National

Ontario won't work with Border Services Agency on safety blitzes after arrests

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 10 Oct, 2014 11:02 AM

TORONTO - The Ontario government is immediately ending joint road safety blitzes with the Canada Border Services Agency because the feds used one to arrest undocumented workers.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca has written the federal government to say that partnering with the agency "does not align" with the ministry's mandate to make roads as safe as possible.

Ontario's Liberal government ordered the review after a joint commercial vehicle roadside blitz in Toronto in mid-August, when 21 people were arrested because of immigration violations.

The New Democrats wrote Premier Kathleen Wynne after the arrests to say that the roadside inspections are meant to improve safety and are "not for immigration-related interrogations, arrests and deportation."

Del Duca's letter to Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney says the ministry will only partner with groups that have a shared objective to make roads safer and ensure commercial vehicles comply with all the regulations.

He says Ontario will keep inspecting commercial vehicles at border entry points because "they do not involve CBSA resources."

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Head of aboriginal women's group stepping down to seek Liberal nomination

OTTAWA - The president of the Native Women's Association of Canada will relinquish her post later this year as she seeks to run for the federal Liberals in the next election.

Head of aboriginal women's group stepping down to seek Liberal nomination

Competition Bureau calls for more regulation to cut wireless roaming rates

GATINEAU, Que. - Introducing a new national wireless carrier in Canada would result in lower consumer prices, but regulators need to do more than simply cap wholesale roaming rates to make that happen, the competition watchdog has told the country's telecom regulator.

Competition Bureau calls for more regulation to cut wireless roaming rates

Encana to buy Athlon Energy in US$7.1-billion deal, speed up shift to liquids

CALGARY - Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) has agreed to buy Athlon Energy in a US$7.1 billion friendly takeover deal that will give the Canadian gas producer access to a major Texas oil play and speed up its shift towards more liquids production.

Encana to buy Athlon Energy in US$7.1-billion deal, speed up shift to liquids

NDP launch new bid to improve question period by giving Speaker more power

OTTAWA - The New Democrats are seeking to get more out of question period by giving the Speaker more power to make sure Canadians get answers.

NDP launch new bid to improve question period by giving Speaker more power

Missing 2-year-old girl found in soutwestern Ontario

NORWICH, Ont. - Provincial police say a two-year-old girl who was reported missing Sunday night in a rural area of southwestern Ontario has been found.

Missing 2-year-old girl found in soutwestern Ontario

Coroner's inquest into suicide could peel back curtain on B.C. deportations

VANCOUVER - A coroner's inquest starting Monday into the death of a Mexican national who hanged herself inside a Vancouver airport holding cell offers a rare chance to examine the secretive deportation process encountered by many migrants, says an advocacy group with ties to Lucia Vega Jimenez's family.