 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Canada's Russia sanctions are hitting people with no connection to Putin's war | | |  | The Alfa-Bank building in Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 15, 2016. On Feb. 24, 2022, federal sanctions barred Canadians from doing business with Alfa-Bank. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters) | | | Canada's economic measures against Russia — which are meant to target the assets of wealthy oligarchs and government officials — are hitting the personal finances of people with no ties to the Putin regime, CBC News has learned.
Some Canadian residents who have no connections to the Russian government and don't support President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine say their personal savings have been frozen because of how Global Affairs Canada administers its sanctions.
Acting in tandem with other Western allies, Canada has been blocking all financial dealings and freezing Canadian-held accounts linked to a list of sanctioned individuals and business entities — a list that now runs to over 2,100 names.
CBC News has spoken to four individuals who are not named on this list and are not accused of supporting Putin's regime. They say they can't access tens of thousands of dollars in personal savings because the major banks they and their families dealt with in Russia and Kazakhstan were caught up in Canada's sanctions.
"I support Ukraine in this. A lot," said Natasha, who's originally from Belarus but moved to Saint Petersburg for university. She said she and her husband were offered jobs in Canada's tech sector and left Russia in 2020, looking for a "better and safer life."
CBC News has agreed not to use her last name or show her face because she's concerned about her job security.
Natasha and her husband have applied for, but have not yet received, permanent residency in Canada. Because of the strong emotions the war in Ukraine evokes, she said, she also fears online harassment.
In the weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine, Natasha worried about losing the savings she and her husband left behind in Alfa-Bank, Russia's largest private bank — between $80,000 and $133,000 Cdn, she said.
"Because of the history of where I come from, I just thought that it would be very risky to have anything there," she said.
She began the process of moving her money to a Canadian account. But the transfer wasn't complete by Feb. 24 — when Ottawa's sanctions barred Canadians from doing business with Alfa-Bank. Her money was blocked and frozen.
Her application for an exemption is now part of a growing backlog at Global Affairs, as non-sanctioned individuals plead for ministerial permits to release their personal savings. | | | | | Beyoncé makes history, while being shut out of major awards at Grammys | | |  | (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images) | | | | Beyoncé accepts the award for best dance/electronic music album for Renaissance during the 65th Grammys on Sunday. She is now the most-lauded artist in Grammy history. Read more from last night's show and check out the full list of winners here. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria on Monday, killing more than 1,300 people and injuring thousands more. Buildings collapsed across the region, triggering searches for survivors in the rubble. The quake, which hit in the early morning, was also felt in Cyprus and Lebanon. "We were shaken like a cradle. There were nine of us at home. Two sons of mine are still in the rubble, I'm waiting for them," said a woman, her arm broken and wounds on her face as she spoke in an ambulance near the wreckage of the seven-storey block where she lived in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Read more on this story here.
An Edmonton car salesman says the Kia dealership he recently left repeatedly ripped off customers, emboldened by a shortage of new vehicles in the pandemic. He says the dealership didn't sell vehicles at the advertised price, breaking the law in Alberta and several other provinces. The case files of the provincial regulator, the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council, reveal that in the current fiscal year only two investigations were directly related to all-in pricing. They required both dealerships to pay, in total, less than $4,000 to consumers who were out-of-pocket after all-in pricing breaches. Read the full story from Go Public.
More than 900 evacuees from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba still can't return to their community nearly nine months after floodwaters ravaged the reserve. Nearly 300 homes are uninhabitable and many have been given no timeline for when they may be able to go back, Chief Glenn Hudson said. At least 85 homes have already been condemned and nearly 200 are in need of major repairs before anyone can live in them again, Hudson said. "The homes themselves are mould-infested," he said. "The furnaces, the hot water tanks, washers and dryers … the appliances are all damaged. They're not functional." More than 2,000 people were forced to leave the First Nation last spring and around 1,200 have been able to move back to their community. Read more here.
Town council in Prescott, Ont., is set to consider a motion calling on the Ontario government to follow Quebec's lead by scrapping a requirement that elected officials swear an oath of allegiance to King Charles III. The motion is being brought forward by Coun. Lee McConnell, and if it receives a seconder, it will be discussed by council on Feb. 27. If passed, council in the town roughly 90 kilometres south of Ottawa would then call on Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark to consider amending the Municipal Act. The act currently requires anyone elected or appointed to a municipal council to swear the oath. Read more on this story here.
Several Canadian cities are facing high office vacancy rates even as many workers have returned to downtown towers and suburban business parks. With residential rents increasing and a housing shortage in much of Canada, the idea of turning empty offices into housing is very trendy. There's even government funding for renovating offices into residential use. Projects are underway in Calgary and Halifax; others are being planned or debated in Toronto, London, Ont., and Yellowknife. Experts say the concept is good, but it’s not a fix-all to solve complex housing issues. Read the full story here.
Now for some good news to start your Monday: With only one remaining Blockbuster store left in the world, wandering carpeted aisles picking out the perfect movie and snack is an activity of the past for most. But one Langley, B.C., teen hopes to bring back part of the experience. Grade 12 student Matthew Reed started a "Free Blockbuster" box in his neighbourhood of Walnut Grove, in the Township of Langley about 45 kilometres east of Vancouver, as part of a school project. "It's sort of like going to an actual Blockbuster store but it's on the curbside and it doesn't cost anything," said Reed. Read more on this story here. | | | OPINION | Shameful backlash to lawyers' Indigenous culture course shows why we need it | | | Question the Law Society of Alberta rules all you want, but the long history of disadvantage that Indigenous people have faced is not up for debate, writes Daniel Song. Read the column here. | | | | | FIRST PERSON | I've lost more than the ability to speak all the languages of my mixed heritage | | | As a mixed-race person, Yasmeen Awadh’s inner voice is constantly inquiring if she could do more to be Kuwaiti or Filipino. The pressure can be exhausting. Read her column here. | | | | | For stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada. | | | | |  | | | Catch up on what you missed this weekend | | | On this episode, we hear from Yazidis who fled to Canada after escaping genocide — and how the community is reacting to the coming repatriation of suspected ISIS fighters. We speak to a surveillance technologies expert on the suspected Chinese spy balloon. Plus, Olivia Stefanovich tells us about the calls for a review of using Indigenous elders to help in prisons.
Listen to our capsule episode | | | Today in history: February 6 | | | 1901: The federal Conservative caucus picks Robert Borden as its new leader. Borden served as prime minister from 1911 to 1920, guiding the country through the First World War.
1948: Ottawa’s Barbara Ann Scott, 19, becomes the first North American woman to win an Olympic figure skating title. Scott took the gold medal in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She was also world champion in 1947 and 1948.
1952: King George VI dies of cancer at the age of 56. His eldest daughter succeeded him as Queen Elizabeth II.
1988: The first Canadian quintuplets conceived through in vitro fertilization — Remington, Wade, Lance, William and Maxine Collier — are born in Toronto. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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