The World Cup tension the west is not seeing: Israelis told to keep low profile

Story by Michael Safi in Doha • The Guardian

One video shows an Egyptian football fan smiling serenely as an Israeli broadcaster introduces him live on air. Then he leans into the microphone with a message: “Viva Palestine.”

Photograph: Petr Josek/AP

Another clip from the streets of Doha this week shows a group of Lebanese men walking away from a live interview with a reporter they have just learned is Israeli. One shouts over his shoulder: “There is no Israel. It’s Palestine.”

As hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have poured into Qatar this week for the World Cup, these are among the awkward encounters between Arab football fans and Israeli journalists that have gone viral on Middle Eastern social media, one of many sources of political friction at a tournament that has not yet shaken off its myriad controversies.

For the host country, staging the World Cup has involved delicate negotiations over the presence of LGBTQ+ fans, public displays of affection and the availability of beer and wine. Less prominent in the west, but no less fraught, has been the emirate’s accommodation of Israeli football fans and media, a concession to Fifa’s rules for hosting the multibillion-dollar tournament.

Qatar does not have official ties with Israel but has given special permission for direct flights from Tel Aviv and allowed Israeli diplomats to be stationed at a travel agency in the country to give their nationals consular support. Conscious of domestic opinion, however, it has insisted the measures are strictly temporary and not steps towards a normalisation agreement of the kind signed by several other Arab states in recent years.

Though neither Israel nor Palestine are playing in the tournament, the latter has featured prominently at the Middle East’s first World Cup. Before Sunday’s opening match, a phalanx of Qatari men marched into the Al Bayt Stadium chanting, “Everyone is welcome,” carrying with them a large Palestinian flag. “We are taking care of people in Palestine, and all Muslim people and Arab countries are holding up Palestinian flags because we’re for them,” the flag bearer told the Guardian.



Flight screens at Tel Aviv airport. Qatar has given special permission for direct flights. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images© Provided by The Guardian

Fans from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Algeria have also carried the flag prominently at matches and worn it as capes around their necks. On Thursday, Randa Ahmer, a young Palestinian woman, stood in Doha’s bustling Souq Waqif holding a Palestinian flag above the international crowd. “It’s our country, we’re going to carry our flag everywhere,” she said, as passersby shouted messages of support

Gravitas: Qatar world cup sees ideological conflict


Fifa trumpeted its agreement with Qatar to allow Israelis to fly to Doha by claiming the deal also allowed Palestinians to make the journey from Tel Aviv, but nearly a week into the tournament, it was unclear how many had been able to surmount the extensive Israeli security checks required to make the journey. Some of those who had made it to Qatar had come via Jordan or Egypt.

As of the beginning of the tournament, nearly 4,000 Israeli and 8,000 Palestinian fans had received entry visas to Qatar, though Israel’s foreign minister said it was expected as many as 20,000 Israelis could ultimately end up going.

A kosher kitchen has been set up near Doha’s airport to provide Israeli fans a place to gather and food that conforms with religious requirements.

Preparing to arrive in Doha over the weekend, Duby Nevo, an Israeli national, said he was watching the reports of Palestinian activism at the tournament with some concern. “I hope that Qataris are welcoming and everything will be fine,” he said. “I really hope to meet people from all over the world and especially from Arabic countries – if they want to make friends. I just want to enjoy [the football], no conflicts whatsoever.”

Another Israeli man, who gave only the first name Bahaa, said the organisation of the tournament and atmosphere in the country were excellent, but there was one drawback: “The majority of the masses here do not accept the presence of Israelis.”

Others said they were finding a welcoming environment, but taking precautions. “We’re not afraid to be here in Qatar as Israelis, they are very kind and we don’t feel the politics between the countries,” said Omer Laufer. “Sometimes we say that we are from Cyprus – but just to people from Arab countries.”

As the viral videos have shown, it is Israeli media outlets that have borne the brunt of the lingering antipathy with which their country is regarded by Arab populations, even if many of their governments have now signed agreements acknowledging Israeli sovereignty, started building trade ties and brought their security cooperation out into the open.

Israel’s Channel 13 sports reporter Tal Shorrer told Associated Press that while his interactions with Qatari officials had been pleasant, he had been shoved and insulted by Palestinians and other Arab fans during his live broadcasts from the city.

When a mobile phone seller noticed his friend’s settings in Hebrew, Shorrer said the man exploded with anger, screaming at the Israeli to get out of the country.

“I was so excited to come in with an Israeli passport, thinking it was going to be something positive,” he said. “It’s sad, it’s unpleasant. People were cursing and threatening us.”

Aware of the sensitivities of a tournament that will attract thousands of arrivals from hostile countries such as Iran, and where unlike in previous tournaments, all of the estimated 1.2 million foreign fans will be living cheek-by-jowl in one city, Israeli diplomats have produced videos asking their nationals to keep a low profile.

“Downplay your Israeli presence and Israeli identity for the sake of your personal security,” said Lior Haiat, an Israeli diplomat, addressing fans.

Harjit Sajjan tweets about raising Qatar human rights at World Cup after criticism

OTTAWA — International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan has tweeted about raising human rights concerns during his visit to Qatar for the World Cup after opposition criticism.


Harjit Sajjan tweets about raising Qatar human rights at World Cup after criticism© Provided by The Canadian Press

The NDP and the Bloc took Sajjan to task on Thursday because he had not made any public statement about Qatar's documented mistreatment of migrant workers and the emirate's anti-LGBTQ policies.

Both parties had called on the Liberals to diplomatically boycott the games instead of sending Sajjan.

When asked Thursday whether he raised these issues during the trip, Sajjan's office responded that he was flying home and could not comment.

Hours after The Canadian Press reported on the criticism of Sajjan's visit, he tweeted that he met with local labour organizations and that he had "constructive dialogue" with Qatari officials on migrant and LGBTQ rights.

The tweets did not directly criticize the emirate's policies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2022.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

SOUTHERN ALBERTA

Stoney: A look at preserving language, culture in Stoney Nakoda

A rise in the number of Îethka (Stoney language speakers) disparate to Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation population growth marks a First Nation taking great strides to defy the odds.

According to the latest available census data in 2016, there were more Stoney speakers in Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation than there had been in at least 20 years, but proportionate to the First Nation’s population growth – Stoney, like so many other Indigenous languages, has been on the decline.

Hundreds of years of colonization and displacement, the influence of pop culture and now, social media, have all played a role in language decline, according to experts.

“Everything else in our culture has been reproduced, stolen, borrowed, but the one thing that really still remains that is traditional to us, is our language,” said Duane Mark, language and cultural coordinator at Morley Community School in Mînî Thnî. “That’s why we push it so hard.

“Our elders continually press for the value of retaining and sustaining the language because it also sustains the culture, it enables and empowers a legacy.”

Mark is one of two Stoney language teachers at the school, which is across from Nakoda Elementary School, where a number of young Stoney-speaking teachers are beginning to cut their teeth passing the language to the next generation.

Stoney lessons are mandated in all Stoney Education Authority (SEA) schools, but Mark stresses that about an hour or more of accumulative language lessons every week is not enough for most to become fluent enough in Stoney to continue passing it down. It must also be used at home.

“We do our best as language teachers, but elders and as educators, we know and find that language should be taught at home if it is to be carried on,” he said. “It’s the responsibility of the parents to teach the child.

“Just like any language, it has to be heard consistently, in the home – everywhere. It has to be heard.”

Sister languages of Stoney include Dakota, Lakota and Nakoda/Nakota dialects, the latter of which the language is derived. The three dialects make up the Siouan language family to which Stoney belongs.

In 2016, there was a population of about 4,546 people living in the Îyârhe Nakoda communities of Eden Valley, Big Horn, and Mînî Thnî (Morley), where more than 80 per cent of the population is concentrated. According to the 2016 census, about 56 per cent of all residents identified Stoney as their mother tongue, which is the language that is learned at home in childhood and still understood by the person at the time the data was collected.

Of those, 4,525 people identified English as their first official language spoken. Another 15 people said neither English nor French was their first spoken language; the census does not specify which language they spoke.

There were 3,050 people in Canada who identified Stoney as their mother tongue in 2016 and 2,550 of them lived in an Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation community, 250 more than recorded in the 1996 census. However, the population also increased by about 1,800 people over that time. In comparison, 85 per cent of the total population identified Stoney as their mother tongue in 1996.

Data from the latest 2021 census could not be compared as Stoney Nakoda First Nation chiefs and council did not give Statistics Canada surveying permission, thus no information is available. On its website, the Stoney Nakoda Nation estimates there was a population of 5,397 in 2021.

In 2010, the Stoney language was categorized as ‘vulnerable,’ according to UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger. The report included 86 Indigenous languages in Canada and reported 62 of them to be endangered, with the other 24 listed as vulnerable to being endangered.

Mark’s niece, Cherith Mark, is a language and culture coordinator at SEA. She was involved in a joint language initiative between SEA and The Language Conservancy – a U.S.-based non-profit organization that works with Indigenous peoples to protect and revitalize their languages – that began in 2019.

With that project, about 50 Îyârhe Nakoda elders from Chiniki, Goodstoney and Bearspaw First Nations, helped to build a comprehensive Stoney dictionary app, three picture books, a level one language textbook, an alphabet colouring book and a vocabulary app, along with other digital learning resources.

They achieved this through a two-week Rapid Word Collection event at Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino in the fall of 2019, where linguists and scribes captured 14,002 Stoney words from 1,700 categories.

The group refined the dictionary list over two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, whittling down repetitions and alternate spellings to inform the teaching resources to be used in SEA classrooms, and in the community.

Over time, the education authority hopes to develop level two and three language textbooks to advance learning in schools.

“We are definitely looking at providing more language resources to cater more toward being able to speak Stoney conversationally and using sentences,” said Cherith. “Right now, what we have is mostly catered toward words and small phrases, but eventually it will come to that.”

Stoney, long considered to be an oral language by its speakers, started being transferred into text and to the page in the 1970s through the Stoney Cultural Education Program (SCEP).

“We’re still discussing and trying to figure out the proper way to spell or pronounce some words because there are these variances between different family clans,” said Cherith. “The best way we can work our way through that is by going back to look at the oldest resources we have, which is SCEP.

“That was the era when they actually started writing words in Stoney.”

The oral history program began in 1970. To gather information about Stoney history, philosophy, and moral teachings, program workers used tape recorders to interview Stoney elders, and in 1972 the program was reorganized as SCEP.

Under the direction of Stoney Tribal chiefs and council, the program focused on people development, primarily encouraging Stoney youth to enhance their individual abilities. Materials created from the program were used to assist in passing on the traditions of Stoney culture to the next generation by replacing harmful curricula that did not recognize Indigenous heritage.

Elder Jimmy Kaquitts was the director of a team of over 50 elders, including the late Buddy Wesley and Sykes Powderface, and many others that helped to develop a writing system for the Stoney language still used today.

One challenging feature of the project, in addition to obtaining continued funding, was the nature of the language itself In the Stoney community. Different bands, and even families, vary in their syllabic emphasizes and expressions. In light of this, translators sometimes had to talk out an apparent difference in order to decide which option to use for a certain word or expression to be translated.

As Cherith noted, that is something that remains a continuous point of discussion in the community with various words, including the Stoney word that refers to those that speak the language – Îethka.

“We still discuss the proper way of pronouncing Îethka, versus Iyethka or Îyethka,” said Cherith. “One basically refers to the speakers of the language and the other to basically the Stoney people, and the last one is sort of a variation of the second one.”

Prior to SCEP, in 1965, Stoney Tribal council entered into an agreement with the Summer Institute of Linguistics to develop a writing system for the Stoney language. After several experiments, a standard alphabet was devised following the Roman orthography tradition.

Warren Harbeck, a consultant in linguistics, Bible translation and intercultural communication, was brought in from the institute to help develop the writing system.

Extensive testing of this writing system during its development was conducted under the auspices of elder J.R. Twoyoungmen at all grade levels in the Morley school, as well as with families throughout the community.

According to Harbeck, testing included the workability of a Cree-syllabic style of writing, as well as more English-looking styles.

Consistent with ways of representing the characteristic five oral and three nasalized vowels of the Nakoda, Dakota and Lakota languages, the symbols a, e, i, o, u, â, î, û were agreed on in the Stoney words chaba, meaning beaver in English; pezi, meaning hay; node, meaning throat; mu, meaning thunder; châ, meaning wood; Mînî Thnî, meaning cold water/Morley; and sûga, meaning dog.

Other than the circumflex, it was agreed not to use any other technical linguistic symbols, but only those letters available on a standard typewriter, and later on keyboards.

The structure of a Stoney sentence is much different than English. Instead of a fixed subject; verb; object order, the verb tends to come at the end in Stoney – but it’s not obligated to, according to Harbeck. The subject also usually, but not always, precedes the object.

There are other structural elements to the Stoney language that differ greatly from English. Mark said sometimes Stoney speakers, especially the younger generations, may revert to speaking English in some cases because of the amount of “cerebral energy” it can take to formulate some phrases and sentences, which sometimes can become quite long in pronunciation and in writing.

The act of language preservation has always been an intrinsic part of the Stoney way, according to Mark. It is believed the language itself has a spirit, and the spirits of Îyârhe Nakoda ancestors can only understand Stoney, and therefore will only hear their prayers in Stoney.

“In our society, sometimes that’s all we talk about, is the Creator,” said Mark. “Our everyday life is motivated by spiritual prayer, smudging, singing – chants in the morning to enable us and empower us. But if it’s done in our language, it’s heard by our ancestors.”

Mark said he has noticed a decline in the number of speakers over time, especially as some of the Nation’s well-respected and renowned elder speakers have died, including Sykes Powderface in March of this year and Buddy Wesley in June 2021.

Wesley, who was also a bridge of knowledge to surrounding non-Indigenous communities, established the Stoney Nakoda 101.1 language program and taught students in Mînî Thnî. He and Mark worked together closely prior to his passing.

“He was our mentor and he was also teaching sometimes in Cochrane, at U of C and the Whyte Museum,” said Mark. “We traded notes and supported each other.”

Mark hopes to be part of carrying on Wesley’s legacy, with the goal of teaching the next generations of Stoney language teachers and inspiring as many of them as possible to follow a similar path. One which not only sustains the language, but where it can flourish.

Jessica Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook

'Without language identity is lost': feds invest $39.4 M into Indigenous language programs in the North

Story by Natalie Pressman • 

Language is fundamental to identity.

That was the message of politicians at a press conference in Dettah, N.W.T. on Friday as the federal government announced $39.4 million in funding to support Indigenous language revitalization in the territories.

The biggest slice of the federal funding, $17.7 million, will go to Nunavut. The Yukon will receive $14.7 million and the Northwest Territories, $6.9 million.

Northwest Territories MP Michael McLeod said preserving and revitalizing language is important because for generations, Indigenous people have lived under systems design to erode their cultures.

It's something he said he knows about first-hand as a residential school survivor.

"Languages are fundamental to our identities, our culture, our spirituality," he said.

The Native Communication Society of the N.W.T., the Tłı̨chǫ government, the Gwich'in Tribal Council, Dene Nation and several band offices will be among the funding recipients in the Northwest Territories.

The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation (YKDFN) received the largest investments in the N.W.T. — almost a million dollars each.

Holding on by the thread

Ndilǫ Chief Fred Sangris said the funding would help ensure longevity of language among youth.


"Without language identity is lost — without language, communication between the young and the old could not happen," he said.

Sangris said that First Nations across the country are losing their languages and that YKDFN still has some language speakers, but not many.

"We're still holding on to our language," he said, "at the very thread."



Ndilǫ Chief Fred Sangris said his community is holding on to its language© Travis Burke/CBC

Edward Sangris, chief of Dettah, said he anticipates the funds to be put toward Willideh language programming in the YKDFN community's school.

"Our vision is to have schools talking in our language, all the way from kindergarten to graduation," he said.

Jeannie Martin is a Willideh Yatie instructor at the language and culture history department in Dettah.

"I really love my language," she said.


Jeannie Martin, left, and Stella Martin, right, are Willideh Yatie instructors at the language and culture history department in Dettah.© Natalie Pressman/CBC

Martin said she wasn't yet sure how the new funds will support her work but that it's good news for the students.

"I just want to teach them, the ones that want to learn," she said.

The federal government passed the Indigenous Languages Act in 2019. It's a response to a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that emphasizes the importance of preserving, revitalizing and strengthening Indigenous languages.

Since 2019 the federal government has invested more than $77 million — including Friday's announcement of $39.5 million — to support Indigenous languages in the North.

Brace for 'violent' shocks that may reshape the global economy forever, warns top economist Mohamed El-Erian

Story by gglover@insider.com (George Glover) 

Markets should brace for a drawn-out recession, Mohamed El-Erian has warned. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters© REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

The global economy is headed for a severe recession, Mohamed El-Erian has warned.

The economist expects "more uncertainty in the future as shocks grow more frequent and more violent".

The recession will be drawn-out rather than "short and shallow", he added.

Markets should brace for a severe recession that might forever change the world economy, Mohamed El-Erian has warned.

The economist said on Tuesday that a combination of pressures on supply, central bank tightening, and market "fragility" were all likely to weigh on growth.

"Three new trends in particular hint at such a transformation and are likely to play an important role in shaping economic outcomes over the next few years: the shift from insufficient demand to insufficient supply as a major multi-year drag on growth, the end of boundless liquidity from central banks, and the increasing fragility of financial markets," El-Erian wrote in a Foreign Affairs op-ed.

"These shifts help explain many of the unusual economic developments of the last few years, and they are likely to drive even more uncertainty in the future as shocks grow more frequent and more violent," he added. "These changes will affect individuals, companies, and governments – economically, socially, and politically."

El-Erian: Too Early for Fed to 'Downshift' on Rate Hikes

El-Erian's warning comes as institutions including the International Monetary Fund and the Institute of International Finance forecast an economic slowdown next year.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February has led to a tightening of global supply chains, with prices of commodities from crude oil to wheat soaring.

Meanwhile, central banks such as the US Federal Reserve have started to aggressively raise interest rates, which could be starting to tame inflation but will also hit economic growth.

Rate hikes have also exposed vulnerabilities in particular markets, with the S&P 500 falling 15.5% this year and last year's crypto success story turning sour after major exchange FTX suffered a solvency crisis and eventually filed for bankruptcy.

El-Erian said that analysts need to shift away from the mindset that the downturn will be a short, sharp recession – a way of thinking he warned had driven the Fed's characterization of inflation as merely "transitory" even as prices crept up last year.

"From the US Federal Reserve's initial misjudgment that inflation would be 'transitory' to the current consensus that a probable US recession will be 'short and shallow,' there has been a strong tendency to see economic challenges as both temporary and quickly reversible," he said.

But "these changes will affect individuals, companies, and governments – economically, socially, and politically," El-Erian added. "Until analysts wake up to the probability that these trends will outlast the next business cycle, the economic hardship they cause is likely to significantly outweigh the opportunities they create."

Read more: Top economist Mohamed El-Erian says the FTX crypto fiasco will keep regulators up at night as they scramble to catch up

Russia calls European Parliament’s declaration of state sponsorship of terrorism an «unfriendly step»

Russian authorities have called the European Parliament's decision to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism an "unfriendly step" and accused Ukraine of having been a "pioneer" in spreading rhetoric they consider "unfair".


Archive - General view of the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. - VLAD KARKOV / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

According to Oleg Siromolotov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, the Ukrainian authorities initiated these accusations "long before" the war that started in February, since in 2014, in the framework of the conflict in the Donbas, Kiev labeled its "punitive" operation in the eastern part of the country as anti-terrorist.

Thus, Simorolotov regretted that the decision adopted by the European Parliament last Wednesday follows the trend of "an information and political campaign" promoted from the West and which "has nothing to do with the real situation in the fight against international terrorism".

"If individual countries or the European Parliament want to look for real terrorists, we suggest to take a closer look and understand more deeply what happened not so long ago in the Baltic and Black Seas, and not to participate in the parade of fake resolutions," Simorolotov said, as reported by the Foreign Ministry itself.

Questioned whether Moscow should follow the example of the European Parliament but with regard to Ukraine, the Russian representative made a compilation of the alleged atrocities committed by Ukraine and theoretical violations of international law against Russian soldiers.

However, he recalled that the Kremlin has always been against "the doctrine" of state terrorism often, he said, instrumentalized by some countries "to justify interference in matters that are the internal competence of other states".

"At the same time, it is Western countries, led by the United States, who use labels such as 'terrorist state,' 'terrorist regime' or 'state sponsor of terrorism' to designate objectionable rivals in order to legitimize the introduced unilateral coercive measures," he has reproached.

Thus, he ruled out that Russia could declare Ukraine or any other of its current international rivals a terrorist state, since it would be following criteria that Moscow considers wrong.

"We believe it would be a mistake to follow the illegal approaches of others. We will not be like the violators of international law", the Russian diplomatic representative concluded.

The European Parliament on Wednesday approved designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism in a resolution supported by the majority groups in the European Parliament. The resolution focused on denouncing the more than 40,000 documented war crimes allegedly committed by the Russian army, in particular in places such as Irpin, Bucha or Izium.

Already on that day, the Russian Foreign Affairs spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, ironically proposed on her personal Telegram channel to designate the European Parliament as a "sponsor of idiocy".

Workers in Canadian Tire's supply chain not paid 'living wages,' union complains

United Steelworkers union alleges thousands in Bangladeshi factories who make clothes for the retailer aren't paid enough

Author of the article: Naimul Karim
Publishing date: Nov 22, 2022 

A Canadian Tire sign at a store in Toronto. 

PHOTO BY BRENT LEWIN/BLOOMBERG

One of North America’s largest unions has filed a complaint with the Canadian government against Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. alleging that thousands of workers in Bangladeshi factories who make clothes for the retailer are not paid a living wage.

The United Steelworkers union (USW), which has at least 225,000 members in Canada, filed the complaint to the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), a government ombudsman that reviews human rights abuses by Canadian companies that work abroad.

“You will have seen some Canadian Tire ads saying ‘We all play for Canada,’ we just think that playing for Canada also means being concerned about workers overseas,” Doug Olthuis, head of global affairs at USW’s Canadian office, said. “The concerns shouldn’t end at Canadian borders; the concerns should spread through the entire supply chain.”

Canadian Tire said it ensures its suppliers comply with all local laws.

“As part of our activities to ensure compliance, Canadian Tire Corp. regularly tracks wage rates and works with reputable third parties to audit factories that manufacture our owned brand products,” the company said in a statement.

But Bangladeshi union representatives said thousands of the country’s workers who make clothes for most of the world’s leading brands have had to cut down on food as the price of essentials rises globally due to inflation.

The South Asian nation, whose economy heavily depends on its garment industry, has made strides to ensure worker safety since the collapse of the Rana Plaza clothing factory in 2013 that killed more than 1,000 workers, unions said. But they said the country’s minimum wage for garment workers — about $104 per month — isn’t enough to support families.

Canadian Tire subsidiary Mark’s manufactures garments in Bangladesh for the Denver Hayes, Dakota, WindRiver and Helly Hansen labels. 

PHOTO BY HANDOUT/MARK'S

“Canadian companies say that they respect human rights. Living wages is one of the pillars of human rights,” said Kalpona Akter, who heads the Bangladesh Center for Workers Solidarity, a workers’ rights organization based in Dhaka, the country’s capital. “If they are not paying a living wage, how are they respecting human rights? We want Canadian Tire to ensure that workers in their supply chain are paid a living wage.”

Bangladeshi garment workers who work eight hours a day, six days a week, should be paid four to five times more than they currently are to earn a “living wage,” he added.

The president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the country’s largest group of garment factory owners, said clothing workers are better paid than workers in other sectors, and they are trying to find ways to increase that pay.

“The buyers (brands) keep talking about ethical living wages or fair minimum wages, but they keep squeezing the price and giving us much lower prices,” Faruque Hasan said. “I believe they should pay higher prices, which will help us to pay higher salaries.”

If they are not paying a living wage, how are they respecting human rights?

KALPONA AKTER

The USW filed the complaint on Monday evening. CORE will now have to evaluate whether the complaint meets its “admissibility criteria,” Olthuis at the USW said. If it does, the ombudsman will conduct its own investigation.

The union hopes CORE recommends that Canadian Tire — whose subsidiary Mark’s manufactures garments in Bangladesh for the Denver Hayes, Dakota, WindRiver and Helly Hansen labels — pay higher wages. It also hopes Canadian Tire will sit down with workers’ representatives in Bangladesh to figure out a way to make sure more money gets through to the workers.

Cost of Russia exit weighs on Canadian Tire earnings, despite rising sales

Canadian Tire ranked most reputable company in commerce during year of upheaval

CORE wasn’t immediately available for a response.

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment exporter after China, and Olthuis said the USW initially wanted to file complaints against multiple Canadian companies that manufacture clothes there, but would have had to file separate complaints to CORE for each company.

He said the USW decided to file a complaint against Canadian Tire because it believes the retailer has the capacity to make changes.

“We have to start somewhere,” he said. “We believe there are mechanisms where Canadian Tire can make a difference.”

Olthuis said that based on USW’s investigation, Canadian Tire sources its products from at least 30 factories in Bangladesh.

The country, which has about 165 million people, employs about four million workers, mostly women, in the garment sector.

Bangladesh garment exports to Canada grew by $1 billion, a 133 per cent increase, in the last decade, according to government data. The country is the second largest source of garment imports into Canada after China.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com | Twitter: naimonthefield

Rio Tinto's topsy-turvy takeover of Turquoise Hill set for shareholder vote on Dec. 9

Story by Naimul Karim • Financial Post

A worker walks through a tunnel towards elevators following a shift in the underground mining project at the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Khanbogd, the South Gobi desert, in Mongolia.

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. ‘s shareholders will vote on Rio Tinto Ltd. ’s attempt to take full control of the Montreal-based miner on Dec. 9 , signalling a potential close to a topsy-turvy saga that includes the postponement of three previous votes, multiple takeover offers from Rio, and side deals with minority owners abruptly terminated.

Rio, one of the world’s dominant miners, already owns about 51 per cent of Turquoise, but hopes to gain full control so it can claim Turquoise’s Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia — one of the world’s largest new copper and gold mines — as its own.

Copper is likely to play a key role in the transition away from fossil fuels, and miners such as Rio are keen to get in on the action.

The vote was initially postponed from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8 by Turquoise in light of new information that Rio was in talks with two of the Turquoise’s minority shareholders, investment firms Pentwater Capital Management LP and SailingStone Capital Partners LLC, which had publicly opposed Rio’s US3.3 billion offer to take over the company.

According to the side deals that Rio struck with the two shareholders, the firms would withhold their votes and exercise their dissent rights instead. Exercising these rights would open a door for a shareholder to sell its shares at a price it believes is fair through arbitration in the event a company makes a decision it does not agree with.

However, the vote was shifted for a second time from Nov. 8 after Quebec’s securities regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) got involved. The vote was then postponed indefinitely on Nov. 9 after the Quebec watchdog said that the side deals raised “public interest concerns.”

On Nov. 17, Rio said that it had terminated the side deals with the two minority shareholders and returned to the original proposal to take over Turquoise, raising doubts about whether the deal will go through.

Rio raised its takeover offer twice to end up at the current $43 per share mark and reach an agreement with Turquoise’s senior executives. Its initial bids of $34 and $40 were rejected.

However, the deal requires approval from two-thirds of Turquoise Hill shareholders, including Rio Tinto. It also requires a simple majority of the votes cast by Turquoise Hill’s minority shareholders, which include Pentwater and SailingStone, which own 15.14 and 2.2 per cent of Turquoise, respectively.

Turquoise’s Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, which started operating in 2013, has the potential to operate for about 100 years, the company has said. The Canadian miner owns 66 per cent of the mine. The Mongolian government owns the rest.

The mine is expected to produce 110,000 to 150,000 tons of copper and 150,000 to 170,000 ounces of gold in 2022. Production is expected to increase next year since the Oyu Tolgoi board has approved the start of the mine’s underground operations, with first production expected in 2023.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com | Twitter: naimonthefield

Rio Tinto terminates deals with dissident Turquoise Hill shareholders a week after Quebec watchdog raises concerns

Rio Tinto's takeover of Turquoise Hill postponed indefinitely after Quebec watchdog raises concerns

Rio Tinto's takeover of Turquoise Hill postponed again as Quebec regulator steps in

Sean Fraser: 'Unacceptable' that immigrant surgeons are working as taxi drivers

Story by Naimul Karim •  Financial Post

Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser says Canada’s new immigration plan aims to accept in a record 1.45 million newcomers in the next three years.

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said changes to Canada’s immigration program next year will rebalance the world’s “most powerful economic migration system” in a way that will help hospitals, builders and other employers address chronic labour shortages, as opposed to focusing mainly on “highly skilled workers.”

Fraser revealed that he plans to introduce new selection tools earlier this month while unveiling Canada’s new immigration plan , under which the government aims to accept in a record 1.45 million newcomers in the next three years. This is linked to a change in rules made under the express entry system through the Budget Implementation Act that was adopted in the House of Commons in June.

“This is a completely different approach than what has been the case historically, which simply did a draw for the highest scoring people in the system regardless of which sector they were going to work in or which region they are destined to,” Fraser said in an interview on Nov. 23.

The new selection tools will allow Fraser and future ministers to select immigrants to fill job gaps in specific industries and regions. By way of example, Fraser said he can now sift through applications to address New Brunswick’s shortfall of French language educators, Nova Scotia’s chronic lack of nurses, or Ontario’s constant struggle to find enough carpenters.

Economists and business associations mostly lauded Ottawa’s pledge to use immigration to address the labour crisis, as employers went into the summer with a record one million job vacancies, according to Statistics Canada.

Tiff Macklem, the Bank of Canada governor, said earlier this month that if Canada’a labour pool was larger, he probably wouldn’t have needed to raise interest rates as aggressively as he has this year to contain inflation. That’s because the shortage puts upward pressure on wages and hinders the ability of companies to keep up with demand.

The issue is bigger than volume. While technology companies are generally complimentary of Ottawa’s immigration efforts, other industries complain that the government became too enamoured with recruiting coders and software engineers. At the same time, non-tech immigrants who make it to Canada struggle to have their skills recognized by various professional associations, which hurts productivity because workers are blocked from meeting their full potential.

Fraser vowed to resolve both problems.

“The idea that we have neuro and dental surgeons who are working as taxi drivers … is unacceptable,” the minister said. “It’s really frustrating for me when I meet talented people who have arrived in Canada but are not able to contribute at their full potential.”

One of the professions most in need of workers is home builders, which according to BuildForce Canada , a national organization representing all sectors of the construction industry, are in high demand. The Ontario government last month said the province will need about 100,000 more construction workers this decade to meet its goal of building 1.5 million homes by 2031.

An argument against elevated immigration levels is the strain an influx of people could put on cities that are already short of housing stock. Critics argue that increased targets should align with infrastructure plans to ensure that the necessary services are in place to welcome everyone.

Fraser makes the point that by recruiting more construction workers, he can help accelerate the building of more homes, describing the labour shortage in the trades as “greatest bottleneck” to more supply.


A new Canadian attends a citizenship ceremony in Vancouver. New selection tools will allow Canadian officials to select immigrants to fill job gaps in specific industries and regions.© Darryl Dyck

When asked about specific plans on the roadmap that links immigration to Canada’s housing growth in the near future, the minister said that would be revealed by the housing ministry and that he didn’t want to “broadcast decisions” that the government hasn’t formally disclosed as yet.

There’s a risk that worries about whether communities can handle a sharp increase in newcomers will test favourable attitudes about immigration. A survey conducted by researchers Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies on 1,537 Canadians two weeks after the release of the government’s immigration plan said about 75 per cent were either somewhat or very concerned about the impact of the increased targets on the housing sector, which saw a steep rise in prices in the last three years, and social services.

A poll conducted by Environics Institute for Survey Research prior to the release of the new immigration plan, however, said that 85 per cent of its respondents felt that welcoming newcomers would lead to economic benefit, which is the highest number recorded by the group in 30 years.

Fraser, who has seen schools and mental health units close down in his home province of Nova Scotia due to depopulation, said he believes that most Canadians support immigration.

“I have seen a number of different polls that indicate a variety of different outcomes,” Fraser said. “Despite the fact that we need to continue to watch closely things like housing and the capacity of our … public services, we also need to be live to the fact that there are very real and severe economic and demographic consequences to not continuing to grow our population.”

Fraser added that aside from the housing and healthcare industries, technology firms were also “singing the same song” of needing more labour. “There is not a tech company that is positioned for growth in this country that I have spoken to, who has access to all of the talent that they need to grow,” said Fraser.

Aside from tackling labour shortage the minister pointed out that there are just three workers for every retiree today, compared seven about 50 years ago, a number that’s likely to decline if Canada doesn’t pursue growth through immigration.

Canada to admit 1.4 million immigrants in three years to address labour shortages

Canada’s housing woes won’t be solved by restricting newcomers, says immigration minister

Workers in Canadian Tire’s supply chain not paid ‘living wages,’ union complains

To be sure, that argument is contested by some economists, including Mikal Skuterud, a professor at the University of Waterloo, who said the number of retirements impacting the labour pools has been “overplayed” and that the impact of aging was more of a trend line that led to tighter market conditions rather than a sudden glut of grey-haired workers leaving the workforce in droves. According to Skuterud, immigration is an effective way to dampen the nominal wage growth to keep the wage pace from accelerating too quickly and triggering a wage-price spiral.

Fraser, though, said that at a macro level across the economy, there’s an urgent need to embrace immigration. “T he cost of choosing not to fill those vacancies is enormous to the Canadian economy,” he said.

• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com | Twitter: naimonthefield

COACHING IS ABUSE
Canada's sliders hopeful of progress after calls for leadership change answered

Story by Devin Heroux •

Standing on the side of the mountain in the picturesque setting of the Whistler Sliding Centre, just steps away from the track where she will begin her World Cup season, Canadian bobsleigh pilot Cynthia Appiah takes a deep breath.

"There are going to be moments where you kind of sit back and you reflect on this and wonder how you got through that. How did my teammates go through that?" the 32-year-old tells CBC Sports, reflecting on a turbulent eight months at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton [BCS], the governing body for the sports in Canada.

"I think as athletes we learn to fight through adversity. We never want to give up until we absolutely have to, and so I don't know if that's like a tool that we build within ourselves or we're just naturally inclined to fight through the negativity."

In March, upward of 80 skeleton and bobsleigh athletes stood resolute in their calls for change at BCS. Citing a toxic and authoritarian culture, the athletes demanded the resignation of the organization's leaders, including Sarah Storey, CEO and president of the board of directors, and high-performance director Chris Le Bihan.

For months those calls got louder and headlines swirled, stories laced with descriptions of the organization's grim culture of intimidation.

Appiah was part of the group asking for something to change.

"I've been on the national team since 2015 and I don't think I've ever felt like my voice was ever heard by the leadership and I think this is now the turning of the page that we've been asking for for so long," Appiah said.

She was poised to make her Olympic debut at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018 but just weeks before they were to begin she was demoted to an alternate spot. It was heartbreaking and she nearly left the sport because of it. She describes an atmosphere in BCS that left her feeling unheard, fearful and disrespected.

"I count myself one of the lucky ones, and I use that term very loosely, because of what happened in 2018 with the decision to put me on as a reserve athlete," Appiah said. "That's something that took a long time to get over."

At the beginning of November, Storey declined to run for a third term, opening up the door for Tara McNeil to take over as president. Stephen Norris remained as vice-president.

"It was an interesting offseason because we knew that it wouldn't be a cakewalk," Appiah said. "We just needed something different and that's what we're looking for at the end of the day. Whatever the opinions may be of any individual I think we felt that we wanted to grow the sport and our vision wasn't aligning with the current leadership."


Appiah piloted Canada's two-woman sled in the Beijing Olympics in February.© AFP via Getty Images

Challenges of past months linger

Appiah and skeleton athlete Mirela Rahneva serve as athlete representatives in the organization.

"To be honest with you I had been tinkering with it for some time, but one of the stumbling blocks was that I felt the leadership needed to change before I actually put my name forward," Appiah said. "I knew in good conscience I didn't want to be a part of the athlete rep board if leadership stayed the same.

"I feel like this is just the next natural step in being a veteran on the team."

Rahneva is optimistic about this new direction.

"I think a lot of growth has happened. A lot of personal growth, and federation growth," Rahneva said.

She, like many others on the team, wants to look forward now — but the challenging circumstances of the last number of months still linger.

"I have had to put it kind of on a 'tree.' I 'tree' things that I have to deal with later. Right now I'm focusing on racing."



Skeleton athlete Mirela Rahneva along with Appiah serve as athlete representatives in BCS.© Associated Press

'Doesn't happen overnight'

When asked if there is already a healthier atmosphere around the organization, Rahneva is careful with her words.

"It's trying to. It's really trying to. It doesn't happen overnight," she said. "I think there are a lot of processes and a lot of people at the table that play a role in the change that occurs. Sometimes those people all mean well but they have different agendas or different goals. So it's kind of like a dance that you have to play out I guess."

Norris acknowledges they have a lot of work to do as an organization, not just to restore the good faith of the athletes but Canadians as well.

"Don't give up on us. We are working hard and I mean very hard. This board, the staff and the athletes are making sure we have that stable fortitude and platform so that we can make Canadians proud again," he said. "The level of trust is something we have to work really hard to rebuild. All of us. Staff. Board. Athletes. Sponsors. And our amazing support from funding agencies."

Norris said he's been heartened by the amount of openness and vulnerability shown by athletes who have been willing to speak out to try to be part of the solution.

"In all of this adversity we have an opportunity to lay the groundwork for something as a community can be proud of. I hope we can look back on this and say this was the tipping point we needed to sort ourselves out as a group," he said.

There is a feeling from both sides right now, athletes and leadership, that they are moving in the same direction. Bobsleigh and skeleton athletes know they compete in a niche sport that once every four years is thrust into the spotlight at the Olympics.

So to be in the headlines for all the wrong reasons outside of that timeframe has left many who love the sport with a bad taste in their mouths.


Justin Kripps won a gold medal driving Canada's four-man sled in 2018 and has since retired to coach.© Getty Images

Kripps transititoned to coach

It's why Olympic gold medallist Justin Kripps, who retired in August after 16 years of piloting Canadian sleds, made the quick transition to coach on the team.

He was instrumental in helping grow the sport in the country through his consistent and podium performances for so long — Kripps also feels he had many positive experiences throughout his career, something he now wants to provide the next generation of athletes.

"I think everyone wants to move forward. I hope both sides want to do that. That's the key ingredient to this. Acknowledging what happened and then moving forward from here," he said.

"With all the stuff going on this summer with BCS I thought it was important to stay involved at least for a little bit and pass on some knowledge I've accrued. It saddened me to see how many negative experiences there were because my career has been the opposite. I look back on it with such fond memories.

"I thought if I could help more people be more likely to have that experience then I should try and help for a bit."