PAKISTAN
Self-Proclaimed Nationalism Of PTI
Raesa Fatima
AUGUST 25, 2022
OP-ED
“Had better relations with Trump than with Biden,” said Imran Khan in an interview with CNN. What do both Donald Trump and Imran Khan have in common? Since the EU referendum and Donald Trump’s election to the US presidency in 2016, scholars and commentators have spoken of the emergence of a ‘post-truth era’ or post-truth politics, defined as a break-down of ‘rational’ opinion in favour of emotion. Most potent examples of post-truth politics as a style available to individual politicians are instances in which outright lies about things that technically anyone could verify are used – albeit perhaps not always consciously – for various political purposes
towards both adversaries and one’s supporters Ex-prime minister Imran Khan built the narrative of an imported government when he was ousted by a coalition of thirteen parties in April 2022. Let’s dissect how many imported people Imran Khan hired in his cabinet or as his special assistants on various issues versus which people are serving in the same posts in the “imported” government, as Khan likes to call it. Starting with Sania Nishtar, who was SAPM on poverty alleviation and the Chairperson of the Ehsaas Programme, before assuming power in Khan’s government, had co-chaired WHO’s High-Level Commission on Non-communicable diseases along with the Presidents of Uruguay, Finland and Sri-lanka, member of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on the future of healthcare. She still co-chairs the US Academy of National Sciences, chairs the UN’s International Institute for Global Health’s International Advisory Board, and is a member of the International Advisory Board on Global Health of the German federal government. On the contrary, Shazia Atta Marri is the current federal minister for poverty alleviation. She has served in Pakistan all her life, mainly in Sindh.
The concept of ‘post-truth’ has been criticized for overpowering the long history of marginalization of minority groups from knowledge construction.
Secondly, Hafeez Sheikh in Khan’s government was his finance minister who had served in the World Bank before coming to Pakistan and came only to assume the power of a ministry. Irony! No? Moving forward, PTI had Malik Amin Aslam as the minister of state for the environment. Mr Aslam was also imported from outside Pakistan. He was working at the World Bank and UNO and also the vice-president of IUCN. Sherry Rehman has replaced him, and she has a history of serving in Pakistan representing the Pakistan People’s Party. In a recent development, Jamil Ahmed has assumed the position of governor of the State Bank. He has served in various positions at State Bank all his life, whereas the previous governor, Reza Baqir had been imported from abroad by PTI. He had been serving in various positions at the IMF. Similarly, the ministry of petroleum was held by Nadeem Babar in Khan’s government. He is the CEO of Oman Oil Company and vice-president at Cogen Technologies, Houston. His post has been held by Musaddiq Malik who was the federal minister for water and power in PML-N’s government. Zulfi Bukhari was SAPM on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, and Chairman of Pakistan Tourism Development in the self-proclaimed nationalist government. As most of us know, he is a business tycoon, who owns HPM developers and properties in the UK. Sajid Hussain has replaced him as federal minister of overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development. Turi had previously served as a member of the National Assembly. Furthermore, many other people in Khan’s government were his special assistants i.e. Shahbaz Gill, Tania Aidrus, Moeed Yusuf, Tariq Mahmood ul Hassan, Shehzad Qasim, and Robert Laurent Grenier.
The irony is that all these people have spent their entire lives serving the “west” and go back to the “west” once the next government takes power and Pakistan stops serving their interests. The concept of ‘post-truth’ has been criticized for overpowering the long history of marginalization
of minority groups from knowledge construction. It also risks reproducing a public/private and a rational/emotional binary embedded within the Enlightenment separation of ‘mind’ and ‘body’ that underpinned the European colonial project and served to marginalize women, non-binary people, and minority groups. The contemporary political life in Pakistan and more specifically, the post-truth politics of Imran Khan seems to be on a certain kind of agenda, as explained above. He largely seems to believe that he is the only pious Muslim and links every political debate to religion which further tells that he is not a great believer in inclusivity. He refuses to accept his failure to make laudable changes in three years of his power. He only resorts to religious rhetoric to appeal to the masses, which also sadly excludes the Muslims of Hazara because he felt “blackmailed” by such marginalized communities. It is yet to see what his populist and post-truth rhetoric has for him in the store because the plight of Baloch people affected by floods, and a large number of the population bearing the brunt of inflation cannot suffice just by the hollowness of Khan’s words.
The writer is a staff member of Daily Times and can be reached at raesaf21@gmail.com
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Meta, Twitter bust ‘deceptive’ pro-US influence campaign: report
Fake accounts promoted pro-Western narratives while trying to discredit China, Russia and Iran, researchers say.
Published On 25 Aug 2022
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter disrupted pro-United States covert influence operations that used “deceptive tactics” to shape opinion in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to a report by internet researchers.
Dozens of fake accounts promoted pro-Western narratives while trying to discredit countries including China, Russia and Iran over a nearly five-year period, according to the report released on Wednesday by Graphika Inc and the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO).
The most active campaign targeted Russian-speaking internet users in Central Asia, with much of the activity focused on criticising Russia over civilian deaths and other atrocities following its invasion of Ukraine, according to the study.
“These posts primarily focused on US support for central Asian countries and their people, presenting Washington as a reliable economic partner that would curb the region’s dependence on Russia,” the report said.
“Other posts argued that the US was the main guarantor of Central Asia’s sovereignty against Russia, frequently citing the war in Ukraine as evidence of the Kremlin’s ‘imperial’ ambitions.”
The Central Asia campaign, consisting of 12 Twitter accounts, 25 Facebook profiles and pages, and 10 Instagram accounts, also spread negative messaging about China’s treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang, where human rights activists say more than one million ethnic minority Muslims have been detained without trial.
“These accounts — a fake persona and sham media outlet — mainly focused on the genocide of Uighurs and Muslim minorities in ‘reeducation’ camps in Xinjiang,” the report said.
“Posts described alleged organ trafficking, forced labour, sexual crimes against Muslim women, and suspicious disappearances of ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang. The assets also posted about the Chinese Communist Party’s poor treatment of women in the country and often framed these stories around news about domestic violence.”
Other networks sought to exert influence in Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Limited reach
In some cases, the accounts shared news articles from Washington-funded media outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and links to websites run by the US military.
Graphika and SIO did not attribute the operations to a specific group or organisation, but Facebook parent company Meta and Twitter said the “presumptive” or known countries of origin for the activity were the US and the United Kingdom.
The tactics outlined in the report resemble many of the same strategies that US officials have accused Russia and China of using to sow divisions and discord in their country.
In the case of one account involved in the Central Asia campaign, a Facebook profile used a doctored photo of the Puerto Rican actress Valeria Menendez.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Fake accounts promoted pro-Western narratives while trying to discredit China, Russia and Iran, researchers say.
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter disrupted pro-US covert influence operations that used “deceptive tactics” to shape opinion in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to internet researchers
[File: Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images]
Published On 25 Aug 2022
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter disrupted pro-United States covert influence operations that used “deceptive tactics” to shape opinion in Central Asia and the Middle East, according to a report by internet researchers.
Dozens of fake accounts promoted pro-Western narratives while trying to discredit countries including China, Russia and Iran over a nearly five-year period, according to the report released on Wednesday by Graphika Inc and the Stanford Internet Observatory (SIO).
The most active campaign targeted Russian-speaking internet users in Central Asia, with much of the activity focused on criticising Russia over civilian deaths and other atrocities following its invasion of Ukraine, according to the study.
“These posts primarily focused on US support for central Asian countries and their people, presenting Washington as a reliable economic partner that would curb the region’s dependence on Russia,” the report said.
“Other posts argued that the US was the main guarantor of Central Asia’s sovereignty against Russia, frequently citing the war in Ukraine as evidence of the Kremlin’s ‘imperial’ ambitions.”
The Central Asia campaign, consisting of 12 Twitter accounts, 25 Facebook profiles and pages, and 10 Instagram accounts, also spread negative messaging about China’s treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang, where human rights activists say more than one million ethnic minority Muslims have been detained without trial.
“These accounts — a fake persona and sham media outlet — mainly focused on the genocide of Uighurs and Muslim minorities in ‘reeducation’ camps in Xinjiang,” the report said.
“Posts described alleged organ trafficking, forced labour, sexual crimes against Muslim women, and suspicious disappearances of ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang. The assets also posted about the Chinese Communist Party’s poor treatment of women in the country and often framed these stories around news about domestic violence.”
Other networks sought to exert influence in Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq.
Limited reach
In some cases, the accounts shared news articles from Washington-funded media outlets, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and links to websites run by the US military.
Graphika and SIO did not attribute the operations to a specific group or organisation, but Facebook parent company Meta and Twitter said the “presumptive” or known countries of origin for the activity were the US and the United Kingdom.
The tactics outlined in the report resemble many of the same strategies that US officials have accused Russia and China of using to sow divisions and discord in their country.
In the case of one account involved in the Central Asia campaign, a Facebook profile used a doctored photo of the Puerto Rican actress Valeria Menendez.
[Courtesy of Graphika Inc and Stanford Internet Observatory]
Other accounts and pages posed as media outlets, including a sham outlet called Vostochnaya Pravda that claimed to report “absolute facts” about Central Asia.
The propaganda effort came to light after Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and Twitter shared a collection of data with researchers after removing a number of accounts for “platform manipulation” and “inauthentic behaviour”.
The dataset shared with Graphika and SIO spanned 299,566 tweets sent by 146 accounts between March 2012 and February 2022.
The campaigns, however, had a questionable degree of success, according to the report, due to their limited reach.
“Importantly, the data also shows the limitations of using inauthentic tactics to generate engagement and build influence online,” the report said.
“The vast majority of posts and tweets we reviewed received no more than a handful of likes and retweets, and only 19 percent of covert assets we identified had more than 1,000 followers.”
Graphika and SIO said their findings appeared to be the first case of a covert pro-Western influence campaign being identified and disrupted by Twitter and Meta.
In February, Meta announced it had suspended about 40 fake pro-Russian accounts, groups and pages for disseminating propaganda about the war in Ukraine.
Other accounts and pages posed as media outlets, including a sham outlet called Vostochnaya Pravda that claimed to report “absolute facts” about Central Asia.
The propaganda effort came to light after Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and Twitter shared a collection of data with researchers after removing a number of accounts for “platform manipulation” and “inauthentic behaviour”.
The dataset shared with Graphika and SIO spanned 299,566 tweets sent by 146 accounts between March 2012 and February 2022.
The campaigns, however, had a questionable degree of success, according to the report, due to their limited reach.
“Importantly, the data also shows the limitations of using inauthentic tactics to generate engagement and build influence online,” the report said.
“The vast majority of posts and tweets we reviewed received no more than a handful of likes and retweets, and only 19 percent of covert assets we identified had more than 1,000 followers.”
Graphika and SIO said their findings appeared to be the first case of a covert pro-Western influence campaign being identified and disrupted by Twitter and Meta.
In February, Meta announced it had suspended about 40 fake pro-Russian accounts, groups and pages for disseminating propaganda about the war in Ukraine.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
No evidence of Indian companies circumventing sanctions on Russia: US official
US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo said that there is no evidence to suggest that Indian companies are circumventing sanctions on Russia.
Press Trust of India
US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo was on a visit to IIT-Bombay on Wednesday. (Photo: Twitter)
There is no evidence of Indian companies circumventing the US-led sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said on Wednesday.
"I've seen no evidence of Indian companies circumventing sanctions that have been placed on Russia," US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo told reporters during a visit to IIT-Bombay here.
He added that companies around the world, including those in India, the US and Europe, are taking the sanctions seriously and implementing them as well.
The remarks come days after reports quoted RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra as saying that the US is concerned over India being used to export fuel made from Russian crude in violation of sanctions imposed by Washington.
According to Patra, transfers of Russian crude are taking place on the high seas and the ships come to a port in Gujarat, where the oil is refined and shipped to New York in the US itself.
Adeyemo, who began his three-day visit on Wednesday, said he will be discussing Russia and Ukraine, along with bilateral topics in his parleys with Indian officials.
He, however, declined to spell out the exact contours of the discussions that he will be having.
Adeyemo also said that the US-led coalition of the sanctions has broadened and the ultimate objective of the same is to reduce revenues Russia earns through oil exports while ensuring that there is a steady supply of energy.
"We have to look at the Russian invasion beyond the immediate concern about the sovereignty of Ukraine getting compromised," he said, pointing to the economic consequences of the war, especially inflation.
He said Indian consumers are paying a lot more for energy than they ought to.
Adeyemo is scheduled to visit New Delhi, after spending two days in the financial capital.
Ahead of his visit, the US Treasury Department had said that it will focus on discussing key shared priorities such as bolstering energy security, addressing food insecurity globally and combating illicit financial flows.
Adeyemo said he will be meeting officials from the government, businesses, entrepreneurs and civil society during the visit, which is focused on deepening the Indo-US ties.
The visiting economic policy maker had a chat with innovators and startups at the premier technology school and said that in the next few years, American consumers will rely on products created by some of the people he met.
"I can tell that many of them will be the companies, in the years and decades to come, that will not only solve problems that will enrich their founders, but will solve problems that will benefit society, helping deal with challenges like climate change or medical diseases for which we have no solution today," he said.
He also exuded confidence that India's recent history and conversations he has had, make him believe that the country will continue to be a "leader alongside America in the digital economy."
"What is clear to me is that both of our countries will play pivotal roles in the next wave of technological innovation and how it is deployed responsibly to the benefit of all segments of society especially when our people and companies work together," he added.
US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo said that there is no evidence to suggest that Indian companies are circumventing sanctions on Russia.
Press Trust of India
August 25, 2022
US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo was on a visit to IIT-Bombay on Wednesday. (Photo: Twitter)
There is no evidence of Indian companies circumventing the US-led sanctions on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said on Wednesday.
"I've seen no evidence of Indian companies circumventing sanctions that have been placed on Russia," US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo told reporters during a visit to IIT-Bombay here.
He added that companies around the world, including those in India, the US and Europe, are taking the sanctions seriously and implementing them as well.
The remarks come days after reports quoted RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra as saying that the US is concerned over India being used to export fuel made from Russian crude in violation of sanctions imposed by Washington.
According to Patra, transfers of Russian crude are taking place on the high seas and the ships come to a port in Gujarat, where the oil is refined and shipped to New York in the US itself.
Adeyemo, who began his three-day visit on Wednesday, said he will be discussing Russia and Ukraine, along with bilateral topics in his parleys with Indian officials.
He, however, declined to spell out the exact contours of the discussions that he will be having.
Adeyemo also said that the US-led coalition of the sanctions has broadened and the ultimate objective of the same is to reduce revenues Russia earns through oil exports while ensuring that there is a steady supply of energy.
"We have to look at the Russian invasion beyond the immediate concern about the sovereignty of Ukraine getting compromised," he said, pointing to the economic consequences of the war, especially inflation.
He said Indian consumers are paying a lot more for energy than they ought to.
Adeyemo is scheduled to visit New Delhi, after spending two days in the financial capital.
Ahead of his visit, the US Treasury Department had said that it will focus on discussing key shared priorities such as bolstering energy security, addressing food insecurity globally and combating illicit financial flows.
Adeyemo said he will be meeting officials from the government, businesses, entrepreneurs and civil society during the visit, which is focused on deepening the Indo-US ties.
The visiting economic policy maker had a chat with innovators and startups at the premier technology school and said that in the next few years, American consumers will rely on products created by some of the people he met.
"I can tell that many of them will be the companies, in the years and decades to come, that will not only solve problems that will enrich their founders, but will solve problems that will benefit society, helping deal with challenges like climate change or medical diseases for which we have no solution today," he said.
He also exuded confidence that India's recent history and conversations he has had, make him believe that the country will continue to be a "leader alongside America in the digital economy."
"What is clear to me is that both of our countries will play pivotal roles in the next wave of technological innovation and how it is deployed responsibly to the benefit of all segments of society especially when our people and companies work together," he added.
Six months on, US adds fuel to Ukraine crisis with $3b aid as world order alters, West hegemony weakens
By Yang Sheng and Deng Xiaoci
It's been six months since the Russia-Ukraine military conflict exploded in February, and the crisis has turned into grinding battles with no clear endgame in sight. While the US and NATO continue to fan flames as the Biden administration announced nearly $3 billion in military aid to Kiev on Wednesday, also the Independence Day of Ukraine, Russia claimed that it has deliberately slowed down its military advance in the special military operation in Ukraine "in order to reduce civilian casualties."
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu made the remarks on Wednesday and said the Russian troops are paying efforts to restore peace in the Russian-controlled areas, TASS reported, while according to the White House statement about the new military aids, Ukraine will receive "air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars to ensure it can continue to defend itself over the long term."
After the six-month conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it is no doubt the crisis has profoundly changed the world order in many aspects including world peace, global supply chains, international relations and also food and energy security for many countries around the globe.
Who should be blamed? What will happen next? Chinese analysts believe the conflict was not sparked by an "unprovoked invasion" by Russia as the US claimed, but was fundamentally caused by NATO's expansionism and the US strategy to contain Russia with increasing military deployments in Europe and instigate color revolutions in Russia's neighbors.
But the crisis gives rise to both danger and transformation, as the world order is getting more and more multi-polarized rather than uni-polarized, and the US hegemony that has caused chaos and instabilities worldwide in the past decades is weakening.
The military operation launched by Russia has always been accused by the US and many Western countries as an "unprovoked invasion," but in the past six months very few non-Western countries have shown interest to join the Western-launched condemnation and sanctions against Russia. The West is also becoming more divided, not only in executing anti-Russia sanctions but also in supporting Ukraine with weapons and money, experts said, noting that since both Russia and Ukraine are stronger than expected, the conflict will also take a longer time than initially expected. The world needs to be prepared, the experts said.
The assassination of Darya Dugina, a Russian commentator and scholar, for which Russia accused a Ukrainian suspect, showed that the conflict between the two countries has produced irreversible hatred and tragedies, and the ceasefire and the restore of peace will not be that easy, experts noted.
US fans flames by offering more weapons to Ukraine
By Yang Sheng and Deng Xiaoci
Published: Aug 24, 2022 11:35 PM
Illustration:Liu Rui/GT
Illustration:Liu Rui/GT
It's been six months since the Russia-Ukraine military conflict exploded in February, and the crisis has turned into grinding battles with no clear endgame in sight. While the US and NATO continue to fan flames as the Biden administration announced nearly $3 billion in military aid to Kiev on Wednesday, also the Independence Day of Ukraine, Russia claimed that it has deliberately slowed down its military advance in the special military operation in Ukraine "in order to reduce civilian casualties."
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu made the remarks on Wednesday and said the Russian troops are paying efforts to restore peace in the Russian-controlled areas, TASS reported, while according to the White House statement about the new military aids, Ukraine will receive "air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, and radars to ensure it can continue to defend itself over the long term."
After the six-month conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it is no doubt the crisis has profoundly changed the world order in many aspects including world peace, global supply chains, international relations and also food and energy security for many countries around the globe.
Who should be blamed? What will happen next? Chinese analysts believe the conflict was not sparked by an "unprovoked invasion" by Russia as the US claimed, but was fundamentally caused by NATO's expansionism and the US strategy to contain Russia with increasing military deployments in Europe and instigate color revolutions in Russia's neighbors.
But the crisis gives rise to both danger and transformation, as the world order is getting more and more multi-polarized rather than uni-polarized, and the US hegemony that has caused chaos and instabilities worldwide in the past decades is weakening.
The military operation launched by Russia has always been accused by the US and many Western countries as an "unprovoked invasion," but in the past six months very few non-Western countries have shown interest to join the Western-launched condemnation and sanctions against Russia. The West is also becoming more divided, not only in executing anti-Russia sanctions but also in supporting Ukraine with weapons and money, experts said, noting that since both Russia and Ukraine are stronger than expected, the conflict will also take a longer time than initially expected. The world needs to be prepared, the experts said.
The assassination of Darya Dugina, a Russian commentator and scholar, for which Russia accused a Ukrainian suspect, showed that the conflict between the two countries has produced irreversible hatred and tragedies, and the ceasefire and the restore of peace will not be that easy, experts noted.
US fans flames by offering more weapons to Ukraine
Editor: Feng Qingyin/GT Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT
Who should be blamed?
"US' attempt to secure its hegemony via manipulating the eastward expansion of NATO, leaving Russia no choice but to create a buffer zone for the sake of its national security, was the main cause of conflict." However, while the military industrial complex of the US has benefited in the process, Europe has been dragged down with major economic and social problems, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The prolonged conflict will eventually backfire on the US, as its dollar-based sanctions have in fact pushed forward a reverse-dollarization. Many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have realized what the US is after in the conflict and shown reluctance to follow blindly, which has also further cemented a multi-polarization and true multilateralism, and made the US hegemony come close to going bankrupt, Song said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with the media on Tuesday that it was necessary to continue providing assistance to Ukraine, however he admitted that it would be tough and that Europe would pay a price for its support to Kiev, TASS reported.
CNN also published an article on Monday saying that "A grim winter will test Europe's support for Ukraine like never before." Officials across Europe are worried that the consensus could fall apart as the continent enters a bleak winter of rising food prices, limited energy to heat homes and the real possibility of a recession. "Western officials and diplomats spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe sensitive conservations among governments," according to the report.
Some analysts believe in the past six months, Russia, Ukraine and the EU are all losing in different aspects, but the US, especially US arm dealers and military industrial giants, are the absolute winners as they have successfully ruined the peace and stability in Europe, and undermine the euro zone again by pushing NATO expansion and hyping anti-Russia sentiment in Ukraine, so that Washington could even let its European allies, who are actually victims of US zero-sum strategy, to sanction Russia with huge costs and spend huge amount of money to buy US weapons.
Weakening US hegemony
But is the US really winning only because of these short-term benefits? Chinese analysts said in this profound change of the world order, the US hegemony has already been shaken, and the world has discovered the weakness of such a hegemonic system and the risk of standing too close with the US during this crisis.
"The conflict has shaken the US-led international order; Russia's special military operation in Ukraine could be viewed as the aftershock from the 2014 Ukraine crisis, the cause of which is the US-led NATO's eastward expansion and US' using of color revolution to jeopardize regional order and balance of power," Cui Heng, an assistant research fellow from the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The recent decade has witnessed constantly renewed new lows of the US and its allies, and they have repeatedly trampled on their so-called orders. It seems on the surface that the US and the EU have continually achieved new breakthroughs, but in fact, their reckless actions have undermined the authority and constraining force of the rules that they had established, making other powers no longer willing to follow such orders, Cui said, citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict as the latest evidence that the US-led world order has collapsed.
The conflict has inflicted huge pressure to the world economy. Europe has been the most affected victim with shortage crises emerging in both food and energy sectors. Even if Europe is trying hard to reduce dependence on Russian energy, it cannot be done in a short time, Cui pointed out.
European natural gas prices surged on Monday after Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom said it would shut down Europe's single biggest piece of gas infrastructure for three days from the end of the month, CNBC reported.
Global governance has also been affected by the conflict, as sense of insecurity has been surging after the breakout of the crisis. Conservative ideas emphasizing security and geopolitics are gaining ground, replacing the idea of mutual cooperation and creating common interests on which global governance depends. When the country focuses on how to mobilize resources to develop military power and solve security dilemmas, how can it be possible to solve problems such as climate change, pollution control, and global poverty reduction that require joint efforts of countries around the world, according to Cui.
Majority of Asian, African and Latin American countries choose to keep distance from the US and its allies, holding a neutral ground in the conflict as they understand the boots Russia is in and even though they are not expressing support for Russia's counter strike, they cannot agree on the US-led Western smears against Russia, Cui said.
"For instance, Saudi Arabia is a close US ally in the Middle East, and it's benefited from the hegemony of US dollars, but now it has found that such system is highly risky, and it's also seeking more alternative to reduce dependency over the US-dominated payment system, and many other countries like Indonesia, Argentina, Turkey are also sharing the similar concerns, and this is why they are interested in the non-Western mechanism like the BRICS Plus and to develop closer relations with China," said a Beijing-based expert in international relations who asked for anonymity.
After the world witnessed the ruthless Western sanctions against not only the Russia government but also Russian individuals and even animals and cultures, the West is destroying the "rules," and the so-called "rule-based order" already collapsed long ago since the US bypassed the UN Security Council to invade Iraq, and bombed countries like Libya and Syria to spread chaos in the name of "democracy and human rights," said the expert, noting the West has to face the consequence that other major powers like Russia will refuse to follow the "rules" as well.
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US to give Ukraine $1b in weapons
The administration of US President Joe Biden announced Monday that the US will provide Ukraine with $1 billion ...
Who should be blamed?
"US' attempt to secure its hegemony via manipulating the eastward expansion of NATO, leaving Russia no choice but to create a buffer zone for the sake of its national security, was the main cause of conflict." However, while the military industrial complex of the US has benefited in the process, Europe has been dragged down with major economic and social problems, Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The prolonged conflict will eventually backfire on the US, as its dollar-based sanctions have in fact pushed forward a reverse-dollarization. Many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have realized what the US is after in the conflict and shown reluctance to follow blindly, which has also further cemented a multi-polarization and true multilateralism, and made the US hegemony come close to going bankrupt, Song said.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with the media on Tuesday that it was necessary to continue providing assistance to Ukraine, however he admitted that it would be tough and that Europe would pay a price for its support to Kiev, TASS reported.
CNN also published an article on Monday saying that "A grim winter will test Europe's support for Ukraine like never before." Officials across Europe are worried that the consensus could fall apart as the continent enters a bleak winter of rising food prices, limited energy to heat homes and the real possibility of a recession. "Western officials and diplomats spoke to CNN on the condition of anonymity to candidly describe sensitive conservations among governments," according to the report.
Some analysts believe in the past six months, Russia, Ukraine and the EU are all losing in different aspects, but the US, especially US arm dealers and military industrial giants, are the absolute winners as they have successfully ruined the peace and stability in Europe, and undermine the euro zone again by pushing NATO expansion and hyping anti-Russia sentiment in Ukraine, so that Washington could even let its European allies, who are actually victims of US zero-sum strategy, to sanction Russia with huge costs and spend huge amount of money to buy US weapons.
Weakening US hegemony
But is the US really winning only because of these short-term benefits? Chinese analysts said in this profound change of the world order, the US hegemony has already been shaken, and the world has discovered the weakness of such a hegemonic system and the risk of standing too close with the US during this crisis.
"The conflict has shaken the US-led international order; Russia's special military operation in Ukraine could be viewed as the aftershock from the 2014 Ukraine crisis, the cause of which is the US-led NATO's eastward expansion and US' using of color revolution to jeopardize regional order and balance of power," Cui Heng, an assistant research fellow from the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The recent decade has witnessed constantly renewed new lows of the US and its allies, and they have repeatedly trampled on their so-called orders. It seems on the surface that the US and the EU have continually achieved new breakthroughs, but in fact, their reckless actions have undermined the authority and constraining force of the rules that they had established, making other powers no longer willing to follow such orders, Cui said, citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict as the latest evidence that the US-led world order has collapsed.
The conflict has inflicted huge pressure to the world economy. Europe has been the most affected victim with shortage crises emerging in both food and energy sectors. Even if Europe is trying hard to reduce dependence on Russian energy, it cannot be done in a short time, Cui pointed out.
European natural gas prices surged on Monday after Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom said it would shut down Europe's single biggest piece of gas infrastructure for three days from the end of the month, CNBC reported.
Global governance has also been affected by the conflict, as sense of insecurity has been surging after the breakout of the crisis. Conservative ideas emphasizing security and geopolitics are gaining ground, replacing the idea of mutual cooperation and creating common interests on which global governance depends. When the country focuses on how to mobilize resources to develop military power and solve security dilemmas, how can it be possible to solve problems such as climate change, pollution control, and global poverty reduction that require joint efforts of countries around the world, according to Cui.
Majority of Asian, African and Latin American countries choose to keep distance from the US and its allies, holding a neutral ground in the conflict as they understand the boots Russia is in and even though they are not expressing support for Russia's counter strike, they cannot agree on the US-led Western smears against Russia, Cui said.
"For instance, Saudi Arabia is a close US ally in the Middle East, and it's benefited from the hegemony of US dollars, but now it has found that such system is highly risky, and it's also seeking more alternative to reduce dependency over the US-dominated payment system, and many other countries like Indonesia, Argentina, Turkey are also sharing the similar concerns, and this is why they are interested in the non-Western mechanism like the BRICS Plus and to develop closer relations with China," said a Beijing-based expert in international relations who asked for anonymity.
After the world witnessed the ruthless Western sanctions against not only the Russia government but also Russian individuals and even animals and cultures, the West is destroying the "rules," and the so-called "rule-based order" already collapsed long ago since the US bypassed the UN Security Council to invade Iraq, and bombed countries like Libya and Syria to spread chaos in the name of "democracy and human rights," said the expert, noting the West has to face the consequence that other major powers like Russia will refuse to follow the "rules" as well.
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Florida teacher shortage multidimensional, professors say
As of late July, the state of Florida needed to fill 9,000 teacher vacancies across the state, according to the Florida Department of Education. Many components contribute to this immense shortage, including teachers’ concerns regarding low pay and challenging work conditions.
When Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Ana Cranston-Gingras graduated with her bachelor’s in English education from St. John’s University in 1980, the field looked different than it does today.
“Young women now have limitless opportunities. So that, I think, is a factor because the teaching profession historically has been predominantly female,” Cranston-Gingras said.
In the early 20th century, women predominantly filled the roles of teachers as the position called for patience and caring that coincided with female gender expectations of the time, according to a 2019 Atlantic article. However, now women account for 45% of all college students pursuing STEM degrees, an April Forbes article said, which were paths formerly reserved for men.
Due to the low pay, Cranston-Gingras recalled that she, as well as many of her colleagues, had to work additional jobs at the beginning of her career. This problem remains present today considering that one-third of new teachers have to work an additional job, according to the National Education Association.
This is something incoming college students consider when choosing a career in education, professor of literary studies Jenifer Jasinski Schneider said.
“What deters them, is the fact that they can’t make a living salary, that teachers will often need to have multiple jobs to maintain a house or a family,” she said.
Initial salaries of teachers are equivalent to other fields, said Cranston-Gingras, but raises are not as large and don’t come as quickly for teachers.
Teacher pay rates are not increasing with the speed of inflation. Therefore, the 1.4% increase in starting teacher salary in 2020-21 resulted in a 4% decrease due to inflation rates, according to the National Education Association.
In fact, the average annual salary for teachers in Florida has decreased over the course of the past 20 years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Between 1999-2000 elementary and secondary school teachers were making what is equivalent to $57,081 at today’s rate. Yet, in 2020-21, the average salaries dropped about 13%, leaving teachers only $49,583 annually.
In the past five years, the College of Education has experienced a 26% decline in enrollment, said Cranston-Gingras. At the time USF was considering dropping the program in 2020, the school had witnessed a decline of 63% in enrollment over the past decade, according to a 2021 WUSF article.
Budgeting strains from the impacts of the pandemic influenced the discussion on top of the already declining enrollment numbers, according to a 2020 Oracle article.
After receiving feedback from local school districts and superintendents, the decision was quickly discarded the following January, according to Jansinski Schneider. Area superintendents wrote an op-ed voicing their concerns regarding the decision, echoing a need for the programs at USF.
The pressures teachers in Florida have been facing have often come from outside of the classroom, as the DeSantis administration puts them under a microscope as to what they are allowed to discuss during lessons, threatening their employment if transgressed.
Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Law, popularized as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” and The Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (WOKE) Act, both seek to filter the dialogue facilitated in classrooms surrounding the intersectionality of members of the LGBTQ community and the teaching of critical race theory, according to a July The 19th* article.
Boarding discussion of critical race theory or vocalizing support for LGBTQ students and movements are not allowed by the bills, according to a June Click Orlando.com article. While broaching subjects that commonly cross with these ideas, teachers now have the added stress of having to be nimble when addressing them or else it could result in their funding being withheld.
Even prior to the activation of these bills, Florida’s teachers have been under more pressure to adhere to state politics since the pandemic as they were some of the first to return to in-person K-12 instruction in 2021, according to a 2021 Wall Street Journal article.
While COVID-19 was still at large, teachers were ordered back into the classroom via a state order, according to Ballotpedia, forcing them to go about their schedule while following mitigations, such as social distancing and regular testing.
Another major factor of the teacher shortage is the retention, looking at who not only goes into teaching but who stays, according to Cranston-Gingras.
While the motivation remains, the amount of students taking teaching classes in certain areas remains low. For example, special education enrollment has dropped 40% and there has been a 45% decrease in enrollment in science education in the past five years, according to Cranston-Gingras.
“When there is a teacher shortage, there’s a job waiting for you when you finish college. So why aren’t people flocking to education?” she said. “It’s not so much about what’s happening inside of the College of Education as much as what’s happening in the career past it.”
Teacher shortages could be an ongoing problem that impacts the students, according to Jasinski Schneider. She said that it is a possibility that marginalized students and those in poverty will be disproportionately impacted.
“Teaching is not a high-paying, high-status job in society, but for those who have great teachers and have been impacted, they know that it is a high-status career [that] has real impact,” Jasinski Schneider said.
In an attempt to remedy the shortage, Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed Senate Bill 896, which would allow first responders, including military veterans, to fill teaching positions. The program launched July 1, resulting in 209 people signing up for the program as of Aug. 17, according to WFTV 9 News.
Jasinski Schneider holds concerns regarding how effective this bill might be in filling the gap. The value of teaching was represented during the height of COVID-19, proving that teaching is not as easy as one might think, she said.
She worries that incoming teachers with no training or experience are not going to be able to execute the strategies and teach the curriculum well once in the classroom.
“There is no direct transfer from any other career into teaching. Just because someone has great skill in another field, doesn’t mean they will know how to teach,” Jasinski Schneider said.
“Teaching is about taking processes and strategies that could be internal to someone and then you turn them outside, but it’s also about working with a variety of learners and being able to adapt.”
WTF!
Trial of Finnish journalists accused of high treason begins Thursday
Trial of Finnish journalists accused of high treason begins Thursday
August 25, 2022
The Sanomatalo building houses Finland's largest daily newspaper, the Helsingin Sanomat. EPA/MAURITZ ANT
The Sanomatalo building houses Finland's largest daily newspaper, the Helsingin Sanomat. EPA/MAURITZ ANT
Three journalists from Finland’s largest daily are expected to appear in a Helsinki court on Thursday, suspected of publishing classified defence intelligence in an unprecedented case for the Nordic country renowned for its press freedom.
Two journalists at Helsingin Sanomat, and their former editor, who all deny any wrongdoing, may face a prison sentence of between four months and four years if found guilty of revealing national defence secrets in a report published in 2017.
The case is unusual in Finland because it has for years been among the top countries in a global press freedom ranking published annually by Reporters Without Borders.
But it slipped to fifth position this year, partly due to the upcoming court case, the journalist association’s Finnish branch said.
The 2017 investigative report by Helsingin Sanomat, entitled “Finland’s most secret place”, revealed the rough location and tasks of an intelligence unit of the defence forces at a time when Parliament was debating whether to expand its powers to monitor private data in digital networks.
According to the prosecutor, the article contained harmful information the publication of which was against the law.
Helsingin Sanomat Editor-in-Chief Kaius Niemi, who had charges against him in connection with the case dropped earlier for lack of evidence, said the journalists had not broken the law.
“We can show for each published sentence that the information could be found on the internet or in books prior to the publication of our article. Public information cannot be classified,” he told Reuters.
Hanne Aho, chairwoman of the Finnish Journalists’ Union, said the case was first of a kind.
“It is completely exceptional that Finnish journalists are being accused of high treason,” she told Reuters.
Aho said it was problematic that most of the legal proceedings in the case had taken place behind closed doors and called for the court to publish its reasoning to explain on what grounds freedom of speech could be restricted if the journalists were found guilty.
“The threat of a prison sentence can lead to self-censorship,” she said.
The trial will begin with a preparatory session at the Helsinki district court on Thursday.
US recognises Cyprus’ right to develop resources in its EEZ – state department
The US state department has reiterated its support for Cyprus to develop the resources within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and that they must be shared fairly between the two communities.
“The US policy for the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Cyprus is long-term and has not changed,” a spokesperson for the state department said, commenting on the recent Eni-Total announcement.
The spokesperson further said that the US is committed to working with partners and allies to ensure European energy security and reducing the region’s dependence on Russian resources – maintaining pressure on the Kremlin.
Cyprus’ right to develop the resources within its EEZ was also reaffirmed and added: “We believe that Cyprus’ oil and gas resources, like all its resources, should be shared fairly between the two communities.”
The comments come just days after Italian multinational oil and gas company Eni announced that it had made a significant gas discovery in the Cronos-1 well, located about 160 kilometers off the coast of Cyprus in block six.
Preliminary estimates indicate about 2.5 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas in place, with significant additional upside that will be investigated by a further exploration well in the area.
Polish teachers threaten to strike as talks with government stall
By Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl
Aug 24, 2022
The unions want to prepare a multi-union protest committee. If these measures do not help, the protest alert could turn into a strike. The last such strike in Poland took place in 2019. [Shutterstock/BearFotos]
The Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP), the country’s largest trade union for education workers, has said it plans to launch a warning “state of strike emergency” for September, which could escalate into a nationwide general strike.
The unions want to prepare a multi-union protest committee. If these measures do not help, the protest alert could turn into a strike. The last such strike in Poland took place in 2019.
Teachers are demanding pay rises of 20%, tying their salaries to the national average wage, as well as an increase in spending on upbringing and education.
The teachers’ unions have been at loggerheads with the Polish government for a long time as they remain one of the lower-paid public service professions in the country. Three years ago saw the biggest strike in Polish education since the 1990s, which did not bring the expected results in terms of pay rises.
Polish education is struggling with many problems, including outdated forms of teaching, the ideologically-biased core curriculum, the mass departure of teachers from their jobs and teacher shortages. According to ZNP and their calculations, there is a shortage of 20,000 teachers.
The ministry of education is defending itself because, since May; all budget sectors have had their salaries raised by 4.4%. From next year, another increase of 9% is also expected. However, this does not satisfy teachers who are already underpaid and suffer from inflation.
Despite the announcement of the ZNP threatening a strike, the organisation’s chairman, Slawomir Broniarz was more restrained. In an interview with OKO.press, he said, “it would be irresponsible to talk about a strike today or to give a specific date. We have various proposals for protest actions, including ones that do not involve the teachers’ budget and do not require extraordinary commitment.”
According to the trade unionists – the strike itself would have to wait about a month from the date of its announcement.
By Bartosz Sieniawski | EURACTIV.pl
Aug 24, 2022
The unions want to prepare a multi-union protest committee. If these measures do not help, the protest alert could turn into a strike. The last such strike in Poland took place in 2019. [Shutterstock/BearFotos]
The Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP), the country’s largest trade union for education workers, has said it plans to launch a warning “state of strike emergency” for September, which could escalate into a nationwide general strike.
The unions want to prepare a multi-union protest committee. If these measures do not help, the protest alert could turn into a strike. The last such strike in Poland took place in 2019.
Teachers are demanding pay rises of 20%, tying their salaries to the national average wage, as well as an increase in spending on upbringing and education.
The teachers’ unions have been at loggerheads with the Polish government for a long time as they remain one of the lower-paid public service professions in the country. Three years ago saw the biggest strike in Polish education since the 1990s, which did not bring the expected results in terms of pay rises.
Polish education is struggling with many problems, including outdated forms of teaching, the ideologically-biased core curriculum, the mass departure of teachers from their jobs and teacher shortages. According to ZNP and their calculations, there is a shortage of 20,000 teachers.
The ministry of education is defending itself because, since May; all budget sectors have had their salaries raised by 4.4%. From next year, another increase of 9% is also expected. However, this does not satisfy teachers who are already underpaid and suffer from inflation.
Despite the announcement of the ZNP threatening a strike, the organisation’s chairman, Slawomir Broniarz was more restrained. In an interview with OKO.press, he said, “it would be irresponsible to talk about a strike today or to give a specific date. We have various proposals for protest actions, including ones that do not involve the teachers’ budget and do not require extraordinary commitment.”
According to the trade unionists – the strike itself would have to wait about a month from the date of its announcement.
Severe drought in Europe is ‘worsening’: EU experts
EURACTIV.com with AFP
Aug 22, 2022
An aerial view taken with a drone shows a field being watered in Saint Denis Bovesse, Belgium, 22 August 2022. According to the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) of Belgium, the country has been victim of extremely high temperatures in July 2022, the driest in 137 years.
[EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET]
A severe drought hitting swathes of Europe is “worsening” and, while rain is helping some regions, accompanying thunderstorms are causing their own damage, EU researchers said in a report Monday (22 August).
The latest monthly analysis by the European Union’s Global Drought Observatory (GDO) highlighted the risk of ongoing soil dryness caused by successive heatwaves since May and a “persistent lack” of rainfall.
It maintained its warning issued with the previous report that nearly half of the EU’s territory is at risk of drought, and noted that shrivelling rivers and shrinking water sources are impacting energy generation at power plants and reducing crops.
“The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening as of early August,” said the report, published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
Severe drought could cancel out gains in EU food production
Just under half of EU territory is at risk of severe and prolonged drought, according to a new European Commission report amid warnings this unprecedented heatwave may negate gains in food production supposed to help plug the gap left by the Ukraine war
Increasing “drought hazard” was predicted for big chunks of Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Romania and Hungary, as well as non-EU countries Britain, Serbia, Ukraine and Moldova.
In all, it calculated that 17% of Europe was now in its red-alert category, higher than the 11% given in July.
“Recent precipitation (mid-August) may have alleviated drought conditions in some regions of Europe. However, in some areas, associated thunderstorms caused damages, losses, and may have limited the beneficial effects of precipitation,” it said.
Mediterranean parts of the EU should expect “warmer and drier than usual conditions” up to November, it said.
Regions hit with rain “anomalies” in the past three months included parts of Portugal, Spain, southern France, central Italy, Switzerland, southern Germany and much of Ukraine.
The GDO report said that normal levels of rain were likely to now come to parts of Europe between August and October but they “may not be enough to fully recover from the deficit cumulated in more than half a year”.
Parts of Spain, Portugal and Croatia may continue to suffer “drier than normal weather conditions” however, while dry conditions in the Alps were likely to ease.
The report said that atmospheric conditions linked to the sort of heatwaves baking Europe were, over May, June and July, at their highest since 1950.
Driest July in memory imperils Europe's crops
As much of Europe bakes in a third heatwave since June, fears are growing that extreme drought driven by climate change in the continent’s breadbasket nations will dent stable crop yields and deepen the cost-of-living crisis.
EURACTIV.com with AFP
Aug 22, 2022
An aerial view taken with a drone shows a field being watered in Saint Denis Bovesse, Belgium, 22 August 2022. According to the Royal Meteorological Institute (RMI) of Belgium, the country has been victim of extremely high temperatures in July 2022, the driest in 137 years.
[EPA-EFE/OLIVIER HOSLET]
A severe drought hitting swathes of Europe is “worsening” and, while rain is helping some regions, accompanying thunderstorms are causing their own damage, EU researchers said in a report Monday (22 August).
The latest monthly analysis by the European Union’s Global Drought Observatory (GDO) highlighted the risk of ongoing soil dryness caused by successive heatwaves since May and a “persistent lack” of rainfall.
It maintained its warning issued with the previous report that nearly half of the EU’s territory is at risk of drought, and noted that shrivelling rivers and shrinking water sources are impacting energy generation at power plants and reducing crops.
“The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening as of early August,” said the report, published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre.
Severe drought could cancel out gains in EU food production
Just under half of EU territory is at risk of severe and prolonged drought, according to a new European Commission report amid warnings this unprecedented heatwave may negate gains in food production supposed to help plug the gap left by the Ukraine war
Increasing “drought hazard” was predicted for big chunks of Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Romania and Hungary, as well as non-EU countries Britain, Serbia, Ukraine and Moldova.
In all, it calculated that 17% of Europe was now in its red-alert category, higher than the 11% given in July.
“Recent precipitation (mid-August) may have alleviated drought conditions in some regions of Europe. However, in some areas, associated thunderstorms caused damages, losses, and may have limited the beneficial effects of precipitation,” it said.
Mediterranean parts of the EU should expect “warmer and drier than usual conditions” up to November, it said.
Regions hit with rain “anomalies” in the past three months included parts of Portugal, Spain, southern France, central Italy, Switzerland, southern Germany and much of Ukraine.
The GDO report said that normal levels of rain were likely to now come to parts of Europe between August and October but they “may not be enough to fully recover from the deficit cumulated in more than half a year”.
Parts of Spain, Portugal and Croatia may continue to suffer “drier than normal weather conditions” however, while dry conditions in the Alps were likely to ease.
The report said that atmospheric conditions linked to the sort of heatwaves baking Europe were, over May, June and July, at their highest since 1950.
Driest July in memory imperils Europe's crops
As much of Europe bakes in a third heatwave since June, fears are growing that extreme drought driven by climate change in the continent’s breadbasket nations will dent stable crop yields and deepen the cost-of-living crisis.
Credit unions battle big banks to attract younger Canadians
, The Canadian Press
Kayla Rourke's first banking experience was with Conexus Credit Union but left to try the Bank of Nova Scotia in her teens, hoping to take advantage of the Scene points program to earn free movie tickets.
She later tried another bank or two but eventually, the 29-year-old Regina-based teacher returned to Conexus five years ago because of its no-fee chequing account, customer service and focus on helping local communities. In 2021, for example, the credit union reinvested more than $1.9 million back into Saskatchewan communities through their Community Investment Program.
“I feel really happy staying with a credit union because I want to make life better where I live,” Rourke said.
“It feels like at a bank I’m always trying to be sold something,” she added. “I feel like at a credit union, I’ve had such good discussions on how to build wealth or save for particular goals while keeping it realistic. I love how they’ve checked in with me to see how it’s going … I feel like at a bank I was a customer and at a credit union, I feel like a client.”
Disha Soni, a 32-year-old self-employed financial adviser, said in her case it made more sense to go with a bank rather than a credit union because they’re well known around the globe and have many physical branches.
“They are well established and I had more confidence giving them my money,” she said. Soni, who immigrated to Ottawa in November 2021, was also attracted by the offers that banks have for newcomers.
In recent years, the Canadian Credit Union Association has been promoting credit unions to millennials and Generation Z. According to a report entitled “Credit unions and millennials” published by MNP, attracting and retaining millennials and Generation Z is vital to sustaining the Canadian credit union system, especially as it faces an aging member base.
Ipsos’s Customer Service Index Survey conducted over 2021 revealed that 59.2 per cent of credit union members are over the age of 55. Only 12 per cent of credit union members, on the other hand, were 18 to 34 years old.
With banks, the survey showed that 17.5 per cent of customers are 18 to 34 and 45.6 per cent of customers are 55 and over.
Annette Bester, national leader of credit union services at MNP, said there’s a lot of education that needs to be done around credit unions to spread awareness on what they are and what they do. This awareness can vary by geography, she said.
For example, while credit unions are more known in parts of the country such as Saskatchewan, there may be less awareness in Ontario, where most of the country's major banks are headquartered.
There are some misconceptions about credit unions, such as if you join a credit union that operates in one province, you won’t be able to access funds elsewhere if you’re travelling, Bester said.
“Credit unions have access to ATM networks across the world and they’ve got mobile banking apps. They’ve got all the same things that the big banks do but maybe it’s not known,” she explained.
Credit union members can use any ATMs that belong to the Exchange Network free of charge but will have to pay a surcharge using ATMs that are not part of the network.
Pamela George, a financial literacy counsellor at Sand Dollar Financial Literacy, said the biggest downfall for credit unions is that they don’t have a big budget for marketing like banks do.
Otherwise, both George and Bester believe that the financial co-operative, community-focused nature of credit unions would be appealing to young people if they understood more about how they worked.
For example, customers of credit unions are called members, and profits go back to the credit union to help set up better interest rates and lower fees for members, George said.
Where banks have the upper hand is with better technology on their apps and websites. They lead the way in this area, George said.
When deciding the right fit for them, young people will have to weigh digital technology and the availability of physical locations Canada-wide against whether they’d want to bank with a financial co-operative with a community focus.
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