It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, July 23, 2023
Advocates push Liberals to relax Hong Kong immigration rules
A press conference in Markham, Ont., last week hosted by Liberal MP Paul Chiang seemed to offer good news for Hong Kongers hoping to flee the island increasingly under Beijing’s thumb: Canada would lift education requirements for Hong Kong immigrants with Canadian work experience.
The move, which the Liberals framed as support for Hong Kong residents in support of “freedom and democracy,” was designed to pave the way for more permanent residency applications – continuing the tradition of Canada providing a safe haven for Hong Kongers.
But the announcement raised eyebrows among pro-democracy advocates. Their concerns were twofold: the Canadian government failed to drop the requirement for Hong Kongers to get a police check to immigrate to Canada – a set of permissions that puts them at the mercy of the authorities they’re trying to escape – and the announcement was hosted by a group perceived to toe a pro-Beijing line, the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham (FCCM).
“It’s very nice window dressing to have a big press conference to announce the lifting of the education requirement. But it doesn’t address the meat of the issue, which is the fact that a lot of people still can’t come to Canada,” said Cheuk Kwan, a longtime activist and the co-chair of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China.
The Liberal line is that Hong Kongers will not be denied entry to Canada for an offence that is not considered criminal in Canada – such as protesting against China’s crackdown on the former British colony and its new national security law. But Kwan said Hong Kong authorities can simply withhold a police certificate for those who have been scooped up by police for their pro-democracy protests.
The venue for the announcement – the Federation of Chinese Canadians in Markham (FCCM) – has advocates like Kwan calling into question the government’s commitment to pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
The FCCM is perceived by advocates as toeing a pro-Beijing line. Global News asked Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser’s office how the venue was chosen, if he was aware of the concerns that the FCCM was perceived as pro-Beijing, and what message making the announcement at the FCCM sent to activist communities.
Fraser’s office did not address those questions.
“On July 11, our government announced it is welcoming more Hong Kongers to Canada who need our support, while simultaneously helping Canadian businesses fill labour gaps with workers who already have work experience here,” wrote Bahoz Dara Aziz, a spokesperson for Fraser’s office, in a statement.
“This was done in collaboration with Canada-Hong Kong community groups and is a direct result of those discussions, building on our government’s previous actions to support the many meaningful exchanges between Canada and Hong Kong while standing up for the people of Hong Kong.”
Global News sent multiple emails to Paul Chiang, Fraser’s parliamentary secretary and the Liberal MP for Markham-Unionville who made the announcement on July 11. Chiang did not respond to those emails.
Global also attempted to contact Dr. Ken Ng, the chairman of the FCCM’s board. Those messages were not returned.
There were 213,855 immigrants from Hong Kong in Canada in 2021, according to Statistics Canada’s census data. Canada saw a wave of immigration in the late 1980s and early '90s, usually attributed to concerns over the transfer of Hong Kong from the British to China.
Concerns about the new national security law – which gives Beijing greater control over the territory, and introduced new terrorism offences – raised the potential for a new wave of immigrants fleeing authorities, who have now offered a 1 million Hong Kong dollar (CAD$168,800) bounty for assistance in arresting dissidents who have already fled the territory.
Prime Energy drinks pulled from Canadian shelves — but how did they even get here?
Story by Jennifer La Grassa • CBC - Jul 12,2023
The recall of a highly caffeinated energy drink is raising questions about how the cans of Prime Energy that violated Canada's health regulations got onto store shelves in the first place.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said Tuesday it is recalling cans of Prime Energy that contain 200 milligrams of caffeine after CBC News reported they were being sold in stores in at least three provinces.
Health Canada's limit for such drinks is 180 milligrams of caffeine. Other brands of energy drinks are also part of the recall.
One food law expert says, most often, items that violate Canada's health regulations were exported by foreign manufacturers who don't know the rules.
"[They might be] unaware of the limits of caffeine or is unaware that certain food additives are not harmonized," between Canada and the U.S., for example, said Glenford Jameson, a lawyer and partner at G.S. Jameson & Co. in Toronto.
It would be up to a distributor to restrict the access, he says.
But with e-commerce, that can get tricky. Jameson says big online retailers have struggled to follow regulations, but that the industry has seen improvements in making sure products follow each country's standards.
Another common way is through a third country.
A manufacturer might sell its product into another territory, where a distributor or merchant ends up exporting it to Canada, without letting the manufacturer know.
"They've created this product, [it's] deemed not to be safe or at least not compliant in Canada, yet it's arriving here, and so then how do they manage that?" he said. "It's a really difficult problem."
CBC News purchased a 200-milligram can of Prime Energy at a store in Montreal on Wednesday. Workers there said it was imported from the U.S.
Prime said previously it "complies with federal regulations" in its markets but was unable to explain the presence of the drinks in Canada. The cans with 200 milligrams of caffeine are intended for the U.S. market. The company claims to have a Canadian version with 140 milligrams of caffeine.
Prime did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday about the recall notice.
'Difficult to police'
Jameson says, even though food and drinks are supposed to be regulated at the border, agencies often miss items.
"If you sort of picture the amount of goods that come into Canada on any given day, it's sort of difficult to police this sort of thing," he said.
While the CFIA establishes the rules for food, drink, plants and similar products coming to Canada, it's the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that enforces those requirements before the goods are released into Canada, according to the CBSA.
Related video: Logan Paul, KSI’s 'Prime Energy' drinks recalled in Canada over excess caffeine (Global News) Duration 2:04 View on Watch
The CFIA is "is often quite reactive," said Jameson.
"They don't spend a lot of time patrolling shelves or rifling through boxes at the border," for lower-risk products like Prime Energy, he said.
Food law expert Glenford Jameson says there are a number of ways items not eligible for sale in Canada can get into the country.
(Jennifer La Grassa/CBC)
Dr. Jane Shearer, a kinesiology professor at the University of Calgary, says caffeine shouldn't be under the CFIA purview because it's a drug.
"It's highly problematic," she said. "I think energy drink companies have been largely in charge here and the Canadian government needs to do more on getting a handle on what's in the market. This is not the first time we've seen products in the market that exceed Health Canada regulations."
Coffee can sometimes have more than 180 milligrams of caffeine in a single serving, and is not as strictly regulated. But experts say the concern with energy drinks is how they're marketed and whether it's to vulnerable demographics.
"It's framed as being fun, it's framed as being kind of trendy, it's framed as being healthy and it's framed also as optimizing your performance, when all it really is is water with caffeine in it," said Timothy Caulfield, Canada research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta.
Timothy Caulfield is the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at the University of Alberta. (David MacIntosh/CBC)
"So I think it makes sense [that] regulators watch products like this to ensure that their claims are justified."
Consumer safety advocate Jim Shepherd agrees that the branding and marketing of these drinks attracts a younger demographic who could be unaware of the health consequences.
That's why he wants Canada to ban the sale of all energy drinks to people under 18.
Shepherd, who lives in Toronto, believes that his son Brian's consumption of a caffeinated energy drink caused the 15-year-old's death in 2008.
An autopsy found that Brian experienced an acute arrhythmic event following a paintball match. The only drug in his system was caffeine, according to Shepherd.
Brian Shepherd died in 2008 when he was 15 years old. His dad says he collapsed after a paintball match.
(Submitted by Jim Shepherd)
It wasn't until months after Brian's death that Shepherd said he was told an energy drink company had attended the match and gave out samples of the drink, which his son consumed.
Since then, he's been advocating for better regulations.
"There's been some changes, but it's 100 per cent not enough," he said.
"They really haven't properly protected … youth and children. I really don't care if an adult drinks the drinks, as long as they're aware and I think that's the part that's key is most of them are not aware."
Over the years, research has shown that these sorts of drinks can have bad health effects on people. This review of recent research says that energy drinks can create anxiety, insomnia, irregular heart rhythms and sometimes death.
Shepherd says he wants to see the CFIA become more proactive and issue more penalties to bad players.
"Unless somebody complains about it if it's wrong, it's not going to get corrected," he said, adding that even when he's filed complaints he hasn't seen proper retribution.
Shepherd says he's been following the buzz created by Prime and knew it was a matter of time before it came to Canada.
"My major concern is with the kids," he said. "There isn't awareness from a lot of parents to know what the potential danger that these drinks are."
Should youth avoid energy drinks? Here’s why pediatricians say yes
Story by Sean Previl • Jul 14,2023 Energy drinks are pictured on shop shelves in London on August 30, 2018. Energy drinks are not recommended for those under 18, but they have become popular with youth. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP)
As Canada recalls more energy drinks due to high levels of caffeine, pediatricians and health experts are raising concerns about the accessibility of the products and the impact they can have on youth.
Energy drinks are widespread across Canada, the U.S. and many other countries and can be purchased from corner stores and other retailers. While some have labels advising they are not recommended for those under the age of 18, the products are not controlled in the way alcohol or cannabis are.
The products' quick energy boost, however, can come with health issues, health experts say.
"It's a huge amount of caffeine for a child and a lot of caffeine for a teenager and someone may not just drink one drink," said Dr. Anna Banerji, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto and the School of Public Health.
"It's like them having six, seven, eight cups of coffee. And so they're energetic, yes, they're boosted (and) stimulated. But that's not sustainable."
She said that when people stop drinking energy drinks, potential withdrawal from caffeine includes sleeping issues, irritability, nervousness and anxiety.
Logan Paul, KSI’s ‘Prime Energy’ drinks recalled in Canada over excess caffeine
According to HealthLink BC, energy drinks can come with side effects such as headaches, nausea, fast or irregular heartbeat or insomnia.
Banerji added that the beverages often have a large amount of sugar in addition to caffeine and therefore may have little nutritional value and empty calories.
The contents of energy drinks range depending on the brand. A Red Bull or Monster, for example, has between 80-160 milligrams of caffeine in a serving, which could be comparable to a cup of coffee brewed at home that would have approximately 120 to 180 mg.
Some energy drinks have been found to contain 300 mg of caffeine or more.
In the U.S., it's advised by the Food and Drug Administration that an adult can consume about 400 mg of caffeine a day. The FDA does not have a recommended limit for those under 18, but the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against caffeine consumption by the age group altogether.
Health Canada advises children and adolescents under 18 should keep caffeine intake to 2.5 mg per kilogram of body weight per day. As an example, an average 16-year-old male weighing 60 kilograms, or 132 lbs, should consume no more than about 150 mg of caffeine per day.
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for Health Canada said that its Food and Drug Regulations were amended in July 2022 to include a "new framework for the sale of supplemented foods," such as energy drinks. As part of it, concentrations of added caffeine must be between 150 and 400 mg per litre, not exceeding 180 mg per serving. In addition, energy drinks are required to carry a "cautionary label statement indicating that these beverages are not reecommended for those under 14 years old, pregnant or breastfeeding women or individuals sensitive to caffeine."
The agency said supplemented foods on the market with a "Temporary Marketing Authorization" or had submitted an application for one before July 21, 2022 and received Health Canada approval, had until Jan. 1, 2026 to comply. New supplemented foods are required to comply "immediately."
Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput, a senior scientist with the Healthy Active Living and Obesity research group at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), said that while youth should focus on drinking healthy beverages such as water, youth often turn to caffeine and energy to stay alert through the day.
According to the 2016 ParticipAction Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth, almost a third of school-aged Canadians are not getting enough sleep.
"We have a sleep deprivation epidemic in Canada and one way to cope with lack of sleep is maybe to have a stimulant like Red Bull or energy drinks," Chaput said.
He recommends a mix of education and new policies to form the solution. Parents as well as schools and health-care providers should also discuss proper sleep habits and avoidance of energy drinks.
"Everyone should sing from the same song sheet saying that energy drinks are not good for you," he said.
In terms of policies, Chaput said one option would be to look into further restricting the amount of caffeine in these beverages.
Putting in policies surrounding energy drinks may be difficult, Banerji suggested, as it's not like restricting items with carcinogens like tobacco. She also takes issue with how energy drinks are marketed.
"Even though they say it's for people who are adults, it really is marketed for the youth," she said, noting the loud logos and brightly coloured packaging common among the products.
Marvin Ryder, an associate professor of marketing at McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business, said social media has become a benefit to energy drink makers without them even having to do promotions on the platforms.
Seeing someone, such as a close friend or an "influencer," post on social media consuming an energy drink can have a greater impact than a promotional video posted by the company.
"To younger people, those social media posts, not formal advertising from the company, but simply peer-to-peer communication – me telling you that I have one of these before I go to the gym or I had one of these before the game, or I had one of these to get ready for a test – carries so much weight," he said.
Ryder said it's unlikely much will change without potential government intervention, which could come in a variety of ways. He suggests making warning labels bigger or removing colours and logos, or potentially changing how the products can be sold.
Recently, Canada recalled six brands of energy drinks including Logan Paul and KSI's Prime Energy, and the well-known 5 Hour Energy over concerns of caffeine exceeding the allowable 180 mg amount in Canada, as well as labelling issues.
Ryder said it's important such rules are enforced.
"When a product is improperly imported into the country and violates the rules, you must pull it off the shelves and destroy the product," he said. "You can't have any product of any kind on our shelves that violate our rules."
NHL's move away from Pride jerseys 'really disappointing,' advocate says
Story by CBC/Radio-Canada • Jun 23, 2023
A closeup view of a patch on the Montreal Canadiens' jersey celebrating Pride Night during warm-ups at Montreal's Bell Centre in April. The NHL said this week that its teams will no longer wear special jerseys for Pride and other causes during pregame warm-ups on theme nights.
The NHL said this week its teams will no longer wear special jerseys in support of Pride and other causes during, as they have for some time, pregame warm-ups on theme nights starting next season.
That the news broke during the height of Pride festivities was just one problem with the policy shift, say advocates for more inclusion in sport.
"It's a really disappointing decision and it's really, really poor timing," Harrison Browne, the first transgender athlete in pro hockey, told CBC News Network on Friday.
The NHL did not immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.
But NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has indicated the change is because some players refused to wear Pride jerseys, which created a "distraction" that overshadowed the causes those jerseys were intended to highlight.
"This way we're keeping the focus on the game. And on these specialty nights, we're going to be focused on the cause," Bettman told Sportsnet on Thursday.
Teams will produce special jerseys for those events, though players won't wear them on the ice. League-wide Pride events
All the NHL's 32 teams hosted Pride events last season and it appears most players — "a supermajority" according to one labour leader — wore special jerseys.
You Can Play, an organization that has worked with the NHL to improve representation and inclusion of LGBTQ people, said in a statement over 95 per cent of players had chosen to "wear a Pride jersey to support the community."
Yet Kurt Weaver, chief operations officer of You Can Play, says he was not surprised that a relatively small group of opponents could cause a "headache."
"We're finding organizations like the NHL are having decisions to make around this — are we going to obligate players to do this and fight that fight, or are we going to make a change here and do something different?"
Though disappointed with the league's decision, Weaver said he was "heartened" to hear Bettman say Pride-themed nights would continue.
"We had 32 teams do it last year and we're hopefully going to have 32 teams do it next year," he said, adding that last year set a record for the amount of money raised for LGBTQ causes.
With league-wide promotion of these events and many players taking part in them, it raises the question why the league is paying such attention to voices that aren't.
"Why are we listening to the people who don't want to be inclusive and allowing their voices... to become the dominant narrative?" said Russell Field, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba, whose research interests include issues related to sports and social justice.
He said it's "hard to imagine another issue in which player objection would carry the day in the way that this has," and that potentially speaks to deep-seated homophobia still present in the culture of men's hockey.
NHL players to stop wearing Pride jerseys
4 DAYS AGO
The NHL is ending the practice of teams wearing special jerseys for theme nights after a handful of players refused to wear Pride jerseys, something the commissioner called a distraction.
\
NHL bans teams from wearing 'caused-based' jerseys
CBC News
1 month ago
The NHL will not allow teams to wear 'cause-based' jerseys — including Pride jerseys — next season, the league has confirmed, saying players refusing to wear them overshadowed teams' outreach efforts.
What about the players and fans?
Like Weaver, Harrison is pleased that theme nights will continue in the NHL.
But he said the league's decision to take the special jerseys off the ice is also taking away chances to share important messages, for many important causes — including those close to the LGBTQ community.
"I think as a young LGBTQ2+ fan, or somebody that may be looking into getting into hockey, seeing one of their role models sporting a jersey that says: 'I support you, I welcome you, you're included here, you're safe here' — I think that the opportunity for that is now going to be erased and I think it's a really big shame."
Then there are the players, who are losing a chance to be a role model on the ice and to help spread the messages that Harrison describes.
Weaver also pointed to the influence these players can have.
"The visibility of an athlete wearing this on the ice and and our heroes wearing these on the ice is massive," he said, adding that may be particularly so for someone at home questioning if they belong in the sport.
Some disappointed by NHL decision to drop pre-game warm-up jerseys
CBC Vancouver
4 weeks ago
NHL teams will not wear special jerseys for pre-game warm-ups during themed nights next season. The decision comes after a handful of players refused to wear the rainbow-coloured Pride jerseys.
NHL players ostracizing LGBTQ+ fans by refusing to wear rainbow jerseys, says sports commentator Mar 26, 2023
Sports commentators Cyd Zeigler and Bayne Pettinger discuss the controversy around NHL Pride Night after a few players declined to wear rainbow jerseys in support of the LGBTQ+ community. 'Not wearing rainbow jerseys is pushing fans in the queer community away and that's the exact opposite of what Pride Night is intended to do,' Pettinger said.
NHL Pride Night: Controversy continues as more players refuse to wear pro-LGBTQ+ jerseys
Global News
Mar 26, 2023
With some NHL teams and players refusing to wear pride-themed jerseys during warm-up, Teresa Fowler, a professor at Concordia University of Edmonton, weighed in on the message it’s sending about the NHL and the impact it’s having on the sport.
“Despite what change we’re seeing overall, we’re continuing to see the fact that the message for the LGBTQ+ community is that they’re not welcome. And it’s surprising and disappointing that players who previously did wear a jersey are now deciding that they are not wearing a jersey. And that’s due to the precedent set by other players refusing to wear a jersey,” Fowler said.
Global's Jaden Lee-Lincoln has more.
Flyers defenseman boycotted pride event last night
CP24
Jan 18, 2023
Ivan Provorov refused to wear the team's LGBTQ+ warmup citing his religious beliefs to do so.
Skull fragments believed to be Beethoven's sent from U.S. to Vienna for study
Story by Washington Post • U.S. businessman Paul Kaufmann, who inherited the skull fragments, presumed to be of Ludwig van Beethoven from his great uncle, shows them to journalists at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, to which he has donated them for further studies, on July 20, 2023.
LONDON – Ludwig van Beethoven, wracked by deafness and ill health throughout much of his life, asked for his body to be studied when he died.
This week, an American businessman returned fragments of a skull that scientists believe belong to the famed German composer for research at the Medical University of Vienna, where he lived and worked.
Medical and DNA experts will study and store the bones, known also as the Seligmann fragments, to find out what ailed the classical music maestro who died in 1827 after gaining international fame.
“It’s about finding the right balance between comprehensible public interest and respect for a deceased person,” University Rector Markus Müller said in a statement. “We gratefully accept these fragments and will store them responsibly.”
The remains were donated by Paul Kaufmann, who, according to the statement, inherited the fragments from his Austrian-born mother, who in turn received them from the estate of her great-uncle Franz Romeo Seligmann – a Viennese physician and medical historian who was involved with the reburial of Beethoven in 1863. (Beethoven’s body was exhumed multiple times to better preserve his remains and change his burial site.)
“I feel very privileged to be able to return my inherited Beethoven skull fragments to where they belong,” Kaufmann said in a statement. “Not only will they come ‘home,’ to where Beethoven now rests forever, but also to the Medical University of Vienna, which will have them available for research.”
The skull fragments, presumed to be of Ludwig van Beethoven are on display at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria on July 20, 2023.
Forensic pathologist Christian Reiter has examined the fragments in the past and said in a statement this week that he believes the provenance is credible but will carry out “further investigations, for example based on DNA,” to “get closer to the question of whether it really is Ludwig van Beethoven.”
Beethoven was born in the German city of Bonn in 1770. He went on to produce more than 700 works including nine symphonies, 35 piano sonatas and 16 string quartets. He is best known for his works including Symphony No. 9; Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”); and Piano Moonlight Sonata, among others. A gifted pianist from a young age, he began to turn deaf in his early 30s, a tragedy the composer often documented.
“I was compelled early to isolate myself, to live in loneliness,” he wrote in a letter to his brothers in 1802 about his hearing loss, adding that his medical complaints made him yearn for death. “As soon as I am dead if Dr. Schmid is still alive ask him in my name to describe my malady and attach this document to the history of my illness so that so far as possible at least the world may become reconciled with me after my death,” he wrote.
Coroner Christian Reiter speaks to journalists at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, on July 20, 2023, where the skull fragments, presumed to be of Ludwig van Beethoven are on display.
Beethoven suffered from bouts of ill health throughout his adult life, including a number of debilitating gastrointestinal symptoms and attacks of jaundice. An autopsy revealed that he had cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis and a swollen spleen among other ailments.
Earlier this year, a strand of the composer’s hair was studied by international researchers, allowing them to sequence Beethoven’s DNA. They identified genetic risk factors for liver disease and found signs that he had a hepatitis B infection that could have contributed to his cirrhosis.
Medical knowledge and treatment was limited in the early 19th century, but medical biographers have debated what killed him at the age of 56 and whether his liver disease was the result of excessive drinking or some other cause.
“Beethoven has long been described as a genius … against whom others tend to be judged,” Laura Tunbridge, a musicologist at the University of Oxford and author of “Beethoven: A Life in Nine Pieces,” told The Washington Post by email.
Studies of his skull are likely to hold public interest today, she said. “Understanding how such a creative mind worked – or at least trying to – continues to fascinate,” she added.
“Beethoven’s personal life was complicated … his hearing loss made socializing challenging,” Tunbridge added. She noted that finding answers to his ailments may be difficult – but that much can still be gleaned about him from listening to his music. “There is always more to learn,” she said.
— The Washington Post’s Carolyn Y. Johnson contributed to this report.
Bob Marley instilled a love of soccer in his daughter, Cedella. Now she’s changing the lives of women and girls in Jamaica
Football has consumed much of Cedella Marley’s life. But perhaps that should not come as a surprise.
As the daughter of global reggae icon Bob Marley, who was a renowned lover of the beautiful game, Cedella was never far from a soccer ball growing up. Had he not been a musician, Cedella recalls her father telling her, he would have wanted to be a soccer player.
“Daddy played every day,” Marley told CNN Sport. “He would play anywhere he was: on the road, you’d find a field, you’d find a team.
“Sometimes, it would be the photographers who were out there, you know; sometimes, it would be the journalists and it would be the band against the journalists.
“I watched him growing up, I also watch my brothers, Ziggy and Steve. They played football growing up, too, and it was just always something that I loved. I love to kick a ball and was super competitive when my brothers would challenge me.”
“So everything to me was a penalty,” Marley laughed. “I’d be like: ‘I’m just going for the goal,’ and that love is just something that is just in my DNA. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Though she has loved soccer for as long as she can remember, for many years, Marley’s involvement in the game didn’t extend beyond kickabouts with her father and brothers.
But that all changed in 2014 when one day her son came home from school and handed her a flier, saying that his soccer coach had asked him to deliver it to her.
“I’m reading it … I’m like: ‘Wait, Jamaica has a women’s football team? Where did this come from?” she said.
Six years earlier, in 2008, underfunding had led to the Jamaican Football Federation (JFF) disbanding the women’s national team program. The flier Marley’s son brought home was a fundraising request from the JFF to help restart the program. Marley got to work almost immediately, calling the federation the following morning to ask what it needed.
“The needs were many,” Marley said, repeating the sentence as if to emphasize how dire the situation was.
From travel and nutrition to accommodation and training camps, every area of the national team’s setup was in need of funding.
An accomplished musician and multiple Grammy award-winning artist with the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Marley put her considerable musical talents to work.
“My family came together with me, [brothers] Damien and Steve and I, we recorded a song called ‘Strike Hard’ to raise funds,” she said.
Through a combination of the royalties earned from ‘Strike Hard,’ a GoFundMe page and by becoming an ambassador and sponsor of the women’s national team through the Bob Marley Foundation, Marley says they raised $300,000 in the first year.
The women’s team disbanded again in 2016, but Marley never wavered in her commitment to the program. In 2019, her efforts – and the work of countless others who were equally as dedicated to the cause – culminated in the women’s national team becoming the first Caribbean country to qualify for a Women’s World Cup.
Marley’s work has helped not only improve standards and conditions for players, but also helped shift the country’s attitude towards the women’s national team.
“These girls have been told for a long time that women in sports, especially football in Jamaica, it really wasn’t that important,” Marley said. “Like, it doesn’t matter. ‘You guys don’t make money. You don’t bring in the crowds. You don’t do this, you don’t do that.’
“Nobody wants to give us brand deals because [it’s] the female team and so it’s funny now to see how all of that has changed drastically, not just for our women, but around the world … and that makes me excited.”
Cedella Marley (C bottom) poses with Jamaica's national team ahead of the Women's World Cup in 2019
Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
‘Warrior mode’
Marley was speaking from Jamaica’s pre-World Cup training camp in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, organized by Ajax and Adidas. The players have had their every need catered for with the “amazing” facilities on offer, she says.
Boasting first-class training pitches, a gym, a swimming pool and a basketball court, the Friendship Sports Centre has “everything” the Jamaican players need to best prepare for the World Cup, Marley said.
“I remember back in the day when it just used to be like a dark room, you know, in a basement or something,” Marley recalled with a dry laugh.
“So it’s a big difference to see how they’re training now.”
Eleven of the players that went to the last World Cup are also included in Jamaica’s squad for Australia and New Zealand and that added experience means expectations are higher this time around.
At France 2019, Jamaica was drawn into a tough group featuring Italy, Australia and Brazil. The ‘Reggae Girlz’ lost all three matches but created more history by scoring the country’s first goal at a Women’s World Cup when Havana Solaun netted in the 4-1 defeat to Australia.
This year’s squad boasts a number of players plying their trade at the highest level around the world, headlined by Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw, who scored an impressive 20 goals – to go with seven assists – during last season’s Women’s Super League campaign.
Jamaica's Khadija Shaw was one of Europe's most prolific strikers last season.
- Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images
That Jamaica has so many talented players to call upon is thanks in part to former head coach Hue Menzies, who had the foresight to send the country’s brightest prospects to schools in the United States when the country’s women’s league was disbanded in 2015 and the national team lay dormant.
The individual and collective growth within the squad over the past four years has given Jamaica renewed confidence that it can improve on the performances from France 2019.
“We want to go out there and we want to win,” Marley said assuredly, with Jamaica this time being drawn against Brazil, France and Panama. Qualifying to the knockouts will be difficult, but the team made history in the opening match against France, winning a first ever point in the tournament after a heroic 0-0 draw.
“It’s just beautiful to watch the game and our girls. They’re hyper focused, that’s one thing I can tell you and they’re going in there in warrior mode.”
However, preparation for the tournament hasn’t all been plain sailing.
Last month, many of the first-team squad wrote an open letter to the JFF expressing their “utmost disappointment” in what they described as “subpar” conditions during their World Cup preparations.
The letter also alleges the JFF has failed to deliver on “contractually agreed upon compensation.”
CNN has reached out to the JFF for comment but is yet to hear back. In a statement on its website, the JFF acknowledged that “things have not been done perfectly” but that it is “working assiduously to resolve” players’ concerns.
And JFF president Michael Ricketts said last month that the federation wanted to “make sure we provide as much as we can for the girls,” Reuters reported.
Chinyelu Asher, who played for Jamaica at the last World Cup, told CNN that the purpose of the statement was to “reel in” the federation and make them take the women’s team more seriously.
“People want to know what the progress has been from the last World Cup and I’m like: ‘Well, here we are doing it again,’” Asher said, referencing the previous issues the team has faced.
The Reggae Girlz now have a contractual agreement with their national federation, according to Asher, but still had to release a public statement to ensure that they received the best possible support for a World Cup.
Bob Marley's love of football rubbed off on Cedella from an early age.
- Courtesy Bob Marley Foundation
Marley says she hasn’t been in contact with the federation since the players’ open later, instead choosing to focus solely on how she can directly help the women’s team. Even when she first became involved with the squad in 2014, Marley says she had little contact with the JFF.
“I just really talked to the girls to find out what their needs were because I can’t be effective knowing what their [the JFF] problem is,” she said. “I’d rather know what the needs are for the female team.
“I don’t really concern myself with matters that don’t concern me. You know, the girls have spoken; hopefully, the federation has listened.
“But what I do is that I have direct conversations with the girls to see how I can assist and I take it from there because I don’t think the Jamaican federation is different from any other federation,” Marley adds, mentioning the ongoing dispute between England’s Lionesses and their FA over bonus payments.
‘Football is Freedom’
Even with all she has achieved alongside the women’s national team, perhaps Marley’s greatest accomplishment in soccer is the founding of her ‘Football is Freedom’ initiative.
The name is taken from one of her father’s famous quotes, and in October 2021, the initiative launched with a week-long training camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, providing the women’s national teams of Jamaica and Costa Rica with training facilities before they faced off in a friendly.
Since then, the initiative has expanded. In February of last year – on what would have been her father’s 77th birthday – Football is Freedom hosted its first girls’ soccer clinic in Jamaica, focusing on developing young women both as players and people.
Marley says her initiative aims to help the girls develop life skills, providing them with mentorship and opportunities for higher education.
“I’ve taken everything that I’ve learned over the last nine years and applied it to building what I hope is a better future, not only for my country, but Football is Freedom is an initiative that hopefully the world will adopt,” Marley said.
The inaugural Football is Freedom clinic was hosted in Kingston, Jamaica, on February 6, 2022 – what would have been Bob Marley's 77th birthday.
“We’re starting from the grassroots level in Jamaica right now … and we’re giving every girl a chance to become a game changer, not just on the pitch, but in their homes, in their communities and in life in general.”
Marley admits she never really understood her father’s quote when was younger, but says it now resonates profoundly with her following the journey she has been on over the last nine years.
“It’s like I’m living it,” she said.
Soccer can be a way out for girls living in “rough communities” in Jamaica, Marley says, with some players going on to earn scholarships and the success of Football is Freedom has seen the initiative welcome Adidas and Common Goal as partners.
She has seen first-hand how gifted some of the girls are and says this natural talent for soccer “can change their lives.” All they need, she said, is to be given “proper structure.”
“I’m feeling lucky so far, but I know it’s not easy to do what I’m trying to do,” Marley says. “It’s going to take a whole bunch of people that believe in the same thing to actually make a difference.
“So I’m reaching out to those believers who believe in some small way they can bring about change in people’s mindsets because these girls deserve the opportunity.
“Every single opportunity that we can give them.”
Refugee claims followed Montreal AIDS summit marred by visa woes, planning issues
OTTAWA — Almost one-sixth of guests at a major AIDS conference in Montreal last year who received Canadian visas ended up claiming asylum, according to internal data obtained by The Canadian Press.
The documents also show Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada struggled to work with the International AIDS Society as both tried to avoid a mass refusal of visas.
When the society's conference got underway last July in Montreal, dozens of delegates from Africa had been denied visas or never received responses to their applications. Some accused Ottawa of racism on stage, saying international gatherings should not return to Canada.
The controversy followed similar incidents at other global summits hosted in Canada in recent years, for which some African delegates could not obtain visas despite receiving invitations on Canadian government letterhead.
Documents obtained through access-to-information laws show that 1,020 or 36 per cent of visa applications for last summer's AIDS conference were rejected. Another 10 per cent were not processed by the end of the event.
Canada issued 1,638 visas for the conference, and the documents show that at least 251 people, or about 15 per cent, claimed asylum after entering Canada.
Robert Blanshay, a Toronto immigration lawyer, said making an asylum claim by attending a conference or sporting event in Canada is often one of the few ways people can get to safety.
"I'm not surprised at all that the percentage of people from a certain country (who were) issued visitor visas to come would actually not return home and claim refugee status," he said, adding that the idea sometimes only occurs to people after they reach Canada and hear about others doing so.
"Good for them. If this is their only way of claiming asylum in a country, then so be it."
Blanshay said Canada already makes it difficult to get a visa for legitimate purposes, and to claim asylum.
Visa applications are often denied if an applicant doesn't prove they have enough reasons to stay in their country of residence, such as a stable job, financial savings and family ties.
Ottawa rejected 83.5 per cent of visa applications by prospective conference attendees from Nepal; 55.8 per cent of those from Nigeria; 53.6 per cent from Pakistan and more than 40 per cent from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Ghana.
An internal report last November that assessed the Immigration Department's handling of the conference suggested "the need to have better coordination of high-profile events, ensuring that partners are engaged early on and that they remain in constant, continued and detailed communication."
The report said there were some shortfalls within the department, such as a system glitch that made it difficult for some applicants to include an event code used to organize event attendees in a database.
But it largely put the blame on the Geneva-based conference organizers. The International AIDS Society did not respond to questions before a deadline.
Six weeks ahead of the conference, the document said, organizers provided a list of 6,609 participants but did not include information that was important for identifying their visa applications, including birth dates and application numbers. About two weeks later, the department asked for a list of priority VIPs, and organizers provided 4,200 names. Eventually, the department got the number down to 150 priority attendees.
"Organizers continually questioned refusals, asking for detailed case-specific information," the report said.
Public servants began following up on cases individually. Meanwhile, despite saying the cutoff for applications would be two weeks before the event's start date, they continued receiving new requests.
In general, the report said, teams were hindered by an increase in special events and "various other processing priorities." It suggested the department should create a team specifically dedicated to special events.
The department promised in the wake of the incident to insist that organizers provide more-complete lists of guests, complete with visa application numbers, two months ahead of events. It suggested they could also provide marginalization factors for immigration officers to consider, such as race, gender identity or physical ability.
The report said working groups and clear roles should be created for "upcoming high-profile events" involving multiple federal agencies. In this case, that would have ensured the Immigration Department, Global Affairs Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada would deliver "the same, unified message to organizers, civil-society members and partner agencies."
In a statement, the Immigration Department said it had sought information in advance about an AIDS conference hosted by Australia in 2014, including how many asylum claims resulted from the event.
It said it is still monitoring the outcomes of the 251 peoplewho claimed asylum after arriving in Canada for the conference last year.
Among them were 123 people from Uganda, which has some of the world's most repressive criminal laws against homosexuality. People living in Kenya made 58 claims, while 26 came from people originating from Nigeria.
Complaints also stemmed from visa issues around last December's COP15 United Nations Biodiversity Conference.
Hundreds of delegates from developing countries complained that they were unable to attend, with visa applications rejected or stalled at a handful of Canadian missions abroad.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said at the time that he had asked visa officers to waive normal criteria such as the likelihood of applicants returning home or requirements about being able to support themselves while in Canada, because many delegates were being hosted by groups who covered their expenses.
Internal data show 751 of 4,167 visa applications, or 18 per cent, were not processed on time for the conference. Of those that were processed, 77 per cent were approved and 2.9 per cent were refused.
The data did not include details about asylum claims following the conference.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 23, 2023.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
Why gay couples using surrogacy are the latest target for Europe's far right
Story by John Last • CBC - Jul 3, 2023
For years now, Antonio and Leo have been trying to have a baby. As a gay couple living in Rome, they knew that Italian laws meant adoption was off the table — so beginning in 2021, they started to look into surrogacy as a way to start their family.
Surrogacy is illegal in Italy, too — punishable by up to two years in prison and fines of up to €1 million (about $1.5 million Cdn). Antonio and Leo's names have been changed because the couple fears potential legal repercussions in Italy for even seeking a surrogate.
But for decades, Italian couples have gone abroad to countries like Canada, where surrogacy is legal, to seek fertility treatments.
Not long after beginning their search, Antonio and Leo were approached by a Canadian surrogate who volunteered to carry their baby.
"We really, really like her," said Leo, "and she seems to like us as well. We already feel connected."
But Italy's far-right government had other plans. This month, lawmakers from the leading Fratelli d'Italia (FdI) party tabled a bill to make surrogacy a "universal crime," punishable by steep fines and years in jail no matter where the procedure is done.
Surrogacy is "aimed at destroying … the idea of motherhood," Carolina Varchi, the lawmaker spearheading the proposal, told the Financial Times. Federico Mollicone, another high-ranking FdI member, has called surrogacy a crime that is "even worse than pedophilia."
Lawmakers Riccardo Magi, left, and Benedetto Della Vedova hold placards reading in Italian: 'Parents not criminals' in the low Chamber in Rome during a debate on a bill promoted by the right-wing government that would make it a crime for Italian citizens to use surrogate pregnancy abroad.
(Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse/The Associated Press)
And Italy is far from alone. Experts say the anti-surrogacy movement is rapidly gaining momentum among the newly empowered far-right parties of Europe — and is bolstering hostile narratives aimed at LGBTQ families that find a broad audience on both sides of the Atlantic.
"They call it 'renting a uterus,' " said Antonio. "They are saying we are enslaving a woman for profit."
Though the law targets all couples seeking surrogates, it is widely understood to be aimed primarily at LGBTQ parents, who Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has repeatedly accused of undermining society and the traditional family.
"They are saying that Italian gay people cannot have a child — anywhere, anytime," said Leo. "It's a sterilization of gay couples in Italy.
"We feel like we are thrown back half a century and we don't know what to do."
Europe's mixed legal landscape
Despite precedents going back to biblical times, surrogacy is illegal across most of Europe. Just four European Union member states permit the practice — and where it is allowed, it is limited exclusively to residents or to married, heterosexual couples in medical need.
Jenny Gunnarsson Payne, a professor at Södertörn University who studies surrogacy, says much of Europe's opposition to surrogacy stems partly from an unusual coalition between conservative Christians who oppose reproductive technology, and radical feminists who fear it commercializes women's bodies.
"There has been a feminist critique of surrogacy since [in vitro fertilization] was first successfully practiced," she said.
Groups like the International Coalition for the Abolition of Surrogate Motherhood — which brings together radical feminist and lesbian groups from across Europe and North America — are a prime example. Their charter says surrogacy turns women's bodies "into resources for the reproduction industry."
In some ways, these critiques are grounded in real concerns about the surrogacy industry.
"I don't think we should think of the surrogacy industry as innocent," said Gunnarsson Payne. "There is exploitation."
In 2013, India closed its borders to international surrogates after a wave of news coverage painting its surrogacy industry as exploitative of poor women. Many of those same services are now offered in Georgia and Ukraine, where hotlines have been established to provide support to would-be surrogates worried about exploitation.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, seen speaking at a media conference in Rome, in December 2022, has repeatedly accused LGBTQ parents of undermining society and the traditional family.
And as alarm about exploitative "birth tourism" has grown, governments have increasingly sought to control what their citizens do abroad and at home.
If Italy's new anti-surrogacy bill passes, it will be the first country in the world to declare surrogacy a universal crime. But its justification is not only that it represents the "commodification and enslavement of the female body," as Italy's family minister, Eugenia Roccella, put it.
For Meloni, surrogacy is at the heart of efforts by what she calls the "LGBT lobby" to normalize the existence of "rainbow families," as those with gay or lesbian parents are known in Italy. A single mother herself, Meloni has nonetheless spoken forcefully about the importance of a "natural family founded on marriage" between a man and a woman.
"There is this narrative about damage to the traditional family, and LGBTQ parents going too far," said Marcin Smietana, an affiliate lecturer with the Reproductive Sociology Research Group at Cambridge University.
Marcin Smietana, centre, with Alan White, right, and his husband Nic Richards, left, and the couple's son, Jago, born through altruistic surrogacy in the United Kingdom. The men were at the Future Directions in Surrogacy Law conference at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies in London in November 2022.
(Submitted by Marcin Smietana )
These narratives have also gained hold in Poland, Spain and even progressive Sweden, where politicians who have taken similar lines on surrogacy and LGBTQ+ parental rights have been met with broad support.
"There is this shift in political consensus that has really happened quickly," said Gunnarsson Payne. "It feels like the '90s was back in Sweden — increased racism, right wing populism and now, these debates [about gender]."
Altruistic surrogacy
But this dark view of surrogacy is not the whole picture.
Even in India, where the practice was long portrayed as exploitative, interviews of surrogate mothers by scholars like Sharmila Rudrappa show that many found the experience "life-affirming" and even empowering, within the context of an economy rife with abusive industries.
On Nov. 2, 2015, Bhagwati Chauhan, left, who had recently given birth to a Canadian couple's child, touches the nine-month pregnant belly of Chandrika Makwana, who was carrying twins for an American couple, at the Akanksha Clinic in Anand, India. Not long after, he Indian government banned surrogate services for foreigners and ordered fertility clinics to stop hiring Indian women to bear children for them.
(Allison Joyce/The Associated Press)
"The overarching popular narrative of surrogate mothers as browbeaten, uninformed, easily duped villagers helplessly caught up in the web of global intimate industries was simply not true," Rudrappa wrote.
In Canada, where Antonio and Leo's surrogate is now awaiting some clarity on whether they can legally proceed, commercial surrogacy is still illegal. Here, surrogates must volunteer on an "altruistic" basis, and can only be reimbursed for expenses directly related to their pregnancy.
Angela Truppe, whose agency Canadian Surrogacy Community has helped global families find surrogates in Canada for the last six years, says many of her clients come from places like Italy, where surrogacy is criminalized. Of her 20 current clients, eight are international.
It hasn't escaped Truppe's notice that surrogacy has become a hot-button issue. LGBTQ families are a minority of those seeking surrogates, she says, but their push for rights has made surrogacy more visible.
Angela Truppe, whose agency Canadian Surrogacy Community has helped global families find surrogates in Canada for the last six years, says many of her clients come from places like Italy, where surrogacy is criminalized.
(Submitted by Angela Truppe)
"Traditionally, the couples that are struggling with infertility, they're not yelling it out loud," she said. "The LGBTQ community, they don't hide from it." Unifying the right
For now, the issue of surrogacy is more likely to divide the far right in Canada and the U.S. than unite it with the feminist left.
Smietana, of the Reproductive Sociology Research Group, notes that in North America, unlike Europe, surrogacy is usually associated with reproductive freedom. In some U.S. states, this extends to support for commercial surrogacy, today a multibillion-dollar industry.
Among voices on the political right, the issue is still a sensitive one. When Dave Rubin, a conservative commentator for the right-wing BlazeTV network, announced he would have two children via surrogates, he was met with outrage from religious conservatives.
Yet there are signs that growing hostility to trans rights may unify the right against surrogacy. Matt Walsh, a podcast host known for his anti-trans commentary, has voiced support for anti-surrogate feminists and called surrogacy "a moral crime against both women and children."
In Canada, efforts to support surrogacy have met with similar attacks from anti-abortion groups like the Campaign Life Coalition, which said on its website that a 2022 tax break for surrogacy "used tax dollars to advance the works of darkness across our nation."
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, wearing a sash with the colours of the Italian flag, joins the LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Rome on June 10. Gualatieri, a centre-left politician, was among those who defied Italy's order to end the registration of both same-sex parents on children's birth certificates.
(Mauro Scrobogna/La Presse/The Associated Press)
Experts like Smietana and Gunnarsson Payne suspect that harsh bans on surrogacy, like the one proposed in Italy, are more likely to drive the practice underground and increase emigration than end surrogacy altogether. Italy is already suffering a demographic crisis from population drain and one of the lowest birth rates in Europe.
Meanwhile, Antonio and Leo may have to wait as long as a decade to see Meloni's new law challenged and overturned in European courts. They can't expect their surrogate to wait.
"For the very first time in our lives, we feel like we are being discriminated against, as gay men," Antonio said.
"I never even got a parking ticket. And now I'm facing three years in prison, just for wanting to be a parent."
Leaders of northern First Nations rally at Queen's Park against Ontario's mining push
Story by Kris Ketonen • CBC - Thursday, July 20, 2023
People from five northern First Nations rallied outside Queen's Park on Thursday to call for a halt to provincial mining explorations on traditional lands, saying the Ontario government has not fulfilled its obligation to consult.
Leaders of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, Wapekeka, Neskantaga, Grassy Narrows and Muskrat Dam First Nations — members of the First Nations Land Defence Alliance — were among those who gathered outside the Ministry of Mines building in Toronto.
"Ontario has a duty to accommodate our First Nations," Wayne Moonias, former chief of Neskantaga First Nation, said during the rally.
"Ontario is the Crown that has that legal obligation to work with our First Nations to make sure that they're involved, they're engaged, and more importantly, they work out a relationship that's respectful, and that's not happening today."
Moonias said the group is "imploring" the current provincial government and future governments to respect their rights.
"We have a flawed system in the environmental assessment process," he said. "Our communities and our people are not considered in those processes.
"Their voice, for example, is not something that's respected, and that has to change especially when you're dealing with what we're facing."
Thursday's rally is the latest in a series of recent developments from northern First Nations to bring attention to their issues with the proposed development in their traditional territories and concerns they're not being properly consulted:
In April, chiefs from 10 communities launched a lawsuit taking the provincial and federal governments to court over land decisions.
Premier Doug Ford and Greg Rickford, the province's minister of Indigenous affairs, have long maintained the government is open to consultation and building consensus when it comes to northern development.
That position was restated by a spokesperson for Mines Minister George Pirie, in a statement to CBC News on Wednesday evening.
"Our government will always work with Indigenous communities, including the people of Grassy Narrows First Nation, to to achieve healthy communities, good jobs and economic prosperity," Wes Austin wrote in an email.
"The Supreme Court of Canada has confirmed that Ontario can authorize development within the Treaty 3 area in Ontario, including in relation to resource development projects, subject to satisfaction of the province's obligations in respect of Aboriginal Peoples, including the duty to consult," he said. "We will continue working toward consensus on resource development opportunities."
The First Nations Land Defence Alliance said in a media release that the province is granting mining claims without First Nations consent, and is now "trying to fast track dangerous mine approvals, delay safe closure plans, and build environmentally disastrous roads."
Cecilia Begg, from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation, was also among those at the rally Thursday outside the Ministry of Mines building.
(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Cecilia Begg, head councillor of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, said First Nations are trying to raise more awareness to younger members about the issues.
"We have an abundance of resources that are still intact, and we want to keep them that way as long as we can," she said.
In a statement to media, Kiiwetinoong NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa said he stands with the land defence alliance.
"No project should proceed without the free, prior and informed consent of First Nations," the statement said. "The Ontario NDP and I join these Nations in calling on Premier Ford to end the 'free entry' system and instead take a nation-to-nation approach to all mining activities."
"Meaningful consent is not only vital for reconciliation; it is an absolute must in our quest to safeguard the land and water that sustain all life."
Independent scientist resigns from pesticide regulator over transparency concerns
Story by David Thurton • CBC - Thursday, July 20,2023
Scientists who have advised Ottawa's pesticide regulator say it could be exposing Canadians to chemicals at unsafe levels — and one has resigned from the agency, citing concerns about transparency.
Both researchers told CBC News they're calling for changes at Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA). They say the agency relies on an "obsolete" system that could be allowing pesticides with worrisome impacts on nature and human health to remain in use.
"I am not 100 per cent confident that all the pesticides (that were approved), that they are all safe," said Valerie Langlois, a researcher and professor at the University of Quebec's National Institute of Scientific Research.
Langlois studies the impacts of pesticides and plastics on the health of fish, frogs and birds. She also co-chairs the PMRA's science advisory committee.
The federal government set up the committee in 2022 in response to pressure to reform the PMRA. Environmental groups had argued the agency was relying on outdated science and was being unduly influenced by the pesticide industry and food producers.
Health Canada defended the reputation of its pesticide regulator.
"(The) PMRA has a robust pesticide regulatory system, which is globally recognized. It takes its role as a regulator seriously and the pesticide review process used by the PMRA remains fully rooted in science," spokesman Mark Johnson said. Regulator's scientific advisor resigns
Bruce Lanphear shares Langlois' views. Until June, Lanphear and Langlois co-chaired the PMRA's science advisory body.
Lanphear, a public health physician who studies fetal and early childhood exposure to environmental toxins at Simon Fraser University, said he became frustrated with how the regulator withheld information from the scientists on the committee. He resigned from the advisory panel in June and his resignation letter was shared widely by the non-profit Centre for Health Science and Law.
"I have little or no confidence that the scientific advisory committee can help PMRA become more transparent or assure that Canadians are protected from toxic pesticides," Lanpher wrote in that letter.
Speaking to CBC News, Lanphear said the regulator's methodology for assessing pesticides is "obsolete" because it relies on old assumptions that are no longer valid.
Among other things, he said, it assumes there are safe levels or thresholds for chemicals that increase the risk of cancer.
"What we now know for some of the most widely studied and widely disseminated chemicals, like lead … like asbestos, is that there aren't safe levels," Lanphear said. "And yet we continue to regulate chemicals as though there are."
"I don't have confidence because PMRA is relying on obsolete methods. They aren't being transparent on how they're regulating chemicals.
"Stuff that should have been banned ten years ago and only were slated for a full ban this year indicates we aren't keeping up the with the science."
Lanphear said studies show that chronic low-level exposure to harmful chemicals increases the risk of children being born premature and developing leukemia, and of autism-related behaviour and ADHD.
"What's at stake here is increased risk of various chronic conditions," he said.
Langlois sais she remains on the committee and is working with the regulator to help it reform. Is industry controlling the regulator?
Lanphear and others worry the pesticides industry is exerting undue influence on Canada's pesticide regulator.
A group representing Canada's food producers, pesticide makers and plant biotech firms denies that suggestion.
"It's disappointing to see the former co-chair of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency's Scientific Advisory Committee making unfounded allegations about industry influence on the regulation of pesticides in Canada," said Crop Life CEO Pierre Petelle in a statement sent to CBC News.
"As an industry, we hold ourselves to the highest standards when it comes to the integrity of scientific data we provide to regulators around the world."
Bottles of Roundup herbicide, a product of Monsanto
(Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)
Radio Canada reported in 2021 that Health Canada proposed to increase the permitted amount of glyphosate that can be detected in food after manufacturers Bayer and Syngenta requested it. The outcry that followed prompted the government to bring independent scientists into the agency.
"What we are facing right now is a regulator that is heavily dominated by industry actors, especially chemical companies and pesticide user groups," said Laura Bowman, a lawyer with the environmental law group Ecojustice.
On Wednesday, Health Canada announced it has appointed a new co-chair for its science advisory committee to replace Lanphear.
Eric Liberda, a professor at the School of Occupational and Public Health at the Toronto Metropolitan University, will join Langlois in leading the independent advisory committee.
Despite agreeing with Lanphear's stance, Langlois said she is not leaving the committee because she believes change is still possible at the regulator.
"I would say that PMRA is changing for the good, and we, as the members of the committee, will make sure of it," Langlois said. "And if I am resigning too, it's because there is no action that are being taken."
She said she hopes to see changes at the regulator within the year.
