2015 Incidents On Par For Parkland RCMP
Incident numbers for Parkland RCMP in the first quarter of 2015 are on par compared to a year ago.
Staff Sergeant Lee Fortin says break and enters and theft-overs were up over January, February and March.
Fortin explains a group of out-of-towners were responsible for a lot of the disturbances earlier this year.
"We had a group operating in town stealing snowmobiles and ATV's and we've charged 3 people for that and we believe they're responsible for a lot more. Since we've apprehended them - for this quarter - everything's pretty much on par with where we were last year."
For example, Fortin says this year there's been 12 theft-unders; last year there was 16. There was 2 theft-overs in 2014 over the same period, this year three, so everything's been pretty close.
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NDP Spends Big On Steady Growth Campaign
The Manitoba government spent almost one million dollars in the last fiscal year on signs and advertisements promoting its Steady Growth, Goods Jobs campaign.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press show the government spent $665,000 on television, radio, newspaper and online advertisements.
Another $327,000 was spent putting up hundreds of signs at construction sites, housing developments and other areas.
Rachel Morgan, a press secretary for the provincial cabinet, says the money is for a public awareness campaign that shows Manitobans their money is being put to use on infrastructure.
But the Opposition Tories have called the Steady Growth campaign taxpayer-funded propaganda.
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Terrorist Suspect Never Charged With Crime
The Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties says it's outrageous that a Canadian citizen is facing 25 separate bail conditions without being charged with a crime.
Twenty-three-year-old Aaron Driver of Winnipeg spent a week in jail after being arrested on suspicion he may aid terrorist groups or activities, but has since been released on bail.
He must be monitored electronically around the clock, can't own a computer, and must undergo religious counselling.
Published reports have said Driver posted messages on social media that praised terrorist activities.
Authorities are seeking a peace bond to limit his activities -- measures Ottawa says are needed to protect Canadians from terrorism.
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Civil Groups Lash Harper In New Report
With just months before an expected October election, a report is being released today by a coaliton accusing the Harper government of stifling dissent by punishing civil society groups.
The report documents the grievances of groups it says were denied money by the government or were subjected to other forms of intimidation simply because they disagreed with the Tories.
Among its signatories are the heads of Amnesty International Canada and Greenpeace Canada.
The coalition accuses the government of muzzling scientists, and undermining the work of the military ombudsman, the commissioner of the environment, the correctional services investigator and others.
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Foreign Meat Seized At Border
Canadian border officials have butchered a traveller's plan to bring a stash of raw meat into the country.
The Canada Border Services Agency says 27 kilograms of undeclared raw meat were seized at Toronto's Pearson International Airport recently.
Border officers found a selection of products including partly frozen beef cuts, whole goose and smaller avian birds.
A traveller from Egypt was counselled about the requirement to declare all food, plant, animals and related products.
The meat was seized and destroyed.
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Flooding Delays Stanley Cup Celebrations
It took the Chicago Blackhawks 77 years to win the Stanley Cup on home ice -- and last night, the NHL team had to wait a few extra minutes after beating Tampa Bay 2-0 to celebrate with the actual trophy in hand.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Stanley Cup itself was not yet in the United Center because of severe rainstorms in Chicago that left many streets flooded.
A police escort helped get the Cup to the arena for the on-ice celebration.
