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Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree makes his way to the podium to speak in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Tuesday, June 3, 2025.

The federal government has listed the Bishnoi Gang as a terrorist entity, accusing the India-based group of engaging in murder, extortion and intimidation in Canada.

Public Safety Canada said Monday the gang creates a “climate of insecurity” in diaspora communities “by targeting them, their prominent community members, businesses, and cultural figures.”

“Listing the Bishnoi Gang will help Canadian security, intelligence, and law enforcement agencies in combating their crimes and making communities safer,” the agency said.

The designation under the Criminal Code allows for Canadian law enforcement to seize property and vehicles owned by the group or to freeze its finances, giving authorities more tools to prosecute terrorist offences.

“The Criminal Code listing can also be used by immigration and border officials to inform decisions on admissibility to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act,” according to Public Safety Canada.

The gang, named for its leader

Lawrence Bishnoi

, is described by the federal government as

a transnational criminal organization

operating primarily out of India, with a presence in Canada. Although Lawrence Bishnoi has been in prison in India since 2015, he is still allegedly controlling the group, the

BBC reported

.

Ottawa’s move comes after the Sikh community and politicians, including Conservative and NDP leaders as well as premiers in British Columbia and Alberta,

called on Prime Minister Mark Carney

for the designation.

“Violence, terror and the intimidation of communities will never be tolerated in Canada,” said Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree in a post on X.

In 2022, Punjabi singer

Sidhu Moose Wala

, who studied in Ontario as an international student, was killed in India. A man associated with the gang allegedly planned the murder from Canada.

In 2023, Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was fatally shot outside a temple in Surrey, B.C. The suspects in the murder

allegedly had ties to the Bishnoi Gang

, the Vancouver Sun reported. Justin Trudeau, who was prime minister at the time of the suspects’ arrests the following year,

pointed the finger at the Indian government

for their alleged involvement.

 Sikh separatist activists with the Khalistan movement deface a placard and mannequin of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they protest outside the Consulate General of India in Toronto, Canada, October 18, 2024. Canada expelled six Indian diplomats including the high commissioner, linking them to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader and alleging a broader effort to target Indian dissidents.

This led to a breakdown between the two governments, and India denied playing a role. Six Indian diplomats were

expelled from Canada

and six Canadian diplomats were expelled from India in October 2024.

In June, B.C. Premier David Eby said the Bishnoi Gang was involved in extorting members of the South Asian community in B.C., Alberta and Ontario, and were also connected to other crimes, the Vancouver Sun reported.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre mentioned the Bishnoi Gang while speaking at

a press conference in August

, saying they were “terrorizing communities, shooting up neighbourhoods, extorting our people, and taking the money out of our country.”

“There is evidence now that their violence is linked to terror and to political motivations. This is why numerous mayors and premiers, including me and Mayor Patrick Brown from Brampton (Ont.), have called for this group to be listed as a terrorist body,” said Poilievre.

“Doing so would allow police to arrest anyone who raises money, organizes, plans, does logistics or recruitment, and put those people in jail or, if they are non-Canadians, kick them out of this country.”

In September, the RCMP said it was

launching a specialized task force

“to strengthen investigations into the extortion threats targeting families and businesses in the South Asian community” in B.C.

 A protester holds a sign bearing the photo of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside the Indian consulate in Toronto last year.

After the designation, the World Sikh Organization of Canada (WSO) said it welcomed the move. The group is a non-profit that advocates for Canadian Sikhs.

“Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies have linked the Bishnoi gang to assassinations, extortions, and intimidation,” which it alleges was at the direction of the Indian government, the organization said in a news release.

The gang’s “criminal activities are at an unprecedented high, with countless businesses facing extortion and threats,” said WSO president Danish Singh.

“While this designation is an important first step that equips law enforcement with stronger tools to confront this menace, it is critical that the true architects of this violence are also held to account,” he said, adding that the gang has “operated at the direction of the Indian government.”

The Indian government denied allegations made by police in Canada last year that it was involved in ordering Bishnoi members to carry out homicides, violence or extortion,

the BBC reported

.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in October 2024 that Canada failed to act, adding that India had shared “security-related information with the Canadian government regarding gang members, including those of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and requested their arrest,” the

New Indian Express reported

. He said it was “strange” that the RCMP was “blaming the Indian side for crimes committed by these people in Canada.”

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The biggest cost in the price of a new home is taxation.

OTTAWA — At just 32, Eddie has a six-figure salary from a major financial institution, stocks, and no debt, including his rental property that nets him more than $5,000 a month. He lives frugally and invests as much as he can.

Eddie wants to buy a house in Ottawa, as close as possible to his downtown job, and is willing to spend up to about $900,000.

His wish list seems pretty basic: a decent neighbourhood, a back yard, and at least three bedrooms to accommodate what he hopes will one day be a growing family.

And yet, Eddie has been searching for more than seven months and still can’t find a match.

“It’s been an eye-opening experience,” said Eddie, who asked that his last name not be published.

Eddie’s frustration is far from unique. Canadians in countless communities — especially urban areas, where most live — have in recent years been finding it extremely difficult to find the homes they want at prices that seem reasonable. For some, like Eddie, the housing crisis has meant staring down a market where prospective buyers are looking at paying what they widely consider to be too much for too little. For others, whose finances aren’t as strong, the situation is more dire: it means raising a family in an overpriced, cramped apartment and long commutes to work.

Economists and other analysts say the root of the problem is largely a lack of supply that can be traced to rising taxes and other input costs, zoning chokeholds, and a tangled web of multi-jurisdictional bureaucracy.

But for something as socially important as housing, not to mention a key driver of both the economy and job creation, how did we end up here?

In the wake of the federal government’s unveiling last week of a major new housing program, National Post is taking an in-depth look at why Canada has a housing shortage that has in recent years led to a range of problems, from rising home prices to homelessness.

Analysts and industry officials say much of the problem can be traced back to government, with taxes now comprising the largest cost in the price of a new home.

All three levels of government, each of which plays a role in the convoluted home-building process and takes a significant cut along the way, say they recognize that Canada needs more homes. And while each says they’re taking steps to make that happen, housing industry executives and economists say there’s a long, long road ahead.

Phil Soper, chief executive officer of Royal LePage, said Canada has been underinvesting in infrastructure and housing for at least 30 years and that it will take time to fix the problems. A concerted effort over the next four or so years could at least begin to turn things around, he said.

“It’s not going to happen overnight.”

On Sept. 14, the federal government, which is responsible for national housing strategies, signing cheques to provincial non-profits and Indigenous housing,

unveiled Build Canada Homes

. The $13-billion program is intended to help more homes get built more quickly, especially less costly homes for middle- and lower-income Canadians.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the program will reduce the upfront building costs by providing flexible financial incentives to attract private investment and trigger larger projects. The new organization would also use federal land in six cities for the construction of 4,000 factory-built homes. It’s part of an effort to more than double the current pace of housing growth to 500,000 a year for the next decade.

Some analysts and industry executives salute the new program, but question how much effect it will have, especially in the short term. “Creating yet another federal entity does not seem a good use of resources,” the Canadian Home Builders’ Association wrote last month in its pre-budget consultation document.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said bureaucracy is part of the problem in the housing crisis and Ottawa just added more of it.

Ottawa has also taken steps to try to limit demand for housing by cutting immigration and foreign student numbers, while trying to make housing more affordable by eliminating the GST for first-time homebuyers who purchase homes valued at less than $1 million.

Provinces and territories, the primary providers of housing delivery and public housing, are also taking steps. British Columbia, for example, with Vancouver arguably experiencing Canada’s most serious housing crunch, launched BC Builds, a program designed to use under-used land to expand the stock of middle-income housing. All BC Builds projects have a target of middle-income households spending no more than 30 per cent of their income on rent.

The province also says it’s cutting red tape, making it easier for homeowners to add secondary suites and other adjunct shelter, and emphasizing partnerships to build non-market or affordable rentals. BC is also trying to crack down on speculators and others who buy homes but don’t live in them. Those measures include an increase in the foreign buyers’ tax and a new tariff on the profits of selling a home within 730 days of purchase.

Municipalities, at least among levels of government, are seen as the biggest players in housing. They control zoning, land use, urban planning, and must approve housing developments. They’re also responsible for water, sewer and other services that form a costly and time-consuming part of the process for new builds. Many in growing communities rely heavily on the “development charges” from those services.

Municipalities are also where constituents go if they’re unhappy about a new development or zoning change in their neighbourhood, issues that are often heated and capable of getting mayors and councillors elected or kicked out of office.

Paul Smetanin, an economist who has closely followed Canada’s housing market for many years, said development charges soared by about 65 per cent between 2020 and 2024, making them the main component of increased costs in recent years.

 New houses are a major boon for government coffers at all three levels.

To make the affordability issues worse, said Smetanin, president of the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, these charges are often calculated per unit, meaning they proportionally hit the buyers of less expensive homes harder.

Rebecca Bligh, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said she supports Ottawa’s new housing program and its goal of 500,000 new homes a year but that hitting that mark will require a concerted effort and lots of money.

Reducing development charges is possible, Bligh said, but it would require more money from other levels of government. Municipalities across the country already need investments of about $240 billion for roads, bridges, transit, water and other local infrastructure, she said.

Some municipalities have taken recent steps to spur more housing. More than a dozen municipalities in the Toronto area, for example, have temporarily trimmed or eliminated those development charges. Edmonton has tried to address the delays that cost time and money by introducing same-day automated approvals for new detached and semi-detached houses on undeveloped land that meet zoning rules.

And yet, all these recent steps by governments may prove to be lacklustre, when compared to the need.

In a country that has for decades seen rising demand for housing, markets have been thwarted. And still are.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a Crown corporation that acts as the country’s national housing agency, the supply shortage isn’t about to change any time soon. CMHC recently forecast that the total number of housing starts this year will be about 237,800, down from 245,367 in 2024. Despite all of the attention on this issue, the agency also forecasts a drop to about 227,734 next year and 220,016 in 2027.

So why isn’t supply keeping up with demand so that people can buy the homes they want, in the areas they want to live, at what most would consider reasonable prices?

Like for most products, economists point out, the prices of houses, apartments and condominiums are largely a function of supply and demand. Demand has been high, particularly in urban areas, due largely to population growth. Supply, meanwhile, hasn’t for many years kept pace. That leads to higher prices, with the average purchase price of a new home in Canada now $1.07 million.

And the lack of new homes affects prices across residential markets, even the cost of rent.

When renters who want to buy can’t find an affordable place to buy, they often stay in their rentals, putting the squeeze – and extra demand – on that market. Not surprisingly, Canada’s highest rent-to-income ratios are in Vancouver, followed by Toronto, but they have steadily climbed since the pandemic.

Smetanin said Canada needs to approximately double housing output to stabilize prices.

The federal Liberals’ promise during the recent federal election campaign to increase house construction to 500,000 a year over the next 10 years would mean output of more than double what is now expected for each of the next few years, and a level of residential construction not seen since the years following World War II.

The supply challenge is a blend of factors: a lack of access to land in the right places, lack of skilled trades, and, of course, rising costs.

 Canadians in countless communities — especially urban areas — have in recent years been finding it extremely difficult to find the homes they want at prices that seem reasonable.

The biggest cost in the price of a new home is taxation, making the three levels of government the top beneficiary of the construction of a new home. Smetanin says taxes and fees now comprise an average of about 35.6 per cent of the price of a new home, which is 16 per cent (or five percentage points) higher than at the start of the decade. About 70 per cent of those charges are for development charges for sewer, water and electricity, land-transfer taxes, and HST. The other 30 per cent is for the indirect income and corporate taxes paid throughout the supply chain, but ultimately passed on to buyers.

But the other major costs that go into a new home have also been on the rise. Those include the value of land and materials (21.2 per cent of the final price), the cost of the workers who provide home essentials such as flooring and cabinets (16.9 per cent), construction workers (12.9 per cent), developers’ margins (9.1 per cent) and supplier margins (4.2 per cent).

Demand, meanwhile, continues to rise, putting further pressure on prices.

Population growth, fueled largely by immigration, internal migration from rural to urban areas, and the reduction in the number of people who live in the average Canadian home are major drivers. Higher pay, interest rates that have remained relatively low for more than a generation and the argument that real estate is a sound investment have also encouraged consumers to buy homes.

“For many families, it’s the major source of wealth creation,” said Royal LePage’s Soper.

Economists and industry executives agree that Canada’s housing crisis has been created over many years of neglect of infrastructure, rising taxes, and other issues, and fixing it will also require at least a decade of concentrated effort.

Smetanin said Canada’s housing sector needs more pre-funded water, sewer, power and transit infrastructure so that land is ready to be serviced. Canada also needs harmonized codes and standards and predictable financing so that developers, lenders, municipalities and tradespeople can plan.

But instead, there are too many players, he said, engaged in too much short-term thinking. Steps can be taken immediately, Smetanin said, but the real solutions are all long term.

“You can’t fix it right away.”

It’s a major problem — not just for housing — when political cycles are shorter than the solution cycles.

And then there’s the lag of perhaps a decade or more between the launch of a new housing policy and people actually moving into new homes connected to that policy. There’s often even a lag of a dozen years or more from when a plot of land has been identified for a new home, subdivision or apartment building to somebody getting new keys. Housing analysts say that timeline is pushed out even further if roads and key services — sewer, water, electricity — need to be added.

Given those horizons, investors and builders can be very cautious.

And recent developments in the condominium market have reinforced that caution. Aggressive building of condos, most notably in pre-construction markets in Vancouver and Toronto, have left some projects unfinished and others scrambling for customers.

While some other condo markets remain tight, some buyers are benefitting from local gluts.

One recent, first-time buyer said she spent only about five weeks looking for a condo before finding pretty much what she wanted in her price range. The Ottawa woman, 30, said she had been following the market for some months and was able to benefit from strong supply and what seemed like a motivated seller.

“It seems like a buyers’ market right now.”

Beyond the jurisdictional quagmire, the current market is also being affected by increased interest rates, higher unemployment, higher labour costs and prices for steel, lumber and other materials, the uncertainty from trade tensions with the United States, slower population growth and a sharp decline in pre-sales. In most Canadian cities, finding convenient and zoned land to build on is also an ongoing challenge, often the most daunting of all.

But the lack of building in Canada represents a loss beyond the social cost.

Economists point out that new homes put downward pressure on housing prices by boosting supply, while also creating economic activity and jobs through construction and the various purchases of furniture, appliances and other items that new homeowners typically make. New buildings are also a major boon for government coffers at all three levels.

And yet, demand has outstripped supply for decades – leaving Canada with what many have described as a housing crisis.

Or, as Eddie, the prospective buyer who has been looking to buy a house in Ottawa for the better part of a year, has concluded: “I thought there would be more options.”

National Post

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Multiple people were shot and the shooter was taken down at a Michigan Mormon Church on Sunday morning, according to police.

At least one person is dead and nine more were injured after a lone gunman drove a truck into a Michigan Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and opened fire on the hundreds of people celebrating service on Sunday morning.

Police also believe the shooter, a 40-year-old male from Burton who was killed by a pair of responding law enforcement officers, according to Grand Blanc Township police chief William Rainey, deliberately set fire to the church at some point during his attack.

In a brief press conference Sunday afternoon, Rainey said authorities believe there are additional victims trapped by fire.

“We can’t confirm that just yet because it was a large fire and we do believe there was people up there near the fire and they were unable to get out of the church,” he said, noting he couldn’t say whether they died from gunshot wounds or fire-related injuries.

At least two of the victims are in critical condition, according to Rainey.

Police confirmed the weapon used was an assault rifle but weren’t able to comment on the suspect’s relationship with the church or whether he was known to police.

Rainey said he and other agencies will have more information at a press conference scheduled for 5 p.m. EST.

The fire has since been contained, but people are still asked to avoid the area. A reunification place for people off-site is the Trillium Theater.

In

a video posted to Facebook

, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson said the area had been evacuated and promised more updates later.

“This is a dynamic scene,” he said.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer expressed condolences in a post to X and said, “violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable.”

Grand Blanc is a suburb of Flint, about 100 kilometres northwest of Detroit.

The shooting comes a day after Russell M. Nelson, the parent church’s oldest-ever president, died at 101. He’s expected to be replaced by 93-year-old

Dallin H. Oaks, the current longest-serving apostle.

On X,

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi

said she is receiving updates from the scene and that both Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents were en route to assist local authorities.

“Such violence at a place of worship is heartbreaking and chilling,” she wrote.

FBI Director Kash Patel

posted

that “violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act.”

More to come.

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“I know Mark Carney gets it, because he rarely smiles and he looks like a worried man,” says Fen Hampson of Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

Fen Hampson is a serious man; he thinks for a living. A marquee player in Canada’s foreign policy brain trust, he isn’t frivolous. His opinions are measured and deliberate.

As director of Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa — and now Chancellor’s Professor — he’s shaped generations of Canadian policymakers and diplomats. Today, he leads the World Refugee and Migration Council as president; co-chairs the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations, together with Perrin Beatty; and weighs in on a range of prickly policy issues, including cybersecurity, migration and the Arctic.

It’s the latter topic that has my attention. What does Fen think of the two ambitious nation-building projects being assessed by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to reboot investment, infrastructure and security in Canada’s vast Arctic? Northern Canada, specifically the three territories (Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon), accounts for about 40 per cent of Canada’s landmass and roughly 0.5 per cent of our country’s GDP.

The first project, dubbed the Port of Churchill Plus, contemplates a massive upgrade to the Port of Churchill and related infrastructure, including the construction of an all-weather road and upgraded rail line over muskeg, a new energy corridor, and marine ice-breaking capacity. The second, the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, is pitched as an all-weather, land-based, and port-to-port infrastructure network connecting the Canadian Prairies through the Northwest Territories to a deepwater port at Grays Bay, Nunavut.

“I think one of the challenges that Mark Carney faces is really, to articulate a strategic imperative for doing what is increasingly a growing laundry list of commitments,” Fen says. “Canadians tend to look southwards; they don’t look northwards,” he adds. “Most have never been to the Arctic.

“Some of the initiatives you point to,” Fen continues, “which are still, shall we say, prime ministerial pipe dreams, I think, are important to be realized.” And Carney himself, growing up as a young kid in a Northern community, “obviously doesn’t need any persuading about the importance of the Arctic,” Fen observes. Carney’s challenge is to persuade Canadians.

Like Carney, Fen is one of those rare individuals who has spent time in the North. And it’s his experience in Rankin Inlet, an Inuit hamlet in Nunavut — as a teenager, working on a geophysical survey for a mining company — that anchors his thinking about the Arctic.

In 1970, Fen was hired to conduct surveys after a vein that had been mined for six years ran out and the mine was shut down. “You had all these people who’d been working in it, who were suddenly out of a job,” Fen recalls. “We’re seeing that now,” he adds, “with some of the diamond mines in the North.”

Fen’s advice to Carney’s government? Do your homework, do the number-crunching, and make sure you understand the business case. “Ottawa — and it’s not just Ottawa, it’s the provinces — need to take a very hard look at what’s the business case here, what kinds of resource development are we talking about,” Fen advises, to ensure these projects will be sustainable.

“Is it going to be a state-led enterprise,” Fen also asks, “where Ottawa doesn’t just write the cheques?” Is the government proposing to do what it’s doing on the housing front — the actual building itself — because there’s no private sector willingness or appetite to do it? The challenges could be daunting, he says, “because you have all the problems, pitfalls, pathologies of a government.

“You know,” he adds, “the Chinese would be more than willing to write big cheques, but I don’t think we necessarily want to go there. So who are your investors going to be? And that requires, I think, a very different kind of relationship between government and the business community than we’ve had for the past 10 years.”

“So, how is Carney going to convince Canadians to prioritize investment in the Arctic?” I ask — restating our conversation’s overarching theme — especially after a decade of government inertia in the North and austerity budgets in our immediate future. Getting Canadians to turn North, Fen concurs, is going to require a compelling narrative from the prime minister and his officials.

The risks in the Arctic have changed, Fen explains. “Russia’s Arctic militarization,” he says, “now coupled with China’s near Arctic state ambitions … have made the entire region a strategic threat.” The two countries see the Arctic as central to their security, their commerce, resource development, and they’re investing billions, particularly the Russians, in icebreakers, airfields, critical mineral extraction and transportation corridors.

America’s “Manifest Destiny Redux” — Fen’s way of describing U.S. President Donald Trump’s provocation — is also relevant to a Canadian population, 90 per cent of whom live within 100 miles of the Canada-U.S. border. Our country has little strategic depth, Fen warns; that’s a military term meaning the distance between a country’s front-line boundary and its population centres.

More positively, Fen is of the view that Ottawa, on the diplomatic front, “is obviously putting the pedal to the metal to engage with the Nordic countries in a variety of ways, whether it’s building icebreakers, closer defence cooperation training … through the NATO framework, the appointment of an Arctic ambassador, consulates in Alaska and Greenland.”

The first tranche of nation-building projects, endorsed by Carney’s government this month, Fen suggests, are designed to build momentum. “That first list,” he says, “is really to show that the government can actually do something, and deliver in a fairly short period.”

 Fen Hampson, director of Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

For the North, he says, it’s going to take “a bold visionary — someone like C.D. Howe — who can break through the bureaucratic inertia to actually knock heads and build what the moment demands.”

“That’s how we got a St. Lawrence Seaway; it’s how we got a TransCanada pipeline,” he asserts. “We don’t need another task force, we need a builder or builders, a C.D. Howe for the 21st century North. Because at the end of the day, you can have the best plan, but unless you have someone who can actually execute it, and knock heads, and be unpopular, it ain’t gonna happen.

“I think we’re still a bit blasé about what’s happening in the country,” Fen observes, pointing to worrisome employment and GDP stats. “I know Mark Carney gets it,” he adds, “because he rarely smiles and he looks like a worried man.”

It may be time for Carney to start giving weekly fireside chats to the Canadian people, Fen suggests, “to build that relationship, to really say, you know, we’ve got to come together, otherwise, we’re not going to be a country.

“He’s got good executive management skills, he’s a hard worker, he’s highly disciplined, he goes on 26-kilometre runs, whatever, but his M.O. is still quite secretive,” Fen reflects. “Being that central banker, you don’t announce the interest rates until you’ve decided on the interest rates,” he adds with a smile, “and I think that’s where he really has to change his tune.

“You know, Canadians trust him. That’s important,” says Fen. “They take him seriously. But he now has to level with Canadians, and say, ‘I can’t solve everything for you. And if we’re going to rebuild this country and make our economy resilient, you’re going to have to give up things.’

“You’re going to have to work harder and you’re going to be poorer.”

That’s a hard message for a politician to deliver, Fen says.

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The Canada-U.S. border crossing near Abbotsford, B.C. in March 2025.

Five alleged border runners have been arrested by Abbotsford, B.C. police in recent days.

Between September 24 and 25, 2025, Abbotsford police responded to three separate incidents of

border running

. The five individuals they arrested are accused of illegally crossing the international land border into Canada.

Four of the suspects were turned over to the Canada Border Services Agency. One was arrested due to an outstanding warrant.

Their

motives remain unclear

, according to police.

“These arrests highlight the vigilance and adaptability of our frontline officers,” said the Abbotsford Police Department in a social media post. “From traffic stops to border-related incidents—no two days are ever the same in policing.”

Border runners can be legitimate asylum seekers and may apply for refugee status. But they also may have criminal motivation, according to the

Surrey Police Service policy manual

.

Some examples include: attempting to enter the country illegally; smuggling alcohol, tobacco, drugs or firearms into the country.

People smuggling might involve parental abduction or people seeking entry into the country without alerting border authorities.

The police are asking people to

report suspicious activity

near the border by calling 911 in the event of an emergency or contacting the Abbotsford Police non-emergency line.

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A screenshot from the video shows the other driver with captions added.

A video showing what looks to be a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer yelling at a Canadian tourist to “never come to the U.S. again” is being investigated by the CBP.

The

39-second video

, uploaded to social media sites, was taken from inside a vehicle travelling south on highway I90 in New York State, a few kilometres from the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge that connects Queenston, Ont., with Lewiston, N.Y.

It shows what looks to be a male CBP officer with an insignia on his sleeve, driving a grey pickup in the next lane. The man leans out and shouts, several times: “Never come to the U.S. again!”

The video includes captions that say: “Honked at my Ontario plate and now on my ass 2 miles from border.” The captions also say, “Sees camera. Gets shy. Tries to run,” as the pickup passes the car and speeds away. It adds: “No turn signal.”

The video ends with a map showing where the altercation took place, which says it happened at about 7:55 a.m. on Sept. 22.

National Post reached out to the

New York State CBP office

and received the following response from Mike Niezgoda, a spokesperson with the agency: “U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) stresses honor and integrity in every aspect of our mission. CBP employees, officers and agents perform their duties with honor and distinction, working tirelessly every day to keep our country safe. CBP is committed to ensuring that all employees are held to the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and personal conduct.”

CBP said it is

conducting a managerial review of this incident, adding that while federal privacy laws prohibit discussing individual cases, CBP takes all allegations of employee misconduct seriously and strives to be as transparent as possible regarding the release of investigative information to the public through its annual report. The most recent such report available online is from the

fiscal year 2023

.

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FBI Director Kash Patel posted a photo of unspent shell casings that are evidence in a case involving a fatal shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas, TX on Sept. 24, 2025. One of the casings was inscribed with the word

A handful of recent shootings in the United States have had a common thread: the bullets, casings and weapons have acted as a vehicle for written messages.

On Sept. 24, a person being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Dallas was killed and others were injured. The shooter, who fired off multiple rounds at the facility, allegedly inscribed the words “ANTI ICE” onto an unspent bullet casing,

according to FBI Director Kash Patel

. The suspect was identified by authorities

as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn

. He died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“It might be all part of the process this person is using to get themselves to that point where they can actually complete the act,” Steve Joordens told National Post, offering some insight into the possible mindset of a killer. Joordens is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

He said the etching of the bullets could be key to a person’s ability to follow through. It can be part of a ritual used to “steel the person for violence,” he said. He compared it to other pre-battle rituals, like war paint, used throughout history.

Messages being inscribed on weapons is not a new phenomenon. The Greeks and Romans used to cast taunts when they fired off

sling bullets

, ancient projectiles thrown from a cord, said Joordens. There is

a lead sling bullet in the British Museum

that has the Greek word for “Catch” written on it. It dates back to the fifth century.

But in the age of being

chronically online

amid ongoing political unrest in the United States, the method is being “repurposed.”

 Dallas Police investigate the scene where a shooter opened fire on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, September 24, 2025 in Dallas, Texas.

In general, messages can be used to “broadcast ideology, seek online fame and to psychologically amplify the act of violence,” explained Joordens.

It’s easy for a person to feel like their aggression is justified, especially in the U.S., where “everything is so polarized.”

“It’s almost becoming this war of words,” said Joordens. “These words seem to be progressing to physical actions, to violent actions, and that is a little scary.”

People who should be trying to quell violence are “fanning the flames,” making violence “almost inevitable,” he said, adding that it could “sneak into Canada, too.”

“It feels like we’re not nearly as far down this road of division and mutual hatred as they are there (in the U.S.). But we have it,” said Joordens.

In Utah, where

Charlie Kirk

was fatally shot on Sept. 10, the ammunition of a rifle that police believe belonged to suspect

Tyler James Robinson

, 22, was etched with

anti-fascist messages and words

borrowed from internet meme culture.

 Messages that authorities say were inscribed on bullet cartridges by alleged Charlie Kirk shooter Tyler Robinson.

The messages are a way to make murder more personal, and also to draw attention to the killing, especially in the age of social media, where “likes” and “shares” are currency. “So much is about getting that social media reaction,” said Joordens, and those details — such as putting a word on a bullet — can ensure a story lives on.

In late August, when two children were killed in a church shooting in Minnesota, suspect Robin Westman, 23, had allegedly inscribed weapons with antisemitic and anti-Trump phrases, such as “Kill Donald Trump,” per the

Jerusalem Post

and

CNN

. Westman

died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound

.

 Police and first responders work at the scene of a shooting near Annunciation Church and Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minneosta, on August 27, 2025.

In the aftermath of such shootings, Joordens said he often hears about the state of the killer’s mental health. But he said that “social health” could play a larger role.

“Virtually every one of these individuals has become socially ostracized at some point, and that’s what fuels their ability to kill another human being. You have to reach a point where you really don’t care about the lives,” he said, “and then often they’re getting their social interaction through social media.”

Putting a message on a device intended to be used to murder a person is also a way of showing the world that the killer is “not just being aggressive out of nowhere,” in their mind, said Joordens. Whether it’s the “ANTI ICE” message or “Hey, fascist! Catch!” (which was etched into ammunition that police linked to Robinson), it’s supposed to be a reminder that the target was a “bad person doing evil things,” he said.

In December 2024,

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

was gunned down in midtown Manhattan.

Suspect

Luigi Mangione

, who has been charged with murder, allegedly wrote “deny,”

“defend,” and “depose” on shell casings

. Authorities are looking into

how the words could offer up a motive

for the killing. Although Mangione has yet to face trial, some reports have chalked it up to Mangione allegedly taking a jab

at the health-care industry

.

 Luigi Mangione, accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appears in Manhattan state court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025.

The public’s fascination with finding out a killer’s motive is what often drives coverage of such crimes, said Joordens. People are naturally drawn to something they don’t fully understand. “Our brain wants it to make sense, and so if you’re on that quest for immortality… leaving questions in people’s minds is the best way to keep people thinking, and that’s probably what they’re after,” he said, adding that it might be a subconscious choice and not sophisticated or deliberate.

“The words are so nasty,” he said. “They have that ability to carry the message after the act, which seems really gruesome.”

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Police tape surrounds an area where ostriches are penned in at the Universal Ostrich Farms property in Edgewood, B.C., on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will be maintaining its presence at the Universal Ostrich Farm in southern B.C. while the Supreme Court of Canada decides whether it will hear the farmers’ appeal of the CFIA’s cull order.

A stay of the cull order came down from the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The order to slaughter almost 400 ostriches was prompted by an outbreak of avian influenza on the farm in December 2024. It killed 69 of their birds. The CFIA says the remaining ostriches may not show signs of the disease, but they could still be the source of further spread of infection to people, livestock and wildlife. Culling is a key element in the agency’s policy to

stamp out avian flu

.

In a

statement released Thursday

, the CFIA announced it “will maintain custody of the birds as ordered by the Supreme Court of Canada. (It) will provide appropriate feed and water with veterinary oversight while the birds are in the Agency’s custody.”

The search warrants that authorized the agency to take control at the ostrich farm will “remain in effect.”

In an apparent warning to the farmers’ supporters, the agency is making it known that there won’t be any access to the farm property under CFIA control without its permission.

Individuals “should pay particular attention to Sections 35(1) and 65(1) of the Health of Animals Act,” warns the agency. These provisions would prohibit obstruction of CFIA personnel. A breach could result in a summary conviction charge carrying a fine up to $50,000 or imprisonment for up to six months. Or possibly an indictable offence, carrying a fine up to $250,000 and imprisonment up to two years.

The CFIA maintains it is “committed to the safety and security of its employees and contractors” while continuing to work with the RCMP to ensure onsite security. Any threats of violence and death by “apparent supporters of the ostrich farm” will be investigated.

Supporters have been camped out at the farm for months. The farm is in Edgewood, B.C., a small community in a remote part of the province that could once only be reached by boat. As of 2021, the

population was 235

.

Threats against CFIA agents date back to the Federal Court’s decision in late spring to deny the farm’s appeal against the CFIA cull order.

Shortly after the Federal Court decision, the Agriculture Union, which represents CFIA officers, raised alarm over their safety.

“(We have become) increasingly concerned in recent weeks about intimidation and threats made online,” said Milton Dyck, national union president told

Canadian Occupational Safety magazine

in early June.

The RCMP accompanied CFIA agents to the farm this week. It later said it has received

complaints from local businesses

about “threats, intimidation and harassment due to the dispute” that it is investigating.

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A Freedom Convoy organizer is fighting the Crown’s attempt to seize his bright red big rig, which was used in the 2022 protest.

As Swift Current, Sask., trucker Chris Barber waits to hear if he’ll be sentenced to prison time for his role in the convoy protest, which filled downtown Ottawa for three weeks beginning in late January 2022 to challenge vaccine mandates and other pandemic measures, he is also fighting the Crown’s forfeiture application to take Big Red, his 2004 Kenworth long-haul truck, valued at more than $150,000.

“It is Mr. Barber’s position that he followed the instruction of the police as to where to park Big Red and that he moved Big Red at the request of the police when it was safely feasible for him to do so, as such Big Red was not used in the commission of the offence of mischief,” according to court documents filed in the trucker’s case that argue against forfeiture.

If Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey finds the truck was used to commit mischief, Barber’s lawyer argues seizing Big Red would be disproportionate to the crime.

“It would amount to, in my opinion, cruel and unusual punishment,” his lawyer, Diane Magas, said Friday, noting replacing the truck would cost $300,000 or more.

If the judge sentences Barber to prison time and he loses his truck, “that would be a really harsh financial hardship for him and his family,” Magas said.

Taking his truck would be “totally out of proportion” to the mischief caused, she said, noting Barber uses it to feed his family.

“Now his son is also driving, and he has a couple of employees that sometimes drive it, too, so it’s a legitimate source of business for himself, his family and his employees,” Magas said.

Taking away Barber’s truck would cause his family “extreme financial difficulties,” she said.

“That truck’s been part of his family for over 20 years. His children grew up in that truck. One of his dogs died in the truck. He had wedding pictures by the side of the truck. So, that truck is part of the family. It was named Big Red by his children when they were younger.”

Magas did not want her client to conduct an interview Friday. But in a video distributed by The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which has been supporting his defence, Barber takes people on a tour of his truck that’s painted with the word “Canada” and several white maple leaf logos.

 Chris Barber is fighting the Crown’s attempt to seize his “Big Red” truck, which was used in the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest.

in the video.

 

The seats in the cab are well-worn, he points out, as is the steering wheel. “It’s been my home for the better part of 22 years.”

The collar of Barber’s late dog, Buddy, hangs from Big Red’s ceiling. “The dog traveled with me for the better part of 17 years.”

Magas presented evidence in court this week that the truck is owned by C.B. Trucking Limited, which her client co-owns with his son. Barber’s adult daughter also works for the same outfit.

The company has other trucks, but the only other vehicle that’s suitable for longer runs has been in an accident and is out of commission, and the others are only suitable for short hauls, said his lawyer.

On top of that, Barber’s parents lent his company $50,000 in 2022 to buy another truck, using Big Red as security for the loan, she said.

Magas said she only knows of the Crown going after one other truck that was involved in a protest a few months after the convoy, in the spring of 2022. But that forfeiture application was dismissed, she said.

Final arguments in the forfeiture hearing are scheduled for Nov. 26.

Barber is slated to be sentenced Oct. 7.

 Freedom Convoy organizers Chris Barber and Tamara Lich on Aug.23, 2024.

The Crown is seeking stiff sentences for Barber, 50, and fellow Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich, who was also convicted of mischief, arguing the protest caused broad community harm. Prosecutors have argued Barber — who was also found guilty of counselling others to disobey a court order related to an injunction against protesters honking truck horns — should get eight years in prison, and Lich should get seven.

“There’s a great divide between the two sides,” Magas said Friday. “There are citizens of Ottawa that really took it to heart and felt interfered with and still some have a hatred. He’s got death threats. I’ve got emails from people that were very hateful to me as a lawyer for him. I’ve been a criminal lawyer for over 30 years, defended a lot of different types of crimes much worse than this, and never got that type of attention and hatred from regular people.”

Others, she said, hail the protesters, including Barber, as heroes.

Magas has argued for absolute discharge for her client because he’s been out on bail without incident for the last three-and-a-half years. That decision would mean Barber would not receive a criminal record.

“Mr. Barber has to cross into the United States for his work purposes,” Magas said.

If he had a criminal record, he might be turned away at the border, she said. Truckers can apply for waivers, but that can take up to a year, Magas said. “So that would definitely effect his business — his ability to earn an income for his family.”

Magas said that if Ontario Court Justice Heather Perkins-McVey decides a criminal record is necessary, she wants to see Barber receive a suspended or conditional sentence that would allow him to live at home and work.

Blocking roads, creating noise and fumes were all considered part of the mischief, she said.

The convoy protest ended after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time ever. The convoy was cleared out of Ottawa’s downtown core in a three-day police operation that began on Feb. 18, 2022.

Police asked Barber to move his truck on Saturday Feb. 5, 2022, but he didn’t do it until the following Tuesday, said his lawyer.

“For safety reasons, he couldn’t move it right away because the Saturday was really, really packed with people and there was other trucks around,” Magas said.

Along with other truckers, Barber took Big Red to a rural staging area about 45 kilometres outside of Ottawa, she said. “He went there with his truck and didn’t come back to Ottawa downtown,” she said.

Perkins-McVey said in her April decision that she found Lich and Barber guilty of mischief because they routinely encouraged people to join or remain at the protest, despite knowing the adverse effects it was having on downtown residents and businesses.

Convoy organizer Pat King was sentenced this past February for mischief and disobeying a court order. The Crown sought a sentence of 10 years in prison for King but he was sentenced to three months of house arrest, 100 hours of community service at a food bank or men’s shelter and a year of probation. He received nine months’ credit for time served before his conviction.

The Ottawa Police Service has reported policing the protest cost $55 million, while the City of Ottawa pegged its own convoy-related costs at over $7 million.

Both Lich and Barber were found not guilty on charges of intimidation, counselling to commit intimidation, obstructing police and counselling others to obstruct police.

Both were arrested without incident and were in custody before the main police operation began to clear downtown Ottawa.

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A resident shovels snow near a sign supporting coal mining on the day the community votes in a plebiscite on whether to support a new coal mine in Crowsnest Pass, Alta., Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.

OTTAWA — A new poll shows that most Albertans support the mining of steelmaking coal in the province, as Canada’s steel industry continues to get hammered by

U.S. sectoral tariffs

.

The province-wide survey

, conducted in July and August by Janet Brown, shows that six in 10 Albertans believe that Alberta should allow the mining of steelmaking coal. Support rises to 74 per cent when mining companies show they can protect waterways and the environment.

Respondents were more than 10 times more likely to say they supported the mining of coal for steelmaking than for the generation of heat and electricity.

The poll was

commissioned by Northback Holdings

, the proponent of the Grassy Mountain steelmaking coal project in southwest Alberta.

Brown told National Post that her findings hinted that Albertans are looking at ways to bolster economic linkages to steel hubs in central and eastern Canada, amidst continued trade turbulence with the U.S.

“I think the threat of (U.S. President Donald) Trump has given Albertans a sense of common cause with an eastern steel industry that’s in jeopardy … Providing Canadian resources to Canadian steel mills may be one way we strengthen the industry,” said Brown.

Major Ontario steel manufacturers like the Hamilton-based Stelco have historically sourced much

of their industrial coal

from the Appalachia region of the U.S.

Brown say that Canadians as a whole are starting to pay more attention to supply chains, and where the things they use every day come from.

“We all know that there are steel plants in Hamilton, but how many people in Hamilton really thought to stop and think about how those steel plants were fuelled? Now I think people in Southern Ontario are beginning to think a bit more about this sort of thing,” said Brown.

Provincial leaders seem to be making some of these same connections, as Ontario

notably struck a deal

with Alberta and Saskatchewan in July to build new oil and gas pipelines using Ontario steel.

Respondents across all regions of Alberta, including in Calgary and Edmonton, supported the mining of steelmaking coal. Those in Calgary were most likely to say they supported the mining of steelmaking coal but not thermal coal.

Alberta

completed its phase-out

of thermal coal for domestic electricity generation in June 2024.

Seven in 10 respondents also said they supported Grassy Mountain, which was approved by 72 per cent of voters in nearby Crowsnest Pass, Alta. in a

late 2024 local plebiscite

.

The Alberta Energy Regulator approved Northback’s

application for coal exploration

, drilling and water diversion at Grassy Mountain in May. The company announced this week that it would be

submitting a new plan for

reducing the mine’s ecological impact.

Alberta’s government

lifted a moratorium

on coal exploration in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in January.

The lifting of the ban came with new rules for coal mining, including a ban on open-pit mines, but the open-pit Grassy Mountain project was exempted from the new restrictions as an “advanced project.”

The poll was taken between July 21 and August 8, using a random sample of 1,400 Albertans contacted by phone (30 per cent landline, 70 per cent cell phone), carrying a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

National Post

rmohamed@postmedia.com

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