Some drivers 'tune out' on the road when using semi-autonomous vehicles, early study data suggests


Tue, January 17, 2023

Researchers at the University of Windsor are assessing Tesla driver habits on a stretch of Highway 401. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Early findings from a study that is looking into distracted driving in semi-automatic vehicles reveals that people aren't always fully paying attention.

The study has participants drive a Tesla Model 3 on a stretch of Highway 401. Some are driving manually and others are in the semi-automated autopilot mode. In both instances, people are being measured on how focused they are.

Francesco Biondi, a kinesiology professor at the University of Windsor and one of the researchers on the study, told Windsor Morning Monday that some of the preliminary results have been unsurprising.

When using the automated system, he said, drivers tended to "tune out" on what he described as a boring stretch of the highway — from Windsor to Chatham.

"The system gives you the sense of false security," he said. "You feel like the system is in full control of driving while it's not."

He said that stretch of highway was chosen because it was the "ideal" testing ground for semi-automated driving — it's quite straight, there's not too much traffic and it's "uneventful."

How data is gathered

Biondi said there were a number of sensors put into the Tesla that was used in the study to track physiological markers like heart rate, and others to track eye movement — telling researchers where drivers are looking and for how long.

And that data provided some insights into how people using the semi-autonomous driving mode fared when faced with unexpected route changes.

Biondi said at one point there was a stretch of the highway that had construction going on, and researchers saw changes in driver behaviour before going through the construction and after they had passed it.

It is very tempting to use this technology that way. - Francesco Biondi, University of Windsor

He also said the car's reliability to read the lane markings when it was in semi-autonomous mode was hindered because of the construction.

"At that point we could see that the vehicle became a little bit more erratic. The system wasn't driving as smoothly as it did before," he said.

"And that sort of frightened some of our drivers."

He said that reliability may have been overstated in advertising and it has led to over-confidence in semi-autonomous vehicles.

Dale Molnar/CBC

"As drivers, as motorists, we're sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place in that, it is very tempting to use this technology that way," he said.

"On the other hand, we should be in control because the vehicle, the system is driving OK, but you know, we are still supposed to sort of supervise the functioning of the system.

"And we're not told that.… If you look at like some advertisements, we're not told that."

The study began in September and is expected to run for three years. Biondi said he hopes the results can help better inform stakeholders and government policy makers.

Autonomous cars in the future

Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, said this type of research is essential to the future design of autonomous vehicles.

"Studying how passengers and drivers act and react when they are in a vehicle that has that type of technology in it is really important," he said.

Volpe said the level of autonomy in vehicles is rated on a scale of one to five, where one is no autonomy and five is completely driverless.

He said many of the major automakers are "flirting" with Level 3 at this point, "which means a lot of systems that can be autonomous, but not all of them."

"Level 4 means the car can be fully autonomous, but it still needs the steering wheel and the pedals for override," he said.

Volpe said he doesn't think Level 4 vehicles will be deployed for at least five to 10 years, and the things we find out about people's behaviours while using the technology is invaluable.

"I think as a society if we start getting into a Level 4 technology and massive deployment, but we find out that we become lazier or more distracted as drivers, I think it will inform how much more technology will have to be in place before we allow for Level 5 on the roads," he said.

3rd National Gathering on Unmarked Burials in Vancouver focuses on data sovereignty



Tue, January 17, 2023 

This small empty chair was placed in a conference room of an Edmonton hotel at the national gathering on unmarked burials last September to represent the spirits of children who never returned home from Canada's residential school system. (Ka’nhehsí:io Deer/CBC - image credit)

Many of the challenges facing searches for missing children and unmarked graves associated with residential schools are tied to Indigenous data sovereignty, and that's what a gathering in Vancouver this week aims to address.

The third National Gathering on Unmarked Burials from Jan. 16-18 follows gatherings last year in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Participants at the gathering will have the opportunity to attend workshops, attend breakout sessions and hear from speakers from various organizations on data sovereignty and community control over knowledge and information as part of the three-day event.

The issue of who owns and controls access to records, church archives, blueprints and other relevant documents has continued to be one of the barriers for families and communities conducting searches.

Konwentenras Joslyn Jamieson, a Kanien'kehá:ka forensic scientist at McMaster University's Ancient DNA Centre in Hamilton, Ont., will be in Vancouver to offer what help she can.

"I was hearing a lot of survivor stories where I worked," said Jamieson, a member of Six Nations of the Grand River.

"It made me think of my own grandparents' history of attending residential school and it got me thinking that I wanted to be more active in being able to assist with finding some answers as to validating survivor stories."

Jamieson is using her training to help communities understand what is possible with the current science and what is not.

"Communities that may be more removed from city centres may not know what the extent of the current science capabilities are," Jamieson said.

"We're hoping people won't be tricked by modern companies that offer ancestry results that may not give them the specific identification that they need to say that this is this particular child."

The gatherings are being held by the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools.

Kimberly Murray was appointed last year with a two-year mandate to provide recommendations for a federal legal framework for the treatment and protection of burial sites of children at former residential schools.

Attendees of the conference this week will be able to access trauma informed and culturally appropriate supports.

A fourth gathering focusing on upholding Indigenous law is scheduled for Toronto in March.

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.

Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.

How a school in northern Alberta is protecting Cree and Dene language and culture

Tue, January 17, 2023 

Elders show students at Athabasca Delta Community School in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., how to skin the head of a moose. (Submitted by Priscilla St. Pierre - image credit)

A northern Alberta school is bringing Indigenous language and culture to the forefront of education after leaders removed the previous school board and started working with a new one.

This is the first school year that the Athabasca Delta Community School in Fort Chipewyan, Alta., 700 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, has operated under the Parkland School Division, based in Stony Plain, near Edmonton.

Last year, after years of leaders in Fort Chipewyan speaking out about an education crisis in the area, the Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and Fort Chipewyan Métis Association came together to get the school to switch to Parkland from its previous school division.

The First Nations are working to establish their own education authority and eventually take over the school.

In the meantime, they are working with the Parkland school board to bring in more culture and language programming, to help the next generation learn the culture.

Cree instructor Helena Welsh said the work she's been doing at the school has been part of her healing journey.

A residential school survivor who was punished for speaking her language, she now teaches Cree to students across Fort Chipewyan.

Submitted by Priscilla St. Pierre

"Those students are my healers, my supporters because they're co-operating and participating with me," Welsh said.

"It's very important for everybody … to take back what they were prevented from using."

Sharing her language and stories has been "a healing road for me," she said.

Welsh has been teaching Cree at the school for three years, but said this year is different, with a greater focus on bringing culture into the school and incorporating language into the activities.

For example, local hunters killed a moose and donated it to the school.

Roy Ladouceur was the elder who taught the students about the moose. Speaking in Cree, he taught the students that every part of the moose can be used. Bones can be made into tools. Fur can be used to stuff sled dogs' collars so they don't get hurt.

Ladouceur, 68, said he works with students to "remind them of who they are."

Submitted by Priscilla St. Pierre

"We've got to keep the tradition alive and ongoing," he said.

"I always speak out in Cree," Ladouceur said. "We keep on reminding the young people not to lose … their language and who they are."

Dene instructor Priscilla St. Pierre started teaching her language to students last March. This year the school brought in elders to tell stories. Parks Canada staff demonstrated a muskrat dissection.

The experiences have resonated with students, St. Pierre said.

"It's pretty exciting," she said. "Our language is who we are as Indigenous people and we have been blessed with a gift. And to promote that and to allow our children to recognize that within themselves is very important."

She said last year the language classes were for students up to Grade 6, but since the school board change, they are now being taught to students up to Grade 9.

Submitted by Priscilla St. Pierre

St. Pierre said the work has helped her reconnect to her language. She said she appreciates the opportunity to pass her knowledge along to kids in the community.

"I feel like I'm that fire that's igniting the students and igniting that spark within them," she said.

Cree language revitalization consultant Rita Marten said the school board reached out to the community leaders, and invited a group of elders to teach Indigenous studies.

"The way that the Mikisew Cree Nation has excelled over the years is by continuing on with our ancestor's way of life and including new and innovative education … that will enhance the Cree language," Marten said.

She said while language has been taught in the school before, the way it's being done is different.

Submitted by Priscilla St. Pierre

Dean Bernard, division principal of northern and Indigenous relations for Parkland School Division, said the language program offered at the Fort Chipewyan school is unique in that two languages are being offered for students up to the Grade 9 level.

Bernard said teaching language has to happen throughout the school, not just in language classes. For example, he said one of the science teachers has a solar system in his room with the Cree syllabics attached.

The programming was brought in because it's what the community asked for, said Bernard.

"They were very passionate about making sure that those languages were there," he said.

While there were language classes in the school before Parkland took over, Bernard said the division is focusing on making sure the language is present throughout the school, and on bringing in more programming.

The goal is to have students speaking the languages fluently when they finish Grade 12.

Trudeau should have visited First Nation during Saskatchewan stop: Indigenous leader

FIRE THE PRESS SECRETARY




SASKATOON — The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations says it is dismayed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not visit the First Nation where a child’s bone was found at a former residential school site.

The Star Blanket Cree Nation announced last week that a fragment of a child’s jawbone was unearthed and ground-penetrating radar found 2,000 areas of interest.

Trudeau, who was at a rare earth elements processing plant in Saskatoon on Monday, called the discovery of the partial remains heartbreaking.

The prime minister said he spoke with the First Nation’s chief Friday about ongoing support from the federal government.

Federation Chief Bobby Cameron said the prime minister should have gone to the First Nation northeast of Regina in person to show respect to survivors. Not being there shows those in the community that their suffering isn’t valued as much as a tour of the processing plant, he said.

“His lack of respect is hurtful towards all residential school survivors and descendants, who are grappling with how to handle finding the child's remains and more unmarked graves,” Cameron said in a news release.

An official speaking on background said when the Prime Minister's Office receives an official invitation, it makes it a mission to be there.

First Nation leaders invited Trudeau to Star Blanket’s announcement, the federation said, but he declined because he was waiting to confirm a meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller attended by video call.

The federation has formally invited the prime minister to the First Nation in the coming months.

“We want him to see the site. The amount of anomalies is devastating to our people who wonder how many of our relatives may have died there,” File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Chair Jeremy Fourhorns said in the news release.

“This is a dark part of Canadian history that deserves acknowledgment from the prime minister of Canada.”

The Qu’Appelle Indian Residential School, about 75 km northeast of Regina, was one of the first three to open in Canada and was run by the Roman Catholic Church through the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate from 1884 to 1973.

It operated for another 25 years until it closed in 1998.

The jawbone fragment, found in October, was identified by the province’s coroner’s service to be that of a child between the ages of four and six from about 125 years ago.

An estimated 150,000 Indigenous children were forced to attend residential schools over a century in Canada and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report detailed that many experienced emotional, physical, sexual and spiritual abuse.

The Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program has a hotline to help residential school survivors and their relatives suffering trauma invoked by the recall of past abuse. The number is 1-866-925-4419.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2023.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

Sri Lanka urged to free student activist held over protests

Tue, January 17, 2023 



COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Human rights groups urged Sri Lanka to release a prominent student activist who was arrested five months ago during anti-government protests triggered by the country's worst economic crisis and has been held without charges under harsh anti-terrorism laws.

Wasantha Mudalige was expected to appear in court on Tuesday for a bail hearing.

Seven human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said that under the powerful Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has been used since 1979, courts routinely deny bail if it's opposed by the attorney general.

Mudalige is the convenor of the Inter-University Students’ Federation and was involved in monthslong anti-government demonstrations last year. The protesters demanded wide-ranging reforms to resolve the economic crisis that caused shortages of essential goods, fuel and medicine after Sri Lanka defaulted on its massive debt.

The protests culminated in the flight and resignation of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after thousands of people stormed his residence in July.

His successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, initiated talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package contingent on reforms and debt restructuring. Wickremesinghe's government also gave sweeping powers to the authorities to crack down on the protests, arresting scores of activists.

Rights groups say the military has sought to curtail protests through intimidation, surveillance and arbitrary arrests since Wickremesinghe took office in July.

Many of those detained have been released on bail, but the rights group say authorities had used extraordinary powers to keep Mudalige in detention despite having produced no evidence of his involvement in terrorism.

The groups said in a statement Monday that for much of the time, Mudalige has been held in “solitary confinement and poor conditions, which can violate the prohibition on torture or other ill-treatment under international human rights law.”

Mudalige was also arrested and jailed for more than three months in 2021, after protesting for the right to free education.

For months, opposition lawmakers, rights and student activists have been demanding the release of Mudalige and an end to the government crackdown on demonstrations linked to the economic crisis.

Government spokesmen did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Mudalige.

The rights groups also urged the government to repeal the anti-terror law, which allows for up to a year of detention without charge on the orders of the defense minister, a position currently held by Wickremesinghe.

In March, the government introduced some reforms to the anti-terror law. However, opposition and rights groups called them cosmetic and said the law still allows the detention of suspects without warrants and the use of confessions obtained through torture. They say the law, introduced during the country’s civil war in 1979, has been widely abused, causing a large number of innocent people to spend years in prison without trial.

Wickremesinghe was elected by Parliament to complete Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024. He is unpopular because he is supported by lawmakers who are still backed by the Rajapaksa family, which ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades. Many accuse Wickremesinghe of protecting the Rajapaksas, who are widely blamed for corruption and misrule that led to the crisis.

Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and has suspended repayment of nearly $7 billion in foreign debt due this year pending the outcome of talks with the IMF. The country’s total foreign debt exceeds $51 billion, of which $28 billion has to be repaid by 2027.

Bharatha Mallawarachi, The Associated Press

Threats against Quebec's premier during pandemic part of 'violent' trend: terrorism agency

Mon, January 16, 2023

Quebec Premier François Legault floated the idea in January 2022 of a tax on people who were unvaccinated against COVID-19. A newly released report from the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre shows the premier received online death threats shortly after proposing the tax. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Online threats against Quebec's premier during the COVID-19 pandemic are part of a larger and "increasingly violent" trend, according to an unclassified report that concludes it's difficult for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to assess the validity of those threats.

The report, by Canada's Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre (ITAC), was obtained by CBC News through an access to information request. ITAC works in tandem with Canada's top spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

It was written in response to threats made online in January 2022, shortly after Premier François Legault proposed an additional tax for the unvaccinated.

The report says Legault's home address was posted on a public online forum, among other threatening messages.

"Hopefully someone in Quebec decapitates that f---," said one anonymous message.

"Give yourself at least a few weeks for a clean plan so that you don't get caught," said another.

In the report, ITAC concludes that violence against Legault is "unlikely" but says it "cannot discount the possibility" of an attack against the premier.

It also warns that the practice of "doxing" — maliciously publishing personal information online — adds risk, because it "provides those who have the intent and capability to use violence with valuable logistical details, potentially resulting in an opportunity to conduct an attack."

Legault's office declined to be interviewed, saying it doesn't comment on security concerns.

Mathieu Thériault/CBC

But one former security expert with the federal government said doxing adds an extra layer of danger into the "toxic brew" of violent online comments.

"It does heighten the risk for specific individuals and specific institutions and communities," said Artur Wilczynski, who is now a senior strategy adviser with consulting firm Samuel Associates in Ottawa. "It is a significant concern."

Threats against officials are up during pandemic

The ITAC report is part of mounting evidence of polarization, according to Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., whose research interests include terrorism, radicalization and extremism.

"The pandemic really ramped up the temperature of the discourse," he said in an interview with CBC News.

"Everything became a cosmic struggle of good versus evil and us versus them — and bringing down that temperature of politics is going to be enormously important."

Submitted by Amarnath Amarasingam

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, threats against elected officials in Quebec have skyrocketed.

Provincial police received more than 200 complaints of threats against politicians in 2022, compared with 16 in 2019.

At least five people have been charged since the beginning of the pandemic with threatening Legault.

Canada's top spy agency has also raised the alarm.

Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Speaking to parliamentarians last May, a CSIS representative warned of a "marked increase in violent threats addressed at elected officials and public servants," saying it has allocated more resources to monitor the rise of ideologically motivated violent extremism.

Federal politicians have also been targeted. In August, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was harassed in Grande Prairie, Alta.

"The chatter online has increased exponentially, and we saw it kind of happening in real time, since exactly March 2020, when the [pandemic] mandates set in," Amarasingam said.

"It's difficult to know how many of these people will act on their words. Because they make threats all the time, but it only takes one to act on it."

Heated political climate has 'chilling effect'

Above and beyond the risks for the targeted lawmakers, the pro-democracy group Apathy is Boring warns that the current political climate will make it harder to convince people to enter politics.

"It does really have a chilling effect, particularly for women, people of colour, younger candidates," said Sam Reusch, the non-partisan's group's executive director.

CBC

There's no "silver bullet" or clear way to cool the political climate, she said, but her organization does work with youth to help identify their biases and online misinformation.

"We really need to be doing the work of reaching out to one another, of mending our communities, of reducing polarization by having hard conversations and not allowing it to fracture," she said.

CANADA'S SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY
As NDP gathers to talk strategy, MPs vow to keep Liberals at their word on pharmacare



OTTAWA — At a three-day retreat in Ottawa this week, New Democrat members of Parliament are expected to focus discussions on getting more wins out of their confidence-and-supply agreement with the federal Liberals.

Under the deal reached last March, the NDP agreed to support the minority government on key votes in the House of Commons to avoid triggering an election before 2025.

In exchange, the Liberals promised to make progress on NDP priorities, including pharmacare.

"We'll absolutely be watching very carefully to see where the government is at, and whether or not they are going to honour their word," NDP caucus chair Jenny Kwan said Monday.

Before the holiday break, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh threatened to pull out of the agreement if federal action isn't taken to improve health care, which the party sees as a national crisis.

Kwan said pulling out of the agreement remains an option.

"We're going to have to wait and see how things unfold. I mean, our agreement is very clear to say what are the items that the government needs to deliver on," Kwan said.

Cost-of-living policies the Liberals passed last fall, including dental-care subsidies for children under 12 in low-income households, one-time rental supplements for low-income renters and a temporary doubling of the GST tax rebate, had been NDP priorities.

When NDP MPs gather for a caucus retreat beginning on Wednesday, they will look to build on those policies to "ensure life is more affordable" for Canadians this year, Kwan said.

She said that will include seeking to expand dental coverage to more Canadians and pushing for more investment in Indigenous housing.

The caucus is also eying bills it hopes will be brought forward this year, she said, after Parliament returns at the end of the month: a "just transition" bill for energy workers whose jobs could be affected by environmental policy, and a Canada Pharmacare Act committing the government to publicly fund prescription drugs.

"The pharmacare piece will require legislation. That’s part of the agreement, and so legislation will certainly come forward," Kwan said.

The confidence-and-supply agreement stipulated that a pharmacare bill must be tabled by the end of 2023, and that a "National Drug Agency" would be tasked to "develop a national formulary of essential medicines and bulk purchasing plan by the end of the agreement."

In 2020, the NDP's House leader, Peter Julian, had proposed a private members' bill outlining a universal pharmacare program. It was defeated in the House of Commons in February 2021, with the vast majority of Liberals, Conservatives and Bloc Québécois voting against.

Kwan is hopeful that such a bill will have more support a second time around.

"There is a framework we can build on," she said, adding that the NDP's health critic, Don Davies, is "working very hard."

The NDP caucus retreat wraps up Friday, and the House of Commons is scheduled to resume Jan. 30.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2023.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press

South Korea president, in UAE, backs return to nuclear power
BUT NOT FOR THE NORTH OR IRAN
Mon, January 16, 2023 



ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that his nation's efforts to be carbon neutral by 2050 would rely in part on returning to nuclear power, even though his predecessor had tried to move away from atomic power.

Yoon's comments at a summit in the United Arab Emirates, made in front of the country's leader, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, served to underline Seoul's commitment to nuclear power as it works to finish the Arabian Peninsula's first atomic power plant. That could see South Korea in line for lucrative maintenance contracts and future projects in the UAE, which Seoul has grown closer to over recent years.

“Korea has … declared its 2050 carbon neutrality goal," Yoon said in an address at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. "To achieve this goal, we are working to rapidly restore the nuclear power system, which supplies carbon-free electricity.”

“If our two countries join efforts in clean energy development … it will not only enhance our two countries energy security but also will contribute to global energy market stability,” Yoon added.

Yoon's predecessor, President Moon Jae-in, sought to move South Korea away from nuclear power amid safety and graft scandals and Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. But the renewed global focus on climate change — and the surge in fossil fuel prices after the lockdowns of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine — has some reconsidering nuclear power.

The UAE also promises to be carbon neutral by 2050 — a target that remains difficult to assess and one that the Emirates still has not fully explained how it will reach. The $20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant, Seoul’s first attempt to build atomic reactors abroad, will one day account for nearly a quarter of all of the Emirates’ power needs.

Yoon traveled later Monday to the Barakah nuclear power plant in Abu Dhabi’s far western desert near Saudi Arabia with Sheikh Mohammed before a planned business summit back in the capital.

On his arrival back, Yoon told the summit that, using the Barakah plant as an example, he hoped the Emirates and South Korea could expand this “new model of cooperation” to include nuclear fuel, small reactors and other joint advances to third countries.

“Through the construction of the Barakah nuclear power plant, we were able to develop relations that are now genuinely like brothers,” Yoon said.

Yoon's embrace of nuclear power also provides a guarantee of sorts that South Korea remains invested in servicing the Barakah plant. France, also home to nuclear power plants and another Emirati business and military ally, has sought contracts here as well.

Already, Yoon's four-day trip the UAE has seen a promise from Sheikh Mohammed to invest some $30 billion in the country. Heavyweight business leaders from Hyundai, Samsung and other companies also are taking part in the state visit.

On Sunday, Yoon also visited South Korean special forces stationed in the United Arab Emirates, a murky deployment that grew out of Seoul's deal over the nuclear power plant. The Akh unit is comprised of some 150 troops.

“The UAE is our brother nation. … This isn’t a foreign country called the UAE — this right here, is your country,” a hawkish Yoon told the gathered forces. Both he and his wife, who accompanied him on the trip, wore desert fatigues.

“The security of our brother nation is our security. The enemy of the UAE, its most-threatening nation, is Iran, and our enemy is North Korea. … We are in a very similar situation with the UAE,” he said.

Yoon's comments comes as the Emiratis have been trying to hedge in its relationship with Iran, a major business partner. The UAE also is home to around 3,500 American troops at Al Dhafra Air Base, a naval outpost in Fujairah and other locations.

Already, the Emiratis have paid $3.5 billion for the Cheongung II, or “Heaven's Bow,” surface-to-air missile system from South Korea to protect itself against aerial threats. Emirati officials have grown increasingly concerned about protecting their airspace after being targeted in long-range drone attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels — drones likely built by or with Tehran's help.

South Korea has found itself squeezed by the tensions over Iran's collapsed nuclear deal with world powers. Billions of dollars in Iranian funds remain in Seoul, frozen by American sanctions. Iran held a South Korean oil tanker for months in 2021 amid the dispute.

On Tuesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Tehran was “investigating” Yoon's "interfering statements."

Yoon's wife Kim Keon Hee, meanwhile, had a different question for the troops. She asked if the soldiers had seen foxes in the Emirati desert.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

___

Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press

Minister won't say if Indian boarding homes settlement will include apology to survivors

BOARDING HOMES 

DIFFERENT THAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS

Tue, January 17, 2023 

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says an apology is among several issues to be discussed as talks progress toward the Indian boarding homes final settlement agreement. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press - image credit)

The federal minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations won't say if a proposed class-action settlement with survivors of Canada's boarding home program for Indigenous students will include an apology — something the case's lead plaintiff spent more than a decade advocating for.

In an interview last week, Marc Miller said he understands how important an apology is for some survivors, but wouldn't comment further while talks work toward a final settlement.

"We do have to keep an open mind as to what that would produce for those who just want to hear the words that whoever was responsible for this is sorry," he said.

"We know the importance and the quantum of solace that has afforded to a number of residential school survivors when it comes to the Pope, and even the apology that was given by Canada for the experience of residential schools."

Although much work on the final deal remains, last month's signing of an agreement-in-principle was a breakthrough for those boarding home survivors who filed the class action in 2018.

They long said they suffered similar harm to residential school pupils, and are among the victims of assimilationist residential school-era policies who haven't been compensated.

"These were boarding homes that, for all intents and purposes, had all the trappings, abuse and egregious harms that people suffered at residential schools," Miller said.

The newly proposed settlement, worth an estimated $2.2 billion, would include roughly 40,000 Indigenous youth who were placed in non-Indigenous boarding homes to attend public school between 1951 and 1992, the parties said in Jan. 3 joint update.

Submitted by Reginald Percival

The program's stated goal was to provide adequate housing for Indigenous students, but the claim alleges the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs underfunded and mismanaged the program, creating an environment rife with potential for abuse.

The case's 67-year-old lead plaintiff Reginald Percival still gets emotional about his boarding home days.

The Nisga'a man remembers the cries of children being separated from their families and hauled off to faraway towns. The pain of growing up without his parents still weighs heavy on his heart.

"At 67, I can't believe I still cry that I miss them, because they weren't there for me," he said.

"That's what came through my head [when the agreement was reached]. I want them to hear my voice."

Affidavits detail abuse allegations

Percival was 13 when he and some 500 other Nisga'a youth were taken from their homes in British Columbia and sent to boarding homes for public schooling, says a 2018 court affidavit.

The affidavit alleges he experienced extreme racism, mistreatment and alienation that created feelings of dislocation, isolation and shame. He regularly heard his boarding home parents say they "were getting back their taxes" by housing Indigenous youth, the affidavit says.

He elaborated on the experience following news of the draft deal, explaining how the burden of suffering led him to contemplate suicide. He turned to booze and drugs to cope. But eventually he turned a corner, got a good education and became a social worker. Now he's on the healing journey and spent more than a decade advocating for boarding home survivors.

Submitted by Reginald Percival

"I'm feeling much better now, and stronger," Percival said.

However, he added, "Our healing journey I don't think is going to start officially for many of us until that apology is there and the compensation package is rolling."

Four other survivors filed similar affidavits providing detailed testimony of the abuse they allegedly suffered in the program. The affidavits include stories of racism, psychological abuse, malnutrition, rape, beatings, forced labour, bullying, cruelty and inhumane treatment.

Rather than dispute these claims, Miller said Ottawa decided to settle, though he added, "I don't think I could sit here today and give you any good reason why it took so long."

"It's horrifying to think that, as Canadians, this happened under our watch."

As to whether the federal government mismanaged the program and thus contributed to the harm, he said the public will have to wait and see what gets put into the final settlement agreement.

"We have recognized in the past that there is responsibility on the shoulders of the federal government," he said.

Miller said he's optimistic 2023 will yield progress on the deal.

Percival expects the process will be challenging.

"My advice to people is to be prepared mentally because you could have flashbacks," he said.

"Be prepared to deal with that. I think emotionally it's going to be tough for some people."

Mental health counselling and crisis support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.

SOLIDAIRE

French demonstrators demand extradition of retired priest accused of abusing Inuit children

Mon, January 16, 2023 

A group of demonstrators gathered outside the retirement home of retired priest Johannes Rivoire in Lyon, France, on Monday, demanding the French government extradite Rivoire to face charges of sexual assault in Canada. (Arnaud Gallais - image credit)

A group of demonstrators gathered outside the retirement home of retired priest Johannes Rivoire in Lyon, France, on Monday, demanding the French government extradite Rivoire to face charges of sexual assault in Canada.

"For us as French citizen[s], it's a real shame that our government refuses to make part of justice for Inuit people," said Amandine Sanvisens, who was among the demonstrators.

"We wanted to show and to put the light on this place where he lives."

The allegations against Rivoire stem from his time working as an Oblate priest in Nunavut in the 1960s and 1970s. He was charged last February with one count of indecent assault on a female, who was child at the time of the alleged offence. It happened between January 1974 and December 1979.

Allegations against him date much further back, though — previous charges against him had been outstanding for years but were stayed in 2017.

Library and Archives Canada

People in Nunavut have spent nearly two decades pushing for Rivoire to be extradited.

An Inuit delegation travelled to France last September to implore French officials to grant Canada's extradition request. They also confronted the retired priest while there.

French officials, however, denied the extradition request in October. In a statement, the French Ministry of Justice said the practice of not extraditing nationals is part of France's "constitutional tradition."

Sanvisens said Monday's demonstration was a way to show Rivoire's alleged victims in Nunavut that "we are on their side."

"We ask for justice and we want criminal people pay for their crimes," she said.

The demonstrators used spray paint on the sidewalk to direct pedestrians' attention to Rivoire's residence, and also painted a message on the side of the building in block letters.

"Here lives pedocriminal J. Rivoire. The Canadian justice is asking for his extradition. France's is refusing. We are ashamed," the message reads, in French.

Arnaud Gallais

The demonstrators say they have also launched an online petition that now has more than 13,000 signatures.

"In this demonstration there were other victims of bishops in France and it was very important to show their support and solidarity with other victims. And so it's a very big step for us, and we're going to continue this kind of action," Sanvisens said.

Steve Mapsalak, from Naujaat, Nunavut, was one of the Inuit delegates who went to France last September. He said Monday that he was surprised, and encouraged, to hear about the demonstration in Lyon.

Juanita Taylor/CBC

Mapsalak said some people in France last fall voiced support for his group's efforts, and promised to support them. But he confessed that at the time he "didn't really think that it was really going to happen."

"It felt good that we were being supported, and they kept their word. I was happy to hear that," Mapsalak said on Monday.

"I hope they keep it up. And I hope that the number of people supporting us increases, and [they are] heard by their government."

Tanya Tungilik, whose father Marius Tungilik had accused Rivoire of sexual abuse, was also part of the group that went to France in September seeking justice. She said that Mapsalak called her on Monday to tell her about the demonstration in Lyon. Like him, she was surprised to hear about it.

After she hung up the phone, she said, she "just started crying."

"I was overcome with emotion, just being so touched by it and grateful that they haven't forgotten us," Tungilik said.

"I really hope something comes out of it ... I'm feeling more hopeful today."