NHL playoffs have distinct Canadian flavour

The matchups for the Stanley Cup playoffs are all set. Find out which teams are ready to clash in the post-season.

The matchups for the Stanley Cup playoffs are all set, with the NHL's post-season to begin on Tuesday with three games.

Here's who will meet in the first round of the playoffs, along with a full schedule for each series.

Click here for CBC's Stanley Cup playoffs broadcast schedule.

Eastern Conference

Wharnsby: Eastern Conference playoff preview

  Vs. 

No. 1: Pittsburgh Penguins (36-12-0, 72 points)
No. 8: New York Islanders (24-17-7, 55 pts.)

Season series: Penguins: 4-1-0. Islanders: 1-4-0.

Schedule:
Wed. May 1 at Pittsburgh (7:30 p.m. ET)
Fri. May 3 at Pittsburgh (7 p.m. ET)
Sun. May 5 at New York (noon ET)
Tues. May 7 at New York (7 p.m. ET)
*Thurs. May 9 at Pittsburgh (7 p.m. ET)
*Sat. May 11 at New York (TBD)
*Sun. May 12 at Pittsburgh (TBD)

Vs.

No. 2: Montreal Canadiens (29-14-5, 63 pts.)
No. 7: Ottawa Senators (25-17-6, 56 pts.)

Season series: Canadiens: 2-1-1. Senators: 2-1-1.

Schedule:
Thurs. May 2 at Montreal (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
Fri. May 3 at Montreal (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
Sun. May 5 at Ottawa (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
Tues. May 7 at Ottawa (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
*Thurs. May 9 at Montreal (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
*Sat. May 11 at Ottawa (CBC, TBD)
*Sun. May 12 at Montreal (CBC, TBD)

Vs.

No. 3: Washington Capitals (27-18-3, 57 pts.)
No. 6: New York Rangers (26-18-4, 56 pts.)

Season series: Capitals: 1-2-0. Rangers: 2-0-1.

Schedule:
Thurs. May 2 at Washington (7:30 p.m. ET)
Sat. May 4 at Washington (12:30 p.m. ET)
Mon. May 6 at New York (7:30 p.m. ET)
Wed. May 8 at New York (7:30 p.m. ET)
*Fri. May 10 at Washington (7:30 p.m. ET)
*Sun. May 12 at New York (TBD)
*Mon. May 13 at Washington (TBD)

   Vs.

No. 4: Boston Bruins (28-14-6, 62 pts.)
No. 5: Toronto Maple Leafs (26-17-5, 57 pts.)

Season series: Bruins: 3-1-0. Maple Leafs: 1-1-2.

Schedule:
Wed. May 1 at Boston (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
Sat. May 4 at Boston (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
Mon. May 6 at Toronto (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
Wed. May 8 at Toronto (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
*Fri. May 10 at Boston (CBC, 7 p.m. ET)
*Sun. May 12 at Toronto (CBC, TBD)
*Mon. May 13 at Boston (CBC, TBD)

No. 1: Chicago Blackhawks (36-7-5, 77 pts.)
No. 8: Minnesota Wild (26-19-3, 55 pts.)

Season series: Blackhawks: 2-0-1. Wild: 1-2-0.

Schedule:

Tues. April 30 at Chicago (CBC, 8 p.m. ET)
Fri. May 3 at Chicago (CBC, 9: 30 p.m. ET)
Sun. May 5 at Minnesota (CBC, 3 p.m. ET)
Tues. May 7 at Minnesota (CBC, 9:30 p.m. ET)
*Thurs. May 9 at Chicago (CBC, TBD)
*Sat. May 11 at Minnesota (CBC, TBD)
*Sun. May 12 at Chicago (CBC, TBD)  Vs. 

No. 2: Anaheim Ducks (30-12-6, 66 pts.)
No. 7: Detroit Red Wings (24-16-8, 56 pts.)

Season series: Ducks: 1-2-0. Red Wings: 2-1-0.

Schedule:

Tues. April 30 at Anaheim (10:30 p.m. ET)
Thurs. May 2 at Anaheim (10 p.m. ET)
Sat. May 4 at Detroit (7:30 p.m. ET)
Mon. May 6 at Detroit (8 p.m. ET)
*Wed. May 8 at Anaheim (10 p.m. ET)
*Fri. May 10 at Detroit (TBD)
*Sun. May 12 at Anaheim (TBD)
Vs.

No. 3: Vancouver Canucks (26-15-7, 59 pts.)
No. 6: San Jose Sharks (25-16-7, 57 pts.)

Season series: Canucks: 0-3-0. Sharks: 3-0-0.

Schedule:
Wed. May 1 at Vancouver (10:30 p.m. ET)
Fri. May 3 at Vancouver (10 p.m. ET)
Sun. May 5 at San Jose (10 p.m. ET)
Tues. May 7 at San Jose (10 p.m. ET)
*Thurs. May 9 at Vancouver (10 p.m. ET)
*Sat. May 11 at San Jose (TBD)
*Mon. May 13 at Vancouver (TBD)

  Vs.  
 

No. 4: St. Louis Blues (29-17-2, 60 pts.)
No. 5: Los Angeles Kings (27-16-5, 59 pts.)

Season series: Kings 3-0-0. Blues 0-3-0.

Schedule:
Tues. April 30 at St. Louis (CBC, 8 p.m. ET)
Thurs. May 2 at St. Louis (CBC, 9:30 p.m. ET)
Sat. May 4 at Los Angeles (CBC, 10 p.m. ET)
Mon. May 6 at Los Angeles (CBC, 10 p.m. ET)
*Wed. May 8 at St. Louis (CBC, TBD)
*Fri. May 10 at Los Angeles (CBC, TBD)
*Mon. May 13 at St. Louis (CBC, TBD)

*if necessary

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Foreign worker program changes expected today

The federal government is expected to announce details today of changes to the temporary foreign workers program that will require employers to do more to find Canadian workers so they don't have to look elsewhere.

The expected changes come after a CBC Go Public story earlier this month on use of foreign workers by Royal Bank which sparked public outrage and brought renewed focus on the temporary foreign workers program. The controversy dominated Parliament Hill and had the government defending the program but also promising changes to it so that it is not abused.

One of the reforms expected is that employers will have to demonstrate that they have a plan to recruit, train and hire Canadians first before they can be granted a permit to hire foreign workers. If they have to hire foreign workers they will then need to have a plan to show how they will eventually hire Canadians for those positions.

Another change to the program will be a fee imposed on employers who want to hire temporary foreign workers.

There could also be changes to the current rule that allows for some temporary foreign workers to be paid 15 per cent less than Canadians.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Human Resources Minister Diane Finley are expected to announce the changes late Monday afternoon in Ottawa.

The government said in its March budget that it would make reforms to the program, and they are expected to be included in the government's budget implementation bill that is on notice. It could be introduced after question period in the House of Commons today.

Finley's department oversees the program and issues labour market opinions (LMO) on how hiring foreign workers would impact the Canadian job market. Employers are only given permission to hire temporary foreign workers if they can't find Canadians to fill the jobs and only if bringing in foreign workers won't have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market.

To receive a positive LMO employers have to show what efforts they have made to recruit and train Canadian residents and the potential benefits that hiring foreign workers could have on the Canadian economy. Some work categories are exempt from the LMO requirement. Professionals and business people, for example, who come to Canada as part of international agreements or workers who come as part of an exchange program, do not need a LMO.

The total number of temporary foreign workers has doubled in the last decade, to 338,189 workers.

Some labour economists have been calling for a review of the program to determine if it is adequately addressing labour shortages or whether it is undermining wages and job opportunities in Canada.

Erin Weir, a labour economist with the United Steel Workers Union said in an interview earlier this month that some companies go through the motions of pretending to hire Canadians in order to get a positive labour market opinion.

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Abdicating Dutch queen was a wartime Ottawa schoolgirl

When the future Dutch Queen Beatrix and her family returned to the Netherlands after their Second World War sojourn in Ottawa, the young princess discovered mealtimes just weren't what she was used to. For one thing, there was no ice cream.

"For the young children, going back to the Netherlands, which of course was something the adults longed for, was a bit of shock," says Carolyn Harris, a Toronto-based royal historian and blogger.

Dutch Princess Juliana holds Princess Margriet in March 1943 in Ottawa, flanked by her daughters Princess Irene, left, Princess Beatrix, and her husband, Prince Bernhard. (Associated Press)

"There was quite an abundance of food in Canada, whereas for the little girls, when they went back to the Netherlands, they noticed that ice cream, for instance, wasn't available as it was there," because of Europe's post-war food shortages.

Ice cream had been just one small feature of a royal life lived with a certain degree of normalcy and anonymity during the royal family's five-year stay in Ottawa.

It was also a period that ultimately forged close ties between Canada and a country that will see its queen — that same Beatrix — abdicate in favour of her son, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, tomorrow.

"There's a long-standing relationship between Canada and the house of Orange-Nassau," says Harris, who notes that Princess Margriet, Queen Beatrix's younger sister, is a "real link between the Netherlands and Canada."

Beatrix came to Ottawa in 1940 with her mother, Crown Princess Juliana, and her sister Irene. Her sister Margriet was born in 1943 in Ottawa Civic Hospital.

A federal proclamation declared the maternity ward extraterritorial, ensuring that the new princess would only be a Dutch — and not also a Canadian — citizen.

But that has not stopped Margriet from visiting Canada many times over the years and receiving an honorary doctorate from McMaster University in Hamilton last year.

Thousands of tulips

The gratitude the Dutch royal family felt for its time in Ottawa — coupled with the thanks they felt for the role of Canadian Forces in the liberation of the Netherlands — also spawned one of the city's higher-profile and more colourful events: the annual Tulip Festival.

After the royal family's return to the Netherlands, Juliana's mother, Queen Wilhelmina, gave Canada 100,000 tulip bulbs. The gift has become an annual one, and the inspiration for the festival that was launched six decades ago.

Tulips bloom on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 1, 2009, on the first day of that year's Canadian Tulip Festival. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

For Beatrix and her sisters, the time in Canada — much of it spent in Stornoway, now the residence of the leader of the Official Opposition — was a chance, relatively speaking, to live a normal life.

"There was a certain degree of anonymity for the children in Canada that they didn't have in the Netherlands where the House of Orange-Nassau really symbolized the Dutch resistance and Dutch independence," says Harris.

"When Princess Juliana and her daughters left for Canada, Juliana made it clear that her daughters would be seen in public and … that they would be living informally."

Beatrix went to elementary school in Rockcliffe Park.

"One of my friends … was in her class and remembers that she was known as Trixie Orange," says Michiel Horn, a professor emeritus of history at Toronto's York University, who was born in the Netherlands.

Horn says Juliana, who never took very well to the kind of scrutiny that comes with being part of a royal family, particularly in its homeland, "really appreciated" her time in Ottawa.

'As near to being normal'

"Their life was as near to being normal as it could be given that they were out of their own country and given that of course Juliana was heir to the Dutch throne."

Juliana was queen from 1948 until 1980 when she abdicated, on her 71st birthday, passing the throne to Beatrix. That throne will now be handed to her son on Tuesday, giving the Netherlands its first king in more than a century.

Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is presented with a bouquet of tulips by Canadian veteran Tom Rappel as she arrives at the Perley Veterans Health Centre in Ottawa on May 12, 2010. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Beatrix will be the third Dutch queen in succession to abdicate, following her grandmother and mother, in 1948 and 1980 respectively.

"In the Netherlands, it's become an established tradition and this allows the new monarch to have transition time to grow into the new role and still be advised by the former monarch," says Harris.

"Unlike in the United Kingdom and Canada, for instance, where the abdication of Edward the Eighth was a destabilizing event that appeared to shake the foundations of the monarchy, in the Netherlands, royal abdication is expected and it's a very smooth transition of power from one reign to the next."

For some Canadians of Dutch heritage — the Dutch Embassy says one million persons of Dutch origin reside in Canada — the abdication was to be expected.

"I figured it would happen sooner than later," says Adri Degroot, a director of Club The Netherlands in St. Catharines, Ont. "She was getting older, too."

'Mother for the country'

Degroot says Beatrix "seemed like a mother for the country," but considers that Willhem-Alexander will bring "a new vision to the country. He should be good."

Queen Beatrix, centre, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, pose for photographers in Amsterdam on April 10, 2013. (Peter Dejong/Associated Press)

Horn isn't predicting what kind of king Willem-Alexander will be. But he does note that there was some considerable public commotion when he married because his Argentine wife was the daughter of a man who was a minister in her native country's dictatorship.

But Maxima "seems to have done very well," says Horn. "Her father's had the good sense not to intrude himself onto the Dutch scene."

In fact, says Harris, Maxima's parents won't be at the ceremonies on Tuesday.

Horn considers that Beatrix's reign was "competent and quite normal," without the kind of controversy that erupted over her mother Juliana's involvement with a faith healer in the mid-1950s as she sought a cure for her daughter Christina's eye problems.

Beatrix "is widely loved even with people who have misgivings about the monarchy as an instiution," says Horn. "Beatrix, in so far as I am able to judge, has been a perfect constitutional monarch."

Welcome to retirement

From Horn's perspective, Beatrix's departure from the throne is more of a retirement, and it's a move he sees holding much virtue.

"I think the present situation in England, where Charles has to hang in there while his mother carries on as best she can —well, I know why it happens, but I must say that in this respect I think that the Dutch royal house has it right."

It also does it differently — at least when it comes to how the actual throne passes hands.

Harris says the ceremonies installing Crown Prince Willem-Alexander on Tuesday will be very different from how the House of Windsor puts a new monarch on the throne in England.

Regalia that goes with the position will be on display, but no crown will be placed on Willem-Alexander's head. There will be a church setting, and a reciprocal oath between the new king and members of parliament.

Sandra Terpstra, left, and Linda Clewits pose with trays of cakes made for Queen's Day, a national holiday and the day of the abdication of Queen Beatrix and the crowning of the new king, at a pastry shop in Amsterdam on April 23, 2013. (Peter Dejong/Associated Press)

"It's definitely a more elaborate ceremony than in Spain, for instance, where [King] Juan Carlos simply went to parliament and was sworn in there," says Harris.

"Because the coronation of Elizabeth the Second is so iconic— it was shown on television around the world — often there's an assumption that all monarchs receive a coronation of that kind, and it's not recent practice among the continental monarchies."

Willhem-Alexander will also want a calmer arrival to the throne than his mother experienced in 1980.

"Hopefully the proceedings will be more peaceful than they were when Beatrix came to the throne and there was some rioting in Amsterdam about the lack of affordable housing," says Harris.

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Luka Magnotta trial date set for fall 2014

The trial date for accused killer Luka Magnotta has been scheduled for Sept. 15, 2014.

Magnotta faces a charge of first-degree murder and four other counts in last May's slaying of Jun Lin.

Magnotta's preliminary hearing ended two and-a-half weeks ago, with the judge ruling there was enough evidence to send the horrific case to trial.

Magnotta was arrested in Berlin last June after an international manhunt.

Some of parts of Lin's body were found in a Montreal park, while others were mailed to the headquarters of the federal Conservative and Liberal parties, as well as to two schools in Vancouver.

With files from the Canadian Press

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Sheriffs, court workers join Alberta prison-guard strike

Courtroom sheriffs, court clerks and reporters and social workers in Alberta are joining striking jail guards on the picket line this morning.

"We're hoping this is very short-lived," union spokesman Derrick Karbashewski said today. "We're looking for a voice, we want a voice at the table."

The widening strike will effectively shut down court proceedings in much of the province, which will be forced to adjourn cases if the work stoppage at several correctional facilities continues much longer.

Social workers in the province are also walking off the job in support of correctional officers, who say they share similar issues as the guards.

"We want to show our solidarity with (Edmonton Remand Centre) and their occupational health and safety issues," said AUPE local spokeswoman Shamanthi Cooray.

Social workers will join picket at jails across the province, she said.

The illegal strike began Friday afternoon when guards from Edmonton's new remand centre refused to report for duty citing concerns for personal safety in the facility.

The strike reached a stalemate over the weekend after a war of words between the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk.

While the high-tech centre relies heavily on closed-circuit TV allowing inmates to make court appearances remotely, one inmate told CBC News the people backfilling the striking guards do not know how to use the equipment.

Can only do so much

The province is hoping to use police and RCMP to replace the sheriffs and transport inmates to and from the court.

"We believe that we will be able to ensure that the right prisoners, the right individuals, get delivered to the right courts across the province so that the justice system will continue to operate," said deputy solicitor general Tim Grant.

Calgary police Duty Insp. Rick Tuza said that while police are prepared to help out, there can only do so much.

"For us to effectively take over all of the security roles that the sheriffs are responsible for, I think would be a huge undertaking," he said. "We have a responsibility to police the city, and our security can only do so much."

While some guards reportedly returned to work in some parts of the province, most are refusing until the province sits down and talks about their demands.

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MacNeil didn't die from hospital infection, says authority

Beloved Canadian singer Rita MacNeil did not die from a hospital-acquired infection, the Cape Breton District Health Authority said in response to a now-corrected article published in the Globe and Mail newspaper on Friday.

The 68-year-old singer died last week following complications from surgery after a recurring infection.

On Friday morning, Globe and Mail health reporter André Picard wrote an article entitled "Rita MacNeil's death should make us angry," in which he said the singer contracted an infection in the hospital days before her death.

The article has since been corrected.

Picard wrote that the precise cause of death is not known.

During MacNeil's stay part of the hospital was closed because of a Norwalk virus outbreak, Picard wrote. He also noted the health authority's 2011 Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) outbreak that killed 11 people.

"As strong as Ms. MacNeil was, she couldn't survive routine, minor surgery in a Canadian hospital. That realization should give us all a sickening feeling in the pit of our stomachs," Picard wrote.

He said people should be angry, and demand safer and cleaner hospitals.

In a release, the Cape Breton District Health Authority said it cannot violate patient confidentiality but said the article was incorrect.

"If things don't go right, we're committed to making sure they do go right. I feel very comfortable if my 86-year-old father or my 15-year-old daughter was sick, that if they came here they will receive safe and compassionate, quality care," said Andrew Lynk, the authority's vice-president of medicine.

MacNeil's family is not commenting. The health authority said the family has asked the matter be kept private.

The CBC flagship investigative program the fifth estate gave the Cape Breton Regional Hospital a D rating for its record on post-surgery mortality.

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Via terror plot suspect a 'very good boy,' mom says

The mother of Chiheb Esseghaier says she does not believe the terrorism-related charges against her son. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

The mother of one of the two suspects accused of trying to carry out an al-Qaeda-supported plot to derail a Via Rail passenger train for almost a year doesn't believe the charges against her son, saying he is a "very good boy" and a genius who loves to study.

"It surprised me. I didn't believe it. I am certain my son cannot commit such an act," Raoudha Esseghaier, mother of Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, told Radio-Canada from her home in Tunisia "I know it because I've raised him and I know him by heart."

Raoudha said her son, who had been doing doctoral research at the Institute National de la Recherche Scientifique in Varennes, Que, runs experiments and does research.

"He is a very good boy. He loves his studies. Chiheb is a genius. Since his childhood, believe me, he's been passionate about his studies," she said. "When he was four, he knew how to read and count. Since his childhood, he is studying. Even when we would say, 'come play,' he would answer 'no, I don't want to. I prefer to study.'"

His father, Mohammed Rached Esseghaier, questioned the evidence against his son

"When someone wants to derail a train, he needs equipment, something, or, at least, a plan with [targets] spelled out. But they have not found anything."

But the father did admit that in the last few years his son had changed and that the changes did not please him.

Earlier this week, Esseghaier, a Montreal resident who is from Tunisia, appeared in court, where he said that the Criminal Code should not apply to him because it's "not a holy book."

He, along with Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, are facing terrorism related charges in an alleged plot to derail a Via Rail passenger train. Esseghaier has been remanded into custody until his next appearance on May 23.

Watched for almost a year

CBC News reported this week that the RCMP had been following Esseghaier since May 2012. At that time, two undercover surveillance officers watched him on an Air Canada flight to Cancun, where he was to attend a biomedical conference.

Esseghaier's behaviour on the plane was "bizarre," and he had an altercation with a female flight attendant after he went to the washroom, sources say.

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2nd largest pipeline spill in Alberta history leads to charges

The company that owns a pipeline that leaked 28,000 barrels of crude oil near a First Nations community in northwest Alberta — the largest spill in the province in 35 years — is now facing environmental charges.

Plains Midstream Canada ULC is facing three counts under the province's Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act

The April 2011 spill of almost 4.5 million litres of oil contaminated more than three hectares of beaver ponds and muskeg in a densely forested area.

Lubicon Cree residents of Little Buffalo, 30 kilometres from the spill site northeast of Peace River, claimed fumes from the leaking crude made them sick with nausea, burning eyes and headaches.

The community closed its school and ordered children to stay at home.

But the Environment and Sustainable Resource Development board, which monitored the air quality during the cleanup, did not believe the symptoms were related to the spill.

The Energy Resources Conservation Board later reprimanded the company saying it had inadequate leak detection and failed to test its emergency response plan.

Alberta's premier at the time, Ed Stelmach, also criticized the oil company's poor communication with the First Nation, as well as with the province itself, following the spill.

"From what I gather, they could be doing a better job," he said.

"And we're going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they're there and they will have to pay all the costs related to the cleanup," he said just days after the leak was discovered.

Timing of charges is suspicious, says representative for Lubicon First Nation

But Garrett Tomlinson, the communications co-ordinator for the Lubicon First Nation, said he has seen little action in the two years since the accident.

That is, until a Greenpeace report detailing the environmental impact of the spill was delivered to the Department of Energy on Thursday, he said.

The report, which is scheduled for public release on April 28, calls the actions of both Plains Midstream and the ERCB into question, concluding that "the government and oil industry have consistently worked to limit reputational damage to companies rather than protect the environment."

The document also highlights many of the same environmental issues that had been previously reported by the Lubicon First Nation, said Tomlinson, adding that many of the issues had also been noted in an ERCB report released earlier this spring. "The ERCB report came out almost a month ago, if i'm not mistaken, and there were no charges were filed after that," Tomlinson said. "And they would be the authorities on the subject."

"[The Greenpeace report] seems to be really the only factor that led to the filing of charges, " said Tomlinson on Friday.

Province responds to growing controversy

But Nikki Booth, a spokeswoman for the ESRD, said the charges were laid as a result of the department's two-year investigation into the spill, which the province has only now wrapped up.

She said charges laid today are "in no way related to the Greenpeace report."

"Our folks know that there is a two year statute of limitations and we take as much time as necessary when we're doing an investigation like this so we can do our due diligence, ensure that we're accurate and have all the correct information."

Alberta Minister of Energy Ken Hughes has also weighed in on the Greenpeace report.

"I reject Greenpeace's contention that ERCB is biased toward industry," he said Friday.

"The expectation from the government of Alberta has been and continues to be that the province's regulator works on behalf of all Albertans to ensure responsible energy development and a clean and healthy environment."

'Alberta government isn't taking First Nations concerns seriously'

Tomlinson, however, is not convinced.

"It wasn't until Greenpeace came forward with their report that said the exact same thing that the ERCB [report] said, that said the exact same thing we've been saying all along — and threatened to release that report... only then did the province respond."

"I think it's just a testament to the fact that the Alberta government isn't taking First Nations concerns seriously," he said.

"We do have some concerns that it took two years to have these charges filed — despite the fact that we raised these concerns shortly after the spill and have continued to raise them to Alberta officials."

Regardless of the motivation behind today's charges, Tomlinson hopes the ESRD's action will change how the province and its pipeline companies deal with First Nations input.

"We really hope that the government takes the proper initiative to make sure we get a little more communication so we can keep our people safe."

Tomlinson said members of Lubicon First Nation will be watching the situation very closely to make sure implementation measures are going forward safely.

"It's only a matter of time until we are dealing with damage like this again."

Company to review charges

Plains Midstream is charged with releasing a substance that damages the environment, failing to take reasonable measures to repair, remedy or confine the impact of the substance in an appropriate amount of time, and failing to clean up the substance to prevent further environmental impact.

The maximum penalty for each violation is $500,000, but the court may consider a creative sentence that allows companies to fund environmental projects or research instead of paying a fine, said spokesperson Nikki Booth.

The company declined comment saying it will review the charges with its lawyers and the Crown before responding.

No court dates have been set in the case.

The 60-centimetre Rainbow pipeline runs 775 kilometres from Zama, Alta., to Edmonton and is capable of moving 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The company also made headlines in 2012 for an oil spill near Sundre, Alta.

About half a million litres of light sour crude spilled into the Red Deer River with some of it washing into the Gleniffer reservoir, which provides thousands of Albertans with drinking water.

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7 Alberta jails locked down after walkout

Alberta's justice minister says remand centre workers who have walked off the job in Alberta are engaging in an illegal job action.

Jonathan Denis was responding early Saturday morning to a strike that began at the Edmonton Remand Centre after a correctional worker was suspended for complaining about safety issues.

Seventy workers who arrived for the Friday afternoon shift refused to go inside, prompting officials to put the facility into lockdown and restrict prisoners to their cells.

The new Edmontoni Remand Centre opened two weeks ago. It currently holds approximately 1,100 inmates. (CBC)

By Saturday morning, the labour unrest had spread to six other jails, in Fort Saskatchewan, Peace River, Calgary (both the remand centre and correctional facility) and Lethbridge, as well as the Young Offenders Centre in Edmonton.

Josh Stewart says all those facilities are in "normal nighttime lockdown" and that striking staff have been replaced by police and RCMP officers along with correctional supervisors.

Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Public Employees, says the suspension of a union member on Friday was the last straw for correctional officers who have complained about the design of the new Edmonton Remand Centre.

The new centre is the size of 10 CFL football fields and rests on a site the size of 27 football fields.

Concerns over open-concept design

With the overhaul, a network of hallways leads to different self-contained pods, where prisoners will be held. In most cases, the pods are all open.

Newer correctional centres in Canada use this design, called direct supervision. There are no barriers separating the guards from the prisoners in the designated pods. The hope is the layout will help guards keep a closer eye on inmates and improve how the two sides relate to each other.

Jeremy Veenstraw of Alberta Correctional Services recently told CBC News it will take some time for staff to adapt to the new design in the massive remand centre.

"It's a lot more open. It's a lot less restricting. It puts officers face to face with inmates," he said.

Smith says the striking workers will stay off the job as long as it takes to get action to reverse the suspension.

Just days before the jail opened, the AUPE said it found five pages of design flaws after touring the $580-million facility.

At that time Smith asked the provincial government to delay the transfer of prisoners from the old remand centre until the changes were made.

Denis said the province was seeking a court injunction to force the workers back.

"Our first priority is ensuring public safety and security," the minister said.

"Although provincial correctional centres across Alberta are affected, the facilities continue to be securely operated through the assistance of police and management. Contingency plans are in place and being implemented as needed."

He said there would be an investigation of the walkout.

"Any threats to public safety are dealt with swiftly and seriously by this government," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press

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Prince Philip presents regimental colours in Toronto

Prince Philip took part a ceremony at the Ontario legislature on Saturday morning, where he presented a new regimental flag to the Third Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.

The ceremony marks the 200th anniversary of a key battle of the War of 1812.

Prince Philip, 91, last presented the Third Battalion with colours in 1973.

Regimental colours are considered the most prized possession of every regiment.

The prince has served as the Royal Canadian Regiment's colonel-in-chief — an honorary title bestowed on members of the Royal Family — since 1953.

Prince Philip greets a member of the Petawawa-based Third Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment. (CBC)

The Queen's husband began the day at Queen's Park with breakfast attended by Premier Kathleen Wynne and Lt.-Gov. David Onley.

After presenting of the colours, the Duke of Edinburgh watched as more than 1,700 soldiers took part in a military march to Fort York. The troops will take part in a ceremony at the fort commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of York.

Philip received two honours on Friday from Gov. Gen. David Johnston — the Order of Canada and the Commander of the Order of Military Merit.

With files from The Canadian Press

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Senior Mounties told not to meet MPs without prior approval

Internal emails obtained by CBC News show that RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson has ordered all senior Mounties to get clearance from his office before committing to any meetings with MPs or senators.

Specifically, they are to notify a liaison office that co-ordinates RCMP strategy with the office of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, right, has instructed senior Mounties to notify his office before accepting meetings with MPs and senators, similar to the approval required for his own meetings by Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, left, last year. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

In an email dated March 22 from Paulson to more than 50 chief superintendents, assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners, the commissioner said that meetings or lunches with parliamentarians "can have unintended and/or negative consequences for the organization and the government. Therefore, should you or your staff receive such requests, I am directing that you advise my office and the chief strategic policy and planning officer."

A second email shows the effect of the new policy. It cancels a planned lunch between a senior Mountie and a parliamentarian because of "direction from Commissioner Paulson's office" that such meetings "have to first be approved by the minister's office. This email is to cancel the luncheon."

Message control

The development has opposition critics accusing the government of undermining the independence of the police. "There's a very large pattern in this government of trying to control information," said NDP MP Randall Garrison.

"It's not appropriate for the government to reach into the police operation. It's a very, very fundamental part of what we must be assured exists so that the police aren't doing the work of the government, they're doing the work of the public."

Garrison, who is the NDP critic for public safety, said "these memos raise some very serious concerns about whether the government is interfering in the operations of the RCMP to try and assist in controlling their political message. So I think it's very serious."

Liberal Senator Grant Mitchell, critic for an RCMP reform bill, C-42, said he feared the "politicization of the police force."

Mitchell added that muzzling debate would not help to solve problems of discipline and harassment inside the RCMP — the subject of Bill C-42.

"I don't see any downside to them dealing with these problems, openly exposing them, none at all. It will only lead to solving them and they can take credit for that," said Mitchell.

"All this control, all this media manipulation, all this messaging — centralized as it is — doesn't work."

Toews's office did not respond to a request to explain the new policy. Paulson's office, however, confirmed that it was co-managed with the minister's office.

RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Julie Gagnon said in a statement that Paulson "wanted to ensure that all information being sent to parliamentarians was co-ordinated through the strategic policy and planning directorate which manages the ministerial liaison function."

Gagnon also said the commissioner wished to "help ensure that the RCMP does not become embroiled in the political debate."

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Chris Hall: The every-backbencher-with-a-crime-bill week

This is the eighth annual "Victims of Crime Awareness Week'' in Canada.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson made sure he reminded everyone of that Thursday when he threw the government's weight behind yet another Conservative MP's bill to toughen the Criminal Code.

Nicholson endorsed a bill fronted by backbencher James Bezan that would require anyone convicted of the abduction, sexual assault and murder of a person to serve up to 40 years (at the trial judge's discretion) before being eligible for parole.

"Our government supports this bill,'' Nicholson told a news conference on Parliament Hill. "It's consistent with our plan for safe streets and communities, holding violent criminals accountable, enhancing the rights of victims and increasing the efficiency of our justice system.''

It's hardly news to anyone that the Conservatives place great emphasis on their law and order agenda. Responding to crime has consumed as much of this government's time in office as economic issues.

''Getting tough on crime'' rivals ''keeping taxes low'' as the Stephen Harper government's favourite refrain.

But there is one significant difference between the two priorities.

When it comes to crime, the government is more than happy to use its own backbench MPs to propose legislation that normally would be introduced by the appropriate cabinet minister.

The question is why.

A favourite wedge

Since taking power, the Conservatives have followed through on a wide range of campaign commitments to address violent crime, and to rebalance the scales of justice in favour of victims.

The list of changes is long: new mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug crimes, eliminating house arrest for violent crimes, getting rid of the faint-hope clause that allowed prisoners serving life sentences to apply for early parole, and introducing legislation to require offenders to pay a victim surcharge, to name only a few.

But it is not just bedrock principles driving that agenda. There's a strong dose of politics at play, too.

Conservatives have spun their law and order agenda as an issue that clearly separates them from all of their political opponents. Conservatives are tough on crime, voters are told. While the Liberals and New Democrats, by implication, are not.

Crime, or the fear of crime, is a hot-button topic in many suburban ridings across Canada. And the Conservatives, well, they push the button as often as they can.

What's more, their commitment is unshakable.

They've dismissed criticism from many leading criminologists, ignored evidence from other countries that putting more people in jail for longer periods of time does little, if anything, to reduce violent crime.

They've also disputed studies that showed crime rates began to fall before they took power, or that spending to implement the law and order agenda is out of proportion to the problem.

The frontmen

That's not to say the Conservatives are wrong to pursue this course of action. They've been elected three times now on this agenda.

Voters, especially those in suburban ridings, are on their side when it comes to the two clearly stated priorities.

Government House leader Peter Van Loan: Not abusing the rules of the House. (Reuters)

But what separates crime from the economy and virtually every other Conservative agenda item is the use of backbench MPs to front elements of the plan.

Bezan's parole bill is just one initiative the government has said it supports — without formally sponsoring the legislation itself.

Here, too, the list is significant.

The legislation to scrap the gun registry was first proposed by backbench MP Candice Bergen.

Conservative MP Blake Richards won an endorsement for his bill increasing the sentence of anyone wearing a mask in a riot. So did bills implementing tougher penalties for vandalizing war memorials.

At the moment, Citizenship Minister Jason Kenney is trying to amend a bill by yet another backbencher, Devinder Shory.

If accepted, the bill would allow Kenney's department to strip Canadian citizenship from any dual nationals convicted of terrorism activities.

Skirting charter review

On Thursday, Liberal MP Bob Rae rose in the Commons to complain to the Speaker that Kenney's move changed the original intent of Shory's bill, and subordinated his intentions to the government's.

NDP House leader Nathan Cullen went further.

He suggested the government is misusing private member's bills because they aren't subject to the same kind of review by the Justice Department as measures brought by the government.

"One important aspect that applies to government legislation is that the minister of justice is obligated … to ensure compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," he said.

"Private member's business does not have to go through a similar test.''

Abusing the rules of the House. Misusing private member's business. Taking advantage of their majority position. Government House leader Peter Van Loan called these complaints "technicalities.''

His side is more concerned with protecting Canadians, Van Loan said, and equipping authorities with the tools they need to combat crime and terrorism.

Of course, if the government is using its backbenchers to skirt a charter review then it might just find itself back in court in the years ahead trying to defend these new crime laws from being thrown out. That could end up being a long list, too.

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Canada tried to deport terror suspect Raed Jaser

CBC News has confirmed that Canada tried nine years ago to deport Raed Jaser, one of the two men accused in the Via Rail terror plot, but authorities didn't proceed and later granted him permanent residency.

Jaser, 35, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, have been accused of plotting to derail a Via passenger train in what authorities have called an "al-Qaeda supported" attack.

Jaser arrived with his parents and two siblings at Pearson International Airport on March 28, 1993. They travelled from Germany using fake French documents. When the parents made a claim for refugee protection, Jaser was a dependent minor.

The family was denied refugee status, but appealed.

Raed Jaser is one of two men charged with conspiring to attack a passenger train. (CBC)

When his parents later withdrew their claim for refugee protection, changing to the deferred removal order class, Jaser could not be included in that program because he had criminal convictions.

Jaser was determined not to be a refugee on Oct. 30, 1998.

In 2004, a warrant was issued for Jaser's arrest so he could be deported.

At the deportation hearing held that August, he claimed that he was a stateless Palestinian and there was nowhere to send him. His lawyer also pointed out that a pre-removal risk assessment had not been done as required.

Jaser was born in the United Arab Emirates, but at the 2004 detention review hearing, Jaser said he was not a citizen of that country.

"I am a Palestinian by blood, that does not give me any rights whatsoever in my place of birth," he said.

The issue of his criminal convictions also surfaced at the 2004 hearing, with the government counsel saying Jaser had "five fraud-related convictions" and "two prior convictions for failure to comply with a recognizance."

At the conclusion of the hearing, Jaser was allowed to stay on bail until the government figured out what to do. Jaser later applied for, and was granted a pardon. It's not clear if the pardon was for one or all of his charges.

A source told CBC News that in 2001 Jaser was given two years probation, a $1,000 fine and a five-year weapons ban after a conviction for uttering death threats. The National Post reported that he was later pardoned on that charge.

"With that pardon, he was subsequently granted permanent residency status in Canada," CBC's Greg Weston reported.

At a court appearance earlier this week, Jaser's lawyer said his client was in a "state of shock and disbelief" following his arrest and that he denied the allegations against him. Lawyer John Norris also said earlier this week that his client was a permanent resident with deep roots in Canada.

According to the detention review transcript, the "rest of Mr. Jaser's family are now Canadian citizens."

Jaser and Esseghaier were both remanded to custody pending their next appearances, via video, on May 23.

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Trudeau's masculinity seen as subtext in Tory attack ads

The headline on the Conservative party's latest mailout reads "He's in way over his head," but what's drawn around Justin Trudeau's head could be carrying a powerful subliminal message too.

A swirl of tiny little stars — reminiscent of Tinkerbell's trail of sparkles — frames the Liberal leader. He's shown with a goatee, open collar and his jacket slung over his shoulder.

The flyer produced for Conservative MPs to be sent to constituents contains several negative bullet points about Trudeau that are written in a cursive font, while the points lauding Prime Minister Stephen Harper are in a bolder print font.

The letter "i" in Trudeau's first name is capped with a star in the Conservative materials — like a pre-teen girl might apply to her name.

So what exactly are the Conservatives getting at here?

"I think there is a subtle attempt not necessarily to question Justin Trudeau's masculinity but to at least make him appear less masculine," said David Coletto, a Canadian market researcher and CEO of Abacus Data.

Coletto says recent polling shows Trudeau does just as well with men as with women, something that would worry the Conservatives.

"I think (the ads) are meant to weaken his standing particularly among middle-aged men, who are really the core of the Conservative government's coalition, so they're trying to shore that up...the idea that this guy's not a man's man, and maybe therefore not worthy of our vote," said Coletto.

The initial volley of the Conservative ad that ran last weekend was carried during a Blue Jays baseball game, an English Premier League match and a PGA golf tournament — all of which are overwhelmingly watched by men. The ad went into wider distribution during top-rated programs this week including Wednesday evening's broadcast of American Idol.

Christopher Greig, co-author of the book "Canadian Men and Masculinities," also believes the Conservatives are trying to frame Trudeau as "unmanly" in their most recent flyer. He explains that society has certain views on what an appropriately masculine identity is.

"Men who exhibit non-traditional gender behaviours or engage in non-traditional male activities or work, tend to get positioned as less manly," said Greig, a professor of education at the University of Windsor.

"In the Justin Trudeau case, the mention that he was a drama teacher sort of plays into those anxieties around being appropriately male, where drama has been historically gendered feminine."

When Conservatives were asked Thursday about a potential subtext in the ads said they saw nothing of the sort.

"I don't think anybody's saying anything like that," said Alberta MP Leon Benoit. "All the ads are saying is that he's not ready to govern this country as prime minister."

Masculine backdrops

Greig notes that in politics, leadership is often equated with masculine attributes. He points to athleticism and an embrace of the outdoors as the Canadian angle on those ideals.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper drives an ATV during a campaign stop in the Ontario riding of Welland during the 2011 election. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has used several traditionally masculine backdrops over the years. His media advisers have made sure he was seen riding an ATV in the North, playing hockey and watching hockey games. That kind of image-building was not lost on the prime minister when he was asked by a reporter whether he would ever get on a motorcycle with wife Laureen, who is a riding enthusiast.

"You've got to worry about image," he said in 2006. "I don't want to be on the back with my wife driving."

Trudeau is undoubtedly aware of the powers of masculine image-making. His lopsided win in a boxing match against then-Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau last year was seen as an answer by some to questions about his toughness. Former Liberal leader Stephane Dion tried to fend off similar questions by launching a website that featured him playing ball hockey and snowshoeing.

"I think all political parties work hard to ensure that they construct the public image of their leader as appropriately masculine," said Greig.

American gender studies scholar Bruce Curtis wrote about the "Wimp Factor" in the 1988 American election that pitted Michael Dukakis against George Bush Sr. Bush managed to overcome an image of being too tame, while Dukakis tried unsuccessfully to fight the image by driving a tank and playing baseball on his front lawn.

"It seems to me a method to divert attention from real social issues, and policies, to personality, so you have ad hominem attacks," said Curtis, now retired from Michigan State University.

Curtis notes that attitudes have changed over the years, particularly with women rising in the public sphere and the acceptance in many quarters of gay rights.

But with so much in modern politics about influencing strategic segments of the electorate, sowing doubt in the minds of certain pockets is the name of the game.

"If you question someone's masculinity, then you can also question their leadership capabilities, their ability to make decisions, their firmness," said Coletto.

"If you're able particularly in the current context, with weak economic conditions and now with what appears to be a rise in fear or worry about terrorism...it's almost a perfect combination to playing to those prejudices."

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How can you tell if your shirt was made in a sweatshop?

The death of more than 300 people in a garment building collapse in Bangladesh has renewed concerns about the conditions of workers who make clothing for some of the biggest brands in the Western world, including Canada's Joe Fresh.

But analysts say the supply chain of the modern garment industry makes it hard for consumers to determine whether the shirt or pair of pants they bought was the product of sweatshop labour.

"It's really difficult to learn what were the conditions of the production of a specific garment," says Adriana Villasenor, a senior advisor at the retail consultancy J.C. Williams Group.

In recent years, major brands such as Wal-Mart, the Gap and Canada's Joe Fresh have outsourced the manufacture of clothing to cheap labour markets such as Bangladesh, where the national minimum wage stands at $38 US a month. According to the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, Bangladesh has the lowest labour costs in the world.

'It would be very unfair to describe all of the manufacturers in Bangladesh as having the same bad conditions for workers. There are very good manufacturers there that fall into compliance.'—Adriana Villasenor, retail analyst

But there are concerns that in satisfying the demands for low prices from Western consumers, factory owners in Bangladesh are compromising the health and safety of workers.

More than 300 people died when the garment building collapsed in Davar, a suburb of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. Officials said Thursday that police ordered the building evacuated on April 23 after discovering deep cracks in the structure.

Many factories in the building ignored the order and kept more than 2,000 people working on April 24, which is when the collapse occurred.

It is considered the deadliest incident for Bangladesh's clothing industry, surpassing a fire in November that killed 112 people.

What consumers should look for

The issue for consumers who want to buy goods without exploiting foreign workers is that it's often very difficult to figure out where a piece of clothing came from and how it was made.

Buying a major brand or shopping at a well-known store chain, for example, is no guarantee that the item wasn't made under questionable working conditions.

Villasenor says large retailers such as Wal-mart or Sears either work with a distributor, which in turn finds manufacturers to produce an item, or else they deal with the manufacturer directly. Working with a distributor could mean less oversight of conditions on the factory floor.

A strikingly low price on an item of clothing might suggest that it's the product of sweatshop labour, but it's not a precise indicator, says Villasenor. She says there are "many, many conditions" that could lead a store to settle on a sale price.

"It really depends on the margins the retailer decided to put on that garment," she says.

Consumers worried about sweatshop labour should inspect the name of the country printed on the label, says Cheryl Hotchkiss, senior manager of advocacy and public engagement at World Vision Canada.

If the name of a country such as Bangladesh appears on the label, "I think you have reason to be concerned," says Hotchkiss.

But Villasenor points out that this, too, is an imperfect gauge. A label will only specify the country of origin, but not whether the product may have involved an unscrupulous factory owner or distributor.

"It would be very unfair to describe all of the manufacturers in Bangladesh as having the same bad conditions for workers," Villasenor says. "There are very good manufacturers there that fall into compliance."

Last night, Julija Hunter, a spokesperson for Joe Fresh's parent company, Loblaws, released a statement saying that it "has robust vendor standards designed to ensure that products are manufactured in a socially responsible way, ensuring a safe and sustainable work environment. We engage international auditing firms to inspect against these standards. We will not work with vendors who do not meet our standards."

Establishing international standards

Osmud Rahman, a professor at the Ryerson School of Fashion with an expertise in consumer behaviour, says that the average person doesn't have enough information at hand about where, and how, their clothing is made.

He proposes a system like the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, for the garment industry. The ISO establishes standards for a wide range of consumer products and services, and Rahman says a similar system for clothing would help ethically minded consumers decide what to buy.

The death of 112 people in a garment factory fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in November 2012 led to labour protests in the streets. (Ashraful Alam Tito/AP)

"We could say, if [a manufacturer] passes that standard, then we'll give them a rubber stamp," says Rahman. "Then, they could indicate that on the label of the garment. It would give the consumer more information, so they can make a better judgment."

Despite the lack of such a classification, Hotchkiss says consumers are becoming increasingly aware "that the supply chain, which they may be implicated in, is causing damage to other people."

A 2012 survey commissioned by World Vision and conducted by Ipsos-Reid found 79 per cent of Canadians want to "make an effort to ensure they know how and where things they purchase are made."

One organization that reflects this awareness of ethical manufacturing is Ten Thousand Villages, the largest non-profit fair trade organization in North America.

Ten Thousand Villages, which has 34 stores in Canada, sources and sells accessories, home décor and gift items from artisans around the globe. According to general manager Ryan Jacobs, Ten Thousand Villages is committed to "direct trade," which means no middleman.

"We know the people who produce the products," says Jacobs.

He adds that the organization regularly travels to the regions where its suppliers live to confirm the safety and fair treatment of staff in their workshops.

Hotchkiss says the best bet for consumers concerned about ethical fashion is consulting a site such as GoodGuide.com, where you can look up specific products and the labour practices of the companies that make them.

"If it's really important to [consumers] to ensure that they're using their money wisely and make sure they're buying an ethical product, it's best to do your research ahead of time," says Hotchkiss.

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Stories we tell about Muslims: Join the chat on Thurs at 7 p.m. ET

How might the stories we tell as a society oversimplify the view of a diverse international community? (iStock)

Two pairs of Muslim men are believed responsible for the twin bombings that recently rocked Boston, as well as the allegedly al-Qaeda-linked terror plot thwarted by the RCMP -- both stories that have dominated headlines in recent days.

But before details about the perpetrators in either case had emerged, Muslims in North America were already anticipating a generalized backlash, while self-styled detectives hunted for innocents and reporters spoke of "dark skinned" suspects.

As it turns out, the suspected U.S. bombers were fair-skinned brothers with Chechen roots whose motives are still not well understood -- and in Canada, police credited the Muslim community with helping them foil the alleged terror plot by providing critical information.

Shades of grey

These are shades of grey in a world that often deals in black and white.

Over the past few days, several observers have taken to the web to discuss how attacks, and attempted attacks even tenuously linked to Islam may affect ordinary, law-abiding Muslims in Western democracies

Writer and human rights activist Qasim Rashid wondered aloud if anyone even hears Muslims when they condemn violence.

And Murtaza Hussain, a Toronto-based writer and civil liberties specialist, wrote of a "diffuse fear" among Muslims in Western nations who fear they will be "subjected to greater public scrutiny, abuse, suspicion and hostility."

This week on CBC Live Online, host Lauren O'Neil will speak to three panelists about how narratives can implicate entire communities while glazing over the diversity within them.

Bookmark this page and join us on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET to discuss these questions with our special guests and other audience members in the window embedded below.

There are many ways you can enjoy the show:

• Join us on webcam: When the show goes live, click on the blue camera button to let us know you want to weigh in with a question or comment.
• Submit a text question: Click on the blue "submit question" button to type your query or comment. 
• Simply sit back and watch: You can watch live at the allotted time, or replay the show as soon as it's archived (which usually happens within a few minutes of the show ending).

This week's special guests are:

• Dr.  Jasmin Zine, an Associate Professor in Sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University's Muslim Studies Option. She teaches courses in the areas of critical race and ethnic studies and Muslim cultural politics, among other topics. 
• Dr. Faheem Younus, a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland and award winning member of the Muslim Writers Guild of America. He regularly blogs about opening a frank dialogue between Muslims and Americans. 
• Hussein A. Hamdani, a Hamilton-based lawyer and longtime community advocate who attended the RCMP press conference about the arrested terror plot suspects on Monday.

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Time capsule in a bottle washes up in Nova Scotia

When Jillian Boyce and Kelly Johnston stuffed a letter and some trinkets into a bottle and sent it down the Shubenacadie River in 2002 they could only hope someone would find it.

On Wednesday, the piece of their history washed back into their lives.

Stephen Hennigar and Alexa Wray were fishing for striped bass on the river over the weekend when they spotted something floodwaters had left behind.

"It looked like somebody just stuffed a bunch of garbage in a bottle," Hennigar told CBC News.

"But she said, 'No, that's a message in a bottle!'"

They smashed the bottle to get a look at what was inside.

"I was excited. I was really excited. Then I brought it back in the house, I put the glass in a cardboard box because I didn't want to get it all over the house," said Wray.

"Then we just started pulling the stuff out and looking through it."

Inside the bottle was a letter, written in pink, from two teenaged girls named Jill and Kelly.

"The year is 2002. It would be cool if someone found this in the year 3002 or something. We hope it'll go very far," reads the letter.

"Things that are going on now are: Osama Bin Laden is a wanted man. And not too long ago the World Trade Centres collapsed. So we can't let things like this go on any more."

The bottle also includes some photos of the girls and some friends. There are mementoes and trinkets, plus a coupon from New Brunswick that expired in 2002.

Hours after CBC News first aired the story of the bottle, the two women who released it more than a decade ago came forward.

Jillian Boyce said she never expected the phone call from a friend who had heard the story on CBC News.

"He said, 'Did you happen to send a bottle, a message in a bottle with a girl named Kelly?' I said, 'Yes, yes. Why, why?'"

"I never really expected anyone to find it. I just thought that's awesome. My younger self would've just tried to plan this moment."

Johnston now lives on P.E.I. and she was thrilled to learn about this discovery.

Boyce and Johnston, both now 25 years old, said they spent an afternoon as teenaged girls filling an empty wine bottle with photos and a letter.

Boyce said she has never forgotten the bottle, but seeing the contents again was a huge surprise.

"Oh my god. How did it not get ruined?"

When she was 13 years old and putting her note in the bottle, Boyce said it was important to follow her dreams.

"When I grow up, I want to be a fashion designer," the young Boyce wrote.

"I went to [Nova Scotia College of Art and Design] thinking that's what I would do is fashion. I've since started painting and everything like that," she said Wednesday.

The bottle didn't go as far as they hoped, but it survived winters through snow, rain and sun.

"This is what makes it so special. You can text and call and there's all these immediate ways of getting a hold of people, but there's something really nice about the old fashioned way of doing things," said Boyce.

Johnston said the women will see each other again this summer at a wedding.

"I haven't seen Jill in many, many years. It's crazy to think that after all this time a silly letter in a bottle could put us back in touch," said Johnston.

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Via terror plot suspect says Criminal Code 'not a holy book'

One of two men accused of an al-Qaeda-directed plot to derail a Via Rail passenger train appeared to question the authority of a Toronto court on Wednesday, saying that the Criminal Code should not apply to him because it's "not a holy book."

Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, asked to address the court and was warned to be careful with what he said because it could be used in future appearances.

"All of those conclusions was taken out based on Criminal Code and all of us we know that this Criminal Code is not a holy book," Esseghaier said. "It's just written by a set of creations and the creations they're not perfect because only the Creator is perfect.

"We cannot rely on the conclusions taken out from these judgments."

The judge thanked him for his comment but told him to "save that for another court."

Esseghaier, who the Tunisian Embassy in Ottawa confirmed Wednesday is from that North African country, was represented by duty counsel but said he did not want a lawyer and would like to represent himself.

He was charged with five offences including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit of a terrorist group, conspiracy to interfere with transportation facilities for the benefit of a terrorist group, and participation in a terrorist group.

The judge ordered Esseghaier remanded into custody until his next appearance on May 23, the same day his co-accused, 35-year-old Raed Jaser, is scheduled to be back in court.

Esseghaier was also told not to communicate with Jaser.

Member of al-Qaeda allegedly involved in plot

Esseghaier appeared briefly in court on Tuesday in Montreal, where prosecutors asked that the case be moved to Ontario. Esseghaier declined a court-appointed lawyer and called the allegations against him unfair during a brief statement.

He was flown to Buttonville airport near Toronto shortly after the appearance.

Jaser was remanded into custody following an appearance Tuesday in a Toronto courtroom. A judge issued a publication ban on the proceedings.

"We are waiting for the disclosure and we will be defending against the charges," Jaser's lawyer, John Norris, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

Norris declined to comment when asked if he wanted his client's case separated from Esseghaier, who has spoken out twice in court despite being advised not to.

Norris spoke to the media outside the courthouse on Tuesday, saying his client was in a state of "shock and disbelief."

"He's anxious to see the evidence that the Crown says it has against him," he told reporters.

Norris has questioned the timing of the arrests, pointing to debates in the Canadian Parliament over a new anti-terrorism law that would expand the powers of police and intelligence agencies. MPs voted in favour of the bill Wednesday night, passing it 183 to 93.

Norris refused to say where his client was from, but noted Jaser was a permanent resident of Canada who has lived here for 20 years. He had previously said it was "regrettable" that police chose to make an issue of citizenship, saying it "seems intended to demonize" his client.

The two could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

Watched for almost a year

CBC News has learned that RCMP had been following Esseghaier since May 2012. At that time, two undercover surveillance officers watched him on an Air Canada flight to Cancun, where he was to attend a biomedical conference.

Esseghaier's behaviour on the plane was "bizarre," and he had an altercation with a female flight attendant after he went to the washroom, sources say.

As well, sources told CBC News that the arrests of Esseghaier and Jaser were made because the behaviour of one of the suspects had become increasingly unpredictable, although which one isn't known.

CBC News has also learned that a member of al-Qaeda living in Iran, on the border with Afghanistan, was guiding and motivating the alleged suspects.

Broader network under surveillance

Meanwhile, police and intelligence agencies have been monitoring a broader network of terrorism suspects beyond the two men accused of plotting to derail a Via Rail passenger train.

Canadian and U.S. law enforcement have been co-operating on surveillance of suspects on both sides of the border for some time.

CBC News has also learned this broader network has been under surveillance for many months — authorities also monitored their travel within North America — and Canadian authorities became more concerned after they received a tip about some men who were examining railway tracks in Ontario.

'A little too rigid'

People who knew each man said their behaviour had changed in recent years.

Muhammad Robert Heft, president of the P4E Support Group Inc., a non-profit organization that provides support to Muslims in Canada, said Jaser's father, Mohammad Jaser, came to him several years ago because he was worried about his son.

"The father had come to me back in 2010, maybe early 2011, two to three times, and he was concerned his son was becoming a little too rigid in his understanding of the religion and thought I could talk to him," Heft said.

However, Heft said the father was busy taking care of another son who had been injured and never arranged a meeting.

Yusuf Bakhit often prayed with Jaser, and said Jaser took him in last winter, when he had nowhere else to go.

"He just wants to be a good Muslim, he doesn't want to be a bad guy, to hurt innocent people, he's not like that," Bakhit said. He said when he was living with Jaser, he never saw "signs of anything to do with terrorism."

Tufik Elalj, who was also a fellow student of Esseghaier at the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, said the suspect didn't seem to know a lot about Islam in 2008. Elalj told CBC News he lost contact with him in 2011, and when he saw him again in 2012 his behaviour had changed.

Elalj said he didn't accept others — even other Muslims.

"His behaviour really changed toward everybody," he said, speaking French.

The RCMP have said the two suspects watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto Area to "initiate a terrorist attack."

There was a specific route targeted, not necessarily a specific train, police said, although they have declined to reveal the route. Police said the attack was not imminent.

Law officials in New York with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press the attack was to take place on the Canadian side of the border. They are not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press

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Winnipeg's Susan Griffiths dies by assisted suicide in Zurich

Susan Griffiths, the Winnipeg woman who went to Switzerland to take advantage of the country's assisted-suicide law, has died.

She was declared dead shortly before 7 a.m. CST.

Griffiths, 72, had multiple system atrophy, a rare disease that was robbing her of the ability to perform the most basic bodily functions. There is no cure or even hope for remission.

Susan Griffiths (middle) talks with family members, as her daughter stands beside her, moments before her death in Switzerland. (Donna Carreiro/CBC)

Assisted suicide is against the law in Canada, but it is legal in Switzerland.

Griffiths had an appointment Thursday with Dignitas, a non-profit organization that administers assisted suicides to both locals and foreigners.

In the moments before she died, Griffiths walked, talked and sang with family members in a sunny, warm garden on the Dignitas property just outside Zurich.

According to CBC's Donna Carreiro, the family sang rounds of the nursery rhyme Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and Griffiths was smiling, "delighted" with the setting.

Then Griffiths settled in and took the first of two drinks that would end her life. The first was bitter, so she ate chocolate to temper the taste.

About 30 minutes later she took the second drink. According to family members, it took another 20 minutes and Griffiths was gone.

"It was beautiful," Griffiths' daughter Natasha told CBC, adding that her mom would have been pleased with how it all went.

The day before, Griffiths spoke exclusively with Donna Carreiro:

---

"This is my last day to be able to give the message. Tomorrow is my last day, where I'll be taking the drink, and so there's not much time to spread the message.

"I do have to say that I have spent over a week here with members of my family and a friend, and had the most fantastic few days.

"I am very lucky that I've managed to gather them together [and] that they can afford to be here — for heaven's sake, this has been the most expensive trip.

"I am just hoping so much that people are going to inform their members of Parliament that they wish for a law to be made that they can make a decision about the end of life …. Soon, I would like to think that they don't have to wait until they're in a bad place to make such a decision.

"I guess my family worried that perhaps I've made the decision because I was not well and maybe not of sound mind as well. I just want the members of Parliament to respond to the requests that people will be sending them, hopefully.

"I've had the most amazing response from friends, [and] from people that I have not seen for ages and ages, to say it's what they would like to see happen as well. And I would like to think that they will pester their member of Parliament to get a debate started.

"Although we were told last week there wouldn't be [a debate], you can change your mind, just as I can change my mind.

"It's very important that people feel in the future that they have control of their life and their death. And I have not felt that control in the last year or so, and it's been very distressing for me.

"I just don't want to see people uproot themselves to come such a long way. The worry about getting here was major for weeks. Could I make it? Could I not make it? And thank goodness, I did make it.

"Just please, members of Parliament, get going on discussing making the end of people's lives a lot easier than mine has been."

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Anti-bullying apps will fail unless society takes action, critics say

Schools are resorting to anti-bullying apps to try to curb online harassment, as high-profile cases continue to expose a harrowing world of practically nonstop cyberbullying. But critics say these apps have limitations and don't address the toxic peer culture underlying the problem.

One Ontario school board in the midst of an anti-bullying app pilot project says its participating schools love the high-tech reporting tool.

"There have been a few serious situations in which we have been able to be proactive," said Pam Reinholdt, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board's superintendent of student achievement. "Even if it's only two or three, we're very thankful for that."

Starting late February, six schools adopted inTouch's TipOff app, which provides students who have smartphones with a two-way, anonymous texting service to report bullying. A triage centre compiles incoming reports. Individual schools then investigate and address the complaints.

Success hinges on student tips, and one of the issues with these types of apps is that victims and bystanders alike generally hesitate to report bullying.

Kids Help Phone surveys repeatedly find most kids won't confide in adults. In its latest survey, it found 65 per cent of kids would talk to a friend rather than an adult about a problem, while 15 per cent would remain silent and not tell anyone about it.

Commonly, research points to adolescent fears of social retaliation for snitching, concern that parents will limit technology privileges if they hear about online problems, and a belief that parents, school officials and police cannot help even if they are made aware of an issue.

One of TipOff's creators thinks the app overcomes these issues. The main reason kids stay mum about bullying is that "we've missed the mark in venues for reporting," says Brent McDonald.

He points out that TipOff's text-based service is designed to appeal to the "digital-native" populations of high schools, who rely on texting as a primary means of communication.

The approach does seem to be getting results. Prior to TipOff, bullying was spottily reported at the Hamilton-Wentworth board's schools. Now, students submit about a dozen reports weekly — about half are cyberbullying complaints.

"That's more than we would normally get from those schools," said Reinholdt, adding that false reports from students who were merely testing the system petered out after the first week.

The perils of anonymity

To make students even more willing to use the app, TippOff's developers added an anonymity feature. The app scrambles the phone numbers of incoming texts.

In a statement, the Ontario Student Trustees' Association, a student-run body, described TipOff's anonymous texting feature as "a success."

But while anonymous texting may help encourage students to report peer-on-peer crime, education lawyer Eric Roher, who advises a number of school boards, says it is very difficult to investigate anonymous complaints.

"We do need a complainant," he said. "We just can't investigate things in a vacuum."

Anonymous complaints can only generate a preliminary investigation, he said. Without a source, evidence is hard to come by and the perpetrator will often go unpunished.

Reinholdt denies that this is the case. Teachers will investigate reports thoroughly by speaking with students named in the complaint, she says, and any others they suspect are involved.

For the most part, she adds, students are very helpful when approached for information.

New technology, new alibis

Still, even if an anonymous source's identity is discovered, Roher says proving guilt — from a school or legal perspective — is incredibly difficult.

Teens have tech-savvy alibis at hand when confronted with cyberbullying evidence. For example:

• Harassing messages sent to a peer from their phone or computer? Another student must have sent those when borrowing the device in question.
• Mean-spirited comments coming from a Facebook or Twitter profile with their name and photo? Someone must have created a fake profile in their name to get away with bullying others.

Phantom-profile bullying is "extremely common and really problematic," says Roher, because school staff can't tell who is creating the images without conducting an in-depth investigation.

But when presented with complex or criminal cases, Reinholdt says schools do collaborate with the police, who are better equipped to investigate.

Schools, police share jurisdiction

Another part of the solution is simply to promote awareness of the consequences of cyberbullying.

Often, kids are shocked to learn their off-school conduct can result in school intervention, says Roher, describing a recent cyberbullying incident. An unnamed 14-year-old girl engaged in consensual oral sex with multiple partners at a weekend party. The next day, a boy posted her photo to Facebook with a callous note explaining her party antics. Several hours later, hundreds of negative comments appeared under the photo. While the boy did contact Facebook to have the image deleted, the ordeal affected the girl's reputation at school.

"[If] there is a link or nexus to the school, and it impacts the school climate, then the educators can take action in terms of student discipline," he said.

School punishments can range from a verbal warning to expulsion, depending on the severity of the bullying.

Police can also press criminal charges, such as in the highly publicized Steubenville, Ohio, rape case where two teen football players were found guilty of raping a 15-year-old girl after evidence surfaced online. Following the court's verdict, police charged two teen girls with threatening the victim online.

Band-Aid solutions

Shaheen Shariff, director of Define the Line, conducts cyberbullying research and runs outreach initiatives teaching students and staff about the problem and how to deal with it.

She worries about school's reactive responses to bullying, and says anti-bullying apps won't solve much unless someone acts on the information they gather.

'If the schools don't know how to deal with [these reports], then we're no further ahead.'—Shaheen Shariff, director of Define the Line

"If the schools don't know how to deal with [these reports]," said Shariff, "then we're no further ahead."

Suspending or expelling so-called problem students after the fact is not helpful, she says. Instead, schools need to change student culture by encouraging kids to brainstorm and implement solutions to stopping toxic behaviour.

Schools are also grappling with how to change negative peer culture. Reinholdt recognizes TipOff's limitations and says its primary purpose in schools is to increase reporting and staff awareness. Her schools are also implementing social skills programs and encouraging positive student behaviour.

There's general agreement that schools, parents, governments and corporations must work together to tackle bullying — cyber or otherwise — and the culture whose viral shaming forced young girls like Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons to feel like the only solution was suicide. Todd, Parsons and other such cases prove that "enough is enough," says Roher, and students must be educated to reflect that.

"So, how long will it take? I think it will take some time because this is a cultural and attitudinal shift," said Reinholdt, whose district will be deciding whether or not to implement TipOff in all of its schools in the near future.

"It isn't just a matter of saying, 'Stop doing it,' and that's the end of it. That just doesn't work in these cases. It really is changing behaviours and cultures and attitudes."

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Winnipeg woman's assisted suicide plan OK'd by Swiss doctor

A Winnipeg woman is one step closer to dying today, thanks to a Swiss physician who has confirmed that she is psychologically prepared for the end.

It was one of the significant but no less painful last hurdles that 72-year-old Susan Griffiths has had to clear in advance of her scheduled assisted suicide in Zurich this week.

"Even the doctor that we met today and other people in the medical profession have said the same thing," said Griffiths. "If they had my disease that I have they would do what I am doing. Interesting."

Griffiths has multiple system atrophy, a rare disease that is already robbing her of the ability to perform the most basic bodily functions.

There is no cure or even hope for remission, just a virtual guarantee of a progressing debility.

So Griffiths has decided to commit suicide, but she needs help to do that, and assisted suicide is against the law in Canada.

Assisted suicide is legal, however, in Switzerland. On Thursday, Griffiths has an appointment with Dignitas, a non-profit organization that administers assisted suicides to both locals and foreigners.

Must meet with physician twice

First, however, the law requires that Griffiths be seen by a local physician twice in the space of three days to confirm both her mindset and her resolve.

Griffiths had a brief first meeting with the physician, who within minutes assessed her medical case and made arrangements for the followup meeting.

The follow-up is legally required to make sure she's not having second thoughts and if she is, to allow her to express them.

Once the followup is done, the physician will prescribe a fatal dose of drugs to go directly to Dignitas in time for her appointment on Thursday.

It is an emotional week that is taking its toll on Griffiths.

Already, she is in a wheelchair more often than she is out of it. She has trouble eating, she said, because the muscles in her mouth are weakening. She salivates and can't control it.

Griffiths' voice is weak and the pain in her legs is relentless.

"It hurts to wear my clothes," she said. "Against my skin — wherever it touches me, it hurts."

Family members gather

A brother from England, her sons from Germany and Switzerland, and her daughter and grandchildren from Winnipeg are spending a final few days together with Griffiths.

"Every now and then my granddaughter Emma gets upset," Griffiths said. "We'll be laughing about something and then she'll start to cry."

The days and evenings have been filled with memories and laughter, but moments like those remind them all what they're about to lose.

It also, however, strengthens Griffiths' resolve. These gatherings are physically hard on her, a biting reminder that she can't do it anymore, and that's when she gets angry at her disease.

"It's just a shame that I'm going to bring an end to all of that. Because I couldn't keep it up anyway — because I don't feel well, and I just want to get it over with," she said.

"I just want the old me back and there won't be one, so I might as well just finish up as soon as possible. It's hard to believe the time has come."

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Rehtaeh Parsons's family has 'heartfelt' talk with Harper

Leah Parsons and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter arrive on Parliament Hill. (CBC)

Two weeks after their daughter died following months of alleged online harassment, the family of Rehtaeh Parsons sat down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and urged him to ban the distribution of intimate images online under the Criminal Code of Canada.

The prime minister invited them to Ottawa to discuss cyberbullying. The family was accompanied by Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, who met separately with Harper.

According to the Leah Parsons, four boys sexually assaulted her daughter when she was 15. Rehtaeh was then said to have been mocked by classmates, enduring relentless harassment and humiliation after a photo of the attack was circulated at her Cole Harbour, N.S., school and on social media.

On April 7, Rehtaeh was taken off life support after attempting to take her own life a few days earlier. She was 17.

Appearing on camera for the first time since Rehtaeh's death, her father Glen Canning said Ottawa must do "something" about cyberbullying.

He said the 45-minute discussion was a "heartfelt" meeting between parents.

The death of Rehtaeh Parsons after she was bullied has been reported on around the globe. (Stephen Puddicombe/CBC)

"It's frustrating for us to go through something like this and feel so defenceless to do anything at all to help our daughter. So we conveyed that message, we conveyed it very clearly. It's sad it had to happen like this but it was just good to see there is something the government can do," he said.

"For the way the laws are set up in Canada right now there was absolutely nothing we could do to help our daughter but stand there and watch her die."

'Twisted logic of freedom on the internet'

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson also sat in on the meeting and said when he meets with Nova Scotia Justice Minister Ross Landry on Wednesday he will try to expedite the process.

The federal government is promising to enact a Victim's Bill of Rights.

"Our hearts go out to the family as they cope with the loss of their teenage daughter," Nicholson said.

"Last October, following another unfortunate suicide, federal, provincial and territorial ministers of justice and public safety directed senior officials to identify potential gaps in the Criminal Code with regard to cyberbullying and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images."

"When I meet with my justice counterparts tomorrow, I will recommend that we expedite the review of our laws, move forward and act to ensure that our children are safe from online exploitation."

Dexter said his meeting with Harper was "positive," but wouldn't delve into specifics.

"I have to leave it to the prime minister to talk about his own legislation. Obviously it's not something that would be appropriate for me to comment on, but what I can say is in our conversation he very much understood the concerns that I had about the particular aspects of the gaps that exist in the current Criminal Code," Dexter said.

"He indicated to me he understood this issue and that they intended to move forward with legislation that would address the kinds of concerns that we had," said the premier.

"The fact of the matter is, the activities that gave rise to this particular tragedy are criminal activities and they need to be seen that way. People who transmit intimate images without consent do so maliciously. They do so with the intent to injure."

He said he'll leave it up to the justice ministers to establish punishments.

"The things that are being done in the name in some kind of twisted logic of freedom on the internet, you know , we don't need to accept that. We shouldn't accept that, that somehow this kind of freedom allows you to destroy somebody else's life. We have to be able to find a way to harness it, to create like I say social disapproval."

The public outcry over the case prompted the Nova Scotia government to announce a plan for an independent review into both the police investigation and the Crown attorney's office that advised police not to lay charges in Rehtaeh's case.

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Via terror plot suspect tracked by RCMP for a year

The RCMP had been following one of the two suspects accused of trying to carry out an al-Qaeda supported plot to derail a Via passenger train for almost a year, CBC News has learned.

Sources told CBC's Power & Politics host Evan Solomon that the RCMP had tracked Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, since May 2012. At that time, two undercover surveillance officers watched him on an Air Canada flight to Cancun where he was to attend a biomedical conference.

Esseghaier's behaviour on the plane was "bizarre," and he had an altercation with a female flight attendant after he went to the washroom, sources say.

As well, sources told CBC News that the arrests of Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, were made because the behaviour of one of the suspects had become increasingly unpredictable. However, it is not known which suspect.

Esseghaier and Jaser are facing a number of charges including conspiracy to commit murder for the benefit of a terrorist group, authorities announced on Monday. They made separate court appearances in different provinces today, with early indications that both will likely plead not guilty to the charges.

CBC News has also learned that a member of al-Qaeda living in Iran, on the border with Afghanistan, was guiding and motivating the alleged suspects.

Meanwhile, police and intelligence agencies have been monitoring a broader network of terrorism suspects beyond the two men accused of plotting to derail a Via Rail passenger train, CBC News has learned.

Canadian and U.S. law enforcement have been co-operating on surveillance of suspects on both sides of the border for some time.

Jaser made a court appearance Tuesday in Toronto, while prosecutors in Montreal requested that jurisdiction in Esseghaier's case be moved to Toronto.

Prosecutors allege that the offences took place between April 2012 and February of this year.

Broader network under surveillance

CBC News has also learned this broader network has been under surveillance for many months — authorities also monitored their travel within North America — and Canadian authorities became more concerned after they received a tip about some men who were examining railway tracks in Ontario.

In Toronto on Tuesday, a judge granted a publication ban on the proceedings in a brief court appearance where Jaser was remanded in custody until his next appearance May 23.

"He's in a state of shock and disbelief," lawyer John Norris said of his client, 35-year-old Raed Jaser, speaking to crowds of reporters outside the Toronto courthouse.

"He's anxious to see the evidence that the Crown says it has against him."

Esseghaier declines lawyer for hearing

In another packed courtroom in Montreal, a bearded Esseghaier, who RCMP say has no fixed address, declined to be represented by a court-appointed lawyer at the hearing over jurisdiction.

The two men arrested are accused of plotting to attack a passenger train in the Toronto area. (iStock)

He made a brief statement in French in which he called the allegations against him unfair.

Neither man is a Canadian citizen, but each was in the country legally. RCMP did not say where either man was from or how they came to live in Canada, but The Canadian Press said Esseghaier is believed to be Tunisian.

Jennifer Strachan, chief superintendent of RCMP criminal operations in the province of Ontario, said Monday the two suspects watched trains and railways in the Greater Toronto Area.

"We are alleging that these two individuals took steps and conducted activities to initiate a terrorist attack," she told reporters.

There was a specific route targeted, not necessarily a specific train, Strachan said, although she declined to reveal the route. Police said the attack was not imminent.

According to a Reuters report, U.S. law enforcement and national security sources said the alleged plot targeted a rail line between Toronto and New York City. Via Rail and Amtrak jointly run routes between Canada and the U.S. Both companies say they're working with authorities.

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