Edmonton customs officers find tarantulas hidden in mail
“All animals, including cats, dogs, exotics and reptiles, must be kept safe from harm and injury when they are travelling by land, air or sea"
Author of the articleostmedia News
Published Aug 14, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read
The Canada Border Services Agency said two live tarantulas were discovered at Edmonton International Airport in packages from the same sender May 12 and June 1, 2023.
The Canada Border Services Agency said two live tarantulas were discovered at Edmonton International Airport in packages from the same sender May 12 and June 1, 2023. jpg
Two tarantulas are sitting pretty at the Royal Alberta Museum after customs agents at Edmonton International Airport (EIA) found them in packages sent from Hong Kong.
The Canada Border Services Agency said the live spiders were discovered in packages at the Edmonton airport from the same sender weeks apart. The first, a male, was found inside a plastic container May 12.
The second, a female, was found stowed away inside a child’s toy plane, also in a package from Hong Kong, June 1.
Agents checked the spiders out and found that species of tarantula they both belong to, Phlogiellus xinping, is native to Hong Kong and is not considered endangered under international law. There are, however, “strong regulations” around the humane transport of living creatures, so the spiders were seized and live now at the museum.
“CBSA officers were able to find and rescue these two tarantulas from inhumane shipping methods,” Lisa Laurencelle-Peace, CBSA regional director general for the Prairies, said in a Monday news release. “All living creatures need to be transported and imported properly to keep Canada’s ecosystem and biodiversity safe.”
To avoid spreading animal-related diseases and introducing foreign species, all living creatures, including pets, must be declared when importing them into Canada, according to CBSA, which pointed to tips on the Government of Canada’s website.
“All animals, including cats, dogs, exotics and reptiles, must be kept safe from harm and injury when they are travelling by land, air or sea,” the CBSA release stated.
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Air Arachnophobia: Edmonton customs officers find tarantulas hidden in mail
Two tarantulas are sitting pretty at the Royal Alberta Museum after customs agents at Edmonton International Airport (EIA) found them in packages sent from Hong Kong.torontosun.com
Looks like he has the TurdOWE lovers all in a tizzy.Tucker Carlson coming to Calgary for speech, conversation with Alberta premier
It's not yet known what issues Carlson will address during the event
Author of the article:Hiren Mansukhani
Published Nov 07, 2023 • Last updated 7 hours ago • 3 minute read
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is coming to Calgary in January 2024.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is coming to Calgary in January 2024.
Former Fox News anchor and provocative U.S. political commentator Tucker Carlson will visit Calgary on Jan. 24 for a live speech followed by an interview.
Carlson, whose popularity skyrocketed as he brought far-right talking points into mainstream news on his show Tucker Carlson Tonight, will also be in conversation with Premier Danielle Smith toward the end of the event.
The premier’s office confirmed Tuesday that Smith will attend the event in Calgary.
“The premier participates in a variety of public and private events and does interviews with dozens of reporters, broadcasters and podcasters from across the political spectrum,” press secretary Sam Blackett said in an emailed statement.
“Obviously, she does not subscribe to every view of every interviewer or reporter she speaks with whether that’s the CBC, the Toronto Star, or Tucker Carlson.
“The premier aims to share Alberta’s message with as many people as possible whether they’re from Alberta, Canada, or around the world.”
Carlson, who was one of the most popular hosts on Fox News, occasionally targets Canada and its federal Liberal government on his show and was a vocal supporter of last year’s “Freedom Convoy” movement.
Since being fired from the network, Carlson has started hosting a new show called Tucker on X, where he has challenged the murder of Black man George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, purported the killing of Christians in Ukraine, and deemed the non-profits tending to undocumented immigrants in the U.S.’s southern border as “criminals.”
Carlson, who had his start in journalism by writing for neo-conservative magazine the Weekly Standard, went on to host shows at CNN and MSNBC before being hired by Fox News. There, he was a proponent of Donald Trump and pushed out several conspiracy theories regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and Ukrainian bioweapons.
Fox terminated Carlson after settling a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems by paying $787.5 million for falsely claiming election fraud.
Alberta NDP says Danielle Smith should not appear with divisive personality
Opposition members of the legislature said the premier shouldn’t give time to such a divisive personality.
NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Carlson has attacked Ukraine, made disparaging remarks about women and endorsed an attempted uprising related to the presidential election in the United States.
“He is not a credible figure,” Notley told reporters at an unrelated news conference in Edmonton.
“The fact that our premier believes it’s appropriate to normalize the things this person would say by appearing on a stage with him demonstrates a profound lack of judgment on her part.”
Notley said it also damages Alberta’s reputation on an international level at a time when the province is trying to attract investment dollars.
“I would call on the premier to immediately cancel that planned appearance, because Albertans deserve better from their leadership,” she said.
“They deserve responsibility. They deserve a measured form of leadership — and appearing with that character on stage is not that.”
“Tucker Carlson is a pro-Putin white nationalist, so naturally Danielle Smith is scheduled to help him promote his event in Calgary in January,” finance critic Shannon Phillips wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
MLA David Shepard added that Carlson is a loud promoter of “great replacement theory” and other white nationalist ideas — “not someone the premier of a diverse province should be giving time, particularly at a time of rising antisemitism (and) Islamophobia.”
‘His profile is massive’: event organizer
Christian Darbyshire, partner at Tine Public — the organizer of the event and other talks involving notable names, including Barack and Michelle Obama, Oprah and Ellen — said Carlson has grown in popularity in the past couple of years.
“He gets tens of millions of views on each of his shows, sometimes hundreds of millions of views,” Darbyshire said. “So, he’s gotten to the point where his profile is massive now, and so a lot of people want to see him.
“There’ll be additional cities that will probably be announced at some point, but Calgary is the first one that got organized.”
He added that the company reached out to the Alberta government, which showed interest in attending.
Darbyshire said it’s not yet known what issues Carlson will address during the event.
“We’ll probably have clear direction on all that sometime in January, a few weeks before the event,” he said.
Tickets for Carlson’s appearance go on sale at Ticketmaster.ca at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
— With files from The Canadian Press
Tucker Carlson coming to Calgary for live speech and conversation with Premier Danielle Smith
Tucker Carlson will visit Calgary on Jan. 24 for a live speech, followed by a conversation with Premier Danielle Smith.torontosun.com
Yup, god forbid that someone has a POV that others don't like. Gotta cancel them for sure cuz you never know just what it is they MIGHT say that one disagrees with so of course, they'll try to stop him from coming. It's anti-democratic but stopping people from speaking out means that this has now somehow become the "saving of democracy" How does this even make sense?Looks like he has the TurdOWE lovers all in a tizzy.
Athabasca River Conditions and Use - Alberta EnvironmentAlberta Energy Regulator reports runoff spill at Suncor’s Fort Hills oilsands site
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Published Nov 25, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
CALGARY — A spill of surface runoff from a containment pond at Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills oilsands site may have spanned more than a year, the Alberta Energy Regulator has announced.
The regulator said that on Oct. 9, the energy company reported an “unplanned release” of around 662 cubic metres from the pond adjacent to Fort Hills into the Athabasca River.
But on Nov. 24, Suncor informed the regulator that the spill was likely much larger than originally reported.
“… Further investigation of this matter indicated the unplanned release volume may have been closer to 10,000 cubic metres,” the regulator said a news release issued on Friday. “Suncor has also informed the AER that the unplanned release may have been in effect since June 2022 and believe the cause of the release is likely to be a faulty valve.”
Suncor has taken water quality samples of the pond, the results of which indicate the water spilled into the river was “within release criteria parameters for discharge,” the AER said.
The pond the water was released from “is not related to mining, extraction or tailings processes, and contains precipitation and snow melt water,” it said.
Suncor also offered reassurances on Saturday that the water in question posed no threat.
“This water does not come into contact with any processes on our site,” Suncor spokeswoman Jessica Depencier said in an emailed statement.
She said testing in 2022 and 2023 showed the water in the collection pond met regulatory release criteria, and Suncor has “no evidence indicating any of the water that may have been released would not have met regulatory requirements. ”
The regulator said it visited the site and found the valve is not currently leaking, adding it will be reviewing sampling data from June 2022 through to November 2023.
Depencier said the release was “potentially due to a valve that controls water flow from the pond to the river not being fully closed.” The company confirmed the valve was completely closed on Oct. 9.
She said Suncor company plans to “implement automated alarms to provide early awareness to changes in operating conditions.”
Suncor and the AER have informed communities and stakeholders in the area, the regulator said, and Environment and Climate Change Canada has also been notified.
— By Rosa Saba in Toronto
Alberta Energy Regulator reports runoff spill at Suncor’s Fort Hills oilsands site
A spill of surface runoff from a containment pond at Suncor Energy's Fort Hills oilsands site may have spanned more than a year.torontosun.com
Even if the spill was from raw processing the dilution rate would be miniscule compared to the natural leaching from the oil sands bitumen into the water body that already existsAthabasca River Conditions and Use - Alberta Environment
Flow estimate: 274 cubic metres per second.
The Athabasca watershed in Sask has bitumen at surface. Its always been there.Even if the spill was from raw processing the dilution rate would be miniscule compared to the natural leaching from the oil sands bitumen into the water body that already exists
There is an unopposed abortion. They do happen.Alberta man took teenage daughter for abortion after impregnating her
The father, 51, pleaded guilty to a single charge of incest in connection with the seven-year sexual relationship
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Dec 04, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Suicide threats were used by a central Alberta man to force his teenage daughter to maintain a years-long sexual relationship with him, court heard Monday.
And Crown prosecutor Kaitlyn Perrin said the unprotected intercourse the offender had with his daughter resulted in her getting pregnant at 15, after which he took her to get an abortion.
The father, 51, who can’t be named to protect his victim’s identity, pleaded guilty to a single charge of incest in connection with a seven-year sexual relationship he had with his biological daughter beginning in 2007, when she was 13 years old.
Perrin told Calgary Court of King’s Bench Justice Keith Yamauchi the illicit relationship continued until 2013, when the victim was 20 years old.
“The accused . . . is the biological father of the complainant,” Perrin said, reading from a statement of agreed facts signed by the offender and his lawyer.
“The accused groomed (his daughter) throughout the time of their sexual interactions and would treat (her) as if they were in a consensual sexual relationship,” Perrin said.
“The accused threatened to harm himself, or commit suicide, if (she) attempted to stop the sexual interactions or end the sexual relationship between them.”
The prosecutor said throughout his offending, the father never took steps to protect his victim from an unwanted pregnancy.
“During the sexual interactions between the accused and (the victim) the accused never wore a condom or took precautions against (her) becoming pregnant,” she told Yamauchi.
“In November of 2008 (she) became pregnant with the accused’s child,” Perrin said.
“The accused took (her) to a health clinic for her to have an abortion in November of 2008. (She) was 15 years old at the time of this abortion.”
When the prosecutor concluded reading the facts onto the record, Yamauchi asked the offender if he agreed with them.
“Yes,” the father replied.
The man’s lawyer asked the judge to order a psychiatric assessment on his client, noting he has had issues with schizophrenia and depression in the past, but indicated that didn’t diminish his blameworthiness for his crime.
Central Alberta man took teenage daughter for abortion after impregnating her
Central Alberta man pleads guilty to incest over seven-year relationship he had with his daughter, whom he impregnated when she was 15.torontosun.com
Too bad they can't abort the father as well.There is an unopposed abortion. They do happen.
While I couldn't afford to go see him, what I've seen of his comments are somewhat true & he does have a sense of humor that idiots like the Liberal MP in Edmonton Centre & Guilbault go right over their heads. He exaggerates with purpose to show how stupid & funny (?) things have gotten. They can't seem to see what he says without calling him a "bad actor" or "dangerous". He's a bloody pundit for gods sake. It's laughable that he would be a "good" VP.Move over truckers, it's now Tucker's turn to save Canada from Trudeau's tyranny
Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Published Jan 23, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
First it was the truckers hoping to “liberate” Canada and now it’s The Tucker.
But be careful, Tucker Carlson, because they just might freeze your bank account.
Or throw you in jail for a long stretch without bail, bring out the horses or maybe even have the RCMP give you the David Menzies arrest treatment.
Seems American media star Tucker Carlson doesn’t care and has dared Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respond – just one day out from the famous media commentator’s scheduled appearances in Calgary and in Edmonton on Wednesday.
It all started with the former Fox News host, who is now running his Tucker Carlson Network, going to Instagram to punk Trudeau by calling his office to leave a message that the mission to free Canada is on its way north this week.
“Yes, hi, I couldn’t understand the French part, but it’s Tucker Carlson calling from the United States, and I’d be grateful if you pass a message on to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. We are coming to Liberate Canada. We are coming to liberate Canada, and we’ll be there soon. Merci.”
The perfect prank call? Funny stuff?
Well, Canada is not always known for its sense of humour on stuff like this. That’s the kind of talk that brought in the Emergencies Act against the truckers in 2022. Some of those who protested Trudeau’s lockdown measures are either still in jail or before the courts.
But Carlson does not seem worried. In fact, he seems to be spoiling for a fight with Trudeau.
It’s not the first time.
In a documentary called O Canada, that was set to air before Fox fired Carlson in 2023, he teased, “For more than 100 years the United States has as a matter of official policy opposed dictatorships around the world. But what if tyranny arrived right next door? Would we liberate the people living under authoritarian rule as we have around the world?”
In this unaired documentary, Carlson interviewed arrested pastors, People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier and Rebel News journalists Alexa Lavoie and David Menzies about the brutal treatment they received from Canadian authority during the pandemic lockdowns.
A year ago, almost to the day, Carlson on Fox mused, “Why are we not sending an armed force north to liberate Canada from Trudeau? And I mean it.”
Of course, he’s only joking. Carlson loves using words to get a rise out of people not as enthusiastic about free speech as he is. He once debated then Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish on CNN after she was quoted of American’s saying, “I hate those bastards,” On X she later called Carlson a “completely sensational idiot.”
But Carlson has made the point that it’s not him that is the idiot but those letting Canada go down the road of communism.
“I’ve always loved Canada because of its natural beauty,” Carlson said last year on Fox News. “Why should we let it become Cuba. Why don’t we liberate it?”
Carlson loves all of this because it gets him what he is so good at achieving: Attention and ratings. On X alone he has more than 11 million followers. Always fun herself, Parrish, who may be running for mayor of Mississauga, has a little more than 5,000 followers while Trudeau has 6.5 million.
“See you there,” said Dr. Jordan Peterson on X, another person who has endured the wrath of the cancel crowd.
Tucker, who some believe could become Donald Trump’s running mate for vice president in November, knows how to drum up interest. His first comments about liberating Canada was him promoting his show. This time his appearances, in which he is scheduled to be joined on stage by Premier Danielle Smith, legendary commentator Rex Murphy and renowned and notorious author and businessman Conrad Black, are about selling tickets for his talks.
Sounds like fun. But not everybody laughs at Carlson’s humour and attempt to stir things up to drive the left nuts.
“You know, some people in Canada thought this was humorous and a joke,” former U.S. ambassador in the Obama era Bruce Heyman told the Associated Press last year. “But it was not a joke, because of the people that he attracts and inspires … I feel he was a dangerous actor.”
Yikes. That sounds ominous. America has said that about Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Moammar Gadhafi in Libya too.
And Canadians understand what words like that from government can mean. Canadians have seen zero-tolerance measures out of Ottawa before. Trudeauites, who are prepared to turn a blind eye to anything on the edge their hero may do, are less tolerant of others. In fact, for Carlson’s Alberta dates, there is actually a Change.org petition with almost 4,000 signatures trying to keep him from being let into the country.
“There’s still time for Prime Minister Trudeau to do the right thing and deny Tucker Carlson, a citizen of the United States, conspiracy theorist, active supporter of Vladmir Putin, promoter of racism and hate monger, supporter of the Jan. 6 insurrection, supporter of the rigged 2020 U.S. elections conspiracy, a visa to enter Canada,” it said.
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Music to Tucker Carlson’s ears. His job is to bring in eyeballs and fill seats.
But Canada is also capable of keeping track of names and even seeing people fired for supporting causes like the Freedom Convoy. So, this week could be interesting in Calgary and Edmonton when The Tucker rolls into town to teach us about free speech and, perhaps, lightening up a bit too.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
Tucker Carlson on Instagram: "See you soon, Canada."
263K likes, 9,149 comments - tuckercarlson on January 22, 2024: "See you soon, Canada.".instagram.comWARMINGTON: Move over truckers, it's now Tucker's turn to save Canada from Trudeau's tyranny
It all started with the former Fox News host, who is now running his Tucker Carlson Network, going to Instagram to punk Trudeau.torontosun.com