Royal Visit to Canada 2016

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The Royal Visit to Canada has officially begun as Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, touched down in Victoria, BC along with their two beautiful children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. The Royal Family was welcomed by Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, along with Christy Clark (Premier of BC) accompanied by her son, Hamish, as well as, Governor-General David Johnston and his wife, Sharon.

This is the second royal tour of Canada for the Duke and Duchess, but their first with their children. The official welcome kicked off with a guard of honour, accompanied with a 21-gun salute. The royals paid their respects at the Cenotaph in Victoria, while pausing in silence and then laying a wreath in honour of Canadians who served and lost their lives for the country. Prince William and Kate also spent some time chatting up with the enthusiastically waiting crowd of people.

One special moment was 14-year old Victoria Foster presenting a bouquet of flowers to Kate. Victoria, who has cystic fibrosis, had this wish granted to her by the charity, The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada. Apparently, Victoria is a big fan of the Royal Family and has memorized the names of all Kings and Queens of England. That's what I call a super royal fan!

The royals will be in Canada for a 8-day long visit which will include four official events in British Columbia and three in Yukon as listed below:

1. September 24: Legislature in Victoria;
2. September 25: Jack Poole Plaza in Vancouver;
3. September 27: UBC Okanagan in Kelowna;
4. September 27: Whitehorse in Yukon;
5. September 28: Main Street in Whitehorse;
6. September 28: Carcross Commons in Yukon;
7. October 1: Official departure (Victoria's Inner Harbour).

You can check the Outline Itinerary of the 2016 Royal Tour at the Government of Canada website. If you’re interested, you can also Send Your Greetings to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Canadian Government Opens Public Consultation on Bill C-51

The Liberal Government of Canada aims at revisiting the controversial Bill C-51 which was introduced by the outgoing Conservative government. Bill C-51, also known as the “Anti-Terrorism Act” received royal assent earlier in June 2015. 

Even before the bill became law, it faced intense scrutiny because it gave law enforcement and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) sweeping powers.

Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government believes that this public consultation will help shape this anti-terror legislation in a way that protects Canadians, and at the same time, reflects the rights, values, and freedoms of Canadians. 

As a first step in doing so, the government has opened an Online Public Consultation in hopes of soliciting feedback from Canadians. This is what Public Safety Minister, Ralph Goodale has to say about this online public consultation: 

“Today’s consultation launch is an important step in the development of our national security framework…”

David Christopher, Communications Manager of the OpenMedia (an Internet Rights group) commented on the above saying that his organization is happy about the launch of the public consultation. However, he has concerns with the wording in the consultation’s backgrounder, sighting that it is biased towards law enforcement, rather than the public.

Watch this CTV News Channel video below, as Public Safety Minister, Ralph Goodale, dsicusses the issues that will be addressed in the public consultations on Bill C-51:

The public consultation is open until December 1, 2016. This is an opportunity for Canadians to have their say on a very important subject that affects all Canadians. I would encourage you to read the background document titled “National Security Green Paper” to get a detailed understanding of the purpose of this public consultation. 

The next step, after reading the above paper would be to head over to the “Online Consultation on National Security” website to provide your written feedback. Additionally, Public Safety Canada and the Department of Justice Canada, plan to organize public events, between now and December 1, 2016, to talk to Canadians on this issue.