OTTAWA OFFERS $100M LOAN

OTTAWA — The federal government is extending a $100-million loan to help a forest products company in Western Canada cope with tariffs and trade uncertainty.

Finance Canada said it’s offering the funds to Millar Western Forest Products, a company that runs three pulp mills across Alberta and British Columbia, to help the company with near-term needs like rebuilding its log inventory.

Canada’s forest sector has been hit directly by steep U.S. tariffs but Finance Canada also said the domestic softwood lumber industry is struggling under the weight of global trade disputes.

Millar is primarily an exporter and employs some 420 workers and supports hundreds more through maintenance and consulting work.

Millar is one of just a handful of companies that have received money through Ottawa’s Large Enterprise Tariff Loan facility — a $10-billion fund that’s also helping Ontario’s Algoma Steel retool its products away from customers in the United States.

ACCUSED SPY REMAINS IN CUSTODY

OTTAWA — A Canadian facing espionage charges in Belgium will remain in custody for the time being.

Following a closed-door hearing Tuesday, the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office said the suspect would continue to be held in pretrial detention.

The prosecutor’s office announced Saturday that “a Canadian national of Chinese origin” had been arrested on charges of espionage and participation in a criminal organization.

The suspect, who has not been publicly named, worked as an intern at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons, Belgium.

The prosecutor’s office said she came to the attention of SHAPE’s security services, who reported the matter to Belgium’s military intelligence agency.

In cases where pretrial detention is maintained, a suspect generally appears before the court once a month during the first three months, the office said.

ONLINE SERVICE EXPANDED

OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Lena Diab said online passport renewal is now open to all eligible Canadian adults.

To qualify, applicants must have an address in Canada, be older than 16 when they got their last passport, and must have received it within the last 15 years, among other criteria.

Applicants will still need to get a passport photo taken by a commercial photographer and submit a digital copy when applying online.

Online passport renewals have been an option for some passport holders for few years but the most recent version of the service had a daily cap of 2,000 applications.

Diab said people who apply online should expect to receive their new passports within 20 days and to be able to track its progress in real time.

The minister announced earlier this year that applicants’ passport application fees will be reimbursed if they wait more than 30 days to get their travel documents.

ALLEGED PASSPORT SCHEME

TORONTO — Two Ontario residents face charges after a Competition Bureau probe found they allegedly misled Canadians into thinking they were dealing directly with the federal government’s passport service.

York Regional Police charged John Jesse Breslin and Phoebe Hui Ting Wong last week with fraud over $5,000 and possessing proceeds of a crime.

A release from the Competition Bureau said the two operated a business under the names Passport Online and Passport Express that allegedly used misleading ads to suggest customers could easily obtain or renew passports online using their services.

The competition watchdog claims the offences took place between 2016 and 2020.

Both individuals also face charges under the Competition Act for deceptive marketing practices.

The charges have been filed at the Ontario Court of Justice but have not been proven.

ORDER ISSUED TO PROTECT SALMON

VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has issued an order affecting more than 450 water licenses to protect fish in the Salmon River watershed, saying the Thompson-Okanagan region has been wracked with “severe” drought.

A statement from the Water Ministry said the river has shown persistently low streamflow despite what it described as significant voluntary conservation efforts.

It said flows over the past week have been well below the minimum threshold required to support the survival of fish populations.

The ministry said the order will help protect endangered Chinook salmon by temporarily restricting water use for forage crops and certain industrial purposes.

It said the temporary order was to take effect Tuesday and covers 456 surface-water and groundwater licenses.

The ministry said they must stop using water for irrigation of forage crops, such as hay, alfalfa and forage corn, as well as lawns, fairways and certain industrial purposes.

It said affected water users would be contacted directly about the protection order, and programs are in place to offer support for drought-related crop failures, income declines and increased costs.

» The Canadian Press