC News in an interview Monday that he saw an immediate increase in demand for rice once word of the ban spread on Thursday of last week. “They started coming in here and they wanted to buy more and more,” he said. He soon implemented a limit of one bag per customer, but that quickly proved futile as customers would come back with more family members, “each one trying to pick two or three at a time.” Some customers would even approach other customers in line who were not buying rice, trying to get them to purchase it on their behalf, he said. Ramamurthy says he carries more than 40 different brands of rice in his store, mostly from India, but the majority of what he sells is basmati rice, a premium grade of rice that isn’t even included in the export ban. But that hasn’t stopped customers from trying to buy up every grain they can, of basmati and varieties included in the ban, just in case, he said. Siraj Mohammed said he heard about the ban, so decided to come “down to the grocery store expecting that this is not gonna be the case in Canada. But I guess the worst happened,” he said. He prefers one specific type of basmati rice, one that the store doesn’t have any more of right now. “Now I’m not going to be able to get my hands on it, I guess.” Ramamurthy says he hasn’t raised his prices yet, but he’s expecting his suppliers to soon. Stores that cater to the South Asian market elsewhere in Canada are reporting similar scenes, including Savor Supermarket in Saskatoon, where purchases are being limited. Stores in the U.S., Australia and elsewhere are also seeing unprecedented demand, Bloomberg and others reported Tuesday, although CBC News has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of videos showing hoarding and panic buying. India has taken the extraordinary step in order to ensure domestic supply, and bring down prices, which have soared due to excess rains and drought in rice-producing regions. According to government data, the domestic price of non-basmati rice has increased by almost 10 per cent this month. In September of last year, a metric tonne of non-basmati rice in India would cost about $330 US. Today it tops $450, according to pricing in the most-traded Indian rice futures contract. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Stores have started to ration bags of rice after India’s move to ban imports prompted stockpiling. (Nisha Patel/CBC) Sophia Murphy, executive director for the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, says rice is such a staple for India and its 1.2 billion people that the government manages supply closely. Unlike other food commodities, she says the global rice market is very domestically oriented, as less than 10 per cent of all the rice in the world ever crosses a border. Home CCTV Camera in Brampton Best CCTV Camera in Brampton While India is far and away the world’s largest exporter of rice, with more than 40 per cent of international trade in it, their primary concern is maintaining domestic supply, which is why they have had export bans in the past, she says. “If they ban or someway limit the exports, it should keep more production in the country and it should reduce the inflation pressure that is there on food prices,” she said. Canada imported about $650 million worth of rice last year, according to government data. Within that, about $140 million came from India — and only a tiny percentage of that is of the small- and medium-grain varieties of non-basmati rice that the ban applies to. Murphy says while supply of basmati may also be strained, the government did not move to ban exports since it is a more premium product. Local concern is on the other staple varieties, which is why the government used the dramatic step of halting exports. “Bans are easy to explain to the public,” she said, “we’re not selling food abroad, we’re looking after people at home. It’s often a pretty blunt — not necessarily very effective — instrument but it has domestic political capital associated with it.” India’s move to ensure domestic supply is the second major announcement from a major exporter this year, as in May Vietnam announced plans to limit its own exports to four million tonnes a year by 2030. That’s down from more than seven million tonnes a year right now, and it’s aimed at “ensuring domestic food security, protecting the environment and adapting to climate change,” the government said in a release. In recent years, India has emerged as one of the largest exporters of rice, a staple crop that feeds millions around the world. However, a significant shift occurred when the Indian government implemented a sudden ban on rice exports, leaving many nations, including Canada, struggling to cope with the repercussions. This article delves into the reasons behind India’s decision to ban rice exports and explores the far-reaching consequences it has had on the global rice market. From shortages in Canada to stockpiling on a global scale, the implications of this decision have reverberated through economies and food security networks worldwide. India’s agricultural sector plays a pivotal role in its economy, with rice being a crucial crop cultivated across vast regions. Over the years, India’s rice production has increased significantly, making it one of the leading exporters in the world. The country’s abundance

“India’s export ban on non-basmati rice triggers panic buying at Sask. grocery stores” Read More »

Shopping Cart