Tag Archives: Canada

Canada Day Earthquake Shakes Nova Scotia

Canadian officials confirmed a magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattled Nova Scotia on the country’s independence day.

Natural Resources Canada (NRC) reported that the quake struck about 37 miles west-southwest of the town of Digby in the Gulf of Maine.

Residents say the quake lasted around 10 seconds.  Helen Teed, who lives near the epicenter, told the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

“It’s an old house, and we felt the walls crackling a little bit,” Teed said. “It wasn’t shaking things off my wall, but it made the house crack. Creaking, crack, I don’t know, I’ve never experienced this before so I don’t know how to explain it.”

Mike Springer was on the golf course when it struck and looked at his watch to see it was 3:33 p.m. when the quake struck.

“Holy mackerel,” he said. “I didn’t think we had earthquakes in Nova Scotia.”

The NRC reported no damage from the quake.

Canada Moves To Expand Spy Power

On the heels of France approving dramatic expansion of their spy powers which would allow the government to collect the metadata of all citizens without a warrant, now Canada is moving toward expanding their spy powers.

The Anti-Terror Act was spurred by last year’s attack on the Parliament.  The bill flew through House of Commons and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been a strong supporter of the bill.  The Senate is expected to approve the act before June.

The act gives the spy agency permission to work overseas along with making preventative arrests of terrorism suspects.  The police would also be allowed to make arrests and detain individuals without a charge.  Promotion of terrorism by any means including the internet would become a crime.

“There is a high probability of jihadist attacks from within,” Canadian Defence Minister Jason Kenney said. “The threat of terrorism has never been greater.”

Critics say the bill is too sweeping.  The opposition includes four former Prime Ministers and five justices of the Canadian Supreme Court.

“This bill will almost certainly lead to a chill on freedom of speech,” said Allan Weiss, professor of humanities at York University. “It is filled with vague wording that would make it possible for the government to label virtually anything it disagreed with as harmful to Canada’s national interests.”

Canadian Supreme Court Rules With Atheist Against Christian Prayers

The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that a Christian prayer taking place at a town meeting is a violation of the law because it shows a preference for one religion over another.

The court had ruled on the appeal of a lower court’s ruling that the major of Saguenay had not violated an atheist’s rights by opening public meetings with a prayer.

“The prayer recited by the municipal council in breach of the state’s duty of neutrality resulted in a distinction, exclusion and preference based on religion …. which, in combination with the circumstances in which the prayer was recited, turned the meetings into a preferential space for people with theistic beliefs,” wrote the court.

“Although non‑believers could also participate, the price for doing so was isolation, exclusion and stigmatization. This impaired [plaintiff’s] right to exercise his freedom of conscience and religion.”

Because the decision is nationally binding, other cities across Canada immediately began removing any references to God from their public hearings.

However, Bruce Clemenger of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada said the decision was not as sweeping as anti-Christian groups claim it is.

“The Supreme Court did not ban offering prayers at government events, but they did offer guidance about when a prayer may cross a line,” said Clemenger.

“It was the circumstances and context of the prayer that the court found violated the neutrality of the state and contravened the religious freedom of an atheist who challenged the prayer.”

ISIS Threatens U.S. In New Video

Islamic terrorist group ISIS has released a new propaganda video aimed at Americans saying there is “no safety” for any citizen and threatening to conduct a 9/11 style attack.

“America thinks it’s safe because of the geographical location,” the video states. “Thus you see it invades the Muslim lands, and it thinks that the army of the Jihad won’t reach in their lands. But the dream of the American to have safety became a mirage. Today there is no safety for any American on the globe. The mujahedeen before, although they had less resources, attacked New York and bombed the Twin Towers in September 11 attacks. That blessed incursion was a fatal blow. All praise is due to Allah, the American economy was shaken.”

In addition to the threats on America, the video features clips of ISIS attacks in the Middle East, the attack on Canada’s Parliament Hill and testimony of Amedy Coulibably, the French terrorist who was part of last year’s massacres.

ISIS burned down the homes of 10 Christian families in Nineveh on April 7th.  The group is also setting up traps to kill Christians when they enter their homes.

“Some of the houses in the village are burned. Some are bombed and destroyed. Some are robbed. We heard of one man who tried to enter his house and as soon as he opened the door, the house exploded,” a Christian man named Ayad said in a video interview with the World Council of Churches. “As ISIS forces leave, they are planting explosions inside the houses so that if people return they will be victims of the blast.”

Powerful Geomagnetic Storm Strikes Earth

A severe geomagnetic storm struck Earth Tuesday morning.

Scientists say the storm is rated as G4 on a scale that has a maximum of G5.  The storm is the strongest to hit the planet during the current 11-year solar cycle.

The Space Weather Prediction Center says the storm could bring voltage control problems at many power systems.  Also electrical systems and devices in areas like Alaska and Canada could be damaged by the intensity of the storm.

The storm could also impact GPS and other satellite based systems throughout the day.

The NWPC says the storm was created by sun activity on March 15th.

The last major storm to strike the planet was January 7th when a G3 rated storm passed over the planet.

Canadian Terrorist Made Video Explaining Attack

The terrorist who attacked a soldier and then stormed the Parliament before being killed by security forces left behind a video made moments before the attack explaining his intentions.

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, 32, said in the video that Canada had no business in Afghanistan and that Canadian troops were “not even safe in your own land.”

“Canada’s officially become one of our enemies by fighting and bombing us and creating a lot of terror in our countries and killing us and our innocents,” Zehaf-Bibeau says in the video he made in his car, which was released by police on Friday. “So we [are] just aiming to hit some soldiers just to show you’re not even safe in your own land and you got to be careful.”

Police say that the terrorist had applied for a passport with the intention of fleeing Canada and joining ISIS in Syria.

Ironically, the killer had reconnected with his family just before the attack.  He had lunch with his mother two days before the assault, the first time he had contacted her in five years.

“No words can express the sadness we are feeling at this time,” Susan Bibeau said in a statement on behalf of herself and Bibeau-Zehaf’s father, Bulgasem Zehaf, after the shooting.

“We are so sad that a man lost his life. He has lost everything and he leaves behind a family that must feel nothing but pain and sorrow. We send our deepest condolences to them although words seem pretty useless. We are both crying for them,” said Bibeau, who works as a federal public servant for the Immigrant & Refugee board and lives in Montreal.

Islamists Call For Attacks On American Malls

A video released by an Al-Qaeda affiliate is calling for attacks on malls in the United States and other parts of the western world.

Al-Shabaab release the video Saturday citing three malls:  The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota; West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada; Oxford Street shopping area in London, England.

The terror group, which was behind the deadly Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013, showed images of that assault at the start of the clip before issuing a call.

“If just a handful of mujahedeen fighters could bring Kenya to a complete standstill for nearly a week then imagine what a dedicated mujahedeen in the West could do to the American or Jewish-owned shopping centers across the world?” he asks. “What if such an attack were to occur in the Mall of America in Minnesota? Or the West Edmonton Mall in Canada? Or in London’s Oxford Street?”

“What would be the implications of such an attack? One could only imagine. And all it takes is a man with firm determination,” he continues. “So hurry up, hasten towards Heaven and do not hesitate.”

The Mall of America announced they have increased security in response to the video.  The Department of Homeland Security said they are aware of the video and they’re taking steps to analyze the footage.

Jeh Johnson, head of Homeland Security, said people shopping need to be careful.

“If anyone is planning to go to the Mall of America today, they’ve got to be particularly careful,” he said. “There will be enhanced security there, but public vigilance, public awareness and public caution in situations like this is particularly important, and it’s the environment we’re in, frankly.”

Canadian Supreme Court Considering Euthanasia

The Canadian Supreme Court is preparing to rule on the country’s ban on assisted suicide.

“Every one who … aids or abets a person to commit suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years,” states the Criminal Code of Canada.

The court is looking at the appeal of a ruling form the British Columbia Court of Appeals which overruled a lower court ruling approving euthanasia.  A woman suffering from ALS who has died since the filing of the suit, claimed that denying her the right to have someone assist her in dying violated her rights and discriminates against the disabled.

“If the Supreme Court strikes down our laws against assisted suicide/euthanasia, then it will be up to parliament to come up with a new law,” said MP Maurice Vellacott. “If the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down Canada’s current laws on euthanasia or assisted suicide, then CPSO’s policy would mean Ontario’s physicians would have a ‘duty to refer’ patients for treatments intended to kill the patient.”

Two Canadian senators have introduced a bill that would remove any criminal penalties to doctors who help a patient end their lives.  The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has also crafted a policy that would require doctors to participate in the process regardless of their personal beliefs.

Fireball Seen In Eastern Sky

A fireball was seen in the eastern sky by residents of Atlantic Coast states.

The American Meteor Society says that more than 330 reports have been recorded from people who saw a “huge, bright ball” streaking through the sky Monday night.

The fireball was seen from Maryland and Delaware through Montreal, Canada.

Some witnesses were able to capture video of the fireball through dashboard camera while they traveled on interstates.  One report from New Jersey said the driver thought at first they were looking at fireworks because of the intensity of the flame.

One New Hampshire resident reported seeing flames as if the object landed near them but no object was found.

Canadian Court Upholds Rights Of Christians

A Canadian court has ruled that two Christians who had been banned from distributing materials at a university had their rights violated by officials.

Peter LaBarbera and Bill Whatcott were arrested in April and forced to leave the University of Regina after they refused to stop handing out information providing the truth about abortion and other issues about the Christian faith.

“We are a diverse campus. We are a welcoming campus,” University Vice President Tom Chase told reporters at the time. “We celebrate that diversity, and our staff felt that the material and some of the things they had with them simply contravened that policy and we asked them to leave.”

Judge Marylynne Beaton said that both men were not guilty of any crimes and that they had the right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to distribute their information to anyone who wanted to read it.

“I find that the purpose of Mr. Whatcott and Mr. LaBarbera attending the University of Regina was to communicate information and their actions were passive and non-aggressive,” she wrote. “Therefore, notwithstanding that the university may be private property, I find that [the Charter] may be used as a defense to a finding of mischief by interfering with university property as they had the right to communicate in a peaceful manner on university property.”

“I do not accept that the accused’s removal, in order to protect students from the accused message, represented a minimal impairment on freedom of expression,” the judge continued. “In this case, the university’s response was disproportionate to the peaceful distribution of flyers and was not reasonable and demonstrably justified.”

Both men said they hope the judge’s ruling will help Christians across the country who have been silenced by government officials.