Public Safety / Bill C-2

Toronto Star: RCMP pays $394,000 of $7.5-million contract for grounded Black Hawk helicopter

OTTAWA — The RCMP has avoided a $7.5-million fee and any finding of wrongdoing after the cancellation of one of its Black Hawk helicopter contracts, potentially ending a months-long controversy over an aircraft it chartered that was not eligible to fly in Canada.

The Mounties are walking away with a $394,000 bill for the 10 days the helicopter flew before regulatory concerns grounded it in June, but will not have to pay for any of the time the Black Hawk was sitting idle, after the contract was cancelled under an “amicable” agreement.

It will also continue working with operator Helicopter Transport Services, which provided the helicopter despite only being licensed to use it for training and special events, with two other Black Hawk contracts unaffected and running until at least December.

Public Services and Procurement Canada says that “as the contract was terminated by mutual consent, there was no finding of wrongdoing” in its internal probe of the contract, but the department did not confirm if it has completely dropped the investigation.

Transport Canada, meanwhile, says it’s still assessing the unauthorized use of the helicopter and will not yet comment on “any decisions or potential compliance or enforcement measures” against the operator.

The RCMP maintains it did everything in a “fair, open and transparent manner” because it replaced its supplier for the third Black Hawk with Helicopter Transport Services due to a lower price offer. The company did not return a request for comment.

NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said she’s still left wondering why the RCMP signed the contract in the first place

“What action is being taken, or policy change is being made to ensure taxpayers are not on the hook for such wasteful spending in the future?” Kwan wrote in an email. “The prime minister needs to be honest, transparent and accountable to Canadians.”

*Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.therecord.com/politics/federal/rcmp-pays-394-000-of-7-5m-contract-for-grounded-black-hawk-helicopter/article_775f5459-0f8e-5baa-86e3-6f0432f8ee5c.html

Toronto Star: Contract cancelled for RCMP’s grounded Black Hawk helicopter

OTTAWA — A $7.5-million contract for one of the RCMP’s Black Hawk helicopters has been cancelled, months after the Star revealed the U.S.-made aircraft was grounded for being ineligible to use for border patrols in Canada.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) said in a written statement to the Star on Tuesday that the government and Ottawa-based Helicopter Transport Services (HTS) “have agreed to terminate the agreement by mutual consent.”

The statement did not say if an ongoing probe into the contract had found wrongdoing by the RCMP or HTS, which won the contract despite questions about whether the helicopter met the licensing requirements to be used for border patrols in Canada.

It also did not say how much money, if any, the RCMP had paid HTS under the contract before it was cancelled.

NDP Public Safety critic Jenny Kwan told the Star she supports the contract’s cancellation but questioned why it was authorized in the first place.

“It is a serious failure of procurement oversight,” Kwan wrote in a statement.

“Canadians deserve to know who approved this contract, how much public dollars were on the hook with this debacle, and what steps will be taken to ensure this kind of procurement failure does not happen again.”

Anandasangaree has defended the use of the Black Hawks as an “off-the-shelf fix” that was implemented quickly to get around procurement challenges, and said their long-term use will be assessed.

*Click image or link to read the full story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/contract-cancelled-for-rcmp-s-grounded-black-hawk-helicopter/article_26c08516-3d6a-41ed-9e31-b09bff83ba4f.html

National Post: House public safety committee votes to investigate vetting of accused NATO spy

OTTAWA — The House of Commons public safety committee has voted unanimously to investigate Canada’s security screening processes, after a Canadian woman was arrested in Belgium for allegedly spying on NATO.

The committee adopted a special, out-of-session motion on Monday to probe the vetting of Biwei “Claire” Zhang by Canadian security officials before the start of an internship last summer at NATO’s central military headquarters in Belgium.

On July 25, Belgian authorities announced they’d arrested a “Canadian national of Chinese origin” on suspicion of spying for a third country while interning at the NATO headquarters. Subsequent reporting identified the suspect as Zhang, a computer science and systems engineering graduate in her early 30s who’d previously held positions at multiple Canadian federal agencies.

Zhang’s security clearance for the overseas NATO internship was approved by the Canadian government after she was vetted by CSIS.

The NDP does not have any seats on the public safety committee, or any House committee, but NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said she supported the investigation.

”The government needs to conduct a comprehensive review of how this individual was vetted and cleared for a sensitive NATO posting, including the role played by Global Affairs Canada, CSIS and the RCMP,” said Kwan in an email.

Kwan also it was important to ensure that candidate screening remain “evidence based” and “(does) not become a vehicle for racial or ethnic profiling.”

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/house-public-safety-committee-special-meeting-accused-nato-spy

CBC News: Prison watchdog role left vacant for months, even after outgoing investigator warned of 'serious legal void'

Prime Minister Mark Carney's government left the position of Canada's prison watchdog vacant for several months, despite written warnings from the outgoing correctional investigator that doing so would seriously compromise the office's powers to do its job protecting inmates.

Records obtained by CBC News under Canada's Access to Information Act reveal that former correctional investigator Ivan Zinger advised Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree that the failure to fill his position before he left "would create a serious legal void."

After around four months of sitting vacant, the role was filled by an interim investigator — a move that has itself raised concerns because of the role's temporary nature.

The Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) acts as an independent watchdog for prisoners across Canada, dealing with an average 4,000-5,000 complaints a year.

In previous years its work has helped trigger significant inquiries, such as the commission of inquiry into Kingston's Prison for Women in the mid-1990s that uncovered infringement of prisoners' legal rights and "cruel, inhumane and degrading" treatment of women there.

During his time as correctional investigator, Zinger flagged several problems in Canada's prisons including lack of access to adequate mental health treatment and the over-representation of Indigenous inmates.

Last year he announced he would be stepping down early from his five-year mandate.

Zinger told CBC News that he gave the government seven months' notice so it could find a new correctional investigator before he left in February.

New Democrat public safety critic Jenny Kwan said there are several issues in Canada's prison system that have to be dealt with, including the over-incarceration of Indigenous people, inadequate mental health support and barriers to rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

"I think that this is not a priority for the government," said Kwan.

Kwan said Zinger should not have had to warn Anandasangaree about the need to fill the position.

"To date, we still don't have a permanent appointment, and there is no clear process of how the government will proceed with respect to that," she said. "That should be alarming for everyone, for Canadians, for the minister who is in charge of Canada's public safety."

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/correctional-investigator-prison-watchdog-ivan-zinger-9.7300344

OPEN LETTER: URGENT Ban RSS from Canada

MEDIA RELEASE: New Democrats Renew Calls on Canada to Ban the RSS and Deny Entry to its Chief

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2026

New Democrats Renew Calls on Canada to Ban the RSS and Deny Entry to its Chief

OTTAWA —New Democrats are calling on the federal government to deny entry to the head of the fascist paramilitary organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Network (RSS) and are renewing past NDP calls on Canada to ban the RSS entirely.

NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson and NDP Immigration and Public Safety Critic Jenny Kwan today wrote to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Public Safety, and Immigration to urge action in advance of Mohan Bhagwat’s planned visit to Canada at the end of August.

“The RSS is an extremist group that advocates hate and violence towards religious minorities and marginalized in India and also engages in targeted intimidation of those who speak out against the organization in Canada,” said Heather McPherson, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic. “Multiple minority communities fear his presence in Canada could amplify hate and violence towards them and risk the safety of vulnerable individuals.”

In recent weeks, United Nations Human Rights experts have called on Canada to ensure members of the Sikh community are protected from violent threats by Hindutva extremist groups including the RSS.

“Canada must send a clear message that there is no place in this country for individuals who promote or enable hatred, violence, or intimidation against vulnerable communities or who are connected to activities that threaten Canada's security and democratic institutions.  Pertinent sections of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act must be applied to protect Canadians and declare the IRSS and its members inadmissible,” said Jenny Kwan, NDP Critic for Public Safety and for Immigration.

New Democrats have long called on Canada to ban the RSS from Canada, place the RSS on the terrorist entities list, and impose sanctions on connected networks. Despite strong evidence of foreign interference and incitement to violence against Canadians, the Liberals have refused to take action on the RSS. Instead, in recent months the Carney government has grown closer to the Modi regime, causing members of several minority groups in Canada to say their safety no longer matters to the Liberal government.

On August 6, over 200 Canadian civil society organizations released a joint letter calling for Mohan Bhagwat to be denied entry to Canada.

 

National Post: Poilievre calls for changes to public alert system after missing Calgary boy found dead

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling for faster public alerts when children with special needs go missing, after an 11-year-old Calgary boy with autism was found dead following a two-week search.

Poilievre and Conservative MP Mike Lake said in a letter to federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski that the search for Parker Wells may have had a happier ending if the public had been notified about his disappearance sooner.

NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said she supported the idea of an Indigo Alert system.

“When a vulnerable child goes missing, every minute matters. An Indigo Alert would help ensure that autistic, non-verbal, and other medically or developmentally vulnerable children receive the urgent public response they need, giving families and communities another tool to bring children home safely,” wrote Kwan in an email.

Kwan said that the Ottawa should work with the provinces, territories, law enforcement and disability advocates to develop a coordinated Indigo Alert system.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/poilievre-calls-for-changes-to-public-alert-system-after-missing-calgary-boy-found-dead

 

Toronto Star: Critics question federal prison agency’s AI plans for inmate assessments

OTTAWA—Experts are urging Correctional Service Canada to slow down after it claimed using artificial intelligence to help create criminal profile reports for prisoners would save time and maintain accuracy, despite using just six text cases in a trial.

The warnings come as CSC considers rolling out generative AI tools that would summarize sensitive documents used to write influential assessment profiles of offenders going to prisons, as the Star has reported, raising alarm about the potential for the summaries to be tainted by AI-generated hallucinations or biases.

Criminal profile reports are “foundational documents” prepared by CSC staff during a prisoner’s intake process that identify risks and play a role in major decisions like access to programs and likelihood of parole.

Drawing from scores of other documents, they include details about: an offender’s criminal history; the circumstances of their crimes; patterns of violence; behavioural, mental health and addiction issues; family and social background; trauma history; education and employment records; and victim impact statements.

Sorelle Friedler, a professor of computer science at Haverford College who helped develop AI policy for former U.S. president Joe Biden, said “there’s no way to prove anything” with a trial of just six cases.

Jenny Kwan, the NDP’s public safety critic, said the government’s talk of safeguards is not sufficient. She is calling for an independent assessment, broad stakeholder engagement, and checks and balances on any potential rollout.

“I think that the issues and concerns around biases that are embedded into the AI system is still there. They have not addressed that issue,” Kwan told the Star. “The government needs to be open and transparent with this.”

*Click image or link to read the full news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/canada-isnt-ready-to-assess-prisoners-using-ai-critics-warn/article_5d0243fe-7375-420e-8e8e-fed2e80775e8.html

Toronto Star: Not our job to ensure border patrol helicopter could fly in Canada, RCMP says

The RCMP says it wasn’t its job to ensure its newest border patrol helicopter was allowed to fly in Canada, even as it defends paying for the Black Hawk it can’t use after it was grounded because of concerns from Transport Canada. 

The Mounties also won’t reveal the cost of the daily fees they are paying towards the $7.5-million contract for the idle chopper, as critics demand answers from Ottawa over how the RCMP chose a helicopter that’s not eligible to fly in Canada over other options.

“The Carney government must provide a full accounting of how this contract was awarded, who approved it, what due diligence was undertaken, and what steps will be taken to protect public funds going forward, especially given the massive increases in military spending that are forecast over the coming years,” NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said in a statement to the Star.

*Click image or link to read the news story - https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/not-our-job-to-ensure-border-patrol-helicopter-could-fly-in-canada-rcmp-says/article_aa75841e-c421-43ca-960b-47ef24197c0b.html

HANSARD: NDP Members do not support Bill C-22