Serial sex offender who fled Kingston correctional facility arrested after shoppers spotted him in Cornwall mall

A convicted rapist who fled a Kingston halfway house earlier this week was recaptured Thursday at a downtown mall in Cornwall.

David Maracle, 51, was arrested by Cornwall police without incident after some alert shoppers identified the fugitive at the Cornwall Square Shopping Centre, roughly 180 kilometres east of Kingston and 100 kilometres south of Ottawa.

He went missing from the Henry Trail Community Correctional Facility in Kingston on Sunday.

Cornwall police spokesman Const. Dan Cloutier said Maracle was arrested at 7:45 p.m. and did not put up any resistance.

The Brantford man was convicted in the 1990s for raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

He also has convictions for weapons possession, break and enter, assault, kidnapping and other sexual assaults.

Trump plays host to Theresa May and pledges ’lasting support’ to their ‘special relationship’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday pledged America’s “lasting support” to the U.S.’ historic “special relationship” with Britain after he emerged from his first meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, leader of an ally who seeks to nudge the populist president toward the political mainstream.

May, who said the meeting was the start to building their relationship, announced that Trump had accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II for a state visit later this year with his wife, first lady Melania Trump.

Trump sought to charm May, noting during his first __news conference as president that, “by the way, my mother was born in Scotland.”

“I am honoured to have the prime minister here for our first official visit from a foreign leader,” Trump said, standing alongside May in the ornate White House East Room. “This is our first visit so, great honour.”

He added that the United States and the United Kingdom have “one of the great bonds.”

“We pledge our lasting support to this most special relationship,” Trump said during brief opening remarks. “Together, America and the United Kingdom are a beacon for prosperity and the rule of law.”

May thanked Trump for inviting her to visit so soon after his inauguration last Friday and said their meeting was an indication of the strength and the importance of maintaining good relations between the trans-Atlantic allies. She said there was “much on which we agree.”

“Today’s talks, I think, are a significant moment for President Trump and I to build our relationship,” May said.

The Trump-May meeting came a day after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called off his own trip to Washington next week amid wrangling over who will pay for Trump’s planned wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump’s spokesman said the president would seek a 20 per cent tax on Mexican imports to pay for the barrier, then later clarified that such a tax would be a possible approach.

May’s meeting with the president is being hailed by the British government as a sign that the trans-Atlantic “special relationship” is valued by the new administration.

Before answering questions from a few journalists, Trump welcomed May to the Oval Office where he promptly showed off a bust of Winston Churchill, one of her predecessors.

“It’s a great honour to have Winston Churchill back,” Trump said. The bust had been moved from the Oval Office to another part of the White House when Barack Obama held the office.

Trump and May were seen holding hands briefly as they walked along the White House colonnade before the news conference. Afterward, they resumed their talks while dining in the State Dining Room on iceberg wedge salads, braised beef short ribs and salted caramel creme brulee.

May’s visit, so soon after Trump’s inauguration, has been criticized by her political opponents, and risks being overshadowed by the flood of announcements, plans and proposals coming out of the White House. On Thursday, May was repeatedly asked about Britain’s stance on torture — the U.K. has condemned it — after Trump said he thinks torturing terrorism suspects works.

Trump is something of a mystery to world leaders, many of whom expected Democrat Hillary Clinton to win the election. They also don’t know his administration’s main interlocutors with foreign governments, including son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior adviser Steve Bannon, a conservative media executive.

So May is a bit of a scouting party — or guinea pig — among global politicians.

She has strong reasons for wanting the relationship to work. Britain is set to leave the European Union and its 500 million-person single market. A trade deal with the U.S., Britain’s biggest export market, is a major prize.

Trump has drawn parallels between Britain’s choice to leave the EU and his own success, using the Brexit vote to bolster his derision of the 28-nation bloc and his preference for striking bilateral agreements.

That puts May in an awkward spot. She wants a good relationship with Trump, but does not share his disdain for the EU, saying it’s in Britain’s interests that it succeed.

Trump and May both addressed a Republican retreat Thursday in Philadelphia, though their visits did not overlap. During his remarks to lawmakers, Trump bemoaned the fact that Wilbur Ross, his nominee to be commerce secretary, would not be confirmed in time for a visit that was expected to focus heavily on trade.

May’s speech alternated between saluting Trump’s vision for what she called American “renewal” and reminding him, and his Republican colleagues, of the United States’ global responsibilities.

‘They have killed my dream’: Immigration ban sows panic and confusion at airports around the globe

ISTANBUL – After working as an interpreter for an American security company in Iraq, and enduring years of background checks after he applied for a U.S. visa, Labeeb Ali’s plans to move to the United States ended abruptly Saturday in an airport in Qatar, where officials prevented Ali, an Iraqi citizen, from boarding a flight to Texas.

“I have the visa in my passport,” he said, hours later, after he had stopped yelling at the airport staff and his rage had given way to despair. He had already sold his car and electronics shop in Iraq, in preparation for the move, and done “everything they told me to do,” he said, referring to U.S. officials, who he said had granted him a special immigrant visa on Jan. 24.

“They have killed my dream,” he said. “They took it away from me, in the last minutes.”

President Donald Trump’s order Friday to temporarily ban citizens from several Muslim-majority countries spread anguish, panic and confusion in airports around the globe Saturday, as nationals of the countries affected by the order were barred by airlines from traveling, abruptly changed their plans or were detained upon arrival in the United States.

Airlines rushed to disseminate guidelines on how Trump’s order would affect travel, even as officials in the United States were still puzzling over how exactly to interpret the order’s language.

Lufthansa, the German carrier, released a statement saying it was “obliged by law to strictly adhere to US immigration requirements.” But, reflecting the confusion over the U.S. directive, the airline said only that citizens of the affected countries “might not be accepted onboard US flights.”

The executive order, titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” bars citizens from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Libya, all predominantly Muslim nations, from entering the United States for the next 90 days. The order also indefinitely bars Syrian refugees from resettlement in the United States and suspends entry of all refugees from any country for 120 days.

Ali, the Iraqi citizen, said that two Syrians were also stopped from boarding the same flight to Texas. In Egypt, security officials stopped five Iraqi citizens and a Yemeni national from boarding a flight from Cairo to the United States, because their visas “had a problem,” an Egyptian security official said. The Iraqis were waiting to be sent back to Irbil, in northern Iraq, the official said.

There were unconfirmed reports that Iranian visitors as well as permanent green-card holders were restricted from traveling to the United States by officials at airports in Amsterdam and Abu Dhabi as well as Qatar, according to Hazhir Rahmandad, an Iranian American professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who created a crowdsourced database to track Iranian travelers affected by the ban.

While the details in the database could not be independently verified, the reports also suggested scores of Iranian visitors and green-card holders were also being turned away at several airports upon arrival in the United States.

The data and reports so far “suggest there is confusion among border agents about how to treat” the various categories of visa holders, Rahmandad said, adding that his parents are green-card holders, but are currently in Iran.

Erin Cunningham in Istanbul and Heba Farouk Mahfouz in Cairo contributed to this report.

N.B. couple used giant manure heap to harass neighbours, judge rules

So massive was the pile of manure lining the edge of David and Joan Gallant’s property in rural New Brunswick, it could be seen using satellite imagery.

And the stench? Unbearable, they said. Especially after it rained or when the wind blew from the east.

But despite the Gallants’ repeated complaints to neighbours Lee and Shirley Murray, the pile of poop just sat there for almost a year, part of an ugly — and escalating — dispute.

The Murrays had without question set out to make the Gallants’ lives “miserable,” Court of Queen’s Bench Justice George Rideout said in a recent decision. “The manure was piled high and a photo taken by Google (Earth) from a satellite shows it.”

And the Murrays’ offensive actions didn’t stop there, the judge said. The Murrays used a snowblower to send snow and rocks onto the Gallants’ property and likely were behind the escape of numerous cows onto their property, causing extensive hoof damage to the lawn.

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

The manure was fresh, unseasoned, wet, raw manure. The smell was disgusting.

Reached by phone, Lee Murray said Friday he and his wife planned to appeal, insisting that they were the ones who had been harassed and that their one-time friends had “made a big fuss over nothing” and were just looking for money.

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

The Gallants purchased their property from the Murrays in Indian Mountain, just outside Moncton, in 2001. The Murray property borders the Gallant property on three sides.

It is not clear from the court records when or what caused the relationship between the two couples to sour. But in court affidavits, the Gallants say things got really bad when, over the course of several days in November 2013, the Murrays deposited hundreds of loads of cow manure along a strip of land next to their property.

On one occasion, the Gallants said they were awoken at 4 a.m. by the sound of a loader dumping manure. “I called Lee Murray on his cellphone to complain, but he hung up on me,” David Gallant, who is retired, said in his affidavit.

“The manure was fresh, unseasoned, wet, raw manure. The smell was disgusting,” he said.

It was just the beginning of a long string of complaints documented by the Gallants. In March 2014, they alleged, the Murrays used their snowblower to blow snow and rocks onto their property.

In May 2014, they alleged that about 50 cattle from the Murray property escaped through a gate, causing extensive damage to their lawn from “hoofprint holes” and damage to three trees.

“I saw cow dung all over our property,” David Gallant said in his affidavit.

In September 2014, they say that Lee Murray put a large bale of hay near their back fence, “with the presumably intentional effect that it drew his cattle to eat, urinate and defecate as close to our house as possible.”

It was around this time that the Gallants filed a complaint with the New Brunswick Farm Practices Review Board regarding the pile of manure.

The following month, the Murrays finally removed the manure pile, but in the process of doing so, the Gallants alleged, they started a brush fire that caused smoke to enter their garage.

In December 2014, the Farm Practices Review Board held a hearing and concluded that the cattle escape and placement of manure near the Gallants’ property constituted “unacceptable farming practices” and recommended a number of changes.

The very next day the Gallants said they found a long scratch along the side of their car.

“It is very unusual to observe this kind of vandalism where we live, on a rural road where the properties are very large and far apart from each other,” David Gallant said.

In early 2015, the Gallants sued the Murrays in an effort to stop what they said was an “increasing pattern of aggression.”

The judge opens his Jan. 19 decision with this observation: “When neighbours fight, nothing good results. The case now before the court proves this adage.”

Rideout said he had “no hesitation” in finding that the Murrays’ conduct had been “wilful and reprehensible” and awarded the Gallants $15,000 in damages. (The judge noted that the Murrays’ insurance company had previously covered damage related to the cattle escape.)

He also issued an injunction forbidding the Murrays from entering the Gallants’ property; spreading manure within 300 metres of their property; blowing snow, rocks or manure onto their property; and communicating with the Gallants, except in writing.

The Gallants could not be reached Friday.

Murray, who reportedly pleaded guilty last year in a separate case to failing to obtain the proper permits to have more than 19 head of cattle, insisted the manure he had dumped next to the Gallants’ property was old and did not give off an odour. And the debris that was blown onto their property was merely “small shovelfuls.”

Murray insisted he gets along with all of his other neighbours and that over the Christmas holidays, he helped spread gravel on their driveways.

If neighbours get into a disagreement, they should resolve things by talking, Murray said. Never, he said, was he looking to aggravate the Gallants.

“I’m not that type of guy.”

• Email: dquan@postmedia.com | Twitter: dougquan

In phone call, Putin and Trump agree to work closely together, maintain ‘regular personal contact’

WASHINGTON — Will President Donald Trump usher in a new era for U.S.-Russian relations, or are the two powers going to continue down the path as geopolitical foes?

Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has held his first conversation with America’s newly inaugurated leader, attention turns to the fate of U.S. sanctions against Moscow and whether the two will look to enhance military co-operation against the Islamic State group.

Trump was noncommittal about whether he was considering lifting the economic sanctions ahead of the call, telling reporters Friday, “We’ll see what happens. As far as the sanctions, very early to be talking about that.”

While the White House has yet to comment on Saturday’s phone call, the Kremlin released a statement hinting that the two men discussed the sanctions, implemented by the Obama administration as a consequence of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

The two leaders emphasized the importance of “restoring mutually beneficial trade and economic ties between business circles of the two countries, which could additionally stimulate the incremental and sustainable development of the bilateral relationship,” the Kremlin said.

Putin and Trump will also maintain “regular personal contact” and will begin preparations for a face-to-face meeting.

The Kremlin has applauded Trump’s promises to rebuild U.S.-Russian relations, which have been pushed to their worst level since the Cold War by the Ukraine crisis, war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in U.S. elections.

The Kremlin said that Putin and Trump spoke in particular about international issues, including the fight against terrorism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran’s nuclear program, the situation on the Korean peninsula and the Ukraine crisis.

“The presidents spoke out in favour of the establishment of real co-ordination of Russian and American actions with the aim of destroying the Islamic State,” according to the statement.

In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region and backed separatists fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine, drawing widespread condemnation in Europe and the United States.

In response, sanctions were implemented against sectors of Russia’s economy, including financial services, energy, mining and defence. The Obama administration also sanctioned people in Putin’s inner circle.

Shortly before leaving office, President Barack Obama also ordered sanctions on Russian spy agencies, closed two Russian compounds in the United States and expelled 35 diplomats that he said were really spies. These sanctions followed an assessment by U.S. intelligence that Moscow meddled
in the 2016 election to help Trump become president.

Trump’s tempered approach to U.S.-Russia relations has already raised concern among several European allies who believe keeping Russia in check is essential to regional security.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, whose country — as part of the European Union — also has punished Russia for its provocations in Ukraine, voiced the view of many in Europe, telling reporters in Washington on Friday: “We believe the sanctions should continue.”

Vice-President Mike Pence and other senior advisers joined Trump for the call with Putin, including his national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, chief of staff Reince Priebus and senior strategist Steve Bannon. Trump also spoke on Saturday with the leaders of Japan, Germany, France and Australia.

Two Republican senators — Arizona’s John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Ohio’s Rob Portman, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee —warned the White House about easing any punishments on Moscow and they pledged to turn the sanctions into law.

“I hope President Trump will put an end to this speculation and reject such a reckless course,” McCain said in a statement. “If he does not, I will work with my colleagues to codify sanctions against Russia into law.”

Portman said lifting the sanctions “for any reason other than a change in the behaviour that led to those sanctions in the first place would send a dangerous message to a world already questioning the value of American leadership and the credibility of our commitments after eight years of Obama administration policies.”

McCain has emerged as a frequent critic of Trump among Capitol Hill Republicans. He takes a dim view of trying to reset relations with Moscow and says Trump should remember that Putin is “a murderer and a thug who seeks to undermine American national security interests at every turn.”

“For our commander in chief to think otherwise would be naive and dangerous,” McCain said.

McCain and Portman are part of a bipartisan group of senators who have introduced legislation designed to go beyond the punishments against Russia already levied by Obama and to demonstrate to Trump that forcefully responding to Moscow’s meddling isn’t a partisan issue.

The bill would impose mandatory visa bans and freeze the financial assets of anyone who carries out cyberattacks against public or private computer systems and democratic institutions.

The legislation also mandates sanctions in Russia’s all-important energy sector and on investments in the development of civil nuclear projects to rebuke Moscow for its provocations in eastern Ukraine and military support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Manitoba premier urged to apologize for saying aboriginal night hunting is causing ‘race war’

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is being criticized for saying young indigenous men with criminal records are responsible for night hunting which he previously said was fuelling a “race war.”

“Young indigenous men — a preponderance of them are offenders, with criminal records — are going off shooting guns in the middle of the night,” Maclean’s magazine quotes Pallister as saying from his vacation home in Costa Rica.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

His comments came after a speech he made last week in which he said tension surrounding night hunting is leading to a “race war.”

“Young indigenous guys going out and shootin’ a bunch of moose ’cause they can, ’cause they say it’s their right, doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said in the speech.

“This is a poor practice. A dumb practice … It should stop.

“So what are we doing? We’re organizing to bring indigenous people together and say the same thing I just said to ya, ’cause it’s becoming a race war and I don’t want that.”

The Opposition is demanding Pallister apologize for his latest comments and commit to educating himself about First Nations.

NDP legislature member Amanda Lathlin said Pallister’s comments are ignorant and feed into a dangerous stereotype of indigenous people.

“Those comments were racist and irresponsible,” said Lathlin. “He did not consult or talk to our hunters in that community. That conversation is absolutely missing.”

Olivia Baldwin-Valainis, spokeswoman for Pallister, said in an emailed statement that the province has stepped up its enforcement of laws that ban the use of bright lights to hunt at night. She said that resulted in 44 charges in 2016.

Baldwin-Valainis didn’t say how many of the people charged were indigenous or how many had criminal records.

“Reports of dangerous hunting practices have increased,” she wrote. “Two human lives have been lost, livestock have been found shot on private property and agricultural equipment, homes and buildings have been hit by stray bullets.”

She didn’t address calls for Pallister to apologize or educate himself about treaty rights.

Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox met earlier this week with reeves from several communities in western Manitoba who are pushing for a ban on indigenous night hunting. She said the government plans to bring both sides to the table in the near future to try to work out an agreement.

Non-indigenous hunters are banned from hunting at night. Indigenous hunters are allowed — supported by a Supreme Court of Canada ruling — subject to safety restrictions.

It’s evident … you don’t have a clear understanding of indigenous cultures, histories, or communities in Manitoba.

Lathlin said hunting has a long-standing and revered place in indigenous culture, as does sharing the proceeds with the community. For indigenous people, hunting is about livelihood, not sport, she said.

At a time when Canada is supposed to be working toward reconciliation with First Nations, Pallister’s comments perpetuate a negative stereotype, Lathlin suggested.

“Here I am, an aboriginal woman raising my daughters to feel pride within our culture, and yet we have the leader of Manitoba taking a step backwards in regards to who we are as people. What kind of leadership is that?”

Niigaan Sinclair, head of the native studies department at the University of Manitoba, issued a written invitation to Pallister.

“It’s evident … you don’t have a clear understanding of indigenous cultures, histories, or communities in Manitoba, treaties and the relationships we share here, or how indigenous and non-indigenous peoples can live alongside one another respectfully, mutually beneficially, and legally,” he wrote.

“I therefore offer for you to come to the University of Manitoba and our Department of Native Studies to receive the education you clearly need to make competent decisions that effect the lives of all Manitobans.

“You must learn to stop your perpetuation of ignorant, factually incorrect, and divisive statements that draw on stereotypes and incite anger and violence if for nothing else than for the benefit of our home.”

Conservatives blast Trudeau’s ‘obvious ethical missteps’ despite promised fundraising legislation

QUEBEC CITY — The Trudeau government’s new rules to expose — but not eliminate — so-called cash-for-access fundraisers are a smokescreen to cover their ethical missteps, Conservatives say.

At their caucus in Quebec City, critics and leadership candidates reacted to news Friday that the Trudeau government will introduce legislation to establish new fundraising rules, in the wake of scandals over $1,500-a-seat private fundraisers where businesspeople and lobbyists had access to the prime minister and cabinet ministers.

A government source confirmed to the National Post that legislation will require party fundraisers to be conducted in public spaces rather than private venues, be publicly advertised in advance and reported on afterwards.

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose said the government she was a part of never had this kind of problem. “It’s already in the rules” not to sell influence, she said. “I don’t know what this (legislation) is about other than a smokescreen for unethical behaviour.”

Ethics guidelines adopted by the Trudeau government mandate that people who donate to political parties or politicians should not even have the “appearance of preferential access.” The prime minister acknowledged in December guests do talk to him about issues they care about, but insisted these interactions don’t affect the way he governs.

“You shouldn’t have to use the resources of government, as prime minister or cabinet minister, use that as a tool to extract as much money as you can out of people with interests with government. And that’s what they’re doing,” said Conservative ethics critic Blaine Calkins.

“We’ll take a look at (the legislation). But really, nothing really has changed here .… It’s just as unsavoury as it was before.”

Finance critic Gerard Deltell said Liberals only seem to act when they notice their hand is in the cookie jar. “It’s another clear indication that this government doesn’t care about Canadians’ concerns,” he said.

Ontario MP and leadership candidate Lisa Raitt labelled Trudeau’s participation in private fundraisers “obvious ethical missteps.”

“Now he’s bringing in legislation to prevent himself from breaking his own rules again? It doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “The rules were fine. We abided by them in government.”

Rules would apply to fundraising undertaken by government ministers, political party leaders and leadership candidates. But candidate Andrew Scheer argued the issue of who to extend rules to is a distraction. “The problem isn’t with leadership candidates. The problem isn’t with opposition leaders. The problem is with ministers who have control over government raising big dollars from stakeholders.”

Maxime Bernier noted Trudeau is under investigation by the ethics commissioner, who launched a probe earlier this month after the National Post reported the prime minister had accepted private helicopter rides and a stay on a private island owned by the Aga Khan.

The race’s newest candidate, Kevin O’Leary — who was not at the caucus meetings in Quebec City since he is not a member of parliament — said he doesn’t take Trudeau’s motivations seriously.

“He ran on being an honest and transparent prime minister, but his behaviour is different from what he campaigned on,” O’Leary said, adding Trudeau should “do something” about “the questionable dealings of the Trudeau Foundation.”

The nonprofit foundation, to which the prime minister retains no formal ties, is named after the prime minister’s father and has had a long history of co-operation with the Trudeau family.

Email: mdsmith@postmedia.com | Twitter: mariedanielles

Retired army medic takes the stand in court and denies conducting inappropriate breast exams

GATINEAU, Que. — A former medical technician accused of performing unnecessary and inappropriate breast exams at several military recruiting centres in Ontario is denying the exams ever took place.

Retired petty officer James Wilks faces eight counts of breach of trust and one of sexual assault after six women accused him of conducting the exams at military recruiting centres in London, Windsor and Thunder Bay between 2005 and 2009.

Taking the stand in his own defence, Wilks says he never asked any of the women to take off their shirts or bras or otherwise expose themselves to him, nor did he ever touch any of them.

The women testified to a military court last week that Wilks asked them to take off their shirts and bras so he could visually examine their breasts during routine medical exams for new recruits.

One alleged Wilks also physically performed a breast exam.

Prosecutors and Wilks’s lawyer are expected to deliver their final statements next week, before the five-member military panel begins deliberations on a verdict.

Ex-KGB chief suspected of helping compile dossier on Trump may have been murdered by Kremlin

LONDON – An ex-KGB chief suspected of helping the former MI6 spy Christopher Steele to compile his dossier on Donald Trump may have been murdered by the Kremlin and his death covered up.

Oleg Erovinkin, a former general in the KGB and its successor the FSB, was found dead in the back of his car in Moscow on Boxing Day in mysterious circumstances.

Erovinkin was a key aide to Igor Sechin, a former deputy prime minister and now head of Rosneft, the state-owned oil company, who is repeatedly named in the dossier. Erovinkin has been described as a key liaison between Sechin and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Steele writes in an intelligence report dated July 19, 2016, he has a source close to Sechin, who had disclosed alleged links between Trump’s supporters and Moscow.

The death of Erovinkin has prompted speculation it is linked to Steele’s explosive dossier, which was made public earlier this month.  Trump has dismissed the dossier as “fake news” and no evidence has emerged to support its lurid claims.

The Russian state-run RIA Novosti __news agency reported Erovinkin’s body was “found in a black Lexus … (and) a large-scale investigation has been commenced in the area. Erovinkin’s body was sent to the FSB morgue.”

No cause of death has been confirmed and the FSB continues to investigate. Media reports suggested his death was a result of foul play. It was later claimed he died of a heart attack.

Christo Grozev, an expert on Russia-related security threats, said he believes Erovinkin is the key source to whom Steele refers in his dossier.  Grozev said on a blog: “Insiders have described Erovinkin to me alternately as ‘Sechin’s treasurer’ and ‘the go-between between Putin and Sechin’. One thing that everyone seems to agree – both in public and private sources – is that Erovinkin was Sechin’s closest associate.”

Grozev, of Risk Management Lab, a think tank in Bulgaria, said: “I have no doubt that at the time Erovinkin died, Putin had Steele’s Trump dossier on his desk. He would – arguably – have known whether the alleged … story is based on fact or fiction. Whichever is true, he would have had a motive to seek – and find the mole … He would have had to conclude that Erovinkin was at least a person of interest.”

Experts expressed scepticism about the theory. “As a rule, people like Gen Erovinkin don’t tend to die in airport thriller murders,” said Mark Galeotti, an expert on the Russian security services.

Steele, 52, remains in hiding following his unmasking as the author of the Trump dossier.

Rex Murphy: Justin Trudeau the Boy Scout must settle into Donald Trump’s world

Was Jane Fonda, who achieved worldly fame in the 1980s doing aerobic step routines in phosphorescent spandex suits, at the ill-named Women’s March on Washington last Saturday? 

Ill-named, well, yes. It was the Some Women’s March on Washington. The idea that the parade was a grand convocation speaking with the voice of universal Womanhood staring down the abyss of the Trump Darkness is a piece of self-regarding cant. Far from being a spontaneous expression of pandemic female anxiety, it was rather just another of the all-too frequent mob rallies from the usual suspects, who hit the streets on whims of petulance whenever something they simply don’t like happens. In this case, Hillary lost the election against an overcocky King Kong. These sorts of things are simply not supposed to happen, you see. Ask Meryl Streep. 

The march was, at essence, a protest against American democracy. It was therefore by definition a pointless venture, more for affect than effect, which called up predictable elements of activist street theatre.

To answer my question: Fonda was not there. Perhaps exhaustion from her toils in Fort McMurray limited her energy reserves. Floating over Fort McMurray’s miracles of technology and engineering in a rented helicopter is something even a lifetime of Step Master routines cannot prepare you for. 

Regardless, I’m sure the Fonda presence was felt. The real question remains, what did her visit  to enlighten Alberta accomplish? How did it compare with earlier high-minded interventions? Did it, for example, measure up to the impact of Neil Young’s glum, grim and surly stopover a year or so ago? Or that of Leonardo DiCaprio, the famed grizzly-wrestler, who came to Alberta and put the finishing touches on the Theory of Global Warming with his discovery of the Chinook? Following seminars on his yacht it can now be reported whole flocks of supermodels are looking askance at all those “oils” in the shampoo. And they say change is hard.

Compared to Young and DiCaprio maybe she didn’t really make a difference. However, it’s quite possible that Trump moved up the announcement in favour of Keystone XL, gave it earlier than he normally would have, purely to show that he doesn’t vibrate with the same frequency as Obama when the Hollywood set or the Broadway bunch presumes to set the moral bar on anything.

Leaving Fonda, it was quite a thing Trump pulled off here. For eight years Obama stalled on the “No” he knew he was going to give Keystone. Trump gave a go-ahead on his fourth day in office. He accompanied it with a pledge to purge the institutionalized procrastination that have become the essence of all such “assessment reviews.” 

His quick decision puts Trudeau on the spot. The Prime Minister who so recently emoted “We can’t phase out the oil sands tomorrow” did offer a tepid approval of Trump’s move. But there was no real joy in his assent. I wonder, in fact, if he really welcomes it. His supporters, those he courts most zealously in the halls of high environmentalism, certainly do not.

The Kinder Morgan pipeline alone they labelled a betrayal. Greenpeace and its octopus of allies will brand him as an utter sellout if he now is also seen to campaign for Keystone.

Trump has thrown a huge and hungry cat into a basket of flightless pigeons, with his complete reversal of the Obama positions on North American oil, on regulations and hearings, and by placing the highest priority on jobs. Trump’s policies are diametrically in contrast with the boy-scoutism on global warming that is at the centre of Trudeau’s heart. 

The Trudeau government has a Suzukian vision of apocalyptic climate change and Elizabeth May reveries on carbon taxes. These are not Trump compatible. A set of Canadian energy policies that were in full accord with the Americans when Obama owned the Oval Office are either now redundant or in direct clash with the world’s first power and our greatest trading partner.

National Post

HMV Canada to close all 102 stores

TORONTO • The digital music and movie boom has claimed another bricks and mortar victim, with HMV Canada set to close all of its 102 stores in the coming months after 30 years in business.

The ailing company, which first opened its once-expansive stores in Canada in 1986, was put into receivership in Ontario Superior Court Friday and the majority of its head office staff was laid off.

“The company and major suppliers were unable to reach an agreement, on mutually acceptable terms to sustain HMV’s operations and support a recovery,” said court documents filed Friday on behalf of the company. HMV’s stores in nine Canadian provinces will remain open for several weeks in order to liquidate remaining inventory, the company confirmed Friday. HMV owes its major suppliers, including music labels and media studios, $56 million as of Dec 31.

Before the birth of e-commerce, HMV, much like defunct retailers Tower Records and Sam the Record Man, offered customers a one-stop, big-box style shopping experience with a deeper back catalogue selection than small record stores could offer.

The Canadian unit was an offshoot of HMV’s U.K. operations, where it had opened its first store in 1921. While HMV is still a going concern in Britain, HMV Canada has operated as a separate company since 2011, when it was sold to British retail restructuring specialist Hilco UK for $3.23 million.

Digital music has been around for more than a decade but it only became the primary revenue stream for recorded music globally in 2015, overtaking the physical sales of albums and CDs, according to London-based industry association IFPI. Total industry revenues grew 3.2 per cent in 2015 to US$15 billion, with digital music revenue accounting for 45 per cent of sales worldwide compared with 39 per cent for physical music sales.

In recent years, HMV Canada had reduced its CD and DVD inventory and added more vinyl albums, fan collectibles and apparel in an attempt to make up for sliding music and movie sales. It also closed larger stores and leased smaller retail spaces in order to control costs and maintain its footprint across the country.

But HMV’s sales fell to $214.4 million in fiscal 2015 from $225 million in the prior year, the court filing said, and sales are projected to slide to about $190 million for fiscal 2016. That is just over half of what HMV’s sales were for the year ending April 24, 2010, when it recorded annual sales of $360 million.

As of Nov. 30 the company had assets of $63.9 million and liabilities of $131.8 million. It incurred net losses of about $20 million between fiscal 2013 and 2015, and projects another loss for fiscal 2016, the filings said.

Financial Post

hshaw@nationalpost.com

Twitter.com/HollieKShaw

The Wednesday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Travis Vader's defence lawyer Brian Beresh speaks to media outside court in Edmonton, Wednesday, January 25, 2017. A judge has sentenced Vader to life in prison for killing two Alberta seniors who disappeared on a camping trip. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Highlights from the news file for Wednesday, Jan. 25

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TRAVIS VADER SENTENCED TO LIFE: A judge has sentenced a man to life in prison for killing two Alberta seniors who disappeared on a camping trip. Travis Vader was found guilty of manslaughter last fall in the deaths of Lyle and Marie McCann, who were in their 70s when they vanished after leaving their home in St. Albert, just north of Edmonton, in July 2010. Justice Denny Thomas dismissed a defence submission that Vader should get a lesser sentence because his rights were violated in custody. He did, however, agree to a defence request that Vader serve his sentence in British Columbia because of threats he has received. Thomas said Vader will be eligible for parole in seven years.

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IMMIGRANTS AND CANADA'S POPULATION: A new study from Statistics Canada suggests that the proportion of immigrants in Canada's population could reach up to 30 per cent in 2036 — compared to 20.7 per cent in 2011 — and a further 20 per cent of the population would be the child of an immigrant, up from the 17.5 per cent recorded in 2011. The numbers are a far cry from the country's first census of the population in 1871 — four years after Confederation — when 16.1 per cent of the 3.7 million people in __canada were born abroad, with Britain, the United States and Germany as the most likely countries of origin.

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MEXICO PRESIDENT 'CONSIDERING' SCRAPPING U.S. TRIP: A senior government official says Mexico's president is "considering" cancelling next week's visit to Washington following President Donald Trump's order to begin construction of a wall between the two countries. The decision to rethink the visit comes amid growing outrage in Mexico, and a sense among many that President Enrique Pena Nieto has been too weak in the face of Trump's tough policy stance. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the administration "is considering" scrapping the Jan. 31 visit. "That's what I can tell you."

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GOVERNMENT WEIGHING RESULTS OF ELECTORAL REFORM SURVEY: The results of MyDemocracy.ca — the controversial online survey on electoral reform — are in, but what they mean for the future of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to change the way Canadians cast their ballots in time for the 2019 federal election is still a mystery as the Liberal government considers its next move on the file. The Liberals had already given themselves some retroactive wiggle room on the commitment, saying they would not move forward without the broad support of Canadians. But they have never spelled out what they mean by broad support, meaning there is even more room for interpretation of what their critics are calling the "ambiguous" results of the online poll bring to the conversation.

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TORIES PREPARING FOR RETURN TO PARLIAMENT: Conservative members of Parliament are gathering in Quebec City on Wednesday for two days of strategizing before next week's return of the House of Commons and their final months with Rona Ambrose as interim leader. With the race to replace Ambrose ramping up and a change of government south of the border upturning the political status quo, the goal for the party's 97 MPs is to stay focused on the goal of holding the prime minister to account.

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LIBERALS LOOKING TO AI FOR GROWTH: The federal Liberals are expected to use the upcoming federal budget to foster the development of cutting-edge artificial intelligence in the hope it will be a springboard to attracting investment and creating a highly skilled new sector of jobs. Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains says fostering AI is one of the pillars of the government's economic growth strategy. Bains and others see an opportunity for Canada to exploit its competitive advantage in a technology that is becoming ubiquitous across all sectors — from major companies such as Google or Microsoft to the banking and automotive sectors.

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POSSIBLE TOOTH FRAGMENTS FOUND AT SUSPECT'S FARM: The chief forensic investigator in a triple murder trial choked back tears in Calgary court describing how he found suspected fragments of teeth and jewellery while sifting through ash from the accused's farm near Calgary. Const. Ian Oxton described the 10 painstaking months he spent using a new method involving water to recover tiny fragments obtained from a burning barrel and pit on Douglas Garland's farm. Garland is on trial for three counts of first-degree murder in the disappearance of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their five-year-old grandson Nathan O'Brien in 2014. Their bodies have not been recovered.

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CORRIVEAU SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS: A Montreal judge ruled Wednesday that an ex-Liberal organizer convicted of fraud-related charges in connection with the federal sponsorship scandal deserved an exemplary prison term for using his influence to enrich himself. Jacques Corriveau, previously described as the "central figure" in the scandal, was given a four-year sentence. The 83-year-old was also fined $1.4 million, with 10 years to pay it off once his sentence is completed. A jury found Corriveau guilty of three charges in November: fraud against the government, forgery and laundering proceeds of crime.

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PROTESTERS HANG BANNER FROM CRANE NEAR WHITE HOUSE: The morning after U.S. President Donald Trump issued orders to delay environmental rules and restart pipeline projects, seven Greenpeace protesters climbed a construction crane blocks from the White House and unfurled a massive banner with the word, "RESIST." The banner encouraging opposition to Trump's agenda was clearly visible from the grounds of the White House for several hours on Wednesday. District of Columbia police took a hands-off approach while the protesters suspended themselves from harnesses and ropes below the crane's huge arm. Police closed three city blocks to traffic and appeared content to wait until they climbed down to be arrested.

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MARY TYLER MOORE DIES AT 80: Mary Tyler Moore, the star of TV's beloved "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" whose comic realism helped revolutionize the depiction of women on the small screen, died Wednesday. She was 80. Moore gained fame in the 1960s as the frazzled wife Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show." In the 1970s, she created one of TV's first career-woman sitcom heroines in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Moore won seven Emmy awards over the years and was nominated for an Oscar for her 1980 portrayal of an affluent mother whose son is accidentally killed in "Ordinary People." She had battled diabetes for many years.