Canada has agreed to repatriate 19 women and children held in Syria

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Family members of 6 women and 13 children had asked courts to order the government to secure their release

Darren Major · CBC News · Posted: Jan 19, 2023

 

                                          The federal government has agreed to repatriate 19 Canadian women and children held in Syrian detention camps for suspected ISIS members and their families.

The federal government is moving forward on repatriating 19 Canadian women and children held in northeastern Syria.

Family members of 23 detained Canadians — six women, four men and 13 children — have asked a Federal Court to order the government to arrange for their return. They've argued that refusing to do so would violate their charter rights.

The Canadians are among many foreign nationals in Syrian detention camps for suspected ISIS members and their families. The camps are run by the Kurdish forces that reclaimed the war-torn region from the extremist group.

Lawrence Greenspon, the lawyer for the applicants, told CBC that an agreement has been reached to secure the release and return of the women and children. The case of the four men is still before the court, he said.

Lawyer Lawrence Greenspon said the government has agreed to repatriate six women and 13 children currently detained in Syria. (Alistair Steele/CBC)

"It's clear that the Canadian government has the ability to bring our Canadians home, and where there is evidence to believe they've committed an offence, charge them and prosecute them," Greenspon told CBC's Canada Tonight host Dwight Drummond.

The government confirmed Friday morning that an agreement had been reached. A statement from Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said the government would evaluate the possibility of providing assistance to other detainees on a case-by-case basis.

"Amidst reports of deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions in the camps, we remain particularly concerned with the health and safety of Canadian women and children," the statement said.

Decision 'long past due,' expert says

A document filed in the court case in December said GAC already had begun looking into repatriating the 19 Canadians. The document stated that they had met the threshold under the government's January 2021 policy framework for providing extraordinary assistance.

The names of the women and children have not been disclosed.

• Ottawa not legally required to bring Canadians home from Syria, federal lawyer tells court

• Feds eyeing repatriation of 19 Canadian women and children held in Syria: document

Leah West, a national security expert and professor at Carleton University, said the decision is "long past due." She said Canada has been pressed by allies and international advocacy groups to repatriate Canadian women and children from Syria.

"I think [with] all that pressure mounting, we were going to see the women and children come home," West said.

A handful of women and children have returned to Canada from the region in recent years, including two women who were arrested upon their arrival — one on terrorism charges.

But for the most part, Canada has not followed the example of other countries — including France and Australia — that have successfully repatriated citizens.

WATCH | Go inside a Syrian detention camp: 

Inside an ISIS detention camp in Syria

2 years ago

Duration2:39

CBC News gets an inside look of a detention camp in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria that's home to tens of thousands of people and where ISIS sleeper cells control much of what happens. But many of those inside simply just want to go home.

Treat children 'as victims,' says human rights group

Farida Deif, director of Human Rights Watch in Canada, said Canada has been hesitant because it lacked "political will to repatriate anyone with suspected ISIS ties."

Deif said her organization estimates there are still dozens of Canadians in Syrian camps, most of them children.

"There needs to be steps taken to ensure that the children are treated first and foremost as victims," Deif said. "They've … suffered unimaginable harm already."

Both West and Deif said they would support the repatriation of the Canadian men held in the detention camps so they can face trial in Canada.

• 2 women arrested in Canada after coming home from Syrian camp for ISIS fighters' families

• At least 2 Canadian women and their children returning from ISIS detention camp

But former CSIS analyst Phil Gurski told CBC News Network that he doubts any of the adults returning would face justice for potential crimes they may have committed.

"The witnesses aren't here, the evidence isn't here," he told host Natasha Fatah. "As a Canadian citizen I'm outraged that people are going to get away with it."

Gurski said it would also put extra pressure on Canada's intelligence bodies to monitor the individuals that do return.

REST IN POWER

Musician David Crosby dead at 81

Thu, January 19, 2023 

Musician David Crosby performs onstage on April 5, 2014, in Los Angeles. Crosby has died at the age of 81. (Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for LUTB - image credit)

David Crosby, whose soaring harmonies with two different iconic bands elevated him to musical stardom in the 1960s even as his famously volatile temper often fractured relations with his bandmates, has died at the age of 81, his family said.

A statement from Crosby's wife released to Variety magazine confirmed the musician's death "after a long illness" and said that he had died "lovingly surrounded by his wife and soulmate Jan and son Django."

In a career extending six decades, Crosby first spent three years with the Roger McGuinn-led Byrds, who scored No. 1 hits in the mid-60s with Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn, Turn, Turn.

Soon after he joined up with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and, on occasion, Neil Young. Both configurations yielded mellow hits like Teach Your Children, Just A Song Before I Go and Wasted On the Way, as well as impassioned protest fare such as Wooden Ships, Almost Cut My Hair and Ohio.

Crosby also released eight solo albums, beginning with the acclaimed If I Could Only Remember My Name in 1971 and as recently as 2021's For Free.

Keystone/Getty Images

Crosby, more often than not sporting a walrus mustache, built a reputation over his career as one of rock's most colourful characters, a hedonistic connector of the artists who lived and amassed in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

"I couldn't shake the guy from my mind," Nash recalled of an early meeting, at the house of Cass Elliott of the Mamas and Papas, in his 2013 book Wild Tales: A Rock & Roll Life. "He was such a free spirit, so irreverent … the energy he put out was incredible."

Also, Nash noted, Crosby "had the best dope in Hollywood."

Crosby proselytized to his famous friends about a young Canadian singer-songwriter he'd seen, Joni Mitchell, and dated her for a time as her career ascended.

Peter Morgan/Reuters

Success and friction

However, he could exasperate bandmates with his undisciplined, opinionated ways. The Byrds fired him from the band and he burned bridges with his Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young partners near the end of his life.

"David had become insufferable," McGuinn said in the Cameron Crowe-directed documentary on Crosby's life, 2019's Remember My Name. "He was hard to hang out with."

Crosby admitted to having a volcanic temper and lamented the bridges burned in the same documentary.

"I still have friends, but all of the guys I made music with won't even talk to me," he said. "One of them hating my guts could be an accident. But McGuinn, Nash, Neil and Stephen all really dislike me, strongly."

Bandmate Graham Nash posted an Instagram tribute to Crosby late Thursday featuring a photo of their guitar cases side by side.

"I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times," he wrote, "but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years."

Nash said that Crosby was "fearless in life and in music. He leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world."

Crosby was also at a loss to explain how he had not become another young rock and roll casualty, with indulgences threatening to overcome him in the 1970s and 1980s.

He was arrested multiple times for drugs and weapons offences and served a prison sentence, while in the 1990s the accumulated toll on his health necessitated a liver transplant.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Pioneers of folk rock to Woodstock stage

Crosby was born Aug. 14, 1941 in Los Angeles, to a mother he described as doting and a father — Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby — he found distant. Not an academic, Crosby found expression on stages, trying both acting and music.

After some earlier, unsuccessful attempts to establish himself as a folksinger, Crosby met McGuinn and early Byrds songwriter Gene Clark, with Michael Clarke and Chris Hillman also joining.

The Byrds electrified the songs of Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger alongside their original material, hailed in their evolving career as being pioneers of folk-rock and country-rock.

Crosby contributed the songs Ladyfriend, Why and Draft Morning to the band's catalogue but was shown the door in 1967, not long after angering his bandmates with an off-the-cuff onstage rant about the John F. Kennedy assassination at the 1967 Monterey Pop festival.

He more than landed on his feet the following year by joining Nash of Hollies fame and Stills from the defunct Buffalo Springfield.

The debut album of Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969 was one of the iconic albums of its era, with Crosby earning songwriting credits on Wooden Ships, Long Time Gone and Guinnevere to go along with the smashes Suite: Judy Blue Eyes and Marrakesh Express.

The trio performed just their second-ever gig in front of hundreds of thousands at Woodstock in August 1969.

"We're scared shitless," Stills said from the stage by way of intro.

'Forever the catalyst, always intense'

In order to augment their stage act, Young was invited and reunited with his former Springfield bandmate Stills as a result.

Crosby wrote the title track to the quartet's 1970 smash Déjà Vu, which included the hits Teach Your Children, Our House and Helpless. The recording was a gut-wrenching affair for him, as his girlfriend, Christine Hinton, had been killed in a car accident in September 1969.

Young remembered Crosby's imprint on CSNY decades later in his 2012 book Waging Heavy Peace.

"Crosby was forever the catalyst, always intense, driving us further and further," said Young. "Just looking in those eyes made me want to deliver from the heart."

Crosby's anguished wails colour Young's contribution, Ohio, released as a single just weeks after four young people were killed at Kent State University in Ohio after national guardsmen fired indiscriminately as protesters demonstrated against U.S. military involvement in Vietnam and Cambodia.

CSNY embarked on one of rock's earliest stadium tours in 1974, and without Young recorded the well-received CSN album in 1977, featuring the top 10 hit Just A Song Before I Go.

But Crosby was soon on a downward spiral, with Timothy B. Schmit singing the part meant for him on the 1982 single Wasted on the Way.

"When he started to take a dive it was terrible to see. There was nothing we could do to stop him," wrote Young in his 2012 book, going on to describe an incident on an otherwise idyllic sailing excursion where Crosby felt the compulsion to freebase cocaine.

Reuters

Revelations, honours in the '90s

Crosby, wan and severely overweight, was sentenced to five years in prison in 1983, his lawyer unsuccessfully arguing he was in illegal possession of a gun because of fears for his safety after John Lennon's assassination three years earlier.

Crosby ultimately served seven months behind bars before moving to a halfway house, years later saying prison "saved my life," along with his 1987 marriage to wife Jan and subsequent drug recovery meetings. He would also form a bond and a professional relationship as a musician with an adult son, James, whose existence he had been unaware of until the 1990s.

Reuters

The Byrds were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, with Crosby, Stills & Nash getting that same honour six years later.

"For a guy who was supposed to be dead a couple years ago, I'm doing pretty well," Crosby said at the latter ceremony.

Meanwhile, it was learned a few years later, Crosby had been the sperm donor for two children born in the 1990s to singer Melissa Etheridge and her then-partner Julie Cypher.

CSNY had released albums in 1986 and 1999 that had received a muted response.

The group's 2006 Freedom of Speech tour came at a time of heightened passions over the U.S. military operation in Iraq. While most fans welcomed them back, Nash later wrote in his book it was also the first time the group "experienced people walking out of a CSNY concert" due to politics.

While Crosby collaborated in more recent years with artists such as Jason Isbell, Jonathan Wilson and John Mayer, his old friends swore off rejoining.

Crosby was caught publicly disparaging Young's wife, actor Daryl Hannah, who had a tumultuous end to her relationship with Crosby's friend, Jackson Browne. Nash commented soon after in an interview that Crosby had "tore the heart out of CSN and CSNY" as a result.

He continued to be up for benefits for a host of environmental and charitable causes, and lent his name to a marijuana business venture.

 

Folk-rock pioneer David Crosby dies at 81

Maggy DONALDSON
Thu, January 19, 2023 


David Crosby, the trailblazing singer-songwriter whose time with The Byrds and later Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young expanded rock's range, has died, his publicist said Thursday. He was 81.

Citing a family member, his publicist confirmed the death to AFP but did not provide a cause. The singer's wife Jan Dance had earlier told entertainment outlet Variety that Crosby passed following a long illness.

"Although he is no longer here with us, his humanity and kind soul will continue to guide and inspire us. His legacy will continue to live on through his legendary music," read his wife's statement.

"Peace, love, and harmony to all who knew David and those he touched. We will miss him dearly."

The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer -- known as much for his alternative guitar tunings, lush harmonies and abstract lyrics as for his pacifist activism, brutal honesty and living dangerously -- remained a prolific artist throughout his life.

Over the course of six decades in the music industry, the vocalist, guitarist and composer at the forefront of countercultural rock penned a rich array of heartfelt ballads and knife-edged bangers.

Tributes quickly poured in honoring the beloved musician with a signature walrus mustache.

"I don't know what to say other than I'm heartbroken to hear about David Crosby," tweeted Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys.

"David was an unbelievable talent -- such a great singer and songwriter. And a wonderful person."

In a statement provided to AFP via a publicist, Stephen Sills said that while he and his former bandmate had their differences over the years -- Crosby was notoriously headstrong -- "I was happy to be at peace with him."

"He was without question a giant of a musician, and his harmonic sensibilities were nothing short of genius," Stills said of Crosby. "The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun."

"I am deeply saddened at his passing and shall miss him beyond measure."

- 'Tremendous void' -

Crosby first found fame as a member of The Byrds, who jumped into the public consciousness with their cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" before delivering classic hits including "Turn! Turn! Turn!"

But the famously blunt Crosby had a number of run-ins with his bandmates and was fired in 1967.

He struck up jam sessions with Stills, the artist who first found success with Buffalo Springfield.

Graham Nash joined the pair to form a supergroup that quickly jumped onto the charts with hits including "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Our House," which Nash wrote while living with Joni Mitchell in Los Angeles' Laurel Canyon.

Neil Young eventually joined to form the best-known iteration of the group, producing some of the 1960s' top hits including "Ohio."

Crosby's sparring with both Young and Nash was well-documented, but the latter was quick to react to news of his bandmate's death, expressing "deep and profound sadness" while praising his "beautiful music" and "incredible legacy."

"I know people tend to focus on how volatile our relationship has been at times, but what has always mattered to David and me more than anything was the pure joy of the music we created together, the sound we discovered with one another, and the deep friendship we shared over all these many long years," Nash said in a statement. "David was fearless in life and in music."

"He leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world."

- 'A true treasure' -

For decades Crosby struggled with drug addiction and myriad health problems, but eventually got clean and got a liver transplant -- keeping only his penchant for weed.

He found a creative renaissance working with younger artists, including his son James.

"Normally, as you get older, you sort of peter out. You write less," he told AFP during an interview in 2021.

But writing with peers "extended my life as a writer tremendously," he said. "I just love making music."

Jason Isbell, who the artist collaborated with in his final decade, also voiced his sadness: "Grateful for the time we had with David Crosby. We'll miss him a lot."

Crosby also helped Melissa Etheridge, the rocker who found fame in the 1990s, and her partner conceive their children via sperm donation.

"He gave me the gift of family," Etheridge tweeted upon news of Crosby's death. "His music and legacy will inspire many generations to come. A true treasure."

In his twilight years Crosby became an avid tweeter, delighting fans with frenetic, often humorous missives, including reviews of their joints.

He loved answering fan questions, proclaiming his political opinions and skewering posts he thought were particularly dumb.

On his last day active on the platform, January 18, Crosby responded to one user's tweet sorting out who's allowed into heaven.

"I heard the place is overrated....cloudy," Crosby quipped.

David Crosby: the outspoken trailblazer of US folk-rock

Maggy DONALDSON
Thu, January 19, 2023 


David Crosby, an influential musical pioneer of the 1960s and 1970s who created a distinctly American brand of folk-rock with the Byrds and later with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, has died. He was 81.

The two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer -- known as much for his alternative guitar tunings, lush harmonies and abstract lyrics as for his pacifist activism, brutal honesty and living dangerously -- remained a prolific artist throughout his life.

Over the course of six decades in the music industry, the vocalist, guitarist, and composer at the forefront of countercultural rock penned a rich array of heartfelt ballads and knife-edged bangers.


Famous for his walrus mustache and his laid-back stage presence, often in jeans paired with flannels, he crafted subtle acoustic guitar riffs and multi-layered harmonies on tracks including CSNY's "Guinnevere," a gentle song rife with allusions to medieval myth.

But on other hard-hitting rock tracks like "Almost Cut My Hair" -- whose lyrics underscore the anti-establishment sentiment of the era's youth -- he showcased biting lyrics and almost caustic guitar work.

- 'Breaking the fourth wall' -

Born on August 14, 1941 in Los Angeles, Crosby was the second son of Oscar-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, while his mother, Aliph Van Cortlandt Whitehead, came from New York's prominent Van Cortlandt family.

Far from a straight-A student, Crosby participated in high school musicals and later studied drama at Santa Barbara City College, but quickly left academics behind to pursue music.

He found limited solo success before meeting Chicago musician Terry Callier, who introduced him to multi-instrumentalist Jim McGuinn -- a founding member of the Byrds.

The band soared to fame after putting out a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man," debuting what would become the Byrds' trademark 12-string sound.

The Byrds went on to produce hits including "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Eight Miles High," but Crosby's friction with his fellow rockers, not least due to his political conspiracy theorizing, led them to fire him in 1967.

"I was a difficult cat," Crosby said of the split in the raw, intensely introspective 2019 documentary "David Crosby: Remember My Name."

"And not easy. Big ego, no brains. Goofy."

Following a solo sailing trip, he began jamming with Stephen Stills, the singer-songwriter who started out with Buffalo Springfield. The duo were later joined by Graham Nash, who left the Hollies to join the supergroup.

Crosby, Stills and Nash found quick acclaim and released a number of Top 40 hits, including "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and "Marrakesh Express."

Neil Young joined up shortly thereafter, and the band put out some of the most notable hits of the 60s, including "Ohio" -- about the US National Guard murder of four anti-war protesters at Kent State -- and their cover version of the generation's anthem, "Woodstock."

Crosby's talent was sometimes overshadowed by the guitar heroics of Stills and Young, but he is widely credited as a musician's musician who influenced scores of artists who followed.

"What I do isn't just guitar playing and singing. I'm not the best at either one of those," he told AFP in an interview in January 2021.

"What I'm really good at is breaking the fourth wall. Taking you on a little trip," he continued.

"Making you laugh, so then I can make you cry. That's my job."

- 'Love making music' -

CSNY faded in and out of popularity and underwent several reincarnations, with Young occasionally breaking off and going his own way. Other members also did some solo work or linked up in various duet combinations.

But the band never recovered from personal fallout between Crosby and both Nash and Young. As the four aged, Stills was the only one still speaking with Crosby.

"I think CSNY was a very good thing," Crosby told AFP in 2021. "And I'm very proud of it. And I think it's very finished."

Crosby had a successful solo career, releasing eight studio albums and a number of live and compilation records.

"Normally, as you get older, you sort of peter out. You write less," he said.

Writing with friends and his son James "extended my life as a writer tremendously," he told AFP. "I just love making music."

Crosby had a vibrant working relationship with folk legend Joni Mitchell, producing her debut record, 1967's "Song to a Seagull."

The pair had a brief, tumultuous romance, eventually rekindling a friendship that endured well into their twilight years.

- Crossing boundaries -

For all of his musical influence, Crosby was perhaps just as known for his extraordinarily large life -- one brimming with tragedy, love affairs, romantic bad blood, addiction and an ultimate return from the edge.

"I think I didn't have a clue," he said of his young life in the 2019 documentary. "I don't think I was a good lover. I don't think I was a good person, companion. I think I was selfish. And wacko. And I got more wacko as time went on."

"There was boundaries I crossed that you haven't thought of yet."

His girlfriend Christine Hinton died in a car crash in 1969 while taking their cats to the vet, a devastating event that triggered Crosby's spiral into cocaine and heroin addiction.

"Addiction takes you over like fire takes over a burning building," he said. "I went completely off the rails."

In 1983, a court convicted him of cocaine possession and carrying a loaded pistol. He served five months behind bars before release on parole.

A litany of health problems accompanied his hard living, including diabetes, several heart attacks and a liver transplant due to Hepatitis C in 1994.

But he weaned himself off hard drugs and spent his last several decades experiencing a creative renaissance, swinging between touring and enjoying life in California with his wife since 1987, Jan Dance.

He only smoked weed -- and found Twitter fame for both his pithy quips and social media reviews of fans' joints.

"Time is the final currency. And so how do you spend it?" he said in the documentary. "I want to be a guy who is loving... that's what I'm striving for."

"I like loving my children and my wife and my dogs," he continued.

"And my music."

Neil Young drops rift to praise Crosby as 'soul' of CSNY

Issued on: 20/01/2023 - 

New York (AFP) – Neil Young hailed the late David Crosby as "the soul" of their supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, paying homage Friday to the former bandmate he shared a decade-long feud with.

Crosby, the singer-songwriter who pushed past rock's confines as a co-founder of CSNY as well as The Byrds, died this week at the age of 81.

Crosby's head-butting with Young as well as Graham Nash and even at times Stephen Stills was well-documented, and was cited as a reason the band behind hits including "Ohio" broke up -- multiple times.

Their final appearance as a quartet was in 2013 at a benefit, after which Young and Crosby became estranged over disparaging comments the notoriously brash Crosby made about Young's partner.

Crosby made attempts to apologize, but the damage was done.

But following Crosby's death, Young focused on his longtime collaborator's artistry and their band's legend.

"David's voice and energy were at the heart of our band," Young wrote on his website. "His great songs stood for what we believed in and it was always fun and exciting when we got to play together."

"We had so many great times, especially in the early years. Crosby was a very supportive friend in my early life, as we bit off big pieces of our experience together," the "Heart of Gold" singer continued. "David was the catalyst of many things."

"Thanks David for your spirit and songs, Love you man. I remember the best times!"

When news of Crosby's death broke one day prior, Nash had also put aside his falling out with his collaborator to honor his legacy: "David was fearless in life and in music."

"He leaves behind a tremendous void as far as sheer personality and talent in this world."

And Stills, the only bandmate still speaking to Crosby at the time of his death, called him "a giant of a musician."

"The glue that held us together as our vocals soared, like Icarus, towards the sun."

For years fans had hoped for a CSNY reunion, a door that officially closed with Crosby's passing.

"I think CSNY was a very good thing," Crosby told AFP in 2021. "And I'm very proud of it."

"And I think it's very finished."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triad_(David_Crosby_song)

Triad (David Crosby song) - Wikipedia 

"Triad" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Crosby in 1967 about a ménage à trois. ... It was recorded by the Byrds that year, while Crosby was ...

https://www.vulture.com/2021/03/david-crosby-talks-threesomes-with-men-in-la-times-interview.html

David Crosby Talks Threesomes With Men in LA Times Interview 

Mar 3, 2021 ... The French have been doing ménage à trois for centuries,” Crosby explained about the song “Triad,” which he wrote for the Byrds in 1967. 

Eby promises $50M to help get fire-damaged wood to B.C. mills


Thu, January 19, 2023


VANCOUVER — British Columbia Premier David Eby is promising $50 million from the upcoming budget to help transfer fire-damaged wood from remote areas to pulp mills.

Eby told the Truck Loggers Association Convention in Vancouver that will mean more work for forestry contractors hauling fibre that would otherwise be too costly or remote to access.

The premier says the money would be funnelled through the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C., with the goal of keeping those in the industry working.

The premier says the forestry industry is "clearly in crisis" and that means industry and government need to "find new ways of doing business."

At the association's first in-person convention in three years, Eby highlighted the $90-million B.C. manufacturing jobs fund targeting rural communities affected by the downturn, and a new agreement around land management signed this week with the Blueberry River First Nations.

That agreement provides a two-year plan for timber supply in northeastern B.C., while the nation and government negotiate longer-term agreements.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2023.

The Canadian Press

IDEOLOGIST OF THE FREEDOM CONVOY
Ex-Reform leader Preston Manning picked to chair review of Alberta's COVID response
Thu, January 19, 2023



EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith has struck a committee to investigate how the Alberta government responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and has appointed former Reform Party leader Preston Manning to chair it.

Smith said Thursday that Manning and the panel are to take feedback virtually from experts and the public, then issue a final report and recommendations by Nov. 15.

Manning is to pick the other panel members subject to approval by Smith.

The budget is $2 million, and Manning is to be paid $253,000.

“There are valuable lessons we learned from the Alberta government’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency,” Smith said in a statement.

“It’s important that we apply those lessons to strengthen our management of future public health crises, and the panel’s recommendations will be key in doing so.”

The panel is not only look at government decision-making, but also its effects on jobs, children, mental health, and protection of rights and freedoms.

Smith’s spokesperson, Becca Polak, said the bulk of the panel’s work will be document review of legislation, regulations and ministerial orders, but “the panel will consider public submissions made through the web page.”

Manning could not be immediately reached for comment.

In an opinion column published Thursday by Postmedia, he stated, “The purpose of this panel would not be to review or rehash the entire gamut of the Alberta government’s response to COVID — which would be a vast and time-consuming undertaking.

“The specific task of the panel would be reviewing the Alberta statutes that informed and authorized the government’s response to COVID-19.”

This is Manning’s second involvement in a COVID-19 inquiry.

In November, he announced plans for a citizen-led and funded cross-country inquiry into the effects of Canada’s response to the pandemic.

The National Citizens Inquiry is now seeking commissioners to begin its work.

At the time, Manning said it was critical to have citizens lead the process to preserve its integrity.

“(Governments) commissioning an inquiry whose primary purpose is to investigate governmental response would mean that governments would be investigating themselves," Manning wrote Nov. 2. "In the eyes of many Canadians, such a commission would lack the necessary credibility."

Polak said Manning would be stepping aside from his role at the National Citizens Inquiry to avoid any conflict of interest.

Manning and Smith have been critical of government-imposed health restrictions such as masking, gathering rules and vaccine mandates during the pandemic.

Smith has questioned the efficacy of the methods and their long-term effects on household incomes, the economy and mental health. She has promised health restrictions and vaccine mandates will have no role in any future COVID-19 response in Alberta.

Smith has also criticized both Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the former province's chief medical officer of health, and the Alberta Health Services board for failing to provide good advice and to help prepare for the pandemic, in turn forcing the province to impose health restrictions and vaccine mandates.

She replaced Hinshaw and the board shortly after taking office in October.

Opposition NDP health critic David Shepherd said it’s concerning that at a time when Alberta families are struggling to make ends meet, the United Conservative Party premier is spending $2 million shore up support with her political base.

“Over a quarter of a million dollars is a lot of Albertans’ money to hire someone to chair a committee that has obviously been struck for political gain,” said Shepherd in a statement.

“This is a desperate call for help from Danielle Smith for Preston Manning to help cement her support on the far right."

Smith has long aligned herself with those questioning the mainstream science approach to the pandemic. She previously endorsed debunked treatments, such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, and embraced fringe views of the pandemic such as the Great Barrington Declaration.

She announced last fall she wants to hear from Paul Alexander, an adviser to former U.S. president Donald Trump. Alexander has referred to COVID-19 vaccines as "bioweapons."

Addressing and redressing COVID-19 grievances was the centrepiece of Smith’s successful campaign last fall to leverage discontent within the UCP to replace Jason Kenney as party leader and premier.

Smith promised a range of initiatives to combat what she has described as injustices and attacks on personal freedoms.

Some of them — such as an inquiry, firing Hinshaw and the AHS board, and not mandating masks in schools — she followed through on.

Others she did not.

Smith promised a bill last fall to make it a human rights violation to discriminate against anyone for their COVID-19 vaccine status. She shelved it just before the fall sitting started in late November, saying more study was needed.

She also promised to explore granting pardons and amnesties to those convicted of COVID public health violations. She recently announced she won’t do that, because as premier she doesn’t have that power.

Smith has since been criticized for saying she has been talking to Crown prosecutors about COVID-19 cases.

She has said no such talks took place but that she did ask Justice Minister Tyler Shandro and the deputy attorney general to consider whether the cases are winnable and in the public interest to pursue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2023.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Pres

Retired Cree senator stunned by 'facade' of Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond's heritage



Retired senator Lillian Dyck said she was "stunned" to see reports last fall questioning the Indigenous heritage of former judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, whose story she had related to, and whose career she had celebrated.

Dyck, who is Cree and Chinese Canadian, said in an interview on Thursday she thought "hallelujah" as Turpel-Lafond became Saskatchewan's first Indigenous female judge in 1998.

It was "wonderful" to know Turpel-Lafond had overcome the numerous challenges Indigenous women disproportionately face in their personal lives and careers, said the professor emeritus in psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan.

"And then I found out, it was all a facade."

Dyck said a CBC investigation convinced her that Turpel-Lafond lied about being Indigenous, specifically Cree, causing real harm by exploiting the identity of Indigenous women, of whom many in Canada are underserved and vulnerable.

"Canadians know now (Indigenous women) are more likely to face violence, more likely to be murdered, made missing, and she's used that identity to enhance her curriculum vitae. And to me, that was like the lowest thing you could do."

Dyck is among the signatories of a statement released this week calling on 10 universities to revoke the honorary degrees conferred on Turpel-Lafond.

Eight of the 10 schools the Indigenous Women's Collective singled out have confirmed they're taking steps to review the matter, while two have yet to respond to requests for comment sent Wednesday.

Dyck said she read the citations linked to the honorary degrees, many of which mention Turpel-Lafond's supposed lived experiences as an Indigenous person.

"She looks as though she's really risen into the top … despite all the barriers people like myself have had to face," said Dyck, whose mother's government-recognized Cree status was stripped from her when she married Dyck's Chinese father.

The appropriation of Indigenous identity by so-called "pretendians" deprives Indigenous people of jobs and opportunities to make change for the better, Dyck said, adding that it also affects future generations of Indigenous children.

The Indigenous Women's Collective says its members want to ensure their "children's and grandchildren's indigeneity will be respected and protected."

Any organization or leader claiming to uphold truth and reconciliation must denounce any "infringements," the statement adds.

The statement was issued on Tuesday after Vancouver Island University announced Turpel-Lafond had returned a 2013 honorary doctorate of laws. The school had told her it was under review due to requests from the collective and members of the university community.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Turpel-Lafond declined to comment on the calls for her honorary degrees to be revoked or the universities' review processes.

She previously told the CBC that while she was growing up she didn't question the biological parentage of her father, who she has said was Cree.

Turpel-Lafond served as British Columbia's representative for children and youth and, until last month, she was a tenured law professor at the University of B.C.

Until last year, she also served as the academic director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the university.

In addition to the CBC investigation, Dyck said Turpel-Lafond's "evasion" in response to questions about her heritage have contributed to Dyck's conclusion that she is not Indigenous, with status recognized by the federal government.

"It would have been so easy for her to prove her identity. If she's claiming to be a treaty Cree Indian, all she had to do was pull out her treaty card."

Along with revoking Turpel-Lafond's honorary degrees, Dyck said she wants to see the universities take a stand, stating publicly it's wrong and unacceptable to pretend to be Indigenous, and there should be consequences, such as termination.

The University of Regina along with Carleton, McGill, Brock, Royal Roads, Mount Saint Vincent and St. Thomas universities have all confirmed they've taken steps to look into Turpel-Lafond's case.

A statement from Simon Fraser University said a committee had been formed to put a policy in place that includes procedures for revoking an honorary degree.

It said once that policy is approved, the university will determine the next steps.

Responses haven't been received from Thompson Rivers and York universities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2023.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

More universities reviewing honorary degrees given to Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond




VANCOUVER — Six out of 10 universities say they're reviewing honorary degrees conferred on retired judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, after being asked by a group of Indigenous women to revoke them following a CBC investigation into her claims of Indigenous heritage.

The Indigenous Women's Collective says in a statement that the honours should be withdrawn because the former law professor "stole" the identity and lived experiences of Indigenous women.

University of Regina, McGill, Brock, Royal Roads, St. Thomas and Mount Saint Vincent universities all say they're looking into the situation, a day after Vancouver Island University announced Turpel-Lafond had voluntarily returned its honorary doctorate.

Responses haven't yet been received from Carleton, Simon Fraser, Thompson Rivers and York universities.

Retired senator Lillian Dyck is among signatories to the collective's statement saying Turpel-Lafond — the former director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of B.C. — claimed opportunities, recognition and influence that did not rightfully belong to her.

Reached by phone, Turpel-Lafond declined to comment on the calls for her honorary degrees to be revoked or the universities' review processes.

The former B.C. representative for children and youth previously told the CBC she didn't question the biological parentage of her father, who she has said was Cree, when she was growing up.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip with the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs said Wednesday that the CBC investigation that questioned Turpel-Lafond's heritage was a "witch-hunt."

The union had responded to the investigation last October by saying Turpel-Lafond was a fierce and ethical advocate for Indigenous Peoples.

Questions of Indigenous identity were for Indigenous Peoples, families and governments to sort through based on their own laws and customs, the statement said.

"It is not the role of the media, the crown, or anyone else to tell us who we are."

Phillip declined to comment further when reached by phone.

Vancouver Island University announced Tuesday it had accepted Turpel-Lafond's return of her 2013 honorary degree after the school told her it was under review due to requests from the women's collective and members of the school community.

That same day, the University of B.C. issued a statement saying it deeply regrets how it handled the situation.

The school's initial response last year said Indigenous identity was not an explicit requirement for Turpel-Lafond's position at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre.

But Tuesday's statement, signed by interim UBC president and vice-chancellor Deborah Buszard and provost and academic vice-president Gage Averill, says the original comment and the university's silence about its interpretation were seen as constituting support for Turpel-Lafond.

They expressed concern this harmed the Indigenous community at UBC and beyond.

"We deeply regret the impact of this and promise to do more now, and in the future."

The university is reviewing its approaches to the role of Indigenous status and "truthfulness" in hiring, the statement says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2023.

The Canadian Press

FREE PALESTINE IS NOT ANTISEMITIC
Zionist group uses US anti-terrorism laws to sue Palestinian activists

Chris McGreal
Fri, 20 January 2023 

Photograph: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Alamy

One of the world’s oldest Zionist organisations with close ties to the Israeli government, the Jewish National Fund (JNF), is using American anti-terrorism laws to sue a major Palestinian rights group in the US over its support for the international boycott movement.

The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, a coalition of groups seeking to end the decades-long occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, said the lawsuit is a part of a broader, Israeli-led strategy to harass organisations critical of the oppression of the Palestinians.

The JNF and a group of American Israelis are seeking damages from the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights over its support of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement, led by Palestinians to mobilise non-violent international pressure on Israel. The JNF claims the BDS movement is a front for terrorist groups.


The Israeli government has banned support for the BDS movement, saying the it wants Israel to cease to exist as a Jewish state and is therefore antisemitic. But the JNF has itself faced accusations of racism for refusing to let Israelis who are not Jewish live on its considerable land holdings.

Related: BDS: how a controversial non-violent movement has transformed the Israeli-Palestinian debate

Diala Shamas, a lawyer at the Center for Constitutional Rights representing the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, describes the legal action as part of a broader Israeli-led strategy to discredit and criminalise the Palestinian cause, alongside measures such as laws in more than 30 US states penalising support for boycotts of Israel.

“The goal here is to harass the US Campaign [for Palestinian Rights]. This is something that we’re seeing more broadly: smearing human rights advocates with accusations of terrorism, and efforts to drag human rights advocates and protesters into court, into extended litigation that distracts them from their advocacy. In the Palestine context we see that happening a lot, both in the United States and by Israel,” she said.

The JNF lawsuit was brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act, which permits victims of attacks by groups designated as foreign terrorist organisations by the US government to sue for damages in US courts.

The lawsuit claims that the BDS movement is in large part controlled by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups banned in the US and Israel as terrorist organisations. The legal action argues that by raising money for BDS and backing the boycott movement, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights is materially supporting terrorism. Along with the JNF, the plaintiffs include American Israelis who claim to have suffered trauma living in communities that have come under rocket attack from the Gaza Strip.

A federal court in Washington DC dismissed the lawsuit in 2021, saying that the JNF and other plaintiffs had made “threadbare assertions” of financial support for terrorism. The JNF appealed and told a court hearing last week that the decision to dismiss had been wrong in the face of “very gross violations of the anti-terrorism statute”.

Lawyers for the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights say that the BDS movement is not an illegal organisation and that it was founded by an array of legitimate Palestinian groups as a peaceful means of fighting for their rights.

The lawsuit also seeks damages from the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights over its support for the “Stop the JNF” movement because of the fund’s controversial policies, including discrimination against non-Jews.

Founded by the early Zionist movement in 1901 to buy land for Jewish settlement in what was then part of the Ottoman empire, the JNF took control of large amounts of territory confiscated from the 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled or fled during Israel’s 1948 war of independence.

The JNF is now a quasi-governmental body that works closely with the state-run Israel Land Authority.

For decades the fund refused to lease its land, covering about 13% of the country, to Israelis who were not Jewish. In the face of legal action in 2009, a compromise was reached involving land swaps with the government so that the JNF would not have to own property lived on by non-Jews. The fund has also been involved in moves to expel Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers.

Ahmad Abuznaid, director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, said that given the JNF’s close relationship with the Israeli state, he has little doubt that the lawsuit has official sanction and is an attempt to “criminalise the boycott movement”.

“We see this case as an attack on the Palestinian rights movement and an infringement on our ability to utilise our constitutional right to free speech,” he said.

Related: Harvard Kennedy School condemned for denying fellowship to Israel critic

“The Israeli government has been extremely involved not only in the targeting of Palestinian rights activists in Palestine and abroad, but the Israeli government, as it proudly proclaims, has also had a role in shifting US policy, enacting legislation to be to be utilised at the state level, at the national level.”

The Israeli government is increasingly concerned about the threat posed by a popular international boycott movement in support of the Palestinians, modelled on the campaign against apartheid South Africa. It is also alarmed at the growing acceptance of allegations by respected human rights groups that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory amounts to a form of apartheid.

The ministry of strategic affairs in Jerusalem is leading the government’s push against the BDS movement, including through funding groups such as the International Legal Forum, based in Tel Aviv, which has pursued lawsuits to close bank accounts and block financial support in the US for Palestinian rights groups by alleging ties to terrorism. The ministry has also backed anti-boycott laws in US states, an issue that may be headed for the supreme court.

In August, Israel banned six Palestinian rights organisations, accusing them of links to terrorist groups. Nine EU countries said Israel failed to provide evidence to back up the accusations and that they would go on funding the organisations.

The United Nations accused Israel of using counter-terrorism legislation “to constrain legitimate human rights and humanitarian work”.

The banned groups said the Israeli move was an “attempt to eliminate Palestinian civil society”.

BEFORE BRANAGH'S BELFAST 

THERE WERE THE CRANBERRIES

 

ZOMBIE 1994