Cyberattack at NRC occurred weeks before alert sent out

The federal government was aware a hacker had stolen secret information from the National Research Council last summer for at least three weeks before it notified stakeholders, employees and the public.

That warning went out on July 29, 2014, a day after news of the hacking incident first broke in the news media.

After the employees were notified, the computer network at the National Research Council was isolated from the rest of government and staff were told not to connect from mobile devices such as laptops.

An amber cyber-flash sent by Public Safety's Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre, which is tasked with protecting government departments from cyberattacks, said only that it was aware a Canadian institution "has been compromised in ongoing targeted attacks by highly skilled threat actors, using stolen credentials."

"The apparent objective of this activity is the theft of intellectual property, trade secrets and other sensitive business information," the alert added.

According to documents obtained by CBC News through Access to Information, in the three weeks leading up that notification, top officials from NRC, Shared Services, Public Safety and the RCMP met often to talk about priorities in dealing with the cyberattack.

Officials at the NRC will not say exactly what was done in the interim to stop the hackers from getting more information.

In an email to CBC News, the NRC would only say it was "informed of the cyber intrusion by its information security partners and took decisive action to contain and address this security breach."

Emails contained in the documents obtained by CBC News show employees of the Cyber Incident Response Centre referring to two internal reports of "malware infections" and "vulnerable services, including open resolvers" on July 11.

Minutes of meetings held in the ensuing days reveal Canada's spy agencies, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), were planning to investigate whether attack "was facilitated by an inside threat."

In an email to CBC News Friday, CSE said the investigation into the intrusion explored all possibilities but in the end there was no evidence of any malicious activity by a Government of Canada employee.

The government continues to blame a "highly sophisticated" Chinese state-sponsored actor for the incident.

One priority of the internal response was communications, to ensure the government had "coordinated and consistent messaging if this does become public."

The communications strategy included advising senior management on what to expect, what to say to employees, a formal notification of stakeholders and a "robust media relations protocol."

That strategy was led by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office, along with Treasury Board, which oversees Shared Services.

Katherine Thompson is a vice-president with the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, which brings together public and private sectors to address cybersecurity.

She's not surprised government officials did not notify stakeholders or even staff right away, noting there's no legal requirement to do so.

'If you haven't had time to patch the hole, you might actually open up your networks and your customers, and your partners, to more vulnerability'- Cheri McGuire, VP of cybersecurity, Symantec Corporation

"The fact of the matter is in many circumstances, organizations are not required to disclose," Thompson told CBC.

As for the time lag of three weeks, Thompson says that's not unusual either.

"It really does fall in line with what you're seeing in a lot of other high profile breaches, including the [U.S. retail giant] Target gap, which was about three weeks. And in fact, the reason why they disclosed when they did was the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in and kind of pulled the trigger on it," Thompson said.

Thompson says one possible solution is the new rules proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama last month, that would force companies to notify customers and stakeholders within 30 days of a breach.

It also encourages the private and the public sectors to share more information about cybersecurity.

Cheri McGuire, who has worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is now vice-president in charge of cybersecurity for Symantec Corporation, says the debate about when to tell the public about a cyberattack is ongoing in the U.S and Canada. The timing is critical, she said.

"If you haven't had time to patch the hole, you might actually open up your networks and your customers, and your partners, to more vulnerability," McGuire said at a defence conference this week in Ottawa.

In the wake of the attack last summer, NRC officials warned it may take up to a year to upgrade its IT network.

This week, the Harper government tabled supplementary budget estimates that included a request for $32.5 million for a new secure telecommunications and IT strategy for the NRC.

The NRC will only say its working to make sure its computer system is able to withstand cyberattacks in the future.

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Tom Mulcair calls possible ISIS fight expansion to Libya, Syria 'disquieting'

Opposition leader Tom Mulcair said it's "disquieting" to hear Defence Minister Jason Kenney state Canada would be open to expanding its ISIS mission beyond Iraq to Syria and Libya.

"[Kenney] knows the Department of Defence is against it," said Mulcair in an interview on Sunday with CBC News. "It's all from the result of the war there led by George W. Bush. This is an American-led mission."

On Saturday, Evan Solomon, host of CBC Radio's The House, asked Kenney about participating in missions in Syria and Libya. Kenney indicated the government is not ruling out taking Canada's military mission against ISIS beyond Iraq. 

"Well, we're going to look at all of the options," Kenney said.

Short-term vs. long-term

"Obviously there are practical limits to our ability to operate around the world, but we will look at our options to see where we can have the most impact, where we're most needed," he said. "That requires ongoing consultation with our allies. We don't just decide these things unilaterally."

Christian Leuprecht, a security expert at the Royal Military College and Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., said it's not surprising Canada might explore bigger options.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney continues to send signals that Canada's mission in Iraq could be extended and that the fight against ISIS could go beyond Iraq. (Canadian Forces Combat Camera)

"Over the decades when there has been an international concensus...Canada has made a contribution [and] that's always been with a serious capacity on the ground," he told CBC News on Saturday.

While Leuprecht acknowledges a military response could be the short-term answer, he would like to see a longer-term solution to helping out Libya.

"ISIS thrives on instability in the region and a large swath of youth in the region don't see a future for themselves," he noted.  "The strategy has to be to make the countries more viable for that demographic [because] that's the demographic ISIS is after."

Fight could be renewed

"Obviously we're in Iraq at the invitation of that government in a mission of, I think, over two dozen countries being coordinated by the United States. If we can help meaningfully in the fight against ISIL elsewhere we'll give that consideration," the minister said.

This week, Kenney hinted that Canada's six-month military commitment to fight the extremist group could be renewed. He said cabinet members would be evaluating the progress of Operation Impact in the "very near future" as they make that decision.

Canadian fighter jets have been in Kuwait since October for the mission, which is scheduled to run until the start of April.

Egypt has called for international intervention in Libya against ISIS. Loyalists of the Syria- and Iraq-based group have risen in number to dominate several cities in the North African nation.

Last weekend, ISIS released a video showing the beheading 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt, on a beach in Libya. The mass slaying provoked a round of Egyptian air strikes on the group's Libyan stronghold of Derna.

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Mohamed Fahmy's retrial in Egypt adjourned until March 8

The retrial of Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed has been adjourned until March 8, bringing more uncertainty and confusion to the case that has seen Fahmy spend more than 400 days in prison.

Fahmy arrived for the retrial shortly after 9 a.m. in Cairo, in his first return to court since being released on bail Feb. 12. He was flanked by fiancée, Marwa Omara and his lawyer, Khaled Abu Bakr.

But two witnesses scheduled to appear were no-shows.

"It's another circus of a retrial," said Fahmy,wearing a dark suit and sunglasses. "We have an adjournment. The least you can do is bring the witnesses."

The second trial was ordered after an Egyptian appeals court threw out the case, after Fahmy had been sentenced to seven years in prison on terrorism charges. 

Fahmy, 40, was told he would have to spend the hearing in the prisoner's box — essentially a courtroom cage —  but there was confusion at the beginning of the hearing, and Fahmy was called out and spent a couple of minutes facing the judge as it was determined the witnesses were not present.

"It's very frustrating for me because I don't have my full freedom," Fahmy said after the court was adjourned. "I still have to sign in at the police station every day and it just doesn't make any sense."

Fahmy calls again for Harper's help

Fahmy, who shook hands with Canadian ambassador to Egypt Troy Lulashnyk in court, said he met with the ambassador and Egyptian officials, who gave him assurances that they would push for this case to be dealt with quickly. He said to CBC's Derek Stoffel that he and his lawyers believe deportation to Canada is still an option.

"Our government of Canada has been very responsive lately," Fahmy said. "[Lulashnyk] has been engaging directly with the prosecutor and there's been better response. However, I again repeat my call to [Canadian] Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper to exert more pressure and have direct request to President [Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi] to deport me, especially since Canada and Egypt have friendly relations."

Can't see on mobile? See Fahmy arriving for court on Twitter here

Fahmy said he still has no contact with anyone from the Prime Minister's Office or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. He said that he's spoken with opposition MPs about his case.

Fahmy and Al-Jazeera colleague Mohamed, both arrested in December 2013, face charges of being part of a terrorist group and airing falsified footage intended to damage Egyptian national security.

Another colleague arrested with them, Australian Peter Greste, was deported to Australia on Feb. 1 under a new law allowing foreigners accused of crimes to be deported.

Fahmy dropped Egyptian citizenship

Fahmy, a dual Egyptian-Canadian national, dropped his Egyptian citizenship after he said security officials told him it was the only way he would benefit from the new law.

Egypt's Court of Cassation, the country's highest appeals court, ordered the retrial, saying the initial proceedings were marred by violations of the defendants' rights. 

Eleven other defendants — mostly students accused of being Muslim Brotherhood members — previously were ordered released without bail.

Since being released on bail, Fahmy has criticized Al-Jazeera, saying its "epic negligence has made our situation harder, more difficult, and gave our captor more firepower."

The same court and same judge sentenced a prominent activist to five years in jail on Monday for violating 
a law that seeks to curtail demonstrations.
 
After the verdict was read out, chants of "down, down with  military rule" rang out from supporters of Alaa Abdel El-Fattah crowded into the courtroom.

CBC's Sasa Petricic said the five-year sentence is considered harsh by Egyptian standards — a decision he said doesn't bode well for Fahmy.
 

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Liberals want draft doctor-assisted death law by mid-summer

Justin Trudeau's Liberals want the outlines of a new law governing doctor-assisted dying to be clear by mid-summer — before Canadians head to the polls in October.

They'll try to get the ball rolling Tuesday, introducing a motion that calls for creation of a special parliamentary committee to consult experts and Canadians on the potentially explosive issue.

They want the committee up and running by March 11 and they want it to report back to the House of Commons by July 31 with a proposed legislative framework.

The Liberal motion, to be put to a vote Tuesday or Wednesday, follows a landmark ruling earlier this month by the Supreme Court of Canada, which struck down the ban on physician-assisted suicide.

The top court gave Parliament 12 months to draft new legislation that recognizes the right of clearly consenting adults who are enduring intolerable physical or mental suffering to seek medical help to end their lives.

The Harper government appears to be in no rush; Justice Minister Peter MacKay has said the government will take its time to thoroughly study the details of the court ruling and look at how other jurisdictions, including Quebec, have dealt with the issue.

The government's response has sparked speculation that the ruling Conservatives would rather not open debate on the issue, which could expose divisions among their ranks, before the election.

However, the Liberal motion notes there's not actually much time left to deal with the matter before the court-imposed deadline, pointing to the summer parliamentary break and the fall election.

Parliament is scheduled to sit for just 12 more weeks before taking a 13-week break starting June 24.

The campaign for the federal election, slated for Oct. 19, will start in mid-September, before the planned resumption of Parliament.

It is thus conceivable that MPs might not get back to work before November or even December, leaving only two or three months to produce a new law on physician-assisted death.

"This is something that is important for Canadians on a personal level, and it's something that they look to leadership from their parliamentarians on." Trudeau said last week following a caucus discussion on the issue.

"I hope this is a debate that we can have in an informed and respectful way, but the Supreme Court has tasked us with the job of doing our job as legislators, and I think it's important that we do that."

Liberals last week began a Facebook campaign calling on Parliament to begin debating a physician-assisted death law "right now."

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New policy quietly tightens lid on federal cabinet secrets

The Conservative government has quietly tightened the lid on federal cabinet secrets in an effort to prevent compromising leaks.

A revised policy on the security of so-called cabinet confidences requires all possible breaches — "however slight" — to be immediately reported to the Prime Minister's Office or officials in the Privy Council Office, the government's bureaucratic nerve centre.

"This includes unauthorized disclosure, loss, theft, transmission and discussion over non-secure channels, unaccounted documents or other actual or suspected compromises."

In order to avoid such incidents, documents known to contain cabinet secrets must now be stamped "Confidences of the Queen's Privy Council."

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the new policy, along with a memo explaining the changes, under the Access to Information Act.

In addition, the Privy Council Office approved a complementary plan to digitize its archive of cabinet documents to allow for storage of the paper originals off-site in a secure, climate-controlled facility — a bid to avoid the sort of damage caused by a major flood in 2001.

New policy adopted last July

The confidentiality of cabinet proceedings — the political forum in which ministers make government decisions — is a long-standing constitutional convention and the cornerstone of the Westminster style of government, notes the new security policy, adopted last July.

It replaced one in effect since 2007.

The government's original aim was to update the policy in 2012 to address events that are blacked out of the heavily censored explanatory memo of April 2014 to Wayne Wouters, then the Privy Council clerk.

Raymond Rivet, a Privy Council Office spokesman, would not elaborate, saying only that "PCO regularly reviews its security policies and strives to update them approximately every five years."

In 2008, Maxime Bernier resigned as foreign affairs minister after acknowledging he left classified documents at the Montreal home of his former girlfriend for more than a month.

Two years later, the RCMP carried out a five-month investigation into an alleged leak of cabinet documents concerning federal interest in the F-35 stealth fighter before shutting down the probe due to lack of evidence.

The driving force behind the revamped policy seems to be "a clear desire to tighten up the security of these records after the Bernier affair and perhaps other lapses less well known," said Wesley Wark, a security expert and visiting professor at the University of Ottawa.

Scope broadened

A key challenge, says the memo, is distinguishing cabinet secrets from other types of sensitive documents in order to restrict access to those who have a valid need to see them.

The new policy does not expand the definition of a cabinet confidence but broadens the scope of a security breach to cover virtually all possibilities.

"Any security incident involving cabinet confidences, however slight, must be immediately reported to the PCO Security Operations ... or through the Prime Minister's Office switchboard," says the 13-page policy.

The affected departmental security officer is also to be notified.

Unless directed otherwise by PCO, the security officer is expected to conduct an initial administrative inquiry to determine what happened and identify corrective action.

The security officer is also expected to keep the PCO's director of security and emergency management apprised of the situation.

The Privy Council clerk, following consultation with the relevant deputy minister, may ask the RCMP to step in. The Mounties will then decide whether to investigate.

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Cyberattack at NRC occurred weeks before alert sent out

The federal government was aware a hacker had stolen secret information from the National Research Council last summer for at least three weeks before it notified stakeholders, employees and the public.

That warning went out on July 29, 2014, a day after news of the hacking incident first broke in the news media.

After the employees were notified, the computer network at the National Research Council was isolated from the rest of government and staff were told not to connect from mobile devices such as laptops.

An amber cyber-flash sent by Public Safety's Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre, which is tasked with protecting government departments from cyberattacks, said only that it was aware a Canadian institution "has been compromised in ongoing targeted attacks by highly skilled threat actors, using stolen credentials."

"The apparent objective of this activity is the theft of intellectual property, trade secrets and other sensitive business information," the alert added.

According to documents obtained by CBC News through Access to Information, in the three weeks leading up that notification, top officials from NRC, Shared Services, Public Safety and the RCMP met often to talk about priorities in dealing with the cyberattack.

Officials at the NRC will not say exactly what was done in the interim to stop the hackers from getting more information.

In an email to CBC News, the NRC would only say it was "informed of the cyber intrusion by its information security partners and took decisive action to contain and address this security breach."

Emails contained in the documents obtained by CBC News show employees of the Cyber Incident Response Centre referring to two internal reports of "malware infections" and "vulnerable services, including open resolvers" on July 11.

Minutes of meetings held in the ensuing days reveal Canada's spy agencies, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), were planning to investigate whether attack "was facilitated by an inside threat."

In an email to CBC News Friday, CSE said the investigation into the intrusion explored all possibilities but in the end there was no evidence of any malicious activity by a Government of Canada employee.

The government continues to blame a "highly sophisticated" Chinese state-sponsored actor for the incident.

One priority of the internal response was communications, to ensure the government had "coordinated and consistent messaging if this does become public."

The communications strategy included advising senior management on what to expect, what to say to employees, a formal notification of stakeholders and a "robust media relations protocol."

That strategy was led by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic wing of the Prime Minister's Office, along with Treasury Board, which oversees Shared Services.

Katherine Thompson is a vice-president with the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, which brings together public and private sectors to address cybersecurity.

She's not surprised government officials did not notify stakeholders or even staff right away, noting there's no legal requirement to do so.

'If you haven't had time to patch the hole, you might actually open up your networks and your customers, and your partners, to more vulnerability'- Cheri McGuire, VP of cybersecurity, Symantec Corporation

"The fact of the matter is in many circumstances, organizations are not required to disclose," Thompson told CBC.

As for the time lag of three weeks, Thompson says that's not unusual either.

"It really does fall in line with what you're seeing in a lot of other high profile breaches, including the [U.S. retail giant] Target gap, which was about three weeks. And in fact, the reason why they disclosed when they did was the U.S. Department of Justice stepped in and kind of pulled the trigger on it," Thompson said.

Thompson says one possible solution is the new rules proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama last month, that would force companies to notify customers and stakeholders within 30 days of a breach.

It also encourages the private and the public sectors to share more information about cybersecurity.

Cheri McGuire, who has worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and is now vice-president in charge of cybersecurity for Symantec Corporation, says the debate about when to tell the public about a cyberattack is ongoing in the U.S and Canada. The timing is critical, she said.

"If you haven't had time to patch the hole, you might actually open up your networks and your customers, and your partners, to more vulnerability," McGuire said at a defence conference this week in Ottawa.

In the wake of the attack last summer, NRC officials warned it may take up to a year to upgrade its IT network.

This week, the Harper government tabled supplementary budget estimates that included a request for $32.5 million for a new secure telecommunications and IT strategy for the NRC.

The NRC will only say its working to make sure its computer system is able to withstand cyberattacks in the future.

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Ethics watchdog tries again to get MPs to limit gift bags, junkets

In what has become a long-running, if largely fruitless, campaign, Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson is once again attempting to persuade MPs to tighten up the House conflict of interest code.

Judging from the response she has received, however, it appears her parliamentary charges still aren't ready to heed her call.

During an appearance before the procedure and House affairs committee Thursday, Dawson reiterated many of the same suggestions that she's made in the past — most recently, when she testified at the same committee during its statutory review of the code in 2012.

That list includes:

• "Significantly" reducing the $500-threshold for public disclosure of gifts.
• Adding additional restrictions on political fundraising efforts that could potentially be seen as furthering private interests.
• Imposing filing deadlines for all "reporting obligations."
• Broadening disclosure rules to cover the private interests of relatives and friends, not just immediate family members.
• Giving the Ethics Commissioner more leeway to explain her decision to reject or launch requested investigations.
• Barring MPs from publicly discussing complaints filed with the commissioner until the request has been received and the target notified.
• Empowering the commissioner to summon witnesses and compel production of documents, as is already the case under the Conflict of Interest Act governing public office holders.

In her opening statement, Dawson expanded on her concerns over how the code deals with sponsored travel.

"It's a paradox that a gift from an organization seeking to influence [an MP] would not be acceptable, but an expensive trip sponsored by the same organization would be permitted without any question," Dawson told the committee.

Sponsored travel, gifts

Dawson would like to see the code include an "acceptability test" akin to that already in place for gifts and other benefits, and would reduce the threshold for publicly reporting all information related to such travel — including any part paid by a third party — to $500.

Under her recommendations, MPs would also required to publicly declare "any outside source of funding for sponsored travel," even if directed through an inter-parliamentary association or friendship group.

She also highlighted what has become a continuing theme: the challenge of ensuring that invitations to events — from cocktail receptions to "information sessions" — at which refreshments are served comply with existing rules.

"Members may not consider them to be gifts, or may believe they constitute customary hospitality and are thus exempted from the acceptability test," she said, adding she has "always applied the gift rules to such invitations."

Her recommendation: Create a "special category" under the code that would exempt events where invitations are issued to all MPs.

Finally, Dawson suggested MPs might want to consider establishing a separate code of conduct to cover partisan and personal conduct of their staff.

Gift bag ban requirements questioned

But during a question-and-answer session following her presentation, committee members seemed more concerned with the logistics of the rules already in place — and, perhaps unintentionally, in providing a rare view into the more prosaic aspects of life as an MP.

Conservative MP Scott Reid brought up Dawson's edict last fall forbidding MPs from accepting gift bags from lobby groups, which, he argued, put MPs in the position of having to return "unsolicited mail" or risk breaching the code.

"This was with relation to some stuff that had been sent to members from the Canadian Health Food Association," Reid said.

"Aside from a $10-off coupon at Kardish health stores," he added, "it's all things that I can't regard as being gifts: a bunch of fish oil capsules, [an] issue of Alive … some Bio-K probiotic capsules."

By the time he'd received Dawson's memo, he said, he had "thrown all this stuff in the garbage, making it impossible to return it."

"I don't want to be in a situation where I have to, when I get unsolicited mail, be under a moral obligation to hunt down the person who sent it to me and send it back to them," he told the commissioner.

"Is there anything that would preclude you, as the code is written … from saying you must return it or dispose of it, and then perhaps you could have a form that we sign saying we just got rid of it?"

Dawson stressed her memo was meant to make the point that those giving gifts should be aware of the rules as well. She added that returning such offerings might be a good way of reinforcing that message.

And those capsules? They can cost more than $100 in drug stores, she said.

Riding galas part of 'Saturday duties': NDP MP

Meanwhile, New Democrat MP Charlie Angus wanted to make sure any limits on accepting tickets to events wouldn't infringe on his ability to do his job in his riding.

"An MP might be asked to go to four events on a Saturday night," he noted.

"It's a hundred dollars for each of them. Personally I never thought that I was being lobbied — I thought that was my job. Are you saying that if I go to the Heart and Stroke gala, and I don't buy my ticket…"

Dawson assured him the rules would only come into play if the ticket was purchased by "somebody who has an interest in getting something from you."

"Okay, so someone buys me tickets to a hockey game, and they work for a telecom, then that would be a question of they're offering you a gift — I get that," Angus said.

"But going to gala events in your riding, which is part of your Saturday duties as an MP.... that's a different thing? Okay, good."

This is the first — and, so far, only — meeting on the committee schedule for this latest review of the code.

As for that statutory five-year review that wrapped up in 2012 — more than two years later, it still hasn't been tabled in the House.

And with just 12 sitting weeks to go before the 41st Parliament shuts down for good, Dawson may find herself making the very same case to a new — or, perhaps, familiar — batch of MPs after the next election.

Read Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson's written submission to committee here:

CBC is not responsible for 3rd party content

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Ukraine preparing for 'full-scale war,' says former envoy to Canada

Ukraine's deputy foreign minister says he is preparing for "full-scale war" against Russia and wants Canada to help by supplying lethal weapons and the training to use them.

Vadym Prystaiko, who until last fall was Ukraine's ambassador to Canada, says the world must not be afraid of joining Ukraine in the fight against a nuclear power.

In an interview with CBC Radio's The House airing Saturday, Prystaiko says the ceasefire brokered by Germany and France was not holding.

"The biggest hub we ever had in the railroad is completely destroyed and devastated," he told host Evan Solomon about Debaltseve, captured by Russian-backed rebels after the terms were to have taken effect earlier this week.

'What we expect from the world is that the world will stiffen up in the spine a little'— Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's deputy foreign minister

"We see that they are not stopping," he says, suggesting the fight was now heading south to the port of Mariupol.

"It doesn't take a genius to see what they are trying to do.… They are taking more and more strategic points."

The former ambassador was in the room during the attempts to broker a political solution with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Minsk.

"Personally I don't trust him," he says. "You look at him and you think, 'Are you serious?'"

"Nobody knows what is going on in his head. I believe he is becoming very emotional [over the two countries' historic ties]," he suggests, calling Putin's intentions "difficult to predict."

Prystaiko echoes the view German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to have expressed to U.S. President Barack Obama privately a year ago: "He is rational in his own way. He is in some parallel universe ... and he sees differently than everyone else."

'We have to do something'

"The stakes are really high," Prystaiko says, pointing out that Ukraine has now closed its border crossing with Russia. "We don't want to scare everybody, but we are preparing for full-scale war."

What to do in the face of such a threat? For starters, get over your fears, he says.

"What we expect from the world is that the world will stiffen up in the spine a little," he says. "Everybody is afraid of fighting with a nuclear state. We are not anymore, in Ukraine — we've lost so many people of ours, we've lost so much of our territory.

Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's deputy foreign minister and the former ambassador to Canada, says Russian President Vladimir Putin must be stopped, for the sake not just of Ukraine but also Europe and Russia as well. (Justin Tang/Canadian Press)

"However dangerous it sounds, we have to stop [Putin] somehow. For the sake of the Russian nation as well, not just for the Ukrainians and Europe."

Prystaiko says Ukrainians are blunt when it comes to what they need.

"We would like Canada to send lethal weapons to Ukraine," he said. "Weapons to allow us to defend ourselves."

Canada has been helping to train Ukrainian soldiers for the last decade, but it isn't enough, he says.

"It wasn't on the level that would help our army [against an] invasion."

Ukraine wants weapons, and training to use them, he said.

His country has received all the non-lethal assistance Canada pledged, with the exception of new radar technology which is "in the final stages," he says.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney emphasized at a defence conference Thursday in Ottawa that the radar capabilities would not be used for targeting potential strikes against rebel forces.

He also said last weekend on The House that Canada doesn't have large stockpiles of weapons to give, although it could acquire some from other vendors and then supply Ukraine.

'It's painful'

Beyond weapons, Prystaiko emphasized the importance of financial assistance, including a package on its way from Canada and Japan.

"Don't forget that the infrastructure in Donetsk is already devastated. We've lost at least 20 per cent of the industrial [output] of Ukraine. We've had to close the market with Russia, which is a third of our exports and imports.

"It's painful."

He says Canada has been helpful by taking "probably the most staunch position" and talking to its allies.

"It's a big change for Europe," he says, where neighbouring countries feel scared.

But he doesn't hold back from calling on Ukraine's Western allies to step up, echoing the frustration he expressed last November over Canada's willingness to intervene in Iraq but not send troops to help Ukraine.

"I was quite blunt … and probably it was premature at that point but now I have to ask again: If we see the same sort of rebels coming towards central Ukraine, towards other cities, how much is different from what we see in Iraq and the international help which was coming?"

"Unfortunately, we will probably pose a very serious question for the rest of the world: How can we react to this new challenge? We haven't had it for 50 years in Europe. Now it's back again."

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Canada considers taking fight against ISIS to Libya, Syria

Defence Minister Jason Kenney has indicated the government is not ruling out taking Canada's military mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group beyond Iraq — to Syria and Libya.

Evan Solomon, host of CBC Radio's The House, asked Kenney about participating in missions in those countries.

"Well, we're going to look at all of the options," Kenney said an interview broadcast Saturday.

"Obviously there are practical limits to our ability to operate around the world, but we will look at our options to see where we can have the most impact, where we're most needed," he said. "That requires ongoing consultation with our allies. We don't just decide these things unilaterally."

Christian Leuprecht, a security expert at the Royal Military College and Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., said it's not surprising Canada might explore bigger options.

"Over the decades when there has been an international concensus...Canada has made a contribution [and] that's always been with a serious capacity on the ground," he told CBC News on Saturday.

While Leuprecht acknowledges a military response could be the short-term answer, he would like to see a longer-term solution to helping out Libya.

"ISIS thrives on instability in the region and a large swath of youth in the region don't see a future for themselves," he noted.  "The strategy has to be to make the countries more viable for that demographic [because] that's the demographic ISIS is after."

"Obviously we're in Iraq at the invitation of that government in a mission of, I think, over two dozen countries being coordinated by the United States. If we can help meaningfully in the fight against ISIL elsewhere we'll give that consideration," the minister said.

This week, Kenney hinted that Canada's six-month military commitment to fight the extremist group could be renewed. He said cabinet members would be evaluating the progress of Operation Impact in the "very near future" as they make that decision.

Canadian fighter jets have been in Kuwait since October for the mission, which is scheduled to run until the start of April.

Egypt has called for international intervention in Libya against ISIS. Loyalists of the Syria- and Iraq-based group have risen in number to dominate several cities in the North African nation.

Last weekend, ISIS released a video showing the beheading 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt, on a beach in Libya. The mass slaying provoked a round of Egyptian air strikes on the group's Libyan stronghold of Derna.

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'Get at it and to it,' says new P.E.I. Liberal Leader MacLauchlan

Newly confirmed P.E.I. Liberal Leader Wade MacLauchlan turned to the words of Island songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors to inspire his party for a campaign expected this spring.

"As Stompin' Tom has taught us, 'If ya don't get at it when ya get to it, you won't get to it to get at it again,'" said MacLauchlan.

MacLauchlan was the only candidate for the leadership, and the convention Saturday afternoon was a formality. He will be sworn in as premier on Monday morning, along with a new cabinet. He replaces Robert Ghiz, who announced in November he would resign pending the election of a new leader.

MacLauchlan, the former president of the University of Prince Edward Island, has been criticized for not laying out more details of his agenda as he moves into government. He was short on specifics Saturday as well, but did present the pillars of a strategy for a provincial election campaign expected in the spring: economic growth, demographic change, and open government.

"Prosperity starts with growing our economy," he said.

"The fastest and most sustainable way we can do that is to build on our success stories, to increase sales of our goods and services to other provinces and internationally."

Immigration central to population strategy

On demographic change, MacLauchlan said the province must continue in its recent successes in attracting immigrants. The province has to do better at retaining its own talented and most mobile people, and encouraging expatriate Islanders to return.

"We cannot prosper without an effective population strategy," he said.

MacLauchlan directly addressed the growing Chinese population on P.E.I., speaking in Mandarin wishing them a happy new year.

The Chinese population could be a significant factor in the coming election, especially in Charlottetown. There is the potential for thousands of new Chinese Canadians voting for the first time in the capital city.

Innovation in open government

On the subject of open government, MacLauchlan said it was critical for citizen engagement. While the province leads the country in voter participant, he noted, the Island must strive to do better.

"We have an opportunity to be innovators in making government data open and accessible," he said.

MacLauchlan also took time to highlight how much he has travelled since announcing for the Liberal leadership on Nov. 28.

He said he has covered 10,000 kilometres, including two kilometres on Wednesday to get from his home to a ploughed road. He has met with farmers and fishermen, food processors, and manufacturers, and visited schools, group homes, family violence shelters, food banks, and organizations offering services for addictions and mental health.

UPEI experience

MacLauchlan made a point about collaboration while discussing his successes as president of UPEI.

'My leadership will be collaborative. And our Liberal party will take the high road.'- Wade MacLauchlan

During his 12 years as university president, he said, enrolments doubled and research activity increased five-fold. He said he was able to achieve this growth despite different parties ruling in Charlottetown and Ottawa for 11 of the 12 years he was president, and that federal-provincial collaboration was essential for that growth.

"I know about working together," he said.

"My leadership will be collaborative. And our Liberal party will take the high road. We will call on our better nature. And we will call on others to be better natured."

MacLauchlan is an academic with no political experience. Opposition parties paint him as an elitist, out of touch with ordinary Islanders. Some Islanders have taken issue with the fact MacLauchlan did not have to compete for the leadership.

MacLauchlan will be sworn in as premier on Monday. He is hoping to put a fresh face on the P.E.I. Liberals, while holding onto the sizable lead they've enjoyed in the polls under Ghiz.

Next Saturday , the opposition Tories choose their new leader, setting the stage for an election expected this spring.

Outgoing premier Robert Ghiz hasn't said what his plans are, but has ruled out a jump to federal politics for now.

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