CTVN - Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #30

on ctv Drama. [ ] >> With we know the policy solutions. We need to have the governments at all levels to have the fortitude to implement them. >> Roger: canada gets a near failing grade over how government its deal with poverty and food insecurity. >>> Sending a signal that israel cannot have its secured guaranteed at the expense of the security of the palestinian population. >> Roger: in a historic move, ireland, norway and spain have vowed to formally recognize a palestinian state. A move that israel is bashing. >> Now is the any moment for britain to choose its future. >> Roger: british prime minister rishi see sunak as chosen a july 4th date. Polls showing the opposition labour party likely to win. >>> You're watching ctv news channel. I'm roger peterson. Thank you very much for joining us. We begin with some sobering numbers when it comes to food insecurity in canada. In its annual report, the food banks canada warning that we have reached a critical turning point as poverty and food insecurity worsen in every corner of the country. Canada received an overall grade of d minus, a decline from the "d" last year. Only two provinces, nova scotia and prince edward island, managed to improve the rest of the country did the same or got worse. Ctv's renée rodgers is following this for us today and renée, what does this new study tell us about hunger in canada compared to previous years? >> Reporter: hi roger. It's no surprise that essentially what this tells us is that canadians are worse off for the most part from coast to coast. That's according to food bank canada's report card which looks at the poverty situation province by province and also what governments are doing to address it. Now, some key findings in this report, roger. Almost half of canadians or 44% feel financially worse off now than they did last year. One in ten canadians lives in poverty. Nearly a quarter are facing food insecurity and food bank use has risen since 2021 by a whopping 50%. Here is what the ceo of food banks canada had to say. >> When we think of canada, we don't think that a quarter of the people that includes neighbours, people that go to our kids' schools, are worried about where they're going to get access to fresh healthy food. They're skipping meals. We hear all the time about parents who skip meals so their kids can eat. This incident is the canada that any of us want. >> Reporter: food banks canada says most governments are not responding with the urgency that is needed in this situation, and has a number of recommendations for canada and then individual provinces, they range from an immediate groceries and essentials benefit to examining the potential for a national rent assistance program, roger. >> Roger: two provinces did improve. What are they doing? >> Reporter: so a couple of provinces did improve and those would be nova scotia and pei. They each improved from last year, and that's after those provinces put a greater legislative focus on poverty reduction and increasing the housing supply over the past year. But if you take a look at québec, a "c" plus. That province is doing the best in the entire country. That includes poverty reduction efforts such as strong steps to increase housing, especially affordable housing, and strengthening the rights of people who rent. That's just a couple of things that have happened in québec. But still this report says there is plenty of work to be done both in québec and in the rest of canada. And the report basically indicates that without a major intervention, these grades are only expected to get worse. >> Roger: okay. Ctv's renée rodgers, thank you for that.

>>> Let's go live now to ottawa and ndp leader jagmeet singh is speaking ahead of question period. >> Voice of Interpreter:... Large corporations that the ndp are ready. >> Voice of Interpreter: Mr. Singh, québec's going to go with an office in tel aviv. Do you think it's a good idea to go ahead with that office given what's going on there? >> Voice of Interpreter: I think I'll start by saying that's the decision of the québec government. Personally, I think that given the context of war, especially in a context where human rights are being violated and everything that's going on, I don't think it's the right decision. >> Voice of Interpreter: on recognition of palestinian states, you have indicated that the liberal government has not taken a position on this. Would your position be modified given the statements made in march? I can't quite understand. >> Voice of Interpreter: heather McPHERSON'S bill recognizes the state of palestine and we will continue with that bill. That's still our position. We think that it's important that in order to reach peace and a peace building solution that the state of palestine be recognized in order to really move forward with a two-state solution. >> Voice of Interpreter: would you expect your motion being modified? You voted for it. Would you accept that it be modified by the liberals to remove that reference? You said you're angry but you voted for it. >> Voice of Interpreter: we have a bill that continues to move forward on that issue and that's heather McPHERSON'S bill. This is why we'll continue to support that position because it still is our position. >> Voice of Interpreter: I think you mean heather McPHERSON'S motion? And that's not really at the top of the pile. It's going to take a lot of time for it to come back onto the parliamentary agenda. While the other motion that my colleague mentioned was one of the priorities. Did you miss an opportunity? >> Voice of Interpreter: it's still our position. Wenl that we need to recognize the state of palestine and it's clear that that's our position. It's also clear that the liberals have not stated their position on this issue and that's the wrong thing to do. Other countries have already done this. We saw several countries such as ireland and norway making that statement and we think that canada also needs to recognize the palestinian state in order to move forward with the two-state solution. >> The allies are coming forward with palestinian statehood. Where do you stand on that? >> We absolutely believe that we need to recognize palestine as a state to move forward with the two-state solution, to move ultimately forward for a peaceful solution. We maintain our position. We have a private member's motion on this or private member's bill on this by heather McPHERSON, my foreign affairs critic. This is the new democratic position. Most importantly, canada should take this position. Justin trudeau should take this position. Other countries have already made it clear that that is one of the ways forward to bringing the two-state solution back to the forefront and we believe it is a fundamental step towards peace. >> Some comments that the finance made in qp yesterday, you were there, you heard her. She spoke about pierre poilievre wearing makeup, more makeup than her. What went through your mind when you heard that? Especially when there's a lot of conversation about decorum and how we conduct ourselves in the house. >> I don't think it's necessary to make personal attacks against pierre poilievre when we can make lots of attacks on the fact that he wants to cut people's pensions and cut people's services. He wants to cut -- take away dental care from seniors, even though he's had dental care paid for by the taxpayers for most of his adult life. He wants to take away birth control while we want to move forward with diabetes medication, he wants to take that away. He wants to cut the things that people need. He's never going to take on corporate greed because he's so cozy and close to the CEOs of these large corporations. They're max donors for him. His executive body is made up of corporate lobbyists. He's never going to stop corporate greed. That's what we should be attacking pierre poilievre on, the fact that he's going to cut pensions for seniors. People need to know that. And I think that's where we should focus our attacks and not make it personal about appearances. >> Conservatives were saying it was sexist and some might say it was homophobic. Cow agree? >> I think it's wrong to attack someone based on their appearance, especially when pierre poilievre, we can attack him on so many of the fundamental things that he's going to do to hurt canadians.

by taking away pensions, taking away ei and continuing to favour big corporations which is going to mean he's not going to stop corporate greed from ripping off canadians. He's not going to stop groceries store big tele-cos when it comes to cell phone or grocery prices. We should focus on how pierre poilievre is going to hurt canadians because he's so cozy with big corporations, he's not going to stop them from ripping you off. >> Voice of Interpreter: the director's report talking about .5 billion annually for homelessness in canada. I would like your comment on that. >> Voice of Interpreter: this is another example of the report has shown that the liberal have again broken their promise to deal with homelessness. Instead of reducing it the homelessness numbers have gone up so that's another broken promise by the liberals. Trudeau must take action to build affordable housing, to build social housing and to deal with this big problem across the country. >> Parliamentary budget officer saying it cost another $3.5 billion annually to meet the homelessness reduction goals that the government has set out o out by 2027/2028. Minister fraser pointed out housing initiatives as a way to try to square that circle. What do you think the government should be doing here to try to actually achieve that goal? >> What justin trudeau has done, again and again is make promises and break them. They make a lot of big announcements and never follow through. We've been using our power to force them to deliver for canadians. What they need to do is start building homes that people can afford and invest in and then build homes to address the homelessness crisis. This government does a lot of announcements that but doesn't do a lot of action. We need action to take the seriousness of what we're going through to respond to the seriousness and make sure we actually see solutions. That's what canadians need. >> Can you explain what specific mechanism you think the government needs to take in order to stop this? >> There's a number of things. First of all, we need stronger laws to protect consumers. We need stronger anti-competitive -- we need anti-competitive behaviours happen. We need to be investigated immediately and stopped in their tracks. The liberals and justin trudeau act like they have no power to stop this. They absolutely do have the power and the responsibility to stop big corporations from ripping off canadians. That is the role of government. And justin trudeau acts like they can't do anything about it. His ministers act like, we don't know what to do. He's got the full power of the federal government to protect canadians. That's what he should be doing, protect them. Use laws to strengthen protections for consumers. Use laws to stop these type of anti-competitive behaviours that rip off canadians. Stand up for canadians and protect them. We're calling for an investigation by the competition bureau to look into this and investigate this. We've seen big corporate bread producers and corporate grocery stores fix the price of bread they col you'ded to do that in the past. We're worried they're colluding to fix the price of groceries and we're worried that with what we're seeing, they're working with cell phone companies to jack up the price of cell phone fees. This is wrong. We need an investigation. Thanks so much. >> Roger: you've been listening to ndp leader jagmeet singh. Mostly he was addressing the palestinian state, recognition of it, and they continue to support it as the ndp and he says the liberals, as the government of canada, should do the same. This is why that question came in. Norway, spain and ireland say they will formally recognize the palestinian state. A declaration that will go into effect on tuesday. >> I've spoken with a number of other leaders and counterparts and I'm confident that further countries will join us in taking this important step in the coming weeks. >> Roger: leaders from the three countries say they hope the move brings new momentum towards a two-state solution, adding it's not a decision against israel or one in favour of hamas, but instead, one in support of peace. Israel reacted angrily to the move calling the decision distorted. >> This is largely symbolic, let's be clear, the announcement today is not going to save one life in gaza. But it is going to send a message to israel and its supporters that there are consequences for its repressive policies against the palestinians that countries are going to start to break with israel, be much more critical of israel's policies towards the palestinians and the impunity that israel has enjoyed for a very long time is no longer going to pass muster. >> Roger: israel has now recalled its ambassadors to ireland, norway and spain. Hamas, meanwhile, welcomed the move and is calling on other nations to follow suit. Meanwhile in rafah, food distribution has been suspended due to a lack of supplies and

insecurity. That according to the U.N. >> We have a record number of U.N. staff who have been killed in this conflict since october 7th. That's a very dark milestone. And we need to make sure that this is not the case. But also to make sure that enough aid is coming through and the right aid because, for example, in terms of malnutrition, children suffering from severe malnutrition, they don't only need calories. They need treatment. They need specific treatment for their illness and they can't worsen their condition very quickly -- can worsen. It's a combination of things. Most of all, I think, compassion and good will. >> Roger: according to the u.n., disruptions have increased at the shalom border. 28 health centres have not received any supplies in ten days. >>> It a warning, some viewers might find the image in this next story disturbing. The families of seven israeli soldiers taken hostage by hamas have released graphic new footage of their kidnapping on october 7th. This image from the video shows a hamas militant holding one woman captive and tying up her hands while another visibly injured woman is held against the wall. The hostages' family's forum say they obtained the video from the idf and it was originally released by hamas. The campaign group continues to put pressure on the israeli government to secure the release of the hostages. >>> Toronto police have dropped some of the charges against protesters for alleged hate-motivated mischief. Ctv's rahim ladhani has more. >> Because of these allegations that were false and proven to be so. >> Reporter: after accusing and charging eleven people for participating in alleged hate motivated mischief, police have dropped the charges against four individuals who say they were unfairly targeted for supporting palestine. >> You're laying trumped up charges that allow police to bust into our homes, drag our reputations through the mud and to brand us as hate criminals when we have not been charged with any hate crimes. >> Reporter: on november 10th, officers were called to the yorkville area at bay and bloor. Posters were glued to the doors and windows of an indigo bookstore and red paint had been splattered. The eleven accused had all been charged with multiple offences including mischief over $5,000. >> Allegations of postering and paint don't even meet the standard set out by the court of appeal for mischief. There's an important case called jeffers that I encourage people to read. It discusses the importance of how posters in our communities are used for free expression by people. >> Reporter: in response the crown's attorney's says says this decision should not be seen as a criticism of the police determination that there were reasonable grounds for the arrest of these four individuals. However, the standard for proceeding with the prosecution is properly higher and more rigorous. The indigo bookstore has been the subject of boycott campaigns for years over its founder's foundation for lone soldiers. Advocates say calling out the company is a form of activism, against a foundation which offers scholarships to people without family in israel who nevertheless serve in the israeli military. >> As jews, we say, calling out companies that support israeli war crimes is a legitimate form of protest. Targeting indigo is not antisemitism. Report>> Reporter: lawyers for seven people are calling for all charges to be dropped. >> Roger: three people, including a 15-year-old boy, are dead after they were stabbed during a fight in montréal. >> We're still looking for all the proof that we have in the fight to know exactly what's happening yesterday. We're still looking videos and interrogate some people and doing the neighbourhood to check out if they have some video, some information about it. >> Roger: montréal police got numerous 9-1-1 calls last night about a brawl involving about fifteen people in montréal's plateau montréal borough. When they arrived they found three victims, 15, 23 and 25. They had been injured by a sharp object and could not be saved. Police say the incident was not related to gangs or organized crime. Three suspects have been identified but no arrests have been made.

>>> British prime minister rishi sunak has set a date for a summer election with his party far behind in the polls. >> I spoke with his majesty the king to request a dissolution of parliament. The king has granted this request and we will have a general election on the 4th of july. This election will take place at a time when the world is more dangerous than it has been since the end of the cold war. >> Roger: sunak's conservatives have seen their support dwindle steadily over the past fourteen years they've been in power. They've suffered from epic scandals and the revolving door of leaders. The opposition labour party is strongly favoured to win. >>> We're following the latest out offof uvalde, texas, where families have launched a lawsuit against texas police. The families of nineteen of the victims of the elementary school shooting have announced a lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers who were part of the botched law enforcement response. The families recently agreed to a $2 million settlement with the city. The city agreed to set higher standards and improve training for local police and this comes two days before the two-year anniversary of one of the deadliest school shootings in american history. Nineteen fourth grade children and two teachers at robb elementary school were killed. >>> Authorities in iowa continue search and rescue efforts after a tornado tore through the small town of greenfield, killing an unknown number of people. >> Sadly we can confirm there have been fatalities with this tornado. Also injuries have been sustained by residents here in the greenfield area. >> Roger: the tornado carved a path of destruction taking down homes and crushing cars. Green diagnosis field's hospital was among the buildings damaged and that means that the injured had to be taken to hospitals in neighboring towns. Many residents are shocked but determined to get through this. >> You never think it's going to happen to you. >> Everything's gone. The only thing that matters is that my family's okay. >> This stuff will get cleaned up. It's just so devastating. I just hope people can get back in their homes and get things going again as soon as possible. >> Roger: the storms then moved east knocking out power to thousands of customers in illinois and wisconsin.

>>> Severe storms are also hammering parts of southern B.C. leaving thousands of customers in vancouver and the lower mainland with no power. Wind gusts hit 90 cloms. At one point 28,000 customers were without power. B.C. hydro crews are working to restore that power today. The vancouver area also got soaked with heavy rain and while any rain is welcome during wildfire season, fire officials say we need a lot more than this to make a dent in the drought. >> In terms of the fire behaviour that we could see later in the season, this rain isn't going to necessarily impact what we see in july and august moving forward. >> Roger: parts of vancouver saw up to 52 millimetres of rain. >>> It is now been two months since the province of alberta began investigating a company that placed patients who were waiting for assisted living in motels. Now, internal e-mails have been shared by the opposition that reveal that two government ministers received a complaint about contentment social services months earlier. We have that story. >> It can't just be my brother-in-law. It has to be some other people must be receiving horrible care from them. >> Reporter: pamela cunningham describes the treatment her brother-in-law, bill, received for nearly two years from contentment social services. >> I think it was a long weekend and they must have forgotten all about him. He had no cell phone, no way to get out. >> Reporter: bill was referred to css from a social worker at the misericordia hospital in 2022. By early 2023, his family started raising concerns to ahs about the quality of services he was receiving. But got no answers. >> This inaction from the people responsible for albertans' care is utterly unacceptable. >> Reporter: the alberta ndp say internal e-mails between officials in the ministry of health and social services proves the province knew about concerns into the company in january. And documents obtained through an ndp freedom of information request an official... >> Roger: we'll interrupt this report and go to question period in ottawa. >> Voice of Interpreter:... Have to use food banks for young people. How come the P.M. is forcing canadians to feed their obese government when they can't even feed themselves? >> The Speaker: [ Voice of Interpreter ] the right honourable prime minister. >> Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau: [ Voice of Interpreter ] it would be more credible from the leader of the opposition if he wasn't opposed to our food school program that will help 400,000 children across the country to eat better with school programs. We are here to invest and to help families while the conservatives are only offering cuts and austerity, mr. Speaker. It's the same thing in terms of our investment and dental care that have allowed almost 100,000 seniors to have access to dental carefree of charge. And that conservatives continue to be opposed to this. The we are here to help with affordability. >> The Speaker: honourable leader of the opposition. >> Mr. Speaker, his plan for the full school program has provided no meals, zero meals. It's just created red tape. And not helped children. And in terms of austerity, austerity is what the 25% of young canadians have had to use food banks over the past three years are already experiencing. The 50% of canadians who are worse off than last year are experiencing this. The 25% of them that are in food insecurity know what austerity is. It's austerity for canadians. >> The Speaker: [ Voice of Interpreter ] the right honourable prime minister. >> Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau: [ Voice of Interpreter ] once again we see that the conservatives are just trying to benefit from challenges that canadians are facing. They're trying to score political points. But when it's time to vote on investments that will help families like our school food program and where more day care spots or day care -- $10 day care across the country or dental care programs for seniors, they vote against these programs, mr. Speaker. They are proposing government austerity and not investing in canadians who are in need. We believe in economic growth and investment in families in need. >> The Speaker: the honourable leader of the opposition. >> After nine careers of this ndp-liberal prime minister's taxes, debt, inflation and promises, canadians are hungry. Literally, according to the bank of canada -- the food banks canada report.

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