Biden Wants to Give 163 Times More to US Military Than to Global Pandemic Response

"Failing to fund the global fight against Covid-19 is a choice to extend the pandemic," said one public health expert.


President Joe Biden tours the Pfizer Kalamazoo Manufacturing Site on February 19, 2021 in Portage, Michigan. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

KENNY STANCIL

COMMON DREAMS

March 29, 2022

One day after President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve a record-shattering $813 billion U.S. military budget, public health advocates are lamenting that his Fiscal Year 2023 spending blueprint requests roughly 163 times less funding to help mitigate the Covid-19 pandemic on a global scale.

"Ending the pandemic is a choice."

"The defense budget request is $813 billion. By comparison, the White House has asked for just $5 billion to fight global Covid, or $22.5 billion to fight Covid in total," Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen's Access to Medicines program, said Tuesday in a statement.

"That's roughly 3% of defense spending to help end a pandemic that has taken more American lives than any war, and nearly 20 million lives worldwide so far," he added, referring to estimates of excess mortality.

Lindsay Koshgarian, director of the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, said Monday in a statement that "at $813 billion, the president's request for the Pentagon exceeds even the $782 billion budget that Congress just passed by $31 billion. The increase alone is twice the amount that Congress refused for ongoing Covid aid for antivirals, vaccines, and tests, after nearly one million Americans have died of the virus."

Earlier this month, as Common Dreams reported, Democratic congressional leaders removed $15.6 billion in coronavirus relief from a recently passed $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill after Republican lawmakers, questioning the need for any new funding to fight the pandemic, insisted on repurposing money already allocated to state programs.

Democratic lawmakers are reportedly trying to find a way to pass a coronavirus aid package separately. In the meantime, however, the defunding of the U.S. pandemic response—which the GOP spearheaded as infections caused by an Omicron subvariant surged in Europe and Asia, sparking fears of an imminent wave at home—has led to what one physician called "the rationing of Covid-care by ability to pay."

Last week, a federal health agency tasked with covering Covid-19 testing and treatment for uninsured people in the U.S. stopped accepting claims, and those patients will now be charged $125 for a single PCR test.

On the global front, Maybarduk warned that "without emergency funding, vaccines will expire on shelves in countries where they are needed most. The extraordinary efforts of scientists, health workers, and activists worldwide to develop, manufacture, and distribute lifesaving medicine against Covid will falter for want of the least we could ask of governments."

As lawmakers discuss Biden's funding request for the domestic and international pandemic response, Maybarduk pointed out that "health experts called for $17 billion from Congress to resource the global fight," emphasizing that "$5 billion is the bare minimum needed to prevent global vaccination, testing, and emergency relief from screeching to a halt."

In a recent report documenting the harmful economic impacts of global vaccine inequity on informal workers and other vulnerable populations in low-income countries, the United Nations estimated that it would cost just $18 billion to vaccinate 70% of the world's population by mid-2022.

Public Citizen, for its part, has developed a blueprint showing how the U.S., with a $25 billion investment, could establish regional manufacturing hubs to produce eight billion lifesaving doses in less than a year.

Related Content

Rich Nations Could 'Make Enough Vaccine for the World' With Just $25 Billion: Analysis
Kenny Stancil

"Ending the pandemic is a choice," said Maybarduk. "Congress must step up and pass funds to support the White House's already-pared back request. Failing to fund the global fight against Covid-19 is a choice to extend the pandemic, to accept preventable suffering and insecurity for all, and to live with the knowledge that, deep in the time of the world's greatest need, the United States gave up."

Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, wrote Monday on social media that as elected officials race toward a trillion-dollar Pentagon budget, "this shameful spending makes the U.S. less secure." Washington, he warned, will be "more likely to engage in warfare" and "no more able to address pandemics or climate chaos."

According to Stephen Semler of the Security Policy Reform Institute, Biden's budget request "is tantamount to climate change denialism." Semler found that despite mentioning some version of "tackling the climate crisis" nearly a dozen times in his proposal, the president wants to spend 18 times more on the U.S. military-industrial complex—a bigger polluter than 171 countries—than he does on slashing greenhouse gas emissions.

Koshgarian, meanwhile, noted that "the U.S. military budget is already more than the next 11 countries combined, 12 times more than Russia's, and higher than at the peak of the Vietnam War or the Cold War."

"If more militarism were the key to a stable and secure world," she added, "we would already be there."

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

'This Is A Tipping Point': Justice Thomas Must Resign, AOC Says

If the Supreme Court justice does not step down, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said, he should face an investigation and possible impeachment proceedings.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks at a rally in New York City on June 5, 2021. 

(Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

JULIA CONLEY

COMMON DREAMS

March 29, 2022

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday became the latest Democratic lawmaker to demand that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas resign in the wake of new revelations that his wife, right-wing activist Ginni Thomas, pushed at least one Trump administration official to try to overturn the 2020 election.

If Thomas does not step down, said the New York Democrat, his conduct "could serve as grounds for impeachment."

Ocasio-Cortez's call came days after the Washington Post reported that Ginni Thomas exchanged more than two dozen text messages with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after the election, urging him to "Help This Great President stand firm" while former President Donald Trump was claiming the election results were fraudulent.

Government watchdogs and a growing number of Democratic lawmakers have argued that Thomas' actions constituted a clear conflict of interest in cases her husband has heard since the election.

As Ocasio-Cortez noted on Twitter Tuesday, Justice Thomas dissented in a ruling regarding Trump's attempt to block the congressional committee examining the January 6, 2021 insurrection from viewing White House records.

The justice has not recused himself from hearing at least 10 cases related to the 2020 election which his wife worked to overturn, according to The Hill.

Related Content

Watchdogs Say If Clarence Thomas Won't Resign, 'Congress Must Move to Impeach'

Ocasio-Cortez joined lawmakers including Reps. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) in calling on Thomas to step down. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was the first Democrat to call for Thomas' impeachment, while Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have demanded that the judge recuse himself from all cases involving the January 6 attack on the Capitol building.

Supreme Court justices are free to decide when it is appropriate to recuse themselves from hearing and ruling in cases; Jayapal called Thomas' decision not to recuse "stunning" and "outrageous."

"Clearly the Supreme Court is in need of ethics reforms," she told Politico Tuesday.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees impeachment powers and proceedings, told Politico Tuesday that he is "very concerned" about the reports of Ginni Thomas' communications with Meadows, but said, "It's much too early to talk about" impeachment or the possibility that Congress could censure Justice Thomas.

Ocasio-Cortez, however, said inaction by Congress would send "a loud, dangerous signal to the full court."

"This is a tipping point," the congresswoman added.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely

PRESS PROGRESS COVERS COUTTS BORDER BLOCKADE 

When threats of violence began to spring up during the border blockade in Coutts, I wanted to look for voices that were being left out of the mainstream coverage from Alberta’s big media outlets.

You might remember how vehicles broke through an RCMP line and attempted to block the Canada-US border. Emboldened by its success, the blockade grew with thousands of people joining the blockade.

Police later charged 13 people at Coutts, including several people on conspiracy to murder charges following the disturbing discovery of a gun cache present at the border and materials affiliated with a far-right militia group.

One thing mostly overlooked in all of this chaos was the town at the center of it all: a sleepy community of 200 or so people, mostly seniors.

I wanted to find out how the people who call Coutts ‘home’ felt about the blockade.

So, I spoke to the residents of this small border town—they told me they were afraid of the outsiders descending on their hometown.

They told me stories about strangers coming and photographing their homes, stories about people receiving threats and senior citizens who had to pass through multiple police checkpoints just to get groceries and visit the dentist.

Coutts had suddenly become a town under heavy police presence, with checkpoints in and out, and helicopters flying overhead, full of residents who suddenly couldn’t access home care or access groceries and services.

These are real issues to the people in Coutts. I think it’s important to make sure those issues are front and centre in the public conversation about the convoy and blockades.

The only way we can keep investigating and reporting like this is if readers like you support our work. 

Support PressProgress

Oil and gas sector emissions need to be cut two-fifths by 2030, new climate plan says

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the Canadian oil industry Tuesday that it should use the massive bump in profits from the current surge in prices to fund a transition to cut their emissions.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The federal government unveiled an emissions-reduction plan to reach its new greenhouse-gas targets by 2030. It projects the oil and gas industry needs to cut emissions 42 per cent from current levels if Canada is to meet its new goals.

Speaking at the Globe Forum sustainability conference in Vancouver, Trudeau said it is a "clear, reasonable contribution" for the sector to make and that the money is there for it to be done.

"With record profits, this is the moment for the oil and gas sector to invest in the sustainable future that will be good for business, good for communities and good for our future," Trudeau said.

"Big oil lobbyists have had their time on the field. Now, it's over to the workers and engineers who will build solutions."

The plan uses economic and emissions modelling to gauge the most affordable and feasible projects when it comes to Canada's target to cut emissions by 2030 to no more than 60 per cent of what they were in 2005.

In 2019, Canada produced 730 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide.

Canada needs to get to between 407 million tonnes and 443 million tonnes to hit the current target.

Since 2005, oil and gas emissions have increased 20 per cent to 191 million tonnes. The new plan wants them to fall to 110 million tonnes by 2030. They haven't been that low in more than three decades.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault insists this is not the cap on oil and gas emissions the Liberals promised as part of the fall election platform. It is a projection of what the government believes is possible, and will inform but not dictate the final cap that will be legislated or imposed through regulation after it is set.

Several environment organizations say Canada's overall target is still not ambitious enough and that the oil and gas sector isn't pulling its weight.

If the sector cut its emissions to 40 to 45 per cent of what they were in 2005, their target would be 88 to 96 million tonnes, not 110 million tonnes.

"Tackling climate change must be a team effort, but the plan released today shows that some players are still sitting on the bench," said Caroline Brouillette, national policy manager at the Climate Action Network — Canada.

Atiya Jaffar, Canada digital manager with 350.org, said the plan doesn't keep up with the science and the fossil-fuel target is "appallingly low and nowhere close to the fossil fuel industry's fair share."

Kendell Dilling, interim director of the Oil Sands Pathways to Net Zero Alliance of the six biggest oilsands companies in Canada, said the plan is "an ambitious challenge" for the sector and the companies are reviewing it to see how it lines up against their current plans.

"Although there are differences between the ERP and our plan, it’s clear we agree on the need to reduce emissions significantly by 2030 and that collaboration is essential for us to meet our goals," she said.

Conservative environment critic Kyle Seeback said he is "deeply concerned" about the economic impact of the plan, and said the Liberals can't be trusted to actually implement it.

"I don't think they're going to meet these targets, because they don't have a track record where they meet any targets," he said. "What we do know is that the cost of some of the things that they've put in this plan are going to be economically disastrous for Canadians."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said the plan is not ambitious enough and is too focused on aid to the fossil fuel sector.

"When will this Liberal government respond to the crisis of the climate crisis with the urgency that it deserves?" he asked in question period.

The plan includes $9 billion in new spending mostly to expand existing climate action grant and loan programs, including another $1.7 billion for electric vehicle rebates. More details on the new spending are expected in the next federal budget when it is tabled later this spring.

The plan also promises a tougher schedule to shift Canadian vehicle sales to electric models, mandating one in five new passenger vehicles be battery-operated by 2026, 60 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.

The current target set just last May says half of all new vehicles sold must be electric by 2030, and 100 per cent by 2035.

Guilbeault said it will take a little longer for transport to catch up to other sectors on cutting emissions. Transportation accounts for one-quarter of all emissions, and its carbon footprint has increased 16 per cent in the last 17 years.

The report says by 2030 the sector should be able to cut emissions 23 per cent from current levels.

"We are making some progress between now and 2030," Guilbeault said. "But there'll be even more progress to come between 2030 and 2035."

The government will also aim for one-third of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles sold to be electric by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2040.

The report forecasts that emissions from waste, including landfills, can be cut by 43 per cent by 2030, electricity by 77 per cent, heavy industry by 32 per cent, and emissions from buildings by 42 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2022.

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

Frank Stronach: Too many university grads, not enough tradespeople in Canada

Special to National Post 11 hrs ago

For the past several decades, we’ve been producing far too many social scientists and too few plumbers and electricians. A lot of teenagers nowadays can’t even drive a nail into a two-by-four or change a flat tire on a car. The plain truth is, as a society we haven’t done a very good job of preparing young Canadians for good-paying careers in the skilled trades.

© Provided by National Post File: 

Not enough young people know how to hammer a nail or change a flat tire, argues Frank Stronach.

Even though our economy is becoming increasingly digital, we will still need people to build machines and houses and cars. And a lot of those jobs will require people with skilled technical trades. But unless we start teaching those skilled trades to young Canadians at an early age, we won’t have enough people here in this country to make and build things, and once we lose that know-how, our standard of living will drop significantly.

When I was 14 years old, my mother took me by the hand, marched me down to the factory where she worked, and asked the foreman to put me into a trade apprenticeship program. I became a toolmaker, which is sometimes referred to as the second oldest profession in the world. Toolmakers create precision tools that are used to cut, shape, and form metal and other materials like plastic. Every product we use, every appliance, the phone or laptop you’re reading this column on, and even the plastic clip on a dollar-store pen — all were made with a tool, and behind every tool was a toolmaker. The practical skills I learned as a toolmaker — as well as critical complementary skills such as precision and perseverance — became the foundation of my future success in business.

Still to this day, European students who do not plan to study in university begin apprenticing in various trade programs at fourteen years of age. And while 14 may be considered too young by North American standards, I believe that when a student reaches the age of 16, they should be exposed to one or more various technical trades or industry-related jobs in high school.

Under my proposal, students between the ages of 16 and 18 would spend two years learning various trades at businesses and factories and restaurants outside school. Students would be exposed to four different trades over two years — with training in careers such as plumbing, bricklaying, carpentry, metalworking, farming, culinary arts and health care — and students would spend approximately six months in each trade.

The government would pay the student apprentices a stipend to cover meal costs and transportation expenses. And businesses that take on student apprentices would be entitled to a tax write-off as an incentive for participating in the trade apprenticeship program. This sort of exposure would give students some practical, hands-on experience and allow them to explore various career interests, test their skills and discover what they really love to do and what they are good at doing. Adopting this approach would help create a feeder system to provide the skilled technicians and trades people our country needs — everything from carpenters and chefs to robotics technicians.

As a country, we need to urgently develop our skills base. If we no longer have the skilled workers and capability to manufacture products, then businesses will be forced to look elsewhere by relocating manufacturing or farming out skilled production to other countries in eastern Europe and Asia. Take my own trade of toolmaking as one example: many toolmakers are now quickly approaching retirement, and there aren’t enough toolmakers coming up through the ranks to replace them. Years ago, when I first started out in business, most of the toolmakers I hired were European immigrants like myself, but that source of skilled trades has also dried up.

The great problem we face is that we have drifted away from a real economy, where we manufacture products, to a predominantly financial economy built on financial transactions and the transfer of financial assets. However, a strong and vibrant manufacturing sector — and the technology base it rests on — is vital to our economic health and our standard of living.

I believe we’ve already reached a tipping point and are entering a new era in which blue-collar workers — people who can build and fix things — will make more money than white-collar workers in paper-shuffling office jobs. That wage gap will only get larger in the years ahead due to the growing shortage of skilled tradespeople.

A skilled trade was my ticket to success here in Canada, the country I immigrated to in 1954. In the years ahead, I believe that high-paying skilled trades jobs will open up the doors of opportunity, career satisfaction and wealth for many more Canadians.

But we need to begin teaching them these skills before it’s too late and our dwindling expertise and know-how have vanished.

Frank Stronach is the founder of Magna International Inc., one of Canada’s largest global companies, and an inductee in the Automotive Hall of Fame. He can reached at fstronachpost@gmail.com

I AGREE

 MY FATHER IN LAW DID HIS PHD IN EDUCATION COMPARING HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION IN EDMONTON, GERMANY AND JAPAN WHERE TRADES SCHOOLS EXIST HE CAME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION AS FRANK. AND THAT WAS IN THE EIGHTIES!

WHAT OCCURED IN OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM WAS THE DUMBING DOWN OF THE TRADES , A PLUMBER I KNEW WAS ALSO A DRAMATIST, WHEN I WORKED AT THE TRADES SCHOOL WP WAGNER, AS A CUSTODIAN, BY THE EIGHTIES THE SCHOOL HAD MORE COMICS IN THE LIBRARY AND NO HP LOVECRAFT.  

TWO OF MY COUSINS GRADUATED FROM THE SCHOOL AS TRADES APPRENTICES EVENTUALLY BECOMING JOURNEYMEN.

OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM BEGAN PUMPING OUT GENERAL DIPLOMA STUDENTS (60% OF GRADUATES HAVE NO PROSPECTS POST HIGH SCHOOL) AND  THOSE DESTINED FOR POST SECONDARY EDUCATION (40%) THAT IS UNIVERSITY.

SO FOR THE PAST FIFTY YEARS WE HAVE HAD A FAILURE IN TRADES EDUCATION AND A FAILURE TO INTERGRATE TRADES AND UNIVERSITY.

EVERY PLUMBER A DRAMATURGE

Former Alberta medical examiner's wrongful dismissal lawsuit against province heading to trial

Jonny Wakefield 

EDMONTON JOURNAL

A wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by Alberta’s former chief medical examiner is set to head to trial later this week after a COVID-related delay.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Dr. Anny Sauvageau, former Chief Medical Examiner, at a 2014 roundtable debate on Alberta's child death review system for kids in provincial care. Sauvageau later sued the province after her contract was not renewed, alleging the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had been exposed to political interference.

Dr. Anny Sauvageau sued the Government of Alberta and five senior officials including ex-Progressive Conservative justice minister Jonathan Denis in February 2015, claiming the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) had been subjected to political interference.

Sauvageau’s initial $5-million claim alleged government meddling in the OCME’s body-viewing policies, death review procedures and contracting and staffing decisions. She claimed that her contract was not renewed in late 2014 “in direct retaliation and retribution for the concerns (she) raised about political interference.”

After years of legal back and forth, Sauvageau’s lawsuit was set to begin a civil trial before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Doreen Sulyma Monday.

Instead, the case was delayed due to an undisclosed COVID issue, Sauvageau’s lawyer confirmed. It will now begin April 1.

Sauvageau initially sought $5.15 million in lost wages and damages, upping the total to $7.5 million in 2017. Allegations from her lawsuit — which no longer names Denis or the other officials as defendants — have not been proven in court.

Sauvageau claims she was pressured to approve amended body transportation contracts to benefit the Alberta Funeral Services Association in an effort to shore up the “rural vote,” which she said would cost an extra $3 million over the three-year term of the contract.

Sauvageau alleges she was ignored when she raised the issue with the premier, the late Jim Prentice, in 2014.

Sauvageau also claimed that when she was hired, she had been led to believe she could remain with OCME for the remainder of her career.

At the time of the lawsuit, the government said Sauvageau’s contract expired Dec. 31, 2014, and that “no government contractor is entitled to an automatic renewal.”

The defendants later sought to have her lawsuit deemed vexatious , claiming in a statement of defence that Sauvageau was “obstructionist, confrontational, and disrespectful” during her tenure.

That allegation also remains unproven.

Sauvageau became Alberta’s top forensic pathologist in July 2011. The OCME experienced considerable turnover at the top following her departure.

Sauvageau’s successor, Dr. Jeffrey Gofton, resigned after 18 months. Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim later took the role but resigned in January 2020 citing “personal” reasons.

Alberta’s current chief medical examiner is Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra.

Allan Garber is representing Sauvageau at trial, while the lawyer for the respondents is Craig Neuman.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jonnywakefield

(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the claim against individual government officials has been discontinued.)

More RCMP sent to bolster international court war crimes investigation of Russia

OTTAWA — Canada is sending additional RCMP officers to assist the International Criminal Court investigation into possible war crimes by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

\

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Tuesday the "war machine" of President Vladimir Putin is destroying houses, hospitals and schools.

Canada was one of several dozen countries to refer the Ukraine situation to the prosecutor's office of the court. Mendicino said Canada was sending the additional police resources at the request of the prosecutor's office.

Mendicino said they have "the skills and the expertise to help collect evidence and to marshal a case to bring charges on war crimes or crimes against humanity in a subsequent prosecution." The investigation is part of an effort to hold Putin to account for an illegal and egregious invasion, he added.

"And part of the exercise of holding him accountable is ensuring that we preserve the record that we collect, the evidence of what has happened and what is continuing to happen in Ukraine and doing that in real time."

The move comes as negotiators from Russia and Ukraine met Tuesday in Turkey in an attempt to end the invasion that began on Feb. 24, forcing 10 million Ukrainians from their homes, including 3.8 million that have fled the country.

Ukraine has proposed that it would remain a neutral country, but its security would be guaranteed by a group of countries in a fashion similar to NATO's Article 5, which specifies that an attack on one is an attack on all.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Trudeau said Tuesday he discussed those issues in a phone call a day earlier with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but he brushed aside a question about his view of the Ukrainian position and whether Canada had a role to play as a security guarantor for Ukraine.

"The bottom line is Canada will continue to be there to support Ukraine and stand against Russia every step of the way. We're in talks with allies and partners in NATO and elsewhere about how the best path forward is on that," he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly also deflected questions about the Canadian role in the ceasefire talks after speaking Tuesday with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.

She said the Canadian efforts are focused on strengthening Ukraine's position at the bargaining table by providing its forces with more weapons and by imposing more sanctions.

Video: RCMP to support ICC probe into Russian war crimes, launch own investigation: Trudeau (Global News)

"More sanctions are coming, and also more lethal and non-lethal aid," Joly said.

"This is reinforcing Ukraine at the table of negotiations and our goal is to make sure that they're in a strong position as they're fighting for their freedom and at the same time as diplomacy is continuing."

In a tweet about his conversation with Joly, Kuleba said he believes Canada's support for his country "remains ironclad. We agreed on the need to further strengthen Ukraine's defence capabilities, apply more severe sanctions on Russia."

Defence Minister Anita Anand said she spoke Tuesday with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to co-ordinate efforts on providing "comprehensive military assistance" to Ukraine, her office said in a statement.

In a speech earlier in the day in Vancouver, Trudeau said nothing short of a full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine is required to find a resolution.

"People ask me how this will end. I can tell you, that's not what Ukrainians are asking. They're talking about how this must end: a full withdrawal of Russian troops, and peace, democracy, freedom and sovereignty restored."

Trudeau said Canada and its allies would remain steadfast in their support of Ukraine by continuing to provide military, economic and humanitarian aid, as well as safe haven for civilians fleeing the country.

"We must remain resolved to punish this criminal invasion with catastrophic sanctions on Putin and his inner circle to make them pay, for as long as it takes. If Putin thinks we don’t have the staying power to see this through, he is dead wrong," said Trudeau.

He also said there will be challenges and pain for democratic countries such as Canada as the war in Ukraine leads to higher food and energy prices.

"But others in the world may face outright shortages and famine. While Ukrainians themselves fight for their lives and pay with their lives."

Russia, meanwhile, has announced it will significantly scale back its military operations near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to build trust during the talks after several unsuccessful rounds. The United States and other allies greeted that news with skepticism.

The apparent show of good faith by Russia comes after its advance on the Ukrainian capital has effectively stalled in the face of a military resistance that has exceed the expectations of both the country's invaders and its Western allies.

On Twitter, Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian MP, said air raid sirens were sounding across western Ukraine on Tuesday evening.

"This is #putin retreating to the East for you … the sound of war is loud and clear," she wrote.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2022.

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press

CHRISTIAN ABUSE

Mounties lay new charge against Oblate priest, Inuit delegates ask Pope to intervene

Mounties have laid a new charge against a Roman Catholic priest who has previously avoided trial for multiple allegations of sexual abuse linked to his time in Nunavut.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

RCMP said a Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued for Johannes Rivoire, who is in his 90s and lives in Lyon, France.

"It's about time," Piita Irniq, an Inuit elder who has been fighting for more than a decade to have Rivoire returned to Canada, said Tuesday from Ottawa.

Nunavut RCMP said officers received a complaint last year regarding sexual assaults that occurred about 47 years ago. Mounties said Rivoire was charged last month with sexual assault on a female.

The latest development in the investigation of the Oblate priest comes after the leader of the national organization representing the Inuit asked Pope Francis to intervene in the case during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday.

Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said he asked the Pope to “speak with Father Rivoire directly and ask him to go to Canada to face the charges.” Obed also asked the Pope to request that France step in if Rivoire is not receptive.

In an email, Oblate leader Rev. Ken Thorson said he also spoke with Obed.

"I informed him that we would be encouraging Rivoire to do what he should have done long ago: co-operate with police and make himself available for the legal process, if not in Canada, then in France," wrote Thorson, with OMI Lacombe Canada based in Ottawa.

Thorson added the order has also written to Justice Minister David Lametti, offering its co-operation in any investigation.

"We have not received a request to share additional records in response to the recent arrest warrant, but will fully co-operate and provide any relevant information, when asked."

Rivoire was in Canada from the early 1960s to 1993, when he returned to France.

A warrant was issued for his arrest in 1998. He faced at least three charges of sexual abuse in the Nunavut communities of Arviat, Rankin Inlet and Naujaat. More than two decades later, the charges were stayed.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada said at the time it was partly due to France's reluctance to extradite.

Inuit leaders and politicians from senators to Nunavut premiers have continued to urge that the priest face trial. Those calls have grown with the discovery of unmarked graves at the sites of former residential schools run by the Catholic Church.

Bishop William McGrattan, vice-president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Monday that “justice and truth are important in this path of reconciliation.” He said Pope Francis heard that bringing the priest to Canada to face justice is important.

“The church wants to work with the relevant justice authorities, whether they be international or Canadian," he said.

"And if there are allegations that someone has committed these abuses, that they need to be brought to justice and the church should not stand in their way but assist those who have been victims to seek justice and healing."

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the order of which Rivoire was a member, has invited Obed for a meeting at its office in Rome on Thursday to discuss the case.

Irniq said there are at least six Inuit still living who allege Rivoire abused them. Word of the new charge is spreading quickly, he said.

"They're happy that things are moving along," he said. "There's been a lot of press and a lot of talk, so I think the people I've talked to are very hopeful.

"It feels more like justice."

Marius Tungilik was Irniq's childhood friend and comrade in the struggle for Inuit self-determination. Tungilik, who died in 2012, claimed he was abused by Rivoire and was among the first Inuit to speak out about what he had suffered at residential school.

Irniq said his long fight to have Rivoire extradited was fuelled by the desire to see justice for his old friend.

"I kind of made a promise to Marius that one day I would I do something to make this happen.

"Marius would say the same thing I did," Irniq said. "Finally. It's about time."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2022.

— With files from Bob Weber in Edmonton

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

Louis Theroux heads to Los Angeles as the world of adult entertainment grapples with its own wave of #MeToo.

As the rise of platforms like OnlyFans give adult performers financial independence away from the studio model of old, Louis encounters a new generation using their online platforms to call out alleged predatory behaviour by prominent industry figures. As a result, an industry that prides itself on pushing sexual boundaries is asking itself difficult questions about consent, and infamous figures like long-time performer Ron Jeremy are being challenged in court.

Louis also meets those who are pushing back at what they see as 'trial by Twitter'. But their critics accuse them of representing porn’s ‘old guard’ – clinging on to a culture where young performers have been vulnerable to older men with control over their careers who are all too eager to turn a blind eye to unacceptable behaviour. 

Duration 59 mins

First shown 27 Feb 2022

Available for 10 months

BBC iPlayer - Louis Therouxs Forbidden America - Series 1: 3. Porns MeToo

California reparations to be limited to descendants of enslaved people, taskforce decides

Landmark group votes to base compensation plan on lineage rather than race after day of debate

Shirley Weber speaks at the Capitol in Sacramento, California, in 2020. Weber wrote the legislation creating the taskforce. Photograph: Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Guardian staff and agencies
Wed 30 Mar 2022 

California’s first-in-the-nation taskforce on reparations for African Americans has voted to direct state compensation to the descendants of enslaved and free Black people who were in the US in the 19th century.

The group said that a compensation and restitution plan based on lineage – as opposed to one based on race, which would have opened the possibility of reparations to a broader group – had the best change of surviving a legal challenge. They also said that Black immigrants who had chosen to migrate to the US in the 20th and 21st centuries did not share the trauma of people who had been kidnapped and enslaved.



‘If not us, then who?’: inside the landmark push for reparations for Black Californians

They also opened eligibility to free Black people who migrated to the country in the 19th century, given possible difficulties in documenting genealogy and the risk at the time of becoming enslaved.

The decision passed by a vote of 5-4 on Tuesday evening following a day of lively debate. Others on the committee had argued that reparations should include all Black people, regardless of lineage, who suffer from systemic racism in housing, education and employment. They also said it was difficult to prove lineage and that enslavers often shipped people to work in various plantations in and outside the country.

The two-year reparations taskforce was created in 2020, making California the only state to move ahead with a study and plan, with a mission to study the institution of slavery and its harms and to educate the public about its findings.

The committee is not even a year into its two-year process and there is no compensation plan on the table.

Longtime advocates have spoken of the need for multifaceted remedies for related yet separate harms, such as slavery, Jim Crow laws, mass incarceration and redevelopment that resulted in displacement of Black communities.

Compensation could include free college, assistance buying homes and launching businesses, and grants to churches and community organizations, advocates say.

Yet the eligibility question has dogged the taskforce since its inaugural meeting in June, when viewers called in pleading with the nine-member group to devise targeted proposals and cash payments to make whole the descendants of enslaved people in the US.

The committee’s work has been informed by numerous testimonies. Arthur Ward, a Chicago resident, called in to Tuesday’s virtual meeting, saying that he was a descendant of enslaved people and had family in California. He supported reparations based only on lineage and expressed frustration with the panel’s concerns over Black immigrants who experience systemic racism.

“When it comes to some sort of justice, some kind of recompense, we are supposed to step to the back of the line and allow Caribbeans and Africans to be prioritized,” Ward said. “Taking this long to decide something that should not even be a question in the first place is an insult.”

Kamilah Moore, the committee’s chair, favored eligibility based on lineage, rather than race, saying it would have the best chance of surviving a legal challenge in a conservative US Supreme Court.

Shirley Weber, the California secretary of state who authored the legislation creating the taskforce, had argued passionately in January for prioritizing descendants for generations of forced labor, broken family ties and police terrorism. The daughter of sharecroppers forced to flee Arkansas in the dead of night, she recalled how the legacy of slavery had broken her family and stunted their ability to dream of anything beyond survival.

Opening up compensation to modern Black immigrants or even descendants of enslaved people from other countries would leave US descendants with mere pennies, she said.

But taskforce members, nearly all of whom can trace their families back to enslaved ancestors, have struggled with a pivotal question that is bound to shape reparations deliberations across the country. The panel needed to make a decision so economists can begin calculations.

Critics say that California has no obligation to pay up given that the state did not practice slavery and did not enforce Jim Crow laws that segregated Black people from white people in the southern states.

But testimony provided to the committee shows California and local governments were complicit in stripping Black people of their wages and property, preventing them from building wealth to pass down to their children. Their homes were razed for redevelopment, and they were forced to live in predominantly minority neighborhoods and couldn’t get bank loans that would allow them to purchase property.

Today, Black residents are 5% of the state’s population but over-represented in jails, prisons and unhoused populations. And Black homeowners continue to face discrimination in the form of home appraisals that are significantly lower than they would be if the house were in a white neighborhood or the homeowners are white, according to testimony.

Nkechi Taifa, director of the Reparation Education Project, is among longtime advocates who are thrilled the discussion has gone mainstream. But she’s baffled by the idea of limiting reparations to people who can show lineage when ancestry is not easy to document and enslavers frequently moved people among plantations in the US, the Caribbean and South America.

“I guess I tend to be more inclusive rather than exclusive,” she said, “and maybe it’s a fear of limitation, that there’s not enough money to go around.”

A report is due by June with a reparations proposal due by July 2023 for the Legislature to consider turning into law.