As NATO members get set to meet with Ukraine on Friday amid a desperate appeal from the embattled country for more air-defence systems, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on alliance members to send an additional six U.S.-made Patriot systems to Ukraine as it faces an increasing barrage of Russian aerial attacks.

Germany's move comes after it announced on Saturday that it was sending a third Patriot system to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says its military needs 25 of the expensive mobile units in order to down aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones — including Iranian-made Shahed drones that have been targeting the country's cities and infrastructure.

"Concrete decisions have to be taken in order to send to Ukraine more air defence," European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters at a G7 summit of foreign ministers in Capri, Italy, on Thursday.

"Otherwise, the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed, and no country can fight without having electricity."

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization says it has compiled data on the various defence systems available and is working with allies to ensure some of them are deployed to Ukraine.

But some defence experts doubt that the $1 billion US Patriot systems will be deployed on the kind of scale needed to make a real difference for Ukraine, which has been fighting a war since it was invaded by Russia just over two years ago — particularly given the increased focus on the Middle East and Israel's need for interceptor missiles for its air defence.

Anger following Chernihiv attack

After at least 17 people were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday — when three missiles slammed into Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, about 70 kilometres from the Russian border — Zelenskyy proclaimed on the online platform Telegram that the carnage could have been prevented if the country had been given sufficient air-defence systems and "the world's determination to counter Russian terror had been sufficient."

Zelenskyy's comments are a nod to the palpable frustration among those Ukrainian officials who have been pleading for more air-defence systems for months yet saw how global partners were able to rally last weekend when Israel came under attack by Iranian drones and missiles.

The United States, Britain and France helped down some 300 projectiles.

As Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba met his G7 colleagues in Italy on Thursday, he remarked on the two different responses: "Our job today is to find a way where our partners will design a mechanism, a way that will allow us also to avoid death and destruction in Ukraine," he told reporters.

According to Ukrainian officials, Russia fired more than 3,000 guided aerial bombs, 600 drones and 400 missiles at Ukraine in March, including 11 missiles that Zelenskyy said were launched at a major thermal power plant outside of Kyiv, the country's capital.

He said the military had only enough interceptors to bring down seven of the missiles. The rest hit the plant, destroying it.

The northeastern industrial city of Kharkiv, which sits 30 kilometres from the Russian border, has come under attack several times in recent months, killing dozens and causing power outages. The region's governor declared the shortage of missile defence systems "catastrophic."

Patriot defence system in high demand

Ukraine has said it believes its partners have 100 U.S. Patriot systems as part of their arsenals, but Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher in the war studies department at King's College London, said she doubts many of them will end up in Ukraine.

"It's a very difficult sell ... after everything that has already gone to Ukraine," she told CBC News during a phone interview. "You can only go so far if you are risking to undermine your own security as a state. That's where you draw the line."

According to data compiled by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the largest donor to Ukraine from January 2022 to January 2024 has been the European Union, which has pledged more than 80 billion euros ($117.3 billion Cdn) in military and financial aid, followed by the U.S. with a pledge of 67.7 billion euros ($99.3 billion). Canada has pledged 5.8 billion euros ($8.5 billion).

Miron said the Patriots are pricey, difficult to procure and in demand as Europe seeks to strengthen its own security in light of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

While a few additional air-defence systems might help protect Ukrainian infrastructure in the short term, she said, the looming question is who is going to produce and pay for all of the interceptor missiles that will be required as Russia keeps targeting the country with waves of relatively inexpensive drones.

Miron said Germany's decision to send one of its air-defence systems came as an abrupt pivot, after the country's foreign affairs minister had said just a few days earlier that Germany had nearly depleted its supply of Patriots.

She said she believes Germany's decision to send the weaponry and lobby for other countries to do the same is part of an effort to diffuse tensions with Ukraine over Berlin's refusal to send Kyiv some of its Taurus long-range missiles.

"Ukraine needs more than just one type of equipment," she said. "It's like a boat that has a lot of holes, and you're essentially plugging just one hole, hoping that it will not fill up with water."

Hope for long-delayed U.S. aid package

Even as Ukraine is buoyed by the prospect of the long-stalled $60-billion US military aid package that could be voted on as early as Saturday in the U.S. House of Representatives, there is frustration over the months of delays.

"It is not just about picking up the pace," Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of strategic industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, said in a video interview from Kyiv. "It is about realizing that Russia is not standing still all this time. Russia is building up their own capabilities."

Until recently, he said, Ukraine had an 80 per cent success rate of shooting down the missiles and drones, but now that Russia has stepped up its attacks, it's less.

WATCH | Ukraine says if it received more aid, it could stop Russian attacks:

Ukraine says it could stop Russian attacks if it got more aid

1 day ago

Duration 2:13

Ukraine is pleading for more support from its allies following a deadly Russian missile attack in the northern city of Chernihiv. One government adviser says the situation is worsening and the country feels abandoned.

On Dec. 29, Ukraine said it was able to shoot down just over 70 per cent of the more than 150 cruise missiles and drones that were fired at the country in the largest aerial attack of the war, which killed more than 30.

Sak said that while Ukraine is grateful for the support it has received from other countries, people on the ground can't help but make comparisons to the response Israel received during last weekend's attack by Iran.

"It is easier for [military experts] to understand the nuances that separate these two war scenarios," he said. "But for ordinary people ... a lot of us felt abandoned and neglected."

We use this editor's blog to explain our journalism and what's happening at CBC News. You can find more blogs here. The "Standards Notebook" takes over this space on occasion to explain in greater detail some of the decisions we make around language and the application of our journalistic standards, and to answer common questions about CBC News journalism.

There is no shortage of conspiracy theories about the obscure forces that supposedly control the CBC. I occasionally get asked whether the Prime Minister's Office contacts us directly to establish the news agenda for the day. At other times, we get accused of suppressing news stories to protect political or business interests. This month, a newspaper column made up the existence of a "covert committee" that purportedly surveils and censors our coverage of the Middle East.

Needless to say, there is no such committee; we don't shield leaders of any party or industry from fair coverage; and we don't negotiate or even discuss news coverage with the government. In fact, our system is fairly simple and designed to protect the independence of our journalism. Daily editorial decisions, including which stories to cover, are made by executive producers and their teams across our network. Their hiring and employment is regulated by robust collective agreements signed through unions. On the management level, their work is protected by the editor in chief, with a team of deputies and advisers, whose job is to ensure CBC journalism adheres to very specific journalistic standards.

Every news organization has its own definition of journalism, and they're not necessarily better or worse than each other — just different. Some have a mission to promote progressive values or to defend conservative ideas. Others are open platforms for producers to share their individual points of view. As a public news outlet, CBC can only define its journalism through a set of rigorous principles that ensures the audience (i.e., all of Canada) knows what to expect: reporting based on accuracy, fairness, balance, impartiality and integrity.

Of course, this doesn't mean we expect reporters to turn off their political conscience and have no personal values or opinions. The difference is that they can't use CBC journalism, or their public image as CBC journalists, to advance an agenda or personal interest. They trade personal advocacy for journalistic curiosity in the public interest.

We also don't pretend our stories are told by robots. Humans are the ones selecting subjects and reporting stories, and we're deeply committed to growing the diversity of our newsrooms to ensure even more people in the audience recognize their interests and sensitivities in our journalism. But that's precisely where standards and practices come into play. If we can't fix human imperfection, we can at least guarantee a consistent and recognizable process — from reporting to production — across all our content. This includes rigorous fact-checking, debunking falsehoods and describing the context in which they appeared, and adopting clear, factual language.

We don't always get it right. Audience members occasionally juxtapose news reports about various subjects and note a difference in tone — making it sound like CBC cares more deeply and emotionally about one topic or the other. That is not the case, but we do listen and understand unintended impressions, and we continuously course-correct with editorial conversations and guidance. This can include more coverage or, when there's a specific error, a clear and transparent correction. Fully owning up to mistakes is the hallmark of all reputable news organizations.

That's the point of editorial independence: the only body that holds us accountable is the public. We consider all the feedback we receive; we respond to complaints; we explain our journalism; and, most importantly, we correct mistakes as soon as we're made aware of them. When that's not enough, the CBC Ombudsman can be asked by any audience member to examine their concern and issue an independent review.

As It Happens6:33Hundreds of websites are selling fake Ozempic, says cybersecurity company

Dr. Sean Wharton was not surprised to learn about a surge in shady websites selling what are alleged to be counterfeit versions of popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs like Ozempic.

Whenever a new drug dominates the market, he says, whether it's for cancer or cholesterol or erectile dysfunction, bad actors find ways to cash in.

"But this is, on scale, a hundred times bigger," said Wharton, an internal medicine specialist at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto and assistant professor at the University of Toronto who researches obesity medicine, including studies paid for by the company that makes Ozempic. 

"None of those medications make you skinny."

BrandShield, an Israel-based cybersecurity company hired by a consortium of pharmaceutical companies, says it took down more than 250 websites selling fake versions of Ozempic and similar drugs in 2023.

Doctors and health-care law experts say this is part of the growing and dangerous problem of counterfeit drugs. It's an issue they say is likely to get worse — especially when it comes to this class of highly sought-after pharmaceuticals.

An 'extremely lucrative' business

Ozempic and other drugs in its class are known as glucagon-like peptides, or GLP-1 medicines. They were initially developed to treat diabetes, but in recent years have become in high demand for weight-loss, generating huge buzz from celebrities like Oprah Winfrey. 

Their active ingredient, semaglutide, promotes insulin production and also stimulates part of the brain that controls appetite. 

Many obesity specialists and endocrinologists have extolled these drugs as an effective treatment for what they say is a genetic, medical condition. But doctors have also urged caution, warning they come with potential side effects, need to be taken long term to remain effective, and shouldn't be seen as a quick-fix. 

BrandShield said it had 1,600 fake online pharmacies taken down last year, 279 of which were selling counterfeit drugs intended to treat metabolic conditions. Of those, it said more than 90 per cent were hawking fake GLP-1 medicines.

LISTEN | The pros and cons of Ozempic:

The Current16:26Ozempic’s possibilities — and the unintended consequences

Dr. Daniel Drucker’s research helped create the diabetes drug Ozempic, a medication that has become popular because of its off-label use for weight loss. He speaks with host Matt Galloway about the drug’s future and concerns about its popularity in celebrity culture.

"This is a growing problem worldwide in the past few years, especially since COVID, with an increasing number of fake pharmacies and counterfeited drugs being sold online, and impersonations on social media," BrandShield CEO Yoav Keren told  As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

"This is a problem across industries, not only necessarily pharma. The big difference here is that when you buy a fake drug, it can kill you."

Popular GLP-1 brands include Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound. Both drug companies are members of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute, which hired BrandShield to target the counterfeit sales.

BrandShield said it had the fake pharmacy websites taken down by collecting evidence against them, and submitting that to the service providers hosting the sites.

BrandShield says it uses artificial intelligence to scan websites for signs of fraud, and makes its final decisions about which ones to target in collaboration with its clients.

In some rare cases, it says, BrandShield tests the actual products themselves. 

Asked if these sites could be selling generic or compound versions semaglutide, Keren was adamant: "We're talking about totally counterfeited drugs. They have nothing to do with the original drug that you're trying to buy." 

In some cases, Keren says, the websites don't even send buyers any products at all, but are scams designed to steal people's credit card numbers and personal information.

CBC News hasn't independently verified BrandShield's claims about the weight-loss drug websites.

None of the sites cited in the report were based in Canada, BrandShield said, but their victims can be anywhere in the world.

Lawrence Gostin, an expert in global health law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.., who has been sounding the alarm about counterfeit for more than a decade, says the problem has only gotten worse with the proliferation of online retail. 

"Few people understand that the international market in counterfeit drugs is massive," he told CBC in an email. 

Risk in taking counterfeit drugs, says doctor

Gostin says food and drug agencies, including Health Canada, need to make a concerted effort to tackle the problem. 

"It isn't easy because they are ubiquitous and are highly professional and secretive," he said. "But we need strong laws and well-financed regulatory agencies to help stamp out this scourge."

Health Canada has issued warnings about counterfeit drugs in this country, and says it works with the RCMP and the Candian Border Service Agency to tackle the problem. 

Wharton says there's a huge risk in taking drugs from these websites. At best, he says, it's a saline solution that does nothing to help you. 

Or it could be much worse.

"The fact that there's no active drug, it's not coming from the manufacturer, it's not covered by Health Canada, there's no regulation behind it — anything could potentially happen," he said. 

In 2023, at least three people in the U.S. sought medical treatment for dangerously low blood sugar after taking suspected fake versions of Ozempic, according to Reuters. 

The news agency reports there have been adverse reports connected to fake Ozempic reported in at least nine countries. 

What's driving this market?

Wharton says there are a lot of factors that drive people to seek out GLP-1 drugs online. They're expensive, he says, and in some cases, not covered by insurance when used exclusively for weight loss. 

"Who has access to it right now? It's the rich. It's the privileged. It's not the Indigenous. It's not the immigrant populations. It's not Black women in the southern United States," he said.

Stigma and bias, he says, may also be driving people online, because they are either afraid to seek medical treatment for obesity, or are not listened to when they do.  

"The majority of people, even people living with obesity themselves, are biased against people living with obesity and feel that it's their own character flaw," he said. 

WATCH | Potential risks of Ozempic:

Ozempic-class drugs linked to serious gastrointestinal risks, study suggests

7 months ago

Duration 1:59

Weight-loss drugs in the same class as Wegovy and Ozempic may carry a rare but increased risk of pancreatitis, intestinal blockage and stomach paralysis compared to an older obesity drug, according to a study published on Thursday.

Dr. Mara Gordon, a family physician in New Jersey, says there are likely also cultural factors driving this market — ones that are unrelated to health, and deeply rooted in misogyny and racism.

"When people live in a really fatphobic culture, they'll often take really desperate measures to try to shrink themselves, try to make themselves take up less stakes in the world," she said.

"So I'm not shocked to hear that people are turning to sketchy websites, to counterfeit websites, to try to make themselves smaller in an effort to conform to the really narrow ideas of what bodies should look like."

Gordon practises what she calls a size-inclusive approach to medicine.

"Which means that I don't focus on weight. I don't direct my patients to lose weight," she said. 

Whether or not she'll prescribe drugs like Ozempic, she says, comes down to an individual patient's needs and health records — just like any medicine. 

At his diabetes and obesity clinic in Burlington, Ont., Wharton says he and his colleagues prescribe GLP-1 drugs to dozens of patients every day who meet the criteria.

That means patients who have Type 2 diabetes, a Body Mass Index (BMI) of between 27 and 30 with one comorbidity or complicating factor, or a BMI of more than 30.

But the demand for these drugs extends well beyond that, he said, pointing to a widespread "cultural desire for thinness."

"That's billions of people. So, when you have something like that, there's always going to be fake medications and opportunities," he said. 

What to watch out for

Consumers seeking these — or any — drugs online should always buy from a licensed, reputable pharmacy, Keren says. But he cautioned that some scammers will masquerade as well-known pharmacies to trick consumers. 

He recommends checking the URL for incorrect spelling. "If there's a typo, it's a scam for sure," he said.

Below-market prices are also a sign of trouble, he says. If the price looks too good to be true, he says, it probably is. 

But the biggest red flag, he says, is a promise to send you a prescription drug without a prescription. GPL-1 medicines are prescription only.

"If someone sells it without a prescription, that's dangerous," he said. 

Alexander Vinogradsky's Facebook posts share puns, poke fun at Gen Z and show off a trip to Tokyo Disneyland last year. In others, he is smiling or highlighting damaged cars in need of a tow.

But beneath the cheerful faces and overseas vacations, a constant menace lingered in Vinogradsky's life: as a kingpin in the Toronto area's tow truck underworld, he was a marked man. 

Before he was gunned down March 28 outside a north-end Toronto plaza, he owned Paramount Towing, one of four outfits allegedly locked in a deadly turf war that prompted a major police crackdown in 2019 and 2020. The investigation prompted dozens of arrests — Vinogradsky's included.

And though he was never charged in any murder plots, investigators had information the tow truck boss ordered hits on at least two perceived rivals in late 2018, according to court decisions that have not previously been reported on. One of those men survived a drive-by shooting while the other, Soheil "Cadi" Rafipour, was shot dead that Christmas Eve. 

"The owner of Paramount Towing was identified as Alex Vinogradsky and the confidential information received suggested that the murder of Mr. Rafipour had been ordered by Mr. Vinogradsky," an Ontario Superior Court judge wrote in a trial-related ruling published in January, recounting the steps police took to investigate the crime.  

Two men — one of whom worked for Paramount Towing, according to evidence presented at their pre-trial hearings — were convicted this past December for the Christmas Eve slaying.

Whether he knew it or not, Vinogradsky appeared to have stepped into a hornet's nest. According to court records obtained by CBC News, both of the targets in those 2018 shootings were associates of a Toronto resident named Girolamo Commisso — the nephew of Cosimo Commisso, a man long alleged to be a senior Mafia figure in the Greater Toronto Area. 

Police have not named any suspects or made any arrests in Vinogradsky's killing.

WATCH | Police reveal links between towing industry, organized crime: 

Police reveal links between organized crime and towing industry

4 years ago

Duration 1:59

Police in the Toronto area have pulled back the curtain on organized crime in the tow truck industry. They've arrested 20 people, seized hard drugs and a range of weapons, but the real money seems to have been in costly insurance fraud.

Costa Rica plot

The first of the two shootings allegedly ordered by Vinogradsky targeted a man named Sergei Manukian. He and Rafipour had ambitions to start a competing tow truck business in the GTA with the goal of bringing in more clients to Manukian's existing physical rehabilitation clinic — namely, the people in the wrecked cars they would be towing, a judge said investigators had learned. 

Manukian was sitting outside his clinic — barely a block from the Toronto plaza where Vinogradsky would be killed six years later — in the driver's seat of a black Jeep, smoking a cigarette and chatting with a friend named Jonathan Salazar-Blanco in the passenger seat. Two men in a grey sedan drove up and fired 21 bullets at them. The sedan then tried to speed away, but crashed into a nearby dumpster.

Neither man was injured; Manukian chased after one of the attackers and managed to subdue him. He was charged in relation to this incident and a video presented in court shows him repeatedly striking and wrestling a man to the ground. He was later convicted of assault and given an absolute discharge.

The day after the drive-by shooting, Salazar-Blanco told police, he flew to his native Costa Rica because he was afraid for his life. He told them he bought a last-minute ticket with money from friends, including Girolamo Commisso and their associate Alex Yizhak. 

Coincidentally, they had just learned that Vinogradsky was possibly also in or travelling to Costa Rica.

Commisso, Yizhak and Salazar-Blanco then began to make arrangements that would lead to police charging them with conspiring to murder Vinogradsky. 

All three were acquitted of the charges. But phone messages between the three men, obtained by police through search warrants connected to the Project Kraken investigation that included corruption in the towing industry, suggest there was no love lost between them and the Paramount Towing chief. 

Shortly after Salazar-Blanco landed in Liberia, Costa Rica, he messaged Commisso on WhatsApp about an apparent plan to get a gun. 

A police officer who investigated the case would later file a sworn statement saying that he believed "maquina" — Spanish for "machine" — was slang for a gun. 

"I believe Salazar-Blanco is speaking about obtaining a cheap and smaller caliber firearm to keep noise down while firing it," he wrote.

There was no evidence Commisso ever sent any of the money discussed in the texts.

In messages a few minutes later, Salazar-Blanco tells Commisso from the airport: "Im here and not leaving," and "Ill do it with my bare hands if i have to."

And then just over an hour later: "I got it bro if he comes by here hes mine." Commisso replied: "let's hope u can get the exact flight."

Salazar-Blanco was simultaneously also texting with Yizhak. 

A few hours later, Salazar-Blanco messaged a photo of his hand cradling a loaded revolver. 

"It's on ma [N-word]," he wrote. 

However, Salazar-Blanco never found Vinogradsky in Costa Rica. According to further text exchanges filed in court, the men appear to have learned he was actually in Miami.

Salazar-Blanco was acquitted of conspiracy to commit murder in February 2022 when a judge ruled that while she had no reasonable doubt that there "was a conspiracy to find and kill Mr. Vinogradsky," it wasn't clear that Salazar-Blanco had a true intention to be a part of it based on the phone messages and his police interrogation. He could have been bluffing, the judge said.

The WhatsApp messages were never before the court at Commisso and Yizhak's brief trial in June 2022 because both men were immediately acquitted after the Crown announced its case couldn't go forward without its key witness, Salazar-Blanco. He had been personally subpoenaed but was unlikely to attend to testify, a prosecutor said. 

"It really would give it too much credit to say there was a weak case against both men," said defence lawyer Greg Lafontaine, who represented Yizhak at trial and both defendants at their preliminary hearing. 

"There was absolutely no case of guilt at all."

Reached earlier this week, Commisso said he had no comment. Salazar-Blanco did not reply to a request for comment sent through his former lawyer.

2019 drive-by shooting

It wasn't the last time Vinogradsky was targeted. 

In spring 2020, he was swept up in the police crackdown on the Greater Toronto Area's tow truck turf wars and faced charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit arson and a number of organized-crime offences. 

He brought a court application to have his home address redacted from evidence that would be disclosed to the 50-plus defendants, as previously reported in the Toronto Star. 

That application revealed that in December 2018, Toronto-area police had warned him they had information that his life was in danger. Soon after, Vinogradsky and his family moved to a different home. 

In April 2019, he went back to his former home and those threats became a reality.

While he was parked outside, the 2020 ruling on his application noted, another vehicle drove past and a man in the front passenger seat began firing a handgun at him. He drove away with the other car in pursuit, a man still firing at him.

A bullet hit him under his left armpit, the ruling said, but the injury was minor. 

In a statement he gave to police after the incident, Vinogradsky said he felt like "a dead man with money on [his] head," but wouldn't say who he thought was responsible, telling officers, "I have to think about my street cred." 

In June 2020, multiple cars and trucks were set on fire outside one of Vinogradsky's businesses.

LISTEN | Arson, fraud and murder in the tow truck industry:

Front Burner21:02Tow truck wars: Police allege fraud, arson and murder

Violence persists in towing industry

The charges against Vinogradsky were dropped in 2022 when prosecutors decided they couldn't meet their obligation to disclose all relevant evidence to the defence without compromising the identity of one or more confidential police informants.   

Vinogradsky went back to work running Paramount Towing, posting a photo of a damaged car on Facebook as recently as Feb. 22 — five weeks before his death — with the comment "Another day on the job" and his company's phone number.

Reached by CBC News last week, a member of Vinogradsky's immediate family said they had "nothing to add right now." 

After arresting Vinogradsky and more than 50 others in 2020 amid the tow truck turf wars, police announced that they were dismantling "four distinct criminal organizations." They said, "We expect the extreme level of violence we have seen in our community to diminish." 

But the industry is still reeling.

Just last month, two masked people doused a tow truck in liquid and set it on fire at a strip mall in Richmond Hill, Ont. 

The week before, A Action Towing and Recovery, a company based in Burlington, Ont., said three of its trucks were set ablaze overnight. Those incidents followed a rash of apparent tow truck arsons in the Greater Toronto Area last summer and fall.  

A Action Towing's owner, Doug Murray, told CBC News that there's been a significant drop in violent incidents between tow truck operators in some areas, but in others violence can persist. 

"As long as guys are fighting for the tow and chasing for the tow, there's going to be people angry with each other." 

The federal government's budget proposal to increase the inclusion rate for the capital gains tax for people whose profits go past a certain threshold has drawn mixed reactions from experts, entrepreneurs and taxpayers.

One asset affected by these changes is real estate, including cottages and investment homes.

The change proposed in the Trudeau government's new budget would raise the inclusion rate to 67 per cent on capital gains above $250,000 for individuals.

So for the first $250,000 in capital gains, an individual taxpayer would continue to pay tax on 50 per cent of the asset's gain. For every dollar beyond $250,000, two-thirds would be taxable.

So what does this mean for someone who inherits a home and considers selling it?

CBC News asked tax experts and lawyers to explain.

I'm inheriting my parents' house. Am I affected?

If your parents are leaving you the home they live in, and it's the only property they own, it will be exempt from the capital gains tax when it transfers to you.

The 2024 budget maintains a capital gains exemption for people selling their primary home.

Mark Weisleder, a senior partner at Real Estate Lawyers.ca LLP, said that when people pass away, some of their assets are considered "sold" on their date of death.

In this scenario, your parents' primary home is being "sold" to you as the beneficiary, meaning there are no capital gains because of the exemption. But other tax consequences might apply.

Weisleder said he's "delighted" the federal government did not change the primary home exemption because, "for many Canadians, that's their retirement plan."

"They buy a home, they live in it for 30 years tax-free. That's their retirement when they sell it," Weisleder said.

But if your parents own an investment property or vacation house that is not their primary home, the "sale" that occurs when they die will include taxable capital gains if the property has accrued value.

"Those taxes are frankly the responsibility of the estate to pay, and then the person just takes over the asset. And they won't have that liability themselves," Weisleder said.

Finally, if you sell your parents' primary residence after inheriting it, there will be a taxable capital gain on the sale if it makes a profit.

What happens if the property has jumped in value?

If you inherit your parents' primary residence, the value of that property is assessed at the time you receive it.

"You get the property at the fair market value at the date of transfer, so the date of death," said Jason Rosen, founding partner at Rosen & Associates Tax Law.

Say your parents purchased their house decades ago for $50,000. You inherit the property when the fair market value is $500,000.

If you sell the property for $600,000 a few years later, the increase in the value of the asset for you is $100,000 — not the $450,000 increase in value since the time your parents purchased the residence.

"The cost base is what you 'bought' the property at, or in this case inherited the property," Rosen said.

Are there other exemptions in the budget?

The 2024 budget proposes to raise the lifetime capital gains exemption on the sale of small business shares, farming and fishing property to $1.25 million. That figure would be indexed to inflation thereafter.

To encourage entrepreneurship, the federal government is also proposing a Canadian Entrepreneurs' Incentive, which would reduce the inclusion rate to 33.3 per cent on a lifetime maximum of $2 million in eligible capital gains.

When the incentive is fully rolled out, the federal government claims entrepreneurs will have a combined capital gains exemption of $3.25 million when selling all or part of their business.

What advice do the experts have?

Rosen said taxpayers who are wondering what to do with properties should seek professional assistance.

"If you don't know, it's better to ask questions now than regret not asking them later," he said.

If adopted, the capital gains tax changes will go into effect on June 25.

"I think the best thing to do is just to evaluate your assets and your net worth and determine if this is going to impact you," Rosen said. "If it's going to be a negative impact, consider your options and seek advice."

The Correctional Service of Canada says it's taking multiple steps to combat the "evolving threat" of drones that drop contraband into prisons, after B.C. guards held a rally to call attention to violence they say is fuelled by the smuggling.

The correctional service said in a statement Thursday that it's using a "layered approach" to respond to the smugglers by procuring drone detection equipment and piloting a program using cellphone detection technology.

Other measures include using body scanners, dogs trained to find electronic devices, and "infrastructure enhancements" at prison facilities, the service said.

Corrections officials said they're confident that the measures, coupled with efforts of front-line prison staff, will help curb contraband smuggled into prisons.

The correctional service says it currently lacks "legal authority" to use drone-jamming technology, but is exploring both the "legal processes and feasibility" of eventually using the technology.

The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers held a protest in Abbotsford, B.C., on Thursday to highlight what it says is a wave of violence driven by drone drops of drugs and weapons.

WATCH | How smugglers use drones to get contraband into prisons:

Drug-delivering drones a rising concern for prisons

11 months ago

Duration 3:23

Prisons are trying to find technology that can help stop drones from delivering drugs, weapons or other contraband to inmates.

John Randle, a regional president with the union, said Wednesday that a variety of anti-drone technology is "readily available," but has yet to make it into the country's prisons, where drones dropping contraband have contributed to the deteriorating situation "almost on a daily basis."

Randle said he recently attended a trade show for drone technology where he saw radar detection systems, futuristic-looking rifles that fire pulses to disable drones, and technology that allows guards to take control of drones mid-air if they enter prison airspace.

Canada's prison watchdog has also suggested that prisons employ new technology in the battle against drone smugglers.

In his 2021/2022 report, correctional investigator Ivan Zinger wrote that implementing "more sophisticated drone detection systems will assist in reducing the presence of drugs within correctional facilities."

Zinger's report said there was a "recent and dramatic upsurge" in inmates failing drug tests, indicating "the insatiable demand for drugs behind bars."

Prisons elsewhere in the world have been dealing with drone smuggling for years, and the U.K. government announced a new law in January prohibiting drones from flying within 400 metres of prisons.

Research published by the U.S. National Institute of Justice in 2022 said evolving drone technology posed a "real threat to correctional facilities."

"Despite innovations and sound correctional practices, novel and inventive methods are constantly being developed and employed by persons who are incarcerated and conspirators to smuggle contraband," a technology brief published by the institute said.

Technology to combat drones "is rapidly evolving as companies develop new products to serve expanding defence and security applications, including correctional institutions. However, many technologies are military-focused and therefore do not meet the operational needs of corrections," the institute's brief said. 

Companies developing anti-drone technology include Drone Defence, based in the U.K., which makes a "SkyFence" that disrupts drone navigation systems if they enter protected airspace.

Droneshield, which has operations in the U.S. and Australia, markets a number of "counter-drone" products, including disabling rifles, radar systems and hand-held detection devices.

But not all smugglers have gone high-tech.

Early last year, Randle highlighted two incidents of carrier pigeons fitted with tiny backpacks filled with drugs that were found at Matsqui prison and Pacific Institution in B.C.'s Fraser Valley.

Carol Love watches the tides at a Vancouver Island lagoon, and when the time is right, she starts to play her violin.

She plays for an audience of one, a killer whale calf that has been trapped alone in the lagoon for almost a month.

Preparations for more conventional efforts to save the whale continue, involving a large fishing net.

But Love, from Nanaimo, B.C., stands and plays on a bridge at high tide, hoping her music entices the young orca to swim through a narrow channel, under the bridge and into the open ocean to freedom — no net required.

"She was curious," Love said Thursday after an afternoon recital for the female orca, named kwiisahi?is, or Brave Little Hunter, by the Ehattesaht First Nation.

"It came closer to me," she said. "It absolutely did. I'm glad I got to see her today, especially if they are going to get her out."

Love, a Canadian military veteran, said her first visit to the bridge Wednesday night didn't work, but she did see the orca calf rise to the surface in the distance.

"A lot of my violin notes sound like orcas, so hopefully she'd resonate with some of my sound and coax [herself] underneath and out to the ocean," she said. "Every high tide I'll be on this bridge playing for her."

Love isn't the only one working to free the whale from the lagoon near Zeballos, 450 kilometres northwest of Victoria, where it has been alone since its pregnant mother became stranded on a rocky beach at low tide and died.

A rescue team continues to prepare to catch the killer whale calf in a net and transport it to the nearby ocean.

Ehattesaht First Nation Chief Simon John would not confirm the exact timing of the next rescue attempt in an interview on Thursday, other than to say, "it is going to happen eventually."

An attempt last Friday involved more than 50 people using boats, nets, and drones. But they were unable to corral the young orca to a shallow area of the lagoon where they planned to manoeuvre it into a sling, lift it onto a truck, then take it on a barge out to sea for a potential reunion with its pod.

More rescue equipment has been arriving over the past few days, including a large seine netting boat from Campbell River's Homalco First Nation.

Road access to the planned rescue site at the shallow end of the Little Espinosa Inlet lagoon was blocked Thursday afternoon, with a sign saying: "Active work site, no unauthorized access permitted."

John said the Ehattesaht First Nation is committed to the whale's rescue.

"We need to save it," he said. "We're all family in our community and family matters, and family matters to the whale that we are trying to help and get her to her pod. It's very important."

Love was doing her bit by playing her violin along to a recording of her favourite song, Tennessee Whiskey by country singer Chris Stapleton.

"Everything's been tried and you have to think outside the box," Love said.

"I'm out of my skin with joy," she said, getting "goose pimples" at the prospect of successfully luring the whale with her music. "I really would love it if it works."

The judge overseeing the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer repeatedly raised concerns over the prosecution's changing theory of what happened that night and at one point indicated she did not see how a jury could reach a guilty verdict on murder based on evidence presented in court.

During legal arguments not heard by the jury, Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy on several occasions asked the Crown to lay out its narrative for how Umar Zameer came to hit Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup with his car on July 2, 2021.

Prosecutors Michael Cantlon and Karen Simone raised new theories about where and how Northrup was struck after all their evidence had been presented to the jury, including some that were not brought up during their own expert's testimony.

One such theory — that Northrup was "clearly visible" to Zameer when he was hit regardless of his position, which itself is in dispute — was abandoned earlier this week, just days before lawyers were set to make their final arguments to the jury, after Molloy said she was struggling to understand it.

WATCH | The prosecution's case against Zameer: 

The case against Umar Zameer, accused in Toronto cop’s death

2 days ago

Duration 5:14

Umar Zameer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup, who died after he was hit by a car in an underground parking garage in Toronto on July 2, 2021. CBC’s Greg Ross breaks down the evidence presented in court.

The Crown's position "keeps morphing," the judge said Monday during legal arguments over her instructions to the jury.

"Doesn't it trouble you at all that the first time we're hearing this theory of the mechanics of how this occurred is after all of the evidence is closed and the experts have finished?" she said at one point.

Arguments and evidence discussed in the absence of the jury cannot be published until deliberations begin and the jury is sequestered. Jurors began deliberating Thursday evening.

Prosecution alleged Zameer drove dangerously

Zameer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Northrup's death. The officer died after being hit by a vehicle in an underground parking garage at Toronto City Hall.

The fact that Zameer ran over the officer is not in dispute. Rather, the case centres on whether he intended to do it — or even knew that it happened — as well as whether he was aware that the people who approached his family were police officers.

The defence has argued Northrup's death was a tragic accident but not a crime. Defence lawyers say Zameer and his pregnant wife did not know Northrup and his partner — who were in plain clothes — were police officers and the couple feared for their lives when two strangers rushed towards their car shortly after midnight. The couple's two-year-old son was also in the car.

Prosecutors have alleged Zameer chose to drive dangerously knowing police officers were nearby and drove directly at Northrup, causing the officer's death. They have argued the defence's position that Zameer didn't see Northrup or know he had hit someone is inconceivable given the officer's height and size.

Three police officers who witnessed the incident have testified that Northrup was standing with his hands raised in front of him in the middle of a laneway when he was run over. Two of them said Northrup fell on the hood of the car before dropping off and going under the wheels.

However, two crash reconstruction experts — one called by the Crown and one by the defence — told court they concluded Northrup had been side swiped and knocked down by the car as it was reversing and was already on the ground when he was run over. Both noted the absence of damage or marks in the dust on the front of the car, which they said they would expect to see if someone was hit head-on.

Barry Raftery, the expert called by the defence, also testified that Northrup would have been in the car's blind zone and not visible to Zameer when he was on the ground.

Court has also seen security footage in which an unidentified object believed to be Northrup appears on the ground in front of the car as it is driving forward. The front headlights can be seen going up and down as the car goes over the object.

Northrup cannot be seen at any other point in the video. Though the camera's view is partially blocked by a pillar on the left side, it has a clear shot of the laneway where the officers said they saw Northrup — who measured more than six feet and weighed close to 300 pounds — standing.

Raftery said the sudden appearance of Northrup's body in the video suggests he was pushed or dragged by the car on the ground until he came into view and went under the wheels.

Judge noted discrepancies between officers and expert 

After the Crown finished presenting its evidence, Molloy noted the discrepancy between the witness officers' accounts and that of the prosecution's expert while speaking to lawyers in the absence of the jury. She pointed out another expert, Raftery, was set to give a similar opinion as part of the defence's case.

"Let's just be blunt — I don't see how they can get to second-degree murder on this evidence because of the expert report and video," she said.

"Now there's going to be some second expert report that's going to say the same thing: he wasn't standing up in front of the car. So, is that a concession that the Crown can make?" she asked.

"No, Your Honour," Simone replied.

In order to find Zameer guilty of murder, jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that he deliberately hit Northrup with the intent to kill or to cause bodily harm he knew was likely to result in death and was reckless as to whether death ensued.

Whether it is first- or second-degree murder then depends on if jurors find Zameer knew Northrup was a police officer. Under the Criminal Code, the murder of a police officer carrying out their duties is automatically first degree if the accused knew or was wilfully blind to that fact.

The Crown's position is that Northrup was standing but the officers were mistaken about his location, Simone said. Instead, Northrup was hidden from the camera by the pillar when he was struck by the car moving forward, she said, suggesting the officer left handprints on or near the hood of the car.

Court has heard a fingerprint associated with a right handprint on the edge of the driver side hood of the car was identified as belonging to Northrup. A smear the Crown argues is a left handprint was found near there but could not be identified.

There is no evidence on when the marks were made, and both Zameer and his wife testified Northrup and his partner were banging on the car at the beginning of the encounter.

Crown's scenario 'not consistent with any evidence': judge

Molloy said the scenario proposed by the Crown — that Northrup was hit while standing behind the pillar out of the view of the camera and left handprints on the car — was "not consistent with any evidence other than what you're telling me now."

"This wasn't a scenario that you put to any of the witnesses, including the officers or the expert," Molloy added.

Simone disagreed, noting all three witness officers placed Northrup near the hood of the car.

The Crown then said Monday that it would bring forward an alternate theory that the officer was "clearly visible" to Zameer regardless of his position and Zameer drove directly at him.

Molloy agreed that could indicate the intent required for murder but asked prosecutors to explain where Northrup could have been visible to Zameer if he wasn't standing.

At multiple times in the discussion, the judge said she was struggling to understand the alternate theory.

"He's visible after being either standing and never been knocked down or knocked to the ground and not in a blind zone," Cantlon said.

The prosecutor suggested that somewhere behind the pillar, Northrup "connected" with the car and was picked up without being dragged on the ground, bringing him to the position where he appears in the video. At one point, Cantlon suggested Northrup may have been holding on to the car's grille.

"That's certainly an inference that can be drawn from the evidence," he said.

"No, it isn't," the judge replied. "That's a brand new theory," she said, adding the video does not show anyone holding on to the car.

The Crown later told Molloy they would not pursue the alternate theory and would argue only that Northrup was standing when he was struck.

In late March and early April, as Ramadan was coming to a close, a powerful heat wave descended on West Africa. A new report says it would not have occurred without human-caused climate change.

The day and nighttime temperature soared above 40 C in many countries between March 31 and April 4.

The heat wave in Mali and Burkina Faso was so severe that it was equated to a once-in-200-year event, according to a report on the Sahel region by World Weather Attribution (WWA), a U.K.-based group. 

The WWA's report, produced by a team of international scientists, concluded the temperatures would not have been reached if industry had not warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels and other activities.

"We find that a five-day heat wave of this intensity would not have been possible," Clair Barnes, a WWA statistician and a research associate at Imperial College London, said in an online briefing.

"This trend is projected to continue as the world continues to warm."

Extreme heat worsened by climate change

West Africa is accustomed to stretches of hot weather in April, but according to the report:

• The extreme heat over a five-day period observed in Mali and Burkina Faso would have been 1.5 C cooler if not for human-caused climate change.
• The nighttime temperatures would have been 2 C cooler.
• El Niño, a natural cyclical phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean that warms the atmosphere above it, played only a minor role in the heat wave, leading to a 0.2 C increase.

Extreme temperatures were reported across the Sahel region, including in Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Chad.

The analysis was not subject to peer review.

WATCH | More on the heat wave in West Africa: 

CBC's Natasha Fatah talks to climate scientist Kiswendsida Guigma about the heat wave in West Africa

3 hours ago

Duration 5:38

CBC's Natasha Fatah talks to climate scientist Kiswendsida Guigma about the heat wave in West Africa

The WWA, founded in 2015, studies extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods and heat waves, and how climate change plays a role in them, as part of the growing field of attribution science.

The reports are often subsequently published in scientific journals. Last year, the research group concluded the wildfires in Quebec were made twice as likely because of climate change.

Heat wave's full impact not yet known

The heat wave coincided with power outages and Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that involves fasting from dawn until sunset.

The fasting, which includes abstaining from drinking water and other beverages, compounded the danger from the heat, said Kiswendsida Guigma, a climate scientist at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre who contributed to the report. The temperature remained high overnight, as well, further contributing to the issue.

"The impacts are really severe on people," he told CBC News.

The researchers noted that death tolls from heat waves are often underreported and not known until months after the event, but said the Gabriel Touré hospital in Bamako, Mali, reported a surge in admissions and deaths.

The hospital recorded 102 deaths over the four-day period, according to the report. It's far more than usual — a year ago, it saw 130 deaths over the entire month of April.

The need to reduce worldwide emissions

Guigma said the findings drive home the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and for additional support from the global community. He said the parts of Africa most impacted by climate change are also contributing "close to nothing" to the actual emissions — meaning they're experiencing the consequences of other people's actions.

In 2021, the average North American emitted 11 times more energy-related CO2 than the average African, according to the International Energy Agency.

The Sahel region is one of the most vulnerable areas in Africa for extreme heat because of its relatively larger land mass, meaning it warms up faster. Furthermore, Burkina Faso and Mali are among countries that will be almost unlivable for humans by 2080, if temperatures continue to rise at their current pace, according to a study from the University of Exeter in the U.K.

Dr. Wassila Thiaw, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate prediction centre, has been watching the weather in the region closely.

He said such extreme heat brings concern of health impacts, particularly for children, older people and those with pre-existing conditions.

As the climate continues to warm, Thiaw said a strategy to deal with extreme weather in the region will be crucial.

"It's important that we start talking to government about this issue and at least minimize exposure and impact to human beings," he said.

The United States has voted against a Palestinian request for full United Nations membership, blocking the world body from effectively recognizing a Palestinian state.

More to come

The Arizona Coyotes are officially headed to Salt Lake City.

The NHL board of governors voted unanimously Thursday to approve a $1.2 billion US sale from Alex Meruelo to Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, clearing the way for the franchise's move to Utah next season.

The deal includes a provision for Arizona to get an expansion team if a new arena is built within the next five years. The deal will be facilitated through the NHL, with $200 million going to league owners as a relocation fee.

Smith will take over the franchise's hockey operations and Meruelo will maintain his business operations in Arizona in an effort to secure and develop a tract of land for a new arena in north Phoenix.

WATCH | Fans say goodbye to Arizona Coyotes franchise:

Arizona Coyotes say goodbye

58 minutes ago

Duration 0:29

The final buzzer on the Arizona Coyotes' game on Wednesday night signalled the end of their franchise. Teary-eyed fans held up signs and waved farewell to their team, which is set to relocate to Salt Lake City.

Meruelo also retains ownership of the Tucson Roadrunners, the franchise's AHL affiliate, and hopes to move them to Mullett Arena, the Coyotes' temporary home shared with Arizona State University the past two seasons. He plans to pay back the $1 billion once an expansion team is approved.

"The NHL's belief in Arizona has never wavered," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. "We thank Alex Meruelo for his commitment to the franchise and Arizona, and we fully support his ongoing efforts to secure a new home in the desert for the Coyotes. We also want to acknowledge the loyal hockey fans of Arizona, who have supported their team with dedication for nearly three decades while growing the game."

Utah team to rebrand

Meruelo will retain the Coyotes' name, logo and trademark, so Smith's group will have to rename the team.

"We'll start with Utah on the jersey and we'll figure out the logo and everything else, and what it is that we are, but that's a one-way door," Smith said. "You've got to do it once. And with this timeline, I think both the league feels better and we feel better to just run the process and then we'll drop it when we drop it."

The sale ends the Coyotes' long-running bid to find a permanent home.

The franchise shared an arena with the NBA's Phoenix Suns after relocating from Winnipeg, moved to Glendale and ended up at Mullett Arena when the city of Glendale backed out of a lease agreement.

Meruelo had been adamant about not wanting to sell the team despite receiving numerous offers since buying the team in 2019. When an auction for the land in north Phoenix got pushed back to June, the Coyotes had no guarantee a deal for a new arena would go through.

'This is not the end'

With the NHL and players' association hesitant for the Coyotes to play at 5,000-seat Mullett Arena for a third season, Meruelo opted to sell the team, his focus shifting to the new arena and expansion team.

"I agree with commissioner Gary Bettman and the National Hockey League, that it is simply unfair to continue to have our players, coaches, hockey front office, and the NHL teams they compete against, spend several more years playing in an arena that is not suited for NHL hockey," Meruelo said in a statement.

The Coyotes played their final game in Arizona on Wednesday night, a 5-2 win over the playoff-bound Edmonton Oilers. The players celebrated on the ice with team personnel and a few handed their sticks over the glass to fans, who chanted "We love you Coy-otes!"

"It's tough to take it all in," Coyotes rookie forward Logan Cooley said. "A lot of noise, a lot of personal stuff and obviously the organization, you hear you're going one spot then you're going to the next spot. We've done a good job in this locker room focusing on keeping out the noise and getting better as a team, striving to be the team we want to be one day."

A provincial rule to limit short-term rentals to a homeowner's principal residence plus one secondary suite or accessory dwelling comes into force in British Columbia on May 1 in 60 communities, while 17 additional communities have chosen to opt into the rules, despite being exempt.

An update for the province's Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act was provided by Premier David Eby and B.C. Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon at a media event on Thursday in Langley, B.C.

May 1 is the deadline for many changes telegraphed in October when the province introduced the act.

The government's hope is to limit housing from being rented through platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, Expedia and FlipKey, when they could instead be used for stable, long-term homes in cities where residents struggle to find appropriate housing.

"Balanced new rules to crack down on speculators who are effectively operating mini hotels, while also ensuring homeowners can still rent out spaces in their principal residence," said Eby on Thursday.

Eby said that the rule changes will limit short-term rental units to within the principal home of a host, but the move isn't a ban on platforms such as Airbnb if they aren't used to create de facto hotels from B.C.'s housing stock.

"If there's a major event (such as a) Taylor Swift concert, a FIFA-like event and somebody wants to rent out their primary residence and go away for the weekend to avoid the crush of the crowds, they can still do that," he said.

Eby made his comments as the province announced new figures gathered in March that showed more than 19,000 entire homes being listed as short-term rentals.

He said the changes will allow both the province and local governments to crack down on speculators. 

"If you're flipping homes, if you're buying places to do short-term rental, if you're buying a home to leave it vacant, we have consistently, publicly, repeatedly sent the message: Do not compete with families and individuals that are looking for a place to live with your investment dollars."

Since the measures were proposed, some communities have welcomed them, while others have protested that they will stifle housing meant to bolster economic drivers like tourism.

Along with the principal residence requirement, the changes set to be in place on May 1 are a requirement for business licences to be displayed on platforms and the closing of loopholes that allow short-term rental hosts to operate under pre-existing municipal rules.

Short-term rental platforms must begin sharing data with the province.

'Ask your host'

Kahlon said also starting May 1 is a process for local governments to advise hosts and platforms not complying with the rules to remove listings, or otherwise face fines as much as $10,000.

"Ask your host if they are compliant with the new rules," advised Kahlon to people renting on short-term rental platforms. "The responsibility to comply with the rules falls with the host and short-term rental platform."

He said guests would not be fined if they were staying in a non-compliant short-term rental.

Kahlon said he expected most enforcement would be done digitally, with platforms and municipalities pairing seamlessly to share data with the province. Booking.com and Expedia were already working with the province in this way, he said.

Four people have been hired to staff a provincial short-term rental compliance and enforcement unit, with potential for another 12 to be added.

"We will expand the team as required but we have found so many digital tools available for us to be able to ensure that both the cities have the accountability from the platforms and the platforms have the information that they need to be able to take action," said Kahlon.

Opting in, getting out

The province said on Thursday that 17 communities have decided to opt into the principal resident requirement of the act despite being exempt because they don't meet a population threshold.

The communities announced Thursday include the District of Kent, Tofino, Gabriola Island, Bowen Island, Osoyoos and Pemberton, in addition to several electoral areas. The new rules won't come into force for these municipalities until Nov. 1, said Kahlon.

Tourist town of Tofino wants to restrict short-term rentals

1 month ago

Duration 6:19

While some communities are trying to opt out of the province's upcoming short-term rental restrictions, Tofino, on Vancouver Island, wants in. As a small tourist town, it is exempt from the provincial rules, but has sent a request to opt in to the program. Mayor Dan Law explains why.

Earlier this spring a group of nearly 300 B.C. property owners took the province and City of Victoria to court over new provincial limits on short-term rentals.

They claim the rules aren't legal and will result in significant financial losses for short-term rental owners.

"We are very confident in the legal authority of the province to regulate the housing sector in this way and we'll make the arguments that are needed in court," said Eby on Thursday when asked about the legal action.

Four communities that have met a rental vacancy rate of three per cent or more for two consecutive years have been allowed to opt out of the principal residence requirement of the act. They are West Kelowna, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek and Pouce Coupe.

Christine Rogers says she won't go back to work until something is done at a neighbouring chemical plant.

The 40-year-old lives and works on Aamjiwnaang First Nation, along the shores of the St. Clair River, next to the southwestern Ontario city of Sarnia, and says she and other family members started noticing symptoms of illness earlier this week.

Rogers spoke after the First Nation's band councillors and its chief pleaded with governments to shut down INEOS Styrolution, in the wake of data indicating high levels of benzene in the air.

On Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he's "sure" the Ministry of the Environment is "already acting on it."

"They'll send folks down there to measure air quality and we'll find out," he told reporters.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Environment Minister Andrea Khanjin confirmed that compliance officers have been conducting site visits at INEOS and a mobile air monitoring unit is in place.

WATCH | Where Aamjiwnaang is compared to a nearby plastic chemical producer:

Where Aamjiwnaang is compared to a nearby plastic chemical producer

13 hours ago

Duration 0:33

Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Sarnia, Ont., is located next to INEOS Styrolution. The company produces chemicals of plastic. The Indigenous community is calling on all levels of government to shut it down over concerns of high harmful chemical levels in the air.

Rogers said that recently, she "slept with my window open and I woke up with a really sore throat."

"I went to work anyway. As I was at work it just kept getting worse and worse. I just kept feeling more and more symptoms. It felt like a flu ... because I got nausea and a big headache. I just kept feeling worse and worse … like spacey."

Eventually, Rogers said, she gave in and went home from work.

"I sat outside thinking fresh air would help once I got home. I sat on my back porch for a bit and then my dad called and said he wasn't feeling well. And it's not normal for him to say that he's going to go home from work not feeling well."

WATCH | Aamjiwnaang residents speak about their symptoms:

Aamjiwnaang residents talk about symptoms as airborne chemical levels are reported

4 hours ago

Duration 3:58

Aamjiwnaang First Nation’s Christine and Bobby Rogers explain the symptoms they had earlier this week, their experience in hospital, and their worries surrounding benzene causing cancer.

According to Rogers, that's around the same time she received an email from her work that their offices were closing due to "high benzene."

Rogers said she, her dad Bob and her 19-year-old daughter all went to hospital to be assessed in Sarnia for similar symptoms.

"The treatment plan was to draw blood to find out the toxicity level and then to monitor the symptoms for up to six hours after exposure, then a baseline EKG to make sure that our hearts were functioning," she said. "And then they said that if our symptoms did not get worse, we could go home. So the time passed — none of our symptoms got worse."

The First Nation blames the recorded pollution on INEOS Styrolution, a company that produces chemicals of plastic and sits directly beside Aamjiwnaang.

According to Clean Air Sarnia and Area preliminary data, air quality has been recorded as poor and moderate due to benzene levels multiple times in April.

Benzene is linked to a wide range of acute and long-term health effects, including cancer and blood issues.

Khanjin met with Aamjiwnaang Chief Chris Plain on Wednesday.

"The minister also spoke with representatives from INEOS and made clear our government's expectation that they quickly identify and reduce these emissions," the minister's office said in the statement on Thursday.

"When it comes to protecting health and safety, we will not hesitate to use our regulatory tools and enforcement actions to hold emitters to account."

The minister said the ministry is also working to strengthen regulations on benzene for industrial facilities, as well as financial penalties for facilities that break the rules.

A Ministry of the Environment report released in March on an air exposure review in Sarnia found benzene levels were a "concern" in some areas due to industrial emissions. 

On the federal level, in an email, Environment and Climate Change Canada directed CBC News to a statement it released in February saying it was working on draft regulations to reduce industry missions, including benzene. And that the public will be able to have its say until April 24.

In a statement, INEOS Styrolution said it upholds "stringent environmental and safety protocols" to meet regulated standards set by the ministry — with an "unwavering commitment" to safeguard the environment and residents.

The company said it's reviewing the data and concerns surrounding the high chemical levels.

Rogers and her dad work directly across from Styrolution.

"The only thing separating us is the road. We're right there."

She said she's unsure about next steps, but does know she won't go back to work if things at the facility remain status quo.

"I work in a portable and it draws in air for my heating source, and it blows directly on my back all day long.

"I don't know what we're going to do about that situation, but I'm not [returning]."

'We know the air is stinky'

Darren Henry's granddaughter works at the daycare beside Styrolution.

The Aamjiwnaang councillor said the air quality has become a conversation piece for children at the daycare who are as young as three years old because they can't go outside.

"We know the air is stinky and is going to hurt us," Henry said they're telling other children and daycare staff.

Henry said his community's position regarding the facility remains firm. Until the issue is fixed, they want it closed, he said.

"We haven't seen any action or compliance.

"Personally, in my mind, they've assaulted every person in this community."

After meeting with government and health-related agencies, Henry said, he will "remain hopeful" in the outcome.

"I know within our organization we're starting to experience trust issues with the government."

'First Nations are watching your response'

An Indigenous NDP MPP from northern Ontario supports the push by the Aamjiwnaang community to shut down the facility.

"It is unacceptable," Sol Mamakwa, a member of Kingfisher Lake First Nation, said in a statement to CBC News.

"We're talking about human beings here. If this were happening elsewhere, it would be declared a state of emergency."

Mamakwa said the "continued neglect" of the health and safety of Indigenous people will not be tolerated.

"This is a message to all levels of government; First Nations are watching your response. The government's failure to act will only allow these companies to further jeopardize our future for quick profits."

WATCH | Meet long-time southwestern Ontario environmental activist Ada Lockridge:

Meet long-time southwestern Ontario environmental activist Ada Lockridge

5 hours ago

Duration 1:44

Aamjiwnaang First Nation's Ada Lockridge has decades of experience protesting developments she believes pollute the air in her community. Here's how a sacred gift motivates her to keep pushing for change.

"I think it's bigger than we think," said Ada Lockridge, a longtime Aamjiwnaang environmental activist.

One of CASA's air monitoring stations is named after her.

Lockridge hopes having the ear of the governments and full community support will result in action.

"We've asked, you know, so many people, we've done so many studies," she said. 

"I'm usually a fighter-type person, but I've been trying to use my words. And you can only do that for so long."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered an hour-long rebuttal to the Liberal government's budget Thursday — a fiery speech that depicted the multi-billion dollar spending plan as a threat to the country's future.

Poilievre was particularly critical of the budget's projection that Ottawa will run deficits for the foreseeable future, with no plan to return to balance — a program that will push the national debt to $1.4 trillion.

Ottawa will spend more to service that debt — $54.1 billion — than it will on health care this year, and the debt charges will continue to grow as the government rolls over some of that debt at higher interest rates.

"More money for those wealthy bankers and bondholders who own our debt and less money for the doctors and nurses as we sit for 26 hours in the emergency room," Poilievre said in the House of Commons Thursday morning, referring to public debt charges for 2024-25.

"We do not want to live in a country that passes on a ballooning debt to our children but, after nine years of this prime minister, that is exactly the country we live in.

"This budget, just like the prime minister, is not worth the cost and Conservatives will be voting no."

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has defended her budget as a plan to restore fairness and make homes available to young people who have been priced out of a red-hot housing market.

The budget's $8.5 billion in new housing-related spending has been praised by some observers as a "home run" that will meaningfully improve housing availability.

In addition to direct spending, Ottawa is also lending billions of dollars to jump-start affordable home construction.

WATCH: Breaking down the budget's plans for housing    

Breaking down the federal budget’s housing promises

2 days ago

Duration 4:34

CBC’s senior business correspondent Peter Armstrong breaks down the housing announcements in the 2024 budget that could make a difference for Canadians and how those plans will get paid for.

"As we invest with purpose for the benefit of our younger generations and those who love them, we continue to stick to a responsible economic plan," Freeland said after tabling the budget, citing her commitment to fiscal "guardrails" like keeping the deficit below $40 billion and ensuring the debt-to-GDP ratio declines over time.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused Poilievre of standing with the "ultra wealthy" by opposing a budget that also hikes capital gains taxes on the rich to help pay for programs to benefit millennials and Generation Z Canadians.

While he attacks the Liberals' spending plan, Poilievre is under pressure to explain what he'd cut to fulfil his stated promise to "fix the budget" if he's elected.

In an interview with Radio-Canada Wednesday, Poilievre was noncommittal on whether child care, dental care and pharmacare would be dismantled by a government led by him — but he raised questions about the programs' effectiveness.

Poilievre said many Canadians already have access to drug coverage through workplace plans that may offer better benefits than those the NDP-backed Liberal plan eventually could offer.

A 2022 Conference Board of Canada report found that about 24.6 million Canadians are already enrolled in private drug plans.

Poilievre claims pharmacare bill would 'ban' private plans

Millions more people — mostly low-income earners, children and seniors — have access to provincial programs.

Speaking to CityNews on Thursday, Poilievre claimed the pharmacare bill would "ban" private plans "and require you move over to a federal government plan." 

"That will make you worse off," he said.

There's no such ban in the pharmacare legislation.

While it's promising to expand the program at some point, the government is only offering to cover contraceptives and some diabetes treatments in provinces and territories that sign agreements with Ottawa.

The government says it will strike a committee of experts to advise it on how to eventually establish a universal, single-payer program.

If a single-payer system for drugs is ever implemented, it would call into question the future of private plans — but that's not what Ottawa is doing with Bill C-64, the Pharmacare Act.

Poilievre also questioned whether two of these programs — pharmacare and dental care — will be up and running any time soon.

Pharmacare covers drugs for only two conditions and many dentists have said they won't participate in the government's plan.

Asked what he'd do with the roughly 1.6 million Canadian seniors who have signed up for the dental care plan, Poilievre said they've only signed up — there's been no government-covered service yet.

"How many teeth have been cleaned? Zero," Poilievre told Radio-Canada host Patrice Roy, discussing a program that was only launched in December.

"Lots of costs, not many results. We'll see what we'll do with that."

"What we have is a promise that it will eventually exist and we don't know when or if that promise will be fulfilled. We already know there's many dentists who are refusing to participate because the program is so badly run," Poilievre said later in the Commons on Thursday.

In the face of slow uptake among dentists, Ottawa announced Wednesday it would tweak the plan to allow dentists to directly bill the government's chosen provider, Sun Life, for eligible dental treatments.

As for the proposed national school food program, Poilievre told CityNews that "you can't cut what doesn't exist. There is no school food program. There's a school food press release."

The government has promised to spend $1 billion over five years to deliver school meals to an additional 400,000 children per year.

An anti-fraud investigation involving police from Quebec, Ontario and the United States has led to the arrest of 14 people linked to "grandparent scams" alleged to have defrauded Canadians of $2.2 million since February 2022.

The 14 suspects, 24 to 34 years old, were arrested in Montreal and Laval, where they had recently moved from Toronto, according to Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Sgt. Benoit Dubé. 

This year alone, police allege the group behind these scams defrauded 126 people across Canada of about $739,000. Fifteen of those victims lost money several times over, totalling $243,000.

Most of the victims, who are between the ages of 46 and 95, live in Ontario and were reached via landline by suspects pretending to be law enforcement officers telling them their grandchild was in police custody. The caller would request bail money to release the victim's family member. 

According to an Ontario Provincial Police news release, "in most cases, 'money mules' (unsuspecting couriers) were used to collect the money."

"It's an unacceptable crime. It's a crime that causes a lot of harm to these people, who've often spent their lives working toward saving to be able to enjoy a happy retirement," Dubé said, adding that in many cases, it was impossible to recover the victims' losses.

Police are working with banks to recover at least $559,000 of those funds.

WATCH | Ask a family member and other tips on avoiding being scammed: 

How to protect your loved ones from 'grandparent scams'

9 months ago

Duration 1:43

Fraudsters are getting more sophisticated. Here are some tips on how to help your family members identify a potential scam.

The police task force investigating grandparent scams, called Project Sharp, is led by Ontario Provincial Police in partnership with the SQ. In total, 11 police forces have contributed to related investigations.

Dubé said police had found ties between the suspects and "traditional Italian organized crime." 

In total, 56 charges have been laid. Four suspects are still in custody and will appear in court in the coming days. The 10 remaining suspects have been released and will appear in court next month.

The hype for Taylor Swift's new album went into overdrive as it appeared to leak online two days ahead of its Friday release.

Swifties started sharing tracks on X that they claimed were from the singer's upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, saying they came from a Google Drive link containing all 17 songs.

Some fans were upset by the leak and said they would wait until Friday to listen while others started frantically posting fake links on X to bury the "real" tracks.

"Raise your hand if ur an ACTUAL Taylor Swift fan and aren't listening to leaks," one user wrote.

Several media outlets reported that X briefly blocked the search term "Taylor Swift leak" on Wednesday.

CBC has reached out to Swift's publicist for comment.

Swift announced the release, her 11th studio album and the first with all new songs since 2022's Midnights, at the Grammy Awards ceremony in February.

Fans have been speculating about the lyrical themes that would appear on The Tortured Poets Department, based in part on a physical "library installation" that opened Tuesday in Los Angeles, curated with items that drop hints and references to the inspirations behind the album.

Swift's 2022 album Midnights, which featured the hit Anti-Hero, also leaked online ahead of its scheduled release date, and went on to win the Grammy for album of the year. Swift's previous albums 1989, Reputation and Lover also leaked ahead of their official releases. 

The singer is in the midst of her billion-dollar-grossing Eras tour, which is moving through the U.S. and is scheduled to conclude in Vancouver in December. 

Swift was added to Forbes magazine's annual new billionaires list earlier this month, with Forbes saying she was the first musician to become a billionaire based solely on her songs and performances. 

Alberta is bracing for another challenging fire season and with fire officials urging communities to prepare for conditions to grow more volatile as a summer drought settles in. 

With many communities across the province already parched because of a lack of winter snow cover, officials Thursday urged Albertans to be vigilant in the weeks ahead. 

Christie Tucker, an Alberta Wildfire information unit manager, said crews are preparing for a long and difficult season. 

"While there is a temporary dip in temperatures this week, it doesn't mean that wildfire danger is over," Tucker said during a news conference.

"The drought conditions we've experienced in Alberta mean that it is still possible for trees and grasses to burn, particularly in the high winds that we have been seeing." 

As of Thursday, 50 wildfires are burning across the province. Of those, four are classified as being held and 46 are now classified as under control. 

WATCH | Long and difficult wildfire season ahead, say Alberta officials: 

Long and difficult wildfire season ahead, say Alberta officials

6 hours ago

Duration 1:47

Alberta firefighters are grappling with 64 fires still burning from the 2023 season, as the province gears up for another challenging fire season.

The provincial total does not include fires burning outside Alberta's forest protection zones. None of the forest fires burning across the province are considered a threat to communities or critical infrastructure.

Tucker said the season began early with crews being deployed to fires that began during last year's unprecedented fire season. The official start of fire season was brought forward 10 days in Alberta in March.  

The vast majority of the fires now burning began last year and smouldered through winter. Only 12 of the current fires ignited this spring.

Crews have already fully extinguished 148 fires since the beginning of 2024, Tucker said. 

"We started this year with 64 wildfires still burning from last year," she said.

"While we've been working diligently to extinguish them, it does mean that firefighters are entering the spring with a heavier fire load than usual." 

As of Thursday, the risk of wildfires was ranked from low to high across Alberta with the Lac La Biche and Peace River regions considered at the most risk due to current conditions. 

Many areas in Alberta are dealing with drought conditions, particularly in areas of southern Alberta, where communities are already grappling with how to ration water this summer.

Across the north, meagre snow cover from a dry winter has disappeared quickly, leaving the soil bone-dry.

Tucker said 500 hectares has already been consumed by fire so far this season. That is up by about 400 hectares compared to the same last year. 

WATCH | Alberta's 2023 wildfire season was a record breaker. Another hectic one is forecast:

Alberta's 2023 wildfire season was a record breaker. Another hectic one is forecast

7 days ago

Duration 1:49

A lack of snowfall has Alberta Wildfire preparing for a busy wildfire season. Dry conditions around the Edmonton area have already led to early grass fires blowing in that direction.

"We're hoping for more precipitation to come, but we're prepared for what will happen if it doesn't," Tucker said. 

During Thursday's update, Todd Loewen, minister of Forestry and Parks, said Alberta is well-equipped to respond. 

After an unprecedented season in 2023, a critical part of the wildfire strategy for this year was ensuring crews were trained and ready to be deployed early, he said. 

He said the province has enlisted the help of 297 government wildland firefighters, 280 fire attack firefighters and 172 seasonal support staff, in addition to its regular permanent full-time staff. 

He said the province is bringing on about 30 new people a week and all of Alberta's crews will be fully trained and prepared to be deployed by May 15.

"We're ahead of where we were last year, of course, both in time and numbers," he said. "We had to learn from last year and make sure we made changes for this year." 

Loewen said the province has also secured additional contracts for air tankers, heavy equipment, and night vision-equipped helicopters so crews can fight more fires after dark. 

"Alberta's government is taking a proactive approach," he said.  "However, it is still important that every Albertan do their part to prevent wildfires."

Last year was a record year for wildfires in the province. An early May heatwave fuelled fires across the province, triggering a provincial state of emergency and ultimately forcing 38,000 Albertans to evacuate from their homes. 

A total of 1,088 wildfires burned about 2.2 million hectares in Alberta from March 1 to Oct. 31. The province's five-year average prior to 2023 was 226,000 hectares of burned land.

Most forest fires in Alberta are caused by humans.

To date this season, 70 per cent have been attributed to human activity, while 30 per cent remain under investigation. Over the past five years, 67 per cent of wildfires in Alberta have been caused by people. Tucker said the vast majority of human-caused fires are not intentionally set but the result of carelessness in provincial forests. 

She urged Albertans need to remember that they have a critical role to play in easing the risk. 

"We're starting early and we have a potentially long season ahead of us and we need to work together to prevent wildfires."

The bungled sale of a $2.89 million Richmond, B.C., home under a Chinese-language contract was the subject of a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision, with the court ruling the one-page handwritten document outlining the deal is legally binding.

Justice Steven Wilson's Monday ruling brings an apparent end to a nearly seven-year legal tango between two acquaintances who first met in dance class — and then several more times in a courtroom.

Wilson's decision found plaintiff and would-be seller Hong Yang and her husband were entitled to damages after buyer Xue Li failed to pay an $800,000 deposit instalment agreed upon in what the parties called a "Chinese contract."

While another justice refused to decide the case on a summary basis in 2022, Monday's ruling finds that despite different translations, customs and interpretations, Chinese-language contracts are enforceable in British Columbia — in this case, to the tune of nearly half a million dollars.

"I find that the Chinese contract was a valid and binding contract, and that the plaintiffs were ready, willing and able to complete at the closing date," Wilson wrote. 

"The plaintiffs were entitled to accept the defendant's breach, which they did, and are entitled to damages."

Buyer lived in the home for nearly 1 year

The ill-fated deal began in 2017, when Yang asked Li for help finding a Realtor to sell the large detached home at 3311 Blundell Rd., and Li said she herself was interested in buying it, according to court documents.

The two parties signed what Wilson calls a "Chinese contract" confirming the terms of the sale on May 4, 2017, and Li and her family moved into the home shortly after.

The one-page document, written entirely in Chinese characters, listed the purchase price at $2.89 million, with a $100,000 deposit upon purchase, $100,000 due on July 10, and $800,000 due by Dec. 30, according to a translation accepted by the court.

The remaining $1.89 million was to be paid after another property Li owned on West 20th Avenue in Vancouver had sold, the ruling says.

Li made both of the first two deposits before her Vancouver property sold in November, but the third $800,000 instalment never came to Yang or her husband, the ruling says.

For five months, until April 2018, Li claimed she had been trying and failing to get approved for a mortgage to cover the difference — even as she obtained mortgages for, and purchased, two other properties in the same period.

"Ms. Li did not provide evidence of any mortgage applications regarding the Blundell [Road] property, and therefore no evidence that she was unsuccessful in obtaining a mortgage," wrote Wilson. 

Li and her family moved out of the home on April 25, 13 days after she had made a $2.7 million offer on another property for which she had obtained a mortgage, according to the ruling.

Uncertainties don't void deal: judge

In response to Yang's lawsuit for damages, Li claimed the Chinese contract was not binding or enforceable because it was uncertain, and demanded the $200,000 she had paid be returned.

Li argued that, while unwritten in the Chinese contract, the agreement hinged on her receiving financing for the home in the form of a mortgage. 

However Wilson wrote that Li was well aware of the contract's nature, but evidence suggested she did not take the steps necessary to hold up her end of the deal. He also said the uncertainties she argued, including the closing date and interest costs, did not void the contract.

"While I accept that Ms. Li does not read or write English and that her ability to understand spoken English may be limited, I do not accept that she is as unsophisticated or naïve as she portrays," he said.

Yang and her husband eventually sold the Blundell Road home to another buyer in 2018 for approximately $2.4 million, about $400,000 less than what the contract said Li would pay.

After hearing testimony from both plaintiffs and the defendant, Wilson awarded Yang and her husband the difference between the two purchase prices, plus interest, and around $3,000 in property and legal fees.

U.S. President Joe Biden will accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Thursday as he aims to undermine former president Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kerry Kennedy, a daughter of former attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, niece of former president John F. Kennedy and sister of the current presidential contender, will deliver the endorsements of Biden, his campaign announced.

The decision to highlight the Kennedy family endorsement more than six months from election day is an indication of how seriously Biden's team is taking the threat of the long shot bid potentially using his last name's lingering Democratic magic to siphon off support from the president.

Both Democrats and Republicans worry that Kennedy's candidacy could spoil their respective presumptive nominee's campaigns. Biden was using the event, which caps a three-day campaign swing in a battleground state critical to his re-election effort, to also sustain the pressure on Trump.

"I can only imagine how Donald Trump's outrageous lies and behaviour would have horrified my father, Robert F. Kennedy, who proudly served as Attorney General of the United States, and honoured his pledge to uphold the law and protect the country," Kerry Kennedy will say, according to prepared remarks. "Daddy stood for equal justice, human rights and freedom from want and fear. Just as President Biden does today."

The endorsement was hardly a surprise, as the prominent Democratic family has been vocal that they don't see eye to eye politically with Robert Kennedy Jr., who started as a protest primary challenger to Biden in the Democratic party and now is running as an independent.

Biden last month hosted more than 30 members of Kennedy's extended family at the White House for St. Patrick's Day, with family members posing with the president in the Rose Garden and Oval Office.

After the formal endorsement, Biden and members of the Kennedy family were set to meet with supporters at a campaign event, and members of the Kennedy clan were planning to make calls to voters and knock on doors on Biden's behalf.

Several notable members of the family were not endorsing, including U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy and non-profit leader Maria Shriver, which the Biden campaign said was due to their non-political professional roles.

Robert Kennedy Jr. has spoken publicly in the past about disagreeing with his family on many issues, but maintains it can be done in "friendly" ways. After a Super PAC supporting his campaign produced a TV ad during the Super Bowl that relied heavily on imagery from John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential run, Robert Kennedy Jr. apologized to his relatives on the social media platform X, saying he was sorry if the spot "caused anyone in my family pain."

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has separately hired a communications team to combat the appeal of third-party candidates, Kennedy first among them. The DNC also filed a recent Federal Election Commission complaint against Kennedy's campaign, charging that it co-ordinated too closely with an affiliated Super PAC to get his name on the presidential ballot in some states.

Kennedy is also viewed warily by the Trump campaign, which is fearful that he could also pull the GOP voters they need to defeat Biden in November. While Trump has released a recent video saying, "If I were a Democrat, I'd vote for RFK Jr. every single time over Biden," he has also sometimes criticized Kennedy, including suggesting that he is more "radical left" than the incumbent president.

The Kennedy family endorsement is a capstone on three days of campaigning in Pennsylvania.

It was an opportunity for Biden to reconnect with his roots, starting on Tuesday in Scranton, where he lived until he was 10 years old. He swung by his childhood home, a three-story colonial that his family rented, and reminisced about attending Mass at St. Paul's.

He seemed reluctant to leave town the next day, stopping for coffee before heading to the airport. "It's good to be back in Scranton," the president said when a customer welcomed him.

Biden's next stop was Pittsburgh, where he called for higher tariffs on steel and aluminum from China to protect U.S. industry from what he called unfair competition.

But even that event involved some nostalgia, as Biden recalled an endorsement from the steelworkers when he was "a 29-year-old kid" from Delaware running for U.S. Senate.

"It changed everything," he said.

A once-sealed affidavit filed with the Tax Court of Canada and obtained by The Fifth Estate details how alleged scammers tricked the Canada Revenue Agency and made off with $37 million of taxpayers' money.

In the document, a litigation officer with the Canada Revenue Agency alleges that Toronto-area company Gold Line Telemanagement made "material misstatements" on tax returns and was "part of a group of companies that participated in sham transactions."

The affidavit, which lawyers at KPMG said could cause "irreparable harm" to Gold Line if it was released, was kept off the public record for 10 months.

After a petition to the court from The Fifth Estate, KPMG eventually reversed its position late last year and said its client would no longer oppose the release.

In its own court filings, Gold Line has rejected CRA allegations, stating "there was no deceit, intentional or otherwise," in its filings and that it was genuinely engaged in the long-distance telecom business.

Gold Line has been in the telecom business for decades, selling prepaid long distance telephone cards and other services. 

The CRA alleges that starting in 2016 Gold Line acted as a middle party in the world of wholesale telecom, purporting to buy and sell international telephone call minutes. Based on what the CRA now alleges were "sham" transactions, the company claimed — and received — $37 million in sales tax refunds. 

Some of the companies in Gold Line's supply chain are alleged to have participated in a separate case reported on by The Fifth Estate late last year. In that instance, the CRA admits it paid out more than $63 million in what it now calls "illegitimate" tax refunds.

WATCH | The "Swindling the System" from The Fifth Estate:

Between these two cases, the CRA claims to have wrongly dispersed $100 million to carousel schemes, a type of fraud that has been well-known to Canadian tax authorities for many years.

Also known as "missing trader fraud," carousel schemes rely on complicated supply chains filled with fake companies and invoices to create the appearance that legitimate business transactions are taking place. The companies then submit bogus tax refund claims that are paid out by unwitting governments.

"How much do you have to lose before you realize that your tax system might be vulnerable?" Mike Cheetham, a Dubai-based tax fraud analyst, said in an interview. "If I have to put the blame anywhere, it's all squarely and fairly on the CRA."

Cheetham has previously appeared as an expert witness before European Union committees regarding carousel schemes. He said other countries have implemented a "reverse charge mechanism" to sectors prone to carousel fraud, like telecom and precious metals trading — something Canada has not done. 

With a reverse charge mechanism in place, certain industries are exempted from collecting sales taxes, in order to prevent bogus refunds.

"It would take a single paragraph of text in the legislation" to inhibit this kind of fraud, Cheetham said, adding that there are "20 years of milestones in Europe proving it works."

He said that without these kinds of changes, Canada's tax system is wide open for abuse.

"I will bet there's another five or 10 cases that haven't yet been discovered underway now as we speak." 

Federal Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau did not respond to an email from The Fifth Estate asking why the federal government has not implemented the kind of preventive measures taken more than a decade ago in Europe.

In January, Gerald Soroka, the Conservative member of Parliament for the Yellowhead riding, west of Edmonton, asked the government in writing for an estimate of how much unwarranted money the CRA has paid out as a result of carousel schemes.

Bibeau responded that the CRA was "unable to provide the information" because "there is no systematic way to estimate the amount of all unwarranted payments."

Previous filings made in the case, and not under seal, state that while KPMG provided Gold Line with external "accounting support" and audited its financial statements, it did not prepare the GST returns at issue.

Today, KPMG Law, the legal branch of the firm, represents Gold Line in tax court.

In a statement, KPMG said that "due to client confidentiality," it cannot provide comment on the case.

Gold Line also said that as the matter is before the courts, it had been advised not to comment.

'Sham' transactions

According to a CRA analysis, Gold Line sold 10 million more minutes than it purchased. But as an intermediary, Gold Line's sales and purchases should be relatively equal, it said. 

"There is overwhelming evidence that Gold Line was colluding with its suppliers and customers to deceive the CRA" the once-sealed affidavit states.

The CRA alleges the company was either knowingly involved in the scheme or "grossly negligent," noting that Gold Line did business with Canadian suppliers that were not registered to collect GST or HST, didn't have proper telecom licences, "had no business location, had no telecommunications experience and had no employees other than the shareholder/director."

Based on this and a number of other factors, the CRA concluded that "the purchase and sales transactions are sham."

The case is ongoing in the Tax Court of Canada and Gold Line argues that the tax credits it claimed were entirely based on taxes it paid to its Canadian suppliers. 

Other companies in the supply chain have also gone to court to deny the CRA's allegations, none of which have been tested in court. It is possible that some intermediaries in carousel schemes can be caught up unwittingly.
If you have any tips on this story, please email in confidence Matthew.Pierce@cbc.ca or Harvey.Cashore@cbc.ca or call 416-526-4704.

In her budget speech to the House of Commons on Tuesday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland took a moment to celebrate the finishing touch on expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline.

The controversial project has been plagued by delays and massive cost overruns, but Freeland instead focused on its completion, highlighting the: "talented tradespeople and the brilliant engineers who, last Thursday, made the final weld, known as the golden weld, on a great national project."

For all the difficulties with developing and building TMX, Freeland still faces another major hurdle that is sure to prove contentious — choosing when to sell it, who gets to buy it, and for how much.

An upcoming election and more than $34 billion in construction costs are raising the stakes.

Ottawa bought the project when it was on the verge of falling apart — before there was ever a shovel in the ground — in the face of legal, political and regulatory challenges. 

The federal government has long vowed to sell the project (including at least a partial ownership stake to Indigenous groups) once construction was complete. That milestone has now been reached.

But the move will no doubt open a Pandora's box, says Daniel Béland, the director of the McGill University Institute for the Study of Canada and a professor in the department of political science.

He says any potential deal will face intense scrutiny considering the election is due before the fall of 2025 and, most notably, because the actual sale price is expected to be far lower than the cost to actually build the pipeline. 

"They were in a hot spot when they bought it back in 2018. They are still in a hot spot," said Béland.

How the governing Liberals handle Trans Mountain could impact how voters view the Liberal party's handling of financial, economic, Indigenous, and environmental issues. 

"There's risk either way. If you sell it really fast, but you sell it at the price that is considered to be quite low, then you might be accused of just getting rid of it for political reasons but not having the interest of taxpayers in mind," he said.

"But, if you wait and you don't sell it, then you might be accused of being basically permanently involved or trying to be permanently involved in that sector of the economy in a way that many people, even people who are more conservative, may find inappropriate."

Deep discount

There has always been interest in buying it, including from Stephen Mason, the managing director of Project Reconciliation, a Calgary-based organization which aims to use a potential ownership stake to benefit Indigenous communities.

Nearly five years ago, Mason walked into then-federal finance minister Bill Morneau's office in Ottawa and made an offer to purchase Trans Mountain before construction had even begun on its expansion, which will transport more oil from Alberta to the British Columbia coast.

Morneau was interested, he says, but the project wasn't for sale until the new pipeline was built.

Much has changed since that meeting in July 2019, including the ballooning cost of Trans Mountain to more than $34 billion (compared to an original estimate of about $7.3 billion) and numerous delays in construction.

Mason is still pursuing ownership. He won't discuss numbers, but suspects Trans Mountain is worth far less than $34 billion.

"My intuition is telling me that it's going to be a fairly significant writedown," he said. "I'm not sure the Liberal government wants to get into a public recognition of what the writedown is ahead of the election, but that is just … my speculation." 

New tolls

A critical factor in the timing and price of a potential sale is a dispute over how much oil companies will have to pay to actually use the new pipeline.

Several large oil producers signed long-term contracts to use 80 per cent of the pipeline. However, as construction costs have soared, so too have the tolls that companies will have to pay.

Those companies have balked at the higher rates arguing they shouldn't have to bear the "extreme magnitude" of construction overruns. The Canada Energy Regulator has scheduled a hearing for September, at the earliest, to resolve the issue.

For now, the regulator has set an interim toll of $11.46 for every barrel of oil moved down the line. That price includes a fixed amount of $10.88 and a variable portion of $0.58. The fixed amount is nearly double what Trans Mountain estimated it would be in 2017.

"There's no way that you can have tolls high enough on TMX to cover a $34 billion budget," said Rory Johnston, an energy researcher and founder of the Commodity Context newsletter, who describes the cost overruns on the project compared to the original estimates as "gigantic."

WATCH | The climbing costs of TMX: 

A post-construction review of costs should be done on TMX

28 days ago

Duration 3:28

Lessons could be learned on how the Trans Mountain expansion pipeline was developed and built, says company CFO Mark Maki.

He doesn't expect the final tolls to be much higher than the interim amount because, otherwise, the pipeline could become too expensive for oil companies to want to use. Based on the interim tolls, Johnston expects the federal government to likely only recover about half of the money it spent to buy and build Trans Mountain.

"There's no way anyone would pay the full cost of the pipeline because the tolls don't support it. You're going to need to discount it. You're going to need to take a haircut of at least 50 per cent of this pipeline," he said.

The federal government currently owns the original Trans Mountain pipeline, built in 1953, the now-completed expansion and related facilities including storage tanks and an export terminal.

Potential buyers

The federal government has looked at offering an equity stake to the more than 120 Western Canadian Indigenous communities whose lands are located along the pipeline route, while finding a different buyer to be the majority owner.

Besides Project Reconciliation, other potential buyers include a partnership between the Western Indigenous Pipeline Group (WIPG) and Pembina Pipelines. 

The group has the support from about 40 Indigenous communities and hopes to purchase the project within the next year, said Michael Lebourdais, an WIPG director and chief of Whispering Pines/Clinton Indian Band, located near Kamloops, B.C.

Those communities have to live with the environmental risk of a spill, so they should benefit financially from the pipeline, he says. 

Pension funds and other institutions could pursue ownership too.

"There will be buyers. I'm not sure that they'll be willing to pay the full cost of construction but I think there'll be buyers for sure," said Jackie Forrest, executive director of the ARC Energy Research Institute.

The federal government will likely highlight the overall economic benefits of the new pipeline and the expected role of Indigenous communities in ownership, experts say,  as a way to defend against criticism if the eventual sale price is low. 

In her Tuesday speech, Freeland was already promoting the pipeline's expected financial boost by highlighting the Bank of Canada's recent estimate that the new Trans Mountain expansion will add one-quarter of a percentage point to Canada's GDP in the second quarter. 

When Iran launched its barrage of drones and missiles against Israel over the weekend, they ran into interference from one or two unlikely sources. 

The reasons why Jordan and, reportedly, Saudi Arabia helped thwart the attack are varied, complex and perhaps self-serving, observers say.

But they may also reveal the Arab nations' greater concern about the threat posed by Iran and in preventing a widespread regional conflict.

Iran launched its missiles and drones at Israel in response to an apparent Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1 that killed 12 people, including two Iranian generals. Almost all of them were intercepted by Israeli defence forces, along with the U.S., Britain, France and Jordan.

According to reports Saudi Arabia provided intelligence reports about Iran's plans to the U.S.

But Jordan played a more active role, helping to shoot down drones as they flew over its airspace. Meanwhile, NBC News reports that Jordan also allowed Israeli jets into its airspace, and may have, in what some believe is a first, fought side by side.

'Especially remarkable'

Jordan's participation was "especially remarkable," according to Mairav Zonszein, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, for those Israelis who remember sheltering from their eastern neighbour's attacks. Israel and Jordan ended decades of hostilities and established diplomatic relations with a peace treaty in 1994. 

"The takeaway: diplomatic deals are vital for stability," Zonszein wrote on X. 

Jordan has been very critical of Israel's actions in Gaza. Still, Ghaith al-Omari, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says its help against the Iranian attack proved the strength of Jordan's shared security interest with Israel. 

Despite their political tensions, "the military and intelligence relationship never stopped," he told The Times of Israel.

"As a matter of fact, the worse the politics gets, the closer the militaries get, because they both understand the need to maintain this relationship. This is part of both Jordan's military doctrine and Israeli military doctrine."

Jordanian officials have said very little, seeming to downplay their involvement in last weekend's attack, instead insisting they were protecting their own security as Iranian projectiles passed through their airspace.

WATCH | Israel vows to retaliate:

Israel vows retaliation after Iran attack

3 days ago

Duration 5:08

Israel was quick to pledge retaliation against Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack over the weekend, but it didn’t say when or what the response would be. The threat had many Western nations saying it would not support Israel in a wider war.

Brian Katulis, a senior fellow of U.S. foreign policy at the Middle East Institute, agrees that, first and foremost, Jordan's response was self-defence.

But, he said, it also sent the message: "Even though we have differences and strong differences with Israel ... on the Gaza war and other things, we do have this shared interest in making sure that the airspace in our territory is defended."

Thomas Juneau, an assistant professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, says he wasn't surprised that, publicly, Jordan was trying to downplay its role. The country is in a precarious position — that peace treaty with Israel is very unpopular with its population, which includes a great many Palestinians. 

Protests against the war in Gaza have recently been intensifying in Jordan. However, the Jordanian monarchy is very close to both Israel and the U.S. and is very reliant on the latter for security, political, diplomatic and developmental support, Juneau said.

It's also in the Jordanian government's interest to avoid a blowup between Israel and Iran, because Jordan, which shares a border with Israel, would be on the top of the list of those other countries that suffer the most, Juneau said.

Helping defend Israel is "one way to try to do its part to prevent this from escalating." Juneau said.

Overriding concern about Iran 

Meanwhile, any role Saudi Arabia may have played could just be another sign of its overriding concern of Iranian aggression, Juneau said.

Last year, Saudi Arabia its longtime regional rival, with the help of China, restored diplomatic relations. Yet Iran remains a perceived threat for the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to fight a proxy war in Yemen, and the latter's support of militant groups including Hamas and Hezbollah vexes countries throughout the region, Israel among them. 

"Saudi/Israeli co-operation has really been deepening," Juneau said. "Saudi Arabia and Israel share a common enemy in Iran that's been the main driver of all of that co-operation."

Before the war in Gaza, there had been ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to have Saudi Arabia normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a U.S. defence pact. Those have since stalled, but Saudi Arabia is keen to get the negotiations back on track, Juneau said.

Israel's war with Hamas has made a Saudi defence pact with the U.S. more likely "because it further clarifies the strength of the threat that Iran poses to regional security," he said.

Last weekend's attack by Iran "will even further incentivize Saudi Arabia"

Some observers also suggest any co-operation against the Iranian attack underscores recent efforts toward a American-Arab-Israeli regional security architecture.

It's an idea that was quietly pushed by the Trump administration — a so-called Arab NATO — a new security alliance that would see Israel link with some Arab states to counter Iran's expansion in the region.

"Such co-operation offers a preview of what an increasingly capable combined regional security architecture could accomplish when it comes to deterring, detecting, and defeating Iranian aggression," wrote the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in its analysis of the Israel-Iran conflict.

But Katulis is skeptical of such a pact forming. 

"I'd be surprised if there ever would be like a formal alliance against Iran formed," he said. 

Because of the region's complex politics, countries there, especially these days, tend to hedge their bets, he says. 

It's "sort of the rule of the day these days. A number of these countries hedge on different issues in their relations with others," he said. But that's the same reason they're often reluctant to put pen on paper, and commit to a permanent alliance. 

That's "just not how things operate these days." 

WATCH | Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel: 

The National | Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel

3 days ago

Duration 45:51

April 14, 2024 | Israel weighs its options for retaliation after an attack of drones and missiles from Iran. A first-hand look at how crews are trying to rescue a stranded orca off B.C.’s coast. Plus, CIBC backtracks on fees for e-gift cards after a Go Public investigation.

Keffiyehs remain banned in the Ontario Legislature after a unanimous consent motion that would have allowed the scarf to be worn failed to pass at Queen's Park Thursday.

That vote, brought forth by NDP Leader Marit Stiles, failed despite Premier Doug Ford and the leaders of the province's opposition parties all stating they want to see the ban overturned. Complete agreement from all MPPs is required for a motion like this to pass, and there were a smattering of "nos" after it was read into the record.

In an email on Wednesday, Speaker Ted Arnott said the legislature has previously restricted the wearing of clothing that is intended to make an "overt political statement" because it upholds a "standard practice of decorum."

"The Speaker cannot be aware of the meaning of every symbol or pattern but when items are drawn to my attention, there is a responsibility to respond. After extensive research, I concluded that the wearing of keffiyehs at the present time in our Assembly is intended to be a political statement. So, as Speaker, I cannot authorize the wearing of keffiyehs based on our longstanding conventions," Arnott said in an email.

Speaking at Queen's Park Thursday, Arnott said he would reconsider the ban with unanimous consent from MPPs.

"If the house believes that the wearing of the keffiyeh in this house, at the present time, is not a political statement, I would certainly and unequivocally accept the express will of the house with no ifs, ands or buts," he said.

Keffiyehs are a commonly worn scarf among Arabs, but hold special significance to Palestinian people. They have been a frequent sight among pro-Palestinian protesters calling for an end to the violence in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war continues.

Premier calls for reversal

Ford said Thursday he's hopeful Arnott will reverse the ban, but he didn't say if he would instruct his caucus to support the NDP's motion.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Ford said the decision was made by the speaker and nobody else.

"I do not support his decision as it needlessly divides the people of our province. I call on the speaker to reverse his decision immediately," Ford said.

WATCH | Ford talks Keffiyeh ban: 

Ford says division over keffiyeh ‘not healthy’

13 hours ago

Duration 1:20

Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated Thursday that he does not support Speaker Ted Arnott banning keffiyehs in the Ontario Legislature because they are “intended to be a political statement,” as Arnott said in an email Wednesday.

PC Party MPP Robin Martin, who represents Eglinton–Lawrence, voted against the unanimous consent motion Thursday and told reporters she believes the speaker's initial ruling was the correct one.

"We have to follow the rules of the legislature, otherwise we politicize the entire debate inside the legislature, and that's not what it's about. What it's about is we come there and use our words to persuade, not items of clothing."

When asked if she had defied a directive from the premier, Martin said, "It has nothing to do with the premier, it's a decision of the speaker of the legislative assembly."

Stiles told reporters Thursday she's happy Ford is on her side on this issue, but added she is disappointed the motion didn't pass.

"The premier needs to talk to his people and make sure they do the right thing," she said.

Stiles first urged Arnott to reconsider the ban in an April 12 letter. She said concerns over the directive first surfaced after being flagged by members of her staff, however they have gained prominence after Sarah Jama, Independent MPP for Hamilton Centre, posted about the issue on X, formerly Twitter.

Jama was removed from the NDP caucus for her social media comments on the Israel-Hamas war shortly after Oct. 7. 

Jama has said she believes she was kicked out of the party because she called for a ceasefire in Gaza "too early" and because she called Israel an "apartheid state."

Arnott told reporters Thursday that he began examining a ban on the Keffiyeh after one MPP made a complaint about another MPP, who he believes was Jama, who was wearing one.

Liberals also call for reversal

Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie also called for a reversal of the ban on Wednesday night.

"Here in Ontario, we are home to a diverse group of people from so many backgrounds. This is a time when leaders should be looking for ways to bring people together, not to further divide us. I urge Speaker Arnott to immediately reconsider this move to ban the keffiyeh," Crombie said.

WATCH | An explainer on the cultural significance of keffiyehs:  

Keffiyeh: How it became a symbol of the Palestinian people

4 months ago

Duration 3:08

Keffiyehs are a common garment across the Arab world, but they hold a special meaning in the Palestinian resistance movement.

Stiles said MPPs have worn kilts, kirpans, vyshyvankas and chubas in the legislature, saying such items of clothing not only have national and cultural associations, but have also been considered at times as "political symbols in need of suppression."

She said Indigenous and non-Indigenous members have also dressed in traditional regalia and these items cannot be separated from their historical and political significance. 

"The wearing of these important cultural and national clothing items in our Assembly is something we should be proud of. It is part of the story of who we are as a province," she said.

"Palestinians are part of that story, and the keffiyeh is a traditional clothing item that is significant not only to them but to many members of Arab and Muslim communities. That includes members of my staff who have been asked to remove their keffiyehs in order to come to work. This is unacceptable."

Stiles added that House of Commons and other provincial legislatures allow the wearing of keffiyehs in their chambers and the ban makes Ontario an "outlier."

Suppression of cultural symbols part of genocide: MPP

Jama said on X that the ban is "unsurprising" but "nonetheless concerning" in a country that has a legacy of colonialism. "Part of committing genocide is the forceful suppression of cultural identity and cultural symbols," she said in part. 

"Seeing those in power in this country at all levels of government, from federal all the way down to school boards, aid Israel's colonial regime with these tactics in the oppression of Palestinian people proves that reconciliation is nothing but a word when spoken by state powers," she said.

Amira Elghawaby, Canada's Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia, said on X that it is "deeply ironic" on that keffiyehs were banned in the Ontario legislature on the 42nd anniversary of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"This is wrong and dangerous as we have already seen violence and exclusion impact Canadians, including Muslims of Palestinian descent, who choose to wear this traditional Palestinian clothing," Elghawaby said.

Arnott said the keffiyeh was not considered a "form of protest" in the legislature prior to statements and debates that happened in the House last fall.

"These items are not absolutes and are not judged in a vacuum," he said.

Drivers looking to fill up their tanks in the GTA were greeted with higher prices at the pumps Thursday, as the cost of a litre of gasoline rose roughly 14 cents overnight to $1.79.

Dan McTeague, who runs GasWizard, a website that tracks fuel prices, says the cost of gas hasn't been as high since August 2022. The sudden jump in price is attributable to three main factors, he said.

"It's the perfect trifecta," said McTeague, who is also president of the advocacy group Canadians for Affordable Energy.

"Tensions in the Middle East, the carbon tax increase and the switch-over which happens semi-annually from winter to summer gasoline," he explained.

Drivers at a gas station in Toronto's east end said the price increase will make life even more unaffordable amid a cost-of-living crisis that has driven up the costs of many basic necessities.

"I do a lot of driving for work, so it means my monthly expenses are going to grow," said Tamara Moos. 

"And they've already been growing, between grocery prices and rent prices. It's not great, it's sort of unsustainable living here right now."

McTeague says higher gas prices each spring are partly due to the change-over in fuel blends, going from the cheaper winter blend to the more costly summer blend of fuel.

"There is a chemical differential, and that's pretty substantial. In the winter, we use butane as one of the primary mixtures," he said. "When it gets cold, you want something that ignites better."

"When it's warm, you don't want something that's that volatile. In order to reduce any damage to the environment, you blend it with something called alkylates, which are extremely expensive."

McTeague predicts the price of gas will continue to rise throughout the summer, but notes it's hard to say how expensive a litre of gas could eventually become.

"We have to look at summer demand, which begins its kickoff on the May 24 weekend," McTeague said, adding that severe weather, such as hurricanes in the Atlantic, and geopolitical events play a part in the price of oil per barrel.

McTeague says Canadians can expect the price of gas to cool in September, but come January, it should rise again once a second carbon tax hits the pumps.

He also has some advice for people in the Greater Toronto Area looking to save even a few dollars and cents on gas.

"Gas stations only have control over nine cents a litre at best." he said. "I was in Peterborough yesterday. I could still get gasoline there for $1.55.9. I don't expect people to pick up in Toronto and drive to Peterborough, but there are places, as close as Oshawa or Hamilton, where you will find that kind of 'wild west' cutthroat competition in the last nine cents."

He also suggests filling your tank on evenings or weekends to save a few bucks.

The decisions that Israel's war cabinet takes in the hours and days ahead about what comes next in its now open shooting war with Iran could represent a pivotal moment in the history of the conflict in the Middle East.

From Iran's view, its unprecedented overnight drone and missile attacks on military targets in Israel represent a settling of scores that should not trigger further military escalation.

But for many Israelis, Iran's actions amount to an outright declaration of war. 

Should, as the United States and other Western nations are reportedly urging, Israel accept the "off ramp" Iran claims it has offered, or will Israeli leaders forge ahead with further military escalation against the Islamic regime, possibly hitting targets in Iran itself?

The early indications are that Israel's government is strongly leaning toward the latter.

"This is something that will have to have a major response," said Likud Party Knesset member Hanoch Milwidsky, a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"You cannot have an attack like this left untreated," he told the BBC on Sunday morning.

Iran gave advance warning

While the attack by Iran's military on targets in Israel was certainly a first, it was also not a surprise — nor did it appear designed to inflict maximum damage.

The country's Islamic regime had given plenty of notice that something significant was about to happen, and Israel had days to prepare its population and to beef up its air defences.

Even after the first drones were launched, Israel had hours to take measures to shoot them down.

Israel's military says 99 per cent of the missiles and drones were intercepted and that the few that did get through inflicted only minimal damage on a military base in the country's south. 

WATCH | Explosions in Israeli skies during Iran's aerial attack:

Explosions, sirens above Jerusalem as Iran launches air attack

2 days ago

Duration 0:59

Footage from CNN shows explosions in the sky above Jerusalem as sirens blare after Iran launched an aerial attack on Israel.

While Israel and Iran have been waging a shadow war against each other for decades, the trigger for this latest escalation came two weeks ago after a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria's capital, which killed two senior Iranian military commanders.

The attack annihilated the building and killed 16 people, including two civilian bystanders, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Israel has not officially claimed responsibility — nor for any of the other assassinations or precision strikes it is suspected to have made on targets in Iran over the years — but Israeli leaders have also not denied they were behind it.

Israel weighing next steps

Typically, Iran has taken military action against Israel at arm's length, usually through the various proxy armies it supports in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.     

But analysts say Israel's blatant destruction of a supposedly off-limits diplomatic building fundamentally changed the nature of the conflict between the two enemies. 

"Israel crossed the line by attacking the Iranian consulate in Damascus," said Ali Vaez, an Iran analyst with the Crisis Group in Washington, D.C.

"Iranians believe unless they retaliate in a meaningful way, they would severely damage their regional deterrence and Israel could target any Iranian official anywhere in the region and might even take the next step by targeting Iran on their own soil," he told the BBC's World Service.

WATCH | Iran's supreme leader vowed retaliaton for April 1 strike:

Iran's supreme leader vows retaliation for deaths of military leaders

7 days ago

Duration 2:02

Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, vowed retaliation for an Israeli attack on an embassy compound in Damascus that killed several senior Iranian military leaders.

A statement issued by Iran's Permanent Mission to the United Nations said the drone attack amounted to "legitimate defence" and it now considers its immediate conflict with Israel "resolved."

But in Israel on Sunday morning, Netanyahu's war cabinet was meeting to determine its next steps, and the indications all point to some kind of further military escalation.

"They see it as an escalatory attack that demands a response,"  said Julie Norman, an associate professor of political science and international relations at University College London.

There are multiple reports that U.S. President Joe Biden has told Netanyahu to back down and that if Israel proceeds with more military action, his country will not have U.S. support for a counterattack against Iran.

U.S. fighter aircraft, along with help from British and Jordanian forces, played a significant role defending Israel from the Saturday night attack, but the U.S. has also told Israel it will not be drawn into a broader Middle East war.

The initial global support Israel enjoyed in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks in the country — in which some 1,200 people were killed and roughly 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli officials — has since turned to widespread condemnation and accusations that Israel's military has shown a blatant disregard for civilian casualties in Gaza.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in the territory since Israel launched its military offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and human rights agencies accuse Israel of deliberately trying to starve Palestinians to death in order to put more pressure on Hamas to surrender.

Attack has 'reoriented the conflict'

For months, Israel had resisted pressure by the U.S. and other Western countries to reduce the number of civilian casualties in Gaza, to increase the amount of humanitarian aid being delivered and to push harder for a ceasefire with Hamas.

But it took Israel's killing of six international aid workers with the charity World Central Kitchen earlier this month before the Americans finally told Israel that its future support was conditional on Israel taking concrete steps.

WATCH | Deadly strike on aid workers draws criticism:

Israel says killed aid worker was mistaken for Hamas militant

13 days ago

Duration 2:41

Israel says it fired two military officers and reprimanded others after an Israeli drone killed a group of aid workers in Gaza. It released details about how the drone strikes played out, mistaking one of the aid workers as a Hamas militant. Critics say Israel isn't doing enough to protect innocent lives.

Norman, the King's College analyst, said the possibility of a dramatic escalation with Iran represents a critical moment for the U.S. and its ability to apply leverage to Israel.

"The U.S. military has to be aware and involved with decision-making in a way Israel felt they did not have to be in Gaza," Norman told CBC News in an interview,  noting that the U.S. has hundreds of its soldiers in harm's way stationed at bases in Iraq and northern Syria.

"There are so many more troops would be likely implicated by any decision Israel makes to escalate further with Iran."

For Palestinians besieged and hungry in Gaza, the escalation with Iran also has profound implications.

"Hamas is eager to see regional chaos and will wait and hope for the worst," veteran analyst Aaron David Miller, with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., wrote on social media.

"Gaza has been relegated to the back burner."

Indeed, within hours of the Iranian attack, Hamas issued a statement saying it had rejected the latest ceasefire and hostage deal proposed by Israel.

Hamas has insisted it wants a permanent ceasefire in the territory before agreeing to return dozens of Israelis captured on Oct. 7. Israel has refused.

"I imagine our attention will be back to Gaza soon — but to some degree this [attack by Iran] has reoriented the conflict," Norman said.