Mario Canseco - Sep 21, 2020 / 1:54 pm | Story: 311190

Photo: Colin Dacre

A seal at the Vancouver Aquarium

Late last year, Research Co. and Glacier Media took an initial look at the relationship between Canadians and animals.

At the time, the countrys residents appeared to express outright dismay at practices like trophy hunting and killing animals for their fur, but sizable majorities had no problems with eating animals or hunting them for meat.

In 2020, we wanted to once again review the feelings of Canadians but adding the perspectives of our southern neighbours. The two-country survey shows that the views of Canadians and Americans are common on some crucial topics, even if the prevalence of certain attitudes related to animals is not as significant in some parts of the United States.

Across the two countries, about three in four residents (76% in Canada and 75% in the United States) are in favour of eating animals. Opposition to this custom is highest among women (24% in each country) and residents aged 18 to 34 (27% in Canada and 25% in the U.S.). Quebec (23%) and the Northeast (26%) are the North American regions with the largest appetite for vegetarianism or veganism.

The numbers are also consistent when it comes to hunting animals for meat, with 65% of Canadians and 67% of Americans having no qualms about this practice. In both countries, men are more likely to endorse hunting animals for meat than women.

One of the biggest differences between Canadians and Americans is observed in their opinions on zoos and aquariums. The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the activities of these venues, some of which are bringing in fewer visitors in an attempt to abide by social distancing guidelines. Others have temporarily closed their doors.

In Canada, half of residents (51%) are opposed to keeping animals in zoos or aquariums, while 39% are in favour of this custom. Support varies across the country, from a low of 35% in Ontario to a high of 46% in Alberta. Almost half of Canadian men (47%) do not have a problem with animals in captivity, compared to just one third of women (33%).

There are some sizable differences on political allegiance, with support for keeping animals in zoos or aquariums climbing from 35% among Liberal Party voters in the 2019 federal election, to 40% among New Democratic Party (NDP) supporters, to 50% for Conservative Party voters.

The findings change in the United States, where there are no major regional fluctuations. Almost two-thirds of Americans (64%) are in favour of keeping animals in zoos or aquariums, and just over three in 10 (31%) are opposed.

The issue of using animals in rodeos is decidedly more contentious in the United States. Americans are evenly divided on this practice, with 46% saying they are in favour of it and 46% opposing it. The gender gap is large, with 58% of men supporting the use of animals in rodeos compared to only 34% of women. Republican Party sympathizers are also significantly more likely to be in favour of rodeos (65%) than Independents (37%) and Democrats (36%).

In Canada, as was the case last year, opponents of the use of animals in rodeos outnumber enthusiasts by a two-to-one margin (62% to 32%). In Alberta, 49% of residents are in favour of using animals in rodeos. Support is significantly lower in British Columbia (33%), Quebec (27%) and Ontario (25%).

Two other customs are unquestionably less popular in North America. Only 25% of Americans and 19% of Canadians are in favour of killing animals for their fur. Aversion to the practice is highest among women (85% in the United States and 83% in Canada).

On the issue of hunting animals for sport, positive perceptions in Canada have fallen to single digits, with just 8% of Canadians favouring this practice. Support for trophy hunting plummets to just 5% among Canadians aged 55 and over.

In the United States, 25% of Americans are in favour of hunting animals for sport. The expected gender gap persists (39% among men, 11% among women). Also, while only 16% of Democrats favour trophy hunting, support climbs to 44% among Republicans.

There are several disparities in the way Canadians and Americans relate to animals. On the convoluted issue of entertainment, the views of Canadians have evolved at a faster pace. Both countries hold roughly the same opinions on food and are developing a greater disgust for the use of animals as garments and trophies.

Mario Canseco is president of Research Co.

Results are based on online studies conducted from September 4 to September 6, 2020, among representative samples of 1,000 adults in Canada and 1,200 adults in the United States. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian and U.S. census figures for age, gender and region in each country. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for Canada and plus or minus 2.8 percentage points for the United States.

The Canadian Press - Sep 21, 2020 / 12:38 pm | Story: 311180

Photo: The Canadian Press

RCMP officers prepare to enter an apartment complex in connection with the mailing of ricin to President Trump Monday, September 21, 2020 in St. Hubert, Que.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

RCMP are searching a residence on Montreal's south shore in connection with envelopes containing the poison ricin that were sent to the White House and to various locations in Texas.

Cpl. Charles Poirier said Monday the home is connected to a woman arrested Sunday night at the New York-Canada border who authorities suspect is involved in the case.

"We don't know if she lived here but there is a clear link between her and this residence," Poirier told reporters at the scene.

The home is located in a multi-unit building on Vauquelin Blvd. in St-Hubert, bordering a forest and not far from an airport. Some of the units in the building were evacuated after police arrived around 10 a.m.

The RCMP's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives team is leading the operation with support from local police and firefighters. Police say all necessary measures have been taken to ensure public safety.

"We don't know what we're going to find, that's why we've deployed multiple resources," Poirier said. "We also have a specialized unit to make sure that if we find something that is highly toxic inside the residence, we are prepared."

The Associated Press reported Sunday that three U.S. law enforcement officials said a woman suspected of sending a toxic envelope to the White House was arrested at the New York-Canada border. They said the letter had been intercepted last week before it reached the official residence of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Poirier said Monday that envelopes containing ricin a toxic substance found naturally in castor beans had also been sent to various locations in Texas.

Canadian law enforcement was called in to help the FBI investigate after American authorities found evidence the suspicious letter to the White House had originated in Canada.

The woman was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Peace Bridge border crossing in Fort Erie, Ont., and she is expected to face federal charges. Her name was not immediately released.

Poirier said police are expected to be at the residence south of Montreal for a few hours.

There have been several prior instances in which U.S. officials have been targeted with ricin sent through the mail.

A Navy veteran was arrested in 2018 and confessed to sending envelopes to Trump and members of his administration that contained the substance from which ricin is derived. The letters were intercepted, and no one was hurt.

In 2014, a Mississippi man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after sending letters dusted with ricin to President Barack Obama and other officials.

The Canadian Press - Sep 21, 2020 / 11:53 am | Story: 311172

Photo: The Canadian Press

RCMP investigators search for evidence at the location where Const. Heidi Stevenson was killed along the highway in Shubenacadie, N.S. on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Court documents released today describe the violence a Nova Scotia mass killer inflicted on his father years before his rampage, as well as the gunman's growing paranoia before the outburst of shootings and killings.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Court documents released today describe the violence a Nova Scotia mass killer inflicted on his father years before his rampage as well as the gunman's growing paranoia before the outburst of killings.

Fifty-one-year Gabriel Wortman took 22 lives on April 18-19 before police killed him at a service station in Enfield, N.S.

In documents that a media consortium, including The Canadian Press, went before a provincial court judge to obtain, Wortman's spouse and cousin both describe how in 2016 he smashed his father's head against the pool during a family vacation in the Caribbean.

The May 5 police application for a search warrant quotes a cousin, who was a retired RCMP officer, telling investigators that the killer was "a strange little guy" when they were growing up, and he'd come to believe Wortman was a career criminal capable of killing others.

The gunman's spouse says in the documents her partner once wooed her with flowers, but he had grown increasingly paranoid and violent in recent years.

She recalled that he once told her he believed it would be easy to murder police officers, and on the night of the rampage he had "snapped" as he went from making plans and chatting with her to burning his property in Portapique, N.S.

The documents also contain a detailed account of how Wortman received $475,000 in $100 bills from a Brinks facility in Dartmouth, N.S., on March 30, as he grew increasingly anxious about COVID-19.

Investigators also describe a series of 2019 transactions the gunman made as he assembled the replica police vehicle he drove during the rampage.

The purchases included police cars, light bars, siren light controls, a dashboard camera, vinyl decals and a push bar for the front of the car to create an almost identical replica.

Witnesses quoted in the documents cast fresh light on the assistance Wortman received in creating decals for the vehicle he drove during the rampage.

Peter Griffon provided a cautioned statement to police describing how he'd made the RCMP decals for Wortman's car, without the knowledge of his employer, using a computer at the back of the shop to research RCMP emblems.

The owner of the graphics company is quoted in the documents saying he'd told Griffon not to make the decals, as "he should not be messing around with stuff like that."

Griffon, who was on parole from prison, has since had his parole revoked as a result of the assistance he provided Wortman.

The 40-year-old man had been on parole, and living with his parents in Portapique, N.S., doing odd jobs for Wortman, when he completed the decal work.

A National Parole Board decision provided to The Canadian Press says Griffon was convicted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in 2017, and received parole a year later.

The board said in its decision, "the consequences of your (Griffon's) most recent flawed decision-making contributed to a horrific end that touched every life in your province. Those decisions are inconsistent with being on parole."

The newly released court documents also contain statements from a Canada Border Services Agency officer who provided a database analysis indicating Wortman had travelled to the United States frequently in the past decade and had imported car parts.

He crossed the Woodstock, N.B., border crossing 15 times in the past two years, according to the document.

The Canadian Press - Sep 21, 2020 / 11:52 am | Story: 311171

Photo: The Canadian Press

Ships are framed by pieces of melting sea ice in Frobisher Bay in Iqaluit, Nunavut on Wednesday, July 31, 2019. Satellite pictures say Arctic sea ice is now at its second-lowest level in more than four decades. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Satellite pictures show Arctic sea ice is at its second-lowest level in more than four decades.

And scientists say they believe the defining feature of life in northern waters could shrink even further before the melt season is over.

The U.S.-based National Snow and Ice Data Centre has decided that today is likely to be when the overall level of sea ice across the Arctic stops melting and starts growing again.

Centre director Mark Serreze says the amount of Arctic sea ice is at least 1.5 million fewer square kilometres less than the average.

The ice barely beats that from 2012, the year with the all-time lowest level in the 42 years satellites have been photographing the Arctic.

Sea ice is a crucial factor in Arctic ecosystems, determining the fate of everything from one-celled animals to polar bears.

It is also thought by many to have a strong role in southern weather patterns.

The Canadian Press - Sep 21, 2020 / 11:00 am | Story: 311164

Photo: The Canadian Press

The COVID-19 pandemic appears to be gaining steam across Eastern Canada as Ontario and Quebec report a surge in infections.

Health authorities in Quebec reported 568 new COVID-19 cases today, a jump of more than 100 compared with Sunday, while Ontario's numbers increased to 425 from 365 a day prior.

In Montreal, which saw over 200 new cases in the last 24 hours, regional Public Health Director Mylene Drouin says all COVID-19 indicators are worsening, suggesting the beginning of a second wave.

Quebec announced tighter restrictions on public and private indoor gatherings on Sunday as it raised the alert level for several regions of the province, including Montreal and Quebec City.

In Quebec and in Ontario, the jump in new cases is being driven by people under the age of 40, who Drouin says are less likely to get seriously ill from COVID-19 but who can still transmit the virus to others who are more vulnerable.

Authorities are reporting COVID-19 outbreaks across the country today, including in schools, workplaces and on the main campus of the University of Alberta, which prompted officials there to suspend varsity athletics for 14 days.

The Canadian Press - Sep 21, 2020 / 10:58 am | Story: 311162

Photo: The Canadian Press

Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen

The federal Liberals plan to spend $1 billion over the next six months so cities and other housing providers can keep people from becoming homeless.

The rapid-housing funds can be used to buy properties being sold because of the COVID-19 pandemic, or to build new modular units.

The Liberals expect the program will create 3,000 new affordable housing units across Canada.

They want all the funds to be committed by the end of March 2021.

The funding will be available to municipalities, provinces, territories, Indigenous governing bodies and agencies and non-profit organizations.

Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen says Ottawa will provide an additional $237 million to the federal homelessness strategy for pandemic-related expenses.

The Canadian Press - Sep 21, 2020 / 9:50 am | Story: 311127

Photo: The Canadian Press

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of Sept. 21, 2020:

There are 144,662 confirmed cases in Canada.

_ Quebec: 68,128 confirmed (including 5,804 deaths, 59,131 resolved)

_ Ontario: 47,274 confirmed (including 2,829 deaths, 41,146 resolved)

_ Alberta: 16,381 confirmed (including 255 deaths, 14,702 resolved)

_ British Columbia: 7,842 confirmed (including 223 deaths, 5,797 resolved)

_ Saskatchewan: 1,807 confirmed (including 24 deaths, 1,643 resolved)

_ Manitoba: 1,586 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 1,216 resolved)

_ Nova Scotia: 1,086 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,020 resolved)

_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 272 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 267 resolved)

_ New Brunswick: 196 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 191 resolved)

_ Prince Edward Island: 57 confirmed (including 56 resolved)

_ Yukon: 15 confirmed (including 15 resolved)

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Canadians, Americans divided on issue of zoos and aquariums: poll - Canada News - Castanet.net