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The chief of the Grassy Narrows
First Nation says he is running for
the NDP in the fall federal elec-
tion because he is frustrated with
how thegovernment responded
to mercury poisoning in his com-
munity.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh an-
nounced on Monday that Grassy
Hills Chief Rudy Turtle would run
under the party’s banner in the
riding of Kenora in Northern On-
tario.
Mr. Turtle said Grassy Narrows
was promised a treatment facility
two years ago, but the federal gov-
ernment has not delivered.
“It’s been a very difficult situa-
tion where they’ve done every-
thing to stall the process,” he said.
Water contamination in Grassy
Narrows began in the 1960s after
a paper mill in Dryden, Ont.,
dumped tonnes of mercury into
the English-Wabigoon River sys-
tem.
Mercury poisoning can cause
impaired peripheral vision, hear-
ing, speech and cognitive func-
tion, as well as muscle weakness,
numbness or stinging pain in the
extremities and mouth.

Mr. Turtle said two technical

teams have been meeting to dis-

cuss the facility, but progress has

been slow as they argue over de-

signs and funding amounts.

He said the community re-

quested $19-million for the phys-

ical building, but was offered $10-

million. Grassy Narrows also

asked for $88-million to operate

the building for the next 30 years.

Mr. Turtle said he’s worried the

facility may not even happen af-

ter a number of delays.

The Ontario government

pledged $85-million in 2017 to

cleaning up the site of the paper

mill from where the mercury was

first dumped.

At the time, the federal govern-

ment also pledged to fund a treat-

ment facility – but that money

has never arrived, Mr. Turtle said.

“That promise should be kept,”

he said.

Kevin Deagle, policy adviser

for Indigenous Services Minister

Seamus O’Regan, saidthe govern-

ment is steadfast in its commit-

ment to build a health facility. He

said a technical group is meeting

regularly to develop the plans.

“The technical group is sched-

uled to meet again this week,” Mr.

Deagle said. “At the same time,

work is under way between all

partners – the province, our gov-

ernment and the community – to

ensure the necessary health ser-

vices are in place for the facility

itself.”

Mr. Singh said health concerns

resulting from contaminated wa-

ter would be a priority for an NDP

government. He said the Liberals

failed on their promises to Indige-

nous Peoples.

“Grassy Narrows is the epi-

tome of that broken promise –

that track record of saying one

thing but not delivering on what

matters to people,” he said.

Mr. Singh said the NDP has

strong support in Kenora and has

held the riding in the past.

Mr. Turtle also said he chose to

run because the Liberals failed to

implement legislation which

would reaffirm rights laid out in

the United Nations Declaration

on the Rights of Indigenous Peo-

ples (UNDRIP).

The Liberal Party’s 2019 plat-

form includes a pledge to apply

UNDRIP to Canadian law after the

bill died when the Senate rose for

the summer in June.

Mr. Turtle said he will remain

chief for the duration of the elec-

tion. “I will step down if – or when

• I win,” he said.

GrassyNarrowschieftorun forNDPinfallelection

SinghannouncesTurtle

willrepresentOntario

ridingasIndigenous

leadercitesfrustration

overmercurycrisis

RACHELEMMANUELOTTAWA

NDPLeaderJagmeetSingh,right,andGrassyNarrowsChiefRudyTurtleattendanewsconferenceon

ParliamentHillonMonday.Mr.TurtlesaidOttawapromisedhisnationatreatmentfacilitytwoyearsagoto

dealwithacontinuingmercurypoisoningcrisis,buthasnotdelivered.JUSTINTANG/THECANADIANPRESS

OTTAWAVoters will go to the
polls on Oct. 21 as originally
planned after Canada’s chief
electoral officer decided not to
reschedule voting day even
though it falls on a Jewish holi-
day.
The election can be no later
than Oct. 21 under law, which
this year coincides with Shemini
Atzeret, a holiday during which
Orthodox Jews are not permit-
ted to work, vote or campaign.
Elections Canada was lobbied
to change the date, but decided
against it this close to an elec-
tion, prompting a Federal Court
challenge. The court ordered
chief electoral officer Stéphane
Perrault to take a second look
and balance the infringement on
the charter rights of affected
voters against the objectives of
the election law. Mr. Perrault
concluded it would not be in the
public interest to reschedule.
THECANADIANPRESS

CIEEECTORAOICER
EEPSOCT.ä ̄9OTINGDA<

A judge has ruled that two wines made in

Jewish settlements in the West Bank

should not be labelled “Product of Israel,”

because the label is false and denies Cana-

dians the right to exercise their con-

science by boycotting the items.

Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish

ruled on Monday that Canadian consum-

ers have a constitutional right to accurate

labelling because their buying choices

may be an expression of

their thought, conscience or

religious beliefs.

She said she was not tak-

ing a position on the legal

status of the settlements.

But all the parties in the case

and the two intervenor

groups agreed that the set-

tlements are not part of Is-

rael, she wrote in her ruling.

“One peaceful way in

which people can express

their political views is

through their purchasing

decisions,” she wrote.

“To be able to express

their views in this manner, however, con-

sumers have to be provided with accurate

information as to the source of the prod-

ucts in question.”

The case reached the Federal Court af-

ter David Kattenburg, a Winnipeg man

who described himself to the court as a

Jewish child of Holocaust survivors,

fought a 2^1 ⁄ 2 -year battle to change the la-

bels, calling them an affront to human

rights and his conscience.

The ruling could have far-reaching con-

sequences, according to Montreal lawyer

Dimitri Lascaris, who represented Mr. Kat-

tenburg.

“This has implications for any purchas-

ing decision by a consumer that is related

to matters of conscience,” Mr. Lascaris

said in an interview. For instance, those

interested in animal rights or buying lo-

cally will have a right to contest inaccu-

rate labels.

The Canadiangovernment had taken

the position that consumer-protection

laws were not intended to provide infor-

mation on sensitive geopolitical issues.

Those who wanted such information in

this case, it argued, could “just Google the

name of the wineries.” Consumers are en-

titled to accurate information for health

and safety reasons, not for

reasons of conscience, it

said.

Two wines were directly

at issue: Shiloh Legend KP

2012 and Psagot Winery M

Series, Chardonnay KP 2015.

The ruling means the

Canadian Food Inspection

Authority (CFIA) needs to

reconsider their labels, in

light of Justice Mactavish’s

ruling.

Mr. Kattenburg, a science

teacher and journalist, had

written directly to the Li-

quor Control Board of Onta-

rio, which was selling the wines, and

eventually to the food inspection author-

ity. It initially supported his complaint,

but then, after Global Affairs Canada be-

came involved, reversed itself.

Mr. Kattenburg then complained to the

CFIA’s appeals office, which upheld the

original ruling. The appeals office pointed

to Canada’s free-trade agreement with Is-

rael, which covers territory to which Is-

raeli customs law apply – including the

West Bank.

Mr. Kattenburg then sought judicial re-

view at the Federal Court, represented pro

bono by Mr. Lascaris. Two Jewish groups

intervened at the court, one on each side

of the issue. The League for Human

Rights of B’nai Brith Canada wanted to

keep the labels as they were, while Inde-

pendent Jewish Voices Canada wanted to

change them.

In an interview, Mr. Kattenburg said the

“Product of Israel” labels were Israel’s way

of “planting a flag staking sovereign claim

over stolen land – on Canadian store

shelves.”

The Canadian government argued in

court that the CFIA’s acceptance of the

“Product of Israel” labels was reasonable,

partly because labelling regulations for

food and drugs require a clear indication

of the country of origin, and the West

Bank is not part of a country recognized

by Canada.

Justice Mactavish did not accept that

argument, calling the label “false, mis-

leading and deceptive.”

Mr. Kattenburg said the Canadian gov-

ernment had, in effect, endorsed “Israel’s

de facto annexation of the West Bank, all

the while saying the settlements were ille-

gal and an obstacle to the coveted two-

state solution. It was obscene and hypo-

critical.”

He said the decision could have an ef-

fect on other products such as cosmetics

made in Israeli settlements. While he be-

lieves settlement products should be

banned from Canada, he said that at the

very least they need to be labelled proper-

ly “so Canadians of conscience can decide

if they are going to buy them or not.”

The Globe and Mail contacted Global

Affairs Canada, which referred the matter

to the office of Agriculture Minister Marie-

Claude Bibeau.

A spokesman, Oliver Anderson, said

the CFIA is reviewing the decision.

A spokesperson for the LCBO said it

will follow the CFIA’s guidance on labell-

ing requirements.

The Israeli embassy said it is reviewing

the decision.

FederalCourtjudgeordersremovalof

‘ProductofIsrael’labelsfromWestBankwines

SEANFINE

JUSTICEWRITER

TheCanadian

government

hadtakenthe

positionthat

consumer-protection

lawswerenot

intendedtoprovide

informationon

sensitivegeopolitical

issues.

Canada’s embassy in Cuba will reinstate

some visa, passport and biometric services

after a decision earlier this year to reduce

staffing levels and programs in Havana

over concerns about unexplained brain in-

juries sustained by diplomats and their

families.

In a statement Monday, the Immigra-

tion Department said Cuban residents will

again be able to pick up visas, drop off

passports and get fingerprinting and pho-

tos required for applications at the Cana-

dian embassy beginning on Thursday. The

services were temporarily suspended after

the government halved the number of

Canadian staff to eight from 16 earlier this

year.

Ottawa made the staffing and program

changes in an effort to protect the health of

Canadian diplomats, after more than a

dozen staff and their families reported

mysterious brain injuries while posted in

Havana.

The diplomats have been diagnosed

with “Havana syndrome,” which neurolo-

gists say is medically similar to a concus-

sion, but without physical trauma. The

cause of the symptoms, which include diz-

ziness, nosebleeds, headache, nausea and

confusion, has gone undetermined since

American diplomats first experienced

them in late 2016. A group of Canadian dip-

lomats are now suingthe federalgovern-

ment for $28-million, alleging Ottawa

failed to properly address the injuries they

sustained while representing Canada in

Cuba.

The reduction of Canadian embassy ser-

vices frustrated Cuban-Canadian families

whose applications for immigration docu-

ments were forced into limbo in recent

months.

In May, the government said Canada

would no longer offer visitor visa, study-

and work-permit services, and would stop

conducting interviews to qualify for per-

manent residence in Canada at the Havana

embassy.

The services will only be partly restored

this week when locally contracted employ-

ees take over some tasks, including the col-

lection of biometrics, passport drop-off

and visa pick-up.

“These services will facilitate the travel

of Cubans to Canada and will make the

process quicker, easier and less costly for

applicants,” the Immigration Department

said in a statement on its website.

However, there are no longer any Cana-

dian immigration officials based in Hava-

na, meaning some services cannot be pro-

vided in Cuba.

For instance, the Canadian embassy is

not taking paper applications for visas,

work or study permits in person, encou-

raging people to apply online instead.

Cuban applicants for permanent resi-

dency in Canada are also still required to

travel outside of Cuba for medical exams

and any possible interviews with Canadian

officials. Applicants who require an inter-

view will be given the choice to have their

interview at the Canadian visa office in

Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, or

Mexico City.

The Havana embassy will continue to

accept all applications for a Canadian pass-

port, proof of citizenship and permanent

resident travel documents, but all open

and active Cuban applications will be

transferred to Canadian immigration offi-

cials in Mexico City for processing.

In the meantime, the Immigration De-

partment says it will “continue to explore

additional mitigation measures and alter-

native service channels to improve visa

and immigration services offered to Cuban

residents.”

CanadianembassyinCubareinstatessomeservices

suspendedoverdiplomats’unexplainedbraininjuries

MICHELLEZILIO

PARLIAMENTARYAFFAIRSREPORTER

OTTAWA

| NEWS

Capital One Financial Corp. said
on Monday personal informa-
tion including names, addresses,
phone numbers and credit
scores of about 100 million
individuals in the United States
and six million people in Cana-
da were obtained by a hacker
who has been arrested.
The U.S. credit-card issuer said
it identified the hack on July 19
and the individual responsible
has been arrested by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
The incident is expected to
cost between US$100-million
and US$150-million in 2019,
mainly owing to customer noti-
fications, credit monitoring and
legal support, Capital One said.
The hacker did not gain ac-
cess to credit-card account num-
bers, but about 140,000 social-
security numbers and 80,
linked bank account numbers
were compromised, Capital One
said.
About one million social-
insurance numbers of the com-
pany’s Canadian credit-card
customers were also compro-
mised.REUTERS

MIIONSOCANADIANS
AECTEDB<MASSI9E
CAPITAONEDATABREAC