Facebook fails again to detect hate speech in ads

Thursday, June 9,2022

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The test couldn't have been much easier — and Facebook still failed.

Facebook and its parent company Meta flopped once again in a test of how well they could detect obviously violent hate speech in advertisements submitted to the platform by the nonprofit groups Global Witness and Foxglove.

The hateful messages focused on Ethiopia, where internal documents obtained by whistleblower Frances Haugen showed that Facebook's ineffective moderation is “literally fanning ethnic violence,” as she said in her 2021 congressional testimony. In March, Global Witness ran a similar test with hate speech in Myanmar, which Facebook also failed to detect.

The group created 12 text-based ads that used dehumanizing hate speech to call for the murder of people belonging to each of Ethiopia’s three main ethnic groups — the Amhara, the Oromo and the Tigrayans. Facebook’s systems approved the ads for publication, just as they did with the Myanmar ads. The ads were not actually published on Facebook.

This time around, though, the group informed Meta about the undetected violations. The company said the ads shouldn't have been approved and pointed to the work it has done to catch hateful content on its platforms.

A week after hearing from Meta, Global Witness submitted two more ads for approval, again with blatant hate speech. The two ads, written in Amharic, the most widely used language in Ethiopia, were approved.

Meta said the ads shouldn't have been approved.

“We’ve invested heavily in safety measures in Ethiopia, adding more staff with local expertise and building our capacity to catch hateful and inflammatory content in the most widely spoken languages, including Amharic,” the company said in an emailed statement, adding that machines and people can still make mistakes. The statement was identical to the one Global Witness received.

“We picked out the worst cases we could think of," said Rosie Sharpe, a campaigner at Global Witness. "The ones that ought to be the easiest for Facebook to detect. They weren’t coded language. They weren’t dog whistles. They were explicit statements saying that this type of person is not a human or these type of people should be starved to death.”

Meta has consistently refused to say how many content moderators it has in countries where English is not the primary language. This includes moderators in Ethiopia, Myanmar and other regions where material posted on the company's platforms has been linked to real-world violence.

In November, Meta said it removed a post by Ethiopia’s prime minister that urged citizens to rise up and “bury” rival Tigray forces who threatened the country's capital.

In the since-deleted post, Abiy said the "obligation to die for Ethiopia belongs to all of us.” He called on citizens to mobilize “by holding any weapon or capacity.”

Abiy has continued to post on the platform, though, where he has 4.1 million followers. The U.S. and others have warned Ethiopia about “dehumanizing rhetoric” after the prime minister described the Tigray forces as “cancer” and “weeds” in comments made in July 2021.

“When ads calling for genocide in Ethiopia repeatedly get through Facebook’s net — even after the issue is flagged with Facebook — there’s only one possible conclusion: there’s nobody home," said Rosa Curling, director of Foxglove, a London-based legal nonprofit that partnered with Global Witness in its investigation. “Years after the Myanmar genocide, it is clear Facebook hasn’t learned its lesson.”

Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press

THE STATE HAD TO SAVE CAPITALI$M

Freeland says Canada’s economic reputation was at risk, prompting Emergencies Act

Sean Boynton - Yesterday 
Global News


NDP MP challenges Freeland on answers given during Emergencies Act committee hearing

The risk to Canada's economic reputation was behind the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act to deter the "Freedom Convoy" blockades across the country, the deputy prime minister and finance minister repeatedly told MPs Tuesday.

But Chrystia Freeland — the highest-ranking minister yet to appear before the special committee investigating the government's unprecedented use of emergency powers — would not share specific data that would have been available at the time the Act was invoked, which would have shown the protests were damaging the national economy.

"It was clear to me that with each passing hour, our economic reputation with the United States as a reliable trading partner and as a reliable investment destination was being damaged," she said.

Read more:

‘Freedom Convoy’ caught police, institutions off-guard, ex-Ottawa police chief says

She pointed to comments made by Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin in early February, when protesters blocked the key Ambassador Bridge border crossing between her state and Ontario, who said the blockades made the case for more Buy American policies to end the reliance on foreign trade — including with Canada.

"This is so dangerous to Canada, colleagues," Freeland said.

"I was deeply, deeply concerned that these illegal blockades and this illegal occupation would provoke a whole new wave of protectionism and deeply erode our trading relationship with the United States. That was a real economic threat."

Such a threat could not be specifically felt in the moment, the minister said, but rather "in the years ahead."

Freeland says Ottawa convoy was ‘agonizing’ time for Canadians, government

That didn't sit well with some members of the committee, including NDP MP Matthew Green, who pressed Freeland for relevant economic data that would have influenced the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act.

Their exchange grew testy as Freeland disputed Green's assertion that reputation and "feelings" don't matter when it comes to the economy, and specifically its impact on the government's decision-making.

"I'm not talking about pontification, I'm talking about facts here," Green said at one point.

"I don't believe I'm pontificating," Freeland replied. "The economic impact was absolutely, clearly there."

"That's not good enough," Green shot back.

Read more:

Mendicino was ‘misunderstood’ when he said police asked for the Emergencies Act: official

Some of the economic data figures Freeland pointed to were released after the last trucks were removed from outside Parliament, including Ottawa city council's estimation that the blockade there cost the city at least $30 million.

Experts predicted at the time of the blockades that the economic impacts could be felt for months afterwards, without giving specific figures.

Yet data showed the blockades at the Ambassador Bridge and Coutts, Alta., border crossings had little impact on cross-border trade, with truckers simply being rerouted to other nearby ports of entry.

While she could not speak to police actions and their needs at the time, Freeland said she was speaking daily with Canadian business leaders and owners who were raising concerns about the economic impact of the blockades.

"These were not people who hyperventilate," she said. "These were people who could really see every day their businesses being eroded, and therefore the national economy."

Throughout her appearance, a few MPs from the opposition parties accused Freeland of not providing clear answers to questions, with Green at one point accusing the minister of being "almost contemptible."

Conservatives continue to hammer Liberals over the invocation of Emergencies Act

Freeland did speak to the controversial financial measures carried out under the Act, which included directing banks to freeze some protesters' accounts, as well as those of any donors to the "Freedom Convoy" movement.

She said any decisions to freeze accounts were made independently by financial institutions independent without "political direction," based on information received from law enforcement and internal data.

The government has said more than 200 bank accounts worth $7.8 million were frozen while the Act was in place. Any affected accounts were unfrozen once the Act was lifted on Feb. 23.

Freeland told the committee that RCMP never provided a list of donors to financial institutions to be targeted under the emergency measures. She later added that court orders would have taken too long to have the desired effect, which was to cut off the "Freedom Convoy" movement and deter future blockades.

Freeland repeatedly said invoking the Emergencies Act was a "last resort" for the government to crack down on the blockades and give police the necessary powers to remove protesters and their vehicles after weeks of inaction.

Read more:

Ottawa interim police chief Steve Bell didn’t ask feds to invoke Emergencies Act

"It was an agonizing time, I think, for many Canadians, and it was an agonizing time for everyone in government, because we had to balance some serious things against each other," she said.

"We did not invoke the Emergencies Act lightly. That's why it took some time."

Following Freeland's appearance, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told the committee it took several days for the "Freedom Convoy" movement to rise to the level of a national emergency, prompting his ministry and others to step in.

He also tried to clarify that the government never received a recommendation from police to invoke the Emergencies Act.

Marco Mendicino, Blair's successor as public safety minister, has come under fire for telling the committee that police asked for the government to invoke the Act, despite the heads of the RCMP and Ottawa police saying otherwise.

Conservatives call on Marco Mendicino to resign

"(Police) were clearly having difficulties in affecting the lawful purpose of restoring public order in the city of Ottawa, protecting the people of Ottawa, to opening up those vital trade corridors (under existing laws)," he said. "I needed to understand why.

"One of the considerations the government has to consider before invoking the Act is to ensure that no other law of Canada can be applied to these circumstances. So I think it was absolutely essential and appropriate to consult with law enforcement."

Mendicino has used similar language to try and clarify his earlier comments, but that has not stopped Conservatives from calling for his resignation. The minister has defended his actions.

— with files from the Canadian Press

Lauren Boebert Says the Romans Killed Jesus Because He Didn't Have an AR-15

Ross A. Lincoln - TheWrap



Over the weekend, right wing Colorado Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert appeared at a conservative Christian event in Colorado Springs, where she said… a lot of very disturbing stuff. But we're here to focus not on her apparent wish that God kill Joe Biden. Instead, we're here to focus on a very weird, uh, joke Boebert told about Jesus Christ during her appearance.

Boebert apparently thinks Jesus should have used modern assault weapons to avoid being crucified by the Romans. No really.

Boebert was attempting to mock people who would like to put an end to all the child murders her preferred policies are causing, and that's when she said this:

"On Twitter, a lot of the little Twitter trolls, they like to say 'oh, Jesus didn't need an AR-15, how many AR-15s do you think Jesus would have had?' Well, he didn't have enough to keep his government from killing him."

Seth Meyers Apologizes to Lauren Boebert for Mistakenly Thinking 'AR' Stood for Assault Rifle: 'I'm Sorry…for Not Giving a F–' (Video)

Just in case you're having a hard time believing this actually happened, here's the video:

Now, we aren't theologians, and this writer isn't even a Christian. But it's pretty well known that the defining theological concept of Christianity is that Jesus, who if you're a Christian you believe is also both God and the son of God at the same time, willingly allowed himself to be tortured and then executed by crucifixion as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity. Suffice to say, Jesus going full Rambo on the Romans kind of achieves a different outcome.

But honestly? Sounds like one hell of a movie, uh, no pun intended.

 

Survivor speaks out after bombshell Southern Baptist abuse report

Nikki Battiste - CBS

Delegates from the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, met Tuesday to choose new leaders and confront shocking allegations of sexual abuse.

© CBS News0614-en-survivor1.png

A recent 288-page report by independent firm Guidepost Solutions alleged that the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee was "stonewalling" survivors of sexual abuse. After the report, Southern Baptist leaders released a secret database listing accused pastors and church staff spanning decades.

At Tuesday's meeting, Pastor Rolland Slade, outgoing chair of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, responded to survivors: "We need to fix what we've done. We need to apologize. We need to be grateful for what the report has exposed so that we can correct it."

David Pittman, one of those survivors, told CBS News that the music minister at his Southern Baptist church in Georgia raped him repeatedly, beginning when he was 12 in the 1980

"It started with sleepovers," he said. "And you would have two or three or six boys, that's when the abuse would take place."

He said Frankie Wiley sexually abused him until he was 15.

"It would be oral, digital insertion, you name it, it occurred," he said. "I froze."

More than two decades later, Pittman reported Wiley to police, but the statute of limitations had expired so he says he then told numerous church leaders.

"I was told, unceremoniously, 'Be quiet. Go away. There's nothing we can do for you. But we would like to pray for you,'" he said.

In a 2019 email that Pittman provided to CBS News, Wiley did confess to sexually assaulting five boys, which was corroborated by the independent report.

Yet, Wiley is still employed at a church, playing the keyboard at Sunday's service at Georgia's Trinity Community Church, which recently cut ties with the Southern Baptist Convention.

When asked what he would say to parishioners at that church, Pittman said: "Wiley is a professional liar. He is a sexual predator. Your children are not safe. Please keep them as far away from him as possible."

CBS News reached out to Wiley and Trinity Community Church, but did not hear back. Wiley has never been charged with a crime.

Who is Wilma Mankiller, the Cherokee Nation leader on the quarter?

© Jason Connolly/POOL/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

The Wilma Mankiller quarters is displayed when Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen spoke to employees after touring The Denver Mint in Denver, March 11, 2022.

Wilma Mankiller, the first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, can now be seen on U.S. quarters available for purchase.

Mankiller, an activist for Native American and women’s rights, is the third woman to have her face adorned upon a quarter as part of the American Women Quarters Program.

"Chief Mankiller was a true champion for tribal sovereignty, women’s rights, health care, education and building strong communities for the Cherokee people. Every Chief that has followed her looks to her as the standard by which their work should be measured,” Chuck Hoskin Jr., the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, told ABC News Tuesday.

The new coin design shows Mankiller with a “resolute gaze to the future,” the U.S. Mint said in announcing the design.

Mankiller looks to be wearing a traditional shawl, and to her left is the seven-pointed star of the Cherokee Nation. The coin is inscribed with several phrases, including, “E Pluribus Unum,” “Wilma Mankiller,” “Principal Chief,” and “Cherokee Nation,” which is written in the Cherokee syllabary.MORE: Maya Angelou becomes first Black woman to appear on US quarter

“Even years after her passing, Chief Mankiller is making an impact,” Hoskin said at a coin release event held by the Cherokee Nation and U.S. Mint last week.

“She’s not changing the world on this day simply because her likeness is being struck on the quarter. Her likeness is being struck on the quarter because she keeps changing the world for the better,” Hoskin added.

Mankiller served as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995. During her leadership, the nation’s population sprung from 68,000 to 170,000, according to a biography on her website.

The first woman to hold this title, Mankiller advocated throughout her tenure for improved healthcare, education and housing services. While she was principal chief, infant mortality declined and educational achievement rose across the nation, Cherokee Nation officials say.

“She was very driven on behalf of other people she was nurturing, she wanted to make people feel better. She was very approachable,” Ross Swimmer, the Cherokee Nation's former principal chief, said at the release event.

Mankiller worked with the federal government while chief, working to pilot a self-government agreement for the Cherokee Nation through the Environmental Protection Agency. She guarded centuries of Cherokee traditions, customs and legal codes while managing a budget that reached $150 million by 1995, her website says.

“Wilma suffered from several serious illnesses and was almost killed in an auto accident, but she never complained. She would never say, ‘well, I just can’t do that today, I just don’t feel like it,’ or ‘no, I’m in pain,’ you would never hear that from her. She would go right on and get done what needed to be done,” Swimmer said at the event.

“I want to leave you with my mom’s last words. In 1995, the last time she took the podium as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, she said, ‘I did what I could,’” Felicia Olaya, her daughter, said in a speech at the release event.

In 1993, Mankiller was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

After Mankiller finished her term as principal chief, President Bill Clinton honored her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. In 2018, Mankiller was inducted into the National Native American Hall of Fame as one of the first female inductees.

"Chief Mankiller’s efforts to inspire our Cherokee people to work together at the grass roots level to build strong communities in the spirit of “Gaudgi” is alive and well. Our Cherokee people remain organized to this day working on their own solutions and for every challenge they are confronted with, not simply content to wait for any government to come to the rescue,' Hoskin told ABC News.MORE: Report outlines federal 'abuse' of Native children at boarding schools

Mankiller began her activism in 1969, when she began serving as director of Oakland’s Native American Youth Center, working to restore pride in Native heritage and reduce the downward spiral of Native youth who grew up in the streets.

In the late 1970s, Mankiller founded the Community Development Department for the Cherokee Nation, which focused on improving access to water and housing. A feature film was created around this work, entitled “The Cherokee Word for Water."

"Chief Mankiller is still making an impact today, because now every time a little girl sees Wilma’s face on a quarter, and reads her story, she realizes she can do it too," Hoskin said Tuesday.

Mankiller died in 2010 from pancreatic cancer.


© Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images, FILE

Chief Wilma Mankiller, of the Cherokee, poses for a portrait in June, 1992.

The first coin of the American Women Quarters Program was released in January, with a quarter featuring poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou.

“These inspiring coin designs tell the stories of five extraordinary women whose contributions are indelibly etched in American culture,” Alison L. Doone, the Mint's acting director, said in a statement last year. “Generations to come will look at coins bearing these designs and be reminded of what can be accomplished with vision, determination and a desire to improve opportunities for all.”

In March, Sally Ride, the first woman to travel to outer space, appeared on U.S. quarters.

Nine Otero-Warren, a leader in Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools, and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood who left a legacy for women in the film industry, are both set to appear on U.S. quarters in the coming months.

 

PROTESTANTS UPSET WITH CATHOLIC CANADA 

Ohio bill calls for Canada to be put on religious-freedom watchlist over COVID restrictions

Tom Blackwell - Yesterday- National Post

About 100 people rallied outside the Edmonton law courts building on Monday May 3, 2021, during court proceedings against GraceLife Church pastor James Coates.

State lawmakers in Ohio have managed to pull Canada into America’s heated culture wars, urging the U.S. government to put this country on a religious-freedom watchlis t — largely because of pandemic-related restrictions.

If the federal agency that oversees the list followed the advice in a resolution passed by the Ohio house of representatives, Canada would join a group of 12 nations from Azerbaijan to Cuba judged guilty of “severe” violations of religious liberties.

The motion cites cases where church leaders like Alberta’s James Coates were charged and/or jailed temporarily for repeatedly flouting public-health rules that affected services at the height of the pandemic.

Those measures, which paralleled restrictions placed on other, non-religious venues, make Canada akin to one of the most repressive countries in the world when it comes to religious practice, declared a Republican representative who co-sponsored the motion.

“While Ohio has stood up for religious freedom and protected the right to attend religious services, it is clear Canada has not done the same,” said Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus, according to the Statehouse News Bureau .

Canada’s actions are “very similar to what we see in Communist-controlled China,” he said.

The bill’s co-sponsor, Republican Tim Ginter, could not be reached for comment.

But a Democratic member of the state’s House of Representatives who voted against the resolution called it a slight against a long-time ally — and part of an increasingly hard-right conservative agenda that’s making Ohio “the Mississippi of the mid-West.”

The same day the motion passed just over a week ago, the house approved a bill allowing school boards to arm teachers. Ohio legislators have also recently removed a training requirement for people who carry concealed guns and barred transgender girls from high school sports.

“These culture wars are starting to take over,” Rep. Daniel Troy said in an interview. “A lot of this is just folks playing to their base. They throw out this red meat … I thought ‘My God, this is a horrible message to send a very good, polite neighbour.’”

In the house, he warned humorously that the measure — passed along party lines in the Republican-controlled chamber — risked reigniting the War of 1812.

Meanwhile, courts in Canada have ruled that the restrictions, also applied for public health reasons to restaurants, bars, movie theatres and other places where people gather in numbers, did not contravene the religious freedom guarantee in the Charter of Rights.

The resolution suggested Canada had not followed the “civilized” practice of protecting places of worship from any form of government interference.

It cited the arrest of Coates, who was put behind bars for 35 days after repeatedly ignoring orders from public-health agencies to follow lockdown rules that required parishioners at his GraceLife church and others to wear masks and limit attendance.

It also mentioned Artur and David Pawlowski and Tobias Tissen, three other pastors who had been arrested for similar alleged infractions.

Although churches and other places of worship in Ohio did at times voluntarily impose restrictions to help combat COVID-19, the state never forced such measures on them.


© Ed Kaiser/

A women chanting as a crowd of about 400 gathered outside GraceLife Church on the first Sunday after the closure west of the Edmonton city limits, April 11, 2021.

The pandemic also took a much higher toll in Ohio. It has suffered three times the number of deaths per 100,000 population from the virus — 331 compared to 111 for Canada.

While most of the document dealt with pandemic restrictions, it also cited the federal government’s new l aw banning conversion therapy of gay or transgender people. It alleged the legislation includes “a prison sentence of up to five years for merely expressing a biblical view of marriage.”

The law bars any “practice, treatment or service” designed to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, but makes no reference to marriage or the bible or to expressing views about them.

The resolution was addressed to the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom . It calls out problematic countries, with the worst offenders — those where there are “very severe” violations — included under the heading of “particular concern.”

The watchlist is a further group of merely “severe” violators. They generally include nations whose governments have directly or indirectly subjugated minority religious groups.

Algeria, one of the 12 on the list, has escalated repression of its evangelical protestant community with church closures and raids, says the commission’s 2022 report. Cuban authorities employ “persistent harassment and intimidation” against Catholic priests and other religious leaders.

A commission spokesman could not be reached for comment on the Ohio resolution.

Some churches in Canada have challenged public-health measures as violations of the Charter’s guarantee to “freedom of conscience and religion,” and at least two rulings on their constitutionality are still pending.

But at least one case has already been resolved, with Manitoba Justice Glenn Joyal saying the restrictions on religious freedom were “rational, reasoned and defensible in the circumstances of an undeniable public health crisis” and thus justified under section one of the Charter. The head of a non-profit group funding such challenges admitted earlier that he had a private investigator follow Joyal.

A judge in the Coates case ruled last year that a ticket the pastor received for repeatedly violating public-health laws did not violate the Charter’s religious-freedom section, saying, “Individual rights and freedoms are not absolute.”

Watchdog launches probe into actions of police in 8 B.C. departments

VICTORIA — An investigation has been launched into the conduct of 19 officers from eight separate British Columbia police departments, the provincial police complaints commissioner announced Monday.



The serious nature of the alleged misconduct means it will seek the appointment of one or more special provincial constables, a statement from the commissioner said.

The special constables are to be appointed by the Ministry of Public Safety to complete an investigation independent of any B.C. police agencies, the statement said.

Officers from departments in Victoria, Vancouver, New Westminster, Delta, Surrey, Saanich, Victoria and the Metro Vancouver Transit Police are being investigated, it said.

A number of concerns were identified during an undercover training course last month, said the commissioner’s office.

"The nature of the allegations includes serious and concerning conduct performed in front of course supervisors and other course participants."

The Independent Investigations Unit of Manitoba will be the investigating agency and arrangements between the provinces are being finalized, it said.

Chief Const. John Lo of the West Vancouver Police Department has been appointed as the discipline authority.

The investigation will look into undercover candidates who took the course, as well as officers in supervisory positions.


The office said none of the allegations have been proven against any of the officers

The Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner is a civilian and independent agency that oversees complaints, investigations and discipline involving municipal police in B.C.

Prof. Rob Gordon from Simon Fraser University's school of criminology said appointing someone from outside the province was the right first step.

Officers from B.C. could possibly be material witnesses who may also have taken part in the course, he said.

"They want to ensure that whatever the recommendations are at the end, are not contaminated by allegations of bias in some way."

The statement said the actions of some of the officers while performing various physical acts in the scenarios could be defined as misconduct under the Police Act.

Gordon, who is a former police officer, said he has "never heard anything like it anywhere else before" and called the incident and investigation "astonishing."

While he doesn't know what happened, he said it's possible that ethical boundaries were breached.

"The whole thing would be comical if it wasn't so tragic. It's such a betrayal of common standards amongst police officers," he said.

"We'll have to wait to see what actually comes out as a result of the investigation."

The report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Ottawa wants sweeping new powers to direct companies’ ‘critical’ cyber defence

Feds introduce act requiring businesses to report ransomware attacks or face penalties

Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, responds to the four performance audit reports of the Auditor General of Canada on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Amanda Connolly - GLOBAL NEWS - TODAY

The Canadian government wants sweeping new powers, including access to confidential information, in order to "direct" how critical infrastructure operators prepare for and respond to cyberattacks.

And it wants to prohibit those companies from disclosing to the public anything about the directions issued by the federal government — including the mere existence of any orders to beef up protections.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino and Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne held a press conference to announce the details of the new legislation, which also grants the government the promised power to bar companies from using technology from firms like Huawei and ZTE.

The announcement, however, comes at a time when the government is increasingly facing questions about its secretive approach to cyber operations, cyber protections, and what duty of transparency about the country's threat level is owed to Canadians who could bear the frontline impact of any critical infrastructure attacks.

Canada ‘not ready’ for growing national security threats, former officials warn

Critical infrastructure refers to the networks, systems, services and supply chains that are paramount to Canadian national security and the country's security interests. That can apply broadly to things like 911 phonelines, electric grids, pipeline operations, hydroelectric dams, food supplies and emergency medicine stockpiles, and the IT networks protecting critical government operations and information.

It is a broad term that encompasses the ever-shifting nature of national security, particularly in light of the increased focus on cyberattacks and ransomware targeting critical infrastructure by actors like Russia and China, or proxies working in alignment with them.

Video: Ex-officials warn Canada unprepared for national security threats

Russia is frequently cited as one of the major attackers in the cyber sphere, most recently in the context of the invasion of Ukraine and Russian attacks on both Global Affairs Canada and Ukrainian government institutions.

And although the federal Liberals have been building out the capacities of Canadian cyber forces working with the military and the Communications Security Establishment, they remain secretive when it comes to basic questions about what actions are being taken in the name of their citizens.

Read more:
Canada providing cyber ‘support’ to Ukraine against Russian invasion. Here’s what we know

Now, the government wants to hand additional responsibilities to the CSE, which is tasked with protecting government infrastructure and signals intelligence, through the new legislation.

Under the new provisions, the government wants the power to compel cyber security action from a new category of what it calls "designated operators" working in four federally-regulated sectors: finance, telecommunications, energy, and transportation.


If passed, the legislation would let the federal cabinet "direct any designated operator or class of operators to comply with any measure set out in the direction for the purpose of protecting a critical cyber system."

It adds: "Every designated operator that is subject to a cyber security direction is prohibited from disclosing, or allowing to be disclosed, the fact that a cyber security direction was issued and the content of that direction."

Increasing concern about cyberattacks in Canada

The legislation would also grant the government the power to order companies in the telecommunications sector not to use products deemed to be a high risk to the national security — a power officials say they need in order to implement a promised ban on Huawei and ZTE technology.

It will also require companies to disclose cyberattacks to federal security authorities -- but the public will not be able to know about any such attacks on service providers they might rely on, such as banks or internet service providers, that are covered by the proposed new changes.

News of the proposed changes comes after Mendicino had hinted last week that mandatory reporting by companies hit by ransomware and cyberattacks was on the table.

He had also vowed while announcing plans to implement the ban on Huawei and ZTE that additional legislation would come shortly aiming at the cyber protections in place for the four critical sectors.

Last month, a report from security experts at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs warned the government is not prepared for an increasingly dangerous environment marked by economic espionage, foreign interference in domestic politics and cyber attacks.

“It’s a dangerous world. Canada, not just its governments, but its people writ large, have not always taken national security seriously,” said Vincent Rigby, who advised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on national security issues, in an interview with Global News last month.

“I’m not sure that the threat is really coming home to Canadians at the moment. … There are all these threats out there. We need a comprehensive strategy to deal with all that."

Mendicino told the House of Commons public safety committee last week that Canada is on "high alert" for cyberattacks by Russia and others.

The proposed legislation contains two separate parts: one part dealing with the creation of the powers the government says it needs to order a ban on high-risk telecommunications equipment, and one part dealing with the proposed new powers to direct the activities of critical infrastructure operators.

It is not clear whether those parts could be split into two separate bills for a quicker passage, if parliamentarians raise concerns about the second part of the legislation.

Under Part Two, the government wants to create a Critical Cyber Systems Protection Act that lets the federal cabinet place federally regulated sectors on a list of "designated operators."

Those designated operators would be required to establish a cyber security program within 90 days of the bill becoming law or of a new operator being added to the list. The operator must then provide that plan to an "appropriate regulator" who can then provide the CSE with "any information, including any confidential information" about that plan in order to get "advice, guidance or services" from the CSE.

Read more:
Global Affairs Canada suffers ‘cyber attack’ amid Russia-Ukraine tensions: sources

With the House of Commons now set to rise for the summer on June 23, it appears unlikely the legislation unveiled on Tuesday would be able to make it through the chamber before that recess.

It's also not yet clear whether the Senate would raise concerns when the bill comes to the Red Chamber for review, potentially in the fall.

That chamber has balked at provisions viewed as overreach in government legislation before, most recently amending a controversial bill on Monday, according to Postmedia, that sought to create a new legal threshold for the search of personal digital devices by border guards.

With a file from Global's Alex Boutilier.

THE DANGER OF EV'S

Lithium ion batteries the leading cause of Vancouver fire fatalities, firefighters warn

Vancouver firefighters have issued another stark warning about lithium ion batteries, in the wake of a fatal fire at a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotel on the city's Downtown Eastside.


© Global News  One person has died after a fire ignited in Vancouver's Empress Hotel, officials say.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services says the fire on the second floor of the Empress Hotel was caused by an exploding battery.

It was the seventh fire-related death in the city this year. Of those seven, five have been linked to lithium ion batteries — including a house fire in East Vancouver in January that killed a child, their mother and their grandfather.

Read more:
Child, mother, grandfather killed in East Vancouver house fire

"If we're on trend with where we are right now, we're in big trouble," Fire Chief Karen Fry told media Monday. "Last year had five deaths in total. And this year five of our deaths have been related to batteries."

Lithium ion batteries are becoming increasingly common in Canadians homes, and are found in devices ranging from e-bikes and e-scooters to mobile phones.

Video: Increase in lithium ion battery fires due to unsafe use

Capt. Matthew Trudeau, the fire service's public information officer, said the city has documented a 500-per cent increase in fires linked to lithium ion batteries since 2016.


The fires have generally been related to the charging, care, handling and maintenance of equipment, with some user error, he said.

Read more:
Vancouver firefighters issue warning amid five-fold increase in battery fires

"We have seen a couple of fires where overcharging has been the problem. In these batteries we're seeing a thermal runaway effect that can cause chemically inside them which make it extremely dangerous and hard to extinguish."

In particular, firefighters are concerned about people modifying their equipment, or using damaged cables or chargers.

Video: E-bike battery issue causing fires

Lithium ion batteries are safe, Trudeau said, so long as people are using quality equipment and exercising caution.

"That includes making sure everyone operates and charges these with care, charges them in accordance with manufacturers' recommendations, they repair and replace their cords, their charging equipment and their batteries with approved devices and avoid the use of any kind of knock-off devices," he said.

Read more:
E-bike battery malfunction in North Vancouver prompts warning for consumers

Fry recommended that people buy electronic devices from a reputable dealer in Canada or that is CSA certified. She said cheaper equipment purchased online is of particular concern.

She said the city's fire service was meeting with BC Housing to look at ways to reduce risks in SROs. It is also looking for help from the province on safety measures, such as a possible ban on keeping e-bikes inside residential units.

"These are all preventable deaths," she said. 

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services says fires caused by lithium-ion batteries are an increasingly deadly problem in the city.

Megan Devlin
Jun 13 2022


Fishman64/Shutterstock


So far this year, five people have died in fires associated with the batteries — making battery fires the number one cause of fire deaths in Vancouver. In total, seven people have died in fires in 2022.

Lithium-ion batteries are rechargeable cells with relatively high power for their size. They’re often used in portable electronics such as laptops and cellphones and are also present in e-bikes — which have been growing in popularity.

Most recently, one person died in a lithium-ion battery-caused fire in an SRO this weekend, captain of public information with VFRS Matthew Trudeau told Daily Hive.

He spoke at a news conference Monday, saying fires caused by these types of batteries have increased fivefold since 2016.

“It’s very concerning and it’s Canada and US-wise,” he told Daily Hive in a phone interview. “We’re just seeing an inherent problem operating lithium-ion batteries safely.”

Most problems occur when people charge the battery with a cable that’s not approved for use in Canada or is damaged. Although buying a charging cable or a replacement battery online may be cheaper and more appealing, Trudeau urged customers to opt for an option that’s manufacturer-approved — even if it means spending more.

In addition, he recommended people charge devices outside their bedrooms, or outside their homes entirely, if possible.

“If you overcharge them or you charge them incorrectly you can heat them up and it causes an internal runaway effect that … causes a subsequent fire and explosion.”

He mentioned the lithium-ion battery fires have been increasing in frequency ever since people have turned to electric modes of transport with fuel prices increasing. While e-bikes and e-scooters have many benefits, Trudeau urged owners to become familiar with safe charging practices.

“Even outside of these five [fatal] fires we have seen numerous fires for these types of batteries resulting in damage and injury.”

Fires from lithium-ion batteries kill five Vancouverites in six months

Take care charging or modifying lithium ion batteries, experts warn

Joanne Lee-Young - Vancouver Sun

After the death of a tenant at a Downtown Eastside single-room occupancy hotel this weekend, fire safety advocates are urging consumers to take care when storing and charging lithium ion batteries.


© Provided by Vancouver Sun

A memorial for a man killed in an explosion at the Empress Hotel, in the west alley off East Hastings Street in Vancouver on June 14, 2022. Reports say the man, identified in the memorial as Shayne Charleson, was killed when an electric bike battery charging in his room exploded.

These batteries have become increasingly ubiquitous, used to power a range of electronics, including cellphones, power tools, e-bikes and e-scooters.

Laypeople and companies not only need help storing and charging them properly, but should also understand the risks of trying to save money by making their own DIY versions and modifying batteries, observers say.

“The technology has, quite frankly, outpaced the legislation and other practices,” says Gerry Van Houdt, regional sales manager for Denios Canada, which specializes in storage of hazardous materials.

A 32-year-old man died when an e-bike battery exploded, potentially causing him to fall out his window at the Hotel Empress on East Hastings Street.

Vancouver Fire Rescue is connecting with fire prevention services across North America to deal with a trend they are all experiencing, said Capt. Matthew Trudeau.

Of the seven fire-related deaths in Vancouver this year to date, five have been linked to lithium ion batteries, Trudeau said. The number of Vancouver fire deaths for all of 2020 was five.


In New York City, the fire department’s figures for fires related to e-bike lithium batteries are also spiking higher this year and the chief fire marshal has said he is expecting the number to double.

“It’s not one shipment of bad batteries. If it was, you could do a recall notice and get them out, but we’re seeing it every city,” said Trudeau.

The problem is how lithium ion batteries are being handled. With increased fuel prices, it’s possible more people are seeking alternative modes of moving around.

However, the cost of replacing batteries for e-bikes and e-scooters can be in the range of $2,000 to $4,000 compared to a fifth of that if you buy ones that might not be compatible or approved for use by Canadian or other standard-setting body, said Trudeau.

He said that in one of the Vancouver fires, the battery for an e-bike or e-motorcycle hybrid was “modified” extensively, reconfigured to be more powerful.

Instead of taking a battery to a professional who will charge for the service, some people following YouTube videos which show how to rewire systems so that you can, for example, change a battery that was designed to supply 12 volts into one that supplies 48 volts. Quadrupling the power supply like this raises the resistance and heat in a battery.

And that can lead to what is called a “thermal runaway effect” that is very challenging to extinguish once it starts.

Not all of the fatal Vancouver fires are tied to modified lithium ion batteries for bikes and scooters. One just involved a cellphone that was plugged into a damaged cable, said Trudeau.

Van Houdt suggested that instead of having consumers charging medium and high power batteries, like the ones for e-bikes and larger appliances, indoors or in the home, they could use supervised and outdoor workspaces or areas that are separate for doing this.

Denios recently started selling large, metal boxes that are specifically designed for storing new or damaged or questionable lithium ion batteries. It’s an option for companies who might be handling a large batch of batteries or for a building where there are many users of e-bikes. They are resistant to fire for up to two hours, allowing a user to toss in and isolate a lithium battery that has exploded or is on fire and then call the fire department for more help.

jlee-young@postmedia.com

Alberta teachers, schools scrambling to prepare for launch of new curriculum

Janet French - CBC-Yesterday

In Candice Conrad's Grade 1 classroom, learning to read looks much different than the lessons adults might remember.

On a recent morning, Conrad leads her Thorsby Elementary School students through a sequence of phonemic awareness exercises.

Their desks are clustered into three groups. Conrad sits at the front of the room, her finger on a word list in a thick guidebook.

"We're going to punch that last sound out. Ready?" Conrad says. "Shrink."

"Shrin-kuh," the 18 kids repeat, emphasizing the "kuh" sound and punching their teeny fists into the air.

The group of mostly six-year-olds also say syllables aloud, then blend them into words with a clap of their hands. They chop up word sounds in the air with their hands pressed together, then say the full word while sweeping their hands away.

Conrad is using multi-sensory techniques encouraged by Alberta's new English language arts and literature curriculum, which will be mandatory in all the province's kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms starting this fall.

So will a new K-3 math curriculum, along with a revamped K-6 physical education and wellness curriculum.

Usually, teachers prepare for new curriculum without fanfare. But Alberta's journey to rewrite its K-12 curriculum in all subjects at once, in English and French, has been on a topsy-turvy path for more than a decade.

Under three governments — Progressive Conservative, NDP and finally the United Conservatives — rewriting the curriculum became a political football.

The schedule of which subjects and grades would be mandatory for the 2022-23 school year changed twice during the last six months.

Some educators, academics and parents pleaded with the government to "ditch the draft" of the proposed elementary school curriculum.

Most school divisions refused to pilot test those drafts, and less than one per cent of Alberta teachers formally participated.

As the deadline approaches for 25,000 Alberta elementary teachers to bring the new curriculum to life, CBC News spoke to 11 educators and school board leaders about preparation. Their message to Alberta politicians was clear: step out of the way, and let us make this work for kids.
How ready are teachers? Depends who you ask

Conrad, who loves teaching literacy, says she's excited about September. She will need to be ready for all three new subjects — a departure from the past, when Alberta introduced just one at a time.


© Janet French/CBC

Grade 1 teacher Candice Conrad shows some of the resources she's using to teach Alberta's new English language arts curriculum in Thorsby, Alta.

Although Leduc-based Black Gold School Division, which includes Thorsby, didn't officially pilot any new curriculum, Conrad has been using some of the guides and resources this year.

In addition to regular meetings with colleagues, Conrad, who has two young kids, spent hours of her own time taking professional development sessions online.

She feels the least ready for physical education and wellness, which is the most different from the current curriculum.

She's far less enthusiastic about the new science, social studies and fine arts curriculum, which are slated to be required in 2023 and 2024.

Conrad says not all her colleagues feel as prepared for September as she does.

Alberta education minister warns districts that opt out of curriculum pilot won’t give ‘rich feedback’

Although the first drafts of all elementary school subjects were publicly released in March 2021, K-6 math, English and phys ed and wellness curriculum wasn't finalized until mid-April, about 10 weeks before summer break.

Some school divisions had just one professional development day left on their calendars.

Others, like Ponoka-based Wolf Creek Public Schools, hustled to get three full days of professional development ready for all elementary teachers.

Although the government has promised to provide funding for substitutes so teachers can step away from class to go through the curriculum, Wolf Creek superintendent Tim De Ruyck says they can't rely on that approach while subs are scarce.

Edmonton Catholic Schools, meanwhile, is growing its contingent of curriculum consultants to 17 to get teachers ready for fall.


© Nathan Gross/CBC

Roffey is manager of elementary curriculum at Edmonton Catholic Schools. She's leading a team of curriculum consultants who are helping prepare teachers for the new K-3 math, English and wellness curriculum.

Trish Roffey, manager of elementary curriculum for Edmonton Catholic, says the consultants have laid out year-long plans suggesting the pace for the new material.

Her goal is to stay a month ahead, by assembling sample lesson plans, suggested resources — like videos, software, tests or games — and curriculum guides as the next school year progresses.

The division has five voluntary professional development "PD parties" planned for the summer, for teachers to learn some classroom-ready examples, she said.

Like many other divisions, Edmonton Catholic is relying on online training sessions organized internally, offered by the government and third parties like the Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia.

Edmonton Public Schools is leaving decisions about how much professional development to take up to individual teachers.

Too much, too fast, too soon, some educators say

The pressure is compounding at the end of the school year while employees are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Grading assignments. Writing report cards. Planning next year's class lists. Organizing field trips. Hosting year-end parties.

"It's very tight, it's very stressful, and our teachers are burned out," said Jennifer Lefebvre, director of instruction for the Rocky Mountain House-based Wild Rose school division.

Other hurdles will be cultural and psychological. Many educators and academics disagree with the content and philosophy of the curriculum, including math, English and wellness.

Government-run surveys found the concerns persisted even after Alberta Education released the final drafts of those three subjects.

Critics say some math concepts are introduced too early for children to understand, that language arts excludes critical thinking and isn't culturally inclusive enough, and that wellness mishandles issues of consent and body image.

The surveys also showed the public doesn't feel the government is acting to correct these problems.

The Alberta School Boards Association has lobbied, with partial success, for a delay of mandatory implementation of all subjects until 2024.

A spokesperson for Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said the timeline was set based on recommendations from a curriculum implementation advisory group that included school board representatives.

Sandra Haltiner, president of Edmonton Catholic Teachers Local 54, says educators will have to balance their advocacy for change with making the curriculum work as best they can for the time being.

"Can we be ready for it? OK, sure, absolutely," she said. "Does that make it right? No."

Teachers feel pressured by employers to attend "voluntary" summer training when what they really need is a break, she says.

The government's rush baffles Maren Aukerman, a University of Calgary professor who specializes in literacy education. She says three subjects at once is too much.

"The biggest risk is for kids," Aukerman said. "I really worry about the children in the classroom who are going to be faced with a bunch of stuff that their teachers are not that prepared for."

More enthusiastic curriculum adopters worry critics are unnecessarily frightening parents, and undermining teachers' abilities.


© Janet French/CBC

Students at Edmonton's Suzuki Charter School play an ensemble piece. Teachers at Suzuki have been informally working with elements of the new curriculum this school year.

Lynne Paradis, superintendent of Suzuki Charter School in Edmonton, said schools like hers were preparing for the shift long before the final versions of curriculum were made public.

"Teachers are not going to let children get harmed," she said.

What educators want is for politicians and parents to have faith in teachers' professionalism and judgment, said Terri Reid, a curriculum consultant with the Black Gold school division.

"We need everyone now to stop and take a breath and let our teachers do their job," Reid said. "Teachers do phenomenal work with children. And they need to have the time and the space to do that."