Prevent illegal mass data extraction, privacy authorities tell social media firms

Hydro board members visit First Nation communities to discuss damage from past developments

Members of the Manitoba Hydro board visited Misipawistik Cree Nation and Chemawawin Cree Nation last week to learn more about the impacts of the Grand Rapids Generating Station and strengthen relationships with communities affected by hydroelectric development.

The two-day visit included spending time at culturally significant sites and discussions with leadership and community members, and a tour of generating stations and Grand Rapids fish hatchery, a Manitoba Hydro news release said.

The visit is part of Manitoba Hydro’s ongoing engagement with Indigenous communities affected by hydroelectric development, the release said. In 2024, the Manitoba Hydro board visited Gillam and met with First Nations that partner in the Keeyask Generating Station.

Last week’s visit to Misipawistik and Chemawawin came just weeks after the Federal Court on Sept. 3 ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.

Privacy watchdogs flag illegal mass data scraping

OTTAWA - The federal privacy watchdog and some of his global counterparts are urging the largest social media companies to prevent bulk extraction of personal details from their websites.

In a joint statement, privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne and data protection authorities from Australia, Britain and other countries say the practice, known as data scraping, poses a serious risk.

They warn that personal information has been used for targeted cyberattacks, identity fraud, creating facial recognition databases, unauthorized police intelligence gathering, and unwanted direct marketing and spam.

A 2021 investigation by Canada's privacy commissioner and three provincial watchdogs found that Clearview AI’s scraping of billions of images of people from across the internet represented mass surveillance of Canadians.

Kinew ‘open to everything’ after Bell’s 911 failures

Premier Wab Kinew signalled Tuesday he’s open to all potential options, including switching 911 providers, if feasible, after a series of outages in Manitoba.

Kinew, who’s spoken to Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic and Prime Minister Mark Carney about Manitoba’s 911 service, said the government and the telecom continue to have a “back and forth.”

“At this stage, we’re open to everything,” Kinew said of potential steps to ensure the service is reliable. “The No. 1, I think, baseline is that when you dial 911, you’re going to get through to the help you need, whether that’s an ambulance or fire truck or police.”

Kinew said he’s looking forward to receiving Bell’s draft report to learn the cause of the most recent outage, which occurred Thursday and affected five other provinces where the telecom provides 911 service.

Trump defends Iran war in address to UN General Assembly

UNITED NATIONS - U.S. President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday he has a choice to make on Iran: negotiate a deal or "annihilate the Islamic Republic."

In a wide-ranging speech, Trump defended his war on Iran and boasted of American strength, claiming "while others have talked, I have acted.” 

He celebrated the U.S. military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year and a new agreement to expand the American military presence in Greenland, which came after his threats of annexation.

But those actions have upended the United States' relationships with other nations, including traditional allies. Many of those allies have used the United Nations forum to call for a return to international law.

Former private-school teacher jailed nine months for luring after sending messages declaring love for teen

A former Catholic school teacher who sent inappropriate romantic messages to a teenage student, professing his love for her, has been sentenced to nine months in jail.