Canada

Toronto rapper Drake’s outlandish Los Angeles-area mansion popped up on the market this past Sunday, and then disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.

Did a wealthy interested buyer snap up the estate in the gated city of Hidden Hills in nanoseconds flat? Nope, it looks like someone may have tried to sell Drake’s home out from under him.

rapper drake

Drake watches the third round match between Serena WIlliams of the U.S. and Zheng Jie of China during the Rogers Cup women's tennis tournament in Toronto, Aug. 11, 2011. (Photo: Reuters/Mark Blinch)

An ad appeared on real estate site Zillow Sunday, the L.A. Times reported, asking US$9.9 million for Drake’s sprawling estate, the centrepiece of which is a 1974 Tudor-style home with 12,500 square feet of living space.

Drake had bought the property — which he dubs the “YOLO Estate” — in 2012 for $7.7 million.

Hours later, the house started to appear on other listing sites — but with an asking price of $19.9 million.

drake yolo estate

Photo: CRISnet via Los Angeles Times

Soon after, the listings began to disappear.

Real estate agent Alexei Pavlov, of First Choice Realty in L.A., seems to have part of the answer.

Pavlov told Mansion Global he saw the Zillow listing, and called the contact number to offer his services to the seller. He suggested the house be listed for closer to $20 million than the $9.9 million price on Zillow.

drake yolo estate

Photo: CRISnet via Los Angeles Times

Pavlov says he sent over a listing agreement, and received it back signed Aubrey Drake Graham, Drake’s full name.

He proceeded to list the house on the region’s MLS service — thus the higher price on later listings. Pavlov said the listing was a mistake, because he never received the necessary power-of-attorney documents to advertise the property.

drake yolo estate

Photo: CRISnet via Los Angeles Times

Pavlov reportedly told TMZ when he tried to get the specifics on the listing, the person on the phone became aggressive and confessed it was a scam.

Mansion Global called the listing contact number, and talked to someone who identified themselves as Drake’s manager. The person “hung up when pressed for details about the listing,” the site reported.

Pavlov says he is still investigating the incident, and may file a criminal complaint about the apparent hoax.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

As of Wednesday, traders on the Toronto Stock Exchange can buy and sell "WEED."

That’s the new stock ticker symbol for Canopy Growth, an Ontario-based medical marijuana company that bills itself as “the largest legal cannabis business in the world.”

"Patients, investors and Canadians as a whole are more accepting of the cannabis sector today than ever before," Canopy CEO Bruce Linton said in a statement.

tsx weed canopy growth

Mark Zekulin, president of Canopy Growth Corporation, joined Rob Peterman, vice-president, global business development at TMX, to celebrate Canopy's recent acquisition of Mettrum Health Corp. and Canopy Growth’s stock symbol change to “WEED” as of February 1, 2017. (Photo: TMX via Facebook)

"This is owed to a lot of factors, but we are proud to have played our part in introducing a once-stigmatized topic into Main Street and Bay Street conversations.”

Canopy has done more than help reduce the stigma around weed -- it has made some people rich. The company became the world’s first marijuana “unicorn” last fall -- a term referring to a startup that reaches $1 billion in value.

medical marijuana

An employee inspects medicinal marijuana plants inside the flowering room at Tweed Inc., in Smith Falls, Ontario, on Monday December 5, 2016. Tweed is a subsidiary of Canopy Growth, and operates in an abandoned Hershey chocolate factory. (Photo: Lars Hagberg via Getty Images)

Canopy hit that mark in November amid a frenzy of trading following the U.S. election, when four states — California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada — legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. Traders drove up the prices of Canadian marijuana stocks, betting that these companies will get into the growing U.S. pot market.

The company’s stock ticker change came after it completed its purchase of rival pot grower Mettrum, creating a marijuana giant whose nearly 40,000 customers account for around half of medical marijuana patients in Canada.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

For at least 116 years of Canada’s 150-year history, indigenous children were taken from their parents.

“When the school is on the reserve, the child lives with its parents, who are savages, and though he may learn to read and write, his habits and training mode of thought are Indian,” Canada’s first prime minister said in 1879. “He is simply a savage who can read and write.”

“Indian children should be withdrawn as much as possible from the parental influence,” Sir John A. Macdonald told the House of Commons, “and the only way to do that would be to put them in central training industrial schools where they will acquire the habits and modes of thought of white men.”

“I wanted to reflect on the last 150 years. What has it meant to indigenous people?”
— Kent Monkman

At the Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Macdonald’s words hang across from a seven-foot by 11-foot painting of RCMP officers, nuns, and priests wrestling children from their mothers’ arms. The painting’s title is “The Scream.”

“I wanted to reflect on the last 150 years. What has it meant to indigenous people?” Kent Monkman, the Cree artist who made the painting, told The Huffington Post Canada in an interview. “I wanted to offer an alternate perspective ... alternate facts,” he said with a chuckle.

Monkman’s new exhibit, “Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience,” will be shown across the country in conjunction with Canada’s 150th birthday. It takes viewers through 300 years of history — from 150 years before Confederation to present day — through the eyes of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, Monkman’s artistic alter ego.

Massive paintings and historical artifacts present some of Canada’s most tragic chapters:

The establishment of reserves and residential schools

The near-extinction of bison

The illness, violence, and poverty that came along with colonization.

Kent Monkman’s painting “The Subjugation of Truth” shows Chief Poundmaker and Chief Big Bear in shackles.

Monkman wanted to “walk us back through time” and “stitch together a counter-narrative that reflected on indigenous experience,” he said.

“One of the things that I wanted to achieve was to make history paintings that are reflective of events that have never been authorized to art history.”

“Death of the Virgin (After Caravaggio)” takes its title from a 1606 painting commissioned by monks in Rome. Rather than depicting the Virgin Mary surrounded by apostles, Monkman’s version shows an indigenous woman dying in a modern-day hospital bed, surrounded by loved ones.

kent monkman shame and prejudice

On the left is Caravaggio’s 17th-century painting “Death of the Virgin”. On the right is Cree artist Kent Monkman’s reimagining. (Photos: Louvre/Kent Monkman)

“If you go to hospitals in places like Regina or Winnipeg or Saskatoon, they’re full of indigenous people,” Monkman said. “For me, the fact that so many indigenous people are sick is a direct result of the poor conditions on reserves and various other social problems that stem from intergenerational trauma from residential schools.”

The reaction that “Shame and Prejudice” has already evoked shows how vital indigenous perspectives are, Monkman said.

“I couldn’t have predicted it would have had that kind of effect.”

A photo of “The Scream” posted to Facebook elicited thousands of shares in a matter of days.

“The fact that people responded so viscerally and emotionally to a scene of children being removed from their families, it really represented ... an important part of our history that has never been authorized to our official, dominant art history,” he said.

“I couldn’t have predicted it would have had that kind of effect.”

He hopes the works will not only educate Canadians about our country’s past, but also leave an impact on future generations.

“I wanted my message to reach 150 years into the future as well and communicate things on a deep, human level.”

“Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience” is on view at the Art Museum at the University of Toronto for free until March 4, 2017. The exhibit will also be shown at galleries in Calgary, Kingston, Ont., Charlottetown, Halifax, Montreal, Owen Sound, Ont., Winnipeg and Vancouver. For more details, visit Kent Monkman’s website.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

If these numbers are true, Johnny Depp leads one lavish lifestyle.

The actor sued his former business managers earlier this month, claiming they mismanaged his money and caused him to lose millions of dollars, according to US Weekly.

Naming The Mandel Co, The Management Group (TMG) and several other defendants, Depp said they caused him to lose at least US$25 million.

Now The Management Group is suing him back, saying that not only is Depp lying, but that his extravagant spending is to blame.

In a searing cross-complaint obtained by Deadline, The Management Group says it represented the actor for 17 years beginning in 1999, and did everything possible to protect him from his "own irresponsible and profligate spending," repeatedly advising him to cut down and sell unnecessary assets, but that he listened to no one.

Depp Cross Complaint Stsmped Wm by Anonymous lAYtGBUqR on Scribd

TMG accuses the actor of not taking responsibility for his money, saying that during those 17 years, he spent beyond his means — in excess of $2 million a month.

According to the complaint, Depp blew $75 million on 14 homes, including a chateau in France, a chain of islands in the Bahamas, and a Kentucky horse farm.

He also allegedly forked over $3 million to blast author Hunter S. Thompson's ashes out of a special cannon, spent more than $18 million on a yacht, and paid untold millions on pieces of art and collectible guitars.

Johnny Depp is a big spender, according to his former business managers. (Photo: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

On a monthly basis, TMG claims he spent more than $300,000 on 40 full-time staff and half that amount on 24/7 security for him and his family.

The actor is also apparently is a big wine fan, allegedly spending $30,000 a month to have wines flown to him around the world.

When he ran out of money, he started borrowing, TMG claims. Every transaction was approved by either him or his sister and personal manager, Elisa Dembrowski.

TMG says that Depp ended their relationship in March 2016, but still owed them $4.2 million on a loan from 2012.

"Depp has only himself to blame for his current financial woes."

So it began to foreclose on some of Depp's properties, and he responded with the suit.

"Depp has only himself to blame for his current financial woes," TMG wrote in the complaint.

This is only the latest legal trouble for the actor. He and actress Amber Heard settled their divorce back in August, however the terms of the divorce weren't finalized until last December. He only recently agreed to pay her the remaining portion of the $7 million settlement.

Heard also accused Depp of abuse, saying in court documents, "I endured excessive emotional, verbal and physical abuse from Johnny, which has included angry hostile, humiliating and threatening assaults to me whenever I questioned his authority or disagreed with him." She later dropped the allegations after the divorce settlement and maintained she would donate the entire settlement to charity.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Calgary's police chief says that for now he won't accept the resignation of a female officer who broke down in tears at a public meeting over sexual harassment and bullying she says she faces on the job.

Const. Jennifer Magnus Ward, a 14-year veteran of the force, tried to tender her resignation at the Calgary Police Commission hearing Tuesday.

After she finished her presentation, police Chief Roger Chaffin moved in and put his hand on her shoulder while Ward shook her head no and sat down.

Ward read from a statement at the meeting outlining how she had decided to stand up for other members as well as civilian staff who were trying to seek "equality and justice"'

This veteran #Calgary police officer publicly quit over bullying and harassment at work: https://t.co/dS4DFxwMJF #yyc pic.twitter.com/QnUNc0W8Mv
— Calgary Herald (@calgaryherald) February 1, 2017

She and another officer went to former chief Rick Hanson with their concerns, which led to a human resources audit in 2013.

She said she thought the CPS would hear their concerns and complaints and act to remedy the problem, but instead she said she was "blamed and disliked for taking a stand for what was right.''

Calgary's police chief Roger Chaffin says that for now he won't accept the resignation. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

"Maybe I didn't always say the right things or maintain political correctness but I stand by the ... article I wrote," she said.

Police commission chairman Brian Thiessen said the efforts of Ward in raising awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace is going to result in significant change.

"I think she is going to achieve a great amount of change, I think she has already moved the needle incredibly far ahead," said Thiessen, adding "it is a No. 1 priority of the commission, and therefore the service, because of her actions and those like her.''

"Maybe I didn't always say the right things or maintain political correctness but I stand by the ... article I wrote."

Chaffin said the department is working toward addressing issues of sexual harassment in the police force.

Outside the gathering, he told reporters he wants to have a chance to talk to her about her concerns.

"It's not the way you would accept any letter of resignation from an employee. You can see how emotionally charged she was, and the difficulty in that presentation. We will wait some time and circle back to her to talk to about this."

Also on HuffPost:

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

A shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six men and injured 19 others has shone an uncomfortable spotlight on the xenophobic rhetoric coming across Quebec's airwaves.

"Radio poubelle" or "trash radio" hosts have been singled out by some critics for their provocative speech.

"The real danger of this kind of radio is that they play with the line between news, opinion and demagoguery," Laval University professor Louis-Philippe Lampron told The Washington Post.

People place candles near a mosque that was the location of a shooting spree in Quebec City on Jan. 31. (Photo: Alice Chiche/AFP/Getty)

There is no evidence that the accused shooter, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette, a student at Laval University, listened to "trash radio." But he was known as an online troll who would often make hateful comments about refugees.

After the attack, FM 93 reported without any verification that the attacker shouted "Allahu akbar," according to The Economist.

Stephane Leman-Langlois, another professor at Laval, recalled a right-wing talk radio episode from 2016 that suggested Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was working on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood.

"There is really an examination of conscience to do on the part of these radio stations," Leman-Langlois told AFP.

There's even a Twitter account and website dedicated to chronicling sexism, racism, homophobia and hate speech from such shows in Quebec City. "Sortons les poubelles" — roughly, "take out the trash" — has accused shock jocks of having blood on their hands after the attack.

Kay Kersplebedeb #NotMyFault pic.twitter.com/iq6sAwUOKK
— Sortonslespoubelles (@Sortirpoubelles) February 1, 2017

A recent blog post on the site reminds viewers that in September, a Radio X host said (translated from French), "They [Muslims] abhor Western values, freedom, democracy, gender equality. They want to destroy this civilization that is ours. "

"The real danger of this kind of radio is that they play with the line between news, opinion and demagoguery."

In 2015, Laval communications professor Dominique Payette wrote a report warning of the danger of rhetoric spread by radio stations like Radio X and FM 93.

She wrote that the stations were regularly targeting Muslims, feminists, indigenous people, students, artists and people with disabilities, according to La Presse.

A 2016 survey by Forum Research found that Muslims were the target of the most racial bias or unfavourable feelings in Quebec out of anywhere in Canada, where 48 per cent of those surveyed saw Muslims in a negative light.

Alexandre Bissonnette has been charged in a shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six men and injured 19 others. (Photo: Facebook)

Radio shock jocks might not be the only ones cultivating that bias.

Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée has admitted his language may have gone too far sometimes — like that time he suggested burkas could conceal jihadi attackers.

“It wasn’t a good idea to bring that idea into the Quebec debate,” Lisée told The Globe and Mail.

“It’s not easy to be Muslim in the 21st century. We could turn down our language while still debating our values.”

jeanfrançois lisée

Jean-François Lisée, head of the Parti Québécois, has been criticized for his push for anti-Muslim legislation. (Photo: Graham Hughes/CP)

On Tuesday evening, someone hung a banner on Ontario Conservative MP Kellie Leitch's office that listed the names of the mosque shooting victims. The banner read "Hate puts us all at risk."

Leitch has called for immigrants to be screened for so-called "anti-Canadian values."

At a memorial Monday night for the victims, Lisée stood on stage as speakers mourned those lost.

But Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume took the opportunity to make a statement, saying the killings, "were an opportunity to reject those who enrich themselves through hate," Maclean's reported.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

New Democrats embittered by the Liberal government’s about-face on electoral reform have publicly blasted Canada’s prime minister as a “liar.”

It’s a charge that saw one NDP MP lose a question in the House of Commons Wednesday for unparliamentary language, and later apologize for letting anger get the best of him.

NDP democratic reform critic Nathan Cullen kicked things off at a press conference in Ottawa, just moments after new Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould made clear that the government will not move forward with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to reform Canada’s voting system.

nathan cullen justin trudeau

NDP MP Nathan Cullen, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Photo: CP)

“I want to choose my words very carefully,” Cullen said. “I know words matter. The words we speak here and in Parliament matter.”

Then Cullen, not typically known as a hot-head, lowered the boom.

“What Mr. Trudeau proved himself (to be) today was a liar, was to be of the most cynical variety of politician, saying whatever it takes to get elected,” Cullen said.

The veteran B.C. MP charged that instead of Trudeau keeping his word to millions of Canadians who voted Liberal and hundreds of thousands who participated in the electoral reform process, he instead chose to “spit in their face.”

"It was Mr. Trudeau’s decision today to prove himself a liar. Nobody else’s."

He also suggested, more than once, that Trudeau lacked the “courage” and “fortitude” to announce the change himself and instead sent out his rookie minister.

“It is a Liberal decision today to break their word, it was Mr. Trudeau’s decision today to prove himself a liar. Nobody else’s,” Cullen said.

NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair also accused Trudeau of being untruthful about the electoral reform file on his way in to the House of Commons for question period.

“Justin Trudeau lied to Canadians about democratic reform,” Mulcair told reporters.

'Massive political deception'

Mulcair did not repeat the charge in the Commons, but accused Trudeau of a “massive political deception” by courting voters with a promise to move away from the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system that he didn’t intend to keep.

The prime minister said that after taking the time to consult with Canadians, it is clear there is no consensus on the issue. Trudeau said that while he personally prefers a preferential ballot system, the NDP wants a proportional system and Tories want the issue put to a referendum.

The prime minister suggested it was best to focus attention on other matters.

“I am not going to do something that is wrong for Canadians just to tick off a box on an electoral platform,” Trudeau said. “That’s not the kind of prime minister I will be.”

&nbsp

Quebec MP Alexandre Boulerice, who sat with Cullen on the electoral reform committee, stepped up moments later to note that last year’s Speech from the Throne and minister mandate letters made it clear that Liberals would bring an end to the FPTP system.

“They lied. They lied to Canadians,” Boulerice said. “What is the prime minister’s word worth?”

The line sparked applause from the NDP bench but also drew an admonishment from Speaker Geoff Regan, who asked Boulerice to withdraw the remarks.

“If they didn’t lie, then they laughed in our faces,” Boulerice responded.

“We will not be hearing from this member,” Regan told MPs.

Boulerice did retract the remarks shortly after question period.

Minister says Liberals have always been clear

Cullen also rose in question period to again hammer at a prime minister that he said promised Canadians he would be different.

“He promised to bring more people into the democratic process, he promised to make every vote count and he promised millions of Canadians that 2015 would be the last election under the outdated and unfair voting system,” he said.

Cullen then asked if any Liberal would “find the integrity” to stand up to Trudeau’s “blatant betrayal.”

Gould responded that Liberals were simply listening to Canadians who have said they are “proud of our democracy.”

“We have always been clear. Major reforms to the electoral system should not be made if they lack the broad support of Canadians,” she said.

Electoral reform survey didn't ask about specific systems

In December, the electoral reform committee released a report recommending the government design a proportional voting system and hold a referendum to test Canadian support. Liberals on the committee, however, cautioned against a referendum and recommended “a period of comprehensive and effective citizen engagement.”

Days later, the government asked Canadians to participate in an online survey on electoral reform — on the website MyDemocracy.ca. The exercise was widely mocked because the survey did not ask about specific electoral systems, such as proportional representation.

The results of that controversial survey, released last week, suggested Canadians were generally satisfied with things the way Canadian democracy functions.

With a file from Althia Raj

Like Us On Facebook

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

A friend of the Muslim men killed by a gunman in Quebec City has a powerful message for terrorists: “When they go low, we go high.”

Yasmina, whose full name was not made public, quoted former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama in a statement to media on Wednesday.

“It’s just unbelievable. That’s it,” she said. “What to say to the children? Most of them were born here,” she said of the men’s families. “They feel absolutely, totally Quebecois.”

Sunday night's attack left six dead and many others injured. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it "a despicable act of terror."

“We … tried to teach them the good values of Islam," Yasmina said, "not to be angry, not to do bad things.”

Watch her full statement below.

Please take a moment to listen to the strength and grace of Yasmina, who lost friends inside Quebec's Grande Mosquee, her place of worship. pic.twitter.com/0Ke814poup
— Wendy Gillis (@wendygillis) February 1, 2017

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

There really is no downside to salmon, health wise (please tell us if you find one). High in omega-3 fatty acids, protein and B vitamins, consumers are turning to it more and more to replace their steaks.

But if you live in a part of Canada where farmed Atlantic salmon features prominently at the grocery store, we have some bad news — it’s likely going to get pricier.

Sea lice are eating into supplies of the fish in Norway and Scotland, according to The Guardian. The supply crisis comes after a deadly algae bloom hit Chile, the world’s second-biggest farmed salmon producer.

salmon market norway

A fishmonger cuts salmon and other fish at a fish market near the Norwegian harbour of Bergen on Sept. 12, 2014. (Photo: Eeric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images)

Global wholesale prices jumped as much as 50 per cent last year, The Guardian reports, as supplies of Atlantic salmon dropped nearly nine per cent.

The Nasdaq Salmon Index, which tracks the price of salmon exported out of Norway, showed that between the beginning of 2015 and the end of 2016, prices rose 34 per cent, from 45 Norwegian krone ($7 Canadian) a kilogram to 68 krone ($11 Canadian).

Farmed salmon itself is partly to blame. Sea lice weren't a big problem until large-scale fish farming started, according to Quartz. This is partially because farmed fish are kept in ocean nets, and the pests die when salmon swim into rivers to spawn.

Many salmon pens are also close to natural habitats, meaning the wild and farmed fish infect each other.

sea lice salmon

Biologist Alexandra Morton looks over juvenile salmon covered in sea lice shown in a test tube at her lab and home in Eco Bay, a boat ride away from Port McNeill, B.C., in March 2003. (Photo: John Lehmann/Globe and Mail via CP)

“If you have a lot of fish confined to a small area, the sea lice are endemic ... They build up a large population of sea lice, which then drift out of the sea pen and into local, migrating fish," Glen Spain, regional director for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Higher ocean temperatures due to global warming also boosted lice numbers, according to one study into a 2015 epidemic on B.C. coastal salmon farms, as did resistance to chemicals meant to kill the bugs.

Tiny Norwegian fish that eat sea lice have been proposed as one solution, but Canadian producers can't use them, because cleaner fish have to be native species, according to Quartz.

One big New Brunswick-based aquaculture company said last fall it is developing a technology that uses warm water with a 95 per cent removal rate, according to The Canadian Press.

“We’re expecting the price to remain high for the rest of this year, simply because of the time it takes for young fish to grow to the size that chefs want."

Another Norwegian salmon producer also came up with the idea to build a farm the length of nearly five American football fields where the fish would be exposed to fast ocean currents that would help cut down on sea lice.

But don't expect any relief at the grocery store anytime soon.

Rachel Dobson, the managing director of UK catering and food service buying specialist Lynx Purchasing, told the Financial Times she's seeing the fish served in smaller portions or its disappearance from menus altogether.

“We’re expecting the price to remain high for the rest of this year, simply because of the time it takes for young fish to grow to the size that chefs want," she said.

But those Canadians who eat Pacific salmon might be spared the price increases. Spain, of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that sea lice haven't been a problem in the Pacific lately.

Another reason to move to British Columbia.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May feels “betrayed” by the government’s decision to abandon its electoral reform promise, and has criticized the prime minister for throwing “two young women cabinet ministers under the bus” in the process.

The Saanich-Gulf Islands MP made the comments to reporters in the House of Commons foyer Wednesday, shortly after Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould confirmed the Liberals will break one of their marquee election pledges.

“I have to say as a woman leader of a federal political party in this country, I am deeply ashamed that our feminist prime minister threw two young women cabinet ministers under the bus on a key election promise, that he left them twisting in the wind and not fulfilling,” she said.

maryam monsef karina gould

Karina Gould (right) replaced Maryam Monsef as democratic institutions minister in January. (Photo: Reuters/The Canadian Press)

May referenced Gould, who replaced Maryam Monsef as democratic institutions minister after a January cabinet shuffle. Monsef was moved to Status of Women. Both are rookie MPs.

A member of the special committee on electoral reform tasked to study alternate voting systems to replace the current first-past-the-post system, May said her disappointment over the Liberal decision eclipses what she felt after Canada pulled out of the Kyoto protocol in 2011.

“I always knew Stephen Harper didn’t like Kyoto. I always knew Stephen Harper would do everything possible to destroy climate action. I never for one moment expected anything but the worst for the environment,” she said.

“That’s why I left the Sierra Club and ran for leader of the Green Party. It was never a betrayal when Stephen Harper did the very worst thing. But when you believe in someone and they let you down. That’s much harder.”

‘We are in a time of dangerous politics’

She touched on the possible repercussions the decision would have on young people — particularly the election canvassers who got out the vote in 2015, repeating the Liberal pledge that the election would be the last under first-past-the-post.

“And with Le Pen and Trump, you look around the world,” she said. “We are in a time of dangerous politics. You must never do anything as a politician who understands what’s at stake, you must never do anything that feeds cynicism.

“Cynicism has enough to feed itself.”

Elizabeth May speaks to reporters in the House of Commons foyer on Feb. 1. (Photo: Catherine Levesque/HuffPost Quebec)

Katelynn Northam, Leadnow’s electoral reform campaign lead, says the advocacy group is “profoundly disappointed and shocked” by the Liberal announcement. The group builds campaigns for ways for people to “participate effectively in our democracy,” according to its website.

Tens of thousands of people showed up across the country at town hall events hosted on the topic of electoral reform last year. After the consultation process wrapped, a special committee tabled a report in December noting a majority of Canadians are in favour of a proportional representation.

“We believe that there was a way forward on this issue, and the government chose not to take it.”
—Katelynn Northam, Leadnow

Leadnow isn’t convinced by the government’s claim that there’s no national consensus on how to move ahead with electoral reform.

“The all-party committee also recommended it. We believe that there was a way forward on this issue, and the government chose not to take it,” Northam said in an email to The Huffington Post Canada.

Trudeau responds

May stood in question period and pressed the Liberals on why they failed to be clear about an apparent caveat that a national consensus was needed for them to make good on a key election promise.

She mentioned how the promise was repeated in the Speech from the Throne, and reiterated to the special committee on electoral reform as its goal.

Trudeau responded by repeating much of the same language Gould used with reporters earlier: that there’s no national consensus on the topic of transforming the country’s electoral system, and that referendum on the issue would not be appropriate.

“Quite frankly, a divisive referendum at this time, an augmentation of extremist voices in the House, is not what is in the best interest of Canada,” he said.

Like Us On Facebook

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Warning: graphic details and testimony are included below.

CALGARY — Alberta's chief medical examiner testified Wednesday that human bone fragments were found in the ash from a burning barrel at the home of a suspect in a triple-murder trial.

Douglas Garland, 57, is charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their five-year-old grandson Nathan O'Brien in June 2014.

Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim told the court that she was asked to examine the Liknes home and the ash found at the Garland farm north of Calgary.

Douglas Garland is escorted into a Calgary police station in 2014. (Photo: Jeff McIntosh/CP)

Brooks-Lim said an initial examination of the ash from the burning barrel didn't find anything that was "clearly, evidently human.'' Bone bits that were found were more than just slightly burned.

"They had been burned for a significant amount of time or heat. The bony structure was really starting to collapse. They were very charred,'' she told the jury.

It was during cross-examination from defence lawyer Kim Ross that Brooks-Lim revealed what had eventually been found in the fragments after consulting with a forensic anthropologist.

"She determined that the majority of the bone fragments that she had examined were animal, but there were fragments within that she felt could be human,'' Brooks-Lim said.

"And there were, I believe, at least one or two fragments that she felt could have been from a child under five years as well as several fragments she felt could have come from an older adult or adults.''

Brooks-Lim said if a human body is burned at a temperature of 1000 C or 1800 F, bones can literally turn to ash in two hours.

Brooks-Lim also examined the Liknes house and said it was difficult to say if the couple and their grandson had died there. She said pools of blood in the home matched the three, but it would depend on the kind of injuries as to whether they were fatal.

"They may have still have been alive.''

obrien family

Alvin Liknes (left), Nathan O'Brien (centre) and Kathy Liknes (right.) (Photo: Calgary Police Service)

A police cyber-detective testified that there were downloads on killing and how to dispose of a human body found on a hard drive hidden at Garland's home.

Det. Brian Clark said he found manuals on doing autopsies and different ways to kill — including the use of garottes, combat knives and in hand-to-hand combat.

"How to become an assassin, all aspects of killing, the most effective weapons, medical preparation in order to effect a kill and psychology,'' said Clark.

Clark also found methods on the best ways to dispose of a human body.

"Dismemberment using a hacksaw, eliminating identifiers such as teeth and hands, burying, incinerating and speeding up the incineration process by using an acetylene torch or gas torch,'' he told court.

— Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

YARMOUTH, N.S. — Three Nova Scotia fishermen face charges for the alleged mistreatment of a seal that was caught on video and posted to social media, says the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

Doug Wentzell, the department's regional director of fisheries management, said the charges were laid after officials were alerted this week to a video showing alleged mistreatment of a seal aboard a vessel off Yarmouth, N.S.

nova scotia seal

A file photo shows a seal resting among the rocks near at a Warf in Neils Harbour, Nova Scotia. (Photo: Greg Ferens/The Canadian Press)

"Fishery officers were alerted by various members of the community," said Wentzell. "They used that information as well as the results of their investigation to lay the charges."

Wentzell said charges were filed against three people Wednesday in Yarmouth court," with respect to alleged illegal behaviour related to the treatment of a seal."

Graphic video taken off Facebook

Wentzell wouldn't discuss the contents of the video because the case is now in the court system.

The video was taken down off Facebook, but can still be found on the CBC web site. It shows a seal being taunted and prodded with a buoy, and being kicked softly amid laughter.

One man suggests "let's kill it," while another talks of getting a machete.

"Good seal. Good seal. Speak boy ... Do you want a treat, boy?" can be plainly heard.

Charges laid

Wentzell said the charges are related to two sections of the department's Marine Mammal Regulations and one section of the Fishery General Regulations.

Section 7 of the Marine Mammal Regulations stipulates that "No person shall disturb a marine mammal except when fishing for marine mammals under the authority of these regulations," while section 8 says "No person shall attempt to kill a marine mammal except in a manner that is designed to kill it quickly."

The fishery regulations section relates to the treatment of incidental catch onboard vessels.

Wentzell said the men, whose names have not been released, are scheduled to appear in a Yarmouth court to enter a plea on April 3.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

QUEBEC — The shooting in Quebec City's mosque over the weekend has helped highlight the fact the city doesn't have a place to bury people of the Muslim faith.

In fact, the five Muslim cemeteries in the province of Quebec are all located in the Montreal area, the head of a non-profit Islamic burial association said Wednesday.

Hadjira Belkacem said families of Muslims who die outside Montreal have to deliver the body for burial in Quebec's largest city or pay thousands of dollars to have it shipped to the deceased's country of origin.

"It's really a catastrophic situation," she said in an interview.

quebec city mosque

People pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near the Grande Mosquee de Quebec on Wednesday. (Photo: Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Five of the six men who were murdered in Quebec City on Sunday will be buried overseas, said Mohamed Yangui, president of the targeted mosque.

The bodies will be flown to Algeria, Tunisia, Guinea and Morocco.

Mamadou Tanou Barry, originally from Guinea, will be buried in Montreal, said a member of Quebec City's Guinean association.

Quebec City has between 8,000 and 10,000 Muslims, Belkacem said, according to her organization's census.

quebec city mosque

Visitors enter the Grande Mosquee de Quebec on Wednesday. (Photo: Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

"Some people have lost children — imagine having to repatriate a body to Montreal or overseas when the family is still here," she added.

Yangui said his Islamic centre is "working very hard" to get a cemetery for the community. "I think that soon enough we will have one here."

The mosque's vice-president, Mohamed Labidi, said the Islamic centre has been working on the file for the past 10 years.

"It's a work in progress," Labidi said. "We'd like to have the help of all levels of government."

Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume told reporters Wednesday "an agreement has been reached" with a local cemetery to reserve space for the bodies.

"It's a work in progress."

Belkacem said Labeaume's comments are unrealistic.

"It's not something you can just do tomorrow," she said. "You need licensed Islamic funeral parlours to be able to handle that. There aren't any in Quebec City."

She said in the Islamic faith, bodies must be buried in the direction of Mecca, Islam's holiest city, which is in Saudi Arabia.

Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, was arrested Sunday night following the massacre in which the six men were killed and 19 people were also wounded, including two critically.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

A Conservative leadership hopeful claims he was fighting back against the “radical, looney left” when he became the only MP to vote against a private member’s bill to establish a “Gender Equality Week.”

Saskatchewan MP Brad Trost made the comment in an email to supporters Thursday, with the subject line: “YEAS: 287, NAYS: 1.”

Those numbers represent the recorded vote from the night before on Bill C-309, introduced by Liberal MP Sven Spengemann, which seeks to have the first week in October designated as a celebration of gender equality.

Brad Trost speaks at a Conservative leadership debate in Greely, Ont., on Nov. 13, 2016. (Photo: Fred Chartrand/CP)

Seventy-two of Trost’s Conservative colleagues voted for the bill, including interim leader Rona Ambrose and leadership candidates Michael Chong, Maxime Bernier, and Erin O’Toole. Twenty-four other Tory MPs did not vote, either by choice or because they were not in attendance, including leadership candidates Andrew Scheer, Steven Blaney, Kellie Leitch, Deepak Obhrai, and Lisa Raitt.

Trost, an avowed social conservative, said in the release that he couldn’t support the bill because it contained a “full-meal-deal of cringe-worthy, left-wing grievances and theories.”

He included the full text of the bill in his message and asked supporters to read it themselves.

“Instead of asking why I refuse to support this left-wing grudge list, ask yourself how any principled conservative would — or could — support it, and still look themselves in the mirror,” Trost said.

Spengemann’s bill contains a lengthy preamble that notes “challenges faced by Canadian women” — including a wage gap and gender-based violence — are also experienced “by individuals of minority gender identity and expression.”

"Instead of asking why I refuse to support this left-wing grudge list, ask yourself how any principled conservative would — or could — support it, and still look themselves in the mirror."

The bill states “poverty and inequality disproportionately affect Canadian women, particularly elderly, disabled, transgender and visible minority women, leaving them isolated and vulnerable.”

C-309 acknowledges how transgender women in visible minority groups are at an increased risk of isolation and violence. It also spells out how indigenous women are “disproportionately affected by gender-based violence and sexual exploitation,” and face barriers to education and employment.

The bill will be read a second time and referred to the standing committee on the Status of Women.

Trost against transgender rights bill

When Spengemann tabled the bill in September, he told the House a gender equality week would present an opportunity to address challenges faced by Canadian women and “individuals of minority gender identity and expression.”

Spengemann said the bill would also “underscore the role men need to play to establish a gender-equal society in Canada.”

This is not the first time Trost has railed against a bill discussing the challenges faced by transgender Canadians. He is a vocal critic of Liberal government’s transgender rights Bill C-16, tabled last spring, which seeks to make it illegal under the Canadian Human Rights Act to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression.

Though the bill easily passed second reading in the House in October by a vote of 248 to 40, it has sparked division among Tories.

&nbsp

Trost and Scheer were the only Tory leadership candidates to vote against C-16. Former MP Pierre Lemieux, also running for Conservative leader, has pledged to repeal it.

Chong, Bernier, O’Toole, Obhrai, Raitt, and Blaney all voted to support C-16.

Prominent Tory MP Michelle Rempel also delivered an emotional speech to the House in November in which she said she was wrong to have previously voted against similar legislation.

“I believe in the capacity of my colleagues across party lines to be compassionate, to be strong, to stand up for Canada, and to stand up for what is good, what is just and what is beautiful,” Rempel said at the time.

Like Us On Facebook

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

When President Donald Trump issued an executive order preventing travellers and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries — including Syria — from entering the United States last week, many took to Twitter in protest.

Seven-year-old Syrian Bana Alabed was one of them. “Am I a terrorist?” Alabed tweeted in response to an Islamaphobic tweet sent by the president.

Am I terrorist? https://t.co/wXc1iekTmg
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) February 1, 2017

Alabed garnered international attention when she began tweeting about the devastation surrounding her in Aleppo, Syria.

This is our house, My beloved dolls died in the bombing of our house. I am very sad but happy to be alive.- Bana pic.twitter.com/9i0xxJrQtD
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) November 29, 2016

Alabed's family's house was destroyed during a bombing, however she and her family survived with minor injuries. The family was evacuated from the former rebel-held districts of Aleppo and are currently living in Turkey.

The self-proclaimed "peace preacher" has tweeted at Trump numerous times over the past week and even published an open letter to the president asking him to help the children of Syria.

My letter to @realdonaldtrump: I beg you, can you do something for the children of Syria? If you can, I will be your best friend. Thank you pic.twitter.com/rWmgDuBf6P
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) January 25, 2017

"I know you will be the president of America, so can you please save the children and people of Syria? You must do something for the children of Syria because they are like your children and deserve peace like you," she wrote. "If you promise me you will do something for the children of Syria, I am already your new friend."

When the president failed to respond to the letter Alabed tweeted again letting him know "banning refugees is very bad" and asking him yet again to help make other countries peaceful.

To @realdonaldtrump: Dear Trump, banning refugees is very bad. Ok, if it's good, I have an idea for you. Make other countries peaceful.
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) January 25, 2017

Despite being retweeted thousands of times, Trump has yet to acknowledge Alabed's tweets.

On December 29 Alabed's mother Fatemah posted a tweet stating she would no longer be tweeting from her daughter's account. Fatemah Alabed manages Bana's account and previously posted from the account indicating her name in the tweets she posted.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated Alabed's mother tweeted on January 29. The tweet was actually published in December.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Canada’s oilsands industry may find itself fighting with the U.S. — its own largest customer — for a share of a shrinking oil market within four years.

According to research released this week from Imperial College London and the Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI), demand for oil and coal could stop growing as soon as 2020, thanks to falling prices for solar energy and the rapid growth of electric vehicles (EVs).

The Syncrude oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, November 3, 2011. (Photo: Tedd Korol/Reuters)

The report notes the price of solar power cells has fallen by 99 per cent in the past 40 years.

“Electric vehicles and solar power are game-changers that the fossil fuel industry consistently underestimates,” said Luke Sussams, a senior researcher at CTI. “Further innovation could make our scenarios look conservative in five years’ time, in which case the demand misread by companies will have been amplified even more.”

Canada’s government and oil industry have shown little sign they are adapting their oil production forecasts to account for this possibility. Neither have adjusted their forecasts to account for the Paris climate accord, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives noted in a recent report.

Photovoltaic cells have come down in price by 99 per cent in the past four decades, according to research from Imperial College London and Carbon Tracker. (Photo: John Fidele via Getty Images)

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers predicts that Canadian oil production will continue to grow beyond 2020 at a similar pace that it has grown over the past decade. It sees oil output rising about 15 per cent from 2020 to 2030, to 5.54 million barrels pay day.

By contrast, the CTI report estimates that fossil fuel growth could end as soon as 2020, and could lose 10 per cent of market share within a decade. Not preparing for such a scenario could have major costs, the study warned.

“A 10 per cent shift in market share can be crippling for incumbents, such as the … near collapse of the U.S. coal sector,” the report noted.

Meanwhile, a new survey of analysts from Bloomberg predicts the U.S.’s oil exports will jump significantly this year, to around 800,000 barrels of oil per day, from around 527,000 barrels daily in 2016.

Analysts say the Trump administration’s pro-oil stance, coupled with higher prices that are fuelling more drilling, will spur the jump in exports.

The U.S. had a ban on the export of oil for decades, until 2015, when the Obama administration dropped it in the wake of a boom in U.S. shale oil production.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. oil production will reach 9 million barrels of oil per day this year, compared to Canada’s roughly 4 million barrels per day at present.

All this could mean that the large-scale investment into projects like the Keystone XL pipeline between the U.S. and Canada may prove unnecessary, as some observers have suggested for some time.

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said last fall the Keystone XL pipeline is no longer needed. Earlier this month, the Liberal government welcomed President Donald Trump's order to move forward with the pipeline. (Photo: The Canadian Press)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order meant to revive the Keystone XL pipeline earlier this month, a move praised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

That came despite earlier comments from Trudeau’s cabinet that the Keystone XL pipeline is no longer necessary, and the government is focusing on expanding exports to Asia and elsewhere. And it came after Trudeau himself suggested the oilsands will need to be phased out in time, a remark he partly walked back after anger among some voters in the oil patch.

The Trudeau government also approved the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline last year, which will bring Alberta oil to a Pacific Ocean port for export. It's part of an apparent strategy to pivot away from the U.S. as the oilsands' principal market.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

OTTAWA — A man who stole gold "pucks'' from the Royal Canadian Mint by hiding them in his rectum to evade metal detectors has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Leston Lawrence, 35, was convicted of theft in November by Ontario Court judge Peter Doody, who noted in his ruling the case was based on circumstantial evidence.

The judge said a penitentiary term was needed to deter others; Lawrence's lawyer had argued for an 18-month sentence.

"While he was certainly in a position of trust which he breached, he was not a senior managerial official,'' Doody ruled. "So, this is a blue-collar theft, not a white-collar theft.''

The Royal Canadian Mint building in Ottawa. (Photo: Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Doody ordered Lawrence to pay $190,000 in restitution. He has three years from the end of his full sentence to pay it, and if he doesn't, he could be re-incarcerated for another 30 months.

Lawrence has already tried to raise money and will soon be coming into $20,000 from the sale of his home. He has also tried to recoup money he spent towards buying a boat in Florida and a house in Jamaica, court was told.

At trial, Doody noted there was no video of Lawrence stealing the gold and no witnesses.

"This is a blue-collar theft, not a white-collar theft.''

Court heard that Lawrence, whose job at the mint involved purifying recently procured gold, sometimes worked alone and out of sight of security cameras in a process that involved creating the pucks.

He worked at the mint from 2008 until March 2015.

When he aroused suspicion

Lawrence aroused suspicion in a bank employee in February 2015 after he asked to cash two cheques worth $15,200 from Ottawa Gold Buyers. Lawrence told the teller he had sold "gold nuggets'' when she asked what the money was for, said court records.

The bank tipped off police, who then put Lawrence under surveillance.

Lawrence set off the metal detector more often than any other mint employee without metal implants, Doody said in his ruling. But follow-up searches with hand wands never discovered the smuggled gold hidden in his body cavity.

gold bars

Ontario Court judge Peter Doody ruled Leston Lawrence had stolen 22 gold pucks from the mint worth $165,451.14. (Photo: Leonhard Foeger/Reuters/File Photo)

Police eventually seized a gold puck that Lawrence had sold and found four more in his safety deposit box.

Vaseline and latex gloves were later found in Lawrence's locker, which Doody said "could have been used to facilitate insertion of gold items inside his rectum.''

Doody ruled Lawrence had stolen 22 gold pucks from the mint worth $165,451.14.

Defence lawyer Gary Barnes said no decision had been made about a possible appeal.

Barnes said he thinks that the mint has made major security upgrades.

"[The mint] had pails of gold just sitting around and people could walk by and actually just pick things out of them." — Defence lawyer Gary Barnes

There was only one camera in the large, dimly lit room where Lawrence worked, he said.

But the lawyer suggested the mint may have to do more to prevent future thefts.

"They had pails of gold just sitting around and people could walk by and actually just pick things out of them,'' Barnes said outside the courthouse.

Barnes said a mint employee he cross-examined testified that the pails had since been covered but that the new tops weren't locked.

"I'm pretty sure there's still some work to be done there.''

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

A New Brunswick couple have to pay more than $17,000 after they dumped a massive pile of manure beside their property, a judge ruled last month.

David and Joan Gallant sued their neighbours, Lee and Shirley Murray, last summer alleging nuisance, trespass and harassment and claiming damages, according to CBC News.

The Gallants bought the next-door property from the Murrays in Indian Mountain, near Moncton, in 2001 and got along well with their neighbours until November 2013, the broadcaster reported.

N.B. couple used giant manure heap to harass neighbours, judge rules https://t.co/paIT6yAjMn pic.twitter.com/hc324Z9HwN
— Calgary Herald (@calgaryherald) January 28, 2017

That’s when the Murrays were accused of leaving a “mountain” of cow dung next to their property, according to CBC News. It’s unclear why.

The pile was so large that at one point it could be seen by Google Earth satellites.

But even though the Gallants asked for the pile to be cleared multiple times, even when it spread to their property, it stayed put until October 2014.

But the wall of stink wasn’t the Murrays' only act of aggression.

The couple used a snowblower to blow snow and rocks onto their neighbours' property, and probably let cows trample the Gallants' lawn, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice George Rideout said in an affidavit obtained by the National Post.

The approximate location of a manure pile removed from Lee and Shirley Murray's property in 2014. At one point, the pile could be seen on Google Earth. (Photo: Google Earth)

“I have little doubt these activities were initiated by the Murrays and designed to inflict fear, nuisance and harassment against the Gallants,” he said.

Defendant denies harassment claims

Lee Murray said in a call with the Post he and Shirley planned to appeal, saying his neighbours were just looking for money and that they were the ones being aggressive.

“There’s more to this,” he said. “This thing isn’t over yet.”

This isn't the first time people have been accused of dumping spite-motivated cow dung piles.

Last fall, a Rhode Island couple were ordered to remove a heap of manure near their neighbours' property line. The offended neighbour claimed the couple were retaliating because he hosts weddings.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

OTTAWA — Conservative leadership candidate Kevin O'Leary says he took down an Internet video of himself firing automatic weapons out of "respect" for the memorial to three of the six victims of the weekend massacre at a Quebec City mosque.

The video depicted O'Leary firing a variety of high-powered weapons — including machine guns and an assault rifle — during a visit to a Miami gun range. It was posted just as the high-profile funeral in Montreal was getting underway.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale described the timing of the video as "obviously crass, insensitive and exceedingly dumb."

The post went up as several thousand mourners, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, paid their respects to shooting victims Abdelkrim Hassane, Khaled Belkacemi and Aboubaker Thabti at a Montreal arena.

oleary facebook post

A screengrab of the post O'Leary shared on Facebook and eventually deleted. (Photo: Kevin O'Leary/Facebook)

There were also prayers at the service for the three other victims — Azzeddine Soufiane, Mamadou Tanou Barry and Ibrahima Barry. Another funeral is scheduled to take place Friday in Quebec City.

The short clip, posted on the video sharing service Vimeo, showed O'Leary blazing away at paper targets with a number of firearms, including what looks like a heavy-calibre sniper rifle.

"Still got my marksman chops from my days as a military cadet at Stanstead College," said the accompanying caption.

Several hours later, O'Leary tweeted, "Out of respect for today's service, I have taken down my last post."

The clip, however, remained visible on Vimeo throughout the afternoon.

O'Leary, a businessman and star of the U.S. reality-TV show "Shark Tank," is widely considered to be the front-runner in the race to lead the federal Conservative party, despite his lack of political experience and faculty with French.

He bills himself as having the business savvy and negotiation skills to help turn around the economy, create jobs and deal with U.S. President Donald Trump.

O'Leary is scheduled to make his first public appearance alongside his leadership rivals at a debate Saturday night in Halifax.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

VANCOUVER — Home sales in Metro Vancouver last month dropped by almost 40 per cent from the year before with the sale of detached houses falling hardest.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says the townhome and condominium markets are more active than sales for detached homes.

Just over 1,500 residential properties sold in January, down 39.5 per cent from about 2,500 sales that were recorded in January 2016.

vancouver waterfront

Vancouver's Coal Harbour at sunset. (Phto: Getty Images)

Board president Dan Morrison says it has been a "lukewarm'' start to the year.

"While we saw near record-breaking sales at this time last year, home buyers and sellers are more reluctant to engage so far in 2017,'' he said in a statement.

Sales last month were also down about 11 per cent from December, when about 1,700 homes sold.

Read more:

12 Charts About Canadian Housing That Will Make You Go WTF

Canada Has The Developed World's Hottest AND Coldest Housing Markets

Vancouver's Middle Class Can Buy Less House Than Almost Anyone Else

The benchmark price for detached properties was about $1.5 million in January, down 6.6 per cent over the last six months. The board says townhouse and condominium prices have remained steady.

The B.C. government brought in a 15-per-cent tax on foreign buyers in the Vancouver area last August but some analysts have said the market was already showing signs of softening after months of scorching sales.

Last month, provincial government data showed a steep drop in real estate transactions in the Vancouver area after the tax came in.

Tax revenues from property transfers in Metro Vancouver indicate there were almost 15,000 transactions in a seven-week period ending Aug. 1, but the number declined to a low of about 4,700 in October.

The number of foreign buyers fell from about 1,970 in the period ending Aug. 1, to 60 in the rest of August. In November, about 200 property transfers involved foreigners.

The board says the number of new listings for detached, attached and apartment properties also dropped by almost seven per cent last month compared with January 2016. The inventory of homes listed for sale grew by about 14 per cent in January compared to December.

Royal LePage recently forecast an 8.5 per cent price correction in Greater Vancouver this year.

Follow The Huffington Post Canada on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Someone Tried To Sell Drake's ‘YOLO Estate' Out From Under Him

‘WEED' Launches On The Toronto Stock Exchange

Kent Monkman Walks Canada Back Through Time With ‘Shame And Prejudice: A Story Of Resilience'

Johnny Depp's Ex-Business Managers Say He Spent More Than US$2 Million A Month

Calgary Police Officer Jennifer Magus Ward Publicly Quits, Citing Sexual Harassment, Bullying

Quebec 'Trash Radio' Hosts Singled Out For Spreading Hate

New Democrats Call Trudeau A 'Liar' For Scrapping Electoral Reform

Friend Of Quebec City Attack Victims: 'When They Go Low, We Go High'

Atlantic Salmon Prices Going Up As Sea Lice Eats Up Supply

Elizabeth May On Electoral Reform: PM Threw 'Young Women Cabinet Ministers Under The Bus'

Douglas Garland Trial: Human Bone Fragments, Ash Found In Burn Barrel

Nova Scotia Fishermen Charged Over Video That Shows Seal Being Beaten

No Muslim Cemetery In Quebec City For Mosque Attack Victims

Brad Trost Brags About Voting Against ‘Gender Equality Week'

‘Am I A Terrorist?' Young Syrian Refugee Asks Trump

Oilsands Face Big Trouble Ahead, 2 New Studies Suggest

Royal Canadian Mint Employee Who Hid Gold Pucks In Rectum Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison

Manure Pile Dump In New Brunswick Leads To $17,000 Payout For Grumpy Neighbours

Kevin O'Leary Shares Gun Range Video On Day Of Funeral For Quebec Mosque Shooting Victims

Vancouver Sees Major Housing Correction As Sales Plummet, Prices Slide