Canada

The UCalgary students and other community members involved in the protest were part of a broader movement at campuses across the United States and Canada calling for their institutions to disclose investments and divest from those implicated in Israel's genocidal war.

These encampments lasted for varying amounts of time, but few, if any, were shorter lived than the one at UCalgary.

Before anyone had the chance to stay overnight, Calgary police officers stormed onto campus dressed like they were going to war. The cops violently dismantled the protest camp, firing 15 pepperball rounds and four pepper grenades at the participants and using a degree of physical force that gave at least two protestors traumatic brain injuries.

The university’s preparations for the encampment would be undertaken strictly from the perspective of pro-Israel students and community members, with the presumption that any protest against Israel’s actions is by definition antisemitic and creates a hostile environment for Jewish people.

On May 14, law professors from UCalgary and UAlberta wrote an open letter to the presidents of their universities, the Calgary and Edmonton police services, and the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service arguing that the universities and police forces violated the encampment protestors' Charter rights.

"We are further concerned by the excess force and violence with which the Calgary Police Service and Edmonton Police Service cleared the camps," they added. "Video evidence suggests that police officers used force that went far beyond that which was necessary to effect law enforcement purposes."

Engler's arrest has been widely reported by X users, including well-known political commentator Glenn Greenwald and Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada (Abunimah was himself unjustly arrested by Swiss authorities last month). Turkish and Iranian media have reported on Engler's arrest, as has the UK-based channel Middle East Eye and the online legal news service Jurist News. However, no mainstream Canadian media have reported on Engler's arrest, and next to no Canadian politicians have condemned his jailing.

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/116560

The federal government is going to court to force a Toronto company to sell a $34-million stake in a Calgary-based lithium firm that it bought off a Chinese company.

The government had already deemed the previous Chinese owner's investment in Lithium Chile Inc. to be harmful to national security, and it says in a Federal Court application that the new buyer has failed to co-operate with efforts to prove it isn't owned or influenced by China's government either.

Lithium is a critical mineral used in batteries and clean power. The application says it is at the heart of Canada's "energy security in the transition to a low-carbon economy."

The Attorney General of Canada filed the application in Federal Court this month for an order directing Gator Capital Ltd. to dispose of its shares in Lithium Chile, headquartered in Calgary with mining properties in Argentina and Chile.

The government claims that Gator's owner, Wing Hong Chan, has not replied to any demands for information after it paid $34 million for the 20 per cent stake in Lithium Chile.

"Gator has repeatedly and deliberately failed to provide information in response to multiple requests for information, three ministerial demands, and repeated attempts to obtain a response from Gator and/or Mr. Chan," the application says.

...

Under the Investment Canada Act, the minister can order foreign actors to divest from Canadian businesses if their investments are found to be potentially "injurious to national security"

Chengze Lithium was given 90 days to sell, and one condition of the divestment order was that it couldn't sell or assign them to a Chinese state-owned enterprise, or a company under the influence of the government of the People's Republic of China.

...

Journalists Sabrina Nanji and Émilie Gougeon-Pelletier join Steve Paikin and John Michael McGrath to discuss party efforts in the final stretch of the Ontario 2025 election. Despite the Conservative lead in the polls, there are some tight races. The group discusses some ridings where the contest is heating up. We also discuss the French-language debate that took place this week and what came from that. And the group tackles some controversial comments made by candidates throughout the election and if it will have any effect. Steve's column: https://www.tvo.org/article/analysis-can-lightning-strike-twice-for-the-greens-in-kitchener-centre JMM's column: https://www.tvo.org/article/analysis-will-bonnie-crombies-pitch-to-ndp-voters-pay-off

It's concerning what a few billionaires are doing but there are way more of us so if everyone is doing small things it can add up.

One easy one is noticing where businesses you deal with get their boxes. My favourite coffee roastery used to use Uline boxes but is switching suppliers after they learned the back story on those guys: https://www.propublica.org/article/uline-uihlein-election-denial

What are some other small ways you've found to push back on the attempted coup of our southern neighbour?

Title mine, after a correction in the comments

Other links:

• https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/earthquake-felt-in-places-across-b-c-s-lower-mainland-1.7465598

• https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/magnitude-47-earthquake-shakes-home-in-vancouver-area/

Let's all close our eyes and go back to 2009 so we can feel the thrill of typing our first email on the go.

Petition by Charlie Angus.

Good thing he came back for the surge in user registrations on Lemmy.ca and for the launch of Pixelfed.ca

Candidate faces 12 allegations of breaching party rules, source says

The source said she faced 12 allegations, including accepting donations from a corporation in the form of payments to campaign staff.

Dhalla was accused of failing to disclose the involvement of a non-Canadian citizen in her campaign, which the party alleges would amount to foreign interference if it happened during an election period.