Insiders say Canada 'scammed' by foreign worker industry

Several information technology industry insiders have come forward to expose some of the inner workings of multinational outsourcing companies from India, which they claim exploit Canada's temporary work visa system and bring no real benefit.

"I need to stop this scam. I am hurting," said one experienced Canadian IT worker, originally from India, who told CBC he's been pushed out of his industry as a result of outsourcing.

He and others told Go Public that they have seen up close how the Indian companies operate in banks and other major Canadian corporations, where the multinationals have large contracts to do IT work.

"Nobody is checking what they are doing," said another local worker. "They just use their name and use their money to get the contract."

Workers unqualified

The "scam" allegedly includes bringing in cheaper workers from India – some with grossly exaggerated resumes — who then can't perform on the job, causing delays and mistakes on projects for Canadian companies.

"Our people had to actually redo things. And fix those issues," said one bank insider. "It was really a mess and those were really serious issues."

India's IT sector has spawned several multinational outsourcing companies, which send temporary workers to Canada. (CBC)

The insiders claim there are bonus incentives for managers of Canadian companies that sign on, promises of big savings that can't be delivered and violations of work visa rules in the process.

"They would push the banks to hire these people and to select them over other people that were genuinely more qualified," said a former bank insider.

"There were kickbacks...certain bonuses that were flying back and forth between individuals who were in a hiring position."

A former employee of one of the multinationals said Canadian executives were "dazzled" by the sales pitches, promising workers who could do more for less.

Canadian firms 'dazzled'

"When I go to the kid and say, 'You can own Disneyland for a day,' the kid is dazzled right?" he said. "If people are saying there are saving costs, that is bull***t."

The bottom line, said the people who contacted CBC, is Indian companies are earning millions bringing cheaper IT labour into Canada, while also moving some of the work overseas.

Industry insiders claim they've seen exaggerated qualifications and violations of visa rules. (Getty Images)

The multinational firm charges a Canadian client less per worker than the going rate here, but insiders estimate they still make a 50 per cent profit on each of their foreign workers.

In the meantime, they said, Canadians are shut out of almost all the available jobs, while others are laid off.

"These companies are just big [temp] agencies here and it's immigration through the back door," said another out-of-work Canadian of Indian descent.

Many of the foreign workers only stay in the transient jobs long enough to improve their qualifications, he added.

"They say we are just here to get the Canadian experience and that's it."

They reportedly then apply for permanent residency and get a better job in Canada, or go back to India.

Revolving door

"It's a never-ending revolving door," said the former bank insider. "When we get these people up to speed with these skills...then they will leave."

Dozens of industry people contacted Go Public after they saw the stories about RBC replacing staff with foreign workers. They all spoke on the condition they would not be identified.

"It's very big. It's coast to coast. It's huge and it's every company," said another worker.

Several of them have written to the prime minister, their MPs or the Immigration Department about this in recent years. They said they got little or no response.

"We've been writing. We've been doing as much as possible," said one.

The largest firms bringing IT workers into Canada include TCS, India's largest IT service company, a division of Tata. TCS made more than $10 billion in 2011-12 and reportedly counts the Bank of Montreal, CIBC and TD among its large Canadian clients.

TCS was the only company that responded directly to the claims raised here.

In a statement, it denied its employees exaggerated resumes or violated visa rules. It also denied paying kickbacks and not hiring Canadians, insisting all of those claims are "false and without any merit in fact."

Other companies include iGATE, which provides workers to RBC, and Cognizant, which reportedly does IT work for Loblaw and Manulife. Mahindra Satyam is another company mentioned frequently, for doing IT work for Scotiabank.

"It's out of control now. And it's become so bad," said the former bank insider.

Visa fast track

Several insiders said the multinationals take advantage of a little-known fast track in the work visa system.

"You have your doors open and you let everyone in — so what the heck," said the former multinational employee.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is seen here chatting with the head of India's largest IT outsourcing firm in January. (Getty Images)

The government often allows these companies to bypass time-consuming scrutiny of the Temporary Foreign Worker program by giving them an exemption to bring workers in under a visa called an "intra-company transfer".

Under those visa rules, a company can transfer an employee to work in its Canadian branch office, if they have specialized skills or management ability. Once here, they can renew their work permit for up to five years.

"They are supposed to render their services to the employer they are employed with," said the former multinational employee.

In reality, insiders say, the Indian nationals then simply work in the offices of major Canadian corporations and have no exceptional skills.

"I would say 80 per cent of them would hold this intra company transfer visas and they're not eligible or they're not allowed to go to these end client sites," he said.

They may work at several locations, which lawyers confirmed would likely violate the visa rules.

"If what is being told is accurate, we have a serious problem that there are Canadians that are being displaced by individuals that are not bringing specialized knowledge or significant benefit to Canada," said Toronto immigration lawyer Mario Bellisimo.

"And that totally runs contrary to the law as well as to the spirit of the policy."

Fake qualifications

Several insiders claimed worker qualifications were faked or exaggerated on paper in order to qualify for the visas and jobs.

"The resumes were customized to match the skills that the banks required," said the former bank insider.

This Canadian IT professional is driving a cab for a living, because he says he's been shut out by foreign workers from India. (CBC)

She added that some multinational employees told her that if they needed specific certifications they could buy them in India.

"They're buying their qualifications. They are paying for their certificates and coming here and we are looking at them saying, 'Oh this person has a certificate in project management. It's from India.'"

Go Public obtained several resumes from Indian nationals in the IT field. One claimed he was a "Senior Systems Engineer" at 22 years old, but fresh out of school. Another called himself a "Software Developer" at 21, when he had no prior experience.

"The skill sets were exaggerated," said the former bank insider. "They looked too good to be true."

"Some don't even have the degrees," claimed one of the insiders. "They show that they are master's or bachelor's [degrees] or skilled with whatever experience but they don't have it. They do two-week crash courses before coming here."

"Quietly, they really struggle," said another insider. "We help them. And we know, after that, we are going to be replaced."

Government figures show 16,299 foreign workers from India were in Canada in December of 2011, a steady increase from 2,171 in 2002.

Indian companies TCS and iGATE have small offices in Canada, but its employees primarily work elsewhere, at worksites of large Canadian companies. (CBC)

Go Public asked for the latest figures – on how many intra-company transfers were granted in India last year – but was told that information would not be released.

"We are unable to release the stats," wrote Erika-Kirsten Easton, director of ministerial events and media relations for the Immigration Department

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the government is now looking at intra-company transfers to make sure they are not being abused, but he says they don't want to go too far.

"It would be hugely damaging to our economy if we suddenly erected huge barriers to the movement of skilled labour within certain companies," Kenney told Go Public.

"At the same time, we want to make sure that people are not using that as a kind of back door to undercut the Canadian labour market or displace Canadian workers," he said.

Internal government documents obtained by Go Public show bureaucrats in the Immigration Department have flagged that corruption in visa applications is widespread.

"Persistent fraud occurs in all business lines," said the internal report on offices issuing visas in India in 2012-13.

"Verification of Indian education, employment and financial documentation is labour intensive and often without conclusive outcomes."

U.S. crackdown

Governments in the U.S. and Britain have already cracked down on multinational firms – going back to 2010 — for taking advantage of the same type of company transfer visas there.

"These other companies are essentially creating multinational temp agencies," said Senator Charles Schumer, a U.S. Democrat who has led the charge to stem the influx there.

"These companies are petitioning for foreign workers simply to then turn around and provide these workers to other companies who need cheap labour for various short term projects."

Several hundred foreign IT workers have come in recent years, to work in several major Canadian corporate offices. (CBC)

A proposed U.S. law is currently in the works which would add further restrictrions by mandating a large portion of their workforce must be American residents.

There are many reports that Indian companies are feeling squeezed as a result.

Several U.S. lawsuits have also been filed against the large Indian companies, alleging various violations of U.S. immigration and labour laws.

'Stop the loopholes'

"This whole file needs to be fixed immediately," said Opposition immigration critic Jinny Sims. "The government needs to stop the loopholes but also needs to do investigations and look into what is going on."

In the meantime, industry insiders claim Canadian companies are losing control of their business while the IT jobs disappear for good.

"Going forward, these costs do escalate," said the former multinational employee.

"It becomes like a mafia. Let's say you have one proved preferred vendor. So over a period of time...you depend entirely on this particular vendor to provide your daily bread and butter services."

"We have to stop this thing. For ourselves and for our children," said one of the unemployed workers. "This country is going to be dependent on foreigners.

Submit your story ideas to Kathy Tomlinson at Go Public

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Zipper anniversary: 10 bits of trivia to impress the pants off you

From the bathroom to the bedroom, the zipper — celebrating the 100th anniversary of one of the earliest working designs — has become one of the most commonly used inventions on Earth.

Billions of people rely on the zipper every day, and you'll find one (or more) on everything from jackets and pants, boots, backpacks, tents and luggage, to purses, pencil cases and a memorable Rolling Stones album cover.

But they weren't always so wildly popular.

The concept of a zipper got its start when an American, Elias Howe, earned a patent in 1851 for his Automatic Continuous Clothing Closure. His idea was ahead of its time, but Howe was so busy with his other inventions (including the sewing machine, which would later make zippers much easier to install) that he never got around to commercializing the radical new type of sliding fastener.

While the materials have changed over the years, the basic concept of the zipper is closest to Gideon Sundback's patents, arguably making him the father of the zipper.

It wasn't until decades later, in 1893, that Whitcomb Judson came up with something he called the Clasp Locker, and later the Judson C-Curity Fastener. Unfortunately, his invention had large teeth that could be tricky to close, and it also tended to come open by itself. As a result it wasn't very popular with the public, even though it was showcased at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

The idea might have languished in obscurity and left us all living in a button-down world. But Whitcomb also co-founded the Universal Fastener Co., and that's where things really started coming together for the zipper.

In 1906 the company hired a Swedish electrical engineer named Otto Frederick Gideon Sundback, who had immigrated to the United States. He took Whitcomb's design back to the drawing board and came up with the system of tiny interlocking teeth now known as the zipper.

Although it lacked a catchy name at the time, Sundback's early "Hookless Fastener" design was patented on April 29, 1913. He continued to develop it, and eventually patented a much improved version called the Separable Fastener in 1917. (He did some of the development work in St. Catharines, Ont., but there's some question surrounding how much.)

The Lightning Fastener Co. in St. Catharines, of which Sundback was president, started manufacturing the new fastener, but it took another couple of decades to really grab the world's attention.

There is a debate about whether the credit for inventing the zipper should ultimately go to Elias Howe, Whitcomb Judson or Gideon Sundback. While the materials have changed over the years, the basic concept of the zipper is closest to Sundback's Hookless Fastener design and it's also the one that had the most commercial success.

What can't be argued is that in the years since, this speedier way to manage one's wardrobe has headed off uncountable restroom-related accidents, saved many a couple from being caught in compromising situations and spared humanity from the scourge of draughty drawers.

In honour of the early patent's 100th anniversary, we've pulled together some miscellaneous trivia about the zipper.

Zip 'er up

The name "zipper" wasn't coined until a decade after Sundback's patent was issued. (iStock)

"Hookless Fastener" doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but it stuck for a while and the name "zipper" wasn't coined until a decade after Sundback's patent was issued. The B.F. Goodrich Company adopted the Hookless Fastener for a line of galoshes in 1923, and an employee trying them out apparently said something along the lines of "Zip 'er up!" when he heard the distinctive sound of the sliding fastener.

The company registered Zipper as a trademark in 1925.

B.F. Goodrich tried to protect the trademark as the word became popular. Its control of the name was challenged by Lightning Fastener Co. in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1931, in a case that was dismissed with costs.

B.F. Goodrich's trademark rights were ultimately limited specifically to the name "Zipper Boots."

Moral corruption

The zipper was originally used in footwear and bags for holding tobacco.

It was a hard sell in the early days for consumer clothing, with critics labeling the zipper a morally corrupt invention that made it too easy to remove one's pants.

That didn't worry the army, apparently. The first big customer was the U.S. military, which used zippers in gear and uniforms issued to World War One troops.

Thanks, Prince of Wales

The children's clothing and adult fashion industries didn't start using zippers in great numbers until the 1930s.

Zippers really took off in 1937 when they caught the attention of a number of French fashion designers. (iStock)

The Prince of Wales gave things a nudge when he adopted the zip fly into his wardrobe in 1934.

Around the same time, designer Elsa Schiaparelli started designing zippers into her sportswear and avant-garde gowns.

Zippers really took off in 1937, when they caught the attention of a number of French fashion designers.

In 1954, Levi's introduced a special zippered version of its overalls called the 501Z, replacing the button-fly. The company eventually brought in zippers across its line of jeans, but not until the 1970s.

Millions of zips

In the first year or production, Sundback's company was producing roughly 100 metres of zippers a day, enough for about 700 pairs of pants.

A large modern plant can produce zippers for more than seven million pairs of pants a day.

YKK

The letters YKK stamped on the pull tab of many zippers is the abbreviated name of a Japanese company, Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha, founded in 1934 by Tadao Yoshida. It translates as "Yoshida Company Ltd."

It now has factories around the world and makes more than 1.5 billion zippers a year. YKK Co. has also branched out into other types of fasteners, as well as architectural building products.

YKK's "Cycle of Goodness" philosophy states "No one prospers unless he renders benefit to others." Thanks in large part to the benefits others see in zippers, today the company operates in 71 countries and has about 39,000 employees.

Qiaotou

The zipper market is dominated by YKK, KCC Zipper, and Tex Corp., as well as a large group of smaller Chinese manufacturers.

The majority of the world's zipper supply is made in China's Qiaotou region. It's estimated that factories in Qiaotou produced more than 200 million metres of zippers in 2011.

One giant zip for mankind

Once the airtight zipper was perfected in the 1950s, it found its way to the depths of the ocean on diving gear, into orbit and eventually to the moon.

NASA helped develop airtight zippers for fighter-pilot pressure suits and later adapted them for space suits, including the ones used for the Apollo 11 moon landing (Neil Armstrong's zippers were made by YKK).

XYZ, PDQ

Justin Bieber poses with his fly down backstage at the 2011 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

Esquire magazine raved in 1937 that the zipper would help men avoid "the possibility of unintentional and embarrassing disarray."

Unfortunately, it forgot that what goes up, must come down.

Celebrities caught with an open fly in public include:

• Movie stars such as Brad Pitt at the premiere of The Case of Benjamin Button in Paris on Jan. 22, 2009; Twilight's Robert Pattinson at red carpet events on Aug. 15 and again Oct. 31, 2012; and Robert Downey Jr. at the South Korean premiere of Iron Man 3 on April 4 this year.
• U.S. president George Bush on a visit to Chile in May 2004. And British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who when informed that he should check his zip, apparently replied, "It is of no account; after all, the old bird does not fly far from his nest."
• Model Kate Moss on a number of occasions in recent years. She told Grazia magazine, "I've got a problem with zips. Sometimes I just forget to do them up!"
• Canadian singer Justin Bieber at the 2011 Grammy Awards backstage photo shoot, and a few weeks later on stage at a March concert in Liverpool, England.

Records

According to Fort Lauderdale's Sun Sentinel newspaper, a local Sheraton hotel had a zipper more than 1.8 kilometres long built in 1988 as a promotional gimmick. The zipper was draped from a hot air balloon and then taken and wrapped around the hotel to promote its nightclub, called Zippers.

Guinness World Records doesn't have any current zipper-related entries, but according to Recordsetter.com, radio host Andre Hoeden raised and lowered the zipper on his pants 204 times in 30 seconds.

YouTube has videos of people attempting similar feats, with varying degrees of success (search for "zipper world record").

When zippers attack

Anyone trying to duplicate Hoeden's record should take heed: According to a study published in March in the British Journal of Urology International, zippers are the most common cause of serious genital injury. (For those keeping score, bicycles are number two.)

At least 17,616 people in the U.S. suffered zipper-related genital injuries between 2002 and 2010 that were bad enough to land them in hospital, according to the study.

The majority of the injuries – roughly five a day across the U.S. — involved men mangling their manhood because they were in too much of a rush as they zipped up. (Boys apparently have more to fear from falling toilet seats than zippers, according to hospital injury statistics.)

So while Gideon Sundback gave the world a useful, time-saving invention, be careful out there as you celebrate a century of zipping.

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Neil Macdonald: The 'monarchs of money' and the war on savers

Quietly, without much public fuss or discussion, a new ruling class has risen in the richer nations.

These men and women are unelected and tend to shun the publicity hogged by the politicians with whom they co-exist.

They are the world's central bankers. Every six weeks or so, they gather in Basel, Switzerland, for secret discussions and, to an extent at least, they act in concert.

The decisions that emerge from those meetings affect the entire world. And yet the broad public has a dim understanding, if any, of the job they do.

In fact, these individuals now wield at least as much influence over the lives of ordinary citizens as prime ministers and presidents.

The tool they have used to change the world so profoundly is one they alone possess: creating money out of thin air.

There is an economic term for this: quantitative easing. More colloquially, it's called printing money.

Since the great economic meltdown in 2008, these central bankers have probably saved the world's economy from collapse, and dragged it into the unknown at the same time.

The amounts they have created are so vast as to be almost incomprehensible — trillions of dollars in pounds and euros, among other currencies.

At the end of 2012, the balance sheets of the world's largest central banks, those of the G20 nations and the eurozone, including Sweden and Switzerland, totalled $17.4 trillion US, according to Bank of Canada calculations from publicly available data.

That is nearly a quarter of global GDP, and slightly more than double the $8.5 trillion these same institutions were holding at the end of 2007, before the financial crisis hit.

Stock markets have risen on this tide of cheap money. So has real estate. So, arguably, has everything else.

But there are two big concerns with what this new central banker elite has done.

One is that no one really understands the consequences of pumping such vast amounts of money into the world economy. It's already distorted the prices of certain assets, and some fear hyperinflation or market crashes are inevitable (the subject of tomorrow's column).

The other is that it's caused a massive shift in wealth, from savers to borrowers, and is taking money out of the pockets of almost everyone approaching or at retirement age.

A war on savings

Probably the most painful of the consequences of quantitative easing has been borne by the elderly.

Most of that generation grew up believing that if you save and exercise prudence that you will earn at least a modest return on your hard-earned money to keep you comfortable in your old age, perhaps along with a pension.

But the money-printing orgy of the last five years looks to have shot that notion to smithereens.

Very deliberately, the central bankers have punished savers, pushing interest rates so low that any truly safe investment — and older people are always advised to play it safe — yields a negative return when inflation is factored in.

British pensioners Judy White and her husband Alan, at their home in Teddington, south of London: 'I now have 50 per cent less.' (CBC )

The policy has savaged pension and savings returns worldwide, but particularly in Britain, a nation of savers and pensioners.

There is more money in British pension funds than in the rest of Europe combined, and now that money is just sitting, "dead," as some call it, not working for its owners.

Ask Judy White, a retiree in her late 60s who lives in Teddington, south of London, with her husband, Alan.

This year, the Bank of England shattered her retirement. Her pension benefit was effectively slashed by half.

"I don't understand what quantitative easing is, except that it's printing money," she says. "But I do understand that I now have 50 per cent less.

"What they have done is take money from people who have been really careful all their lives."

On the backs of the virtuous

Actually, by the Bank of England's own reckoning, the £375 billion of quantitative easing it has carried out since 2008 has cost British savers and pensioners about £70 billion, roughly $100 billion. (At the same time, the richest 10 per cent of British households saw the value of their assets increase over the same period, the bank reported.)

That cost to the elderly is largely because pension payouts in the U.K. are pegged to the yields on government bonds, and quantitative easing has forced those yields down to almost nothing.

Speaking for the Bank of England, Paul Fisher acknowledges that the bank has created a paradox: It does want people to save and be prudent — just not right now.

"We try," he says, "to get people to do things now to get out of this mess, which in the long run we prefer not to do."

In other words, might we please have some more of the wild consumer spending and borrowing that helped get us all into this situation, at least for a while?

Ros Altmann, a governor at the London School of Economics: 'A monumental social experiment.' (CBC)

The plain fact, though, is that central bank- and government-imposed solutions to disasters caused by irresponsible, greedy, foolish behaviour are almost always carried out on the backs of the virtuous.

So it was with the bank rescues in 2008, and so it is with quantitative easing.

As Ros Altmann, a longtime pension manager and director of the London School of Economics, puts it, quantitative easing has amounted to a "monumental social experiment" — a large-scale transfer of wealth from older people to younger people.

"Anybody who was a saver and has got some accumulated savings will have had a reduction in their income," she says.

While "anyone who had a big debt, particularly mortgage debts, would have had improvement in their income because their interest payments have gone down."

As stupid as it might sound, older people everywhere would probably be better off if they'd abandoned prudence and borrowed more.

That is obviously not what the central bankers or our political leaders want. But that's the situation they've created.

What's the alternative?

This transfer from savers to borrowers has also been taking place here in the U.S. and in Canada, to varying degrees.

Some U.S. pension funds are in danger of default, at least partially because of these artificially low interest rates, and Canadian pension funds that are heavily invested in safer debt have been injured, too.

In an interview in his Ottawa office, Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney defends quantitative easing elsewhere, and his own low-interest rate policy, though he does acknowledge that it has been hard on pensioners and savers.

Like all central bankers, he argues the (impossible to prove) negative: There have been consequences, yes, but if we hadn't done this, things would be far, far worse.

As for carrying out these solutions on the backs of the virtuous: "I don't see a world where the virtuous are rewarded if we suffered a second Depression," he says. "These are the stakes."

Carney would prefer not to talk about the enormous power central bankers have gained since 2008, saying only: "We have a tremendous responsibility … because of a series of mistakes that were made in the private sector and the public sector."

See the surge in central bank holdings, the printing of new money, beginning in the spring of 2008 with the bank bailouts and the acquistion of long-term securities to keep interest rates down. (International Monetary Fund)

As Canada has performed better than most Western nations, Carney has not ordered any new money printing.

But he has kept interest rates down, and that has fed the real estate booms over the last few years in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and elsewhere.

He scoffs at the suggestion that "the party" will end at some point. "I am not sure we are having a party right now," he says. "It doesn't feel like a party."

And, in fact, he has repeatedly expressed concern at the huge debt levels Canadians are accruing, at least partly because of his low-rate policies.

But surely he understands the anger of an older person watching their savings being eroded, I ask him.

Carney smiles grimly. That question is clearly a sore point. He gets a lot of mail on the topic.

Canadians, he says, must understand that the alternative is massive unemployment and thousands of businesses going under, and "my experience with Canadians is that they tend to think about their neighbours and their children and more broadly … they care a little bit more than just about themselves."

Asked whether central bankers are not in fact enabling irresponsible behaviour by speculators enamoured of cheap money, not to mention politicians who can't curb their borrowing and spending, Carney merely remarks that voters in a democracy get the governments they choose.

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Bangladesh factory owner could face 7 years in prison

A Bangladesh court on Monday allowed police 15 days to interrogate the owner of a building that collapsed last week and killed 382 people, as rescuers used heavy machinery to cut through the destroyed structure after giving up hopes of finding any more survivors.

Mohammed Sohel Rana, who was arrested on Sunday near the border with India, will be held for questioning on charges of negligence, illegal construction and forcing workers to join work. His father, Abdul Khaleque, was also arrested on suspicion of aiding Rana to force people to work in a dangerous building.

The illegally constructed, eight-storey Rana Plaza collapsed in a heap on Wednesday morning along with thousands of workers in the five garment factories in the building. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

Rana was brought to the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in a bullet-proof vest, and led away to an unknown detention place after the magistrate granted a police request to hold him longer before filing formal charges. The crimes he is accused of carry a maximum punishment of seven years. More charges could be added later.

The collapse was the deadliest disaster to hit the garment industry in Bangladesh that is worth $20 billion annually and supplies global retailers.

In renewed anger against conditions in garment factories — a mainstay of Bangladesh's economy — hundreds of workers poured into the streets in the Dhaka suburb of Ashulia and set fire to an ambulance Monday, the privately-owned Independent TV reported. They also tried to set fire to a factory, it said.

Authorities shut down all garment factories in Ashulia and Gazipur industrial suburbs, including one that had reportedly developed cracks and was evacuated earlier.

'Little hope of finding anyone alive'

Volunteers, army personnel and firemen have worked around the clock since Wednesday, mostly using hands and light equipment to pull out survivors. Around midnight Sunday, authorities deployed hydraulic cranes and heavy cutting machines to break up the massive slabs of concrete into manageable segments that could be lifted away.

Building owner Mohammed Sohel Rana is a local politician from the country's ruling party. (Palash Khan/Associated Press)

"We are proceeding cautiously. If there is still a soul alive, we will try to rescue that person," said army spokesman Shahinul Islam.

"There is little hope of finding anyone alive. Our men went inside and saw some dead bodies in the ground floor. But no one was seen alive," said Brig.-Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan, the chief of the fire brigade at the scene.

Gone are the civilian volunteers who had swarmed the site since the disaster. Only army soldiers in green camouflage and hard hats were visible, watching heavy machinery digging into thick concrete. Gone also were the waiting ambulances that over the past five days had rushed the rescued to hospitals.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the site and a nearby hospital to meet with survivors on Monday, the first time since the disaster.

Hasina had ordered the arrest of building owner Rana, who is a small-time political operative from her Awami League party's youth wing. He was brought back by helicopter from the border town to the capital, Dhaka.

He had permission to build a five-storey building but added three more illegally, authorities said. He last appeared in public Tuesday in front of the Rana Plaza after huge cracks appeared in the building.

Witnesses said Rana assured tenants that the building was safe. Police, however, ordered an evacuation. A bank and some first-floor shops closed, but managers of the garment factories on the upper floors told workers to continue their shifts.

Hours later, the Rana Plaza was reduced to rubble, crushing most victims under massive blocks of concrete.

2,500 have been accounted for

Police have also arrested four owners of three factories. Also in detention for questioning are two municipal engineers who were involved in approving the building's design. Local TV stations reported that the Bangladesh High Court has frozen the bank accounts of the owners of all five garment factories.

A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside when it collapsed. About 2,500 survivors have been accounted for.

The death toll surpassed a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. But since then, very little has changed in Bangladesh.

The collapse and previous disasters in garment factories have focused attention on the poor working conditions of workers who toil for as little as $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

Its garment industry was the third-largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

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Prague explosion at office building injures at least 40

At least 40 people were injured today following a powerful explosion that damaged an office building in the centre of the Czech capital of Prague, and authorities believe some people are buried in the rubble.

It is not certain what caused the blast in Divadelni Street at about 10 a.m. local time, but it was likely a natural gas explosion, police spokesman Tomas Hulan said.

'There was glass everywhere, and people shouting and crying.'—Vaclav Rokyta, Czech student

The street was covered with rubble and was sealed off by police who also evacuated people from nearby buildings and closed a wide area around the explosion site.

Zdenek Schwarz, head of the rescue service in Prague, said up to 40 people have been hurt, with at least four of them sustaining serious injuries.

Windows in buildings located hundreds of metres from the explosion were shattered, including some in the nearby National Theater.Paramedics help an injured woman after an explosion in downtown Prague on Monday. (Petr David Josek/Associated Press)

"There was glass everywhere, and people shouting and crying," Vaclav Rokyta, a Czech student, told the AP near the scene.

"I was in the bathroom, no windows, the door was closed, honestly, if I had been in my bed, I would have been covered in glass," said Z.B. Haislip, a student from the U.S. state of North Carolina who was in a nearby building.

The Faculty of Social Sciences of Prague's Charles University and the Film and TV School of the Academy of Sciences of Performing Arts are located next to the damaged building.

Prime Minister Petr Necas said in a statement he was "deeply hit by the tragedy."

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Paul Martin accuses residential schools of 'cultural genocide'

Residential schools engaged in "cultural genocide," former prime minister Paul Martin said Friday at the hearings of the federal Truth And Reconciliation Commission, adding that aboriginal Canadians must now be offered the best educational system.

"Let us understand that what happened at the residential schools was the use of education for cultural genocide, and that the fact of the matter is — yes it was. Call a spade a spade," Martin said to cheers from the audience at the Montreal hearings.

"And what that really means is that we've got to offer aboriginal Canadians, without any shadow of a doubt, the best education system that is possible to have."

The residential school system existed from the 1870s until the 1990s and saw about 150,000 native youth taken from their families and sent to church-run schools under a deliberate policy of "civilizing" First Nations.

Many students were physically, mentally and sexually abused. Some committed suicide or died fleeing their schools. Mortality rates reached 50 per cent at some schools.

In the 1990s, thousands of victims sued the Canadian government as well as churches that ran the schools. The $1.9-billion settlement of that suit in 2007 prompted an apology from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the creation of the commission.

But the government has clashed with the commission and recently had to be ordered by an Ontario court to find and turn over documents from Library and Archives Canada.

"Every document is relevant," Martin said. "We have hid this for 50 years. It's existed for 150. Surely to God, Canadians are entitled ... aboriginal Canadians and non-aboriginal Canadians, to know the truth. And so let the documents be released."

New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash also testified on Friday about the damage he suffered in a residential school.

Saganash, who was separated from his family and sent to a residential school in the Quebec town of La Tuque, cried as he described the death of his brother Johnny, whom he never met.

He said his family still doesn't have a death certificate or know what really happened, and that he wasn't even allowed to return home for his father's funeral.

Saganash told the audience at the Montreal hearings that he might look like a normal person but isn't.

'I can never be normal'

"I can never be normal," said Saganash, who for the first few years of his life spoke Cree and lived in nature.

"And none, none of those kids who were sent to residential schools can claim to be normal today. It's impossible."

Like several others who spoke at the hearing, Saganash said injustices to aboriginal peoples did not stop with the closing of residential schools.

"There are still racist policies against aboriginals," said Saganash, who referred to the federal Indian Act.

"Even when we get a victory before the courts, the government continues to fight against our fundamental rights."

With files from The Canadian Press

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Bangladesh factory owners arrested after deadly collapse

Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes.

At least 340 people are known to have died, crushed by massive blocks of concrete and mortar falling on them when the eight-storey structure came down on Wednesday morning — a time many of the garment factories in the building were packed with workers.

It was the worst tragedy to hit Bangladesh's massive garment industry, and focused attention on the poor working conditions of the employees who toil for $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

Among those taken into custody is the wife of the building owner, who is on the run, in an attempt to force him to surrender. Violent public protests continued sporadically in Dhaka and spread to the southeastern city of Chittagong where several vehicles were set on fire.

"There are many [survivors] still there," Subrata Sarker, a fire official, said, taking a break after emerging from the debris. Around him, soldiers, police and medical workers in lab coats worked in frenzied activity.

Bangladeshi soldiers stand in the rubble of the collapsed building, where more than 300 people lost their lives. (Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)

Rescuers passed bottles of water and small cylinders of oxygen up a ladder leaning against the side of the building to be given to possible survivors inside.

Mohammad Sarwar Hossain, another rescue worker said he saw 15 people still alive. "They can be rescued by today. We will be able to bring them out after we cut seven more Iron rods."

Nearby, Abul Basar wept as he awaited news of his wife, who worked in one of the garment factories.

"My son says that his mother will come back some day, she must return, " he cried.

Rescue teams went in from seven entry points gouged into the rubble. Every once in a while a badly decomposed body would be brought out, covered in cloth and plastic, to a spot where ambulances were parked. Workers furiously sprayed air-fresheners on the bodies to cover the stench, leaving the air thick with the smell of death and cheap perfume.

The death toll is expected to rise as big portion of the crumbled building was still untouched and heavy equipment would be needed to remove the debris to recover the bodies.

The bodies were kept at a makeshift morgue at the nearby Adharchandra High School before being handed over to families. Many people milled around at the school, waving photos of their missing loved ones.

Junior local government minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak put the death toll at 340. Military spokesman Shahinul Islam said 2,419 survivors were accounted for, including 19 who were pulled out Saturday.

"We will continue our operation for more survivors as long as it is required. We are not thinking of wrapping up of our effort any time soon," he said.

Police in riot gear formed a cordon around the site to keep away hundreds of protesters who have been venting their anger at the situation since Wednesday.

Authorities shut down garment factories in Dhaka for fear of violence, which has persisted over demands that police arrest the owners of the factories and the building.

Junior Home Minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd., and Mahmudur Rahman Tapash, the company chairman.

He told reporters that police had also detained the wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, for questioning. The top three floors of the building in Savar, near Dhaka, were illegally constructed.

Authorities are still searching for Rana, a local politician, who hasn't been seen publicly since the building collapsed. Negligence cases have been filed against him. Police in Bangladesh often detain relatives of missing suspects as a way to pressure them to surrender.

Dhaka police superintendent Habibur Rahman said Rana was a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. His arrest, and that of the factory owners, was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the Awami League leader.

Police said they detained for questioning two engineers working for the Savar municipality, Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali. They did not say what role they played in approving the design of the building but it was clear that the arrests amounted to a widening crackdown. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

High temperatures reduce chances of survival

There were fears that even if unhurt, the survivors could be badly dehydrated, with daytime temperatures soaring to 35 degrees Celsius and about 24 degrees Celsius overnight. A brief thundershower accompanied by lightning slowed down rescue efforts on Saturday.

With hammers, handheld concrete cutters and drills, rescuers and volunteers — some wearing helmets and other safety gear but many not — chipped away at a large slab of concrete, brick and steel rods that was once a factory floor. An excavator moved in to finish the job, dragging away and lifting up the debris.

Other rescuers used their hands or shovels, passing chunks of brick and concrete down a human chain away from the collapsed structure. On the ground, mixed in the debris were several pairs of pink cotton pants, a mud-covered navy blue sock and a pile of green uncut fabric.

More than 3,000 workers employed in building

A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed.

Police say they ordered an evacuation of the building on Tuesday after cracks in Rana Plaza were found, but the factories ignored the order and were operating when it collapsed the next day. Video before the collapse shows cracks in walls, with apparent attempts at repair. It also shows columns missing chunks of concrete and police talking to building operators.

Officials said soon after the collapse that numerous construction regulations had been violated.

The disaster is the worst ever for the country's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. Since then, very little has changed in Bangladesh, where low wages have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.

Bangladesh's garment industry was the third largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade. The country's minimum wage is the equivalent of about $38 a month.

About four million people in the garment trade in Bangladesh, making cheap clothing for western retailers.

Among the garment makers in the collapsed building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Some clothing made on the second floor of the factory was exported to Primark, a chain of stores in Britain. Primark's parent company is ABF (Associated British Foods), and AFB is 54 per cent controlled by Wittington Investments, which is owned by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Canada's Weston family.

Shirts for Weston's Loblaw brand Joe Fresh were made in the factory.

Retailers like Loblaw and Primark say they do inspect their suppliers' workplaces, but not the integrity of the buildings.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

With files from CBC News

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Climate change scientist calls Conservatives 'Neanderthal'

The former NASA scientist criticized by Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver earlier this week for his views on the Keystone XL pipeline is responding by calling the Conservatives a desperate and "Neanderthal" government.

In an interview with Evan Solomon airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, James Hansen defended his position that approving the proposed pipeline would be disastrous for the environment.

During a stop in Washington, D.C., to shore up support for Keystone XL, Oliver said Hansen, a leading climate change activist, is "crying wolf" with his "exaggerated" comments about the effects of Alberta's oilsands development on the environment. The minister also said that when a source of energy represents 1/1000th of global emissions, "to say it's the end of the planet if that's developed is nonsense."

Hansen has said if nothing is done to stop Canada's oilsands development it will be "game over for the climate," a position that Oliver said he likely regrets taking and that has hurt his credibility.

Climate change activist and renowned American scientist James Hansen said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is showing desperation over the Keystone XL pipeline and is neanderthal when it comes to climate change. (Mary Altaffer/Associated Press)

Not so, Hansen told Solomon. "Not at all," the award-winning researcher said. Hansen was named one of Time magazine's most influential people in 2006. He retired earlier this month from NASA so he could devote more of his time to environmental activism.

"I think he's beginning to get worried because the secretary of state, John Kerry, is well-informed on the climate issue and he knows that his legacy and President Obama's is going to depend upon whether they open this spigot to these very dirty, unconventional fossil fuels," Hansen said about Oliver. "We can't do that without guaranteeing disasters for young people and future generations."

Conservative government 'getting desperate'

TransCanada's proposed pipeline would stretch from Alberta to Nebraska and the project is on hold while the Obama administration considers whether to give it a stamp of approval. Oliver was in Washington lobbying for the pipeline just as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publicly rebuked the State Department over its positive environmental assessment of the proposed pipeline.

In a letter sent Monday that was widely seen as a setback for the pipeline, the EPA raised serious concerns about the project's carbon footprint and criticized the State Department's draft analysis.

"That shows that they're getting desperate," Hansen said, referring to Oliver's comments about him. "They realize that the Keystone XL pipeline probably will not be approved because the secretary of state and the president are beginning to realize what the implications (are) for young people and future generations."

He also had a blunt assessment of the Conservative government's approach to climate change and action on the environment.

"The current government is a Neanderthal government on this issue, but Canada can actually be a leader," he said. Hansen mentioned British Columbia's carbon tax as a positive step. "I have hopes that Canada will actually be a good example for the United States but the present government is certainly not."

"They're in the hip pocket of the fossil fuel industry, as you can see, but that doesn't mean that the Canadian people are," said Hansen.

He said many governments, not just Canada's, are denying what science is telling them and ignoring the long-term climate change projections.

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Prince Philip presents regimental colours in Toronto

Prince Philip is at the Ontario legislature this morning for a ceremony to present a new regimental flag to the Third Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment.

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

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

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

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

After presenting of the colours, the Duke of Edinburgh will watch as more than 1,700 soldiers take part in a military march to Fort York, where they will gather for a ceremony commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Battle of York.

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

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

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

With files from The Canadian Press

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7 Alberta jails locked down after walkout

Alberta Minister of Justice Jonathan Denis on Friday said the province would be filing an injunction to get the guards back to work. (Gary Moore/CBC)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Concerns over open-concept design

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He said there would be an investigation of the walkout.

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

With files from CBC News

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Senior Mounties told not to meet MPs without prior approval

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

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

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

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

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

Message control

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What consumers should look for

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Establishing international standards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Boston bombing suspect moved from hospital to federal centre

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston Marathon bombing suspect, has been released from a civilian hospital and transferred to a federal medical detention centre in central Massachusetts.Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, charged in the Boston Marathon bombing April 15, is now at this federal medical centre in Devens, about 64 kilometres west of Boston. (Elise Amendola/Associated Press)

The U.S. Marshals Service said Friday that Tsarnaev was taken from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center overnight to the Federal Medical Center in Devens about 64 kilometres west of Boston.

The facility, on the decommissioned Fort Devens U.S. Army base, treats federal prisoners and detainees who require specialized long-term medical or mental health care.

The 19-year-old Tsarnaev is recovering from a gunshot wound to the throat and other injuries suffered during his attempted getaway.

The Massachusetts college student was charged with setting off the shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs that killed three people and wounded more than 260 at the marathon finish line April 15. He could get the death penalty.

News of his transfer to a federal medical detention centre comes a day after New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, who was killed during a manhunt for the two after the bombings, had intended to attack New York next.

"Last night, we were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that New York City was next on their list of targets," he told a news conference Thursday.

Police Commmissioner Ray Kelly said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev discussed exploding bombs in Times Square with Tamerlan.

Kelly said the two suspects had a pressure cooker bomb and five pipe bombs they wanted to set off.

Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz in Boston, would not comment on whether authorities plan to add charges based on alleged plan to attack New York.

The Middlesex County district attorney's office also is building a murder case against the surviving Tsarnaev for the death of Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier three days after the bombings, office spokeswoman Stephanie Guyotte said.

Investigators and lawmakers briefed by the FBI have said that the brothers — ethnic Chechens from Russia who had lived in the U.S. for about a decade — were motivated by anger over the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Deceased brother had been under scrutiny

Based on the younger man's interrogation and other evidence, authorities have said it appears so far that the Muslim brothers were radicalized via jihadi material on the internet instead of by any direct contact with terrorist organizations, but they have said it is still an open question.

Dzhokhar was interrogated in his hospital room over a period of 16 hours without being read his constitutional rights. He immediately stopped talking after a magistrate judge and a representative from the U.S. Attorney's office entered the room and advised him of his rights to keep quiet and seek a lawyer, according to a U.S. law enforcement official and others briefed on the interrogation.

Tamerlan had come under scrutiny from the FBI, the CIA and Russian intelligence well before the Boston attack. The CIA had added Tamerlan's name to a terrorist database 18 months ago, after Russian intelligence flagged him as a possible Muslim radical, said officials close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

That disclosure is certain to raise questions in Congress over whether the Obama administration missed an opportunity to thwart the Boston attack.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told authorities that his older brother only recently recruited him to be part of the attack, two U.S. officials said Wednesday.

Alleged NYC plan 'fell apart'

Kelly, citing interrogations carried out by the task force investigating the Boston Marathon attack, said that days after the bombing, the Tsarnaev brothers "planned to travel to Manhattan to detonate their remaining explosives in Times Square.

"They discussed this while driving around in a Mercedes SUV that they hijacked after they shot and killed the officer at MIT," the police commissioner said. "That plan, however, fell apart when they realized that the vehicle they hijacked was low on gas and ordered the driver to stop at a nearby gas station."

The driver escaped and called police, Kelly said. That set off the gunbattle and manhunt that ended a day later with Dzhokhar captured and 26-year-old Tamerlan dead.

A day earlier, Kelly said that Tsarnaev had talked about coming to New York "to party" after the attack and that there wasn't evidence of a plot against the city. But Kelly said a later interview with the suspect turned up the information.

"He was a lot more lucid and gave more detail in the second interrogation," Kelly said. He and the mayor were briefed on the information Wednesday night by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Kelly said there was no evidence New York was still a target. But in a show of force, police cruisers with blinking red lights were lined up in the middle of Times Square on Thursday afternoon, and uniformed officers stood shoulder to shoulder.

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Bangladesh rescuers dig deeper as death toll passes 300

More than two days after their factory collapsed on them, at least some garment workers were still alive in the corpse-littered debris Friday, pinned beneath tonnes of mangled metal and concrete.

Rescue crews struggled to save them, knowing they probably had just a few hours left to live, as desperate relatives clashed with police in their anger and grief.

Amid the chaos, the cries for help and the smell of decaying bodies at the eight-storey building where more than 300 died, what happened to 18-year-old Mussamat Anna passes as luck. Rescue workers cut off the garment worker's mangled right hand to pull her free from the debris Thursday night.

"First a machine fell over my hand and I was crushed under the debris. ... Then the roof collapsed over me," she told an Associated Press cameraman from a hospital bed Friday.

The death toll topped 300 on Friday and it remained unclear what the final grim number would be. Military spokesman Shahin Islam told reporters that 304 bodies had been recovered.

Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Siddiqul Alam Shikder, who is overseeing rescue operations, said 2,200 people have been rescued. The garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed Wednesday in Savar, a suburb of Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka.

An army rescue worker, Maj. Abdul Latif, said Friday that he found one survivor still trapped under concrete slabs, surrounded by several bodies. At another place in the building, four survivors were found pinned under the debris, a fire official said. An Associated Press cameraman who accompanied a rescue crew heard two men's anguished cries for help; it was unknown Friday whether they were still alive.

Rescue workers said they were proceeding very cautiously inside the crumbling building, using their hands, hammers and shovels, to avoid more injuries and collapses. But they said the trapped workers were so badly hurt and weakened that they would need to be extricated within a few hours if they are to survive.

50 injured as relatives, police clash near site

A military official, Maj.-Gen. Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy, told reporters that search and rescue operations would continue until at least Saturday.

'They will die if we don't find them soon.'—Shahinur Rahman, son of missing worker

"We know a human being can survive for up to 72 hours in this situation. So our efforts will continue non-stop," he said.

Hundreds of rescuers, some crawling through the maze of rubble, spent a third day working amid the cries of the trapped and the wails of workers' relatives gathered outside the building, which housed numerous garment factories and a handful of other companies.

Police cordoned off the building site, pushing back thousands of bystanders and relatives, after rescue workers said the crowds were hampering their work.

Clashes later erupted between relatives of those still trapped and police officers, who used batons to disperse the mobs. Police said 50 people were injured in the clashes.

"We want to go inside the building and find our people now. They will die if we don't find them soon," said Shahinur Rahman, whose mother is missing.

Elsewhere, many thousands of workers from the hundreds of garment factories across the Savar industrial zone and other nearby industrial areas took to the streets to protest the collapse and poor safety standards.

Local news reports said protesters had smashed dozens of vehicles at one strike Friday. Most of the other protests were largely peaceful.

Evacuation order ignored before collapse

Dozens of people have been rescued from the wreckage well after Wednesday morning's collapse.

Forty people had been trapped on the fourth floor of the Rana Plaza building until rescuers reached them Thursday evening. Twelve were soon freed, and crews worked to get the others out safely, said Brig.-Gen. Shikder. Crowds at the scene burst into applause as survivors were brought out.

Police say cracks in the building had led them to order an evacuation Tuesday, but the factories ignored the order and were operating when it collapsed Wednesday. Video shot before the collapse shows cracks in the walls, with apparent attempts at repair. It also shows columns missing chunks of concrete and police talking to building operators.

The disaster is the worst ever for Bangladesh's booming and powerful garment industry. (Andrew Biraj/Reuters)

Officials said soon after the collapse that numerous construction regulations had been violated.

Abdul Halim, an official with Savar's engineering department, said the owner of Rana Plaza was originally allowed to construct a five-storey building but added another three storeys illegally.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said she had ordered police to arrest the owner of the building as well as the owners of the garment factories in "the shortest possible time."

Local police chief Mohammed Asaduzzaman said police and the government's Capital Development Authority have filed separate cases of negligence against the building owner.

Habibur Rahman, police superintendent of the Dhaka district, identified the owner of the building as Mohammed Sohel Rana, a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. Rahman said police were also looking for the owners of the garment factories.

Police on Friday detained two of Rana's relatives for questioning, police officer Mohammad Kawser said.

The disaster is the worst ever for Bangladesh's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve the country's worker-safety standards.

Instead, very little has changed in Bangladesh, where wages, among the lowest in the world, have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.

The garment industry has grown rapidly in the past decade, a boom fuelled by Bangladesh's exceptionally low labor costs. The country's minimum wage is now the equivalent of about $38 a month.

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Prince Philip's love affair with Canada

When precision military parachutists drop out of the sky over downtown Toronto tomorrow, they'll be taking advantage of a rare opportunity to demonstrate their tactical prowess for their royal colonel-in-chief.

The new colour for the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment replaces a colour damaged seven years ago. (Department of National Defence)

Prince Philip's short visit to Canada — without his wife, the Queen — to present a ceremonial flag to the Royal Canadian Regiment's 3rd Battalion also comes as something of a surprise.

At 91, and having had a few health scares in the past 18 months, overseas travel might not necessarily have been a given for the Duke of Edinburgh, who is the longest-serving consort to a monarch in British history.

"During the Diamond Jubilee celebrations [last year], the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh remained in the United Kingdom while their children and grandchildren toured the world," notes Toronto-based royal historian and blogger Carolyn Harris. "So I think a foreign visit from the Duke of Edinburgh at 91 was unexpected."

But when you take into account Philip's feisty personality, dedication to his role and some of the interests he's shown over the years, his return to Canada — he's made more than 70 visits or stopovers since 1950 — may not be a complete surprise.

The trip, which begins when Philip lands in Toronto today, is billed as a private working visit and is apparently only for a few days. The brevity, however, is not unprecedented.

"There have been visits related to his charitable patronages, fundraising dinners for the World Wildlife Fund Canada or presenting Duke of Edinburgh awards or holding Commonwealth Study conferences to address issues thoughout the Commonwealth," says Harris. "So it's interestesing that he has been a very constant presence in Canada in the past 60 years."

Praising Canadian innovators

Harris says Philip's longstanding interest in Canada and its military forces was on display as early as 1951, when he accompanied Elizabeth, then heir to the throne and standing in for her ailing father, King George VI, on their first visit to the country.

In a speech during that visit, Philip "commented that he admired that Canada had preserved its independence being so close to a powerful neighbour such as the United States, and that Canada had developed a distinct culture and had its own scientific innovators and cultural innovators," says Harris.

She dates Philip's "admiration" for the Canadian Forces to the Second World War.

Philip, who gave up a naval career at age 29 to support his wife, put his own wartime experience front and centre in his 1951 speech to the Toronto Board of Trade.

"In the British Isles, the Canadian army will always be remembered for the security they gave when invasion threatened and the gallantry displaying in the fighting in Italy and North Europe. I can speak from personal experience as I was serving in a destroyer off the beaches at Sicily when the Canadian division landed there in 1943."

Philip was made colonel-in-chief of the Royal Canadian Regiment on Dec. 8, 1953, taking on a role that had been vacant for more than a decade. He presented the 3rd Battalion's first colours on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 1973.

That flag was ripped when its display case was damaged seven years ago. For the soldiers who will watch Philip present the new heavy silk tapestry at Queen's Park on Saturday, his visit is significant.

'Never pass a fault'

"For us, as a regiment, to have a member of the Royal Family come to do this for us is important," says Lt.-Col. David Quick, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion.

"Although we don't see him very much and he has a ton of activities that he's involved with … it's not lost on those soldiers that His Royal Highness is coming here for a very short time [for] them."

Lt.-Col. David Quick, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment, says Prince Philip embodies the qualities that are reflected in the battalion's slogan: 'Never pass a fault.' (Department of National Defence)

Philip, Quick suggests, also embodies the qualities that are reflected in the battalion's slogan: "Never pass a fault."

"From what I understand, certainly what the popular media reports, that's exactly the kind of man the Duke of Edinburgh is. So I'm really excited to meet a guy that's lived his whole life in the same manner as this regiment believes in."

Quick says the regiment is deeply focused on tradition, but he also takes great pride in the modern military skills the battalion will put on display Saturday as part of a celebration to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812's Battle of York.

More than 350 members of the battalion will travel from their Petawawa base to Toronto for the presentation by Philip, a military parade and other events, some of which will take place near where the regiment was formed in 1883.

'Cool juxtaposition'

In addition to precision parachutists, rappellers will demonstrate their skills off office buildings near Queen's Park. Weapons systems will also be on display, all of it creating what Quick calls a "cool juxtaposition" between past and present.

Harris expects Philip will be intrigued by everything on display.

"He's always had a strong interest in technology, so it's likely the Duke of Edinburgh will be asking plenty of questions about the miliatary technology that he sees."

Ninian Mellamphy, a longtime royal watcher and professor emeritus at Western University in London, Ont., considers that Philip's energy and commitment are to be admired, but he does wonder why Philip, as a naval man, became colonel-in-chief of an infantry regiment.

He also sees a form of "ironic nostalgia" in Canadian regiments having Royal Family members in such roles.

"It's a nice compliment to [Philip], but it doesn't really tell you too much about the confidence of the regiment in its own Canadianness. I often wonder then how someone like Prince Philip — he's a pretty cynical and ironic and aware type of person — I wonder what he thinks of his whole particular role there."

Maj. Tim Kenney, commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Regminent's 1st Battalion, keeps Prince Philip up to date on the regiment's activities. (Department of National Defence)

Maj. Tim Kenney, the commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Regminent's 1st Battalion, otherwise known as the Duke of Edinburgh's Company, keeps Philip up to date on the regiment's activities and will act as his special equerry — or aide — on Saturday.

Kenney hasn't met Philip, but is honoured by his role, and considers that the Duke embodies the regimental motto of pro patria, or "for country."

"In addition to the positive role model that he is for all public servants writ large, he has a very long and a very esteemed history of public service and I think that type of dedication and that type of integrity … is something to be emulated by all of us who serve."

'Yes sir, No sir'

The famously outspoken Philip can generally be counted on for quips — sometimes creating controversy — but Kenney doesn't let on that he's expecting any particular jocularity along the way on Saturday.

"I expect that I will have the opportunity to answer him 'Yes sir,' 'No sir,' as he desires."

Robert Finch, chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, says Philip's visit is a testament to his dedication to Canada, and to his stamina.

"I really thought that his age and recent health concerns would have made such a visit impossible," Finch said in an email.

"But how wrong I was. And I bet he gets a kick out of people talking about his health and age, [and] probably says to himself, 'I'll show them.'"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Esseghaier was also told not to communicate with Jaser.

Member of al-Qaeda allegedly involved in plot

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watched for almost a year

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

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

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

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

Broader network under surveillance

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

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

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

'A little too rigid'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press

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