Huawei 5G ban could be costly for Canadian consumers, smaller telcos


Craig Lord - 

Canada’s move to ban technology from Chinese vendors Huawei Technologies and ZTE from its 5G networks will have a bigger impact on smaller players in the telecom industry than the biggest carriers and could end up costing Canadians more on the wireless bills, observers say.

Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced late Thursday afternoon that Huawei’s tech cannot be used in the eventual development of these networks and that any such infrastructure already in place must be torn out.

Read more:
Why is Canada banning Huawei from 5G? Here’s what to know

That includes both 5G and the current-generation 4G networks, with operators given until 2027 to remove tech already in place. Huawei gear sold to Canadian telecoms includes components that allow mobile phones to connect to networks, for example.

Champagne said the government will not reimburse companies for these costs.

Putting the onus on carriers to strip their existing infrastructure of anything Huawei-made is going to hurt small companies providing vital service to Canadians living in remote and rural areas, says Samer Bishay, CEO of Ontario-based communication services company Iristel.

He says there’s “quite a bit” of Huawei technology across the 4G and earlier generation networks of Iristel and its subsidiary ICE Wireless, which provides wireless service to areas of Canada’s far north.

Huawei tech is largely cheaper than that of competitors Ericsson or Nokia, and it also endures well the harsh conditions of the Canadian North, Bishay says.

Deep-pocketed telecoms are more easily able to afford high-end equipment and replace it on a regular basis, he argues, while smaller players try to stretch the life cycles of their tech and save pennies.

“Guys like the incumbents — Bell, Rogers, Telus — it won't really make much of a difference for them. What it really hurts are the regional and small operators such as ICE Wireless,” he says.

The Huawei decision is a long time coming for Canada’s telecom industry, with partners such as the United States implementing bans on domestic firms doing business with the vendor back in 2019 while Canadian policymakers deliberated.

A 2021 Global News analysis showed that Canadian telecom companies spent $700 million on Huawei equipment for their networks while the government mulled the ban.

Although some of Canada's wireless providers had originally planned to work with Huawei, they had already backed away from the partnership in anticipation of the federal government's decision. In 2020, BCE Inc. (Bell) and Telus Corp. announced they would be working with Sweden's Ericsson as a supplier for their 5G networks.

Read more:
China will see Canada’s Huawei, ZTE bans as ‘a slap in the face,’ experts warn

Global News reached out to Bell and Telus — companies believed to have a significant amount of Huawei technology embedded in their existing networks — on Friday to get their reaction to the ban but did not hear back.

Rogers Communications told Global News the decision has “no impact” on its 5G deployment, which it’s developing with partner Ericsson.

Shares of the three telecom giants saw little movement on the markets Friday.

Shruti Shekar, a journalist with Android Central who’s followed the Huawei decision, tells Global News that large telecom companies struck deals with premium suppliers instead of waiting for a decision on Huawei because further delay would have put Canada’s 5G development further behind other markets such as the U.S. and South Korea.

But Canada’s delay in making a decision on the issue likely hurt smaller providers in northern and remote communities who took a chance on using the Chinese tech.

“If the government had made a decision sooner, then those smaller players could have figured out a different, alternative route … instead of already placing out all of that infrastructure in those northern communities,” she says.

“They're going to have to rip it up and that's not cheap. That's not going to be an easy task.”

Pushing Canadian telecoms big and small to expedite the replacement of fully-functioning technology will ultimately see Canadians pay more on their internet and phone bills, Bishay argues.

“I can assure you, it’s never the operator who pays for it. Even us as a smaller operator will always pass any type of increased cost or anything to the consumer,” he says.

Shekar is more uncertain about how the Huawei ban will hit consumers, but says prices going up is not out of the question.

“To offset the costs that they're going to have to incur now, there is a possibility that prices of your cell phone bills could go up, prices for internet services could go up again. It's a little too soon to say, but it's definitely a possibility,” she says.

Champagne framed the Huawei ban as a matter of not just business, but of national security, in his announcement Thursday. Critics of allowing Huawei into Canada’s 5G networks have pointed to Chinese government policy requiring corporations to spy for them if asked as a cybersecurity risk.

A spokesperson for China’s embassy in Canada said late Thursday the alleged security concerns were a “pretext for political manipulation” and accused Canada of working with the United States to suppress Chinese companies.

“China will make a comprehensive and serious assessment of this incident and take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the spokesperson added.

Many believe the government delayed its 5G decision because of the dispute surrounding China's imprisonment of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig following the RCMP's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.

Bishay acknowledges the political and security risks with Huawei, but says operators did not need a government edict to make secure choices for building 5G networks. But in the modern cybersecurity landscape, vulnerabilities are not limited to a single nation's tech exports, he argues.

“No network operator is going to want to have any piece of equipment if they know it's sending data back to somewhere else that is not authorized. But the technology now is so advanced that no matter how sophisticated or who your suppliers are, whether it's American or German, you are still vulnerable. And it happens,” he says.

“It's not about fixing one issue. It's about fixing an ecosystem. And that's really what we should be after.”

— with files from Global News's Anne Gaviola, Alex Boutilier, Amanda Connolly and the Canadian Press

CONSERVATIVES EAT THEIR OWN

First O'Toole, now Kenney: What some are saying it means for state of conservatism

Yesterday 
The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The fall of Jason Kenney, a juggernaut of conservatism in Canada, has prompted many federal Tories to consider the future of the party, which is in the midst of being decided in a leadership race seen as a fractious fight for its soul.

Conservative MPs on Thursday reacted to Kenney’s resignation as Alberta premier with a mix of sadness, surprise and gratitude for his years of public service. The party stalwart, known for his organizational chops and outreach to new immigrants,served in the cabinet of former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.

Harper applauded Kenney in a tweet Thursday for having dedicated 30 years of his life to conservative politics in Alberta, nationally and the movement overall.

Kenney announced his resignation as premier and United Conservative Party leader late Wednesday after narrowly winning a leadership review with just over 51 per cent of the vote. That verdict followed months of open rebellion by MLAs who, among other things, fiercely opposed Kenney's imposition of lockdowns and COVID-19 vaccine passports.

"This is a time, I think, of quiet reflection for conservatives in Alberta and in the conservative movement," said Calgary MP Stephanie Kusie, who is assisting with Pierre Poilievre's leadership campaign in the federal race.

"This is also a time not to panic, not to get excited, not to fight each other, but to stay focused on the principles and values which have allowed us to win before."

But that may be too late. Kenney is the latest conservative leader in the country to have found himself on the outs with his party's base for reasons that include their handling of the pandemic.

The last example before him was former federal Conservative leader Erin O'Toole, who was forced out in early February by a majority of his MPs. That breakup followed his struggle to satisfy supporters with a firm enough stance against vaccine mandates, as well as caucus disputes over his reversal on carbon pricing and gun control policies in an attempt to moderate the party's image.

Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, a Liberal MP from Edmonton, said Thursday he sees a trend of conservative leaders being pushed out of their parties for not being "extreme enough," saying that should be a wake-up call to the movement's moderates.

Before their respective falls, Kenney and O'Toole both painted themselves as trying to build modern, mainstream conservative parties that some darker, more extreme elements from within were trying to take in a different direction.

Veteran Conservative strategist Melanie Paradis sees that as being a direction fuelled by anger.

"Close observers have seen the movement going in this direction for awhile."

O'Toole and Kenney critics both faulted the pair for failing to manage their caucuses and leading with a my-way-or-the-highway approach.

Longtime Ontario MP Michael Chong, who served alongside Kenney in Harper's cabinet, said he believes conservative parties, both federal and provincial ones, are right now a reflection of the level of frustration Canadians feel after two years of pandemic living.

How much the Conservative party, namely those running to be its next leader, should lean into that frustration is up for debate.

"I think there is tremendous risk in the long-term. It may generate short-term gain, but there's tremendous risk in the long-term to holding up a mirror to anger instead of acknowledging it and offering solutions," said Paradis.

Poilievre, the longtime MP from Ottawa, has been accused by rival candidates of running a campaign of divisiveness and embracing support from the right-wing, anti-mandate and anti-government populism that was on display during the convoy protests seen across the country earlier this year.

The leadership contest has been contentious and at times involved candidates lobbing personal attacks at one another. The dynamics of the race recently spilled over into the caucus room.

Ed Fast, a longtime MP who is helping chair Jean Charest's leadership campaign, stepped down from his role as the Conservative finance critic late Wednesday.

Earlier that day, he had criticized Poilievre for proposing to fire the Bank of Canada governor over the country's high inflation rate.

"Mr. Poilievre's statements on monetary policy needed to be addressed. And I have absolutely no regrets for doing that," Fast said on Thursday.

Fast had told reporters he believed Poilievre's pledge hurt the party's credibility on economic issues and counted as interfering with the central bank's independence.

Some within caucus felt Fast had crossed a line by invoking his finance critic title in his remarks. Fast said he was made to feel like he needed to stay silent on Poilievre's attacks against the central bank and promotion of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a solution to inflation.

"You cannot be finance critic and then have an expectation from a leadership candidate that you should not speak out on issues he is speaking out on and that you vehemently disagree with," Fast said, though he declined to provide more details about what happened behind closed doors.

"I'm not going to comment on who said what and when and how. These are caucus colleagues, and my conversations with my caucus colleagues are confidential."

At the end of the day, Fast said, he and interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen felt his position as finance critic had become "untenable," adding that the issue had been brewing for some time.

For Calgary MP Greg McLean, who has yet to endorse anyone in the leadership contest, the "nastiness" of the tone of the race "just doesn't work."

He said what happens on the campaign trail should stay there and not be allowed to interfere in the work MPs are doing in the House of Commons to hold the Liberal government to account.

"I think Mr. Fast served his office honourably and I think that his stepping down — it doesn't make me happy."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2022.

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

Canadian premier abruptly quits amid surge in far-right influences

Conservative Jason Kenney, Alberta premier, leaves province’s top job after barely surviving a leadership review

Jason Kenney speaks in Calgary on 18 May.

Photograph: Canadian Press/REX/Shutterstock

Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN

Thu 19 May 2022 

The abrupt resignation of Alberta’s premier has shocked the western province and raised questions about the ideological direction of Canada’s conservative movement amid a surge in far-right and populist influences.

Jason Kenney announced late on Wednesday that he was leaving the province’s top job after barely surviving a leadership review. A slim majority of party members – 51.4% – had voted in favour of keeping him in power but Kenney said that support wasn’t enough to justify remaining head of the governing United Conservatives.

“The result is not what I hoped for or frankly what I expected,” Kenney told supporters. The premier had previously said he would view any result above 50% as a win.

“He had seemed so doggedly determined to remain on his leader … with even a single vote more than those who voted against him,” said Lori Williams, a professor of political science at Calgary’s Mount Royal University. “So his decision was very much a surprise.”

Once a star cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper, Kenney returned to Alberta to unite warring conservative factions and oust the governing leftwing New Democratic Party.

He won a strong majority in 2019, but his tenure was marred by party infighting and threats of mutiny. His pugilistic brand of politics won him allies but also created a growing list of enemies and disaffected party members.

“It takes a truly extraordinary leader to try to persuade people who may dislike and disrespect one another to work together for the sake of governance,” said Williams, pointing out the only Canada politician able to effectively take on this challenge was Harper.


Canada’s Covid protests highlight rise of rightwing populist movements

Kenney’s popularity cratered during the coronavirus pandemic as he fought off criticism from within his own party amid fierce debates over public health measures. Rightwing elements were angered by restrictions on businesses and movement, but more moderate party members feared an overwhelmed health care system. At one point during the pandemic, Alberta had one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in North America.

As the debate intensified over who should speak for the party, the premier warned in March that conservative movement was being overrun by far-right “lunatics … trying to take over the asylum”.

But turning on his own party probably accelerated challenges to his leadership, say former supporters.

Rick Bell, political columnist at the Calgary Sun and longtime advocate of the outgoing premier, wrote that the fall of Kenney was “stunning” but expected.

“He never listened. Never. He was right. We all were wrong. Until we were right,” wrote Bell.

Even though the province has lifted its public health restrictions and significant revenue from oil and gas is flowing into the provincial treasury, voters seem unwilling to forgive Kenney.


Canada: key Conservative says party risks takeover by far-right ‘lunatics’

Kenney joins a growing list of conservative premiers unable to finish out their term: since 2004, Alberta has seen seven premiers. Only one – New Democrat Rachel Notley – served a full term.

But Kenney’s departure amid bitter infighting over the ideological direction of the party, will loom over the current race for a federal Conservative leader.

The national party has already turfed two of their leaders in recent years, Erin O’Toole and Andrew Scheer, both of whom campaigned to the right and then tried to woo centrist voters in a general election.

“There’s almost competing imperatives facing a leader of a coalition Conservative party. One is to win the support of their own caucus – and the other is to win an election by appealing to a broader range of electors,” said Williams. “But neither really seems compatible.”


Canada Conservatives oust leader Erin O’Toole

A federal Liberal from Alberta called the recent resignations a “disturbing trend” among his political rivals.

“The conservative movement in this country is heading to a dark place. And I find that very troubling,” Randy Boissonnault told reporters on Thursday.

As conservatives in Alberta grapple with their party’s future, Williams sees a difficult and unenviable task for the eventual leader.

“You really have to wonder who would want to take this on. Who would want to risk their reputation and their political future on the challenges we’re seeing boiling up within this party?”

BITCOIN IS A SCAM

Alberta RCMP warning businesses of bitcoin scam

Anna Junker -  Edmonton Journal


Mounties are warning Albertans of a scam involving bitcoin that has defrauded employees and businesses out of thousands of dollars.

In a news release Friday, RCMP said they have received a number of complaints from businesses who have fallen victim to the “Head Office Bitcoin” scam.

Police said staff would receive a call from someone claiming to be a regional or district manager, and in many cases researched the names of staff and managers. The fraudster would have information on the business operation, including names and roles of staff and various store policies in order to convince the employee they are who they claim to be.

Staff are told that an important shipment is coming, and receiving it is vital, but there has been a problem with payment for the shipment and the only way to not delay the shipment is payment in bitcoin.

Police said a second person then calls claiming to be from the shipping company to confirm the shipment and provide a tracking number, as well as emphasize payment is required before delivery.

In some cases, employees took money from the store to the bitcoin ATM, while in others employees took funds both from the store and their personal accounts in order to make the payment.

The first caller would remain on the line with the employee until they have completed the bitcoin transaction. Only after did the employees realize they were a victim of fraud.

“Alberta RCMP are encouraging businesses to protect themselves by providing in-house fraud awareness training and sharing warnings like this alert with their staff,” Mounties said. “Institute clear, two-step approval processes, using a code word or ID number for financial transactions, and empower your employees to say ‘no’ to potential frauds.”

Anyone who is a victim of a scam should report it to their local police service.

Kahnawake mobilizes as Bill 96 nears passage with no exemption for Indigenous communities

The Canadian Press

A sense of urgency is swelling in Kahnawake as leaders and residents scramble to find ways to compel the government to change course on Bill 96, a sweeping French language bill that has ignited local outrage.

The bill is likely to pass next week with no exemptions for Indigenous people in Quebec, despite weeks of Indigenous voices sounding the alarm about the bill’s far-reaching effects and a lack of consultation.

To many Kahnawa’kehró:non, the bill is unacceptable not only for its impacts to education, business, and healthcare but also because they view it as an affront to the rights and autonomy of Indigenous Peoples, who are once again being relegated to the margins of decision-making on a crucial issue of identity.

“It’s ... making people angry, and it’s making people mobilize in terms of civil action against the provincial government,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chief Mike Delisle, Jr., who spoke to The Eastern Door in place of MCK grand chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, who is on vacation this week.

A week ago, Sky-Deer and other Indigenous leaders were granted a virtual meeting with two Quebec ministers, but a flicker of optimism was snuffed out when the government came with no concessions, instead arguing that Indigenous communities had misunderstood the bill.

On Tuesday, a letter reiterating the government’s position was sent to the MCK by Simon Jolin-Barrette, the minister responsible for the French language, who was present at the May 13 meeting.

“They continue to disregard our concerns and are not taking us seriously,” Delisle said.

The letter was received as community members were meeting to discuss next steps.

A Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) walkout last week attracted about 1,000 community members to march on Highway 132. Many Kahnawa’kehró:non also attended a weekend protest in Montreal.

This Saturday, May 21, a youth-led demonstration will slow traffic on the Mercier Bridge, stopping just shy of a blockade as pamphlets are handed out to passing cars, although organizers plan to halt traffic for up to 20 minutes.

“I didn’t know if the community would support (the protest) or not,” said Teiotsatonteh Diabo, 19, a KSS alum. She was involved in planning the demonstration and pitched it to the community at Tuesday’s meeting, where she found widespread support.

“It was very nerve-racking, but I understood our voices and concerns needed to be heard,” she said.

Diabo, who is set to attend Dawson College in the fall, got involved when community discussions about next steps around two weeks ago left her dissatisfied. The bill would require students at English CEGEPs like Dawson to take three additional French courses and would cap enrollment at the institutions.

“I left very frustrated. I understood the severity of this bill,” said Diabo. Since then, she and others have recruited more young people to the cause.

While the protest is youth-led, all community members are invited to gather at KSS before departing for the Mercier Bridge at 9:30 a.m. to disseminate information.

“We are definitely in support of any kind of movement, any kind of activity that would bring more awareness,” said Falen Iakowennaié:was Jacobs, associate director of education at the Kahnawake Education Center.

“I think it’s really a great initiative on behalf of the youth for wanting to stand up for their rights in a peaceful, respectful way, and handing out information to surrounding community members about our perspective and our fight against Bill 96.”

According to Delisle, the core demand has evolved from an exemption or carve-out for Indigenous communities - something Sky-Deer was advocating last week - to the complete withdrawal of the bill.

“I’m quoting people from the meeting (Tuesday) stating this is the community position, that the bill should not pass,” said Delisle.

While he acknowledges this may not be a likely outcome, he knows what the government can expect if Bill 96 passes without an exemption: “A very rough summer,” he said. “This isn’t going away.”



Delisle believes Bill 96 is poisoning the well in terms of other important discussions happening with the province. “How can we negotiate on other issues when you don’t take our concerns seriously on a fundamental issue of human rights being alienated across the province,” he said.

“On all fronts, in other matters, they kind of have the same thinking that whatever they do is for all Quebecers, including our Peoples,” said Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) regional chief Ghislain Picard, who attended last week’s meeting with the ministers.

“They seem to be consulting our Peoples strictly based on what they define as consultations for them, which is far off from the way that it’s been defined through the Supreme Court decisions,” he argued.

“To me, it’s another example of the ideology of this government and their continued denial of the capacity of our communities to exercise what they feel is their own jurisdiction.”

AFNQL staff are currently exploring the feasibility of a legal challenge if the bill passes. Regardless of the finding, Picard does not expect the bill’s passage to mark the end of the fight.

“There are too many of our communities being impacted. There is strong mobilization in Kahnawake and other communities,” he said.

Despite the signs that this agitation could explode into wide-scale disruption, the government continues to insist on business as usual.

“We would like to reiterate that the government cares deeply about the success and well-being of Indigenous youth,” said Myrian Marotte, a spokesperson for Ian Lafrenière, who attended the May 13 meeting in his capacity as minister responsible for Indigenous affairs.

"Furthermore, in November, we announced an investment of nearly $20 million to help Indigenous students succeed and stay in school,” she continued. “The government is committed to continuing such efforts and working with Indigenous nations to find concrete solutions to their problems. However, Bill 96 is not the right vehicle to address these issues.”

Amendments to Bill 96 to exempt Indigenous people in the province from language requirements have been proposed by the political opposition but have been rejected by the ruling Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) party.

“This position of the government is a shame,” said Ruba Ghazal, Quebec Solidaire Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for Mercier. “It’s important to talk about Bill 96 in this general context, where all the demands of Indigenous people are refused by this government, and it’s a shame.”

While her own party plans to vote for the bill despite objections about its applicability to Indigenous communities, Ghazal stressed that the fight need not stop when the bill passes since exemptions could be granted in a separate law.

“It’s not the end with Bill 96 - at all, at all, at all,” she said.

In the meantime, Kahnawa’kehró:non are currently meeting nightly at the greenspace by the Golden Age Club to receive updates and discuss strategies, some of which cannot yet be named publicly, according to Delisle.

“In my opinion, it’ll probably escalate as this piece of possible or probable legislation continues to their date of May 24,” he said.

gmbankuti@gmail.com

Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door

Via Rail Canada CEO Cynthia Garneau stepping down: federal transport minister

 

The Canadian Press


MONTREAL — The federal transport minister says Via Rail Canada Inc. president and CEO Cynthia Garneau has resigned.

Omar Alghabra says Garneau's resignation is effective Friday and comes three years after she was appointed CEO in May 2019.

Alghabra credits Garneau with helping to modernize Via Rail and adapting its operations during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Françoise Bertrand, the chairperson of Via Rail's board of directors, says Martin R. Landry will "ensure business continuity" following Garneau's departure.

Landry has served as Via Rail's chief commercial affairs officer for the last eight years.

Garneau did not share why she was stepping down, but says in a release that she is leaving with a feeling of accomplishment.

"My train has arrived at its destination," she says. "It will now be up to another driver to lead the organization through the next steps."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2022.

The Canadian Press

CONSERVATIVE LEADERS RACE

Legal experts accuse Leslyn Lewis of 'fearmongering' over WHO pandemic pact

cbc.ca


Conservative leadership hopeful Leslyn Lewis has outlined a frightening scenario: if Canada signs an international pandemic treaty, Canadians' travel and medication choices could be restricted, the Constitution could be suspended and it could all pave the way for a global government.

Lewis made those claims in a half-hour-long live event broadcast on Facebook and Twitter Wednesday night. They build on arguments she has made already about the dangers involved in Canada signing the World Health Organization's Pandemic Response Treaty.

Several legal experts say her claims are completely untrue.

"This is all just nonsense," said Prof. Steven Hoffman, a professor in global health, law and political science at York University.

"This is not at all what is being discussed. It's just trying to get people to be mad at a non-issue. This is really a conspiracy theory that we're seeing unfold in front of our eyes."

Lewis' comments are alarming, said another expert.

"The bottom line is that her claims are so far from the truth that it's actually hard to know where to begin," said Prof. Kelley Lee, Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance at Simon Fraser University.

In the video, Lewis claims the WHO could impose lockdowns and restrictions in Canada as it sees fit, and could restrict the types of medications doctors could prescribe.

"It could give power for … the WHO to determine whether or not [in] a country like Canada, whether you'd be able to travel within or outside the country depending on the severity of the pandemic," said Lewis, who holds a PhD in international law from York University.

Lewis also claimed the treaty would allow the WHO to suspend the constitutions of signatory nations.

"Think about it — you would not be able to hold your elected officials accountable for the action of the WHO," she said. "It is essentially eroding our democracy."
'They just don't have the power to do that'

"This is nothing more than fearmongering. There is nothing to support these really strong assertions," said Prof. Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta.

"There is no treaty the WHO could negotiate that would suspend our Constitution. They just don't have the power to do that."

In the video, Lewis holds up a WHO document and repeatedly cites specific sections.

That document, said Hoffman, is not directly connected to the treaty. It's the interim report of a working group looking at the broader issue of dealing with health emergencies.


© APA worker in a protective suit swabs a man's throat for a COVID-19 test at a testing site in an office complex in Beijing on April 29, 2022.

Hoffman collaborates with the WHO on a project about antimicrobial resistance but said he receives no funding from the organization.

"She's pointing to the wrong document to show things that don't actually exist," said Hoffman, who worked for the WHO about a decade ago and has written critically about the organization.

Lee also said that while the document looks at how the WHO might respond better in a pandemic, it's not specific to the pandemic treaty.
What the treaty will and won't do

Despite Lewis' claims, the WHO cannot do anything without the consent of member states, said Lee, who has been studying the organization for three decades. She said her work has included writing reports for the WHO itself on subjects such as globalization and infectious diseases.

Lewis told her audience that the treaty would lay "the foundation for an area of global government" where sovereign nations could "cede their rights to these global organizations."

"I find it really irresponsible to put these fears into people's minds that actually are so far from what's being discussed," said Lee.

"It's dangerous and it slows us down in terms of trying to create something that will keep us all safer."


© Salvatore Di Nolfi/The Associated Press

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), speaks during a news conference in Geneva, Switzerland on Dec. 20, 2021.

The WHO describes the treaty as "aimed at protecting the world from future infectious diseases crises."

The treaty is meant to ensure countries do a better job of sharing information on disease surveillance, said Lee.

Hoffman said the early global response to the pandemic was hampered by a delay in the exchange of vital information and virus samples between nations.

"That's bad," he said. "That needs to change."

Lewis has launched a petition to oppose Canada signing the treaty. The petition had more than 14,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon, according to the count posted on her website.

She is also encouraging people to reach out to their MPs, senators and leaders in both the House of Commons and the Senate about their concerns before the WHO meets for its World Health Assembly in Geneva, beginning on May 22, where the treaty will be discussed.
'It erodes trust in our institutions'

Lewis has warned the treaty would undermine democracy by taking power away from Canadian politicians. Caulfield said Lewis is the one causing damage with her unsupported claims.

"It erodes trust in our institutions, trust that is needed perhaps in the future if we're going to deal with another pandemic," he said.

Lewis stood up in the House of Commons Wednesday to raise concerns about the treaty — but her questions to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were more understated than the statements she would raise hours later online.

"Why did the prime minister not establish a public health inquiry into our COVID response before considering signing amendments to the international health regulations?" she asked.

Trudeau said part of Canada's role at the WHO is to push for "better science."

"We will continue to be active, strong participants in international fora around health while always respecting and protecting Canada's sovereignty and choices to make the right decisions for its own citizens," he added.

Chief sees process of 'exhumation to memorialization' at Kamloops, B.C., graves site


KAMLOOPS, B.C. — After a year of grieving since the detection of 215 suspected unmarked graves at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, a new phase begins in the journey of the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation — bringing the missing children home.

The old apple orchard where evidence of the graves was found by ground-penetrating radar last May could soon be the site of an archeological dig and work to exhume remains, said Kukpi7 or Chief Rosanne Casimir.

"This is something that has not happened in the history here in Canada," she said at news conference on Wednesday. "There's no set of guidelines, no checklist."

To dig or not to dig has been one of the most fraught questions surrounding the issue of unmarked graves at residential schools. No consensus has emerged among survivors, with some seeing exhumation as a process that could help lay victims properly to rest, while others want them left undisturbed.

As for suggestions that the site needs to be treated as a crime scene, the RCMP say they opened a file on the case, but there is no ongoing investigation.

"We know that when we start doing some of the archeological work, we know that, one, when we do that it's going to be about communication," Casimir said.

"It's going to be about respect and honour and dignity. It's going to be about connecting anyone that we may find to their home communities."

Casimir pledged to keep nation members informed about progress and findings at the site.

She described the nation's approach to the site as an ongoing process of "exhumation to memorialization," which would involve finding evidence of remains and linking them to home communities.

"We are utilizing science to support each step as we move forward," she said.

"We do have a technical task force that has been put together that consists of various professors as well as technical archeologists and we are continuing to work with a ground-penetrating radar specialist as well."

The nation announced Thursday that ground-penetrating radar would be used again this week to search another section of the grounds surrounding the former residential school.

Kamloops school survivor Garry Gottfriedson said he struggled over whether the site should be dug up or left alone, but he leaned toward securing evidence to bring solace to himself, any buried children and the nation.

"If you can imagine something gnawing at your whole soul for your whole life, and then, finally, there's some peace of mind," he said. "That's how it is for me. This is one way in which part of that ugly history can be put to rest."

Gottfriedson, 69, said he attended the Kamloops residential school from kindergarten to Grade 3 between 1959 and 1963, where he witnessed abuse, but was largely protected by his older brothers at the school.

The internationally known poet said his eight other siblings, his mother and up to 30 aunts, uncles and cousins from his well-known Secwepemc Nation ranching and rodeo-riding family attended the school.

"All of us that were at that residential school already knew that they (bodies) were there," said Gottfriedson, who provides counsel and curriculum advice to Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops on Secwepemc Nation protocols and cultural practices.

"Now. it's sort of like saying, 'Do you believe us?' Exhuming those bodies and that sort of thing is one way to say, 'Now, if those were your 215 relatives put in a mass grave like that, tell me how you would get over it.'"

Percy Casper, a fellow Kamloops school survivor, said he wanted the burial site left undisturbed. Exhumation would only prove what has already been established by ground-penetrating radar, he said.

"The remains are there," he said. "What more proof do they want?"

Casper, 73, who spent 10 years at the Kamloops school, said he would rather see the former school building, which currently houses nation offices, torn down.

"I want that thing to come down so bad," said Casper, who is from the Cache Creek area Bonaparte Indian Band.

Prof. Geoff Bird, an anthropologist at the school of communication and culture at Victoria's Royal Roads University, said he already considered evidence of the unmarked graves to be "irrefutable."

But exhumation could represent part of a powerful process of recognition and reconciliation for the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc.

"It's the community and the families that ultimately decide whether they want to engage in this act of exhumation," said Bird, an expert on cultural memory and war heritage who worked previously as a heritage interpreter at the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France.

"If the idea is to ultimately memorialize those who are buried there, that is really a worthy goal," he said. "To spend this time to investigate in any way, shape or form is essentially an act of remembrance."

Casimir said the RCMP and B.C. Coroners Service were contacted shortly after the discovery last May, but she did not elaborate on contacts with the police.

The RCMP's E Division said in a statement it is not currently looking onto the site.

"While we did open an investigative file, we are not actively investigating," Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said in a statement.

"The file was opened so that we can assist should our assistance be required. We respect that Tk’emlups te Secwepemc remains as the lead official at this time, and that the RCMP will continue to support."

A daylong cultural ceremony is set for Monday at the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Pow Wow Arbor to mark the anniversary of the findings, said Casimir.

She said the discoveries at the site "shook me to the core".

The detection of hundreds more suspected graves connected to residential schools across Canada would follow, amid a year of reckoning over the legacy of residential schools for Indigenous children.

A 4,000-page report in 2015 by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission detailed harsh mistreatment at the schools, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse of children, and at least 4,100 deaths at the institutions.

The report cited records of at least 51 children dying at the Kamloops school between 1914 and 1963. Health officials in 1918 believed children at the school were not being adequately fed, leading to malnutrition, the report noted.

The Kamloops residential school operated between 1890 and 1969, when the federal government took over operations from the Catholic Church and operated it as a day school until it closed in 1978.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 20, 2022.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

17 arrested for blocking logging operation in B.C.’s Interior: RCMP

Global News
Doyle Potenteau - Yesterday 
© Facebook / Last Stand West Kootenay

Several protesters were arrested earlier this week, say police, for blocking a logging operation in B.C.’s Interior.

According to the RCMP, 17 people were arrested on Tuesday for violating a court-ordered injunction in the area known as Salisbury Creek, near the small community of Argenta in the Kootenays.

Argenta is located on the northeastern shores of Kootenay Lake, and is around 120 km north of Creston.

Read more:

Three arrested at logging site blockade in southeast B.C.: Police

And on the group’s Facebook page, it claims more than 30 RCMP officers were on scene making the arrests.

Police say the injunction was granted to Cooper Creek Cedar Ltd., on Aug. 27, 2019, so it could conduct logging operations in the Salisbury Creek area.

The RCMP said the order prevents anyone from physically preventing or interfering with Cooper Creek Cedar logging operations in and around Salisbury Creek.

Huge RCMP costs associated with Fairy Creek anti-logging protests

Last month, on April 25, police say they were notified of protesters blocking Salisbury Creek Forest Service Road, around 50 km north of Kaslo.

“A police officer from the Kaslo RCMP detachment attended to advise the group they were in breach of the injunction, a copy of which was provided,” said the RCMP.


“The officer attended to the site on the two subsequent days to advise the group they would face arrest for mischief and contempt of court if they continued to blockade.”

Police added that members of a liaison team tried getting the protesters to peacefully leave during the first week of May.

Video: B.C. man stages hunger strike to oppose old-growth logging

And on May 17, police enforced the injunction, “resulting in the arrest of 17 individuals for civil contempt of court, one of whom was removed from a locking device.”

RCMP said of the 17 arrested, eight were released on conditions with a court date for July 19, while the remaining nine were transported to Kaslo for processing. Police say those nine have since been released.

Video: Anti-old growth logging group’s actions under scrutiny

Honeybee Populations Could Be Wiped Out Worldwide By Wing Virus

Thomas Hochwarter, Zenger News - 

The global bee population could be endangered by a newly discovered deadly virus, a leading scientist has warned.

Professor Dr. Robert Paxton from Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg (MLU) in the German city of Halle, Lower Saxony, warns that the latest variant of the Deformed Wing Virus has the potential to wipe out honeybee populations all over the world.

Paxton heads the university's General Zoology. The renowned expert on honeybee and wild bee diseases warned: "The Deformed Wing Virus is arguably the biggest threat to honey bees right now. Our lab research has shown that the new, highly contagious variant is killing bees faster."

The virus variant, which causes serious damage to the insects' wings before killing them eventually, has been detected by an international group of researchers who have been analyzing virus variants over the past 20 years.

The new variant of the virus is spread by varroa mites which are widely considered one of the biggest threats to honeybees in the world. These mites invade hives and reproduce by laying eggs on pupa.

Paxton warned: "Mites don't just spread viruses. They also eat bee pupa."

If not detected and treated early on, the mite population may increase to such an extent that the hive will succumb to the diseases and deformities caused by the mites.

The latest research at the MLU has revealed that the new variant has already replaced its predecessor in Europe - and is quickly spreading in other regions.

Scientists at the MLU have examined 3,000 different sets of data to determine which regions are already affected by the new variant.

Paxton explained: "Our analysis confirms that the new variant is already the dominating force in Europe. We fear that it's just a matter of time before it will have forced its way all over the world."

The new variant, called DVW-B, was first detected in Europe and Africa in the early years of this millennium. It started spreading in North and South America in 2010. In the year 2015, DVW-B reached Asia.

Paxton said the new variant has settled on all continents except Australia. The zoologist explained that the varroa mite's failure to establish itself there to a wider extent could be the reason.

The scientist added: "Basic, general hygiene measures for the hive are paramount for beekeepers when it comes to protecting their colonies from the varroa mite."

He underlined: "Bees are the most important creature for mankind and the environment."

Before joining the MLU, Paxton had an assignment as a lecturer and reader in Insect Ecology at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, between 2003 and 2010. He previously also researched at scientific institutions in Wales, Sweden and Mexico.

Honeybees are social flying insects known for their construction of perennial colonial nests from wax, the large size of their colonies, and surplus production and storage of honey.

Only eight surviving species of honeybee are recognized, with a total of 43 subspecies. However, honeybees represent just a small fraction of the roughly 20,000 known species of bees.

The best-known honey bee is the western honeybee (Apis mellifera), which has been domesticated for honey production and crop pollination. The only other domesticated bee is the eastern honeybee (Apis cerana), which occurs in South Asia.

The varroa mite, excessive usage of insecticides, construction projects and one-crop agriculture are considered the major threats to the existence of honeybees.

This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.

The “Great Replacement” Theory Is the American Way

Marjua Estevez - Yesterday

Refinery29

Several months before Payton S. Gendron carried out a racist mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, which targeted Black patrons, the 18-year-old white man regularly posted on social media about the “great replacement” theory, false claims that white people in the U.S. are intentionally being replaced by nonwhite people through immigration, interracial marriage, and violence.


© Provided by Refinery29The “Great Replacement” Theory Is the American Way

In Gendron’s alleged manifesto, the man, whose attack is being investigated as a hate crime, shares details about the planned massacre, like choosing Buffalo as the scene for his attack because it was the city closest to him with the highest number of Black people. Racist mass shootings targeting Black, Latinx, Asian, and Indigenous populations in this country aren’t new — and neither is the premise, or motive, of the “great replacement” theory. In fact, it’s the American way.

After the invasion, genocide, and displacement of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans, this country’s founding fathers determined that the U.S. was by and for white Americans, and the minority nonwhite population existed to serve. Throughout history, as these marginalized groups grew and began gaining power through numbers, different versions of the “great replacement” theory were born.

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, upon the emancipation of enslaved Africans and the seizing of lands like modern-day Texas, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines, the eugenics movement punctually made its way to the U.S. The goal of the movement was to rewire the racial composition of an increasingly diverse nation by methodically enacting policies that control the reproduction of a people. “It became very important, because people with a lot of social influence really embraced it,” New York Times deputy national editor and author of One Mighty and Irresistible Tide Jia Lynn Yang said. “These are leading economists, leading scientists, people who are really kind of dictating intellectual American life at the time. Eugenics was completely mainstream.”

We saw this in the glossed-over history of the U.S.-sanctioned eugenics program in Puerto Rico, where U.S. scientists and government launched a sterilization operation and used low-income boricua women as subjects for birth control research without their informed consent. According to the 1982 film La Operacion by Ana Maria Garcia, one-third of Puerto Rican women could not have children as a result. Similarly, Mexican immigrant women in California were forced to sign paperwork that gave the state the right to sterilize them by threatening to keep their newborns. Their stories were finally recognized in PBS’ 2016 documentary No Más Bebés.

New restrictions to abortion access, and the likely overturning of Roe v. Wade, will further influence sexual and reproductive rights in the U.S., especially for birthing people of color. One Mississippi reproductive rights activist, Laurie Betram Roberts, draws ties with the current political mayhem brewing around criminalizing abortion and the hate groups peddling “great replacement” talking points. To her, the pro-life body politic isn’t about protecting life more than it is about ensuring the genetic superiority of one race over another. “If you look at the states that are the most restrictive around abortion, they’re also the states most invested in white replacement theory,” she said. “They’re the most conservative and a lot of them also happen to be in the southeast, where there’s a long history and fight over how many Black folks are still around and how many Hispanic people are coming in. And so there is a lot of conversation about the white birth rate.”

Similarly, anti-immigration movements in the U.S. grew out of ideologies at the root of the “great replacement” theory. For instance, in 1916, the immigration restrictionist Madison Grant published The Passing of the Great Race, a book that posited that immigration, and the inner-mixing that comes from it, was ruining the “Anglo-Saxon” population. His works helped spark anti-immigration laws that passed in the 1920s, which limited entry from Black and Asian migrants. (Note: ​​Even before the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act marked a schism in U.S. immigration history, there was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, a landmark law that for the first time singled out an ethnic group for restriction.)

This rhetoric hasn’t just continued; it’s intensified. In his 1987 book The Birth Dearth, the late columnist and demographer Ben Wattenberg warned white people about the Third World, and how the global south would eventually dominate and erode Western culture if there is no change of action. Today, white supremacists have reenvisioned the concept of the “great replacement” theory as a covert operation designed by the U.S. government to “undermine or replace the political power and culture of white people living in Western countries.”

With immigration largely coming from Latin America, Black and Brown Latinx people have been among the primary targets. From the anti-Latinx immigrant rhetoric popular on conservative media, to legislation that targets Latinx migrants specifically, to the physical violence directed at this community, including the 2019 El Paso shooting, those who subscribe to the “great replacement” theory fear a browning of the U.S. and will kill to protect the illusion of white supremacy. But Latinxs haven’t been the only groups to be fatally targeted. There has been a rise in anti-Asian violence and a long, and ongoing, history of attacks against Black churches — and, now, supermarkets.

Of course, extrajudicially murdering and sterilizing Black and Brown communities are just some of the tools white people have used to control people of color and manipulate their lives. Imprisonment is another example; the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate on the planet, and Black and Latinx people are among the most likely to be detained. This is the consequence of a centuries-old, politically motivated myth that the mere presence of nonwhite people is a threat to white life and the conspiracy of white supremacy.

Despite conservative talking heads, like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, often amplifying this theory to its millions of followers for several years, many have recently tried to distance themselves from Gendron’s violence. According to a Washington Post report, nearly half of Republicans agree with the “great replacement” theory. In fact, many have defended and rationalized the claims that allegedly motivated Gendron’s racist attack; however, some are now condemning the mass shooting that their crusade inspired.

Even more, they’ve attempted to fashion the violence that these racist conspiracy theories breed as something jarring and unheard of. In doing so, they undermine the atrocious legacy of U.S. genocide and the very real lived experiences of its countless victims.

'Great replacement' conspiracy theory unified white supremacists long before Buffalo, N.Y., shooting

Jaela Bernstien - 
cbc.ca

Whether it goes by the "great replacement" or another name, the conspiracy theory embraced by the accused Buffalo, N.Y., gunman has inspired several mass shootings in recent years — in Canada and around the world.

Ten people died in the attack at Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly Black neighbourhood of Buffalo on Saturday.

A manifesto linked to the 18-year-old accused gunman is being investigated by the FBI, which described the deadly shooting at the supermarket as "racially motivated violent extremism."

The manifesto text, which was posted online, refers to the "great replacement" conspiracy theory, which promotes fears that Europeans are being replaced through so-called "white genocide." It also explicitly states the intention of the planned attack was "to show the replacers that as long as the White man lives, our land will never be theirs and they will never be safe from us."


© Matt Rourke/The Associated Press

Investigators at the scene of the shooting at Tops Friendly Markets, in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, May 16, 2022. Ten people were killed in the attack which police said was motivated by racism.

Those who closely monitor violent extremism say it is another tragic example of how the racist ideology is spurring deadly violence.

"The great replacement conspiracy theory is kind of like the primordial DNA of racist conspiracy theory," said Evan Balgord, executive director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network.

In essence, the conspiracy — which is not true — suggests there is an orchestrated plot to bring in more non-white immigrants to replace white "European" people in Western countries.

"They say this is actually a concerted effort by shadowy elites — in some cases it's the Muslim Brotherhood and in other cases, usually, they blame the Jews — [who] are controlling the media and the government so as to purposefully lower white birth rates," Balgord said of the conspiracy's proponents.

The term great replacement was originally coined by French white nationalist Renaud Camus.

Balgord, who said the idea has picked up steam in the last decade, is quick to list off recent mass murders rooted in the ideology: the 2017 Quebec City mosque shooting, which left six dead; the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, which left 11 dead; and the 2019 mosque attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, which left 51 dead.

"All sorts of communities are targeted by this," he said.
Using fear of an urgent threat to spur violence

What makes the conspiracy theory such a catalyzing force for violence is the sense of urgency and the fear that white or "European" culture is under threat, according to Balgord.

He said in online forums and sites like 4chan, the language around this idea of a "great replacement" is often violent.

"They convince people that there's an apocalyptic situation, that you and your children — they're trying to replace you," he said. "That's scary for somebody who believes that."

The false sense of imminent threat makes the conspiracy particularly dangerous, said Amarnath Amarasingam, assistant professor in the school of religion at Queen's University in Kingston and a senior fellow with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation.

"The thing with some of these ideas is they kind of push general fear into a kind of emergency situation," he said.


© Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

In a photo from February 2017, a friend consoles Ilies Soufiane, the 15-year-old son of Azzeddine Soufiane, who was killed during the Quebec City mosque attack which was motivated by anti-Muslim animus.

Arsalan Iftikhar, a Muslim-American author and an associate with the Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University's Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, said the malleability of the ideology also means it can — and has — been used to justify attacks against a range of minority communities.

"Racism is not isolated to any geographic boundary. We're starting to see this metastasize," he said.

Canada's 'great replacement' problem

Even though replacement ideology originated in France, it has since been cited by multiple mass shooters in different countries.

In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, some commentators were quick to blame Fox News host Tucker Carlson and certain Republicans for championing the racist theory. Analysts who study radicalization, however, said it's important to acknowledge it's not an exclusively American problem.

Amarasingam said some Canadian far-right movements have been known to push similar narratives about the majority population being replaced by immigrants, whether or not they use the term "great replacement."

Earlier this year, overlaps between that ideology and the leadership of the so-called Freedom Convoy came to light when previous racist comments made by one of the key organizers surfaced.

In videos circulating on social media, protest leader Pat King speaks about "an endgame," which he said has a goal "to depopulate the Anglo-Saxon race, because they are the ones with the strongest bloodlines."

While the convoy as a whole was not a far-right event, Amarasingam said he is concerned that some of the leaders with far-right beliefs have now gained a following.

"The convoy has given all these people a massive megaphone to play with," he said.

Balgord said beyond rhetoric, you don't have to look far to find violence in Canada inspired by the same type of ideology.

A year ago, a Muslim family was killed in London, Ont., in a crime police said was motivated by anti-Muslim hate.

In 2017, a white 27-year-old man walked into a mosque in Quebec City during prayer, shooting and killing six and seriously wounding dozens of others. The killer later said he was bothered by Canada's openness toward refugees.

During the Quebec City mosque shooter's trial, video of his police interrogation was played. When asked why he chose to attack a mosque, the shooter said he was afraid of terrorist attacks and said he was afraid his family would be "killed by terrorists."

At that time, Balgord said, Canada's new far-right movement was taking shape and focusing on Muslims.

"It wasn't explicitly called 'great replacement theory' everywhere perhaps ... but elements of it are the same," he said.

He said the Quebec City shooter "believed that there was an Islamic and a Muslim takeover of Canada, because those garbage ideas were put in his head by both mainstream and more fringe figures."

The 'fill-in-the-blank, racist conspiracy theory'

Balgord and other analysts said the ideology is a part of a larger ecosystem — each attack that cites the racist conspiracy draws more attention to it.

In fact, the name of the Quebec City mosque shooter was among the names scrawled on an ammunition magazine by the Christchurch shooter. The Buffalo shooter is believed to have extensively researched the Christchurch shooting, according to the results of a preliminary investigation.


© John Kirk-Anderson/Reuters

In a picture from Aug. 24, 2020, Maysoon Salama, mother of Ata Mohammad Ata Elayyan who was killed in the Christchurch, New Zealand shooting, gives a victim impact statement about the loss of her son during. The gunman who killed 51 worshippers at two mosques was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Iftikhar, author of Fear of A Muslim Planet: Global Islamophobia in the New World Order, said there is power in calling these attacks what they are.

"Everyone is more than willing to condemn terrorism whenever a brown Muslim man commits it ... we [should] be as quick to condemn terrorism when a white supremacist does it," he said.

These attacks shouldn't be seen as disconnected or blamed on lone wolves, he said, when they're linked by shared beliefs.

"Sadly, the 'great replacement' conspiracy theory has become the grand unification theory for white supremacists worldwide. It's literally what I call the 'fill-in-the-blank, racist conspiracy theory.'"

Countering white supremacy at the community level

Canada's public safety minister has said the racism and white supremacy behind the Buffalo mass shooting is present in Canada.

In a statement sent to CBC News, a spokesperson for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said the threat of ideologically motivated violent extremism is complex and "fuelled by proponents that are driven by a range of influences rather than a singular belief system."

CSIS said tackling the issue requires "a concerted and co-ordinated effort by intelligence services and law enforcement, in co-operation with civic and community leaders, academic researchers and others."

Non-governmental extremism experts agree. They say addressing far-right hate should ideally happen long before law enforcement needs to get involved.

"The best solutions are located within the community and stopping things before it goes too far," Balgord said.


© Twitter/Reuters

This photo of ammunition appeared on a now-deleted Twitter account from a user whose name matched that of the Christchurch shooter. The names written on the ammunition include Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette and Sebastiano Venier, who led a Christian naval force in a 1571 wartime victory over a Muslim fleet in the Mediterranean.

He said there are concrete actions that can make a difference, such as teaching educators to spot warning signs, providing communities with tools to intervene if someone is going down a path of violent white supremacy, and naming an ombudsperson to work with social media companies to prevent violent radicalization.

If nothing changes, Iftikhar said, hateful violence will simply continue to happen.

"This is a new normal," he said.

"We have to decide, as the human race, if we're going to let our better angels prevail or go in the other direction."

CANADIAN CONSERVATIVE IS A LIBERAL

Avi Benlolo: It's time to replace white nationalists' conspiracy of hate

America is in trouble. The horrific mass shooting in Buffalo last Saturday added another layer of hate and racial division to a nation once dubbed a “melting pot” of differing ethnicities. No more. In a racially motivated shooting spree, a white gunman specifically targeted the Black community — unleashing 50 rounds of bullets in the Tops Supermarket. Shockingly, he murdered 10 Black people in cold blood — six females and four males ranging from the age of 32 to 86.


© Provided by National Post

People look at a memorial in the wake of the May 14, 2022 shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., that left 10 dead.

What motivated the 18-year-old suspect to unleash violence on his fellow citizens? Authorities indicate it was the same white-nationalist sentiment that also led to mass shootings in 2018 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and in 2019 at Chabad of Poway. A total of 12 Jewish worshippers were murdered in those attacks by two lone male gunmen motivated by a white-nationalist racist ideology known as “replacement” theory.

It’s not the theory itself that is mainstreaming from the fringe, as many commentators have contended in recent days. It’s that white supremacism itself is mainstreaming, growing in numbers and accelerating the threat to such minority groups as Black and Jewish people and to America itself. A racist screed reportedly posted online by the Tops supermarket suspect outlined the so-called “great replacement” theory — a white-nationalist belief in a conspiracy to diminish the power and influence of white people and in effect, replace them in America.

One might argue that America has always had a massive racial divide going all the way back to slavery. Henry Ford himself capitalized on antisemitism and convinced millions of Americans that Jewish people were out to control the world. Ford published a series of pamphlets in the 1920s arguing that the “international Jew” was “the world’s foremost problem,” thereby unleashing hateful conspiracy theories that accused Jewish people of everything from agricultural depression to strikes and financial manipulation. This screed would strengthen white-nationalist belief systems, particularly as Nazi ideology began taking hold

White-nationalists take their inspiration from Nazism — the original ideology pursuing racial supremacy for a white, so-called “Aryan race.” The Nazis’ plan was to ethnically cleanse all minority and racial groups including the Jewish and Black communities — whom they described as inferior races. The Old Testament of America’s white-nationalist movement might be Hitler’s racist screed Mein Kampf, but the movement’s New Testament is “The Turner Diaries.” Published in 1978, it’s a fictional novel written by William Luther Pierce about a violent race-motivated revolution in America in which whites exterminate non-whites.

Although white nationalists have a long laundry list of hate, Black and Jewish communities are their prime targets. America realized it was asleep at the wheel when in 2017, white nationalists marching at Charlottesville, Va., chanted “Jews will not replace us!” and “You will not replace us!” We were all still trying to figure out what they meant. Who would want to replace such vile people anyway?

Since Charlottesville, there have been at least three violent white-supremacist attacks on American soil. Similar international mass murders took place in Norway at a summer camp in 2011 in which 77 people were murdered; at a Quebec mosque in 2017 when six Muslim worshippers were killed; and in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, when 51 Muslim worshippers were murdered. It’s no wonder that intelligence agencies including the FBI in America and CSIS in Canada have reportedly placed white-nationalist movements high on their threat lists.

The Black, Jewish and Muslim communities have all been victims of violent racism and prejudices and need to be unified, not divided, in order to protect themselves. It’s time for all minority groups to have empathy and call out hate against others. More importantly, the majority must stand with them and against the mainstreaming of the replacement theory, which threatens not only minority groups, but society itself.

Avi Benlolo 
National Post