In the news today: UoT encampment ordered taken down, Nova Scotia needs new cash

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

Toronto police to enforce encampment order.

The Toronto Police Service says it will enforce a court order granted yesterday that says demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the University of Toronto must dismantle the site by 6 p.m. today.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Markus Koehnen says while there is no evidence the encampment participants have been violent or antisemitic, the demonstration has taken away the university’s ability to control what happens in the area known as King’s College Circle.

Koehnen says property owners generally decide what happens on their property, and if protesters can take that power for themselves, there is nothing to stop a stronger group from coming and taking over the space from the current protesters.

He says that leads to chaos, and his order gives police the authority to arrest and remove anyone who knows about it, which contradicts it.

N.S. municipalities need new revenue sources

The tax base for municipalities across Nova Scotia isn’t keeping up with the cost of services and programs, and local governments need to get creative in finding new revenue, including by asking Ottawa for a cut of personal income taxes.

That idea for new money is included in a report released Wednesday calling for a major reconsideration of how Nova Scotia’s villages, towns and cities deal with a range of issues from taxation and public transit to climate change and housing.

Released by the Nova Scotia office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the 79-page report calls for its ideas to “become part of the debate around the municipal elections in the fall.” Provincewide municipal elections in Nova Scotia are set for Oct. 19.

Prime minister to skip Calgary Stampede

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s summer campaign circuit will not include a stop at the Calgary Stampede.

The annual 10-day rodeo and festival is usually a must-do event for politicians, and Trudeau hasn’t missed a summer except for the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021.

But his office confirms there will be no pancake flipping, cowboy-hat tipping or crowd-hopping for the prime minister this year.

A spokesperson for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said the news Trudeau won’t be attending “must come as welcome relief” for Alberta Liberal and NDP MPs who would prefer he “stay in hiding.”

“Having just been rejected in one of the safest Liberal ridings in downtown Toronto, it’s hard to imagine that Canadians will miss Justin Trudeau all too much at Stampede,” Sebastian Skamski said in a statement.

The water in Calgary will soon be flowing again

Calgary’s month-long water conservation crisis is starting to come to an end, as residents are being told they can resume normal indoor water use.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek says people no longer need to worry about their indoor water use, meaning showers, laundry and toilet flushes can return to normal.

Gondek did appeal to people to take it slow and not overwhelm the system as they work to return to full water services.

She says the return of water services is limited to indoor use only, so watering your lawn is still being restricted.

A fire ban is also remaining in place, but Gondek says the details on when those restrictions would be lifted are coming soon.

Court hears Coutts protest could lead to ‘war‘

One of two men accused of conspiring to kill Mounties at the border blockade at Coutts, Alta., characterized the protest as a last stand and told his mother there “will be a war” if police moved in.

“Mom, I am fine. If they start the violence, I am just telling you there will be war and casualties of war,” read one of the text messages relayed in court Tuesday from Chris Carbert’s phone.

“The sooner you wake up to what’s happening the sooner you’ll understand why I have to do what I have to do.”

Carbert and Anthony Olienick are on trial charged with conspiring to commit murder at the blockade, which tied up traffic for two weeks at the busy Canada-U.S. border crossing at Coutts in 2022 to protest COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.

Court heard Carbert was determined to see the protest through and that there was no going back.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2024

The Canadian Press