In the news today: Convoy organizer sentencing, CAF class action lawsuit falls short

By Canadian Press on February 19, 2025.

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…

‘Freedom Convoy’ organizer faces sentencing

Pat King, one of the organizers of the 2022 convoy protest in Ottawa, is set to be sentenced in an Ottawa courtroom today.

Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland found King guilty on five counts in November, including mischief and disobeying a court order.

King was found not guilty on three counts of intimidation and one count of obstructing police.

The Crown is seeking a sentence of 10 years for King — the maximum penalty.

His defence is asking for time served and probation, since King spent about five months in jail after his initial arrest in February 2022 before being granted bail.

CAF discrimination settlement ‘a slap in the face’

A former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who has been involved in a discrimination class action for eight years says the settlement isn’t enough to compensate for the trauma he and others experienced.

The class action was launched on behalf of current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) who suffered racial discrimination or harassment in connection with their military service at any time since April 17, 1985.

The settlement is worth up to $150 million, and individual payments will range from a base of $5,000 up to $35,000 for class action members who provide a “narrative of their experience.”

New apps aim to help shoppers buy Canadian

If you catch Sasha Ivanov at the supermarket these days, chances are he’ll be snapping a photo of something on the store’s shelves.

His new app, Maple Scan, helps shoppers identify Canadian products by analyzing photographs of products to provide details about where they were made and whether they meet the government criteria for being labelled “product of Canada” or “made in Canada.”

When the app detects a product from outside the country, it offers users a list of homegrown alternatives.

“Right now, when I go to the grocery store, ultimately, I don’t really know what is Canadian or not or even any information about the company and their backgrounds,” the Calgary-based computer science researcher said about the app’s inspiration.

Pensions need to step up on climate change: Shift

An advocacy group is calling on Canada’s public pension managers to use their financial heft to more publicly work to reduce climate change as political efforts become less reliable.

Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health says in a report that Canada’s big pensions need to recognize the power and influence they wield and to more actively use it as U.S. President Donald Trump unravels momentum on climate action and a Canadian carbon tax policy looks to be on the way out.

The group’s executive director Adam Scott says political backsliding only increases the urgent need for financial leadership to fill the void.

Shift’s report assesses the climate commitments of 11 of Canada’s largest pension managers and finds most are making some progress but it’s concerned about the pace as well as the backsliding by some.

Clean energy key for next Ont. government: report

The next Ontario government should take the lead in encouraging urgent expansion of interprovincial electricity transmission while ensuring it advances a transition to a clean economy, a new report by the Pembina Institute said Wednesday.

Reducing interprovincial barriers could open up new markets for Ontario’s electricity that are insulated from ongoing trade uncertainty with the United States, the report said.

Ontario and the rest of Canada face a “new economic reality” highlighted by the threat of a prolonged trade dispute with the U.S., said the report published by the clean energy think tank. Yet, regardless of how those threats materialize, the report suggests a “major economic realignment” has started and Ontario must find a new path to ensure its economy is insulated against future shocks.

Investigation into Pearson plane crash continues

Delays at Toronto’s Pearson airport may continue today as investigators work to determine what caused Monday’s fiery crash landing of a Delta Air Lines plane with 80 people on board.

Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Tuesday they’ve recovered the plane’s black box and sent it off for analysis, but it’s too soon to say what led to the crash.

Airport authorities said the wreckage of the aircraft was expected to remain on the runway for about 48 hours until the investigators finish their work.

Backcountry skier killed in B.C. avalanche

A backcountry skier in B.C. has been killed in an avalanche near the community of Golden.

The RCMP says two men were reported unaccounted for at 10 p.m. Monday night, and had not been heard from since 5:30 p.m.

They say one of the men eventually made it home, and despite hillside efforts to revive his friend, he succumbed to his injuries.

Mounties say search and rescue crews, including a helicopter, were able to recover the body of a 42-year-old man from Golden, B.C.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published xxx. x, 20xx

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