Inuit midwives say they left after experiencing years of mistreatment

IQALUIT, Nunavut — Cas Augaarjuk Connelly and Rachel Qiliqti Kaludjak never wanted to stop working at a Nunavut birthing centre, but they say years of mistreatment, racism and a lack of support from their government left them no choice

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Both are nationally certified midwives, the first Inuit in Canada to hold such credentials, and for the last six years were the only ones to offer labour support full time in Rankin Inlet.

"It was our dream and our passion. I really had visions of retiring from the birthing centre when I’m old and grey," Kaludjak said.

In January 2020, Connelly resigned and Kaludjak left in August. Connelly had worked at the centre since 2008; Kaludjak since 2003.

The Nunavut government then shuttered birthing services in Rankin Inlet, forcing expectant mothers there and in surrounding hamlets to leave home to give birth.

"It was a very emotional decision. We felt like we were failing ourselves and failing our fellow Inuit women. That made me very, very sad," Kaludjak said. "And I felt very guilty about that. And I still do. The system doesn’t allow for us to succeed.

"The women deserve an explanation. A real concrete one."

When Connelly and Kaludjak started at the birthing centre, which opened in 1993, there were two other full-time midwives. But for the last six years, they were the only two. The remaining positions were filled by a revolving door of southern midwives who would fly up for a few weeks.

Connelly and Kaludjak were essentially running the centre on their own.

"We were constantly orienting new staff. And often we had no casuals. We’d have blocks of time where we didn’t have enough staff. We’d be on call for weeks and weeks at a time," Connelly said.

Nunavut's health-care system relies heavily on southern providers. And the most recent figures from Statistics Canada show that the territory has the highest birthrate in Canada at 22.6 live births per 1,000 people — more than double the national average of 10.1. Some 840 babies were born to Nunavut mothers in 2019.

Connelly and Kaludjak provided Nunavut Inuit with something rare: health care at home in their first language.

"Women were able to speak their own language. It was so rewarding," Kaludjak said.

"We’re related to half the community, so you’re taking care of your family as well," Connelly added.

At times, she said, they were burned out, worried for their patients and felt like they had all of the community's maternity care on their shoulders.

Yet when Department of Health staff needed information or had questions about the birthing centre, they turned to the southern, non-Inuit staff, the women said.

"In their eyes, there were the Aboriginal midwives and then the midwives. We'd do births together and we'd be supervised by people who don’t even do births. We were always made to feel less," Connelly said.

"We were questioned on things like overtime and mirroring our southern colleagues, who were there at the exact same time doing a birth together. Our southern colleagues were never questioned," Kaludjak said.

One Nunavut government employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said the two women were constantly brushed aside by management.

"You would have somebody from the south come up, who’s literally been there a week, and the manager wanted to meet with that person ... instead of asking Inuit that have been there for a decade," she said.

Kaludjak was acting manager at the birthing centre for three years. She said when the position was posted, she interviewed for the job and was rejected.

She said she was told she would need to train her replacement, but no one was hired.

Joan Margaret Laine, a midwife who worked with the two women, said the government failed them.

"There were so many instances of racism and aggression. It was really disheartening to work there."

She said she was in a group of midwives who offered to work full time in Rankin Inlet to give Connelly and Kaludjak some relief. But jobs were never posted.

The Department of Health did not respond to requests for comment about the jobs or Connelly and Kaludjak.

Health Minister Lorne Kusugak, who was moved into the role after Connelly and Kaludjak left, said he's working with his department to review the birthing centre's operations.

"Since Day 1 of my first meeting with senior staff, that was one of the top priorities that we brought forward, to ensure the centre runs again and we don’t run into the same issues that may have been highlighted by previous staff."

Kusuagak said he is "very aware" of the situation at the centre.

"We have to make sure that the work environment is one that is equal to everybody that is there. The goal here is to have women give birth in a very safe and peaceful environment."

Martha Aitkin, the birthing centre's director from 2006 to 2009, also worked as a locum midwife in Rankin Inlet in 2017. She said Connelly and Kaludjak experienced "a long list of microaggressions" by the government.

“It can only be described as anti-Inuit racism. The view from the southern people above them in the government hierarchy was that they weren’t good enough, that they weren’t as qualified," said Aitkin, who is from Ontario.

Connelly, Kaludjak and other midwives said they brought their issues to the government over the years, but nothing was done. They said that's partially because there is a high turnover in departmental staff.

"I don’t think there’s anyone in one position long enough to make change," Connelly said.

"The whole dream that the government has of homegrown professionals, I don’t know how that’s ever going to be if they don’t support it," Kaludjak said.

The territory's Arctic College ran a midwifery program from 2006 to 2014, but it never continued.

Fiona Buchan-Corey, director of the college's Kitikmeot campus, said federal government funding was not renewed.

Kerstin Gafvels helped develop the program and worked with Connelly and Kaludjakt. She said she was disappointed when she heard the program was no longer running and that Connelly and Kaludjak had left the birthing centre.

"No one coming in temporarily from the south would ever understand or have the knowledge that they carry by being part of the community, of actually living there."

Connelly and Kaludjak still live in Rankin Inlet with their families.

"The government leaves people hanging with no explanation and too many empty promises and I don’t want to be a part of that," Connelly said.

"This is not just a government-bashing discussion. It’s mainly for the women to have answers and for the government to step up and make the necessary changes."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2021.

___

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship

Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press

Birch Narrows Dene Nation tells Toronto company to leave its territory

Saskatchewan Indigenous leadership are calling on Toronto-based uranium mining company Baselode Energy Corp. to stop surveys on Birch Narrows Dene Nation traditional territory in the far north unless consent is given.

A permit was issued last month by the province to Baselode for access to land near Turnor Lake, on the edge of the Athabasca Basin and traditional territory of the Birch Narrows Dene Nation, while consultations with the community were still ongoing.

The company set up camp and began conducting surveys on Birch Narrows resident Leonard Sylvestre’s trapline in an area traditionally used for such activities by the community.

Birch Narrows Dene Elder advisor and trapper Ron Desjardin said it felt like an invasion.

“I don't like what they did. They were very disrespectful, unfortunately. If they had any sense or any knowledge of what goes on in our country regarding Indigenous issues they would have stepped back, they would have not chosen to do this, but they went ahead anyway.”

Having presented Baselode with a cease and desist order, Birch Narrows officials set up a blockade when they found that the company was not respecting promises to stop surveys, but took it down and are now patrolling the area regularly.

“They threatened us if we set up a blockade ‘an illegal action’ and never mind the fact that they were on somebody's strapline,” Desjardin said.

“They threatened us with legal action and they were trying to make it look like ‘oh our people, they're not safe.’ They even went to the RCMP saying ‘we want to ensure that our people are going to be safe.’”

That mentality, Desjardin said, feels to him like the company is treating them like they’re “savages.”

“That's what really ticks me off,” he said. “We're still viewed that way.”

Birch Narrows is currently dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and Baselode crews went through the reserve, where they had left some equipment on their way to the survey site, Desjardin said.

Baselode Energy Corp. President and CEO James Sykes said in a written response that his company believes a “near-term solution is achievable” and will look to “continue with its exploration activities in due course.”

“Upon learning of the Community’s objections the Company has paused on-site work to continue further consultation with the local communities,” Sykes said.

“Since applying for permits in October 2020, Baselode has proactively engaged in a positive and constructive dialogue consistent with the duty to consult and accommodate process. We share the common goal of a desire to proceed with mutually beneficial objectives, environmental considerations, and economic development opportunities.”

Sykes said there have been mischaracterizations of the circumstances that the company deems to be inaccurate.

“We have no further comment at this time as we choose to continue our ongoing positive dialogue directly with the community,” Sykes said.

Baselode did send further comments through a law firm in Regina.

The letter accused Desjardin of saving his allegations for “long after” they left the site. They alleged that he “has a history on this file of making inaccurate and inflammatory statements as part of his crusade and the illegal blockade.”

The response came after the Herald asked specific questions about an interaction between a contractor and people staffing the checkpoint. The Herald is continuing to look into the interaction.

The letter said Baselode is a “highly respected publicly traded exploration company” that has “built a reputation for going above and beyond in its interactions with indigenous people.”

Ministry of Environment spokesperson Chris Hodges confirmed that Saskatchewan Minister of Environment Warren Kaeding met with the Birch Narrows Dene Nation to discuss the situation.

“Minister Kaeding had an opportunity to discuss the matter further with Chief Jonathan Sylvestre of Birch Narrows Dene Nation and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations. The Minister encourages that all parties involved continue to communicate and work together in a respectful and safe manner,” Hodges said.

The ministry said it recognizes the lands in question have been used traditionally by the community but that “deliberately blocking public Crown lands is illegal” and can be a public safety issue.

In addition to having two separate meetings with the community on Jan. 20 and on Feb. 9, the province said Baselode engaged by way of a radio broadcast describing the proposed mineral exploration and gave an opportunity to pose questions.

The ministry confirmed that Baselode made a presentation available to the public and leadership through the distribution of flash drives and a printed report. Previous attempts to meet were postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks and a funeral.

The ministry said it wants both parties to work together to “build a positive and mutually beneficial relationship so that opportunities can be discussed and evaluated.”

‘Bad business’ called out by leadership

Desjardin said the core issue is that the Baselode was under the impression from the province that consultation with Indigenous communities is optional and that permits issued by Saskatchewan are sufficient to begin operations.

He said the problem hinges on a lack of clarity around the duty to consult — a responsibility that ultimately lies with the Crown as opposed to industry.

“When Canada came up with this whole duty to consult they told the territories and provinces to start doing business a different way. They were given this mandate to accommodate Indigenous rights and there were some clear guidelines, Desjardin said.

“The Saskatchewan government turned this around and they've given this responsibility to industry. Industry now is in a conflict of interest because they want those resources. There was a failure to meaningfully address our concerns and too much reliance on industry to address the concerns.”

He said provinces develop their own consultation protocols in line with what Canada expects and “Saskatchewan is way behind.”

“Consultation and accommodation is not a means to an end nor an end in itself. There needs to be an opportunity to advance reconciliation for the purpose of improving relationships because that's what's lacking right now.”

Birch Narrows Dene Nation Chief Jonathan Sylvestre said that resource developers need to understand that provincial permits don’t override the rights of First Nations or the consultation process and the community expects to be involved prior to any resource development or extraction on their traditional lands.

“First Nations must be meaningfully and properly engaged on issues that have the potential to adversely impact our rights. It’s been especially difficult to meet deadlines during COVID- 19, while our efforts are keeping our communities safe — not on rubber stamping resource development activities in our territories,” Sylvestre said.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Chief Bobby Cameron said Saskatchewan has no authority to authorize permits without engaging with First Nations and without providing the opportunity to give input.

“Stay off our lands unless given consent by the First Nation.”

FSIN Vice Chief Heather Bear said Indigenous connections to the land, water, animals and environment are paramount.

“These kinds of bad business practices won’t be tolerated anymore,” Bear said.

“Resource exploration and extraction within our territories presents our treaty hunters and gatherers with real problems, especially when it impacts their ability to exercise their Inherent and Treaty rights to hunt, fish, trap and gather.”

The province said the ministry approved phase 1 of Baselode’s project on Jan. 27 and issued a permit for preliminary exploration, authorizing a survey with “very low impact” on the environment.

Surveyors can access the area on snowmobile or in a snow-cat and collect ground gravity readings on foot to decide where to propose drilling. That information would then be given to the community.

The next phase of exploration, for which a permit has not been issued, would involve core sampling after undergoing the consultation and community engagement process.

The province said the Turnor Lake community and Baselode Energy are discussing plans for a comprehensive traditional land study in the area that it says falls outside the duty to consult process which focuses on how a community currently uses the area.

According to the province, engagement with Indigenous communities by industry is separate from duty to consult obligations held by the province in this context and those discussions don’t influence the permitting process or timeframes.

Meadow Lake Tribal Council Tribal Chief Richard Ben said the province needs to provide already underfunded First Nations with the financial resources to be able to participate at the table “in a meaningful way.”

“Otherwise, many First Nations will be left out of the process. We can’t undertake studies at our own expense in order to be consulted on resource development within our territory,” Ben said.

The Government of Saskatchewan First Nation and Métis Consultation Policy Framework, drafted in 2010, states that Saskatchewan “does not accept assertions by First Nations or Métis that Aboriginal title continues to exist with respect to either lands or resources in Saskatchewan.”

Desjardin says that’s insulting. He said while lip service is paid to engaging with First Nations, those words don’t ring true when they’re contradicted in policy.

“The duty to consult document is outdated. How can a document support us on one hand and then tell us that on the other hand ‘you've got nothing here.’ It’s a weak document, it’s a contradictory document and it’s a patronizing document. It's not serving its purpose, not doing what it's supposed to do,” Desjardin said.

‘Cultural survival’ depends on wildlife habitat

Desjardin said his community has long relied on an abundance of caribou and moose, who feed in muskeg areas such as the proposed exploration site near Harding Bay.

Canada’s Species at Risk Act considers woodland caribou as a threatened species. Saskatchewan has not yet finished its habitat assessment for the Boreal Shield and Desjardin wants that data to be available before development happens in the area.

“The provinces and territories agreed to come up with a solution, to come up with plans to address this. Saskatchewan is really late. Our area was supposed to be done in June of this year. And that's what I've been pleading with the ministry saying, ‘hold off, hold on, let's find out where the caribou are at.’ How can you make a meaningful decision if you're not basing it on scientific data?” Desjardin said.

“We’ve proposed setting aside that whole area as a preserve to save those caribou because they do mean a lot to us. It's our grocery store. That's what it is. We’d like everything to be put on hold. Give us at least a year so that we can do our own research and we can find out where we’re at with everything that we want and then let’s talk.”

The ministry said it initiated the duty to consult process with the Indigenous communities of Turnor Lake Oct. 27 last year for Baselode's proposal for mineral exploration on “unoccupied, public Crown land” about 50 kilometres northeast of the community.

The process was extended so the community had more time to discuss the project and voice concerns to the ministry. The province said those concerns included impact to caribou, impact to trapping, the development of a new trail to the exploration site and a heavy haul ice road for equipment.

Early concerns expressed about the new access roads were addressed by changing the program to a heli-assist, which reduces overall impact, the ministry said.

Desjardin said the government and industry need to realize that there are “deeper issues” with the unique habitat of that area.

“We are fighting for our cultural survival. That’s what we’re doing right now and that’s why we feel so strongly about this. Do we want a uranium mine in the middle of that knowing the possible consequences if anything ever happened with our watershed? Of course not. Do we really want something that’s going to lead to the demise and extinction of our caribou in that area? No, we don’t,” Desjardin said.

“This is something that you need to listen to. We’re not totally against industry. We know people need jobs. But we’d like a say. Listen to us, this is why we don’t want it there.”

‘Speaking from the heart’ to build good partnerships

Desjardin said companies that have built successful partnerships with Birch Narrows have gone through the full process of a meaningful consultation.

“They sat down with people, they listened to the pros and cons, they addressed each of those issues as well as they could. They didn't hide anything and they were transparent,” Desjardin said.

He said Baselode should follow the example set by NexGen Energy Ltd., another uranium company that operates in the Athabasca Basin.

“When they drafted a benefit agreement here with Birch Narrows they chose not to call it an impact benefit agreement, they chose to call it a mutual benefit agreement and I thought that was awesome because they didn't rush. It took time,” Desjardin said.

“They didn't come and say, ‘Okay, here's our timeline. We have until December. Please make a decision now.’ Basically, that's what Baselode did to us. We're saying ‘No, you have to fit into our timelines.’ We live here.”

Desjardin said the issue is part of long-standing unresolved Indigenous grievances in Canada.

“It's all about relationships. Canada and the province have to stop hiding behind their documents and their policies. We're speaking from the heart. We don't hide behind policies and documents because this means something to us. It might not mean much to somebody living in Saskatoon but it does to us,” Desjardin said.

“It's a dichotomous relationship because we're going down this line and we're not bridging any gaps. Everyone's on their own. No wonder we've got all these issues. We need to bridge that gap and start respecting each other.”

Citing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action Desjardin said it’s important to establish and maintain a mutually respectful relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.

In order for that to happen there has to be awareness of the past, acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes and action to change behavior. “Saskatchewan is falling short on the action part,” Desjardin said.

“I like what Chief Dr. Robert Joseph (a Hereditary Chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation in British Columbia) said. Like he said, I want you to dream and imagine what reconciliation would look like in 20, 30 and 40 years from now on,” Desjardin said.

“When we are reconciled, we will live together in harmony, be gentle with one another, we will be caring and compassionate. When we are reconciled every person living here will live with dignity, purpose and value. That's where Canada and Saskatchewan need to go.”

Michael Bramadat-Willcock, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Northern Advocate

The real reason why Amazon is lobbying for a $15 minimum wage as it tries to squash unionization efforts

ktaylor@businessinsider.com (Kate Taylor)

© Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has said higher pay is a good business decision. Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Amazon's lobbying for a $15 federal minimum wage is a strategic business decision. 

Amazon already pays workers at least $15, so a higher minimum wage won't hurt its bottom line.

However, it would hurt rivals like Walmart. And, lobbying could help improve Amazon's reputation. 

As Amazon lobbies for a higher minimum wage, experts say that the company is not making its decisions solely out of the goodness of CEO Jeff Bezos' heart.

AMAZON IS POSTMODERN FORDISM

"Anyone who says Amazon is supporting the federal $15 minimum wage out of their good will toward workers has to somehow explain the fact that Amazon is dragging its feet every way it can on allowing unions to organize their workers," Michael Farren, an economist at the right-leaning think tank The Mercatus Center, told Insider.

"Amazon is acting like a rational economic agent and trying to promote something that is relatively cost-less to it, but gives it social street cred, so to speak," Farren added.

As a business, Amazon is pushing for a $15 federal minimum wage for a number of strategic reasons. Here are three of the most critical factors that Amazon likely considered before lobbying for a higher minimum wage. 

Paying workers more is good for business


Amazon has said that it pays workers $15 per hour because it is good for the company's bottom line.

"We believe $15 an hour is the minimum anyone in the U.S. should be paid for an hour of labor," Jay Carney, Amazon's senior vice president of global corporate affairs, wrote in a blog post in late January. "We also believe it's good for business."

According to Carney, Amazon raising minimum pay to $15 per hour had an immediate positive impact on morale and retention. Applications to hourly positions more than doubled, Carney wrote in the post.

"Paying a $15 minimum helps the company to recruit and retain staff, which is important for a growing business," GlobalData managing director Neil Saunders told Insider. "This is probably not so much of an issue right now, but before the pandemic hit there was very full employment and hiring staff was sometimes tough."

However, Amazon's success with paying workers more does not fully explain why the company is pushing for regulation that would require other companies to do the same. (Amazon did not respond to Insider's request for comment.)
Higher federal minimum wage would hurt Amazon's rivals, including Walmart

© Provided by Business Insider Walmart's minimum wage is currently $11. 

Julio Cortez/AP Photos

A higher minimum wage won't hurt Amazon, but it will impact the company's competitors.

"Amazon has already implemented a $15 minimum wage so it has little to fear from this becoming a federal minimum," Saunders said. "In fact, it is to Amazon's commercial advantage if rival retailers also have to pay more - particularly Walmart."

Farren said that, consciously or unconsciously, it makes sense that Amazon would push for regulation that would hurt competitors.

"It may sound a little cynical, but it's probably pretty accurate that Amazon sees this as a tool to help it essentially drive a wedge against competitors - specifically against smaller competitors, but also against Walmart itself, who arguably is Amazon's largest competitor," Farren said.
Amazon's reputation could use the boost

Progressive activists have criticized Amazon for its anti-union campaign, as workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama attempt to unionize.

"Amazon is keen to show that it is treating workers fairly and well," Saunders said. The company is often criticized for its working conditions, and "not all of that criticism is justified," he added. "So where it has a worker-friendly policy it is keen to showcase it."

Farren said he believes that Amazon's aggressive advertising around raising the minimum wage and its anti-union campaign are closely linked.

"I'm sure Amazon is trying to make as much Amazon news in the press be about their support for the federal minimum wage rather than their reluctance to have unions start organizing their workforce," Farren said. 

Read the original article on Business Insider

ALBERTA ANTI MASKERS EXPOSED AS

PRO WHITE POWER

Anti-maskers and counter-protesters face off at Calgary city hall

Alanna Smith , POSTMEDIA

Duelling demonstrations took place on Saturday afternoon, one week after a similar rally in Edmonton where hundreds of protesters and counter-protesters gathered at the legislature grounds.

© Provided by Calgary Herald Calgary police were busy keeping peace as hundreds of anti-mask protesters and counter-protesters faced off at City Hall in Calgary on Saturday, February 27, 2021.

Anti-racism protesters called out white supremacy as leaders of the anti-mask movement held tiki torches in front of Calgary city hall, reminding some of a deadly 2017 white nationalist torch rally in Charlottesville, Va.

There were about 150 anti-racism demonstrators who went to city hall to counter-protest about 500 anti-maskers who gathered for the “Walk for Freedom” march. Calgary police arrived just before the two crowds could clash, dividing the protests with a line of bikes on the sidewalk between city hall and Macleod Trail S.E

.

© Darren Makowichuk Calgary police were busy keeping peace as hundreds of anti mask protesters and counter protesters faced off at City Hall in Calgary on Saturday, February 27, 2021.

A poster for the counter-protest said participants were standing against “white supremacy, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia and transphobia” in addition to “law enforcement and government officials who allow hate to march our streets.”

Anti-racism advocates were seen holding signs that read “when you are accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression” and “no torches in my streets.”

On the other side, people were seen with Donald Trump flags and signs that read “unmask the truth,” “facts over fear” and “government reliance on your compliance.”

A handful of these protesters were seen wearing jackets embellished with Canadian Crusaders patches. This group supports “Canadian values” and has expressed Islamophobic views.

© Darren Makowichuk Calgary police were busy keeping peace as hundreds of anti-mask protesters and counter-protesters faced off at City Hall in Calgary on Saturday, February 27, 2021.

Counter-protester Everline Aboka said she attended to speak out against white supremacists and anti-government protesters who are attempting to “divide” Calgarians.

“I’m a diversity and inclusion workshop trainer in Calgary … so my role in this community is to bring people together using empathy. It’s not an easy job. I’m here to protect the work I’m doing in this city to bring people together,” said Aboka.

She said the “freedom” marchers are against “literally everything,” including public health orders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and racialized and sexually diverse communities.

“They are holding a Trump flag. Trump is the face of racism. Trump doesn’t love anybody but Trump and people that look like him,” said Aboka. “I know what they are.”

Attendees of the “freedom” march said they were there to protest against mandatory masking, implemented in an effort to curb COVID-19, and “lockdown” measures.

One attendee said he does not believe anti-maskers are racist.

He said they are only protesting the “lockdown.”

“They’ve been told that it’s racist because the people who want to silence us know that’s the best way. They want people to feel guilty about coming to demonstrate,” said Kurtis, who gave only his first name. “They want to stop people who would be otherwise willing to come out from coming out. They want to scare them.”

He said COVID-19 is “not an emergency” and he would know if it was, referencing the Ebola virus.

“When you have an actual emergency, you don’t need to tell people.”

Some attendees of the “freedom” rally — led, in part, by controversial street preacher Artur Pawlowski, who has been fined multiple times for disregarding public health orders — held lit tiki torches.

In a statement posted to social media Saturday evening, Calgary police said the service does not condone the display of hateful imagery, but it must also consider thresholds set by the Criminal Code with regard to laying charges for incitement of hatred.

“We had officers at the event gathering evidence and we will be liaising with Crown Prosecutions in the coming days,” part of the statement read.

Police also said officers were focused on upholding Charter-protected freedoms and keeping everyone safe given the convergence of “groups from various opposing beliefs.”

© Darren Makowichuk Calgary police where busy keeping peace as hundreds of anti mask protesters and counter protesters faced off at City Hall in Calgary on Saturday, February 27, 2021.

Attendees of an anti-lockdown protest at the Edmonton legislature grounds also carried torches last weekend.

Promotional materials for that event included imagery from an August 2017 white nationalist torch rally in Charlottesville, where alt-right and neo-Nazi hate groups demonstrated in support of white nationalism. One person was killed and 19 others were injured when a car was driven into a crowd of counter-protesters.

In response to the Edmonton protest, Premier Jason Kenney told Postmedia that hate groups, like the Soldiers of Odin and Urban Infidels, must be condemned .

He called on people voicing opposition about public health measures to “disassociate themselves from the extremists who peddle hatred and division.”

— With files from Gavin Young and Darren Makowichuk

alsmith@postmedia.com

Twitter: @alanna_smithh

SUNDAY SATANIC SERMON

Some upset in Cyprus over 'satanic' Eurovision song choice

NICOSIA, Cyprus — A man has been charged with uttering threats and causing a disturbance after barging onto the grounds of Cyprus’ public broadcaster to protest what he said was the country’s “blasphemous” entry into this year’s Eurovision song contest, police said Sunday.

Police told The Associated Press the man, who hasn’t been named, was released after being charged with four counts, including being verbally abusive.

Police said witnesses to Saturday’s incident told investigators the man verbally accosted employees outside the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation’s news department. He was apparently upset that the broadcaster had selected the song “El Diablo” ("The Devil") performed by Greek singer Elena Tsagrinou to represent Cyprus, since he said it was as an affront to Christianity.

Amateur video of the man confronting CyBC staff showed him screaming at a number of employees in the yard, asking how they could justify supporting such a song.

The title of “El Diablo” as well as it’s lyrics — “I gave my heart to el diablo...because he tells me I’m his angel” — have touched a raw nerve with some in the east Mediterranean island nation, who consider it to be fraught with Satanic connotations.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, an association representing theologians who teach in high schools expressed their “disgust” over the song and called for it to be withdrawn because it “pledges life-long devotion and professes love for Satan.”

The agency also reported the broadcaster received threatening phone calls that “it would be burned down” because of the song.

The far-right ELAM political party issued a statement saying even if the song’s lyrics are metaphorical, it “attacks and insults our faith in a shadowy way.”

Others, meanwhile, took to social media to heap scorn on “El Diablo” as a good song, defend it as simply a ditty about a “scorching love affair” or to label its detractors religious zealots.

Cyprus’ best-ever showing in the popular music competition was as runner-up in 2018 with the song “El Fuego” by singer Eleni Foureira.

The annual Eurovision contest is a beloved European institution watched by millions that often involves songs that are controversial, in questionable taste or just plain bad.

Menelaos Hadjicostis, The Associated Press

'How many dead bodies?' asked Myanmar protester killed on bloodiest day

LONG LIVE THE BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION

"Young people are resisting state oppression with anything they have," said youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi. "We won't let military rule us again. Never again."

(Reuters) - The day before he was killed, internet network engineer Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing had posted on Facebook about the increasingly violent military crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Myanmar

© Reuters/STRINGER Protest against the military coup in Yang

on

" #How_Many_Dead_Bodies_UN_Need_To_Take_Action    ,” he wrote, in reference to the United Nations.

He was among the first shot dead in Myanmar's biggest city of Yangon on Sunday, the bloodiest day since the Feb. 1 coup prompted daily protests against the junta and to demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The United Nations Human Rights Office said at least 18 people had been killed and 30 wounded on Sunday, bringing the total number of protesters killed since the coup to at least 21. The army says one policeman has died in the unrest.

Authorities did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday's violence.

The state-run Global New Light Of Myanmar said the army had previously shown restraint, but could not ignore "anarchic mobs". It said "severe action will be inevitably taken" against "riotous protesters."

With daily protests and strikes paralysing a country where the army had promised to bring order, soldiers and police intensified their crackdown at the weekend.

Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Naing was shot a few hundred metres (yards) from Hledan Junction, a regular protest gathering point.

Video from an apartment above records the sound of gunshots as Nyi Nyi lies slumped outside the gate of the Kamaryut township high school - dressed in a check shirt and with a builder's white hard hat, his phone in his hand.

Several protesters sprint past the body before five gain courage to carry him away, crouching as they run, the video from website Myanmar Now that was republished by Reuters shows.

It was too late to save him.

A U.N official speaking on condition of anonymity said Nyi Nyi was one of at least five killed people in Yangon. One had been shot in the eye. A middle school teacher died of a suspected heart attack from a stun grenade blast, her colleagues said.

The teachers tried to assemble early, but police threw stun grenades and charged in to break up the protest.

"Many were wounded. I have no weapon. I just came here to protest peacefully. Whatever they do, we just have to take it," said teacher Hayman May Hninsi.

FACE-OFF

Across the country, protesters wearing plastic work helmets and with makeshift shields faced off against police and soldiers in battle gear, including some from units notorious for tough crackdowns on ethnic rebel groups in Myanmar's border regions.

In the coastal town of Dawei, security forces opened fire on demonstrators in the middle of the road, witnesses said.

Video footage shared on social media shows a protester clad in jeans and flip flops lying motionless after the crowd scatters. Soldiers walk past the body and begin beating another protester.

In Myanmar's second city of Mandalay, a man was shot dead as he rode his motorbike. Protesters carried his lifeless body to an ambulance. The bullet pierced his red helmet, leaving it drenched in blood, images on social media showed.

The live video and photos shared on social media, not all of which were verified by Reuters, showed medics rushing to retrieve the dead and injured, carrying them away on stretchers, stuffing cotton wool into gaping wounds.

One front-line reporter posted on Facebook that police had told people they were not shooting because they had been ordered to.

"We shoot because we want to. Get inside your homes if you don't want to die," she quoted one as shouting.

Yangon echoed to the sound of stun grenades and rubber bullets and the occasional zip of a live round.

Despite the crackdown, protesters moved to different districts, setting up roadblocks with wheeled garbage bins, lighting poles and concrete blocks.

Some held riot shields homemade from tin sheet and stencilled with the word "PEOPLE" to contrast with those labelled "POLICE".

Protesters wrote their blood group and a contact number for next of kin on their forearms in case they were wounded.

Until nightfall, demonstrations flared and subsided.

"Young people are resisting state oppression with anything they have," said youth activist Thinzar Shunlei Yi. "We won't let military rule us again. Never again."

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Poppy McPherson; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Frances Kerry)

LONG LIVE THE BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION

Myanmar: At least 18 dead in crackdown on anti-coup protests — UN

Protests against military rule in Myanmar have been met with gunfire and smoke grenades from the police. Meanwhile, the country's former UN envoy has vowed to keep fighting "as long as I can."


Riot police have detained scores of students and teachers

Myanmar police have cracked down on anti-coup protesters using stun grenades, tear gas and firing into the air, killing at least 18 people in the bloodiest action since the military seized power four weeks ago, the United Nations said on Sunday.

"Throughout the day, in several locations throughout the country, police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force that — according to credible information received by the UN Human Rights Office — has left at least 18 people dead and over 30 wounded," the office said.

Police opened fire in the southern town of Dawei, killing three and wounding several, according to politician Kyaw Min Htike. The deaths were verified by medics and reported by local media.

Officers were also seen shooting in the main city of Yangon. A man brought to a local hospital with a bullet wound died from his injury, according to a doctor. Myanmar's Mizzima media outlet also reported the death.

The heavy-handed clampdown has intensified since the military seized power in a coup on February 1.

"We strongly condemn the escalating violence against protests in Myanmar and call on the military to immediately halt the use of force against peaceful protesters," Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, said in a statement.

VIDEO 'People in Myanmar always find a way to protest peacefully'

Mass arrests

Scores of students and teachers have been detained in Yangon, and several bloodied people were seen being helped away from the protests in the city.

"Police got out of their trucks and started throwing stun grenades without warning," Hayman May Hninsi, who was among a group of teachers protesting in Yangon, told Reuters. They fled to nearby buildings.

"Some teachers got hurt running. We're assessing the situation and whether to go out again or not."

Doctors and students in white lab coats also fled as police launched stun grenades outside a medical school in another part of the city, videos posted online showed.

In the northern city of Mandalay, police fired guns into the air, trapping protesting medical staff in a city hospital, a doctor there told Reuters by telephone.

An activist in Mandalay, who wanted to remain anonymous for security reasons, told DW that he witnessed the military targetting ambulances and hospitals in the city.

"Today I saw that they (the military) even shot at the ambulances and they arrested some people sheltering themselves in a hospital. They are not holding back anything anymore and they are using extreme violence against the protesters," the activist told DW.

Scores of students and teachers were arrested for taking part in the protests

Police were deployed early and in force, taking positions at the main protest sites in the country's two biggest cities where protesters, many clad in protective gear, had gathered, witnesses said.

Medical students were marching in Yangon's streets at an intersection that has become a gathering point for protesters before they spread out to other parts of the city.

Police began chasing the protesters, while residents erected makeshift roadblocks to slow down the police advance.

Fired UN envoy vows resistance

Sunday's violence comes days after a dramatic appeal from Myanmar's UN ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, who publicly broke ranks with the ruling junta while addressing the UN General Assembly.

He said he was speaking on behalf of the ousted Aung San Suu Kyi civilian government and called for international intervention to help end the coup.

"We need further strongest possible action from the international community to immediately end the military coup," he said on Friday.

On Saturday, Myanmar's state broadcaster reported that the diplomat had been fired because he had "betrayed the country and spoken for an unofficial organization which doesn't represent the country and had abused the power and responsibilities of an ambassador."

"I decided to fight back as long as I can," Kyaw Moe Tun told Reuters in New York.

The military has said it staged the coup over irregularities in the November election that gave Suu Kyi's party a landslide win. The national election commission has rejected the allegation.

The junta has also said it will rule for a year under a state of emergency and then hold fresh elections

MYANMAR COUP:  PROTESTERS DEMAND RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY
The military coup
Senior military figures seized power earlier this month, claiming widespread voter fraud in November's elections, where Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide. They arrested elected officials and quickly stacked political offices and the court system with loyalists.   PHOTOS 12345678

LONG LIVE THE BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION

New deaths mark bloodiest day yet in Myanmar’s nationwide anti-coup protests

Issued on: 28/02/2021 

Police reportedly open live fire in Myanmar protesters on

 February 27, 2021 AFP - SAI AUNG MAIN

Text by:FRANCE 24Follow|

Video by: Solange MOUGIN 16 min

Myanmar police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday in the bloodiest day in weeks of demonstrations against a military coup. At least 18 people were killed, the UN human rights office said.

Myanmar police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday in the bloodiest day in weeks of demonstrations against a military coup, with the UN human rights office claiming at least 18 people have been killed.

Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of the biggest city of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds. Soldiers also reinforced police.
Protesters 'coming out more and more'

05:09

Several wounded people were hauled away by fellow protesters, leaving bloody smears on pavements, media images showed. One man died after being brought to a hospital with a bullet in the chest, said a doctor who asked not to be identified.

“Police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force that – according to credible information received by the UN Human Rights Office – has left at least 18 people dead and over 30 wounded,” the UN human rights office said.

Fearing a 'blood bath'

Speaking to FRANCE 24 from Bangkok, Thailand, the Sunday Times’ Asia correspondent Philip Sherwell said that Sunday marked “the bloodiest day of this month-long uprising against the coup”.


03:48

Sherwell said that the military’s previous resistance to crack down on protesters had vanished over the weekend. “That’s over. Yesterday they arrested hundreds of people, and today they’ve gone in very early and violently with tear gas and stun guns and clearly this is now reaching a tipping point.”

Sherwell said the “humiliating scene” the army suffered on Friday when the country’s envoy to the United Nations condemned the coup, had spurred on both the army’s crack-down tactics, as well as demonstrators’ determination to continue to protest.

“The junta is seeing a paralysing disobedience movement,” he said, warning there is great fear that the army will eventually respond in such force reminiscent of the 1988 “blood baths” following the 8888 pro-democracy uprisings and in which thousands of people were killed.

“These protesters are not going anywhere. They believe this is their time. They have to maintain the momentum and they’re galvanised and fueled by how this crackdown is being conducted.”

‘Never kneel’

The crackdown would appear to indicate determination by the military to impose its authority in the face of widespread defiance, not just on the streets but more broadly in the civil service, municipal administration, the judiciary, the education and health sectors and the media.

“The Myanmar security forces’ clear escalation in use of lethal force in multiple towns and cities ... is outrageous and unacceptable,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters refused to leave the streets by early afternoon in Yangon. Many set up barricades while others chanted slogans and sang protest songs.

“If they attack us, we’ll defend. We’ll never kneel down to the military boots,” said Nyan Win Shein from one Yangon protest.

Early in the day, police swooped to disperse a teachers’ protest with stun grenades, sending the crowd fleeing. One teacher, Tin New Yee, died of a suspected heart attack, her daughter and a fellow teacher said.

Police also hurled stun grenades outside a Yangon medical school sending doctors and students in white lab coats scattering. A group called the Whitecoat Alliance of medics said more than 50 medical staff had been arrested.

State-run MRTV television said more than 470 people had been arrested on Saturday when police launched the nationwide crackdown. It was not clear how many were detained on Sunday.

‘Instill fear’

Youth activist Esther Ze Naw said earlier people were battling the fear they had lived with under military rule.

“It’s obvious they’re trying to instill fear in us by making us run and hide,” she said. “We can’t accept that.”

The police action came after state television announced that Myanmar’s UN envoy had been fired for betraying the country for urging the United Nations to use “any means necessary” to reverse the coup.

The ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, remained defiant. “I decided to fight back as long as I can,” he told Reuters in New York.


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While Western countries have condemned the coup and some have imposed limited sanctions, the generals have traditionally shrugged off diplomatic pressure. They have promised to hold a new election but not set a date.

Suu Kyi’s party and supporters said the result of the November vote must be respected.

Suu Kyi, 75, who spent nearly 15 years under house arrest, faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and of violating a natural disaster law by breaching coronavirus protocols. The next hearing in her case is on Monday.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

 

FROM GERMANY
Opinion: Why the United States needs to stay in Afghanistan

A year ago, the US struck a deal with the Taliban — but it wasn't about Afghanistan. It was about Donald Trump and "America First," and the consequences have been catastrophic, writes DW's Sandra Petersmann.



Trump's 'America First' policy had a disastrous impact on the peace process in Afghanistan

On the table are, sadly, two very bad options: The withdrawal of all international troops by May 1, as agreed in the Doha accord, or the extension of the US-led intervention that began nearly 20 years ago.

I favor staying, and let me explain why.

International soldiers will not win this war, nor will they bring peace. But they are an indispensable bargaining chip in the difficult peace negotiations underway in the Qatari capital.

Thirsty for power and recognition, the Taliban are demanding the end of foreign occupation and the easing of all sanctions against them. These are the only two levers the West has at its disposal to put pressure on the radical Islamist extremists to agree to a cease-fire and advance negotiations. 

Sandra Petersmann has been reporting on Afghanistan since 2001

Bitter truth about 'America First'

To put it bluntly, troop withdrawal and sanctions are not a panacea that will work overnight. People will continue to die in Afghanistan in the coming months as a result of terror and war. According to the UN, between October and December of last year alone, at least 30 civilians on average were killed or injured each day.

This is the bitter truth of the "America First" policy. Former President Donald Trump took it to extremes with the Doha Accord. The narcissist desperately wanted to go down in history as the president who brought US troops home. He was all about ending America's longest war to win an election. But that plan backfired.
Trump was not the only one

Trump was not the first to decide on Afghanistan's fate based solely on domestic political considerations. "America First" began with the revenge-driven invasion after the 9/11 terror attacks. How else can we explain the United States and its Western allies' unsavory alliances with war criminals and human rights abusers (for example the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum) for the sake of hunting down al-Qaeda and punishing the Taliban?

Germany's Bundeswehr has been on duty in Afghanistan for the past 20 years

The hasty invasion took no account of the Afghan civil war which began in 1978 and remains unresolved to this day. Nor did the intervention at least consider the wounds left by the Cold War and Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The military campaign was carried out without any regard for the dangerous role played in Afghanistan by regional states such as Pakistan, India and Iran. They, too, are igniting the Afghan battlefield with maximum national egoism.
The German perspective

And that is why now — after 20 years of war for the US coalition and after a total of four decades of continuous war for the Afghan people — there are no better options on the table.

America's allies, including Germany, will follow the beat of Trump successor, Joe Biden's administration. If the US goes, all coalition troops go. There are currently about 10,000 left in the country. If the Americans stay, NATO allies will stay. Germany currently has around 1,100 troops stationed in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest troop contributor after the United States.

Watch video 03:19 Germany: Taliban must do more to reduce violence in Afghanistan

But the Afghanistan mission is just as unpopular in Germany as it is in the US. Germans also question why the Bundeswehr is still on the ground. Germany is now facing a federal election, but the political elite in Berlin do not want to spoil their campaigns with the issue of Afghanistan — and they refuse to provide much-needed explanations to the public. Germany first!
High time for 'Afghanistan first'

It is time for truth: Those who invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago in an ill-considered manner should not pull out equally recklessly and deal a death blow to the young and however imperfect Afghan democracy — which was created by, and is totally dependent on, Western support. Dodging responsibility means admitting defeat.

Afghanistan needs maximum pressure on the Taliban as well as on the divided, often corrupt government and the many warlords. It needs maximum political and diplomatic involvement of all the major regional states and the other two global powers, Russia and China. This will be strenuous and dangerous.

But those who still refuse to put the necessary strength, willpower and patience into an "Afghanistan first" policy risk further displacing a terrorized Afghan population from their homeland — an outcome that will also have consequences for the rest of the world.

Miss Germany: 33-year-old mother wins revamped contest

This year's contest has been won by Miss Thuringia. The show has struggled to separate itself from the more stereotypical objectification of women.



Anja Kallenbach will hold the role of Miss Germany for the next 12 months

Anja Kallenbach was named Miss Germany 2021 on Saturday evening after competing against 15 other finalists.

There was no audience present for the event due to coronavirus restrictions, but the show was broadcast live over YouTube. The event carried the tagline: "Empowering authentic women."

The triumphant mother of two hails from the eastern state of Thuringia. According to her profile on the Miss Germany website, Kallenbach would like to be a role model to other women with her "accumulated experiences in life, her profession, as a mother, as a friend, a woman and life-affirming person."

This was the second time the competition took place after a revamp aimed to focus on the women's characters rather than on their looks.

A contest of contradictions

The competition's format was changed after receiving criticism for its objectification of women. Rather than being valued for their beauty, the candidates now have to prove their worth through how well they present their unique messages.

This year's list of contestants included an activist fighting against fatphobia, a survivor of sexual violence, a former Jehovah's Witness and a woman with an ileostomy.

"I wouldn't have taken part in a beauty contest," said Cynthia Junghans, the candidate from Hesse. "Who needs to see someone walking around in a bikini?"

Despite claims by the show to have changed direction, the contestants were still asked to answer questions on topics such as "family and home" and "beauty and care."

The woman also came out in various outfits even as the contest claimed to give no importance to outward appearance anymore.
'Empowering authentic women'

Kallenbach left school before turning 17 and then went on to study business management. She lives with her two daughters and her partner, with whom she runs two bicycle businesses.

She began modeling when she was 27 after both of her children were born.

Her goal in the competition was to encourage women to "do whatever feels good, no matter how old they are, what they look like, or what other people say."

She received her sash from last year's winner, Leonie von Hase.