Many artists won’t go back and listen to their previous albums because all they hear are the mistakes and the things they should have done to make it better. But what’s done is done and it’s just best to move on. This happens to Dave Grohl every once in a while. He has a very hard time listening to the fourth album, One By One, from 2002.
Nothing was working during those sessions after three-and-a-half months of work and spending more than a million dollars in studio fees. Production was halted, and Dave went off to do some work outside the band, including a stint with Queens of the Stone Age. Then there was Taylor Hawkins’ near-fatal overdose, which messed things up even further.
The album did eventually come out and sold a respectable four million copies, but Dave feels it doesn’t sound like the band and didn’t feel right. Today, he thinks there are only four good songs on the record and seven bad ones.
Last time, we traced the meaning of the word punk from the late 1500s to the 1950s. For all those centuries, the word had nothing to do with music. So how did that word come to describe a certain type of rock?
The first time anyone saw the word in print in a musical context was 1969, when the critic Lester Bangs used the word to describe a band called the MC5 in a review in Rolling Stone. In 1971, the writer Dave Marsh used the term “punk rock” in Creem magazine in May 1971. In June ’71, we’re back to Lester Bangs using the word in a long essay called “Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung” while referring to bands with loud, fuzzy guitars. From there, it graduated to the New Yorker, where they used it in an article about the New York Dolls.
And finally, there was a mid-70s fanzine in New York that covered the weird underground stuff in the city. That magazine was called Punk, (a name chosen by writer Leggs McNeil). For many people, any band that appeared in Punk (like the Ramones, for example) was a “punk band.” From there—well, here we are.
If I say “punk” in a musical context, you know exactly what I’m talking about: a high-energy, anti-establishment form of music characterized by loud guitars and furious drumming. But how did this word come to denote a genre of music? That’s more complicated than you might think.
Its original meaning—and this is back in 1596 when the word first appeared in print somewhere in England—a “punck” was a prostitute. From there, it evolved into describing someone worthless, stupid, foolish, homosexual or some kind of general good-for-nothing individual. In the 50s, a petty criminal or juvenile delinquent was called a “punk.”
Fine. But where does the connection with music come in? That’s where we’ll pick things up next time.
Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Canada and Italy have entered talks for Canada’s purchase of M-346 advanced jet trainer aircraft.
The announcement was made after a meeting between Prime Minister Mark Carney and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains.
The jets are designed and produced by Leonardo, one of Italy’s largest aerospace companies.
It’s unclear how many jets Canada is looking to purchase.
The leaders say the agreement will enable the Royal Canadian Air Force to train in “state-of-the-art” equipment and build sovereign training capability.
Earlier this year, the International Test Pilots School of Canada ordered six Italian-made M-346 fighter jets for a new NATO training centre in North Bay.
Prime Minister Mark Carney was in Ottawa Tuesday at the Assembly of First Nations, where he announced his government will introduce clean drinking water legislation in the spring and he will also host a first ministers' meeting with First Nations leaders early in 2026.
Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty is expected to table long-awaited legislation to govern clean drinking water in First Nations communities today.
The House of Commons is expected to rise by Friday for the summer break, which means the legislation likely won’t be debated or voted on until the fall.
The Canadian Press has obtained a draft of the bill labelled “for consultation until June 11, 2026.” It’s not clear if any changes were made since the consultation period ended.
A previous bill was introduced in 2023 by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Indigenous services minister, Patty Hajdu.
That legislation, drafted in response to a lawsuit against the government that was settled in 2021, went beyond the terms of the settlement. It included an option for source water protection and recognition that First Nations have a human right to clean drinking water.
The legislation was opposed by the provinces of Alberta and Ontario, which warned that it would undermine resource development.
That bill was drafted with input from First Nations and nearly became law after weeks of study and debate, but it died when Parliament was prorogued last year.
In January of last year — months before the last federal election — Hajdu said she hoped “whoever’s in government next time picks this up” and called the bill “incredibly thoughtful legislation that was co-drafted with First Nations people.”
Gull-Masty promised last summer that a new bill would affirm First Nations’ human right to clean drinking water. She initially promised to introduce the legislation in the fall, but failed to do so. She has since said she would do so this spring.
Some First Nations leaders said they have not been consulted on the new legislation.
Both versions of the bill share the goal of ensuring First Nations have reliable access to safe drinking water and wastewater treatment, but the new draft legislation blurs the language in the old bill that affirmed access to clean drinking water as a human right.
“It is declared to be the policy of the Government of Canada to further the progressive realization, for individuals on First Nation lands, of the human right to safe drinking water, as protected by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” the new draft bill says.
Progressive realization means governments move forward to the recognition of rights over time.
The previous legislation said “it is recognized and affirmed that it is a human right of every individual on First Nations land to have access to clean and safe drinking water in accordance with this Act.”
The new legislation includes a preamble that recognizes women as water keepers, and that elders keep traditional knowledge that is vital to water governance and management, as was included in the previous bill.
It also notes that clean and safe water is integral to First Nations’ cultures, including as environments for plants, fish and other animals.
The new legislation continues with the frame that First Nations, along with provinces and the federal government, have the ability to enter into tripartite agreements to protect source water on First Nations’ territories.
Several First Nations groups are expected to comment on the legislation after it is tabled in the House of Commons. It’s unclear whether Gull-Masty will be joined by First Nations leadership when she addresses media, as Hajdu was when she tabled the previous legislation.
The U.K. says it has intercepted a Russian oil tanker trying to pass through the English Channel on Sunday, calling it part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that’s used to avoid sanctions tied to its war on Ukraine. Vincent McAviney has more.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Tuesday that Canada will impose new sanctions against Russia as its war in Ukraine continues.
Carney made the announcement during a meeting at the G7 summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The package will target 162 individuals, entities and vessels — all assets of the Russian war machine.
“We’re working more closely on production of drones together and we’ll discuss the next stage of that,” Carney said.
Zelenskyy thanked Canada for its support and said the working session on Ukraine was “great.”
“Our partners supported our messages, what we really need — energy package, we need, air defence, more patriot missiles,” he said. “Russia is not winning, and we have to push (Russian President Vladimir Putin) to end this war.”
A readout from the Prime Minister’s Office said Carney strongly condemned Russia’s latest attack on Kyiv, including the strike on the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra monastery, during his meeting with Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in France.
In 2026, Canada has provided $2.8 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, imposed sanctions on more than 3,400 individuals and entities as well as 600 vessels.
Last month, Carney announced Canada will contribute another $270 million to help Ukraine secure critical military capabilities in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
He made the announcement in Armenia, where he met with world leaders at the European Political Community summit, focused on strategic co-operation in politics, security and infrastructure.
“Prime Minister Carney underscored Canada’s support for Ukraine’s reconstruction, including opportunities to leverage Canadian expertise in energy, infrastructure, and clean technology, and noted the importance of continued reform to bolster Ukraine’s resilience,” said the readout.
Carney’s meeting with Zelenskyy is one of at least five bilateral meetings Carney will have Monday, including with the leaders of Italy, the United Arab Emirates, India and South Korea.
The first full day of the 2026 leaders’ summit will also include discussions about conflicts in the Middle East, and the pullback in foreign aid funding that is requiring a rethink of how the world handles international development needs.
A person over looks their phone as polls get ready to close at the Ontario Liberal campaign headquarters during the Ontario provincial election in Mississauga, Ont., on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
An Ontario Liberal leadership candidate is calling on party members to put substance over spectacle as they consider who should be given the reins of the third-place party and take on Premier Doug Ford in the next provincial election.
Dylan Marando, the first candidate to sign up as a leadership candidate, is betting his experience as a policy adviser to former prime ministers and premiers, along with work on consequential national programs, will set him apart in a race that typically boils down to a popularity contest.
“Ontario Liberals are smart, and they know that we’re in the fight of our lives and that when you’re in a fight for your life, you have to abandon the spectacle and get to substance,” Marando told Global News in a recent interview.
“You need a plan, you need a team that can execute that plan, and you need the leader who has experience getting big stuff done. So I think policy is going to be really, really important in this leadership race.”
Marado, who boasts a Masters degree in public policy and a PhD in political science, spent years working in the back rooms of Queen’s Park and Parliament Hill, shaping policies for former premier Dalton McGuinty, Kathleen Wynne and former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
“I was at the table when we built the national housing strategy, when we built the national child care program, when we built the Canada Child Benefit, and when we built the Canadian dental care plan,” Marando said.
“So I’ve been part of some of the biggest Liberal policies of the last decade. I know what it takes to get the big stuff done.”
Those programs appear to have shaped Marando’s approach to how the provincial government should spend the $232 billion it is estimated to bring in, according to the 2026 budget.
“I think achieving solidarity through economic policies, through social policies ought to be a priority for a Liberal leader,” Marando said. “Universal programs reinforce that message that we are all in it together.”
Most of those programs would be geared toward younger Ontarians, who Marando calls a “forgotten generation” in need of a “new deal” from the province.
“Queen’s Park is nickel-and-diming our university and college students. They’re not allowing young workers and young families to save fast enough to pay rent and pay for groceries and buy that first home,” Marando said.
Marando is proposing to reverse the Ford government changes to the OSAP loan-to-grant formula, to eliminate interest on student loans and make tuition more affordable.
Marando would also eliminate income taxes for anyone earning $50,000 or below and add mental health care to the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, which he said would make treatment “universal.”
Some of the programs, which would potentially add billions in new spending to the province’s books, would “pay for themselves,” Marando said.
“Education, in my view, is not a cost; it’s an investment. If you have the world’s best education system, you’re going to have the world’s best workforce, and if you have the world’s best workforce, your economy’s going to boom,” Marando explained. “So I think that measure pays for itself.”
During the interview, Global News asked Marando whether his time spent working for deeply unpopular politicians would be counted against him during the leadership race.
“I don’t think Liberals will see it that way,” Marando said. “I think Liberals are very proud of the legacies of Kathleen and Justin … It might be more politically expedient for me to distance myself and say I’m my own man, but at the end of the day, I’m not that kind of guy.”
Marando added that both Trudeau and Wynne simply reached their “best before date” and that voters seek change when the “milk sours” on a politician.
“What’s important to recognize right now is that the milk has soured on Doug Ford,” Marando said, referencing Ford’s recent 21-per cent approval rating noted in a recent Angus Reid survey.
“So our job as the Ontario Liberal Party is to be a credible alternative come the next election.”
WATCH: Canadian firms paying ‘significantly’ more in ransomware attacks: data
Senior staff in the Minister of Health’s office were notified about a cyber attack at a government home care agency more than a month before the public was told, despite publicly scolding the organization for not moving faster.
Last June, an Ontario Liberal MPP raised the alarm about a cyber attack suffered by one of Ontario Health atHome’s key vendors months earlier, prompting the government to direct the arms-length organization to take action.
“Our government expects all service providers to uphold the highest standards of patient care, security and confidence,” the Ministry of Health wrote in a statement three months after Ontario Medical Supply suffered a ransomware attack.
“This includes taking immediate steps to identify when there has been a cyber breach and to notify the Ministry of Health immediately. The fact that this process was not followed is unacceptable.”
New documents obtained by Global News, however, suggest the agency told senior political staff about the breach within days of confirmation that patient data had been impacted.
The initial ransomware software infiltrated vendor Ontario Medical Supply’s systems in mid-March and the “payload” was delivered on April 13, according to records from Ontario Health atHome.
Now, new records obtained by Global News suggest that information was quickly passed to political staff and civil servants at the Ministry of Health.
A calendar invitation was sent to six senior staff in Health Minister Sylvia Jones’ office on May 23. The meeting was to provide a “briefing on any impacts and next steps following the Ontario Medical Supply (OMS) system outage.”
The meeting, which appears to have taken place on May 30, was sent to Jones’ chief of staff as well as the deputy minister, the most senior civil servant in the Ministry of Health.
“It’s astonishing to think that they were aware personal health information for hundreds of thousands of Ontario patients may have been compromised and they sat on that,” Ontario Liberal MPP Adil Shamji told Global News.
“A government cannot lead, they cannot earn trust, they cannot solve problems if it is constantly running from the truth. The minister of health, Sylvia Jones, has always insisted she acted as soon as she knew. We now have incontrovertible evidence that the Ministry of Health actually did know.”
The Ministry of Health did not directly answer questions from Global News over why it did not move to immediately inform patients about the data breach.
Instead, a spokesperson sent a statement outlining the order of events.
“Ontario Health at Home (OHaH), once notified by OMS, a third-party medical supplies provider of the cybersecurity attack, alerted the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) and diligently followed the IPC’s advice in the process of informing those whose health information had been breached,” they wrote.
“This is an agency that has been plagued with problems almost from the moment of its conception,” Shamji added. “There have been massive challenges in home care, and that’s putting it lightly.”
RCMP national security officers were waiting for William Majcher when his flight from Hong Kong landed at Vancouver International Airport on July 18, 2023.
Inside an airport interview room, they questioned the former Mountie for five hours, and when they were done, Majcher said he still wasn’t sure what it was about.
“I can’t say it was well articulated,” Majcher told Global News in an exclusive interview, his first since his high-profile espionage trial ended last month.
“None of it made sense to me.”
On May 13, a B.C. judge agreed, acquitting Majcher of a charge alleging he was part of a Chinese government foreign interference operation.
What began with sensational claims — that Majcher was helping Beijing secretly extend its long reach into Canada — ended with a whimper.
And as Prime Minister Mark Carney courts Beijing amid a U.S. trade war, the botched case has raised questions about the strength of Canada’s defences against China.
The investigation targeted former police officers whom the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP suspected were offering their services to Beijing.
It revolved around Majcher, a former RCMP inspector who left the national police force in 2007 and moved to Hong Kong to work in banking and private security.
As a retired Mountie in business in Hong Kong, Majcher said he thought he had done everything possible to keep on the right side of Canada’s laws and interests.
While he took jobs from Chinese state-owned enterprises, he said he never knowingly worked for the Chinese state, its public security bureau or police.
He helped CSIS when asked, and made sure the agency knew what he was up to. When he returned to Canada on business, he disclosed his work to border officials.
His candour, however, worked against him.
Amid politically damaging allegations in Ottawa about Chinese foreign interference, Majcher was branded a Chinese asset and a threat to Canada.
He became one of the few ever arrested over allegations of Chinese meddling in Canadian affairs. But the case left a key question unresolved: what is foreign interference?
With the trial now behind him, Majcher told Global News he believes the RCMP and CSIS are right to be worried about the activities of foreign governments, whether China or India. But as a veteran RCMP officer, he expected better from Canada’s national security system, and said the case raised broader concerns.
“Canada should be very concerned that this is the level of investigative quality that we can expect from our national police force in something as vital as national security,” Majcher said.
He said Canada needs competent intelligence and law enforcement. “And from where I sit, we have neither. That is the greatest national security threat facing Canada.”
CSIS declined to comment. The RCMP said in a statement that it would be reviewing the court’s decision on Majcher. Last week, federal prosecutors appealed Majcher’s acquittal.
But thousands of pages of documents reviewed by Global News show how a major investigation involving at least three federal departments and almost 80 search warrants came up short.
Former RCMP officer William Majcher, during interview with Global News following acquittal on allegations he was Chinese foreign interference agent.
Global News
An expert in financial crimes, Majcher joined the RCMP in 1985 and went undercover inside drug cartels, posing as a banker who could launder their profits.
He retired in 2007 and moved to Hong Kong to work for a merchant bank, and then an investment fund, before starting his own firm, EMIDR, in 2015.
A cybersecurity company, EMIDR got involved in asset recovery when a client asked Majcher to track millions stolen in a Bitcoin hack, he said.
As a former police officer who had segued into private security, he exchanged information about stolen assets with colleagues on the same career path, but it wasn’t a big part of his business, he said.
Mostly, he provided procurement, logistics and advisory services, helping banks and governments understand financial crime. “I’m a Jack-of-all-trades kind of guy,” he told the RCMP following his arrest.
William Majcher at RCMP training depot, Regina, 1986.
Majcher also did more secretive work. In 2011, CSIS approached him for help in Asia, according to a 13-page document he wrote that became part of the RCMP’s investigation.
A covert operations officer asked Majcher if he could set up weapons caches for moving sidearms across borders for the agency, the document said.
Majcher thought it was possible and suggested a location on the Indian Ocean, possibly Sri Lanka, but CSIS did not raise the topic again.
A few months later, Canadian intelligence contacted him again, the document said, this time about inserting CSIS personnel into Hong Kong businesses.
The officer asked if Majcher would consider employing CSIS operatives to bolster their cover stories, according to the document.
But CSIS decided it didn’t have anyone qualified, and recruited Majcher for the job, which involved getting close to Chinese targets.
“I was prepared to do my part,” Majcher wrote.
He met his CSIS handler in Canada and was later introduced to the British secret intelligence service, MI-6, which was part of the joint operation, he said.
In Bangkok, Majcher was given a secure laptop and a briefing on the targets CSIS considered “high value,” he wrote.
The project wound down after less than two years, according to the document, and CSIS paid him in cash, delivered in an envelope.
Majcher said he had similarly helped other members of the Five Eyes alliance, which includes not only Canada but also the U.K., U.S., Australia and New Zealand.
CSIS declined to comment on whether Majcher had worked for the agency. But an RCMP report said his account suggested he may have been a CSIS asset between 2011 and 2015.
By the end 2018, the report continued, he was “possibly considered a ‘threat’ to the security of Canada due to his involvement in the case of Meng Wanzhou.”
Will Majcher in Beijing with delegation from Qatar, 2012.
A top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei, Meng was taken into custody as she transited through Vancouver airport on Dec. 1, 2018.
The United States had issued a warrant for her arrest over her alleged dealings with Iran, and Canada held her for extradition.
As China ramped up pressure on Ottawa to release her, Majcher was contacted by Anbound, a Beijing think tank, about the Meng affair.
Anbound wanted him to travel to Vancouver and write a report on legal strategies surrounding Meng’s extradition. “It was very basic,” Majcher said.
But then China raised the stakes by arresting two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who became bargaining chips for Meng’s release.
“And so I said, OK, this is getting a bit more sensitive,” Majcher told Global News. “So I made an effort to notify the Canadian government, CSIS specifically, that I was coming to Canada and what it was about and if you want to talk to me, I’m available.”
Because Thailand had been his contact point with CSIS in the past, he went to the Canadian embassy and told the CSIS officer about the Anbound assignment, and his suspicion the Chinese government might be behind it.
He said he would be flying to Vancouver to fulfill the contract and was willing to use the opportunity to resume working for CSIS.
But the agency didn’t take up his offer, nor did it raise any concerns about the Anbound work, he said, so he flew to Vancouver on Jan. 19, 2019.
Apparently flagged by CSIS prior to his arrival, he was questioned by the CBSA and again explained that he was working for a Chinese entity on the Meng case.
According to the CBSA report on his interview, Majcher “revealed that he was asked by the Chinese government to come to talk to some Canadian government officials.”
“He also stated that part of the reason for his trip is because of the Huawei executive that was arrested in Vancouver,” the report said.
“He stated that the Chinese government had consulted him about the situation and court process and the overall situation. The subject stated that he has close ties to the Chinese government and that they are fully aware of his past occupation.”
Majcher told Global News the CBSA report was incorrect, and the officer’s notes do not make the same allegations. He said he never said he was working for the Chinese government, and had never knowingly done so.
A search of his bags turned up nothing, and Majcher was allowed to proceed, but the trip, together with a visit to Toronto in May, appears to have made him a target.
Former RCMP officer William Majcher speaks to British House of Lords cybersecurity group, February 2019.
On March 9, 2022, CSIS issued an Espionage Alert that called Majcher a significant “threat to Canada and Canadian national interests.”
“He is working as an asset of hostile intelligence threat actors in the People’s Republic of China,” the government-wide bulletin said.
“Majcher continues to undertake intelligence-gathering activities in Canada on behalf of the PRC including by leveraging contacts within Canada,” it said.
CSIS had made him out to be “Canada’s Kim Philby,” Majcher said, referring to the notorious British intelligence officer who became a Soviet double agent.
But Majcher said he had done everything imaginable to stay on the right side of Canadian national security agencies, ensuring they were informed of his work.
“And all I did was put a bullseye on my back,” he said.
The investigation also dragged in Majcher’s Canadian contacts, notably RCMP officer Peter Merrifield and Paul McNamara, a former Vancouver police officer who had moved to the private sector.
Merrifield said he suddenly found himself under investigation as a result of false intelligence and lost his top secret security clearance, although he was ultimately exonerated.
“This case represents the most egregious example of ‘proceed by confirmation bias’ of a national security investigation,” he said.
“It is a clear warning shot to Canada of the lack of capability in Canada’s national security agencies and infrastructure to separate and filter information from targeted disinformation.”
McNamara had worked with Majcher when both were police officers, and although they kept in touch over the years, he said they had no business relationship.
But investigators noted that when Majcher had visited Vancouver to write his report on Meng, he had met with McNamara.
McNamara worked for VXL Enterprise, a company that protects U.S. diplomatic posts in Canada, but his security clearance was revoked in 2021 and he lost his job.
He blamed CSIS for turning his friendship with Majcher and his own 2019 visit to China to buy a training pool for his daughter, a competitive swimmer, into a conspiracy.
“They fully believed that Majcher had this in-depth, evil network of police officers working for him at the behest of China,” he told Global News.
“And it’s absolute garbage,” he said. “They basically send what they think is this big espionage file involving Meng Wanzhou to the RCMP on Sept. 14th, 2021.”
RCMP officers interview witness during Project Severo investigation into William Majcher.
Foreign interference was emerging as a top priority for the government when the RCMP took an interest in Majcher, amid reports of Beijing’s tampering in Canadian life and politics.
Drowning in corruption, China launched Operation Fox Hunt to stage a show of tracking down alleged economic criminals who had fled abroad with money.
To convince them to return to admit their guilt, Chinese security agencies resorted to harassment, threats and even kidnapping. CSIS suspected China was hiring lawyers and private investigators to track down some of them in western countries.
But Fox Hunt also used its anti-corruption drive as a cover for silencing dissidents in the diaspora in Canada and elsewhere, as well as to demonstrate that China’s reach had no limits.
China’s actions were an affront to Canada’s sovereignty, and the RCMP was responsible for stopping them, but the victims were reluctant to come forward. And then the RCMP learned that CSIS was investigating a retired Mountie.
Based on a tip from CSIS, the RCMP launched Project Severo in 2021 to investigate Majcher’s alleged activities on behalf of the Chinese state.
In particular, CSIS pointed the RCMP to an Australian television documentary on Operation Fox Hunt in which Majcher had appeared.
The documentary was about a Hong Kong company that had hired former law enforcement officials to recover assets allegedly stolen from China.
In the broadcast, Majcher called himself “a hired gun” who helped corporations and governments “get back what is rightfully theirs.”
Matcher told Global News he was playing for the cameras. “I can actually get acting credits for those things,” he said.
He said he knew how to “polish the apple” to make a story more entertaining, but denied any involvement in the cases featured in the documentary.
To the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Quebec, however, the video was the starting point for an investigation.
The RCMP felt that Majcher’s years of service to Canada’s national police force had left him “a well-suited candidate” for China.
“Majcher had and has an extensive network of contacts within the law enforcement and national security community,” the RCMP wrote.
In a memo marked Secret, the RCMP’s Foreign Actor Interference Team noted that Majcher also had “ongoing contact with RCMP members.”
Those contacts “may wittingly or unwittingly” be providing assistance to Majcher’s “illegitimate and legitimate support of the objectives of the PRC,” it said.
“The activities of Majcher are a threat to the sovereignty of Canada,” the RCMP wrote. “Project Severo aims to investigate and neutralize that threat.”
To get search warrants, police told a Quebec judge they needed to seize Majcher’s communications because he reported to China’s Public Security Bureau.
The RCMP also obtained warrants from the federal court to search the phone records of other former police officers, including McNamara, dating back to 2014, the year Fox Hunt began.
“Majcher is well-connected to the Chinese government,” the RCMP told the judge. “He has close ties with the Chinese government” and works at its “behest.”
Majcher called those statements “utterly false.”
The warrants show how the focus of the investigation had shifted from the Meng affair to Majcher’s supposed role in Operation Fox Hunt.
They noted that in 2017, Majcher had told a colleague in an email that he was involved in negotiations with China to recover money from someone wanted by China.
If the unnamed “target” did not cooperate, there would be an extradition request, he wrote, but “we feel he is motivated … as we can guarantee him his passport and no jail time.”
Majcher told Global News he was working with a lawyer to determine whether anyone had a court claim against the suspect. Once they realized no such court proceedings had been initiated, they dropped it, he said.
A year into the investigation, the RCMP received a 13-page report Majcher had written that spelled out his work for CSIS. Majcher had given it to Merrifield, a serving RCMP officer, who gave it to the investigation team.
The development “could have detrimental effects on the current investigation,” the RCMP wrote in a top secret report that said police needed to clarify with CSIS whether Majcher had indeed worked for the agency.
“These questions, if left unanswered, ultimately threaten the RCMP’s ongoing investigation into Majcher,” the RCMP report said.
Whether CSIS responded is not explained in the documents. Former CSIS executive Dan Stanton said he found Majcher’s account hard to believe.
“The talk about gun caches in a foreign country, and terminology like assets. That’s kind of a Hollywood word. It just seems a little incredible to me.”
But the documents show that on July 15, 2023, the RCMP learned that Majcher was coming to Canada and decided to arrest him.
The decision was prompted partly by concerns that news of the investigation was beginning to spread. Majcher himself had already got wind of it from a news reporter.
“The arrest of Majcher will ensure that public interest is upheld,” the RCMP wrote in its decision, adding it would also put an end to “the ongoing conspiracy.”
RCMP officer, left, in interview room during questioning of William Majcher, Richmond, B.C., July 18, 2023.
In the interview conducted after Majcher’s arrest, the officer talked about Operation Fox Hunt and said that some of those targeted were in Canada.
He mentioned the Australian documentary about Fox Hunt targets who were threatened, and said, “We believe the same is happening here in Canada.”
“Your name came up for a few incidents,” the officer said. “Do we have the accurate information, or are we just being fed the wrong information?”
“I have not done anything unlawful,” Majcher responded.
The RCMP interviews were a “fishing trip,” Majcher told Global News. Names like Meng Wanzhou were mentioned, but it was vague and disconnected.
“‘We’re hearing things, we’re picking up on some things.’ ‘OK, well, why don’t you tell me then what specifically you’re interested in?’” he said, describing the conversations.
“And I asked repeatedly, ‘Can you explain to me what are the elements of the offence? I mean, I’m just not understanding what you think I’ve done,’” he said. “All the investigator would do is just read the charge.”
The charges alleged that Majcher had been part of an effort to compel a Fox Hunt target, Kevin Sun, to return to China in 2017.
Beijing had accused Sun of moving to Canada with tens of millions he had allegedly pilfered from the Industrial Commercial Bank of China.
The RCMP theory was that Chinese authorities had sent Majcher to Vancouver to “identify and intimidate” Sun so he would return to China.
Majcher denies that and told Global News he had never once worked for China. “I have no relationship, no direct relationship. Never have.”
“I know people who say they know people. I mean, it’s the old daisy chain,” he said. “I’m not hiding anything. I told the truth.
“And they chose to ignore it.”
Former RCMP officer William Majcher leaves B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, April 22, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The trial was already falling apart by the time it began in April. The B.C. courts had ruled that Majcher’s arrest was unlawful as it was based on nothing more than a “hunch.”
The court also tossed out the results of the search of the home of one of Majcher’s associates, Kim Marsh, a former RCMP officer with his own security business, because police had no evidence that any crime was committed.
The prosecution came down to a single email. The Crown closed its case after just two days. The defence argued Majcher had done everything by the book.
The judge ruled that the case was all inferences, and there was no evidence Majcher had done any of the things the Crown was alleging.
It was Canada’s latest failed prosecution under the Security of Information Act, which was Ottawa’s legislative response to foreign interference.
Previous cases alleging a Canadian Space Agency employee and a government contractor had worked illicitly for China similarly fell apart, while a decision on another is pending.
McNamara said the Majcher investigation should have ended when the evidence contradicted the RCMP’s theory about former police officers doing China’s dirty work.
“Foreign interference is a real thing. It’s always going to be there, it’s going to happen, and we can’t dictate what other countries are going to try to do to Canada,” he said.
“But what we can control is how robust and efficient our intelligence and policing services are. And having gone through this particular case, if this is the level of intelligence and incompetence we have to fight foreign interference or espionage, the offending country is not the issue, it’s our inability to defend ourselves.”
For its part, the RCMP said that many former members move into the private sector, and they are not barred from working for foreign governments.
“However, any such work must comply with Canadian laws that protect national security and government information — they must not engage in activities that harm Canada’s interests,” the RCMP said.
“If these obligations are breached, individuals may face investigation and penalties under federal law, including criminal charges.”
But the case against Majcher suggests Canada’s national security apparatus isn’t clear about the distinction between legitimately working for a foreign state and engaging in foreign interference. Where is the line?
And if police and intelligence investigators don’t know, how are their former colleagues who have moved on to the private sector supposed to know?
“In this case, the definition of foreign interference actually raises more questions than answers. There doesn’t seem to be a clear line,” said Fabian Dawson, a Vancouver investigative journalist.
Dawson said legal and accounting firms have been implicated in pressuring fugitives in Canada on behalf of the Chinese government, but none have been charged.
“So why did they pick this particular file to go ahead and prove that they are showing that Canada is serious about foreign interference?” said Dawson, who has written extensively about the case.
He believes a public inquiry is needed to ensure national security investigations are not politically driven and to show Canada is serious about foreign interference.
“I do think that lessons need to be learned from this. We need an inquiry. Not to find blame. We need a inquiry to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Before returning to Hong Kong, Majcher told Global News the prosecution had been a “horrific way to lose three years of your life.”
“I had spent, at that point, 18 years building up my brand in Hong Kong, my network, and in one fell swoop, the half-wits took it away,” he said.
Last year, he sued the RCMP and CSIS for what his statement of claim alleges was a malicious prosecution, which he suspects relied on a witness he called unreliable.
Majcher said his businesses had suffered, and he had spent “a lot of money” defending himself, but most importantly, he lost precious time with his kids.
“I’ve been robbed of three years, and there needs to be accountability,” he said. “Not because it happened to me, but because it even happened at all.”
WATCH: When it comes to wildfire evacuations, every second counts. With that in mind, a Kelowna-based company is working to map and monitor backroads in the Okanagan and beyond, so people can make a quick decision in an emergency. Cohan Sassaman reports.
When wildfires force residents from their homes, knowing an evacuation route exists may not be enough.
A Kelowna, B.C., technology company is working to help emergency officials better understand the condition of back roads that could become critical escape routes during a disaster.
Line up of cars trying to evacuate Kelowna in 2023
But what happens if the road meant to get people to safety is riddled with potholes, loose rock and washouts, or isn’t suitable for the vehicle they’re driving?
That’s the question Kelowna entrepreneur Ryan Gallagher has been trying to answer since the 2023 wildfire season.
Ryan Gallagher surveying back roads using tech that he invented
Cohan Sassaman / Global News
That experience led Gallagher to create Back Road Intel, a system that uses sensors and artificial intelligence to monitor backroads and evacuation routes.
On a recent drive along Chute Lake Road, one of several backroad connections in the Central Okanagan, Gallagher pointed out just how quickly conditions can change.
“I was here a week ago, but it wasn’t this bad.” said Gallagher
A little further up the road, conditions became noticeably rougher.
This tech uses AI to survey roads that could be used in emergency scenarios
Ryan Gallagher
The technology collects information about road surfaces, hazards and road degradation. That data is then analyzed by AI and provided to emergency officials, helping them better understand which routes may be viable during an emergency. The thought is that officials will use this data to conduct where the public should go.
The survey tool attached to a truck hitch and wirelessly connects to a smart phone.
Ryan Gallagher
But Gallagher says the issue isn’t simply whether a road is open.
A route that can handle a four-wheel-drive truck may not be suitable for a family sedan carrying children, pets and emergency supplies.
“Take a look here. Imagine a mom and her kids trying to navigate this,” Gallagher said. “This is really why I want to figure this out.”
The goal is to help emergency planners understand not only which roads are available, but which vehicles can safely use them.
“When it comes to evacuations, the last thing you want is a flat tire or a broken axle,” Gallagher explains. “If you can’t clear these bumps, you will probably have a problem, and that’s a huge problem because you can block everyone behind you.”
The company has already begun working with communities across B.C., including regional districts, municipalities and First Nations. The hope is that better information will help emergency officials make better decisions before the next disaster strikes.
For Gallagher, that’s what the technology is really about: making sure people aren’t forced to drive into the unknown when they’re trying to get out of danger.
Surveying survice roads across BC is a data intensive job but AI is making processing much easier.
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