Federal-government officials look forward on Truth and Reconciliation

Wed., October 13, 2021

Five federal ministers banded together to make sure Indigenous people living in Canada know that the government is committed to fixing the terrible mistakes of its past and wants to make sure such horrors are never visited upon anyone again in this country, they said in a statement last week.

The statement came on behalf of Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Justice Minister David Lametti and Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal.

They said the Residential Schools nightmare was part of the country’s ‘damaging,’ and ‘racist,’ past – and that steps are being taken to ensure no child will ever be again ripped from their home and parents and shipped off to school far from home – possibly never to return.

‘Residential Schools are a shameful part of damaging racist and colonial policies that removed First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children from their communities, families, languages and cultures. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established to find the truth of what happened at Residential Schools in Canada,’ the statement said. ‘Their Final Report included 94 Calls to Action that are an appeal to mobilize all levels of government, organizations and individuals to make concrete changes in society. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was created in response to the TRC's Call to Action number 80,’ the statement said.

In the statement, the ministers confronted the discovery of unmarked graves at former Residential School sites last spring and throughout the summer – the grisly recognition that thousands of families and generations of Indigenous people were forever and irreparably harmed by the policies of taking the children away and the trauma of the families left wondering if their child might ever come home.

‘The location of unmarked graves at former Residential Schools across the country this past year shocked not just every Canadian, but the world,’ the statement said. ‘Once you know the truth, you cannot unknow it. All Canadians are better able to feel and understand what it must have been like to have their children taken against their will, some never to return, and all to witness that the lives of those who returned had been forever changed — and harmed. We must never forget those innocent children who never returned home, their families and communities who were waiting for them and those who continue to suffer from intergenerational trauma.’

National commemoration of September 30 as Truth and Reconciliation Day follows in the footsteps of recognition of September 30 as Orange Shirt Day by many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people as well in honour of Phyllis Webstad of the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation, who was stripped of the orange shirt she had been given by her grandmother on her first day of Residential School.

‘National recognition of this day of solemn commemoration marks another step toward recognizing the wrongs committed by the residential school policy, acknowledging the ongoing impacts and reflecting on actions to be taken each day on the path of reconciliation. It is an opportunity for all Canadians to further our understanding of and deepen our respect for Indigenous ways of life. It is also an opportunity for us all to stand with Indigenous Peoples; reaffirm our support for those who are affected, recognize the intergenerational trauma of residential schools that continues to have a profound effect on Survivors, their families and communities; and recognize our shared responsibility for healing.’

Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase

Task team created to help eradicate Indigenous-specific racism in B.C.’s health care

Wed., October 13, 2021

A task team has been created to help resolve Indigenous-specific racism in British Columbia’s health care system.

It comes in response to one of the 24 recommendations made in the In Plain Sight Report, which identified that Indigenous peoples in B.C. have inequitable access to health-care services.

In the report, Independent reviewer Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond said thousands of interviews created a picture “of a B.C. health care system with widespread systemic racism against Indigenous peoples. This racism results in a range of negative impacts, harm, and even death.”

The In Plain Sight Task Team’s mandate is to lead the implementation of the remaining recommendations in the report.

Thirty-three members were appointed by the Ministry of Health, in consultation with Indigenous health care partners. They are a “diverse group of First Nations and Métis leaders, health system experts, health care professionals, nurses and doctors,” said the ministry.

The group consists of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and includes representation from the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and the First Nations Leadership Council.

"Racism has been able to hide ... [but it] affects the health outcomes of many of our families," said Tsartlip First Nation elected chief Don Tom, a task team member and vice-president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs. "We have incredible work we need to do, to tackle and dismantle hierarchy, and bring our best selves to the table. I hope that 20 or 30 years from now, we can look back and say, 'Do you remember there was a time when racism was affecting Indigenous peoples? And this is when it stopped.’”

The task team gathered for the first time on May 12, and met bi-weekly for the first few months, according to the ministry. They now meet monthly. In between meetings, the ministry said feedback is shared through online surveys, tools and emails.

Moving forward, smaller working groups are being created so task team members can “methodically make progress and create action plans for the recommendations that can be implemented with system partners,” said the ministry.

Upon reviewing the task team for the first time, Mariah Charleson, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council vice-president, said she was concerned by the lack of Nuu-chah-nulth representation.

While Tom has Nuu-chah-nulth ancestry, Charleson said he is not a member.

“I respect [Don Tom],” she said. “I respect him as a leader, but he's not a registered Nuu-chah-nutlh member.”

Charleson said she worries “the specific needs” of Nuu-chah-nulth peoples won’t be advocated for without representation.

According to the ministry, task team members have expressed a desire to create a united voice that reflects their shared goal of ensuring all the recommendations are implemented.

“It's going to be up to leaders across the province to hold them accountable to what that mandate states,” said Charleson.

Health care workers need more cultural competency training, which takes time. But hospitals in B.C. are at 79.2 per cent total capacity, according to the ministry’s data provided from Oct. 7. Despite the health-care system being on the verge of becoming overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, the ministry maintained that “this training is as important as life support training.”

“Indigenous specific racism is life and death,” said the ministry. “Education is one tool we can use to eradicate it. The recommendations addressing the findings related to education and training of health professionals working [are] critical and extensive and we are in the early stages.”

A Health Care Workers’ Survey that was conducted as part of the In Plain Sight Report identified that over two-thirds of Indigenous respondents experienced discrimination based on their ancestry. Meanwhile, more than one-third of non-Indigenous respondents claimed to have witnessed interpersonal racism or discrimination against Indigenous patients, their families or friends.

"We acknowledge that the harm to Indigenous people by our health system is known and has been perpetuated against Indigenous people for generations," said Adrian Dix, minister of Health, in a release. "The task team will support the province as we fulfil our commitment to make the real, meaningful changes needed to ensure we address systemic racism in the health-care system and root out its toxic effects on people and communities.”

In partnership with the Health Standards Organization, FNHA developed a cultural safety and humility standard that is under public review to address Recommendation 8.

Additional actions include public apologies by all health authorities, as well as a formal apology by the British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives. According to the ministry, next steps include Indigenous leaders being appointed to leadership positions in the health care system.

“Our progress is not where we had hoped it would be yet, but there has been significant learning in the process with our Indigenous partners and it is slowly building,” said the ministry. “Change at this level needs to be done in an intentional and systematic way in order to affect improvements where it is needed the most, at the point of care.”

-30-

A task team has been meeting over the spring and summer to help resolve Indigenous-specific racism in British Columbia’s health care system. The team was assembled to implement the recommendations of the In Plain Sight Report, which was assembled by independent reviewer Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. (Province of B.C. video still)

Melissa Renwick, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa

YOUNG, DUMB, BULL
Officials free elk from a tire that was wrapped around its neck for two years

Cheryl Santa Maria
Wed., October 13, 2021, 

Trail camera picture from July 12, 2020 near Conifer, Colorado. (Dan Jaynes/CPW)

Colorado wildlife officials have finally freed an elk that has had a tire wrapped around its neck for at least two years, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said in a press release.

The 4-year-old, 270-kilogram bull elk was spotted near Denver Saturday and tranquilized. Part of the antlers were cut off in the removal process. When adding up the weight of the tire, the antlers, and the approximately 4 kg of pine needles and other debris inside the tire, it's estimated the elk lost about 16 kilograms of weight.

Officials first spotted the elk in July 2019 while conducting a population survey of bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the area.

“I am just grateful to be able to work in a community that values our state’s wildlife resource,” Dawson Swanson, one of the wildlife officers who helped remove the tire, said in a statement.

“I was able to quickly respond to a report from a local resident regarding a recent sighting of this bull elk in their neighborhood. I was able to locate the bull in question along with a herd of about 40 other elk.”

Scott Murdoch, Swanson's partner, said the removal was "tight," even after cutting the antlers off.

“It was not easy for sure, we had to move it just right to get it off because we weren’t able to cut the steel in the bead of the tire. Fortunately, the bull’s neck still had a little room to move," Murdoch said.

CPW - rescue
Wildlife officers Scott Murdoch (left) and Dawson Swanson (right) hold up the tire that was on this bull elk for over two years (Pat Hemstreet/CPW)

“We would have preferred to cut the tire and leave the antlers for his rutting activity, but the situation was dynamic, and we had to just get the tire off in any way possible.”

The elk didn't appear to be suffering any physical distress from the presence of the tire, Murdoch said.

“The hair [on its neck] was rubbed off a little bit, there was one small open wound maybe the size of a nickel or quarter, but other than that, [the neck] looked really good. I was actually quite shocked to see how good it looked.”

Officials have made several unsuccessful attempts to perform a rescue. But fall is breeding season, which likely helped, as elk tend to be more visible this time of year.

BEING MINDFUL OF WILDLIFE

"The saga of this bull elk highlights the need for residents to live responsibly with wildlife in mind," CPW says.

"That includes keeping your property free of obstacles that wildlife can get tangled in or injured by. Wildlife officers have seen deer, elk, moose, bears and other wildlife become entangled in a number of man-made obstacles that include swing sets, hammocks, clothing lines, decorative or holiday lighting, furniture, tomato cages, chicken feeders, laundry baskets, soccer goals or volleyball nets, and yes, tires."

CBC On the Island host's book on earthquakes nominated for Balsillie Prize for Public Policy



Wed., October 13, 2021, 

Gregor Craigie, host of CBC's On the Island, has been nominated for the inaugural Balsillie Prize for Public Policy, which recognizes books of nonfiction that advance and influence policy debates on social, political, economic and cultural topics relevant to Canadians. ( - image credit)More

Four finalists for the inaugural Writers' Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy were announced Wednesday — and among them is CBC's On the Island host Gregor Craigie, for his book On Borrowed Time: North American's Next Big Quake.

The award recognizes non-fiction books that advance public policy discussions about social, political, economic and cultural topics that are relevant to Canadians and engaging to policymakers. The finalists were selected from 69 titles, submitted by 34 publishers.

Craigie says his book dives into how British Columbia can better prepare for the next big earthquake — whose occurence, geologists say, isn't a matter of if, but when.

"I couldn't help it. I became obsessed with it as a journalist and really in my own personal life as a young parent, starting to worry about all these buildings around me that I would go to in Victoria," he said.

atlanticbooks.com

Craigie spoke to emergency officials, seismologists, geologists and earthquake survivors from around the world.

"Often the building owners or residents or employees don't know that the buildings are at risk, and there are literally thousands of buildings across Vancouver and Metro Vancouver that are at risk and there's no immediate plan to fix them," he said.

Craigie's book also features stories from survivors, including a lecturer in New Zealand who was pinned beneath a rubble after the bus she was on was crushed by a collapsing building during an earthquake.

"Every single person in that bus, except for her, were killed ... and she said, very powerfully, to think that a simple mandate by a municipal government could have saved the lives of all the people in the bus."

He also looks at what makes it impossible for scientists to predict when the next earthquake will happen in B.C.

"Scientists can't predict it," Craigie said. "In fact, every scientist I talked to said we just need to focus on mitigating and getting ready, not trying to predict earthquakes."

The Balsillie Prize winner will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and will be awarded $60,000.

BC

Lytton residents push for more involvement, government transparency in rebuilding their town

Thu., October 14, 2021

At least 200 people fled their homes on a moment's notice after fast-moving wildfire tore through the community of Lytton in B.C.'s Fraser Valley. Conditions in the area were dangerously dry and windy after the summer's record-breaking heatwave. (Edith Loring-Kuhanga/Facebook - image credit)More

A group of Lytton residents who were forced to flee their homes after a fire tore through their town during the summer told their town council Wednesday night that they want to be involved in rebuilding their community.

The council meeting took place on the eve of the Transportation Safety Board's release of a report looking into the possible cause of the fire on June 30.

Jennifer Thoss, who told council she represents 59 Lytton property owners, said she and others would like to see more transparency in the local government's efforts to re-establish the interior community. Thoss, a resident of Delta, B.C., also owns properties that were damaged in the fire.

"I think we're scared that the individuality, the community, the heart of Lytton will be lost. There is all these people working in the village of Lytton that we don't know," she said.

Thoss asked for council meetings to be recorded and posted online, and called for council to consider residents for positions and contracts pertaining to Lytton's reconstruction.

The Transportation Safety Board will be holding a virtual news conference on Thursday after making public a report on the "possible relation between train activities and the fire that destroyed the town of Lytton, B.C."

'A lot of questions and very little answers'

Concerns were also raised during the meeting about how much progress has been made as Wednesday marked 105 days since the fire destroyed Lytton's buildings and infrastructure.

Bethany Lindsay/CBC News

Edith Loring-Kuhanga, school administrator at Stein Valley Nlakapamux School in Lytton, told council that some of the residents whose homes burned down are elders, and that she wants to see recovery efforts move faster.

"I worry about our elders, our seniors who continue to be displaced and homeless," said Loring-Kuhanga.

She said residents want more communication about what is being done to help them.

"There appears to be a little action on the ground as the residents, we have a lot of questions and very little answers. First, I want to raise the issue of interim housing. Winter is quickly approaching. Where is that on the council and recovery managers agenda?" she asked.

Mike Simpson, senior regional manager at Fraser Basin Council, provided an overview of the work being done in the aftermath of the fire and the services the community will need as it recovers.

He said efforts are underway as winter approaches to have temporary housing in place, as well as basic services such as a grocery store, medical facilities, an RCMP detachment and garbage collection services.

Simpson said he recognizes that people are frustrated about not receiving information about what kind of progress is being made.

"We do have some things planned in the works around community and town halls that we're working with mayor and council on staff to to be able to host and support them," said Simpson.

He said town hall-style meetings for residents are being planned for as early as the end of October.

CANADA
Staff, students in this school board are learning about Islamophobia, but true test comes in real world

ISLAMOPHOBIA IS ALSO ANTI-SEMITISM 

IN MANY CASES, THE SAME TROPES ARE APPLIED 

BY WHITE RACISTS; 

SINCE ARABS ARE ALSO SEMITES 

ISLAMOPHOBIA IS ALSO ARAB/MIDDLE EASTERN FOCUSED.

Thu., October 14, 2021

Alisha Aslam, a 16-year-old high school student in northeastern Toronto, created a website and school resources to combat Islamophobia. (Craig Chivers/CBC - image credit)

Over the years, Nokha Dakroub has come face-to-face with racism and anti-Islamic hate during her work as a school trustee.

Among the most vivid incidents were a series of meetings at her Mississauga, Ont., school board in 2017, when protesters spewed Islamophobic comments and tore pages from a Qur'an in objection to a long-held policy granting Muslim students space at school for prayers.

This month, however, Dakroub is proud of a major, pioneering step the Peel District School Board (PDSB) is taking against those very sentiments: the board passed her motion to adopt an anti-Islamophobia strategy, which will include mandatory training for all PDSB staff.

"We need to continue doing work, through public education, to combat the elements of hate that exist in our society," she said.

Muslim students, teachers and educational leaders are among those working to make our classrooms more inclusive, but many say that the struggle to dispel Islamophobia is only just beginning and must expand to encompass everyone.

Amid an increase in hate crimes against Muslims across the country, including the targeted attack that killed four members of the Afzaal family in London, Ont., in June, Dakroub has noticed a positive shift toward fighting Islamophobia.

She believes Canada is slowly moving in the right direction and links this changing mentality to more Canadians acknowledging serious issues facing our nation, such as systemic racism against Black and Indigenous people.

"This is not going to be an overnight fix. We're not going to roll out a strategy in a few months and then all of a sudden declare that Islamophobia is over and we no longer have an issue. It's going to take time. It's going to take multiple opportunities of learning and unlearning," said Dakroub.

"Is it going to work? I think it will, because I strongly believe that education is the key to — and specifically public education is the key to — raising awareness and changing the world."

Not simply 'an issue for Muslims,' says student

The fact that the Peel board's decision is aimed at making a measurable difference at the classroom level "just hits personally," for Alisha Aslam, a 16-year-old student who lives in neighbouring Toronto.

"Nothing will happen until we try to change the places where we spent our lives the most — and for a lot of people, like me, that's the classroom." she said.

A member of the Ontario Provincial Youth Cabinet and passionate advocate who campaigns against discrimination both in school and in her northeast Toronto community, Aslam created a website and school resources to combat Islamophobia, including encouraging fellow students to speak up against it.

"I wanted to see change happening — not in the next few years, but I want to see it right now," she said.

The teen added however that Islamophobia "isn't just an issue for Muslims" to grapple with.

"This is really an issue for humanity and for all of us Canadians to solve."

Ongoing anti-racism training needed for all staff

Adopting an anti-Islamophobia strategy is a phenomenal idea for several reasons, according to Regina high school English teacher Aysha Yaqoob.

Naming Islamophobia is important in terms of specifically addressing anti-Islamic hate, she explained, and a dedicated strategy will help create safe spaces for Muslim students and staff.

"It's an idea that every school division across Canada needs to adopt," she said.

WATCH | How this Regina teacher builds a safe space for students to discuss race, biases and inequity:

Still, Yaqoob wants to see precise details of the strategy to come, especially around what mandatory training will look like.

"Some of the [anti-racism] training that is done … isn't really authentic or meaningful. It's very short and isn't ongoing. And so I'd hope that this training is something that's ongoing, that builds upon itself and that year-to-year, it's a mandatory training for all staff, not just teaching staff," she said.

It's also important to have Muslim educators leading the comprehensive training, she said, which must go beyond the surface of cultural celebrations, for instance.

"I would really hope and encourage that whoever is leading this initiative is someone who is Muslim, who can speak to incidents of anti-Islamic hate, Islamophobia and also do it in an authentic and meaningful way," said Yaqoob.

"Ongoing and anti-racist kind of training [and] anti-oppressive training within there, rather than just cultural diversity celebrations, which we're kind of used to here in Canada."

For many Canadians, the horrific murder of the Afzaal family brought to light a fact all too familiar for the Muslim community: Hate attacks are very common.

Since then, however, Yaqoob said she thinks there's been little action on the part of political leaders to fight Islamophobia.

"Non-Muslim folks were actually listening and understanding that this is a huge issue here in Canada.… That racism and systemic racism is deeply embedded within the very fabric of our nation here," she said.

Mere months later, though, "I'm not sure that I see much progress," she said.

"I don't know how much longer Muslim folks can wait if the consequences of anti-Islamic hate is our lives."

National Council of Canadian Muslims

This summer, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) released a set of 61 policy recommendations for all levels of government to take action against Islamophobia, including measures for Canada's education system.

The non-profit advocacy group developed the recommendations after holding consultation sessions with mosques, community groups and organizations representing Canadian Muslims across the country.

It's a key first step for all school districts and divisions to recognize Islamophobia as an issue that must be addressed and to follow through, like the Peel board, with adopting a strategy to combat it, according to Fatema Abdalla, the council's communications co-ordinator.

She recognized recent movement from two provincial education ministries on the issue, including Ontario earmarking some funding for school resources to raise awareness about Islamophobia and British Columbia's recent proclamation of October as Islamic Heritage Month, which also noted its commitment to creating "a K-12 anti-racism action plan with an anti-Islamophobia strategy."

The B.C. proclamation added that "teaching British Columbia's colonial history to children and highlighting local Muslim stories helps provide tools to tackle anti-Muslim sentiments and Islamophobia."

The NCCM is calling on all provincial and territorial ministries of education to make as "robust" a commitment as B.C., said Abdalla, who also emphasized the importance of taking a preventative rather than reactive approach.

"Some of the stories that we hear of what students and staff have experienced is really heartbreaking," she said. "We can't really be serious about tackling Islamophobia if we don't start with our education systems."

Anti-mask activists ordered by Calgary judge to preach science, too

Wed., October 13, 2021

Artur and Dawid Pawlowski, pictured during their arrest in Calgary on May 8, had been flouting public health restrictions for months, holding large church gatherings indoors, without masks, despite the pandemic. (Artur Pawlowski TV/YouTube - image credit)More

A Calgary-based street pastor, his brother and an anti-mask cafe owner have been fined, put on probation and ordered by a judge that they must also preach science if they continue to rail against COVID-19 public health rules.

Pastor Artur Pawlowski of Street Church Ministries, his brother Dawid Pawlowski, and Whistle Stop Cafe owner Christopher Scott were sentenced Wednesday, following their contempt of court convictions for having incited others to break public health orders.

"They are on the wrong side of science," said Court of Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germain.

"They are also on the wrong side of common sense."

As part of their probation conditions, Germain ruled that if the three pandemic-denying, anti-mask leaders continued to preach to their followers, they must also present the perspective of medical experts.

Germain noted the sentences come as the threat of COVID-19 has "never been greater" in Alberta.

Scott and the Pawlowskis "have contributed to this ominous health situation," said Germain, and "encouraged others to doubt the legitimacy of the pandemic."

Judges' orders attempt to control

For months, the men — along with fringe Calgary mayoral candidate Kevin J. Johnston — incited followers to break the public health restrictions and gather in large groups unmasked.

Two judges issued orders aimed at controlling repeat offenders like Johnston, the Pawlowskis and Scott in May.

That month, health inspectors padlocked the Whistle Stop Cafe in Mirror, Alta., which Scott had been operating for months in open defiance of Alberta Health Service (AHS) orders.

One day after he was served with a judge's order to obey restrictions on public gatherings, Scott held a large anti-restriction rally, attracting hundreds.

Throughout the pandemic, the Pawlowskis repeatedly hosted and promoted large, maskless gatherings for church services in Calgary and also denied health officials entry to their church in Dover, a neighbourhood in southeast Calgary.

Jason Franson/The Canadian Press

Attempts by AHS inspectors to enter the church were met with abusive language.

The Pawlowski brothers turned their arrests into a "spectacle," said Germain, adding it was clear during sentencing submissions that Artur issued a "taunt" to the court hoping for more jail time.

"It is not an unreasonable observation that the Pawlowskis revelled in their arrests and went out of their way to make their arrests the Saturday night news spectacle that it became," said Germain.

"He has a fervent desire that I martyr him," he said of Artur.

Judge suggests speech script

Instead, Germain said he had a more effective way for the men to repair the harm they've caused.

Artur must pay a $23,000 fine and serve 18 months probation while Dawid must pay $10,000 and serve 12 months on condition.

Christopher Scott, who fundraised $120,000, enabling him to purchase the Whistle Stop Cafe, was handed a $20,000 fine and an 18-month probation period.

During those probationary periods, the men must obey all AHS orders and provide 120 hours of community service work at a homeless shelter, food bank or charity. The Pawlowskis' street church ministries are not included as an acceptable organization.

If the three men continue to preach to their followers, they must also place the other side of the argument on the record, the judge said.

Germain suggested wording like: "I am aware that the views I am expressing to you may not be held by medical experts … the majority of medical experts favour social distancing … vaccine programs."

Two weeks ago, Artur was arrested on outstanding warrants as he arrived back in Calgary on a private charter flight following a month-long, anti-vaccine speaking tour in the United States, where he met with Eric Trump and extreme right-wing online social media activists.

He faces further charges of disobeying a court order and failing to wear a mask, allegations that date back to March and June of this year.

Countries decry 'vaccine nationalism' as poorer nations struggle for access to shots

Marquise Francis
·National Reporter & Producer
Wed., October 13, 2021

Seventy-five countries around the world called for an end to what they describe as “vaccine nationalism” in a joint letter to the United Nations this month.

The letter, spearheaded by China, demands that COVID-19 vaccines be treated as a global public good for health, arguing that richer countries should not be allowed to stockpile their resources while poorer countries go without.

“The pandemic knows no borders,” the letter says in part. “The only solution lies in global solidarity, unity and multilateral cooperation. ... At this critical time, it is crucial to step up our joint efforts to leave no one behind.”

The concept of vaccine nationalism refers to the signed agreements a number of countries made with the vaccine manufacturers before the shots became available to the general public, allowing them to buy up large amounts, which in turn makes the initial supply of vaccines unaffordable and inaccessible to poorer countries.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, speaking at the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 1. (Wang Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images)

More than 18 months into the pandemic, while some wealthy nations appear headed toward pre-pandemic normals, many cash-strapped countries remain ravaged for resources.

Mexico, Egypt and North Korea were among the countries that signed the joint letter. Noticeably absent were the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.

The letter outlines deep concerns regarding a lack of vaccine equity for poorer countries, which, it argues, only exacerbates already prevalent issues of poverty and hunger, trade and more.

Sixty-five percent of the population of high-income countries had received at least one vaccine shot as of Sept. 9, while just 2 percent of the population of low-income countries had received at least one dose, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

This summer the European Union secured 900 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine and reserved an option to double this amount by 2023. Even without exercising that option, the EU could give all its citizens at least six shots each. The U.S. has secured more than a billion shots, enough to inoculate every American at least five times. Meanwhile, residents of many smaller and poorer nations have yet to receive a single dose.

Vaccination rates in countries like Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo remain less than 1 percent, according to Reuters tracking data.

A medical worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine for a man in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Oct. 8. (Zanem/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The disparity in vaccination rates also comes with a hefty price tag. A National Bureau of Economic Research study determined that uneven distribution of the vaccine could cost upwards of $3.8 trillion globally, while vaccinating the world’s most vulnerable fifth of the population would cost less than $40 billion.

Aaditya Mattoo, World Bank chief economist for the East Asia and Pacific region, expressed disappointment in the current rollout.

"I am a trade economist and all my life, I believed that production should happen where it is most efficient and then be distributed to where there is greatest need," Mattoo told the Manila Times last week. "But this crisis has disappointed me because instead of countries pursuing a globally optimal cooperative strategy, there has been what we call vaccine nationalism.”

Poor and middle-class countries have accrued enough vaccines through 2023 to vaccinate at most half their populations, while the majority of rich countries have secured more than 350 percent of the doses needed for their populations, according to UNICEF data.

Worldwide access has faltered, but attempts have been made to fill the gap. Smaller countries that depend on the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, or COVAX — an international initiative seeking to ensure equitable access to vaccines — have made little progress.

COVAX was formed in April 2020 as a way for high-income countries and corporations to pay for vaccine access to the 92 poorest countries. The program initially appeared to run smoothly as vaccine distributions began in late February, with almost every country in the world signing up. But as the months went on, supply chains slowed and COVAX could not financially compete with richer countries that were buying up market share.

An analysis by Global Justice Now revealed that more than 82 percent of COVID-19 vaccines have been purchased by the wealthiest countries, accounting for just 14 percent of the world population. The long-term effects of this could be dire.

A man receives a COVID-19 vaccination in the village of Summercourt, England, on Sept. 25. (Hugh Hastings/Getty Images)

Infectious disease expert Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman of Malaysia says the longer people remain unvaccinated, the more potential there is for the virus to mutate into an even more dangerous strain.

“I hope the world doesn’t live to regret the nationalism that we are practicing,” Kamarulzaman said during a webinar last week.

A Princeton University and McGill University study published in August in the journal Science also revealed that vaccine nationalism likely has a direct correlation to the transmission of the virus.

“Unequal vaccine allocation will result in sustained transmission and increased case numbers in regions with low vaccine availability and thus to a higher associated clinical burden compared with a vaccinated population,” the study found in part. “Coordinated vaccination campaigns across the world, combined with improved surveillance and appropriate nonpharmaceutical interventions to prevent case importation, are imperative.”

Leaders from several developing countries in attendance at the United Nations General Assembly last month criticized wealthy countries for enabling COVID variants to emerge because of their selfishness.

“Rich countries hoard lifesaving vaccines, while poor nations wait for trickles,” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said at the conference. “They now talk of booster shots, while developing countries consider half doses just to get by. This is shocking beyond belief and must be condemned for what it is — a selfish act that can neither be justified rationally nor morally.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres lambasted the entire world on vaccine inequity, calling it an “obscenity” and saying, “We are getting an F in ethics.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the General Assembly on Sept. 21. (Eduardo Munoz-Pool/Getty Images)

The World Health Organization has set an ambitious goal to have 40 percent of the world vaccinated by the end of the year and 70 percent by the middle of 2022. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 3.75 billion people worldwide have received a dose of vaccine, accounting for just under 49 percent of the global population, according to the New York Times tracker. But more than 50 countries missed the WHO’s September target of 10 percent, with most of them located in Africa, whose overall vaccination rate remains under 5 percent.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo told the U.N. General Assembly last month that Africa is the continent hardest hit by vaccine nationalism — 900 million Africans need to get the vaccine in order for the continent to reach the 70 percent threshold, with very little help in sight.

President Biden has called this moment an “all-hands-on-deck crisis,” pushing for all countries to reach a 70 percent vaccination rate by the fall of 2022. To do its part, the U.S. last month pledged to buy more than 500 million vaccine doses for other countries, which will bring the total number of donations promised by the U.S. to more than 1 billion.

"We're not going to solve this crisis with half-measures or middle-of-the-road ambitions. We need to go big," Biden said at a virtual summit on the pandemic last month.

But as many rich nations administer booster shots to the elderly and immunocompromised, many critics question if the U.S. is doing enough to encourage equity on the world stage.

“The more people that are vaccinated, the less likely new variants will evolve,” Avery August, a Cornell University immunologist, told Yahoo News. “However, all of these examples highlight the crucial lack of access lower-income countries have to the most cutting-edge medicines and vaccines. If these countries do not have the financial resources, or the scientific infrastructure, to participate in the development of these vaccines, they tend to be left out of the benefits, or at the very least are the last in line to receive the benefits.”

Bottles of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. (Ariana Drehsler/AFP via Getty Images)

While many poorer countries push for access to vaccines, richer countries continue to vaccinate thousands each day.

More than 216 million Americans, or 65 percent of the U.S. population, have had at least one dose of a vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Just over 56 percent of the country is fully vaccinated. Similarly, in Canada, 71 percent of the population has been inoculated at least once.

While critics fault countries like the U.S. and the U.K. for stockpiling resources, others say a collective approach needs to take place to help those in need.

Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and a public health professor at George Washington University, told Yahoo News it’s a “false choice” to argue that the U.S. should stop giving out booster shots in order to help other countries.

“We need to scale up the manufacturing of doses around the world,” Wen said. “We need to be working with other entities to increase distribution systems for lower-income countries. But at the same time, we cannot deny Americans, including American children, including American adults, the ability to get an additional layer of protection.”

Cover thumbnail photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images, Ronny Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images

_____

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Welcome to Britain, the bank scam capital of the world

Lawrence White and Iain Withers
Wed., October 13, 2021

 Man holds laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture

LONDON (Reuters) - It was an email offering a discount on an electric toothbrush that began the sequence of events that ruined Anna's life.

Within minutes of entering her card details, she got a call from her bank telling her fraudulent transactions were being made. The next day Robert Clayton from Britain's Financial Conduct Authority called to say they were pursuing the criminals responsible but that her savings were at risk.

There was no toothbrush, though. No fraud department, no Robert Clayton. They were all part of a scam to gradually siphon off Anna's life savings, and within a few weeks the plot had succeeded, to the tune of about 200,000 pounds ($270,000).

"I am still in shock, the guilt and shame are impossible to convey," said the 78-year-old widow from central England, who did not want her full name to be used in this story.

She is one of thousands of people who have seen savings swept away this year by an unprecedented wave of online bank fraud hitting Britain, where you're more likely to be a victim of online fraud than any other crime.

The country is the global epicentre for such attacks, according to five of the biggest British banks and more than a dozen security experts who said scammers were buying up batches of consumers' personal details on the dark net to target the record numbers shopping and banking online since the pandemic.

The country's super-fast payments infrastructure, relatively light policing of fraud-related crime, plus its use of the world's most widely used language English, also made it an ideal global test bed for scams, the banks and specialists added.

A British record of 754 million pounds ($1 billion)was stolen in the first six months of this year, up 30% from the same period in 2020, according to data from banking industry body UK Finance, and up more than 60% from 2017, when it began compiling the figures.

That represents a per capita fraud rate roughly triple that seen in the United States in 2020, according to a Reuters calculation from UK Finance and the latest available Federal Trade Commission data.

"The most sophisticated fraud tends to start in the UK, and then move two years later to the U.S. and then around the world," said Ayelet Biger-Levin, vice president of product strategy at U.S.-based cybersecurity firm BioCatch, which provides anti-fraud technology to banks.

"In the last 12 months we have seen more fraud attacks than we had seen in any other year in history. Data breaches have also accelerated, so there's a lot more personal information out there that criminals can take advantage of."

'MONEY WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED US'

Unlike simple email-based scams of the past purporting to be from princes or oil barons seeking your help to shift their millions, the modern bank scam can be sophisticated, multi-phased and extremely convincing.

"We've seen some cases where the fraudster has been talking to somebody for three or four years as someone else before they actually scam them out of a large amount of money," said Brian Dilley, group director for economic crime prevention at Britain's biggest bank Lloyds.

Deena Karia, another scam victim, told Reuters how she lost 10,000 pounds in early February after buying a seemingly safe bond purportedly issued by Credit Suisse and apparently listed on price-comparison site MoneySuperMarket.

After filling out a form on the website and receiving a call from a staff member there, she called them back on the number listed on the website to check the phone number was legitimate, made further checks about the bond and went on to invest.

Karia, from outer London, still does not know exactly how her money was stolen, but believes the scammers may have created a fake website mimicking MoneySuperMarket.

The genuine MoneySuperMarket warned on Feb. 15 of crooks faking its website and impersonating its staff. A spokesperson for the company said it is working to take down such fake websites and phone numbers, working with the FCA to highlight cloned websites and reporting issues to the police.

"I lost my Dad not long ago, I'm caring for my mother and that money would have supported us for years," Karia said.

Barclays, her bank, has refunded only half the money, saying she could have done more to protect herself.

"We have every sympathy with Miss Karia who was the victim of an investment scam and as the case is currently being investigated by the Financial Ombudsman Service, we await the conclusion of their review," Barclays said.

FAST PAYMENTS, FAST FRAUD?

The government's National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) agrees with the banking sector's assessment that fraud represents a threat to British security.

"It is growing from an already enormous scale," said Chris Reed, fraud threat lead at NECC, which he said was meeting at least every month with bank bosses, technology executives and telecoms companies to assess and respond to threats.

Britain's Faster Payments' network, which allows transfers between bank accounts to settle instantly rather than in hours or days as in the United States and other developed banking markets, means criminals can rapidly spirit away funds.

"The faster payment system has facilitated faster fraud," said Richard Emery, a fraud expert who is advising Anna and 63 other scam victims whose average loss is 102,000 pounds.

Pay.UK, which runs the network, said the system supported the British economy, consumers and businesses. It added that criminals were getting better at exploiting digitisation and that it was working with the industry and regulator to fight fraud.

While security experts and senior bankers said many fraud attacks could be traced overseas - including from India and West Africa - Britain is also increasingly exporting attacks.

Crimes such as authorised push payments (APP) – where people are tricked into authorising a payment by a criminal posing as their bank or other trusted company – are proliferating globally after having started off as a largely UK phenomenon.

The country ranks second in the world behind the United States as a source of automated bot attacks, the fastest-growing type of fraud attack in the world, according to data from LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a financial crime analysis firm.

Bot attacks see criminals use a high volume of stolen identity credentials to overrun a website, allowing them to set up new accounts or access existing ones.

"It's popular to say the fraud threat is imported into the UK, and I don't think that bears analysis," said NECC's Reed. "There is a significant UK nexus to a lot of fraud, our operational experience is showing that."

HSBC: UK IS HOTBED OF FRAUD

Britain's banks - which often pick up the compensation bill when people are scammed - are trying to respond.

HSBC, which has operations in the Americas and Asia, has hired more than 300 staff in a year to support its anti-fraud operations in its home market and increased annual spending by 40% to deal with an "exponential" number of customers affected, the bank told Reuters.

"The UK is the hotbed of activity for fraudsters. Currently the UK accounts for about 80% of our global personal fraud losses," it said.

Lloyds said it had invested 100 million pounds in its defences over the past two years, while rival NatWest has 10% of its workforce - amounting to 6,000 people - dedicated to combating financial crime. TSB has hired 100 extra staff to support fraud victims in the last year.

But lenders are also pressing the government to make social media platforms, where they say some attacks originate, share the burden. British lawmakers told bosses at Facebook, Google, Amazon and eBay last month that they needed to do more combat fraud.

The NECC's Reed said another problem was that just 1% of policing resources were dedicated to fighting fraud, despite it making up over a third of all crime in England and Wales.

"I won't hide away from the fact that resourcing of the response is completely out of step with the scale and seriousness of the threat. We've got a mountain to climb."

This means that criminals are emboldened to target people like Anna, who has little hope of recovering her savings.

The fraudsters had told her to shift her "at risk" cash to an account on a cryptocurrency platform that they emptied - while isolating her from family by stressing secrecy and coaching her on how to respond to sceptical bank officials.

"They knew the name of my financial adviser, they were utterly convincing as FCA staff," she said. "And they told me I could not tell anyone about the investigation as it would damage their efforts to catch the crooks."

($1 = 0.7327 pounds)

(This story corrects to 'widow' from 'widower' in fourth paragraph)

(Reporting By Lawrence White and Iain Withers; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Pravin Char)

LEAVE THEM  FISHERS ALONE

Canada seeks to claw back $25M in COVID relief from thousands of fishers


Thu., October 14, 2021

Travis Nickerson of Clarks Harbour, N.S., no longer has the COVID-19 federal relief money to give back, and says he now regrets taking it. (CBC - image credit)

The federal government is demanding 4,193 Canadian fishers repay $25.8 million in COVID-19 relief assistance paid out in 2020 under the Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program, CBC News has learned.

More than half the harvesters issued overpayment letters are in Nova Scotia, where 2,382 have received notices totalling $13.8 million, according to data released to CBC News by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

DFO said many harvesters were ineligible because they were regular wage-earning employees rather than self-employed sharepersons, as required under program rules.

"Canada Revenue Agency data appears to indicate that a significant number of applicants have filed incorrect tax information with respect to the nature of their income," DFO spokesperson Barre Campbell told CBC News.

Travis Nickerson of Clarks Harbour, N.S., received an overpayment letter.

"It's a mess," said Nickerson, a lobster boat crewman. "They gave me something when I really needed it, and now they want it back."

Nickerson is paid a share of the catch and saw his income drop in the first half of 2020 when COVID-19 crashed demand for lobster worldwide.

Brett Ruskin/CBC

The fish harvester benefit was created to help fishers not eligible for other assistance.

Self-employed fishers or sharepersons could get up to $10,164 in two instalments. Under Phase 1, 60 per cent was paid in the fall of 2020 and rest is available this fall.

Fishers had to estimate the drop in income compared to earnings in 2018 or 2019. The attestations were checked against actual earnings in the spring of 2021 when fishers filed their tax returns.

Fishers in each province and territory have received overpayment notices. Among the provinces with the most money owing, DFO said 481 harvesters in British Columbia have been issued repayment notices for $3 million; 473 in Newfoundland and Labrador for $3.4 million; 296 in New Brunswick for $1.5 million; and 93 in P.E.I. for $1.26 million.

The fishers have until Friday to file an appeal. The deadline to appeal has been extended three times.

'They dangled the bone'

Like many, Nickerson fell afoul of the rules because he filed an income tax form indicating he was a wage earner even though his pay is based on a share of the catch.

Nickerson has received an overpayment letter demanding $6,000 — money he said he does not have and regrets taking.

"They dangled the bone, I reached out for the bone. And they bit me for reaching for the bone," he said.

More than 18,000 fishers received the harvester benefit in Phase 1 of the program, which has paid out a total of $130 million.

In some cases, DFO said recipients did not meet the threshold of a 25 per cent drop in income last year.

"In other cases, applicants who attested to being self-employed shareperson crew — who would typically be eligible for the benefit — did not have tax data on file with CRA that supported their claim that their income came from self-employment. Because the recipients did not qualify for the payments, this is not considered a clawback," Campbell said.

A misunderstanding

Some say the overpayment letters reflect a misunderstanding about how the inshore fishery works in some provinces.

Chris d'Entremont, the MP for West Nova, said he's heard from hundreds of fishers in southwestern Nova Scotia.

"Almost everybody is being asked to send it back for the reason they're receiving a share of the catch, but they're not shareholders in the business, and that's kind of where the challenge is coming in," he said.

D'Entremont said the government was warned this problem could arise.

"People are paid a share, but that number is broken down into a different kind of payment at the end of the day," he said. "They didn't listen to us and now we're into lots of folks having to pay the money back."

Steve Lawrence/CBC Chris d'Entremont, the MP for West Nova

Three different federal departments are involved in the harvester benefit: DFO, Canada Revenue Agency and Service Canada, which is administering the program.

"One hand doesn't know what the other is doing," said Ronnie Newell of Island Tax and Accounting in Barrington, N.S.

"Do they think they work at Walmart? There is no hourly wage here. If they go out and don't catch anything on a trip, they don't get paid. Nothing."

Newell is helping navigate crewmen through the process. In many cases, he filed their tax returns.

He said captains have been encouraged by the federal government in recent years to classify crewmen as employees.

Dave Laughlin/CBC

Newell said right now, crewmen who made the same amount in 2020 are being treated differently. Some get to keep the harvester benefit, while others have to pay it back.

The repayment demand does not make any sense to Jimmy Atkinson, a lobster boat crewman also from Clarks Harbour.

He's one of many on Cape Sable Island to receive an overpayment letter.

"I'm a bit confused on this," said Atkinson, 60. "This was all based on the COVID dilemma. What makes a difference how we was paid, if it was something that the government actually came out with to help us?"

CBC

DFO said this is less a matter of box-ticking than about accurate income reporting.

"It may well be ... that a large number of crew have shares agreements. However, it also appears that a large number of employers and crew have filed tax information with CRA that seems to suggest many crew members are not self-employed, but rather regular employees," said Campbell.

He said income status could have big implications for fisheries employment insurance — which is intended for self-employed harvesters — or regular employment insurance.

The Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation said applicants were given incomplete and incorrect information when they applied for assistance last year, and that same misinformation was passed on to accounting professionals hired by the applicants.

It's asking DFO to extend the appeal deadline another month and change the rules.

"It is now clearly evident that the government failed to design the program based on how taxes are filed in the fishing industry," federation president Melanie Sonnenberg wrote to DFO deputy minister Tim Sargent last month.

Not easy to change course

Overturning the ruling is not easy.

Crewmen will be required to get their captains to write to DFO and CRA notifying them of the mistake in their status, and confirming they are a shareperson. Finally, they must convince CRA to amend their T4 slip.

D'Entremont said DFO has to back off its overpayment demands and forgive the first instalment.

"The department has to extend this much further and just sort of say, 'Hey, we made the mistake, not you. We're going to fix it by letting you keep that first round of money,'" d'Entremont said.